Chapter 667: I Changed My Name to Shi Hao—He Shouldn't Have Recognized Me
Shi Tianhao stared at Shen Mo with a bright smile on his face.
But within, his heart churned with stormy waves.
He couldn't believe it—after coming all the way from the Southern Sky Archipelago to Eastern State, he still ran into Shen Mo.
Why did this Shen Mo cling to him like a maggot on bone, impossible to shake off?
"I changed my appearance and name when I arrived in Eastern State. Now I'm Shi Hao. He shouldn't have recognized me."
Shi Tianhao discreetly observed Shen Mo.
He noticed that Shen Mo's expression remained nearly unchanged.
Clearly, he hadn't recognized him.
Only then did Shi Tianhao feel at ease.
As long as Shen Mo didn't know he was Shi Tianhao, it meant he could hide in the shadows.
There would be plenty of chances to deal with Shen Mo in the future.
"Lei Zizhen called Shen Mo his benefactor."
"What exactly happened between Shen Mo and Lei Zizhen?"
"I need to find an opportunity to dig into this."
"Maybe I can use my status as a Human-rank Retainer to suppress Shen Mo."
Shi Tianhao plotted silently, already devising a strategy to deal with him.
"Young master, where will you be taking him?" Shi Tianhao asked.
Lei Zizhen responded earnestly, "My benefactor is now a Heaven-rank Retainer of our Thunder Prison Clan. His strength is more than sufficient. I'm taking him to the ninth level."
"Shi Hao, go wait for me at the entrance of the Thunder Saint Tower."
"Once I escort my benefactor to the ninth level, we'll talk again."
Shi Tianhao's heart trembled violently.
Heaven-rank Retainer?
The ninth level of the Thunder Saint Tower?!
The implications were clear.
Shen Mo was already a Nirvana Realm cultivator with ninety Dao marks!
Shi Tianhao's mouth turned bitter.
It hadn't even been that long, yet Shen Mo's cultivation had skyrocketed at an absurd pace.
To surpass Shen Mo in personal strength was already hopeless.
Just earlier, he'd been thinking of leveraging his Human-rank Retainer status to suppress Shen Mo.
But now Lei Zizhen had personally confirmed that Shen Mo was already a Heaven-rank Retainer.
How could he possibly suppress him now?
What Human-rank Retainer had the ability to suppress a Heaven-rank Retainer?
Shi Tianhao racked his brain but couldn't come up with any countermeasure in the short term.
He could only respond, "Very well, I'll wait for you, young master."
As Shi Tianhao departed, Shen Mo suddenly said, "Zizhen, I can head to the ninth level on my own. No need to accompany me."
Lei Zizhen quickly shook his head, "How could I allow that? You're my benefactor—escorting you is my duty."
Shen Mo chuckled, "Do you think I'm a three-year-old child? That I can't even find my way?"
Lei Zizhen replied awkwardly, "No, no, I didn't mean that…"
Shen Mo waved his hand again.
Seeing Shen Mo so insistent, Lei Zizhen relented. "Very well, then I won't accompany you."
"If you need anything, don't hesitate to contact me!"
Shen Mo nodded with a smile.
Only then did Lei Zizhen take his leave.
Clearly, he went to catch up with Shi Hao.
"Lei Zizhen is still too naive—it seems he regards Shi Hao as a true brother."
Shen Mo shook his head slightly.
Shi Hao was someone who could make friends easily.
But just as easily, he could sell those friends out.
As the saying goes—'That's my dearest friend, my closest brother… so pay more.'
Shen Mo did not immediately proceed to the ninth level.
Instead, he paced around the third level of the Thunder Saint Tower.
Eventually, he stopped in front of an unremarkable cultivation room.
He took out a token.
It was a Heaven-rank Retainer token.
As soon as the token appeared, the stone door of the cultivation room swung open.
Inside was a female cultivator in the midst of training.
The sudden opening of the door had her ready to lash out.
But the moment she saw the Heaven-rank Retainer token, she immediately lowered her head and respectfully welcomed Shen Mo inside, not daring to show even a hint of disrespect.
In her heart, though, she couldn't help but grumble.
