C22 This Is the Big Mess

"What kind of idiotic pill is this?" Huo Fei grumbled under his breath, thinking to himself, "If your sect is attacked, wouldn't it all be over if just the weakest elder is killed?"

"What did you say?!"

"Oh, I was just saying how brilliant and valiant your sect master is, to come up with such a method to keep your sect united."

Huo Xiaotian's face soured as he replied dismissively, "Enough, enough, no more talk. I too find the sect master rather foolish."

The man in black beside him sighed in agreement, murmuring, "You can say that again."

The group then resumed their solemn vigil over the city outskirts.

Five miles outside the city, Shun Dan was prone on the ground, too afraid to move.

"No, this won't do, they both have their own domains. If I confront them now, it would be suicide. I must stay hidden, or Life Death Valley is doomed."

"Damn it, our sect master is truly an idiot."

Elsewhere, Niu Yuvcai also caught sight of the enormous Saber-toothed Tiger.

Upon clearly seeing the Saber-toothed Tiger, Niu Yuvcai knelt down in sheer excitement, pulling out something resembling an old-school mobile phone from his pocket.

This device was a Sound Transmitter from the Heaven Soaring Realm, serving the same purpose as a telephone. It seemed simple, yet only a sixth-grade weapon refiner could craft such an item.

After the red light on the Sound Transmitter's antenna blinked several times and turned green, a languid female voice emerged.

"Who's calling? Oh! Mr. Yuvcai?! Do you have news about the Heaven Rending Tiger?!"

The voice belonged to Shea Gelan, the current proprietor of the Spirit Beast Workshop.

The Sound Transmitter consumed its stored energy permanently with each use, so it was reserved for particularly crucial matters. In this moment, Niu Yuvcai, brimming with exhilaration, blurted out, "Gelan! Guess what I've found? A pure-blooded Heaven Rending Tiger, fully grown, alive, and in the Void Discerning Stage! My adoptive father can be saved!"

In the Central Heaven Domain, at the Spirit Beast Workshop, a massive beam of light pierced the heavens, followed by a voice echoing throughout the Heaven Domain, "What?! It's been found?! I'm on my way immediately."

Subsequently, it seemed as though a vast fissure had opened up in the sky above. A graceful figure slipped through, and the fissure swiftly sealed shut.

After her departure, a flurry of divine senses clashed above the Heaven Domain.

"Sigh, this young lady is causing such a stir in the dead of night."

"Didn't you hear? She said she found it. Wouldn't you be thrilled if your grandfather's life was saved?"

"True, she's a child with a deep sense of filial piety."

"But those Divine Beasts won't just let her pass, will they?"

Suddenly, another immense space crack split the sky of the Heaven Domain. A colossal head emerged, then, sensing something, it quickly retreated, leaving only its divine sense echoing above.

"Human, the Heaven Rending Tiger is this era's most likely candidate to ascend to a Divine Beast. We hope no one will interfere."

After a brief lull, the divine senses collided fiercely once again.

"Was that Zhulong?"

"It looked like it. I never imagined it would be disturbed. What's so special about this Heaven Rending Tiger that even Zhulong would take notice?"

"Could it be that legend?"

As they speculated, space cracks burst forth across the Heaven Domain sky, like a show of force. Beastly roars filled the air, each divine sense carrying an unmistakable threat.

"It must be that legend."

"Could the Heaven Soaring Lineage be making its return?"

"Never mind the Heaven Soaring Lineage for now. The beast race has gone too far. I can't stand it any longer. Are there any Fellow Taoists willing to join me in teaching them a lesson?"

"I am ready to accompany you."

At that moment, an immense Spiritual Sense descended upon the Heaven Domain.

"I shall also join the cause."

With reverent cries of "Greetings, Dao Void Rogue Immortal," beams of light soared into the sky. One after another, vast space cracks were wrenched open, and formidable figures vanished into their depths.

Chen Bai was blissfully unaware of the enormous trouble he had stirred up by killing a small Heaven Rending Tiger.

Wind City was on the brink of collapse after the relentless assaults by the Heaven Rending Tiger. The Water Curtain Heavenly Array had been pushed to its limits. With another exhale, a layer of ice formed on the water curtain, which then shattered with a resounding crack.

