“Kid, we’re not done yet.”

The Netherworld White Tiger, whose attack had just missed, had already turned around.

A savage, murderous aura rolled off its entire body, pressing down on everything around it.

“Roar~”

With a furious roar, a white claw swipe came whistling toward Xiaobai.

It was faster and more powerful than the last one.

The force of its strike whipped up a storm. Space could barely withstand it before it was torn apart in an instant.

Then, in the blink of an eye, as if they’d planned it together—

Dark purple lightning shot in, quickly coiling around the storm.

The already dangerous storm instantly took on a terrifying aura and surged toward Xiaobai.

“Huh? This wind’s pretty interesting.”

This time, Xiaobai didn’t dodge. Instead, Xiaobai looked eager to give it a try. It didn’t matter that the warm-up wasn’t even finished.

It looked pretty powerful—maybe the strongest thing Xiaobai had seen so far.

The only question was whether it was stronger than one ordinary sword slash at Xiaobai’s current level.

So how could Xiaobai pass up the chance to try something this interesting?

Xiaobai casually waved a hand, and a sword slash appeared out of thin air in front of the storm.

The sword slash looked utterly ordinary, and it moved so slowly.

Yet in the eyes of the Netherworld White Tiger and the Purple Thunder Lightning Leopard, it was anything but ordinary.

The instant the sword slash appeared,

the two Sacred Beasts felt the same dreadful shock they’d felt when they once faced the Black Sacred Dragon Emperor.

A moment later, the unremarkable sword slash collided with the terrifying storm.

“Pssh~”

The sword slash sliced through the lightning storm with ease, as if it were cutting tofu. Then, its task complete, it faded away on its own.

The storm’s remaining force swept past on either side. Nothing could stop it wherever it went.

“Oh, what a shame. Looks like my sword slash was a little stronger after all. You two did pretty well, too, but you’ll have to keep working at it!”

Seeing that the sword slash had won made Xiaobai very happy. Xiaobai looked at the two Sacred Beasts and gave them a little encouragement.

Xiaobai didn’t notice that both Sacred Beasts’ faces had darkened in an instant.

But they had no choice. Their strongest combined attack had been scattered in an instant. There wasn’t much confidence left to lose.

What was that Serpent doing, anyway? It still hadn’t attacked. Had it been hiding for so long that it got lost?

Suddenly—

“Whoosh!”

Xiaobai was so happy that Xiaobai got carried away, slipped, and nearly fell.

At the same time, a translucent shape that had been lying in wait in the forest for a long while shot toward Xiaobai.

◇

A little earlier. From the Shadowlight Serpent’s point of view.

The White Tiger and the leopard were battling Xiaobai fiercely in the distance.

Hidden in the forest, the Shadowlight Serpent felt like moss was about to grow all over it.

That human brat looked arrogant, for one thing. And the way the brat went about things was so careless.

The Serpent had thought this would be an easy opponent to deal with.

But who could’ve guessed that after all this time, the so-called “Jungle Assassin” still couldn’t find a single opening on the brat, no matter what angle it tried?

How was it supposed to assassinate an enemy of equal or even higher rank if there wasn’t a single opening?

This was hopeless. Did the brat really have to be so careful...?

Go head-on? Was the Serpent looking for trouble...?

For a moment, the Shadowlight Serpent felt completely useless.

Then, all of a sudden, the human brat in the distance went “Whoosh!” and slipped.

The sight filled the Shadowlight Serpent with excitement.

It was as if the heavens themselves had taken pity on the Serpent.

The Serpent was screaming inside: The human brat over there slipped! The chance is here! What are you waiting for? Go!

A chance like this wouldn’t come again. If not now, then when?

Without another thought, the Shadowlight Serpent burst into its fastest speed and darted toward Xiaobai’s heart.

Closer and closer.

That’d teach the brat to act so arrogant and keep up such a tight guard.

In the end, the Serpent had still found an opening.

The brat had finally made a mistake!

Hahahaha~

In an instant, the Shadowlight Serpent felt that dawn was just ahead and victory was waving it over...

◇

One minute after the sword slash broke the storm. From Xiaobai’s point of view.

Ugh, why’s that thing still not making a move?

Compared to the two Sacred Beasts right in front of Xiaobai, the one lying over there was the real idiot.

It still thought it could sneak through the forest and attack Xiaobai.

Didn’t it know Xiaobai had noticed it ages ago?

Well, can’t really blame it. This Sword God’s Divine Sense was seriously useful.

It formed a picture right in Xiaobai’s mind. Within a certain range, Xiaobai could sense any attack, any movement.

Those fierce claw strikes, those swift bolts of lightning—

the instant you unleashed them, Xiaobai knew everything. Seriously.

What a bonus. What a bonus!

Looks like this Sword God Realm that Xiaobai got for free is actually useful.

The only problem was that being watched all the time made Xiaobai a little nervous.

Especially by a dangerous spectator like the one over there. That was a big no.

Xiaobai needed a way to settle this once and for all.

Maybe just...

And now, back to the Shadowlight Serpent’s point of view.

The Shadowlight Serpent quickly reached the spot it had aimed for.

But what came toward it wasn’t the human brat’s supposedly fragile heart.

It was a black scabbard, with a black sword inside, growing larger and larger.

Then—

“Thud!”

A “meteor” streaked across the sky.

It flew so fast that it vanished in the blink of an eye.

Back on the ground, Xiaobai—the culprit behind this “masterpiece”—looked up at it and felt a little dejected.

“Looks like I put a little too much force into that.”

“And maybe the angle was a little off. How’d it end up flying into the sky?”

“I really didn’t mean to.”

Xiaobai had only meant to smack it a little farther away. Who knew it’d fly so far—and so high? Sorry about that.

◇

In the distance.

“My lord, look! A shooting star~”

“Phoenix, not to be rude, but you’ve been on the Mountain of Heaven for so long. Have you ever seen a shooting star?”

“No, no, it’s real! My lord, look over there! A shooting star, a shooting star! Ah~ I can’t hold on—I have to make a wish!”

The Infernal Demon Phoenix hurriedly stopped preening its beautiful feathers, closed its eyes, and began making a wish.

It looked so utterly sincere.