Son-in-law Heaven Emperor Xiao Yi

Under the deterrence of Xiao Yi, the Hu Family faced much less resistance in taking over the Xu Family's forces.

According to Hu Qingbi's earlier prediction, when the Xu Family fell, other forces in Iron Mountain City would inevitably scramble for a share of the spoils; the Hu Family being able to consolidate fifty percent of the profits would already be considered good.

But because of Xiao Yi, this time they completely took over the Xu Family's assets.

Not only did it help the Hu Family out of their predicament, but it also increased the family's foundation several-fold.

Hu Qingbi looked at Xiao Yi reluctantly, "Benefactor, are you sure you don't need me to accompany you? We mine the Iron Mountain Range all year round and often conflict with the demon beasts there; they are extremely hostile towards humans, and I know how to avoid these beasts!"

Xiao Yi shook his head with a smile, "Your Hu Family has just taken over the Xu Family's properties, you must stay in Iron Mountain City. Besides, I will not go too deep, there will be no danger!"

"Well... okay then!"

Hu Qingbi let out a wry smile, "When will you return, Benefactor? You must come to find me!"

"Mm!" Enjoy new adventures from empire

Xiao Yi nodded, then leaped up like a monkey and disappeared into the forest.

Having fulfilled the promise to the Iron Blade King, the trip to Iron Mountain City ended on a perfect note.

But...

Because of the Nine Profound Sect, Xiao Yi still wasn't at ease to leave Iron Mountain City just yet. Plus, he now had that map of the Tungsten Iron Mine, so Xiao Yi decided to explore the mine as indicated on the map first.

He followed the route marked on the map through the terrain.

Along the way, he encountered one mining cave after another, with the mountains hollowed out and pitted, a barren sight to behold.

Many of the trees had long since withered, turning into a bare expanse.

"According to the map, after passing through the Thread of Sky Gorge up ahead, and then two hundred li further, with my current speed, it should take about another four hours to reach the location of the Tungsten Iron Mine..."

Xiao Yi checked the direction and picked up the pace.

He darted between towering mountains and through strange rock formations and forests.

Four hours later.

Xiao Yi finally arrived at the area marked as the Tungsten Iron Mine on the map, a vibrant and lush forested region.

"The old woman's son was pursued by an Iron-Eating Beast and accidentally entered a cave behind a waterfall, where he discovered the Tungsten Iron Mine. Where might there be a waterfall around here?"

Looking out over the vast green field ahead, Xiao Yi felt somewhat dizzy.

Perhaps any man wouldn't be too fond of this color, right?

Just then...

Boom!

A thunderous explosion suddenly echoed from the woods ahead, sending dust and smoke rolling hundreds of feet into the air, where it hung like a mushroom cloud between heaven and earth.

Two huge figures burst from the cloud of dust.

A twenty-plus-meter-long, pitch-black giant snake with cold light flickering in its eyes suddenly coiled its massive body and lashed out like a dragon swinging its tail into the smoke.

Bang!

The sound of thunderous explosions continued to boom.

From within that cloud of smoke, a giant beast covered in gray-white iron armor, resembling an ant, also burst forth.

The two beasts stood suspended in midair, their bodies radiating light that ebbed and flowed as they collided again and again, causing shockwaves of terrifying energy to burst forth.

Even from several kilometers away, the shockwave was so strong that it caused a stinging pain on Xiao Yi's face, "Floating in midair, these are two Giant Beasts from the Golden Core Realm?"

The ten-meter-tall gray ant was the infamous Iron-Eating Beast of the Iron Mountain Range.

It fed on ore veins.

Decades ago, when Iron Mountain City was developing ore veins, it had fiercely clashed with the beast, which was later defeated by a Golden Core Realm expert from the Tianqing Kingdom and fled to the depths of the Iron Mountain Range.

Xiao Yi did not expect to encounter it today.

"That black giant snake can actually fight to a standstill with the Iron-Eating Beast? I'd better keep my distance..." Xiao Yi had no intention of getting caught in the crossfire, so he stayed far away and watched from the sidelines.

The Iron-Eating Beast fed on metal; its shell was extremely hard, defense nearly invincible.

Yet the black giant snake was also incredibly strong, and after multiple lashings and bites, it had managed to fracture the shell of the Iron-Eating Beast, leaving it covered with wounds and dripping with greenish blood.

Of course, the giant serpent was not faring well either.

Under the iron-eating beast's teeth, which could easily snap through metal, the black serpent bore numerous scars with fresh blood flowing freely.

The battle raged to the point where the sky darkened, and there was no light from the sun or the moon.

From a distance.

The forest of tens of thousands of acres had been flattened, trees completely destroyed, rocks collapsed, as if it were the apocalypse.

The battle that had lasted for the better part of the day finally began to subside.

"Has it been decided?" Xiao Yi's pupils contracted, yet he still waited for half an hour.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

There was still no movement.

Only then did he cautiously approach, but not too quickly.

From afar, he could tell the two beasts' battle had been incredibly destructive, but it was not until he got close that Xiao Yi realized he had still underestimated their capacity for destruction.

Three to four small mountains, hundreds of meters high, had been razed to the ground by the fighting beasts!

Within that rubble...

Xiao Yi saw the corpse of the iron-eating beast, utterly lifeless, but what puzzled him was the mysterious disappearance of the black serpent: "How strange, where's the black serpent?"

Boom!

The corpse of the iron-eating beast suddenly shook violently, toppling to the ground as a huge black figure darted out from under its belly, sending sand flying and the ground shaking.

The black serpent stood erect, its cold gaze fixed on Xiao Yi.

Shit!

Xiao Yi's face turned pale instantly; feeling an icy chill all over under that cold gaze, he was about to turn and run when he saw the black serpent shake violently and then thump to the ground.

The coldness vanished from its two eyes, leaving only despair and a hint of pleading.

Xiao Yi was stunned—those pleading eyes reminded him of the time his mother knelt before Xiao Tianjiao, begging for his life.

Xiao Yi inexplicably stopped in his tracks and, after hesitation, tentatively asked, "Do you... want me to help you?"

Hiss!

The black serpent nodded its head with difficulty.

Xiao Yi said gravely, "What do you want me to do?"

Roar!

The black serpent struggled to open its bloody maw, and between two rows of fang-like teeth, strings of blood-stained saliva hung from top to bottom.

Its blood-red tongue wrapped around an egg the size of a human head and brought it before Xiao Yi.

Xiao Yi paused, looking at the beast egg and asked with a frown, "Is this your child? You want me to look after it for you?"

Roar!

The black serpent nodded again.

Xiao Yi frowned and said, "But... "

Hiss!

Roar!

The black serpent shook its whole body, flung its head, bit into the corpse of the iron-eating beast, thrust its tongue inside the beast's body, and took out a fist-sized Golden Core covered in cracks before delivering it to Xiao Yi.

This iron-eating beast was a fourth-rank intermediate demon beast, comparable to a Fifth Layer of the Golden Core Realm expert; it was pitiful that the Golden Core was shattered, with little energy remaining.

Huff!

Xiao Yi exhaled deeply, holding the beast egg close to his chest, and said with determination, "Don't worry, I will take good care of it!"

Roar!

The black serpent spat a shattered Golden Core into the sky, which spread into a thin golden mist that sprinkled down like mottled gold rain onto the beast egg.

The beast egg in Xiao Yi's arms trembled slightly.

The black serpent's head drooped to the ground, powerlessly nudging the egg held tightly in his arms, its eyes flickering with profound reluctance and longing, followed by a painful wail before it collapsed to the ground with a thud...