Huo Xiaotian had lost all hope. The recent onslaught had made it clear to him that this beast was at least at the Level Five of the Void Discerning Stage. The moment the Water Curtain Heavenly Array broke, it would spell doom for his Huo family.

"I never imagined Chen Bai's master to be so formidable, capable of taming such a colossal beast. Could he be a Deification Stage Almighty?" He found himself believing Chen Bai's earlier claims.

The Heaven Rending Tiger's eyes glowed red as it opened its massive jaws and inhaled, drawing in all the living souls of Wind City. The chilling sound of its chewing was followed by streams of blood flowing from its maw. It had detected the scent of its offspring's Demonic Core permeating the city, sealing the fate of its inhabitants—they all had to die.

From a distance, Shun Dan witnessed the carnage and rose to his feet. Spitting on the ground, he shrugged and said, "Well, that's it. That old fool's sect is done for." A hint of reminiscence flickered in his eyes as he murmured, "Life Death Valley wasn't so bad, really. It was full of talent, and the people there... they had a way with words."

As he spoke, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and he silently collapsed.

Meanwhile, in Life Death Valley, all the elders and their sect leader had ceased to breathe in their sleep. Life Death Valley was no more.

After a few more chews, the Heaven Rending Tiger swallowed the remaining members of the Huo family. After surveying the city briefly and letting out a few mournful roars, it took to the skies and flew off into the distance.

Niu Yuvcai was left in shock. He hastily took to the air in pursuit, but as a Nascent Infant Stage cultivator, he stood no chance of catching up with the Heaven Rending Tiger, a creature of the Void Discerning Stage. It vanished from his sight in an instant.

"What is my master doing? He's taking so long to arrive. What are we going to do now?" Niu Yuvcai collapsed to the ground, weeping bitterly. "Wuwuwu ~ Niu Yuvcai, you're utterly useless! Why did you insist on coming here? You're just a Nascent Infant Stage weakling. If someone from the Void Discerning Stage had been sent instead, they could have easily captured the Heaven Rending Tiger today!"

After wiping away his tears, Niu Yuvcai's hair turned white in an instant, and he suddenly looked like an old man on the brink of death. He gazed at his wrinkled hands and murmured, "I, Niu Yuvcai, have failed my master."

He then took out a Sound Transmitter and spoke into it, "I, Niu Yuvcai, have failed my master. The Heaven Rending Tiger has escaped." With that, he struck himself on the head, taking his own life.

Elsewhere, Shea Gelan was thrust from a Space Crack amidst a surge of Spiritual Force.

Soon after, the massive form of Zhulong began to materialize in the sky.

"Zhulong? You're intervening just because I'm trying to save my grandfather's life by killing a non-Divine Beast from your clan?"

"I sympathize with the Dao Coming Rogue Immortal, but Heaven Rending is a unique being. I cannot simply stand by and allow you to kill him."

"Zhulong, you're overstepping your bounds." As this voice echoed, a Space Crack was ripped open, and an elderly man in white robes with a youthful face stepped through.

Upon seeing the old man, Zhulong's expression hardened. He then transformed into a middle-aged man clad in black and addressed him, "Dao Void Rogue Immortal, this is an affair of my beast clan. How can you accuse me of overstepping?"

The Dao Void Rogue Immortal chuckled in response and asked, "So I'm meddling too much?"

Zhulong replied with a slight smile, "Precisely."

At that moment, Shea Gelan's Sound Transmitter activated, and Niu Yuvcai's aged voice emerged.

"Uncle Yuvcai!" Shea Gelan exclaimed, then covered her mouth and wept.

The Spirit Beast Workshop had only been through three generations, and the Shea family was small in number, with a single heir in each generation. Otherwise, Shea Gelan, a young woman, would not have been placed in charge of the Spirit Beast Workshop, which was the Shea family's legacy.

Thanks to their extraordinary cultivation talents, all three generations had reached the Deification Stage. Shea Zhongtian, known as the Dao Coming Rogue Immortal, had even ascended to the realm of Rogue Immortal.

Niu Yuvcai, an adopted son taken in by Shea Zhongtian, had always been treated as his own. His cultivation talent was lacking, so the Shea family had invested heavily in life-extending elixirs for him, even going so far as to give him scraps of Holy Medicine.