Chapter 57: A Thousand Eyes, Ten Thousand Blades
The dust had yet to settle.
Silence hung heavy over the open ground where Ye Wenjie had fallen. Not a single word was uttered—only the faint sound of the night wind brushing against robes and skin. Faces twisted with disbelief, eyes wide in astonishment, mouths left agape in shock.
It wasn't because Su Tianhao had won. It was how he had done it. One blow. One roar. One fist that shattered everything they thought they understood about strength and cultivation.
"What kind of technique was that?! Someone pinch me—I have to make sure I'm not hallucinating!" someone shouted from the crowd, their voice breaking the oppressive silence like a stone thrown into still water.
"Ouch! It hurts! I'm not dreaming!" the same person yelped after being pinched sharply by his companion.
"That wasn't the kind of power any peak-grade technique could unleash, even if cultivated to absolute perfection!"
"But Su Tianhao is only at the 1st level of Martial Disciple Realm! He cannot cultivate any technique that surpasses Mortal rank! It's an iron law in the cultivation world!"
"Then can someone explain what's going on?! Su Tianhao defeating Ye Jianping is one thing—both are at the 1st level after all. But Ye Wenjie? He's three minor realms above that!"
"Ancient Mortal Rank Technique!!!"
A loud voice thundered across the night sky like divine judgment.
Everyone turned immediately toward the source—the massive middle-aged man who had acted as referee. Seeing who had spoken, the crowd fell even more silent. This man clearly possessed profound knowledge and experience far beyond their own.
"Ancient Mortal Rank Technique?"
Although they didn't want to believe such an outrageous explanation, his authoritative words were the only logical solution for what they'd just witnessed.
"Dear heavens! How lucky can one person be?!"
"Don't tell me Su Tianhao discovered the ruins of an ancient powerhouse?!"
"It's entirely possible! That would explain both his rapid increase in strength and that devastatingly powerful technique!"
"To think he's cultivated an Ancient Mortal Rank Technique—and from its demonstrated strength, it's clearly not an ordinary one either."
"I knew Ancient Techniques were supposed to be powerful, but I never imagined they'd allow someone to fight three entire minor realms above their own level..."
In that single moment, every person in the assembled crowd completely misread the situation—tying Su Tianhao's strength and rapid advancement directly to an ancient ruin discovery. In an instant, the shock on their faces vanished like dissipating smoke, replaced by something far more dangerous.
Greed. Pure, undiluted greed.
---
"Young Master!"
The hawk-eyed youth and the two maids called out in worry after finally being shaken from their daze. They had no idea what an Ancient Mortal Rank Technique actually entailed—but from the greedy looks blazing in every surrounding eye, it was clearly something of terrifying value. How could they not worry?
The three rushed toward where Ye Wenjie had crashed. A small crater had formed beneath him from the sheer impact force, dust and debris scattered everywhere in the immediate vicinity.
"Young Master! Young Master!"
Up close, Ye Wenjie's appearance was utterly wretched. His face was deathly pale, blood flowing steadily from the corner of his lips. His slanted eyes were barely open—like someone on the verge of losing consciousness entirely. His palm—the one that had collided directly with Su Tianhao's fist—was swollen beyond recognition, displaying an ugly hue of dark red and deep purple, fingers twisted at unnatural angles that made even looking at them painful.
He was clearly in tremendous agony.
The self-confident, manipulative young master was no more. His once-charming face was now distorted with unbearable pain, teeth gritted so tightly they were painted crimson with his own blood.
The hawk-eyed youth immediately reached into his robes and produced a small pill bottle—one containing only four pills rather than the standard ten. His own personal medicinal supply, carefully preserved through countless training sessions and sudden injuries over time. Today it would serve a different purpose entirely.
Without hesitation, he fed all four pills to Ye Wenjie one after another until the supply was exhausted.
The healing pills dissolved immediately upon entering Ye Wenjie's throat, concentrated medicinal energy flowing rapidly through his body and addressing the most critical injuries with visible effect. These were only grade one pills—common medicinal aids at best. But Ye Wenjie's condition recovered considerably. He no longer seemed on the verge of losing consciousness, and his pain had been partially eased. Some color returned to his face, though he still looked thoroughly beaten.
The hawk-eyed youth sighed deeply in relief. "Let's help him stand."
The two maids nodded frantically, stepping forward and draping Ye Wenjie's arms over their shoulders with flushed faces despite the circumstances. The hawk-eyed youth moved to stabilize them from behind, carefully bringing Ye Wenjie upright.
Ye Wenjie's gaze turned absolutely frigid as it fixed on Su Tianhao's distant figure, his heart burning with rage and humiliation.
'Su Tianhao... I will make you pay for this a thousand—no, ten thousand times over. I swear it on my name,' he vowed inwardly with all-consuming hatred.
---
On the makeshift battleground, Su Tianhao's solitary figure stood straight and firm. But his face bore a deep, troubled frown.
