After surveying the area, he found no trace of Xiaohua's corpse. Just as Liang Xiaoke was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a faint voice reached his ears.

"Ai, Brother Big is really something, if he had let me kill this vicious flood dragon sooner, wouldn't I have perfected the Shattering True Elixir by now? With his current cultivation, as long as he consumed the Shattering True Elixir, wouldn't he step into the Martial God realm in one bound? With the cultivation of a Martial God, how could such a major incident occur? What a waste of effort."

"Shattering True Elixir?" Upon hearing this, Liang Xiaoke's heart skipped a beat. He knew the efficacy of the Shattering True Elixir from Ye Jingyu—it was the ultimate spiritual medicine that could allow a Martial Saint to ascend to the Martial God position, something utterly impossible to find by chance. The Gongsun family could actually refine such a spiritual medicine? It truly lived up to its name as a thousand-year medical lineage. But could the vicious flood dragon they mentioned possibly be...?

As this thought struck him, Liang Xiaoke dashed directly towards the source of the sound, only to find a stone door blocking his path. Liang Xiaoke had no time to search for any mechanisms. He raised his right fist, gathering all his strength, and smashed it into the stone door.

Before his fist even arrived, the powerful kinetic energy tore through the space. When the fist hammered against the stone door, a deafening roar immediately erupted, and the door shattered into fragments as if it were made of tofu.

A cloud of dust rose, and Liang Xiaoke's figure flashed straight inside. He immediately saw a massive stone pillar in the chamber, one that would require four or five people embracing to encircle. Coiled around the pillar was a vicious flood dragon at least seventy or eighty feet long, its single horn bound by strands of black iron chains. Golden blood oozed from the seven-inch vital point on its flank. Upon closer inspection, a bloody cavity the size of a human head marred that spot.

Beneath the flood dragon stood an old man with disheveled hair and ragged clothes. He held a golden bead the size of a fist in his right hand, staring in astonishment at Liang Xiaoke, who had just burst in.

"Who are you?" After a long pause, the old man finally snapped back to reality and exclaimed in surprise.

Liang Xiaoke saw the dying flood dragon and then looked at the inner core in the old man's hand. A surge of anger rose within him. Had Xiaohua been killed by this fellow? All for the sake of extracting this single inner core?

"I'm your ancestor!" Liang Xiaoke roared, his figure already lunging forward, bringing down a palm strike towards the old man.

Facing the formidable Liang Xiaoke, the old man's expression shifted, but his body swiftly evaded to the side, successfully dodging Liang Xiaoke's powerful blow.

"Martial Saint?" Liang Xiaoke felt a slight surprise, but his body continued its assault, raising his fist for another strike.

However, before his punch could land, a sharp claw shot out from the void, fiercely aiming for Liang Xiaoke's heart.

Shocked, Liang Xiaoke countered with a punch, which collided violently with the sharp claw. The impact made the air tremble, pushing the claw aside, and gradually revealing its owner: a massive ape, entirely black, standing over ten feet tall.

Of course, this giant ape was much smaller than the Violent Ape King Liang Xiaoke had previously slain, yet Liang Xiaoke sensed that this ape's strength was at least several times that of the Violent Ape King.

Furthermore, as the giant ape appeared, a large tiger, over ten feet long and sporting a third eye on its forehead, slowly materialized from the void, flanking Liang Xiaoke from the front and rear.

"Who exactly are you? And how did you get in?" The old man, whose features bore a resemblance to Gongsun Sheng, stood behind the black giant ape, staring at Liang Xiaoke with utter bewilderment. He perceived no aura of True Essence power, yet the force of Liang Xiaoke's earlier punch was enough to annihilate him. To be able to kill a Martial Saint solely through physical strength was simply unbelievable.

Liang Xiaoke looked at the two Saint Beasts flanking him, and hearing footsteps approaching from the distance, he knew that powerful experts were rushing towards this location. He realized that killing the old man now was impossible, but he vaguely guessed that the opponent intended to use these inner cores to refine the Shattering True Elixir.

Gongsun Sheng was already powerful enough; if he were allowed to achieve the Martial God realm, it would be an even greater catastrophe.

Liang Xiaoke offered no reply. His figure suddenly swelled to a height of over ten feet, his hands transforming into sharp claws, which he immediately extended towards the old man.

The giant ape and the Three-Eyed White Tiger lunged simultaneously, but Liang Xiaoke seized this moment to retreat rapidly, covering the distance back to the entrance of the stone tunnel in just a few steps.

"You want to refine the Shattering True Elixir? Today, I will completely destroy everything here!" he sneered coldly, stamping his foot fiercely onto the ground.

The terror of his strength was such that even though the floor was constructed from solid bluestone of extreme depth, it cracked inch by inch under the full force of Liang Xiaoke's stomp.

"Quick, stop him!" Seemingly sensing Liang Xiaoke's intent and recalling the medicinal cauldron, the old man's face changed drastically.

The giant ape let out a ferocious roar, pushing off hard with its powerful hind legs, and appeared instantly before Liang Xiaoke, raising its massive claws to grasp him again. But Liang Xiaoke didn't even look, turning instead to dash towards the medicinal cauldron in the center.

"Shatter for me, Life-Death Two Extremes Fist!" Liang Xiaoke roared, as a plume of gray gas erupted from within his body, immediately condensing on his fist's surface, which he hammered fiercely onto the cauldron forged from Flame Gold.

Although his body, after its physical reconstruction, was not as brimming with vitality as before, he had still grasped the Two Extremes True Qi from the Azure Dragon Jade Pendant. At this moment, the True Qi representing destruction within this Two Extremes True Qi accompanied Liang Xiaoke's supremely potent strength as it violently struck the cauldron. Instantly, cracks appeared across the cauldron, and finally, it burst apart.

The golden liquid inside immediately began to boil and spray out. Liang Xiaoke knew this was refined from the inner cores of Saint Beasts, representing the purest power. He opened his massive maw and inhaled sharply, actually sucking all the liquid in one gulp.

"Slap..." At this moment, one of the Violent Ape's claws slammed onto Liang Xiaoke's shoulder. Despite the might of Liang Xiaoke's physique, it was crushed by the blow. Yet, Liang Xiaoke acted as if unaffected, returning a slap that landed squarely on the ape's head, sending it flying. Then, seeing the approaching Three-Eyed White Tiger and the old man, he sneered, his body sinking low, and vanished without a trace...

Watching Liang Xiaoke disappear into thin air like that, the old man’s face once again showed a look of shock. It was at this moment that Gongsun Sheng’s figure rushed in from outside...