On the other side of the forest.

“Boss, if I remember right, the Sword God on the human side is the equivalent of a Divine Beast on ours, isn’t he? Weren’t we told that this world can’t produce Level Ten powerhouses anymore? So how’d this kid become the Sword God? What’s the point of fighting him now?”

The magical beast they called “Boss” glanced at the other one and simply shook its head.

It wasn’t that it had nothing to say. It just didn’t want to say anything. The damn thing—if it weren’t for how strong it was, nobody would even want to admit they knew it.

“You stupid tiger, open those big eyes of yours and take a good look at that human. Sure, he’s the same rank as us Sacred Beasts, but in terms of combat strength, he’s a one-star ant we could beat senseless. You’ve been holed up in your lair for so long that your judgment must’ve regressed all the way to Sovereign Rank.”

“Who are you calling stupid? Believe me, I’ll smack you dead right now.”

“Come on, then! We’re the same rank. When it comes to fighting, when have I ever been afraid of you?”

“Oh, my~ This little brother really is interesting. But there’s something about his aura that I really can’t stand.”

“Huh? That smell’s so familiar. Right, there’s no mistake. This kid’s carrying the scent of that Shameless Old Man up on the mountain. Damn it, we’ve been searching all night, and we’ve finally found a trace of him.”

“You can say that again. Just thinking about that Shameless Old Man pisses me off. Five days ago, he swore up and down that he’d pay us back our spirit beans here at midnight tonight. And now? We can’t see hide nor hair of him.”

“Let’s ask this kid. The aura he’s carrying is still pretty strong, so the two of them must’ve met just recently.”

“But look how cocky this kid is. He definitely won’t tell us. Hmph. My Purple Sky Thunder killed who knows how many six- and seven-star Sword Saints and Saint Magisters in the last war between humans and magical beasts. I’ll let him have a taste of it, too.”

Several figures gradually came into view.

If the Shameless Old Man had been here, he would’ve recognized them at once. Every one of them was a peak existence among the magical beasts of the Demon Beast Mountain Range.

They were the reason humans didn’t dare venture into the depths of the Demon Beast Mountain Range.

The black magical beast said nothing, yet its presence was the most imposing of all. It was the SS-Rank, Nine-Star Sacred Beast—the Black Sacred Dragon Emperor.

The white magical beast walking along and yawning was the SS-Rank, Eight-Star Sacred Beast—the Netherworld White Tiger.

The red magical beast looked utterly noble. It was the SS-Rank, Eight-Star Sacred Beast—the Infernal Demon Phoenix.

The purple magical beast was wreathed in lightning. It was the SS-Rank, Eight-Star Sacred Beast—the Purple Thunder Lightning Leopard.

The dark magical beast coiled its body, flickering in and out of sight. It was the SS-Rank, Eight-Star Sacred Beast—the Shadowlight Serpent.

The pressure of the Five Sacred Beasts quickly silenced the forest, which had been bustling moments before.

Of course, that pressure had no effect whatsoever on Xiaobai.

“You’re impressive. You didn’t panic at all when we powerful beings arrived. For a human, that’s worth commending.”

In the distance, the Nine-Star Sacred Beast, the Black Sacred Dragon Emperor, slowly spoke. His tone was that of an elder appreciating a younger generation as he acknowledged Xiaobai.

If the one facing him had been an ordinary person, they could’ve bragged for the rest of their life about being praised by the supreme magical beast.

But Xiaobai wasn’t happy at all.

“Human brat, Lord Sacred Dragon Emperor praised you. You could at least respond. You’ve got no manners.” The Purple Thunder Lightning Leopard was getting impatient with Xiaobai, who stood across from it without reacting at all.

Come on. The Sword God himself was standing right here—a peak Level Ten powerhouse. And now, facing a bunch of Level Nine magical beasts, he was being praised by one of them in that condescending elder-to-younger tone. How could that not rub him the wrong way?

He’d already been in a foul mood from being woken up in the middle of a dream. Now that little knot of resentment had grown into a big one.

Still, you couldn’t really blame the Black Sacred Dragon Emperor and the Purple Thunder Lightning Leopard. Xiaobai had just been jolted awake from a dream, and he hadn’t realized that, in their eyes, his cultivation was trash.

If Xiaobai had revealed the Sword God realm and pressure he’d displayed right after breaking through, the sheer force of his presence would’ve left every Sacred Beast across from him—no matter what kind—too intimidated to speak.

It was a deterrent that came straight from the soul.

It was like the way a Divine Beast overpowered any magical beast beneath it: pure suppression through bloodline. None could stand against it, except those of equal rank.

Winning against someone of a higher rank? That just didn’t happen. When you were overwhelmed, you were overwhelmed. End of story.

But Xiaobai had been in such a rush chasing the old man that he hadn’t had time to activate the Sword God’s pressure or raise his realm or anything like that.

Not a chance.

His current one-star Sword Saint realm was something the old man had casually set when he was almost at his limit. Later, Xiaobai never thought it was necessary to change it back, so he left it as it was. As time went by, he forgot all about it.

And so, things got awkward.

This was supposed to go like this: a great expert makes an entrance, terrifies all the beasts with his presence, and the Sacred Beasts can only grovel at his feet.

Instead, that “great expert” looked completely out of it.

Presence? None.

Cultivation? None of that, either.

Unless they fought, who the hell would know that this guy looked like total trash, claimed to be the Sword God, and actually was the Sword God?

Besides, the Sword God hadn’t appeared in tens of thousands of years. Not a single beast believed it.

And so, Xiaobai was taken for a weakling.

Poor Xiaobai was still completely unaware of all this. He was thinking:

I already told them I’m the Sword God. But not only are they not afraid of me—their tone even sounds contemptuous.

This isn’t how I thought it’d go...