Seeing their actions, Chu Tian almost burst out laughing.
He had planned to pack up his things before dealing with this group of punks.
These little brats? Chu Tian could confidently say he could slap a whole bunch of them dead with one hand.
Yet, they dared to surround him and demand he kneel.
"Oh, great Young Clan Leader!"
"My eyes must be failing me; I haven't had the honor of asking..."
Chu Tian looked at the man, his face full of mock surprise.
Of course, it was all an act.
Before the Young Clan Leader could speak, one of the lackeys beside him shouted loudly, "Listen up, kid! This is our Lieyun Clan’s eighth-in-line successor to the Clan Leader, Young Clan Leader Lieqi!
He carries eleven percent of the noble bloodline of the Lieyun Eagle Sparrow.
You’re just a lowly human—why aren’t you kneeling and kowtowing already?"
Lieyun Eagle Sparrow? Noble bloodline?
Chu Tian sized up this Young Clan Leader Lieqi.
How bizarre—a mongrel being called a noble bloodline?
And this Lieqi, when his Lieyun Eagle Sparrow heritage was mentioned, grew even more arrogant.
He practically looked at the sky through his nostrils.
It seemed to be the thing he was most confident and proud of.
Chu Tian nodded, feigning admiration. "Impressive, impressive... truly remarkable..."
Hearing Chu Tian’s words of praise, Lieqi’s expression softened slightly.
But Chu Tian wasn’t done.
He continued, "I’m genuinely impressed. A mongrel like you dares to call himself a noble bloodline?
And you’re *really* something, strutting around as the *eighth* in line.
Planning to take out the seven successors ahead of you, are you?
Tell me, has your thick skin been cultivated to be tougher than the feathers of that Lieyun Eagle Sparrow, that flat-haired beast?"
At Chu Tian’s words, Young Clan Leader Lieqi was furious.
"You’re courting death—"
*Boom!*
Before he could finish, a loud explosion rang out.
Lieqi hadn’t even made a move before Chu Tian’s slap sent him sprawling to the ground.
The dozen or so others blinked, unable to follow what happened.
Lieqi was already lying there, writhing in pain, his eyes rolling back, his body twitching.
The mount beneath him, some unknown species, had been reduced to a puddle of blood and flesh.
"You... you... what do you want?"
Chu Tian looked down at Lieqi.
This guy’s neck was broken from the slap.
His body was twisted grotesquely.
His mount was deader than dead.
Yet, despite lying there unable to move, he didn’t seem to be on the verge of death.
This piqued Chu Tian’s curiosity.
The other young men and women who had come with him screamed, clutching their weapons but retreating in fear.
Chu Tian stepped forward, planting his foot on Lieqi’s face.
He pointed at the girl holding Xiao Kongkong and said darkly, "Release the chains!"
The girl, clearly terrified, trembled as she freed Xiao Kongkong.
"Squeak squeak squeak!" With a few quick leaps, Xiao Kongkong scurried up to Chu Tian’s shoulder.
At that moment, one of the retreating youths suddenly pulled out an object.
He yanked a cord on it.
"A firecracker? No... a signal flare!"
By the time Chu Tian realized, it was too late.
*Whoosh!*
An eagle’s cry pierced the air as a streak of fire exploded in the sky.
It was still dark, and a massive flaming bird appeared in the sky, strikingly vivid.
That must be the form of their so-called Lieyun Eagle Sparrow!
"Kid, I’ve sent the distress signal.
Reinforcements will arrive soon. Let me go now—argh!"
Before he could finish, a scream rang out. A fist-sized rock struck his mouth, knocking out all his teeth and sending him flying off his mount.
Chu Tian, annoyed by his chatter, had kicked a stone at him.
Talk about bad luck—stones were rare in this desert, yet one happened to be right by Chu Tian’s foot.
The others stared at Chu Tian in horror.
Now they knew they’d messed with the wrong person...
Looking at the monkey on his shoulder, they thought to themselves, *Why didn’t we believe what the monkey said?*
If they’d just grabbed it and run, they wouldn’t be in this mess.
In the Sea of Death, many could understand beast language, especially those with beast-taming talents.
The girl who’d been holding Xiao Kongkong was an apprentice beast tamer.
Earlier, they’d spotted Xiao Kongkong playing in the distance.
After surrounding and capturing it, the monkey had screeched wildly.
It even forced the girl to translate for them.
Xiao Kongkong had been yelling for them to let it go, warning that if its boss woke up, he’d take revenge.
