The Name of Eternals

Chapter 58: Slaying the Flood Dragon from Thirty Li Away

"He... he... he..."

Yu Wei couldn't even bother with the tea he had just spit onto the snack plate. He pointed to the spot where Li Hao had disappeared, his eyes bulging as he stuttered, trying to speak.

"The... the man is gone?!"

Du Qiuyue, equally shocked, stood up abruptly, her face filled with disbelief. "Where did he go?"

Beside them, Ren Qianqian was stunned. Her eyes quickly scanned the surroundings with great care, but she couldn't find any trace of Li Hao—not even a footprint.

In the blink of an eye, he had disappeared right under their noses.

It was clear that unless this was some kind of unheard-of illusion technique, it had to be that Li Hao's speed was simply too fast, beyond her ability to track.

If he were to attack her at such speed... Her pupils contracted slightly, and her grip on the sword hilt tightened.

"He... he... this... this..."

Yu Wei turned to look at Li Yuanzhao, waving his arms in a frantic manner, clearly unsettled.

"Yuanzhao, what cultivation level is your Brother Hao at?" Du Qiuyue, having somewhat recovered, couldn't help but ask Li Yuanzhao.

Li Yuanzhao was equally dumbfounded. He had spent so much time with Brother Hao, but he had never seen him display such a skill.

What cultivation level? Wasn't Brother Hao on the path of body refinement? His mother had said that the ceiling for body refinement was low; the best one could hope for was the Zhou Tian Realm, and even reaching the Ji Soul Realm was difficult.

Could it be that Brother Hao had already reached the Ji Soul Realm?!

Li Yuanzhao's heart trembled. He wasn't entirely ignorant; if Brother Hao had reached the Ji Soul Realm, it meant he could now channel the energy of heaven and earth, indicating that his meridians were fully open!

Brother Hao could cultivate!

At the thought of this possibility, Li Yuanzhao was so excited that his hand, resting on the table, began to tremble.

...

Meanwhile, fifteen li away...

The Black Flood Dragon Lady was shocked, wondering if she had seen wrong. Just as she was filled with doubt, she saw Li Hao step out from the small tea stand, instantly speeding towards her like a golden lightning bolt.

So fast!

Moreover, he was moving through the air!

The Black Flood Dragon Lady's face changed drastically, filled with horror. This was the hallmark of someone at the Fifteen Li Realm! Could it be that the son of the Marquis of Xingwu was at the Fifteen Li Realm?!!

How old was he?!

Her mind went blank for a moment. She had thought this would be a simple task of beheading someone from fifteen li away with a single scale, but now, something utterly unimaginable had occurred.

A strong sense of impending doom instantly enveloped her, snapping her back to reality. Without a second thought, she instinctively turned to flee, intending to regroup with her husband.

In a flash of black light, she soared into the air, trying to escape into the distance.

But before she could move a few hundred meters above the treetops, a golden light suddenly descended from the sky. From within the light, a pale, slender hand emerged, pressing down on the top of the Black Flood Dragon Lady's head and driving her straight into the ground several meters below.

With a thunderous crash, the ground caved in, forming a massive pit.

On the ground, the Black Flood Dragon Lady's head was pinned in the dirt by Li Hao's hand, her face filled with fear and disarray.

She was utterly terrified, feeling as if the hand on her head was made of steel, like a thousand mountains pressing down on her. She couldn't move an inch.

How could this possibly be the power of someone at the Fifteen Li Realm?!

She let out a sharp, beastly roar, her entire body enveloped in a black, monstrous aura as she revealed her true form.

A massive, hideous dragon head emerged from the mist, turning to bite Li Hao. But in the next moment, a finely embroidered boot appeared from the mist, ruthlessly stomping on the dragon's head, driving it further into the ground with a resounding thud.

The thick dragon tail whipped around, sweeping towards Li Hao from behind.

Without even turning, Li Hao casually swung his fist backward.

Accompanied by a deep, muffled sound, the overwhelming force of more than a million jin struck the dragon's tail, instantly denting and peeling away its scales, causing the tail to smash into the ground.

A painful, beastly cry echoed from beneath his feet, though it seemed muffled, as if the dragon's mouth could barely open.

A gust of wind cleared the surrounding demonic mist. Li Hao stood with one foot on the dragon's head, his other hand resting on his knee as he carefully examined the creature beneath him.

"Attacking me? You weren't just trying to kill me, were you? Who sent you?"

Li Hao narrowed his eyes, asking softly.

There was no anger in his voice, but the Black Flood Dragon Lady felt a chill run through her entire body.

"Who... who are you?"

She barely managed to open her mouth, asking in fear.

To be completely overpowered in just one move—could he be at the Tianren Realm?!

At this moment, she suspected that their assassination attempt had long been known to the Shenjiang Mansion and that this was a trap.

"You aimed at me out of everyone at the tea stand, and you don't know who I am?"

Li Hao sneered. He felt that aside from his appearance, there shouldn't have been anything that made him stand out more than the others.

If they were targeting the Shenjiang Mansion, they had certainly come prepared.

"You're really the son of the Marquis of Xingwu? That's impossible; your age can't be faked. The Marquis's son is only fourteen years old, and you're at the Fifteen Li Realm!"

