Eternal Sacred King Chapter 206 to 213

 Chapter 206: Returning With the Monkey

The benefit of Organs Refinement was that one was not only limited to the power of blood, they could also release the power of blood qi!

The qi in blood qi referred to demonic qi.

Now that Su Zimo was a human, if he were to release the power of blood qi, he would be shrouded by demonic and he would definitely be taken down at the first instance.

Off course, the power of blood alone was more than enough to take down most Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

As long as Su Zimo closed in on his opponents, even if they were at perfected Foundation Establishment with many meridians unlocked, the odds would definitely be stacked against them.

Su Zimo had left the sect for quite some time. Thankfully, his cultivation speed had not fallen off and he had received immense benefits along the way.

He planned on returning to the sect and digesting everything he had learned completely.

On the one hand, he had to raise his cultivation as quickly as possible to prepare for the sect competition three years later.

On the other hand, he had to master the tempering techniques swiftly as well to create middle-grade or even superior-grade flying swords.

That way, he would be able to start cultivating the Candlelight Sword Formation.

That was a formation that Su Zimo looked forward to learning.

Grade 2 of the Candlelight Sword Formation required a full 18 flying swords before it could be summoned.

Ignoring the power of the sword formation itself, even if 18 flying swords were to attack in an overwhelming manner, it would be more than enough for a Foundation Establishment Cultivator to handle.

But of course, there was one more thing – hatching that demon beast egg.

It came from the ruins and was highly likely to be immune to poison. Not just that, it even absorbed so much of his bloodline...

Su Zimo was curious as to what sort of spirit beast that demon beast egg would produce.

If it was an ancient remnant beast species, he would have earned big!

Remnant beasts referred to the offsprings of pure bloodline ferocious beasts and ordinary demon beasts. Even though their bloodlines were no longer pure, they were still extremely powerful.

The alpha wolf and the spirit tiger could only be considered as the most ordinary type of demon beasts and weren’t comparable to ferocious beasts.

As for little crane...

Su Zimo could vaguely sense that little crane’s bloodline was not so simple – there was a chance that it was a remnant beast.

The spirit monkey was originally a spirit beast with an ordinary bloodline. However, Die Yue seemed to have imparted a cultivation technique to it.

Now, the spirit monkey was no longer ordinary anymore.

Su Zimo pondered over whether he should impart the Void Thunder Manual to the spirit tiger.

Even though the spirit tiger looked intelligent, it was actually extremely stupid. If its strength did not grow, it would probably not survive in the future.

“If this demon beast egg could hatch a pure-blooded ferocious beast...”

Su Zimo’s heart raced at the thought of that.

The growth potential of pure-blooded ferocious beasts was huge!

Even as cubs that were naive and did not know how to cultivate, pure-blooded ferocious beasts were already comparable to Qi Condensation Warriors.

The moment they start cultivating, pure-blooded ferocious beasts can even slay Foundation Establishment Cultivators!

That was only just for cubs.

If they grow into their youth and adult phases, the power of those pure-blooded ferocious beasts was unimaginable!

Not only that, pure-blooded ferocious beasts carry with them the ancient memories of their race from a long time ago. Vicissitude and mysterious, nobody could steal the cultivation techniques and secret skills meant for them.

Of course, the growth of pure-blooded ferocious beasts was extremely slow as well.

Even without cultivating, most pure-blooded ferocious beasts have a lifespan of over 10,000 years.

If a cultivator were to hatch a pure-blooded ferocious beast, they might die before the ferocious beast even grows up.

At that thought, Su Zimo intuitively searched for the demon beast egg.

He looked around the place but did not see anything!

“Weird.”

Su Zimo furrowed his brows slightly.

The cave was not that big and he could see its entirety in sight. However, there was no trace of the demon beast egg.

“I clearly saw that damn monkey take it in.”

Su Zimo mumbled and looked at the spirit monkey again, exclaiming softly.

The spirit monkey’s posture looked strange.

Even if it was taking a dump, wasn’t it squatting for way too long?

Furthermore, the spirit monkey hovered without sitting as though there was something under its butt.

Su Zimo vaguely guessed something and could not help but roll his eyes.

“Damn monkey, aren’t you tired?”

When it heard Su Zimo’s question, the spirit monkey shook its head and looked towards the entrance of the cave, pretending as if nothing had happened.

Su Zimo could not help but laugh. “Stop pretending. Hurry and get up. Don’t tell me you want to hatch that demon beast egg with your monkey bum.”

After being seen through by Su Zimo, a rare blush appeared on the spirit monkey’s face as it stood up unwillingly.

Upon seeing that, Su Zimo was amazed.

The spirit monkey was usually extremely thick-skinned and unruly – this was the first time he was seeing it so coy.

“Ow! Ow!”

Pausing for a moment, the spirit monkey returned to its normal self and bared its teeth, gesturing and shouting at Su Zimo.

Even though he had not seen the spirit monkey for two years, Su Zimo understood what it meant immediately.

It was saying that Su Zimo knew nothing and should not interfere...

Su Zimo chided jokingly, “If I don’t know anything, you do? You weren’t the one who gave birth to that thing and you’ve got no blood relation to it, so what are you hatching it for!”

The spirit monkey was stunned by Su Zimo’s words.

“Ow, ow!”

Right on the heels of that, the spirit monkey gave Su Zimo a disdainful look and gave him a sidelong glance.

It was saying, “What do you know? We’re both demons and have similar auras. I can still incubate it!”

Su Zimo covered his nose in disdain. “Your auras are far from similar. You reek of feces. Even if you manage to hatch it, it’s going to die of your stench!”

