Chapter 175: Baneful Yin Lizard, Moonshadow Orchid
The next morning, just as the sun crested the horizon—painting the sky in strokes of amber and rose—Su Tianhao emerged from the cave.
His long black hair drifted behind him like silk caught in invisible currents. Golden eyes stared into the distance with profound serenity. Azure robes flowed gently with the morning breeze, and emerald mists coiled around his form like living serpents, giving him an ethereal air of mystery and power.
He had spent the entire night stabilising his cultivation base and assimilating his sudden progress. Now it was time to test his strength.
"6th level Martial Adept..."
Su Tianhao murmured, his voice carrying a weight of quiet satisfaction.
"Clear Stream Body... Dragon Defence... Supreme Dragon Vein Awakening Art, Small Success... Raging Dragon Fist, Assimilation..."
A profound smile spread across his handsome features, his entire presence radiating confidence bordering on arrogance.
With Shadowfang strapped firmly to his waist, he leaped down the rocky ledge and dashed into the forest. As he moved, his figure seemed to blur at the edges—pale, translucent—until he eventually disappeared entirely.
Unseen. Erased. Non-existent.
Formless Sovereign.
---
Hidden within the fourth layer of the Shrouded Dragon Veil, Su Tianhao moved freely across the underbrush in search of grade four spirit beasts. The current Su Tianhao was a different entity from a few days ago—the difference was staggering. Naturally, only grade four beasts—creatures equivalent to Martial Core Realm experts—could pose any significant threat now.
He didn't need to search long.
Soon, he found his first target.
A 1st level grade four beast: the Baneful Yin Lizard.
The creature lay coiled beside an unusual flower glowing with soft violet light. Its body stretched nearly five metres in length, covered in dark indigo scales that shimmered with a faint oily sheen. Each scale was etched with intricate vein-like patterns that pulsed with cold yin qi, releasing wisps of poisonous mist into the air. Its eyes—slitted and pale blue—radiated predatory intelligence far beyond ordinary beasts.
But it wasn't the spirit beast that truly captured Su Tianhao's attention. It was the flower.
Its slender, crescent-shaped petals were a deep, almost liquid indigo at the edges, gradually fading into luminous silver-white at the centre—as though they had captured fragments of moonlight itself. Tiny veins of pale violet energy pulsed faintly across each petal like living meridians, releasing a gentle, chilling mist that carried the pure essence of yin qi.
The air around the orchid felt different. Colder. Heavier. As if the flower was slowly drinking in the ambient spiritual energy and transforming it into something purer, denser, more potent.
Hidden within the Formless Sovereign state, Su Tianhao observed the scene from less than thirty metres away. His golden eyes narrowed slightly.
'Moonshadow Orchid!'
'It's actually a Moonshadow Orchid!'
His heart quickened with barely contained excitement, but he forced himself to remain still. Patience was the difference between hunters and prey.
The Moonshadow Orchid was a rare spiritual herb that thrived in places where yin qi gathered naturally. While other plants grew from absorbing sunlight, the Moonshadow Orchid grew from absorbing moonlight—or more precisely, the pure yin qi radiated by the moon itself.
It was one of the most coveted yin-attribute treasures for cultivators with yin-attributed bloodlines, physiques, or cultivation techniques. Consuming even a single petal could greatly purify and strengthen one's yin energy, cleanse the marrow, and even awaken dormant yin meridians.
For spirit beasts like the Baneful Yin Lizard, whose bloodline leaned heavily toward the cold and poisonous yin aspect, the Moonshadow Orchid was akin to a divine tonic—capable of accelerating their growth and pushing them closer to evolution.
But to Su Tianhao?
It was wealth waiting to be claimed.
The Moonshadow Orchid was a grade 6 herb that even Martial Masters would covet. When sold, its value was astronomical—easily one thousand spirit stones or more, depending on the amount of petals.
The young lizard, sensing the immense yin energy radiating from the flower, had curled its scaled body protectively around it. Its long forked tongue occasionally flicked out to taste the air, eyes half-closed in greedy contentment. Faint wisps of violet mist drifted from its nostrils with each exhale.
"Almost ripe... no wonder this lizard guards this place so diligently."