The greed in the surrounding eyes was becoming more blatantly obvious with each passing moment. They wore dreamy smiles as they openly fantasized about getting their hands on that technique—using it against their own troublesome enemies and hated rivals. In their eyes, Su Tianhao had suddenly transformed into a walking golden treasure that they wished nothing more than to claim.
'Damnit! This is exactly what I've been trying to avoid,' he cursed inwardly with mounting frustration. 'Now they've completely mistaken the Raging Dragon Fist for an ancient technique!'
He had learned about ancient techniques from Uncle Yuan during one of their many educational conversations. These were powerful martial arts dating back over ten thousand years—to a legendary time before the great calamity that had fundamentally reshaped the entire world and led directly to the extinction of Martial Saints. That catastrophic event was known throughout history as the Great Sundering Calamity.
In those ancient days, martial arts cultivation had reached its absolute peak. The techniques, pills, and weapons of that golden era were far superior to anything available in the current declining age. By comparison, today's Mortal rank techniques were merely diluted imitations—pale shadows of their vastly superior ancient counterparts. In those times, even basic Mortal rank techniques could push practitioners far beyond their natural limits. But now? Modern techniques could only help a cultivator draw out their existing strength—nothing more, nothing less.
True Ancient Techniques had long since vanished from the world. Today, they could only be discovered within dangerous ruins or among the scattered remnants of Great Sundering historical sites—making them exceedingly rare and precious beyond measure. Even Su Tianhao himself didn't fully understand the true reason for the cultivation world's drastic decline over the millennia.
He had asked his father's soul remnant, Chenyuan, about it during their brief meeting. His father's answer had been simple, yet frustratingly firm:
"That's another story entirely. You'll have to discover it yourself. It would do you more harm than good if I told you now."
'Damnit,' Su Tianhao cursed through gritted teeth, an old saying flashing through his mind like a warning bell. 'A man's wealth invites a thousand eyes and ten thousand blades... Now that they've mistaken the Raging Dragon Fist for an Ancient technique, they'll stop at nothing to get their hands on it!'
The bitter truth was that the Raging Dragon Fist was no Ancient Mortal rank technique. It existed on an entirely different level altogether. But it was also a technique that not just anyone could cultivate, regardless of how desperately they might try.
After finally reaching Perfection mastery, Su Tianhao had gained profoundly deeper insight into the technique's true nature. The Raging Dragon Fist contained three distinct moves. Before reaching Perfection, he had only been able to utilize what he now understood was called Raging Pulse—the first and most basic move, granting at most a fifty-percent boost in raw strength. After achieving Perfection, he had unlocked access to the second hidden move. The Dragon Roar Descent he'd unleashed against Ye Wenjie was that second move—far more powerful, granting a devastating seventy-percent boost in strength. The third move remained a complete mystery, and he hadn't even believed it existed until learning about the elusive Assimilation stage. This technique, however, could only be cultivated by those possessing latent dragon bloodline heritage—making it impossible for anyone else to replicate regardless of talent.
Upon unlocking the second layer of his inherited memories, Su Tianhao had also gained much deeper understanding of the technique's true origin. Although classified as merely a peak-grade Mortal rank technique by martial arts standards, the Raging Dragon Fist was a peak-grade Mortal rank technique originating from the Immortal Realm itself—something no mortal realm technique of any rank could ever hope to match in quality or effectiveness. It was a foundational technique used by young elites within the Immortal Realm's Supreme Dragon clans during their early cultivation stages. Even his own father, the legendary Tunlong Chenyuan, had once cultivated this very same technique during his youth.
Lost deep within his troubled thoughts, Su Tianhao failed to notice the increasingly predatory gazes being directed toward him—like a hungry pack of wolves eyeing vulnerable prey.
Then a commanding voice rang out clearly, cutting through the tension-filled night air.
"Kid—where did you acquire that technique?"
The massive middle-aged man. The same one who had brought up the entire discussion about Ancient Mortal rank techniques in the first place.
The moment his authoritative question resounded across the open space, every head turned immediately toward Su Tianhao with predatory eyes. They all desperately wanted to know the true origin of that devastating technique. Even Ye Wenjie and his three followers were no exceptions—greed and burning curiosity had taken root in their hearts alongside the shock.
'Ancient Mortal rank technique,' Ye Wenjie's thoughts churned with dark ambition despite his injuries. 'If I can get my hands on it... I would become the undisputed number one among Oakwood City's entire younger generation.' The desire burned intensely in his eyes as he stared fixedly at Su Tianhao's distant figure.
Even as the Ye family's most outstanding young master with six-star talent, he had never dared openly claim to be the undisputed strongest among Oakwood City's younger generation. There were simply too many hidden dragons and crouching tigers among the various established families.
Every single pair of eyes in the assembled crowd remained locked onto Su Tianhao's solitary figure—filled with various complex emotions, yet sharing one unmistakable quality.
Curiosity and greed.