Even though Su Zimo had only mentioned it in passing, the spirit monkey became nervous and ran off to the cold lake, washing its body over and over again thoroughly.

Su Zimo was dumbfounded.

Previously, they had fought multiple times over this issue.

However, the spirit monkey did not compromise even if it was beaten badly by Su Zimo.

It continued to wipe its feces everyday, enjoying itself while disgusting Su Zimo at the same time.

But now, it was taking a shower for the demon beast egg?

This was really... everything truly had its weakness.

After a long time, the spirit monkey finally came forth from the cold lake. It ran to Su Zimo and called softly.

“It’s gone.”

Su Zimo said, “You’ve nearly washed your skin off. What smell can there be left?”

“Ow, ow?”

The spirit monkey gestured and asked where the demon beast egg was.

Yawning, Su Zimo pointed to his embrace. “It’s my egg, stop thinking about it.”

The spirit monkey pouted and grunted a few times, waving its hand to indicate that it did not care for the egg.

However, its eyes were still staring furtively at the demon beast egg in Su Zimo’s embrace.

“Monkey, I’ve got something to ask you.”

After a short while, Su Zimo suddenly asked, “I’ll be returning to the sect soon. Will you come with me?”

Su Zimo felt a little scared recalling that the spirit monkey nearly got into danger.

Even though the spirit monkey was unruly and unsuited for life in the cultivation world, Su Zimo could at least look after it if it was with him.

“Ow! Ow!”

The spirit monkey cried.

Su Zimo chuckled. “I know that you want to be king of a mountain. But, what’s the point of being king of this Cang Lang Mountain Range? You’ve got to head out and look for other mountains to be a king at.”

“Oh?”

The spirit monkey thought for a while and pointed at the demon beast egg in Su Zimo’s embrace, crying a few times.

Su Zimo could not help but laugh. “Alright, if you follow me back, I’ll let you hatch this demon beast egg.”

At the same time, Su Zimo thought to himself. “I’m only letting you hatch, not giving it to you... furthermore, this fella has already sucked so much of my blood. There’s no way it’ll run off with anyone else.”

Chapter 207: Plotting in Darkness

On this day, a man and monkey arrived in a rush outside of Ethereal Peak.

Passing through the fog formation, their descent on the main peak attracted much attention.

“Eh, Junior Brother Su is back!”

“That monkey beside him is another spirit beast of his?”

“Junior Brother Su seems to have a special connection with spirit beasts. Including this monkey, he has two now.”

“If one has too many spirit beasts, their power of the blood oath is spread out and will definitely weaken. This Su Zimo is going to get into trouble sooner or later!”

When the disciples caught sight of the man and monkey, their eyes had different looks as they discussed fervently.

When Su Zimo had just joined the inner sect, he caused quite a stir when he overwhelmed Sun Tao and friends using his thunder techniques.

“Roar!”

The monkey felt extremely irritated being pointed at by so many strangers. It bared its teeth and roared menacingly at the many cultivators nearby, causing demonic qi to explode with a killing intent!

Its hair stood on ends and made its physique look even bigger and intimidating.

If not for the fact that Su Zimo was beside him, given its unruly nature, it would have charged forth and killed everyone.

Many cultivators were shocked.

The monkey’s body was covered with endless blood.

To survive in a place like the Cang Lang Mountain Range, it had to engage in battles almost every other day. It had experienced endless bloodshed and life and death situations.

The aura around the monkey was even more violent and bloodthirsty than the spirit tiger and little crane!

Su Zimo furrowed his brows slightly and raised his palm, patting the monkey on the shoulder gently, indicating for it to relax.

On the way earlier, Su Zimo had already reminded the monkey repeatedly that it had to tone down on its animal instincts at Ethereal Peak – it must not be violently aggressive all the time.

Grunting, two streams of air shot out from the monkey’s nostrils and the fur on its body gradually went down.

Before long, the man and monkey disappeared before everyone.

“Hmph, that beast sure is arrogant!”

“That’s because Junior Brother Su was around. If that wasn’t the case, I would have killed that beast right on the spot. How dare it shout at us?”

Many cultivators pretended to scold after the man and monkey was gone.

...

The door of the cave abode was wide open and both the spirit tiger and little crane were sprawled inside, resting.

Little crane was the first to sense something and looked over.

Upon seeing that it was Su Zimo, it cried out in joy.

The spirit tiger opened its eyes and looked over lazily. Instantly, it was energized at the sight of Su Zimo and leaped up.

Monkey did not have much of a reaction when it saw the tiger and crane, merely twitching its lips in disdain.

Following behind Su Zimo, monkey swaggered in.

“This is monkey who is originally from Cang Lang Mountain Range. We went through life and death together.”

Su Zimo pointed to the spirit tiger and little crane. “This is spirit tiger and that is little crane. The three of you can stay together from now on. Don’t fight.”

“Chi!”

When it heard that, monkey sneered and stretched out its finger, waving it in front of the spirit tiger and little crane extremely provocatively.

Even though monkey said nothing, its meaning was clear – even if we fight, you guys are not my match!

The spirit tiger had just entered Foundation Establishment and was in a cocky youth phase.

Furthermore, the spirit tiger knew that it had been with Su Zimo the longest.

If it was bullied by a monkey that came later, how could it continue to live its days?

There was no way the spirit tiger could hold back seeing that hand gesture from monkey.

“Roar!”

It crouched and readied as though it was about to pounce on its prey with a ferocious glint in its eyes – it was ready to strike at any moment.

“Caw, caw!”

On the other side, little crane could not take it lying down either, crying out a couple of times to monkey as it prepared to pounce as well.

After all, little crane had a closer relationship with the spirit tiger.