Su Tianhao could already sense the faint fluctuations of yin qi emanating from the lizard's body. This Baneful Yin Lizard had clearly been consuming small amounts of the orchid's morning dew over time, which explained why its cultivation had already reached the peak of the 1st level grade four—far stronger than an ordinary beast of the same rank.
A faint, predatory smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"Perfect. Both the beast and the flower will serve as excellent tests for my current strength."
---
Without the slightest sound or ripple of qi, his figure reappeared like a ghost materialising from thin air—right behind the Baneful Yin Lizard.
The lizard's instincts screamed danger.
It instantly whipped around, its body swelling with dark violet yin qi. Poisonous mist erupted from its scales like smoke from a furnace as it opened its maw to unleash a torrent of corrosive venom—acidic enough to melt stone.
But it was already too late.
"Raging Dragon Fist—Dragon God Enchantment!"
Su Tianhao's right fist shot forward like a coiling azure dragon ascending to the heavens. The air itself trembled. Golden spiritual energy exploded outward in concentric rings, the punch carried the momentum of a raging dragon soaring into the sky—overbearing, unstoppable, filled with explosive yang-attributed power that directly countered the lizard's yin nature.
Boom!
The venomous mist was torn apart like paper in a storm.
The Baneful Yin Lizard's massive body was lifted clean off the ground and hurled backward like a ragdoll. It crashed through several ancient trees—each trunk exploding into splinters—before embedding itself deep into the rocky cliff face with a sickening thud.
Cracks spider-webbed across the stone. Dust and debris rained down.
A single punch.
The 1st level grade four beast was gravely injured. Its scales were cracked and bleeding. Blood sprayed from its mouth in violet-black streams, sizzling where it touched the ground. Its yin qi circulation had fallen into chaotic disarray.
Su Tianhao stood calmly where he had struck, azure robes fluttering, emerald mists swirling around him. He flexed his fingers once, feeling the surging power within his body.
"Not bad..."
He smiled faintly.
"As expected of a grade four beast. A single punch isn't enough."
One had to understand—that single punch had carried 320,000 pounds of force, a staggering output that already surpassed the punch power of a 1st level Martial Core Realm expert at 200,000 pounds. Yet the Baneful Yin Lizard had somehow managed to survive, albeit barely.
His gaze shifted toward the Moonshadow Orchid, still glowing serenely amidst the destruction.
"First, the beast. Then the flower will be mine."
Smiling coldly, his stance shifted. One hand rested lightly on Shadowfang's hilt.
"Shadow-Splitting Flash..."
Boom!
His figure propelled forward with an explosive burst of speed, arriving before the injured Baneful Yin Lizard in a matter of heartbeats.
Before the beast could even offer resistance—
"Ninefold Deathflash!"
Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!
Nine slashes. One move.
The world seemed to hold its breath.
The Baneful Yin Lizard froze mid-motion. Then multiple cuts appeared across its body in a gruesome display of precision—each strike targeting a vital meridian, a critical organ, a weakness in its scaled armour. Fresh blood burst from the wounds, sizzling with residual yin qi as it pooled on the forest floor.
The massive beast swayed once.
Then collapsed.
Dead.
---
Su Tianhao's eyes remained calm and indifferent, as if he had merely swatted an insect. With a casual wave of his hand, he used a thread of spiritual energy to slice the lizard's belly open, revealing a violet beast core inside—glowing with cold blue light, pulsing faintly like a dying star.
He retrieved the core and stored it in his spatial ring without hesitation.
Then he turned to the corpse, expression unreadable.
"Devour."
A powerful suction force descended upon the creature, engulfing its entire body in an invisible pull. Dense wisps of ethereal purple energy tore through the lizard's flesh like ghostly rivers, mingling with swirling crimson light that flowed directly into Su Tianhao's body through unseen channels.
This was the essence of the Baneful Yin Lizard—its life force, spiritual power, bloodline potential, and accumulated yin qi.
As the essence left, the corpse began to dry and shrivel. Scales turned brittle. Flesh withered. The once-mighty predator was being reduced to an empty husk.
Meanwhile, Su Tianhao felt a rush of power surge through him. The essence energy was toxic and violent, raging through his meridians almost as if trying to poison him from within. Waves of cold yin qi clashed against his yang-dominant dragon bloodline.
But under the relentless refinement of the Heavenly Devouring Dragon Physique, the toxic essence quickly transformed into pure spiritual energy that further strengthened his cultivation base. The yin qi was broken down, its impurities burned away, leaving only refined power.
