William Thompson had already mounted his sword and flown toward the forest the moment the Guiding Celestial Envoy first erupted in anger. Now, seeing the envoy’s ferocious appearance, he thought to himself how close he’d come to disaster—thank goodness he’d been quick on his feet. Otherwise, he’d surely have become a sacrifice for his master’s collection by now.

Just a few days ago, while the Guiding Celestial Envoy was meditating, William Thompson had secretly taken one of his storage rings, rummaged through it for some materials suitable for forging, and then put the ring back.

William Thompson hadn’t been studying artifact forging for long and couldn’t recognize things like purple crystal mithril. He simply took out anything that seemed usable for forging and tossed it all into a big stew. After all, his stingy master usually only gave him low-grade scraps to practice with. This time, he was determined to make his master bleed a little. He hadn’t expected the consequences to be so severe—he figured it’d be a while before he could return. He’d just wait until his master’s anger cooled down before going back.

Having made up his mind, William Thompson rode his sword deeper into the forest. Since arriving in the Immortal Realm, he’d always stayed by the Immortal-Breeding Lake. Now, finally having both the opportunity and the motivation to venture out, how could he not take in the scenery of the Immortal Realm? After all, his master couldn’t stray too far from the lake, so he could wander as much as he liked and return when he was done.

Controlling his sword, darting left and right, leaping and diving through the forest, he felt utterly carefree. The low-level spirit beasts that kept their distance from William Thompson were once again thrown into chaos, bullied to the point of tears.

Though life was carefree, William Thompson had no idea that the real dangers of the Immortal Realm were just beginning.

This forest was famous even in the Immortal Realm, known as the “Sleeping Immortal Forest,” or “Forbidden Land of the Immortals.” It meant that even immortals were forbidden to enter.

The reason was simple: the grand formation laid down by the Immortal Emperor and the ten great Immortal Lords was enough to prevent any immortal from entering without permission. Both the Guiding Celestial Envoy and newly ascended immortals had a safe passage that bypassed this forest to enter and exit the Immortal Realm. As a result, since the Immortal Realm’s inception, almost no one had ever entered the forest’s interior.

William Thompson didn’t know the origins of this forest. At the edge, the most he’d encountered were third-rank spirit beasts, so he assumed the Immortal Realm’s spirit beasts were nothing special—an assumption that would cost him dearly.

Standing on his sword, William Thompson flew against the wind, his long hair—over a foot in length—fluttering around his cheeks. Flashing a dazzling smile, he sighed that no handsome man in the world could surpass him.

In high spirits, he recited aloud to the sky: “Alas, Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han lacked literary grace; Yang Guo and Guo Jing, a bit too flamboyant; the peerless master Dongfang Bubai, only knew how to embroider birds in the boudoir!” Then he shook his head, exuding an air of “the world’s heroes, only I reign supreme.”

He wandered through the forest, resting here and there. Whenever a spirit beast picked a fight, he’d draw his sword and settle it on the spot. Occasionally, when he met a tough opponent, William Thompson relied on the power of his flying sword and the support of elixirs to slay it then and there. This smooth journey only made William Thompson feel that the Immortal Realm was vast and his for the taking.

Chapter Eight: Fierce Battle with the Thunder Beast

On this day, as William Thompson was resting atop a large tree in the forest, he suddenly felt his body tremble rhythmically, as if something enormous was approaching from not far away, shaking the very ground with its steps.

William Thompson frowned and looked ahead. In his line of sight, several large trees were being shoved aside, tilting this way and that. Clearly, this newcomer was different from the others—its size must be immense. William Thompson grew excited, wondering how strong it might be. After days of bullying those flashy but useless spirit beasts, he’d lost interest in fighting. Now, he was eager to see a truly formidable beast to test his own strength.

But when the spirit beast finally appeared before him, William Thompson stared in disbelief at the monster before his eyes. Though he’d mentally prepared himself, he was still startled by the sheer size of the creature.

He was sitting on a branch twenty meters above the ground, yet the monster’s eyes were level with his own. In other words, the creature’s eyes were at least twenty meters above the ground.

Cold sweat broke out on William Thompson’s forehead. He leaned to the side to look at the beast’s back, where a massive tail was restlessly swaying, making tree trunks as thick as a man’s embrace wobble. On the beast’s back grew something like a fish’s dorsal fin, but William Thompson didn’t think it was a real fish fin—just looking at the gleaming, razor-sharp edge, he felt that a swipe from it would be no less deadly than a stab from his own sword. The beast was at least fifty meters long and thirty meters tall, not counting the height of that dorsal fin.

Looking at this spirit beast that resembled an African rhinoceros, William Thompson couldn’t help but swallow nervously, wondering if he should turn and run.

Apparently displeased with William Thompson’s demeanor, the “African rhinoceros” snorted loudly, expressing its disdain.