Hearing the shouts from within the cave, Su Zimo suddenly felt a headache...

“Bang!”

Before long, monkey and the spirit tiger collided massively.

It was a pure explosion of strength without any gimmicks.

After a momentary pause, the spirit tiger was sent flying by monkey.

Slamming onto the wall at the back, the cave abode shook and countless dust settled down. The spirit tiger’s tendons and bones felt like they were breaking.

Even if monkey had an ordinary bloodline, the cultivation technique imparted to it by Die Yue would cause that to change.

As for the spirit tiger, it was indeed nothing more than any other ordinary beasts.

Ignoring the fact that there was a difference in their cultivation realms, even if they were at the same realm, the spirit tiger would be beaten up badly by monkey!

The difference in their bloodlines was way too great!

With a flip, monkey rode on the spirit tiger and started pummeling its head with clenched fists.

Gong! Gong! Gong!

After a few consecutive strikes, the spirit tiger was completely dazed and was dumbstricken.

Swoosh!

Little crane pounced over from the side, sticking out a pair of sharp talons that glistened with a cold light towards monkey’s back.

Without even turning back, monkey slammed with a rod.

The wind howled!

Little crane was shocked and did not dare to take it head on, dodging to the side to try and deal with it.

Against little crane who could fly at any moment, monkey was helpless as well and could only ride on the spirit tiger while yelling at little crane.

“Ow! Ow!”

“Caw, caw!”

Little crane replied with a high pitched and agitated tone.

The spirit tiger beneath monkey would roar from time to time as well.

The concurrent cries of three different demon beasts rang out and Su Zimo could no longer hear clearly what they were talking about.

However, he could roughly guess that monkey wanted to be the king and leader of the trio.

However, the spirit tiger and little crane were indignant and would not allow it.

Monkey took the demon beast egg from Su Zimo’s hands and pointed at it, screaming for a while.

Before long, the three spirit beasts reached a common consensus.

They would take turns hatching that demon beast egg. Whoever the spirit beast that’s hatched chooses to follow will be their king!

For three spirit beasts, the 24 hours in a day could originally be divided into 8 hours each.

However, the spirit tiger was the most pitiful...

The 8 hours that it originally had was forcefully taken over by monkey and little crane, leaving it with only 4 hours.

...

In another cave abode of Ethereal Peak.

It was dark and quiet. Feng Haoyu assumed a lotus position, surrounded by many spirit stones.

He had already reached perfected Foundation Establishment and had unlocked a meridian!

All of a sudden!

A sinister wind blew.

Feng Haoyu opened his eyes. He was not in a hurry to look around and was instead deep in thought, as if he was waiting for something.

“Su Zimo is back.”

Before long, a hoarse and erratic voice sounded out right in Feng Haoyu’s cave abode.

Feng Haoyu frowned.

The person in the darkness continued, “If I’m not wrong, that tempering technique that the disheveled old man obtained in Sky Treasure Auction House should be for him.”

“It’s easy to kill Su Zimo.”

Feng Haoyu said in a low voice, “However, how can we wipe out the other three legacy disciples of Ethereal Peak while killing him at the same time? If we only lay our hands on a single one of them, it’s going to alert the rest. The only way to have Ethereal Peak suffer a great loss is by crippling four of them at the same time. That way, they won’t be able to achieve anything in the four ranking lists of the sect competition.”

“Don’t worry, the opportunity has arrived.”

The hoarse voice said, “Once this fight is over, you and I can both return to the sect with honor in our names.”

Chapter 208: Blood Crow Palace

Black Crow Mountain.

Situated at the northwest corner of the Great Zhou Dynasty, it was a vast place where beasts roamed.

There were many crows in the forest and most of them were psychic. There were even black crow demons that managed to cultivate supreme powers with terrifying strength and dominance.

It was said that there was a Golden Core that entered the depths of Black Crow Mountain and was never seen ever again.

A couple of years ago, a middle-aged man with dark green eyes that shone with a sinister light walked into the depths of Black Crow Mountain without turning back at all.

From that day forth, the crows within turned extremely violent and their eyes were bloodshot.

The skies above Black Crow Mountain were perennially covered by a blood mist!

Deep in the dense forest, a hall named Blood Crow Palace appeared.

Within a few short years, sects nearby Black Crow Mountain were all subdued under Blood Crow Palace’s command.

This day, a pale faced youth with dark green eyes appeared outside Blood Crow Palace. He was at perfected Foundation Establishment and knelt on a single knee, cupping his fists in the direction of the hall. “Master, a year ago, my blood slave was killed outside of Linfeng City. I’ve discovered who the killer is.”

“His name is Su Zimo, an inner sect disciple of Ethereal Peak.”

Amidst the blood fog around the forest, Blood Crow Palace was vaguely visible like an ancient that sat on the spot. It was sinister and horrifying, letting out an ice cold aura.

After the young cultivator spoke, Blood Crow Palace fell into a dead silence.

As though he was accustomed to it, the young cultivator continued, “This battle caused us to lose a middle-grade spirit mine and more than 30 Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Even though they are all outer core disciples, it is still an unprecedented setback.”

“I heard the news that Ethereal Peak’s spirit pool is about to be unsealed. At that time, Ethereal Peak is bound to send their perfected Foundation Establishment disciples to receive a baptism of the spirit pool.”

“I intend to lead people there and take them down in one fell swoop. At the same time, I can take in the legacy disciples of Ethereal Peak as my blood slaves.”

After a long time, a voice rang from Blood Crow Palace.

“Alright... be careful. Take more men with you.”

The young cultivator lowered his head. “Don’t worry, master.”

“Take Yu Fei and Peng Yue along with you.”

