Chapter 156: Foundation Establishment Strongman, the Fierce Name Soars Again!

Inside the cave, a death-like silence.

Wan Honghai clutched his throbbing chest, leaned against the mountain wall, gulping breath after breath, and in his gaze at Wang Shan there was not only anger but a terror like seeing a ghost.

This old fellow... what on earth is happening?

What kind of technique is that? It can directly trigger one's own internal Spiritual Power to counter‑devour!

The Wan family's Ten Thousand Beast Method requires refining demonic beast blood during cultivation, so the Spiritual Power in the body inevitably becomes tainted with mixed beast aura. That is the foundation of the technique and its greatest advantage. Yet in that instant, those beast auras that are usually as obedient as a servant turned into a predator, tearing at his Meridians like they had met a natural enemy.

"You... what exactly are you using, some evil art?!" Wan Honghai shouted angrily yet faintly, his voice sounding a bit weak.

The Black‑clad Leader beside him fared no better; the shoulder struck by Wang Shan's punch sent waves of shattering pain through his arm, which went limp. He saw more clearly than Wan Honghai that when Wang Shan's palm struck, the surrounding Spiritual Qi twisted oddly, as if obeying a higher‑level rule.

This feeling... was exactly like the forbidden thing recorded in sect archives that only core disciples of the Beast Taming Sect can encounter!

"The technique that kills you," Wang Shan said hoarsely, feeling each word prick his internal organs like needles.

The inheritance from the jade slip is overly domineering: forcefully used, it kills a thousand enemies but costs eight hundred of one's own. He is now strong on the outside but weak within, propping himself up with a single breath.

But he cannot let that breath escape!

He stepped forward, and the entire cave floor seemed to tremble with him.

"Grandpa!" Wang Zhize cried, lunging forward and clutching Wang Shan's thigh tightly.

Wang Shan lowered his head to glance at his grandson, then glanced again at Li Hu and Zhang Mei, who were unaware at the cave entrance, and his murderous intent boiled anew.

"Still want to fight?" Wang Shan lifted his eyelids, staring straight at Wan Honghai, "My old bones, even if my spirit and soul are shattered today, I'll still use you two as a shield."

Wan Honghai's heart skipped a beat.

Madman! This old fellow is a complete lunatic!

Risking one's life against a madman who just entered Foundation Establishment and already wields bizarre methods? Not worth it! Absolutely not worth it!

"Hmph! Wang Shan!" Wan Honghai struggled to stand upright, forcing a veneer of dignity, "Don't get cocky! It's just relying on some fringe techniques! Today I'm wounded, so I'll spare you for now! The Wan family isn't done with you!"

After speaking, he didn't even look back, turning into a streak of light and scrambling out of the cave, lacking the courage to glance again at the black jade slip.

Ran away?

The Wan family's Supreme Elder in the later stage of Foundation Establishment just ran away like that?

The Wan Family cultivators outside the cave stared dumbfounded.

The Black‑clad Leader gave Wang Shan a deep look, then glanced at the jade slip in Wang Zhize's hand, and hoarsely said, "Your life, and the secret you carry, we... will come for them."

His figure gradually faded, as if merging into the shadows, and vanished.

With the two great foes retreating, Wang Shan's taut nerves finally relaxed.

"Puff!"

He could no longer suppress his internal injuries, spitting a gush of reverse blood; his towering frame wavered, nearly toppling.

"Sir!"

"Grandpa!"

Li Hu and Zhang Mei, at some point, woke and struggled to crawl over, while Wang Zhize turned pale with fright.

"I'm fine," Wang Shan waved his hand, pulled several pills from his satchel, swallowed one himself, then handed one each to Li Hu and Zhang Mei, "Take them quickly, heal your wounds."

After doing all that, he finally sat down slowly, closed his eyes and regulated his breath.

That scene seemed to show him unleashing great power, one against two, crushing the two great Foundation Establishment masters so they could not lift their heads. Yet only he knows how perilous it truly was.

That forbidden technique is called "Ten Thousand Beasts Reversal".

As he guessed, it is a secret art specifically designed to counter cultivators who practice beast techniques, directly triggering the opponent's mixed beast power to counter‑devour its master.

But the secret art is incomplete; each activation also rips the user.

"Beast Taming Sect... Beast Taming... Ten Thousand Beasts Devour Master..." Wang Shan muttered to himself, "What kind of sect is this..."

A few days later.

In the Man Yun Mountain Range, a bustling tea house where lone cultivators gathered was filled with clamor.

"Hey, have you heard? Something big happened again over at Ghost Sorrow Cliff!" a bearded hulker gulped a swig of cheap wine and said mysteriously.

"What happened? Tell us! Could it be that the Wan family has found that 'Cinnabar Fierce Elder' again?" a sharp‑faced cultivator nearby perked up.

"Not just found it!" the bearded man slammed the table, saliva spattering, "You didn't see the scene! The Wan family's Supreme Elder, the later‑stage Foundation Establishment Wan Honghai, and a mysterious Black‑clothed master blocked the cave entrance, and what happened?"