Within minutes, the corpse had been reduced to a dried, skeletal husk—brittle enough to crumble at the slightest touch.
Su Tianhao turned toward the Moonshadow Orchid.
He produced a jade box sealed with golden inscriptions that pulsed faintly with spiritual energy—the same box that had housed the Bloodroot Vitality Pill from the Drifting Cloud Auction. Crafted from Spirit Jade, it was designed to preserve medicinal potency indefinitely.
Using his inherited alchemy expertise, Su Tianhao meticulously harvested the Moonshadow Orchid—cutting at the precise point where stem met root to avoid damaging its delicate spiritual structure—and placed it carefully into the box.
The moment the lid closed, the golden inscriptions flared briefly, sealing the treasure within.
"If I'm lucky, this could sell for over one thousand spirit stones."
Su Tianhao was pleased.
Although the Moonshadow Orchid was a grade 6 herb like the Raging Viscera Tonic, it was considerably more valuable because of its potency and rarity. A single specimen could be used to produce multiple grade 6 pills whose combined value would exceed three thousand spirit stones—making one thousand spirit stones a fair price for any Master Alchemist willing to buy the herb outright.
After securing the orchid, Su Tianhao activated Formless Sovereign and ventured deeper into the forest.
---
By now, he had formed a clear picture of his current combat capabilities.
The Raging Dragon Fist—Dragon God Enchantment—didn't just amplify his power during the execution of a strike. It enhanced his full strength by a hundred percent, doubling his fundamental output even when not actively punching. This was the main reason he had settled on the name Dragon God Enchantment: it amplified his very existence, not merely his attacks.
Under Dragon God Enchantment, his total force output reached 320,000 pounds—surpassing a 1st level Martial Core Realm expert's 200,000 pounds.
The limitation: Dragon God Enchantment could only be sustained for thirty seconds. But thirty seconds was enough to turn the tide of any battle.
Combined with Ninefold Deathflash, the results were decisive.
---
By midday, he could kill 1st level grade four spirit beasts instantly without relying on Formless Sovereign at all.
By afternoon, against 2nd level grade four spirit beasts, the fights were difficult. These creatures possessed spiritual energy attacks, battlefield awareness, and cunning that rivalled 2nd level Martial Core cultivators. He needed Formless Sovereign to keep the upper hand. But he secured victory every time.
A large part of this was Dragon Defence. It didn't merely negate damage from opponents whose total force output was equal to or fell below his own—it also offered meaningful protection from those whose strength surpassed his, reducing the impact of blows that would otherwise be devastating.
Combined with his near-inexhaustible spiritual energy—constantly replenished mid-combat through his Devouring ability, victory against 2nd level grade four beasts was consistently achievable.
---
By evening, against 3rd level grade four spirit beasts, the situation changed entirely. Even under Formless Sovereign, even with Dragon Defence active, he could only hold on for a few moments. Their strength had vastly surpassed his 320,000-pound ceiling. A single mistake would be fatal. He admitted defeat and disengaged cleanly.
Against 4th level grade four spirit beasts? Engaging them meant one thing—death. Su Tianhao knew his limits. He was not arrogant enough to challenge what he couldn't survive.
Not yet.
---
The Martial Core Realm was fundamentally different from every realm that came before it.
The Martial Apprentice Realm granted a hundred pounds of physical strength with every breakthrough.
The Martial Disciple Realm granted a thousand pounds per breakthrough.
The Martial Adept Realm granted a single fold increment per level—twofold, threefold, fourfold, and so on up to tenfold at Peak-stage.
The Martial Core Realm operated on an entirely different scale. Each level doubled the strength of the previous one.
A 1st level Martial Core Realm expert possessed twice the strength of a Peak-stage Martial Adept—200,000 pounds.
A 2nd level doubled that—400,000 pounds. Already slightly beyond what Su Tianhao could reach with Dragon God Enchantment active.
A 3rd level reached 800,000 pounds, making them increasingly deadly.
A 4th level? 1,600,000 pounds of force.
"Right now my full power peaks at the 2nd level grade four ranking—even with Shadow-Splitting Flash and Formless Sovereign. I'll need to increase my cultivation base before I can challenge the 3rd level."
He smiled wryly.
"In the end, it all comes down to cultivation."