After a momentary pause, a voice rang out from Blood Crow Palace once more.

The young cultivator was delighted and replied hurriedly, “Thank you, master!”

“Yes... after this matter, come back and cultivate in seclusion. When the ancient battlefield opens three years later, you’ll find your true opponents within.”

After saying that, the voice in Blood Crow Palace went silent once more.

Before long, two people draped in black robes walked forth. They were expressionless with an occasional flicker of green light in their eyes.

“Greetings, Young Master!”

The two men walked before the young cultivator and knelt on one knee, shouting in unison.

The young cultivator nodded in satisfaction.

The two people before him were Golden Cores – they were his master’s blood slaves.

Bearing extremely high standards, the people that his master were willing to accept as blood slaves were far from simple.

His master was also the same person who founded Blood Crow Palace – the Palatial Lord.

Given their relationship, even though this man was only a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, his status in Blood Crow Palace was extremely high – he was the young master of Blood Crow Palace!

“Ethereal Peak, Su Zimo... fufufufu.”

...

Ethereal Peak.

Su Zimo had returned for a couple of days and had not spent it idling.

Little fatty, Xue Yi and other Weapon Peak disciples came to visit, so they naturally had their merry celebrations.

During this period, Leng Rou came by as well and chatted with Su Zimo for a little before leaving.

In the eyes of Xue Yi and everyone else, that was naturally something to cheer about.

In the entire sect, Su Zimo was the only person who could make Leng Rou pay a personal visit.

Previously, she had even specially given him two talismans.

The two talismans were kept in his storage bag and Su Zimo had not used them yet.

Even though it wasn’t a massive favor, it was clear that the other party had put in quite a bit of effort.

Su Zimo intended to create a middle or superior-grade spirit weapon after he gained more insights into weapon refinement and give it to Leng Rou.

The second day after Su Zimo returned to the sect, before he even had the time to visit the disheveled old man, the latter already took the initiative to visit.

“You rascal, where have you been for the past three months with no news at all!”

The disheveled old man scolded Su Zimo at first sight.

Su Zimo replied with a half truth, “I spent some time at home.”

“I see.”

Upon hearing that, the disheveled old man’s expression softened and nodded.

“Cough.”

He coughed gently and patted on his storage bag. Instantly, an ancient manual appeared on his palm as he said calmly, “Take it. This is an ancient tempering manual.”

True enough.

As Su Zimo had expected, the disheveled old man was auctioning for this book at Sky Treasure Auction House for him!

“The person who wrote this ancient manual is Xu Zhan, an Advanced Weapon Refinement Master a thousand years ago. At his peak, he had created tens of supreme-grade spirit weapons and it was said that he had even created a perfect spirit weapon.”

“Even though there’s no remnant projections of his weapon refinement process, you can study this ancient manual well. With your perceptivity in weapon refinement, it should not be an issue for you to create middle or even superior-grade spirit weapons in the future.”

The disheveled old man was extremely confident in Su Zimo.

Even though Su Zimo already knew how the ancient tempering manual came about, it would attract the disheveled old man’s suspicions if he acted too calmly.

Su Zimo could only appear to be delighted and asked, “Master, this ancient manual must cost a lot of spirit stones, right?”

“Hmms, it’s alright.”

The disheveled old man nodded and replied indifferently, “At that time, the competition for this manual was extremely intense and I was unable to get it at the start too. In the end, I bumped into an old friend...”

At that point, the disheveled old man beat around the bush intentionally before continuing leisurely, “Heh! That friend of mine has a powerful background and without a second word, he gave it to me on the spot!”

Even though the disheveled old man was trying his best to contain himself, his eyes were filled with pride.

“Zimo, let me tell you how the scene was like at that time... pfft, pfft. That huge auction house fell entirely silent. Even if others had spirit stones, they could not use it. No one could stop this friend of mine from giving it to me!”

“Everyone else could only watch dumbfounded in envy.”

When he heard the disheveled old man bragging, Su Zimo could not help but lower his head and almost chuckled.

“Zimo, what’s wrong? You don’t believe me?” The disheveled old man raised his brow when he noticed Su Zimo’s abnormality.

“No.”

Su Zimo waved it off hurriedly.

“Cough, cough... alright, that’s enough. Cultivate well.”

The disheveled old man seemed to have realized that he had gone slightly overboard with his bragging and added before turning to leave.

In reality, if it was just this ancient tempering manual without any remnant projections, Su Zimo would not have achieved much in his future.

However, Extreme Fire Dao Lord had enacted a weapon refinement process for Su Zimo beneath the cold lake of the cave abode.

It was a perfect and flawless weapon refinement process!

Coupled with the ancient tempering manual in his hands along with Su Zimo’s personal spirit gathering method, he had confidence of creating a supreme-grade spirit weapon!

It wasn’t an occasional creation depending on his condition...

It had a 100% success rate!

Chapter 209: Pure-blooded Ferocious Beast?

In the following period of time, Su Zimo resumed his usual cultivation habits.

He spent part of his days on raising his cultivation realm but most of it was spent on weapon refinement studies.

Come nighttime, Su Zimo would lock his cave abode and activate his formation to begin demonic cultivation and Organs Refinement.

Because Organs Refinement would produce an endless stream of rich demonic qi, the formation was used to prevent outsiders from entering as well as to conceal the aura within the cave abode.

In the morning of the next day, the demonic qi would be absorbed by Su Zimo entirely.

For those past few days, monkey, spirit tiger and little crane took turns around the demon beast egg.

After monkey incubated it for 10 hours, it was little crane’s turn.

Every day, when it was late at night, they left a miserable four hours for the spirit tiger.