It said their boss could slap them all dead with one hand.
This had provoked mocking laughter from the proud youths.
When had they ever been mocked by an animal?
So, they came to pick a fight with Chu Tian.
Now, they realized the monkey hadn’t exaggerated one bit.
Their strongest, Young Clan Leader Lieqi, had been crippled with a single slap.
They hadn’t even seen how it happened.
And now, he was lying there with a foot on his face.
What could they do?
They could only hope the reinforcements would arrive quickly.
Otherwise, if anything happened to Lieqi, they’d face a grim fate even if they made it back.
"Don’t kill me. Whatever you want, if I have it, it’s yours."
Though Lieqi couldn’t move, his mind was still sharp.
He was ready to pay to save his skin.
"Relax... I won’t kill you. I don’t even bother with killing you. Just behave and don’t resist. Otherwise, I’ll slap you dead right now!"
Chu Tian lifted his foot from Lieqi’s face.
Lieqi trembled, glancing at the pulped remains of his mount.
*You don’t bother with killing me? Who are you kidding?*
If not for his sturdy body, that slap would’ve turned him into meat paste too.
Chu Tian didn’t give him time to think, crouching down.
Suddenly, he extended a finger...
And pressed it directly to Lieqi’s forehead.
This was a soul-searching technique Chu Tian had learned from a secret soul art.
He’d originally planned to use it on that Gou Priest.
But that guy had died too quickly, catching Chu Tian off guard.
So, this Young Clan Leader, who seemed to have some status, would likely know a lot.
"Soul Search..."
[*Ding... System Notification: Reading information, constructing game background history!*]
"What the hell..."
Chu Tian was stunned. *I’m using a soul technique, why’s the system getting involved?*
"Sea of Death... Southwest Region?"
"City of Ten Thousand Beasts, Lieyun Eagle Sparrow Clan? Giant Tooth Tiger Clan? Earth-Splitting Rhino Clan? Long-Armed Ape Clan?"
"Humans as the lowliest race?"
[*Ding... System Notification: Information reading complete. Game background history constructed.*]
[*Ding... System Notification: Side quest triggered [Reversing Faith]. Quest Reward: Human Respect Value +2000 points.*]
The information Chu Tian extracted from Lieqi’s mind was unbelievable.
Old Yang had once said that beyond the Sea of Death, humans held a lowly status.
He’d thought the Sea of Death was a sanctuary created by some great power to protect humans, with a barrier allowing humans in but not out.
Now, it seemed that in the Southwest Region, in the City of Ten Thousand Beasts, humans were treated with the same disdain.
City of Ten Thousand Beasts, huh...
Chu Tian released Lieqi and stood up.
He gazed ahead, his eyes flickering with dark, uncertain emotions.
What shocked Chu Tian most was, through Lieqi’s memories, he learned they’d been taught this way since childhood.
In the Sea of Death’s Southwest Region, under the dominion of the City of Ten Thousand Beasts, humans could intermarry with beast clans.
Most tribes here were human-beast hybrids.
But... beast clans hadn’t existed here before.
According to legend, ten thousand years ago, a great earthquake struck the Sea of Death.
These beast clans appeared out of nowhere in the Southwest Region.
At first, they weren’t accepted by humans.
But over ten thousand years, these beast clans gradually gained dominance.
And they’d shaped the ideology of these hybrid... mongrels.
Now Chu Tian finally understood why Lieqi was so proud.
He carried a trace of Lieyun Eagle Sparrow blood.
The Lieyun Eagle Sparrow was one of the few flying beast clans in the Sea of Death, giving them a natural sense of superiority.
As for the pure human youths in their group, they were the children of chieftains from pure human tribes.
To curry favor with these mongrel tribes, they’d sent their children to serve as lackeys.
Some were even offered for pleasure.
The girl who’d been holding Xiao Kongkong, named Qianqian, was the only one Lieqi hadn’t touched.
Among the thirteen in the group, seven were girls. Six had already been deflowered by him.
Qianqian stood out in the group.
In Lieqi’s memories, she seemed to fawn over him but still stayed by his side.
Perhaps her elders had given her some orders or she had no choice.
"Lowly human scum, you dare lay hands on our Eighth Young Master!"
As Chu Tian pondered, countless people entered his divine sense’s range.
Five kilometers wasn’t far for those with mounts.
In the blink of an eye, they rushed in from all directions, surrounding Chu Tian.