The Black Flood Dragon Lady questioned, her voice tinged with both anger and frustration.

Fourteen years old, at the Fifteen Li Realm?

Even for a top-tier genius with a Ninth-grade Battle Body, reaching the Shenyou Realm at that age would already be terrifying!

"You know my father?"

Li Hao raised an eyebrow, suddenly recalling the assassination attempt when he was seven years old. His eyes narrowed. "Could it be that you're sent by the demon clan from Yanbei?"

He could have killed this demon back at the tea stand, but he had chosen to pursue her to find out the reason behind the attack.

"You're really his son?!"

The Black Flood Dragon Lady, hearing Li Hao's words, was shocked, her dragon eyes widening as she strained to look up at the young man's face.

Li Hao pressed down slightly harder with his foot, his voice cold. "Tell me, what's happening in Yanbei? Why have you been in a stalemate for so many years? Does your demon clan not understand the strength of the Great Yu Dynasty? Even without the Li family, if you tear a hole, other Shenjiang Mansions will send reinforcements, and the Great Yu Army, led by the royal family, can march out at any time. Are you demons so desperate?"

"Don't act as if the human race is so united. Taking Yanbei is only the first step."

The Black Flood Dragon Lady sneered, but she immediately realized her slip of the tongue and quickly switched to an angry tone. "With such talent, you could have entered a prestigious mountain to cultivate, becoming famous across the world. Why hide your strength and pretend to be a weakling?!"

"The first step?" Li Hao frowned. It sounded as if the demon forces attacking Yanbei were vast, with ambitions to conquer the entire Great Yu Dynasty.

How was that possible? How many demons would it take to accomplish that?

He stared down at the Black Flood Dragon Lady. "Hiding my strength? I just haven't had the chance to show it. When I was twelve, I fished a flood dragon, but you didn't see it. How is that my fault? If you're honest and cooperate, I might consider sparing your life."

"Twelve years old and fished a flood dragon?" The Black Flood Dragon Lady was momentarily stunned, her heart growing cold. She was so shocked she couldn't find words.

"Have you made up your mind? You've cultivated for so long; don't give up so easily," Li Hao said.

The Black Flood Dragon Lady snapped back to reality, her heart filled with fear. She had only one thought: she must survive and deliver this terrifying information.

If Lord Bai knew about this child's talent, even without the Yanbei battlefield, he would go to any lengths to kill him, for he would surely become a great threat in the future.

Originally, she thought sending her and her husband was overkill, to leave no room for error. But they had still underestimated him.

Not the protection of the Shenjiang Mansion, but the target himself!

Seeing the dragon demon's silence, Li Hao mused aloud, "Well, if you want to die, it's been a long time since I've eaten flood dragon meat. Today, I'll take your liver. I wonder if you've kept it tender."

The Black Flood Dragon Lady's pupils contracted as if a devil was whispering over her head.

It was always demons who ate humans, but this young man wanted to eat a demon— and not for its inner core, but just for the taste of its liver?

"Husband, save me!"

Seeing that Li Hao was about to strike, the Black Flood Dragon Lady urgently shouted.

"Hmm?" Li Hao paused slightly. Was there another one?

He was on high alert, sending his divine sense out from his head to scan the surroundings. Soon, he spotted a fierce battle erupting thirty li away on a distant hill.

A massive, thick Black Flood Dragon was engaged in combat with two people.

Li Hao had noticed these two before; they had been following them all along. One of them was Fu Bo, and the other was unfamiliar—likely someone sent by Ren Qianqian's backers.

At this moment, their battle was extremely perilous. Fu Bo had already been injured and could only provide support from the side.

"Borrowing one of your scales."

A flash of killing intent appeared in Li Hao's eyes. He bent down and plucked a scale from the Black Flood Dragon Lady's head, then suddenly flung it out. The scale transformed into a streak of black light, vanishing instantly into the sky.

The Black Flood Dragon Lady was momentarily stunned, then utterly horrified. "What... what are you doing?!"

Thirty li away.

The two engaged in fierce combat were being driven back step by step. Li Fu's face was pale; he hadn't expected to encounter a Fifteen Li Realm great demon here. With his Shenyou Realm cultivation, escaping was difficult, and he was fortunate to have another Fifteen Li Realm person assisting him.

However, the situation was far from favorable. The distress signal he had sent out earlier had been intercepted by the great demon, leaving them with no other options.

"Die!"

The Black Flood Dragon roared ferociously, slamming the burly man down the hillside. Just as it was about to swoop down and tear him apart, a sharp sound of something breaking through the air suddenly arrived.

"Hmm?"

The Black Flood Dragon hesitated, turning its head. In its pupil, a black scale rapidly expanded in size.

With a loud thud, the scale, moving at an unavoidable and terrifying speed, pierced directly into the dragon's eye, quickly churning within its skull and destroying all of its brain tissue!

The Black Flood Dragon spewed a massive amount of blood from its mouth, the remaining eye filled with disbelief and horror. It recognized the black light—it was the scale of its mate, but how...

With a resounding crash, the Black Flood Dragon fell, its life force quickly fading away.

One scale, thirty li, slays a dragon.