The spirit tiger would hug the demon beast egg in front of its chest and even lick it from time to time. It blinked its eyes and sighed.

“At this rate, no matter who ends up as the leader, I’m definitely going to be at the bottom.”

The spirit tiger looked at the demon beast egg and thought to itself, “Hurry and come out. That way, I can have a lackey. If not, my days are going to be hell and that monkey and stupid bird is going to bully the shit out of me...”

Four hours passed in the blink of an eye.

The spirit tiger felt as though it had just wrapped its arms around the demon beast egg. Before it was even warm, monkey came over and whisked it away to sit on it.

Even though the spirit tiger felt indignant, it did not dare to resist and could only watch at the side pitifully.

For some reason, Su Zimo felt that monkey, the spirit tiger and little crane were all very concerned about that demon beast egg, treating it with extreme care. Apart from the three of them, no one else was allowed to touch the egg!

No one could be sure which was more effective – Su Zimo’s bloodline or the three beasts taking turns to take care of it.

A few days later, the demon beast egg truly had a reaction.

Within, signs of life began to emanate.

At first, it was extremely feeble. However, it became clearer and more intense as time passed.

When it heard that Su Zimo had brought back a demon beast egg from a ruin, the Mystical Guardian Beast, Senior crane, came by a couple of times and was rather concerned about the incubation process of the egg as well.

During this period of time, Su Zimo looked through many ancient books about demon beasts.

He firmly memorized all sorts of information about various demon beasts, ancient remnant beasts and even pure-blooded ferocious beasts.

According to Senior crane, if a pure-blooded ferocious beast was born, it would alarm the heavens and there would definitely be a universal phenomenon.

The stronger the bloodline of the ferocious beast, the more intense and terrifying the accompanying universal phenomenon would be.

It was said when a Bi Fang[1] is born, a shade of vermilion would paint the entire skies red. In fact, there might even be fire rains.

When a Responding Dragon is born, clouds will fill the skies and cause rain to pour. This phenomenon will last for at least seven days and nights, causing the nearby rivers and lakes to overflow and even form a powerful flood!

The arrival of a Zhu Yan[2] brings about chaos to the world and continuous flames of war.

When some ferocious beasts are born, they might even bring about an apocalyptic catastrophe for countries and dynasties.

Such examples have been rampant since the ancient era.

If a remnant beast was born, even though there won’t be any universal phenomenons, there would be accompanying brilliant colors to indicate their unique bloodline as proof that their future would be different from ordinary beasts.

A month later, the signs of life from that demon beast egg became more intense, almost reaching a peak!

This meant that the life within the demon beast egg could descend at any moment!

Suddenly, Su Zimo felt a sense of nervousness.

Monkey, spirit tiger and little crane had been busy for the entire time, spending most of their attention on the demon beast egg.

Su Zimo truly could not tell who the spirit beast would follow after it was hatched.

One day, monkey who was squatting on the demon beast egg suddenly jolted upright.

Monkey’s odd behavior attracted the gazes of spirit tiger and little crane.

Su Zimo opened his eyes and looked over as well.

On the ground not far away, the demon beast egg shook gently – a new life was struggling within, trying to enter this world.

All of a sudden!

A redheaded beauty appeared in the cave abode – this was the human form of Senior crane. She had a solemn expression and looked at the demon beast egg keenly with pursed lips.

Swash!

Su Zimo’s vision blurred as yet another cultivator appeared in the cultivator. Possessing an immense aura and a reserved gaze, this was the sect master – Ling Yun.

Even though Sect Master Ling Yun had never been here before, he was clearly paying attention to this matter.

Before long, the five peak masters arrived.

Right after, many grand elders of the sect arrived as well. There were elderly men with long white beards and old women with wooden staffs.

Everyone looked at the demon beast egg on the ground with a hint of anticipation.

Anyone who could become grand elders of the sect were all Nascent Soul Perfected Lords!

Su Zimo was secretly shocked.

This was quite a commotion. Other than an assault or major calamity of the sect, there was probably nothing that could gather so many people.

These people were all the top cultivators of Ethereal Peak!

The initially spacious cave abode became evidently crowded after these people arrived.

Monkey, spirit demon and little crane sat down in three directions, maintaining the same distance between them and the egg while protecting it in the middle.

Su Zimo was squeezed out of the crowd.

If it was just the hatching of an ordinary demon beast, there wouldn’t be this many people paying attention to it.

However, all of them had heard that this demon beast egg was retrieved from a ruin. Furthermore, there were many obscure and complicated patterns etched on the shell!

This was something worthy of everyone’s attention.

“Yes... those patterns are indeed mysterious. Even with my experience, I can’t tell what those patterns are,” A Nascent Soul old man stared at the demon beast egg for a long time before saying slowly.

An old woman frowned and said, “It seems to be some sort of a heritage.”

“Seems like this demon beast has quite a powerful background. It’s not simple,” Someone else nodded in agreement.

Right then, that initially shaking demon beast egg came to a sudden stop, drawing everyone’s attention.

The masses held their breaths.

There was complete silence in the cave abode such that one could hear a pin drop.

Crack!

There was a crisp sound.

Everyone’s eyes lit up.

A faint crack had appeared on the demon beast egg.

After a short pause...

Crack! Crack! Crack!

A series of sounds came from the surface of the demon beast egg.

In the blink of an eye, three more cracks appeared on the shell. The sounds became clearer as tiny cracks spread around the entire egg densely.

All of a sudden!

Piak!

A tiny hole broke at the top of the egg.

Peeling away the shell bit by bit, a pitch black talon was the first to be seen.

The eyes of Senior crane’s human form, the redheaded beauty, dimmed slightly in disappointment.

