Asura Emperor Venerable
Chapter 546: Deterrence

Chapter 546: Chapter 546: Deterrence

After shaking off Nan Menxi, Shi Hao started the routine sweep.

The three-hundred-mile border zone teemed with elemental creatures.

Shi Hao never knew what they were looking for, but they were obviously very patient. Despite suffering heavy casualties, they showed no signs of giving up.

After a spree of killings, Shi Hao successfully attracted the pursuit of seven Founding King Court elemental powerhouses and had no choice but to withdraw from the earthly grotto.

However, this time he reaped a great harvest, his Power Value soaring to the Peak of the fifth phase.

Once he went back and perfected his Galactic Dharma Form, he wouldn’t be far from making a breakthrough to the sixth phase.

Heh, Du Bei wanted to suppress him by realm, he really needed to hurry up. Otherwise, Shi Hao might just be the one to break through the Founding King Court first!

In fact, once Shi Hao reached the ten-phase, he was confident he could suppress the lower-ranking members of the Founding King Court.

Bring it on!

Just as he was about to leave the Elemental Cave, he saw a figure sprinting from a distance, followed closely by several pursuers.

It was Nan Menxi, being chased by elemental creatures!

Shi Hao took a closer look, the ones chasing Nan Menxi were all from the Founding King Court.

Tsk tsk, this guy could really stir up trouble, and the fact that he could still bounce back here despite attracting so many from the Founding King Court proved his boasts weren’t all empty.

"Little brother, do you think I look cool?" Nan Menxi also spotted Shi Hao and immediately waved and asked.

Show-off!

"Are you talking about how pitiful you looked while running away?" Shi Hao said indifferently.

"Being able to move freely among so many from the Founding King Court, that’s skill!" Nan Menxi said proudly.

Then, he was surprised to find that he had passed by, but Shi Hao was still standing in the same spot without moving.

Are you courting death?

You think those Founding King Court elemental creatures chasing me won’t have the time to hit you too?

The Founding King Court kills Self-Observation with one move.

What’s more, they have eight members of the Founding King Court here, pulling out any single one to suppress you wouldn’t impact their chase at all.

At this point, it was impossible for him to turn back to save Shi Hao.

—His speed was enough, but his combat power was not a match for the Founding King Court.

As expected, seven elemental creatures continued to chase Nan Menxi, with only one Water Person launching an attack at Shi Hao.

Since they had seen a human, naturally they would seek to eliminate him, which was just a wave of the hand for them.

Shi Hao smiled, his Star Nebula Dharma Form opened, and in an instant, it enveloped all eight elemental creatures.

His Soul Force could only reach around thirty feet, but the reach of the Star Nebula Dharma Form had already reached a hundred feet.

In an instant, all eight elemental creatures inside lost their direction.

"Damn, that works?" Nan Menxi stopped, turned his head, and couldn’t help gnashing his teeth.

He was too far behind when the Supplementing Divine Temple Fire Person was chasing Shi Hao, so he didn’t have a deep understanding of the Star Nebula Dharma Form.

However, the Founding King Court was after all the Founding King Court, having a major realm’s crush advantage; those elemental creatures were only trapped momentarily before they all broke free.

Yet, one Stone Person staggered and quickly collapsed to the ground, its stone pieces fell off, turning into normal rocks, except for one Elemental Core that was still faintly glowing.

Damn, dead.

Not only Nan Menxi, but the other seven elemental creatures were equally shocked.

Just like that, in an instant, a member of the Founding King Court was dead, and obviously, it was Shi Hao who did it, who could believe it?

Shi Hao smiled. Just now, when the fog had wrapped around them, he had used the potent poison of the Deep Sea Sting, successfully infecting the Stone Person—this could even kill someone from the Supplementing Divine Temple, so essentially, the individual from the Founding King Court had died instantly.

But with the fog thick around them, no one saw what happened, which naturally added a sense of mystery and horror.

For a moment, all seven Elemental Creatures halted, showing a deep fear in their expressions.

The unknown had bred fear, even though Shi Hao was only a Self-Observation practitioner.

Shi Hao didn’t make another move, as he only had one dose of the Deep Sea Sting’s poison left, which he needed to save for a more crucial moment.

"Leave, or he will be your example," he said, pointing at the corpse of the Stone Person.

The seven Elemental Creatures looked at each other, anger evident on their faces, but they restrained themselves from acting recklessly as they considered the consequences of their actions.

After all, their associate had just bizarrely died right before their eyes.

Then, in the next instant, all seven Elemental Creatures backed away quickly and left the scene.

"You’re so awesome!" Nan Menxi ran over, his eyes glowing.

It was truly impressive. A mere Self-Observation, he had killed a member of the Founding King Court and scared off seven others—nobody would believe it if they told the story.

Shi Hao smiled, "How about becoming my follower?"

He had deliberately shown his power to intimidate Nan Menxi and recruit him.

Nan Menxi displayed a hesitant expression.

The truth was that he was indeed tempted. This guy was so powerful, he could kill a member of the Founding King Court, and following him could mean earning a significant amount of Contribution Value.

"Okay, from now on, you’re my boss!" he said straightforwardly.

Shi Hao smiled, "Let’s go."

"Boss, boss, the method you used to kill the member of the Founding King Court, can you teach me?" Nan Menxi was not shy to ask right away.

If he could do it as well, then the Contribution Value he could earn would skyrocket by more than ten times.

"Sure," Shi Hao didn’t mind, saying, "It’s very simple. I refined a type of poison that can kill even those from the Supplementing Divine Temple, naturally killing those from the Founding King Court is no problem."

"Ah, it’s that simple?" Nan Menxi was greatly disappointed, then his eyes lit up again, "Can you give me some of that poison?"

"I’ve used it all up," Shi Hao spread his hands.

Nan Menxi immediately realized he had been tricked, but since he had already called him ’boss’, it was useless to back out now. Besides, he wasn’t one to suffer a loss easily—the title of ’boss’ wouldn’t go for nothing.

He decided to endure it, determined to gain enough benefits from Shi Hao to compensate for his current emotional wounds.

The two left the earthly grotto and then returned to the academy to rest properly.

Shi Hao increasingly felt the scarcity of his Soul Force.

He had not forgotten to cultivate his Soul Force, but if done step by step, the improvement was quite limited. Although the Black Hole Physiognomy consumed energy and provided some feedback to the spirit, the boost was not significant.

Thus, the increase in Soul Force was far from keeping up with the improvement in his cultivation.

He went to find Weng Nanqing, as he couldn’t always let her keep owing him Spirit Fruits.

After much coaxing and pressing, Weng Nanqing finally gave him the Nurturing Spirit Netherworld Fruit she had promised him.

She looked reluctant.

Items that increased Soul Force were rare, and while the academy had opened up Contribution Value exchanges, making power increases easier, the bottleneck was in Soul Force.

Such treasures were scarce even for herself.

There was no choice; she had made a promise, and she wasn’t one to renege on her word.

"Sister, you have so many sisters under you; if there’s more business like this, you must remember to refer them to me," Shi Hao packed away the Nurturing Spirit Netherworld Fruit, selling himself, "At worst, I’ll share the profits with you."

Weng Nanqing rolled her eyes dramatically.