He deliberately left it hanging.

"So? Speak up!" the crowd urged impatiently.

"The result? Senior Wang Shan alone beat them so badly they were rolling in their own excrement and urine!" the bearded man bragged as if he'd done it himself, "Wan Honghai spat blood on the spot, nearly dying there! That Black‑clothed man had his arm broken by a single punch! The two scrambled away, rolling and crawling!"

"What?!"

"Is that true?! Isn't Wang Shan only at Body Refining? How could he defeat someone in the later stage of Foundation Establishment?"

"I'm lying to you, I'm your grandson!" the bearded man's neck twitched, "My uncle's third elder's neighbor was gathering herbs nearby and saw it with his own eyes! Senior Wang Shan broke through on the spot in the cave, achieving the Foundation Establishment path! As soon as he emerged, his imperial aura burst, and with just one palm, one punch, the two great masters were ruined!"

"My god... Body Refining that fierce, can he even handle Foundation Establishment?"

"What 'Cinnabar Fierce Elder'? That title doesn't suit the senior! In my view, it should be 'Foundation Establishment Fierce Elder'!"

"Right! Foundation Establishment Fierce Elder! What a badass title!"

The news spread like it had grown wings, racing across the entire Man Yun Mountain Range at an unbelievable speed.

Wang Shan, that name, became a full‑fledged legend.

A legend of someone who, under the siege of two great forces, not only survived but broke through in battle and turned the tables on powerful foes!

Countless lone cultivators struggling at the bottom now idolize Wang Shan. He shattered the myth that Foundation Establishment cultivators are invincible, giving everyone a glimmer of hope—turns out lone cultivators can be that strong!

Even many lone cultivators oppressed by great families began quietly probing for Wang Shan's whereabouts, hoping to find shelter, even if just to sip broth behind the "Foundation Establishment Fierce Elder."

In an instant, the wind direction of the Man Yun Mountain Range completely changed.

Wan family mansion.

Inside the council hall, the atmosphere was terrifyingly oppressive.

"Useless! All of you are useless!" the Wan family Family Head slammed a precious teacup onto the floor, pointing at the dejected Wan Honghai below and roared, "Foundation Establishment later stage! You, a Foundation Establishment later stage, were beaten like this by a newly breakthrough free cultivator! The reputation of the Wan family has been ruined by you!"

Wan Honghai's face turned deathly pale, his lips trembled, yet he could not utter a single word.

What could he say? That the opponent's technique was too unorthodox? That he almost burst from his own Spiritual Power before even acting?

Who would believe him if he said that?

"Family Head," an Elder began anxiously, "Elder Wan Honghai's words cannot be ignored. If that Wang Shan truly has means to counter our clan's Ten Thousand Beast Method…"

He fell silent, but the hearts of all senior Wan family members present sank.

The Wan family's current standing rests on the Ten Thousand Beast Method obtained from an ancient cultivator's cave. If the technique is countered, the foundation of the Wan family would be shaken!

"Investigate!" the Wan family Family Head slammed a fist onto the table, his gaze vicious, "At any cost, uncover Wang Shan's background! And his so‑called 'forbidden technique'! I refuse to believe that anywhere under the heavens exists a sorcery that can nullify the Wan family's art!"

……

Meanwhile, in an unnamed dark underground palace.

The Black-clad Leader knelt on one knee, respectfully reporting.

"Master, the mission failed. That idiot Wan Honghai startled the enemy, allowing Wang Shan to successfully complete Foundation Establishment. Moreover, he seems to have mastered a... very ancient secret art that can trigger Counter-Devouring of an opponent's internal power."

From the darkness before him came an androgynous drifting voice: "The secret art? Is it about the 'Key'?"

"Yes, and no," the Black-clad Leader mused, "I suspect that the secret art shares its origin with the 'Key', both stemming from the Beast Taming Sect's Core Inheritance. This person is far more important than we imagined. He is not only the holder of the 'Key' that unlocks the secrets deep within Ghost Sorrow Cliff, but he himself may be a living 'Key'!"

The voice in the darkness fell silent for a moment.

"Interesting... getting more interesting," the voice sounded again, with a hint of excitement, "Find him, but don't act hastily. I want him alive. The secret he carries is far more valuable than that fragment."

"Yes, Master."

……

In the cave behind the waterfall, Wang Shan slowly opened his eyes.

Li Hu and Zhang Mei's injuries had stabilized, and the two grandchildren were unharmed.

"Lord, outside... outside has gone mad," Li Hu relayed the gathered news, his face unable to hide excitement, "They now call you... Foundation Establishment Fierce Elder!"

"Foundation Establishment Fierce Elder?" Wang Shan chuckled self‑deprecatingly.

He knew that this title was a double‑edged sword.

It can intimidate the petty, causing the Wan family and that Black-clothed organization to act cautiously, buying him precious breathing room.

But at the same time, it makes his lamp in the darkness even brighter, attracting more, stronger, greedier gazes.

The trouble has only just begun.