Sect Master Ling Yun frowned and sighed lightly.

Some of the Nascent Soul grand elders also sent their spirit consciousness to check outside the cave abode. They retracted their spirit consciousness upon discovering that there was no abnormality.

It was very calm outside without any signs of a universal phenomenon happening.

This meant that the demon beast before them had nothing to do with a pure-blooded ferocious beast.

The many grand elders shook their heads.

They had come to see if a pure-blooded ferocious beast could be produced.

If it was a pure-blooded ferocious beast, that would be the biggest thing that had happened in the sect for thousands of years!

Alas...

Everyone had arrived excitedly only to be disappointed.

[1] A bird found in Chinese mythology

[2] Mythical ape in Chinese mythology

Chapter 210: Wild Beast? Black Bear?

Su Zimo had once fantasized that it would be great if a pure-blooded ferocious beast was hatched as well.

However, the moment this life was born, Su Zimo felt a vague feeling in his bloodline – it was faint but extremely mysterious.

He smiled gently.

No matter the endowment or bloodline of the demon beast, Su Zimo decided that he would keep it by his side and raise it.

Monkey, spirit tiger and little crane looked at the shattered egg in the middle nervously too. Their eyes were widened with curiosity.

In the hearts of monkey and little crane, this little fellow was a shared child.

Be it a pure-blooded ferocious beast or ancient remnant beast, even if a sow was born, they were going to take good care of it and not let it suffer in the future!

In spirit tiger’s heart, it hoped that the little fellow would just be an ordinary demon beast. In fact, the weaker it was, the better.

That way, its standing would rise and it need not be bullied all day.

At the same time, it could also take in a lackey. If it had a sudden impulse, it could even bully that little fellow to feel good...

“Caw, caw!”

The spirit tiger’s mouth gaped and drooled with a foolish smile. It was completely immersed in its fantasies of a beautiful future.

Piak!

Yet another talon stretched out. It was pitch black and tore at both sides.

The crack on the shell was turning bigger.

At the sight of that, everyone in the cave abode were increasingly disappointed as they shook their heads and sighed.

It was fine if there was no universal phenomenon and it wasn’t a pure-blooded ferocious beast.

But... Why aren’t there any spectacular colors now that the shell has cracked?

What did this prove?

It proved that the beast was not an ancient remnant beast as well!

All the top cultivators of Ethereal Peak were mobilized here in excitement... only to watch the birth of an ordinary demon beast?

The psychological disparity was too great.

The sect had already reared many of such ordinary demon beasts.

Poof!

The shell was torn open by a small gap and a black head popped out. It looked like a dog with its eyes closed tightly and felt extremely weak.

Seemingly hungry, the little beast sniffed around with its nose and grabbed the eggshell shards beside it, stuffing them into its mouth.

Munch, munch.

In a short while, the little beast finished the egg shell that was the size of a fist.

Now, the little beast’s features were fully exposed to everyone.

It was bare and pitch black, looking extremely ordinary. Perhaps because it had just eaten the egg shell, its body was a little swollen.

Once again, the cave abode fell into silence.

The atmosphere was strange.

Everyone looked at the little beast with a weird expression, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Even though everyone had already determined that this was neither a pure-blooded ferocious beast or ancient remnant beast, this was way too ordinary...

An old man shook his head. “Even if there is no universal phenomenon or brilliant lights, a normal demon beast would contain demonic qi upon being born since they spent a long time in their mother’s body. The thicker the demonic qi, the stronger the demon beast was. But this little beast, sigh...”

The old man did not continue, but everyone knew what he meant.

Ever since it broke out of the shell till now, the little beast did not possess the slightest bit of demonic qi.

This meant that it wasn’t even a demon beast. It could only be considered as a wild beast...

“This little beast doesn’t have any intelligence. It didn’t even know how to open its eyes, it’s too weak,” An old woman at the side shook her head.

Even though her words were harsh, it was the truth.

Everyone knew that wild beasts were not psychic and did not have much intellect.

Su Zimo frowned hard and tried to recall all the ancient books he had read. He drew comparisons between the appearance of the little beast and all the demon beasts, ancient remnant beasts and pure-blooded ferocious beasts.

After a round of comparison, Su Zimo discovered that there was no demon beast that matched the little beast before him.

In terms of similarity, the little beast resembled a black bear cub the most...

In a ruin more than 5,000 years ago, Extreme Fire Dao Lord risked his life to bring back a demon beast egg only for it to hatch a black bear...

Su Zimo’s mouth twitched.

If Extreme Fire Dao Lord was still alive and saw this, he would probably die still out of anger.

Of course, the little beast was not exactly the same as a black bear.

It had a slightly swollen body and its head was like a dog. Its palm had a blood-red cushion in the middle and it had claws longer than a black bear that could be retracted freely.

“Heeya!”

The little beast tried its best to open its mouth and let out a sound. It did not sound like a powerful roar from a demonic beast, but rather, it looked like a newborn baby who was learning to speak.

“Fufu.”

There was friendly laughter all around.

Even its cry was so weak.

Even though no one could confirm the origin of the little beast, many signs indicated that this was the most ordinary type of wild beast!

The spirit tiger was delighted. Everything went smoothly as it had expected!

It finally had a lackey it could trample on!

The little beast trod out clumsily, trying to walk. It swayed and looked like it could fall at any moment.

“Heeya!”

Crying out once more, the little beast sniffed through the air, as if searching for something.

Its eyes were tightly shut and it could only recognize its way through scent.

Monkey, spirit tiger and little crane immediately turned nervous.

They had a prior agreement that after the little beast was born, whoever it looked for would be the boss between the few of them.

