Somewhere far away from the Yuanmu Star Forest, ancient trees towered into the sky, many exceeding a hundred zhang in height. Teeming with demonic beasts, this place was a paradise for adventurers, yet a living hell for the unfortunate. Its name resounded throughout the starry sky: the Yaoyuan Forest! At this moment, a great battle was raging deep within the Yaoyuan Forest. This was a clash between a young youth of seventeen or eighteen and a mountain-like white giant tiger with a pair of wings on its back. The giant tiger was none other than a Feitian Tiger, an ancient beast of prey and a king among its peers. Its cultivation had already reached the peak of the Divine Lord stage, and its attacks were terrifyingly formidable. However, no matter how it attacked, it could not break through the five-colored halo surrounding the youth. The youth was only at the mid-stage of the Divine Lord realm. Not only was his cultivation not very stable, but he was also casually letting the tiger attack him at will.
"Feitian Tiger, submitting to me as your master will not tarnish your reputation. Furthermore, I can help your bloodline take a step further toward ancestral awakening, making it no inferior to those pure-blooded Taigu White Tigers!" The youth's clear voice rang out.
"Human! Defeat this seat first, then we'll talk!" The Feitian Tiger charged to attack once more; it was born combative by nature.
"Haha, you can't even break through my defense, so how can you fight me? Since that's the case, let me give you a taste of pain! Five Elements Bind! Go!" the youth laughed. With one hand, he gripped the halo and smashed it toward the Feitian Tiger, colliding with its claws.
"BOOM! BOOM!" The Feitian Tiger was knocked down, crashing into the mountain range and causing several peaks to collapse. Fresh blood gushed out terrifyingly, staining a section of the mountains.
"ROAR!" Its ferocity fully aroused, the Feitian Tiger lunged at the human figure once again.
"Oh! You can still stand up after taking a strike from my Five Elements Bind? As expected of a beast carrying a trace of the bloodline of Taichu creatures. Even early-stage Divine Venerable demonic beasts have been beaten to death by me. You haven't disappointed me!" The youth spoke in surprise as he watched the giant tiger charging at him. His words were shocking—a Divine Lord beating a Divine Venerable to death! Having said that, he grabbed the five-colored ring again and threw it toward the Feitian Tiger. "Five Elements Confinement! Quiet down a bit!"
As the Feitian Tiger charged forward, its pupils contracted at the sight of the glowing ring. It didn't know what this object was, but it was terrifyingly hard. The Feitian Tiger watched as the five-colored ring expanded and encircled it. Then, it felt itself restricted, unable to move, and gradually shrinking. Yes! It was shrinking. The shattered mountains around it seemed to grow larger, and the fallen trees nearby also seemed to grow. It was being forcibly shrunken!
"Little tiger, you've finally quieted down!" The youth lifted the five-colored ring that was confining the Feitian Tiger, which had now shrunk to barely a foot in length. "Wow, how cute! If Tian Feng saw this, I wonder if she would fight me to the death for it," the youth remarked as he examined the Feitian Tiger. Suddenly thinking of his little sister, his voice carried a hint of sadness. He was none other than Wu Tianyuan, who had left the Demon Realm of the Old Demon over a year ago.
"Let me go, human! Otherwise, this tiger swears we cannot coexist under the same sky!" the Feitian Tiger roared. How could this human be so strong? Its current strength was already on par with some early-stage Divine Venerable demonic beasts!
"Huh..." Wu Tianyuan was snapped out of his thoughts. "I've followed you for nearly a month just to tame you as my mount. If I let you go, I'll have to walk again," Wu Tianyuan said lazily. He had always wanted to travel the starry sky. Having something to ride instead of walking—especially one that looked so majestic—it would be strange if he didn't tame it.
"I will absolutely never acknowledge a lowly human as my master," the Feitian Tiger said stiffly. After all, he was still no match for this human.
"Haha, a lowly human?" Wu Tianyuan's tone shifted. "Even the progenitor of your Primordial Feitian Tigers wouldn't dare speak to me like that. Tell me, between the two of us, who is the lowly one?" Wu Tianyuan said coldly.
"The Feitian Tiger progenitor..." the Feitian Tiger stammered, his voice trembling. "That's impossible. Who are you?" he asked in shock.
"Even if I told you, you wouldn't know. It's not in your inherited memories," Wu Tianyuan replied, having no desire to explain further. "Submit to me, and I will help you awaken your ancestral bloodline. You won't be any weaker than that Feitian Tiger ancestor of yours," Wu Tianyuan said solemnly. "My patience is limited. If I don't take you in, I have plenty of other choices."
"You... You can help me awaken my ancestral bloodline?" the Feitian Tiger gasped in shock. Ancestral bloodline awakening wasn't unheard of, but it required an immense stroke of fortune, not to mention countless rare treasures.
"Even without awakening, I have ways to purify and elevate your bloodline countless times over. Surpassing your ancestor is entirely possible," Wu Tianyuan said with absolute confidence.
"Surpass the ancestor..." the Feitian Tiger murmured, his voice shaking. He didn't know exactly how powerful his ancestor had been, but it was certainly countless times stronger than himself. "How could you possibly do that?" he asked skeptically.
"With this..." Wu Tianyuan squeezed out a single drop of blood, looking at the Feitian Tiger as he spoke.