Why would a Heaven-rank Retainer come to occupy a cultivation room on the third level instead of one above the seventh?
Shen Mo stepped into the cultivation room.
The stone door closed heavily behind him.
All fell silent.
Shen Mo glanced around the chamber.
The room was simple in layout.
It was a square space, roughly three zhang wide and long, with a ceiling height of five zhang.
Inside, there was only a single meditation cushion, one table, and one chair.
Nothing else.
The cushion was woven from the silk of a ninth-rank silkworm demon—extremely resilient.
The table and chair were carved from stone, unnaturally sturdy.
Even a Nirvana cultivator with a hundred Dao marks, during a breakthrough, wouldn't generate a force strong enough to damage the cushion or furniture.
Shen Mo reached out with a beckoning motion, and the Black Dragon Shears flew from his hand.
From the swirling darkness, Tai Er emerged beside him, baring its fierce fangs. "Master! Who do you want dead? Tai Er will be the first to charge and kill him!"
Shen Mo pointed at the cushion. "That."
Tai Er was dumbfounded.
Just a cushion?
Was that really worthy of a mid-grade sacred artifact like the Black Dragon Shears?
Still, though it felt like using a blade to kill a chicken, Tai Er didn't dare show the slightest dissatisfaction on its face.
Two streaks of black light flashed.
Crack.
The cushion was sliced clean in two.
No matter how tough the material, in front of the all-piercing Black Dragon Shears, it might as well be paper.
After all, the strength of the Black Dragon Shears lay in its ability to easily cut through spirit tools of lower grade.
Even among mid-grade sacred artifacts, it could still injure opponents with ease.
Plink.
Something dropped to the floor.
Tai Er reacted instantly and quickly retrieved it for Shen Mo.
Shen Mo looked closely—it was a lump of blood-colored crystal.
The blood crystal gleamed, translucent and bright, revealing something within.
A finger bone.
To be precise, the remains of the Ancestral Dragon.
Earlier, when Shen Mo had glanced through Shi Tianhao's upcoming fortunes, he discovered this opportunity.
Three days later, Shi Tianhao was destined to enter this very cultivation room.
At that time, the cushion would split open on its own, and this blood crystal containing the Ancestral Dragon's remains would drop out.
Obtaining it would trigger the ancestral dragon bone in Shi Tianhao's body, allowing him to comprehend the True Dragon Tyrannical Scripture.
Clearly, this was a fate-based compensation.
Based on Shi Tianhao's previous fortune, he was originally meant to comprehend the Tyrant Dragon Fist, Emerald Dragon Fist, Bloodburning Dragon Fist, Earthshaking Dragon Fist, and Platinum Dragon Fist.
Only after merging all five could he comprehend the True Dragon Dao Scripture.
But now, those five fists had long since been seized by Shen Mo, and Shi Tianhao no longer had the qualifications to comprehend the True Dragon Dao Scripture.
This fragment of the Ancestral Dragon's remains was fate's way of compensating him.
It would let him comprehend a lesser-tier version: the True Dragon Tyrannical Scripture.
Shen Mo pocketed the blood crystal, then took the cushion as well before leaving the room for the ninth level.
Not long after, the female cultivator from earlier returned to this same room.
She stared blankly at the empty floor, completely at a loss.
Were Heaven-rank retainers really this poor?
A silkworm silk cushion—he even took that?
Thunder Saint Tower, Ninth Level.
There were only twenty-seven cultivation rooms in total.
Shen Mo chose one that was unoccupied and entered.
The layout of the ninth-level rooms was nearly identical to those on the third level.
But the concentration of thunder spirit energy had increased by over a hundredfold.
The air itself seemed to shimmer with tangible sparks of lightning.
Shen Mo raised a hand.
The golden-colored Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Flame appeared in his palm.
The Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Flame clearly loved this environment. It slumped lazily to the ground and stopped moving.
The surrounding thunder energy flowed toward it in torrents.
Shen Mo sat cross-legged on the cushion, eyes locked on the blood crystal encasing the Ancestral Dragon's remains.
"The True Dragon Dao Scripture, the True Dragon Sacred Art… let me see just how powerful you are."
His gaze burned with anticipation.
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