The little beast stood rooted on the spot for a moment before turning around. Slowly, it walked towards the spirit tiger in a clumsy manner.

The spirit tiger got excited immediately and nearly lost control of himself, jumping up and roaring wildly.

Happiness came too suddenly!

Initially, the spirit tiger thought that it was already not bad now that he had a lackey. From the looks of it, he even had a chance of being the boss now!

“The tables have turned and I’ve finally made it! It’s been a tough journey!”

The spirit tiger looked at the little beast its best to walk over and was moved to tears.

On the other side, monkey and little crane were indignant, their faces full of displeasure.

In a great mood, the spirit tiger pointed at monkey and shook its head, even shamelessly sticking its tongue out gleefully.

Monkey gritted its teeth and clenched its fists so tightly that its knuckles cracked – its eyes were almost spewing fire.

Upon seeing monkey’s state, the spirit tiger trembled in fear and hurriedly retracted his tongue.

At that moment, the little beast had already arrived in front of the spirit tiger.

The spirit tiger licked its face and leaned over, revealing a smile that he thought was the kindest.

After a slight pause, the little beast wrapped around the spirit tiger’s huge face and continued walking forth.

“Uh... ”

The smile on the spirit tiger’s face froze.

“This is f*cking awkward...”

The spirit tiger wanted to cry and cursed internally, “Damned black bear, you were lying? You’re going to get me killed!”

The spirit tiger turned around right away and looked at monkey obsequiously, feeling a deep sense of remorse and regret for his provocations earlier.

Monkey ignored the spirit tiger entirely and kept watching the little beast.

Even though its eyes were shut and it had just learned how to walk, the little beast still maneuvered through the crowd and arrived in front of Su Zimo after much difficulty.

Chapter 211: Terrifying Little Beast

Little beast raised its head and sniffed carefully again, as if making a confirmation.

After a while, it climbed up Su Zimo’s body.

Su Zimo was in a lotus position and wasn’t too tall.

However, because little beast was too short, it tried to climb up from under Su Zimo’s shirt but failed after several attempts. Instead, it fell and rolled over, causing a series of laughter.

Many grand elders started to take their leave.

It was meaningless to stay here any further. Even though that black bear was extremely cute, it was but a mere wild beast, nothing unlike rabbits and dogs by the roadside.

Su Zimo did not care.

No matter what, he was going to raise this little beast and make it a powerful existence!

So what if it was a wild beast?

He did not have a spirit root in the first place as well. But now, haven’t he managed to become a cultivator as well?

Nobody could decide how they were born...

However, the paths they took and their achievements in the future would depend on their diligence and opportunities.

Little beast continued to roll over a few times, covering its body dirtily in dust. With its closed eyes, it rubbed itself against Su Zimo’s feet gently in sadness.

Su Zimo hardened his heart and remained silent. He did not help little beast, hoping for it to climb up on its own.

“Heeya! Hee... ya!”

Little beast raised its head and opened its toothless mouth. With all its strength, it cried out in a childish voice pitifully.

Su Zimo’s heart softened and he could no longer hold on. He quickly reached out and lifted little beast.

Perhaps because it was just born, little beast was not huge. At around half a foot long, it fit Su Zimo’s palm perfectly.

Chuckling, Su Zimo held little beast with his left hand and teased it playfully with his right.

“Zimo, this black bear’s endowment is too poor. Don’t sign a blood oath with it,” The disheveled old man was worried and came over to remind him.

Even though the power of a blood oath was strong, its power would weaken if one made too many blood oaths. It was hard to guarantee that the demon beasts would not betray and kill their owners in the future.

Therefore, most cultivators would only sign a blood oath with a single demon beast, two at most.

In the eyes of the disheveled old man and everyone else, Su Zimo’s life could be in danger if he continued signing blood oaths with demon beasts!

Sect Master Ling Yun nodded in Su Zimo’s direction as well. “This little beast has yet to gain sentience. Just raise it casually and don’t think too much about it.”

With that said, Ling Yun turned to leave.

Su Zimo’s head was lowered in silence. When the five peak masters saw that, they thought that he received a huge blow and was greatly disappointed. They could not help but sigh lightly and leave the place.

At that moment, Su Zimo was looking at little beast sprawled on his lap with a strange gaze, seemingly in deep thought.

Initially, Su Zimo thought that little beast was an ordinary wild beast as well. Perhaps it was truly a black bear’s cub that had yet to gain sentience and was merely cute.

However, an action by little beast earlier on changed Su Zimo’s mind entirely.

Little beast was definitely not as simple as everyone thought it to be!

Earlier on, Su Zimo teased little beast with his right hand.

Immediately, little beast’s expression changed. It seemed to have sensed something and stuck its nose out, sniffing Su Zimo’s right hand carefully.

Finally, little beast opened its mouth and licked Su Zimo’s fingertips. Finally, it changed to a comfortable position before falling asleep.

That action seemed like it was nothing.

However, it caused a huge stir in Su Zimo’s heart.

His right hand could be considered as his strongest trump card, helping him escape from danger twice.

No one in the entire cave abode knew about the secret behind his right hand.

Even senior crane was clueless about it.

However, little beast had just been born and was able to sense it without being able to open its eyes. It tried its best to come over and grab his right hand!

This was definitely not a coincidence.

Senior crane had not left and was still in the cave abode.

Su Zimo looked over and could not help but ask, “Senior, do you recognize this little beast?”

Senior crane walked over slowly, standing in front of Su Zimo and looked at little beast carefully before shaking her head. “No, I don’t recall ever seeing a demon beast as such.”

“Could the ancient books have left it out?” Su Zimo asked again.

“It’s possible.”