"Blood..." The Feitian Tiger stared at the droplet. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and a violent shudder ran through his body. He could feel an instinctual terror radiating from the depths of his own bloodline. "What... what kind of blood is this?!" he stammered.
"You wouldn't know. Submit to me, and this drop of blood is yours," Wu Tianyuan said, dangling the temptation.
"For me..." The Feitian Tiger swallowed hard. "I... I agree! Master!" He finally decided to submit. For demonic beasts, submitting to the strong was a common occurrence. Moreover, he had a feeling that following this unfathomably deep master would be his greatest stroke of luck. He hadn't even seen this man unleash his true combat power yet, but he was absolutely no weaker than a mid-stage Divine Venerable demonic beast expert.
"Haha, smart!" Wu Tianyuan formed a hand seal, shooting a brand from between his eyebrows straight into the Feitian Tiger's forehead. He then tossed the drop of blood over. "It's yours! Don't worry, this brand won't affect your cultivation in the slightest. It's merely to keep an eye on you," Wu Tianyuan said.
"Thank you, Master!" The Feitian Tiger shuddered slightly. "Master, may I ask... how old are you?" He was incredibly curious.
"Me? You could say I'm twenty-one," Wu Tianyuan replied nonchalantly.
"Twenty... twenty-one?! Master, are you joking with me?" the Feitian Tiger gasped in sheer disbelief.
"Do I have any need to lie to you? Hmph! What is there to be so shocked about? If that guy... were still alive, he wouldn't be any weaker than me, and he was only thirteen," Wu Tianyuan snorted coldly. His voice then sank with a touch of grief before instantly shifting into pure, icy killing intent. "Fourth Brother, I will avenge you very soon. No matter who participated in the siege on my Wu family, I will hunt them down to the very last man. I won't leave a single soul alive." Over the past year, Wu Tianyuan had slaughtered countless Divine Lord realm demonic beasts and devoured their energy, causing his cultivation level to skyrocket. Consequently, his killing intent had grown increasingly terrifying, striking fear even into the Feitian Tiger. The tiger clan was born for slaughter, yet this master of his was like two completely opposite extremes compared to his previous demeanor.
"AHHHHH..." Wu Tianyuan suddenly threw his head back and let out a long roar, causing the surrounding space to crack. The sound echoed across a vast area, terrifying countless people who wondered which mighty expert had suddenly gone mad.
"Master..." the Feitian Tiger said softly, still shaken by that terrifying killing intent from a moment ago.
"Heh! It's fine, haha. Since I haven't taken my revenge yet, how could anything happen to me? From now on, I'll call you Xiao Bai. Once you learn a bit about the outside world, you'll understand." Wu Tianyuan withdrew his killing intent, instantly reverting to the image of a banished immortal—dashing, handsome, and tall. Who knew how many young maidens' hearts he would set fluttering?
"Yes, Master!" Xiao Bai did not dare to protest.
"Right, do you know where I can find any early-stage God Venerable beasts with five-element attributes? It's about time I made myself a handy magic treasure." Wu Tianyuan flashed a grin, his white teeth making the Feitian Tiger shiver. Someone was about to meet a terrible fate.
"Master! I know of two—one fire-attributed and one earth-attributed," Xiao Bai blurted out without a second thought. It seemed the tiger had suffered quite a bit at their hands, as its own killing intent flared up.
"Haha, let's go! Once you've meditated to stabilize your injuries a bit, we'll go slaughter them. I have yet to taste the meat of a God Venerable beast." Retracting the Five Elements Binding, Wu Tianyuan flew toward Xiao Bai's lair.
Yuanwood Star Forest.
It had been a month since Wu Tianjun entered that imprint to witness the lifetime memories of the Primordial Demon. The Artifact Spirit had emerged to open the light screen and free the twelve experts, but because they were deep in cultivation and refining the Lightning Tribulation Liquid, they had not left yet. Over the course of the month, they had awakened one after another.
"Haha! I, Ma Lian, am finally about to break through to the Saint Ancestor Realm! Haha! Master, I will definitely not disappoint you!" Ma Lian laughed wildly and boisterously. By following his master, he believed he would even have a chance to surpass the Saint Ancestor Realm.
"Congratulations, Brother Ma!" everyone chimed in to congratulate him.
"Hmph! You're not the only one breaking through. Once we leave this place, I will also undergo my tribulation. Be careful not to get blasted to death by the lightning," Wu Zixuan snorted coldly.
"Haha, Wu Zixuan, there's no need to be so cold. We both serve the same master," Ma Lian laughed again. "Haha, it seems everyone has made breakthroughs. Lightning Tribulation Liquid! It really is good stuff! Heheh, I wonder how much of it Master has left?" Ma Lian looked around at the crowd and grinned.
"Everyone has made progress! Master likely has some Lightning Tribulation Liquid left, but probably not much. Don't go getting any ideas; he needs it for his own cultivation too," a beautiful woman said in a sweet, coquettish voice. She was indeed exceptionally beautiful.
Just then, Wu Tianjun opened his eyes and walked out of the main hall. "It's time to head out," Wu Tianjun said after a brief moment of thought. "Artifact Spirit, stay here for now to repair yourself. Come only when I summon you."
"Yes, Master!" the Artifact Spirit replied solemnly. This master of his was finally about to step out into the wider world!