Outside the Five-Colored Flower Valley, monster qi surged into the sky.
Everywhere one looked, countless black scorpions crawled in clusters. Each was at least the size of a millstone, their tails glowing with a ghostly blue light that clearly carried terrifying poison.
Deep within the swarm, a crimson Scorpion King the size of a small mountain lay dormant, radiating a dreadful pressure.
Even the aura leaking from its breathing shook the air itself.
This was a half-step Monster Emperor, standing right at the threshold of the Emperor Realm. It was nothing an ordinary Monster King could compare to.
Hiss, hiss…
Sensing Yang Cheng and the others, the scorpion swarm grew restless. Thousands of blood-red eyes locked onto them, tails rising high, ready to strike at any moment.
"Your Highness, this Scorpion King won't be easy to handle. Should we try to lure it away first?"
Lin Shu whispered cautiously.
Yang Cheng's eyes were calm as he said lightly, "No need. We'll go straight in. But before that, take the Scorpion Poison Pill."
The Scorpion Poison Pill was designed specifically to counteract scorpion venom.
He pulled out a bottle, swallowed one pill himself, then gave one to each of the 12 others.
These pills were refined by his own hand.
After all, his alchemy had already reached the Perfection level.
Once everyone had taken the pills, Yang Cheng didn't hesitate. He strode directly toward the scorpion swarm.
"Hiss!"
The Scorpion King suddenly raised its head. Its crimson eyes locked tightly onto Yang Cheng as it let out a piercing screech, as if warning him.
But Yang Cheng didn't stop. Instead, his steps quickened!
"Roar!"
The Scorpion King was completely enraged. Its half-step Monster Emperor aura exploded, shaking the entire valley.
At the same time, countless scorpions seemed to receive its command and charged at Yang Cheng in unison.
The 12 behind him immediately acted, intercepting the tide of scorpions.
The Scorpion King grew even more furious.
From the void, faint ripples of its intent spread—it was clearly declaring Yang Cheng and his people must die.
A beast of this level already possessed considerable intelligence.
In the next moment—
The Scorpion King's colossal body lunged forward.
Its tail shot out like lightning, stabbing at Yang Cheng with such speed that even an afterimage was left in the air.
That single strike could have instantly killed most Martial Kings.
But golden light flashed in Yang Cheng's eyes as his powerful spiritual force surged to the limit.
Facing such a powerful existence, and with no outsiders around, he had no intention of holding back.
Buzz!
Time seemed to slow. The path of the scorpion's tail appeared clearly in his mind.
Yang Cheng shifted slightly to the side. The stinger grazed his robe before slamming into the ground, instantly corroding a massive pit.
"Break."
Seizing that instant, Yang Cheng's wooden sword burst into dazzling light. He slashed straight at the joint of the tail.
Crack!
The tail snapped cleanly, spraying foul, venomous fluid everywhere.
Hiss!
The Scorpion King shrieked in agony, thrashing wildly. Its massive pincers swept at Yang Cheng like twin giant blades.
Yang Cheng leapt into the air, dodging the blow. His sword shifted, thrusting straight toward the Scorpion King's left eye.
His speed was simply too fast. The beast had no time to evade.
Puchi!
The blade pierced deep.
The Scorpion King's left eye burst in a spray of blood.
Driven mad by the pain, its entire body flared with monstrous qi. Crimson carapace lit with strange, blood-colored markings as its aura climbed even higher.
It was obvious—the Scorpion King was ready to fight to the death.
"Your Highness, be careful!"
Shen Muxue cried out instinctively.
But Yang Cheng's expression never changed. His eyes burned with brilliance, sharp and steady.
"Half-step Monster Emperor? Nothing more than this."
In that moment, he understood his strength even better.
Even under the attack of a half-step Monster Emperor, he didn't feel strained at all.
Then, the Great Thunderous Sound Breathing Technique roared to life within him, arcs of lightning faintly flashing across his body.
And not only that—
Boom!
A surge of aura, fiercer than the Scorpion King's, erupted from Yang Cheng's body!
Ancestral Dragon Sword Body—open!
Roar!
From deep within him, the faint sound of a dragon's cry echoed.
In the next instant, Yang Cheng charged forward like a raging dragon.
The Scorpion King realized the danger and released thick waves of dark-red poisonous mist.
But Yang Cheng had already taken the Scorpion Poison Pill. The venom posed no threat to him.
To him, this was the perfect chance.
Taking advantage of the mist, he slipped close to the Scorpion King's belly.
The beast clearly hadn't expected its poison to fail.
Caught off guard, Yang Cheng's wooden sword pierced directly into the weakest gap of its carapace.
Sword qi surged inside, freezing the beast in place!
"Explode."
Yang Cheng uttered a single word.
Inside the Scorpion King, the sword qi detonated. Its organs shattered to pieces!
Bang!
The colossal body crashed to the ground, lifeforce cut off completely.
A half-step Monster Emperor had fallen.
All around, the lesser scorpions trembled in terror and scattered in every direction.
Yang Cheng sheathed his sword and said calmly, "Kill as many as you can."
Scorpions were valuable medicinal materials. He had no intention of letting their corpses go to waste.
Lin Shu and the others finally snapped back to themselves, their gazes burning with even deeper admiration.
This was their Crown Prince.
Slaying a half-step Monster Emperor as if butchering livestock.
What so-called geniuses elsewhere could compare to such presence?
Without hesitation, they rushed after the fleeing scorpions.
Meanwhile, Yang Cheng cut out the Scorpion King's monster core and stored its massive body into his spatial domain.
Leaving the rest to his companions, he sat cross-legged on the spot and began absorbing the Scorpion King's core.
By the time the others had nearly wiped out the surrounding swarm, Yang Cheng had fully absorbed it.
As expected of a half-step Monster Emperor's core.
His cultivation broke through on the spot, rising to Sixth-Level Martial King and nearing the Seventh.
Plenty of other scorpions still littered the field. Yang Cheng didn't hold back, absorbing their cores as well.
After dozens of cores, his cultivation surged again—he had become a Seventh-Level Martial King.
The others around him also advanced in strength, one after another.
"Let's go pick the Five-Colored Flowers."
Yang Cheng rose and led them deeper into the valley.
In less than two li, bright, dazzling flowers of five colors came into view.
As they approached, even Yang Cheng felt his mind grow hazy.
That was the unique effect of the Five-Colored Flower.
His powerful spirit allowed him to snap out of it quickly, while Tang Xingyu, Shen Muxue, and Lin Shu took a bit longer.
The Nineteen Tiger Generals, however, had clearly fallen into illusions.
"Wake up."
Yang Cheng barked coldly.
The nine generals jolted awake at once.
"These Five-Colored Flowers are truly sinister."
"Which only proves how precious they are."
Fear turned into excitement on their faces.
At this moment, they felt nothing but gratitude for following the Crown Prince.
Had they entered the Qingqiu Secret Realm alone, their fates would have been far worse.
"These are… the Five-Colored Flowers?"
Suddenly, a voice filled with barely restrained joy came from behind them.
Two groups appeared.
One belonged to the Bian'an Divine Sect of the Southern Wastes, the other to Luofu Mountain of the Central Wastes.
The leaders of both were no strangers to Yang Cheng—it was Nangong Yi and Zhang Qingyang.
At the same time, both groups laid eyes on Yang Cheng and his people.