The scene lingered for a while. When it faded, the Stone of Fate dimmed and slowly returned to Chen Haoâs hand.
âZiyan, what was the Stone of Fate trying to tell us with the scenes? Did something bad happen with the Holy Water Ritual?â asked Chen Hao, sounding anxious.
âYes, Iâm afraid so. The Stone showed us the Celestial War Godâs tomb and your Chen Family right after we saw those men struggling to complete the Holy Water Ritual. Perhaps itâs telling us that something happened at the tomb and your family, and they might be in danger too,â replied Luo Ziyan.
Sounding startled, Chen Hao exclaimed, âWhat? Then we must hurry there before itâs too late!â
âYouâre right, Hao. Now that the Stone of Fate is in your hands, please keep it safe. Itâs the key to restoring your Foundation and your only hope to quickly strengthen yourself against powerful enemies,â
reminded Luo Ziyan.
âSure, Ziyan. Anyway, letâs hurry up and find out whatâs happened at the Celestial War Godâs tomb and my home. Besides, I have to look for my grandpa at the Holy Water Ritual. Iâve searched hard but I couldnât find his body here,â urged Chen Hao with a frown.
âOkay!â Luo Ziyan nodded.
Since Chen Hao was in a hurry, they did not stay any longer; he decided to seal the magical cave with a formation so that he could return later on to inspect the magical tools inside.
The sky had darkened by the time they had exited the tomb, and a thought crossed Chen Haoâs mind as they were about to leave the cave.
âOh yeah, Mumu, Jiannan, Ruoxi, it seems the few men from the Xu Family have spread a deadly poison outside the cave while you were inside. Iâve casted a formation to cut you off from it, but now that weâre getting out of here, youâll be defenseless against the poison,â said Chen Hao. Then, he sealed their acupoints with a poke to their shoulders.
He then led them out from the cave to find themselves besieged by nearly a hundred armed men from the Xu Family, who had blocked up the cave entrance as expected.
Xu Wendong couldnât help but step back in disbelief upon watching them emerging from the cave alive as he stuttered, âH-How could you be still alive?â
Beside him stood a grim-looking young man in black who looked shocked as well; his brows were twitching upon seeing them emerging from the cave alive.
The young man in black narrowed his eyes as he spoke, âWell, well. President Xu seems to be telling the truthâyou guys indeed are something else. Iâve never imagined you all to be able to walk out alive despite having taken in the poison from us, the Tianshanâs Seven Beasts. You all shall die in my hands then!â
Luo Ziyan couldnât help but shake her head. âDo you really think that you can kill us?â
âItâs useless talking to them, Ziyan. Iâm rather used to their conceitedness and arrogance,â said Chen Hao with a wry laugh. Then, he tried to persuade the young man, âI donât know you, Tianshanâs Seven Beasts, but your six ignorant brothers have died in my hands. I know itâs hard to achieve your cultivation base at your young age, so why donât you turn over a new leaf and go back to cultivating in Tianshan? I would advise you against doing evil deeds like this to prevent yourself from ending up dying unnecessarily like those people!â
âHahahaha!â Xu Shuai burst out laughing before putting on a sinister expression and said, âYou must be nuts, lad. Open your eyes and see whoâre the ones that are going to meet a bad end!â
Just then, the rest of the men pointed their guns mercilessly at Chen Hao with the safety lock off, except Yin Jun, the young man in black, who raised his hand slightly while keeping his eyes still narrowed to slits as though they would never open. âSo, you admit to killing my six brothers?â he asked.
âYes, I did. I guess that suffices to say that I can kill you easily, so letâs not fight a useless fight. Iâm not in the mood to kill anyone, nor do I have the time, so leave now!â
With his mind in turmoil, Chen Hao couldnât care less about them.
âLeave? Hmph! You must have yet to hear of our prowess as Tianshanâs Seven Beasts and that I, Yin Jun, am different from my brothers!â Yin Junâs lips curled into an evil sneer, sending chills down the spines of everyone who saw it; Li Mumu and the girls were so intimidated that they took a step back in fright.
Chen Hao frowned too; this manâs cultivation base didnât seem to be that high, so he was certain that he could kill him in one blow, but his unwavering confidence made Chen Hao feel strangely uncertain.
Could this man be a hidden master and the strongest among the Tianshanâs Seven Beasts?
âIn that case, I shall fight and get rid of you, lest we find ourselves in endless troubles after we get out of here!â said Chen Hao icily while curling his fingers.
He didnât use his inner energy as he chose to wait for this man to strike first so that he could see his moves but to his surprise, Yin Jun curled his fingers too, mimicking him.
Huh? Chen Hao was puzzled.
âDidnât I just say that Iâm different from my brothers?â As soon as he spoke, Yin Jun instantly transformed himself into a man who looked like an exact copy of Chen Hao, except that the sneer that hung around the edge of his lips looked even more contemptuous.
âInteresting! Your Disguise Technique is unexpectedly swift and clean,â Chen Hao commented with a smile.
âInteresting! Your Disguise Technique is unexpectedly swift and clean,â Yin Jun mimicked Chen Haoâs tone, his eyes still full of contempt.
âSo thatâs your skill?â asked Chen Hao.
âSo thatâs your skill?â said Yin Jun, again parroting Chen Hao.
âItâs annoying of you to do that!â Chen Hao frowned.
âItâs annoying of you to do that!â taunted Yin Jun, sounding like he was having fun mocking Chen Hao.
âAre you going to mimic each of my moves as well? Alright then, we shall see how far you can do that âand whoâs the stronger one between us!â Chen Hao shook his head and decided to quit fooling around with him.
âAre you going to mimic each of my moves as well? Alright then, we shall see how far you can do that âand whoâs the stronger one between us!â taunted Yin Jun again.
Without saying anything further, Chen Hao threw his punch right away with merely one-tenth of his strength; his speed was so fast that it seemed like he had sent countless shadow punches toward him.
That attack was so strong that it caused the sandy ground beneath them to crack with the loud boom that ensued from the attack that was directed fiercely toward Yin Jun.
Yin Jun was about to throw his punch as Chen Hao did, but his smirk turned at once into a look of stupefaction upon watching this scene.
âHeâs so powerful!â he whispered to himself, horrified.
He could not ward off such a huge force at all! It was as if Chen Haoâs shadow punches paralyzed him in an instant, rooting him to the spot and rendering him defenseless while endless shadow punches hit him all at once. âAaaahh!â He was immediately stripped of his disguise as his whole body exploded under the multitude of punches, turning him into a mess of blood and flesh. He was sent flying away looking like a pile of minced meat, properly dead under the overwhelming attack of Chen Hao.
The instant before he died, he felt extremely regretful; he wished that he had known earlier of how strong the opponent in front of him truly was, but it was already too late for regret.
Chen Hao shook his head, speechless. âWhatâs so different about you? All of you, the Tianshanâs Seven Beasts, look the same to me!â
Xu Wendong and Xu Shuai were completely astounded by the scene.