Nine Heavens Martial Emperor

Above the broken bridge ahead, a vicious bird over a hundred meters in size was flapping its wings.

As its wings beat, sand and stones flew on the far side of the bridge, the gale winds swirling like a Mad Dragon.

When its wings were level with the broken bridge, they seemed to span the gap, connecting the broken ends and reaching all the way to the other side.

Its wingspan was beyond imagination.

The dense clouds from a moment ago had clearly been scattered by the beating of its wings.

The path ahead was blocked by the vicious bird, and Lin Hao was nowhere to be seen.

Seeing this, the three women’s hearts leaped into their throats.

The recent earth-shattering cry had held immense power, and now, seeing only the vicious bird, they couldn’t help but worry for Lin Hao’s safety.

However, they soon breathed a sigh of relief and a smile appeared on their faces.

The vicious bird cried out again, then suddenly dove.

"It’s okay, brother-in-law will definitely be okay," Lu Diewu said, clutching her chest and praying as she stared at the spot where the vicious bird had vanished.

"That feathered fiend is so infuriating!" Meng Ru muttered, staring intently ahead.

Hearing Meng Ru, Lu Diewu snapped back to her senses and suddenly said, "Right, Sister Meng Ru, it looks a lot like that bird we saw when we first came in."

"You know, you’re right. They’re quite similar, but this fiend is much larger than the other one. Oh no... he killed the young one, and now the old one has come. It’s here for revenge! No, I have to go help." As she spoke, Meng Ru’s eyes flashed, and she prepared to leap into action.

Just then, a figure shot up from beneath the broken bridge, hovering in the air above it.

"Brother Hao!"

"Brother-in-law!"

"Young Master!"

The three women cried out in excitement.

The person who shot up from under the bridge was, of course, Lin Hao.

Lin Hao heard the women’s cries, but he had no time to respond.

Lin Hao hovered in the air, his expression grim. ’This vicious bird is far stronger than the last one. This Starry Sky Ancient Road is truly something else.’

Although Lin Hao had sensed something was wrong earlier, he hadn’t been able to locate the vicious bird.

When Lin Hao was halfway across, the vicious bird’s ear-splitting shriek nearly sent him plummeting.

Not only that, but the bird was incredibly fast. With a single dive and a flap of its wings, it whipped up a hurricane-force gale above the bridge.

At that moment, Lin Hao’s momentum was at its weakest, and the powerful gale slapped him straight down into the chasm below.

Lin Hao stretched his limbs, his gaze fixed below, as if facing a formidable foe.

He recalled being swatted away like a kite with a snapped string, smashing directly into the rock wall below.

The impact had been truly earth-shattering.

Lin Hao even had the fleeting thought that if not for the resilience of his body, he would have been smashed into a bloody pulp.

The force of that collision had been immense.

Perhaps it was out of confidence that the vicious bird hadn’t pursued him.

And naturally, Lin Hao had to seize such an opportunity.

He used this rare chance to recover and regulate his energy down below.

But Lin Hao quickly discovered he had underestimated the vicious bird.

He had just begun to circulate his energy when it discovered him and, with a cry, dove down.

However, the vicious bird no longer had the advantage in this second assault.

Instead of retreating, Lin Hao advanced, launching himself upward like a cannonball as he simultaneously struck with his sword, Zhanxie.

When Lin Hao landed back on the broken bridge, fresh blood spurted from one of the vicious bird’s wings.

But Lin Hao felt no joy at all.

’I know the power of that strike,’ Lin Hao thought. ’It could cut down a Martial Artist at the Fifth Layer of the Soul Gathering Realm, let alone a mere bird.’

Yet, his attack had struck the vicious bird and failed to even sever its wing. One could only imagine its toughness.

However, a moment later, Lin Hao realized he had still underestimated this vicious bird.

A ball of red light suddenly appeared on the body of the wounded bird.

The moment the red light emerged, the nearest rocks melted instantly!

When the red light faded, not only were the vicious bird’s injuries completely healed, but its entire body had turned crimson. An overwhelmingly ferocious aura exploded from it, blanketing everything.

Lin Hao’s eyes twitched as he inwardly cursed his luck.

’Not only did my strike fail to kill it, but it actually helped it break through its limits and reach a new level.’

Moreover, after this nirvanic rebirth, although the vicious bird was ferocious, it also emanated a faint, noble aura.

"To think this vicious bird actually has a trace of a Divine Phoenix’s aura. My attack caused its bloodline to awaken... I really shot myself in the foot," Lin Hao muttered, caressing his sword as he stared at the bird below.

But despite his words, a faint smile appeared on Lin Hao’s face as he finished speaking.

The stronger the bird’s aura, the greater the challenge, and Lin Hao had never been one to fear a challenge.

"Little thing, I’ll be waiting for you," Lin Hao called down to it.

As he spoke, a powerful aura erupted from his body.

Below, the vicious bird let out another ferocious shriek.

On the Starry Sky Ancient Road, none of the Devil Beasts could speak, but that didn’t mean they lacked intelligence.

The vicious bird understood the contempt in Lin Hao’s words.

A moment ago, it wouldn’t have been angered, but just now, a power had awakened within its body, revealing its origins.

It was a descendant of the Divine Phoenix!

Though its bloodline had grown thin over time, its ancestors were once mighty beings who could contend with the Great Emperors of old.

For this tiny human above to dare treat it with such disrespect—it was utterly enraged.

For now, however, it only let out a ferocious cry, for it had just obtained a technique.

Although the technique was severely incomplete, the bird knew its power. It had to master it as quickly as possible and annihilate the human before it.

Lin Hao himself had never seen a Devil Beast cultivate, but Chu Tiandu’s memories gave him a terrifyingly deep understanding of martial arts.

Seeing the vicious bird’s body begin to glow, Lin Hao naturally understood that the beast was comprehending some kind of technique.

Logically, this was the perfect time to strike, but Lin Hao did not do so.

’Taking advantage of a beast while it’s vulnerable... how would that make me any different from it?’

And so, the vicious bird below began comprehending the ancient inheritance it had just received, its body glowing brightly, while Lin Hao stood in the void above, a divine light gleaming in his eyes as he watched it.

Man and beast stared at each other across the distance.

"What is brother-in-law doing?" Lu Diewu finally asked, unable to contain her confusion after seeing Lin Hao remain motionless for so long.

Meng Ru, who had the highest cultivation of the three, flashed forward. She glanced at the motionless vicious bird in the mists below, then back at Lin Hao, and her beautiful eyes suddenly widened in disbelief.

"I think... Brother Hao is trying to comprehend that fiend’s Cultivation Technique!" Meng Ru said, barely able to believe her own words.

"A human can comprehend a Devil Beast’s Cultivation Technique?" Lu Diewu was also stunned.

The physical structure of a Devil Beast was completely different from a human’s; no one had ever been able to comprehend a Devil Beast’s Cultivation Technique.

Of the three women, only Meng Qing remained calm. She stared at Lin Hao, her eyes as bright as stars. "Others might not be able to, but I know the Young Master can."

Meanwhile, in a mysterious place within the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion, the eyes of the old man—the same one whose gaze held shifting stars and the turning of the sun and moon—were once again filled with strange phenomena. But unlike last time, his eyes now reflected scenes from the various Starry Sky Ancient Roads.