Senior crane said in a low voice, “After all, it’s been a long time since the primordial era till now. Coupled with the many demon beasts that have gone extinct, there’s a chance it could be left out.”

Pausing for a moment, senior crane continued, “However, it’s true that there’s no universal phenomenon, spectacular colors or demonic qi when this beast was born. Hmms... perhaps it might be just an ordinary black bear.”

As she said that, senior crane bent over and reached out, wanting to touch little beast.

All of a sudden!

Little beast that was initially sleeping woke up!

Even though its eyes were still closed, it was clearly a little nervous.

As though it sense that a foreign aura was approaching, little beast stuck its head out and sniffed. The claws that were initially retracted peeked out gradually, revealing a cold and dark glint.

Such keen senses!

Su Zimo’s eyes lit up.

Little beast was born less than an hour ago and could not even open its eyes.

However, in its slumber, it could still sense an unfamiliar aura and jolt awake.

With such a reaction, it was proof that little beast was extraordinary.

Su Zimo was a little happy.

“Fu...”

Senior crane froze for a moment before chuckling. “This little fellow is quite sharp.”

With that said, senior crane extended her finger and tapped little beast’s forehead dotingly.

Instantly, little beast retreated hurriedly. However, it was too slow and did not have a good balance of its body yet.

As though realizing that it could not dodge it, little beast stretched out its claws hastily and scratched senior crane’s palm in a frantic motion.

When he saw that, Su Zimo smiled.

This little beast was quite interesting. To think that it knew how to counterattack...

Su Zimo was about to speak when he realized that there was something strange about senior crane’s gaze. She stood where she was, frozen and motionless.

“Senior, what’s wrong?”

Su Zimo frowned and asked automatically.

“Wrong...”

After a moment, senior crane snapped out of her stupor as though she was gravely shocked. Somewhat out of sorts, she mumbled repeatedly, “Wrong! We were all wrong!”

“What do you mean?” Su Zimo was puzzled.

Senior crane looked at little beast who was hiding in Su Zimo’s embrace with a lit up gaze. In fact, there was even a hint of fear as she asked uncertainly, “That little fellow just scratched me?”

“That’s right,” Su Zimo nodded, not understanding what senior crane meant.

She took a deep breath of air and said slowly, “It hurt me.”

Su Zimo was frozen on the spot, feeling a chill run down his spine!

Senior crane’s cultivation was no weaker than a Nascent Soul Perfected Lord.

Furthermore, being a demon, senior crane’s body was extremely powerful to begin with!

Even if little beast was a pure-blooded ferocious beast, its claws wouldn’t pose any threat – it would merely scratch senior crane like an itch.

But, senior crane had actually felt pain!

The most terrifying thing was that little beast was born for less than an hour!

If that scratch had landed on Su Zimo’s body earlier on, it would have carved a few holes in his body!

Chapter 212: Night Spirit

Even though they did not know the origin of little beast, it was not hard to imagine how terrifying it would be after it grew up!

“The background of this little beast is probably far from simple. Take good care of it and it’ll definitely be of great help to you in the future!”

Senior crane said and looked at little beast carefully, her eyes filled with puzzlement.

What was going on here?

This was a little beast that had no universal phenomenon, spectacular colors or even demonic qi when it was born – how did it possess such destructive powers?

Senior crane shook her head and left in confusion.

Before she left, senior crane was still worried and turned around to warn Su Zimo, “By the way, watch over it. Don’t let it run around in the sect.”

“Don’t worry, senior.”

Su Zimo nodded. “I’ll guard it during this period of time and not let anything happen to it.”

Now that Su Zimo thought about it, little beast was basically a newborn that could not even open its eyes. It knew nothing and was at its weakest. If he allowed it to run around the sect, it might end up losing its life.

Senior crane’s lips twitched and she rolled her eyes in a human-like manner. “I’m worried that something might happen to OTHER PEOPLE!”

Su Zimo: “... ”

...

After senior crane left, monkey, spirit tiger and little crane came over.

Earlier on, spirit tiger made fun of monkey and was beaten up by the latter while little crane watched on happily. As such, neither of the three paid attention to the conversation between senior crane and Su Zimo.

After returning, spirit tiger glared at little beast bitterly and thought to himself, “Black bear! I was really done in by you! I’ll remember this and settle it with you after you grow older! Hmph!”

Little beast was truly way too stumpy that the spirit tiger was worried it might be killed with a single smack.

In just a day, little beast was able to open its eyes.

Its eyes were dark and sparkling, exuding intelligence like a pair of dazzling gems.

On that day, monkey, spirit tiger and little crane left the sect and obtained the milk of many demon beasts, placing everything in front of little beast.

Little beast took a sniff without drinking any.

It seemed a little disdainful.

Instead, little beast chose to continue sucking on the fingers of Su Zimo’s right hand.

Perhaps owing to the eggshell, little beast did not get hungry for an entire week.

The most common thing little beast did was to lie on Su Zimo’s lap and sleep soundly while chewing on his right hand’s fingers.

During this period of time, Su Zimo had a rough grasp of little beast’s temperament as well.

It was the closest to him and would stick to him everyday.

Because little beast was extremely sensitive to foreign auras, it would be on guard or even retaliate if any stranger got close to it.

Other than Su Zimo, it was also relatively close to monkey, spirit tiger and little crane.

From that point of view, the three of them did not waste their month for nothing.

At times, the four of them would even play around in the cave abode happily.

Upon seeing that, Su Zimo would always feel a sense of warmth and smile.

After a week, little beast’s teeth grew out. Even though they were small, they were extremely sharp and not weaker than its claws.

However, what puzzled monkey, spirit tiger and little crane was that no matter the type of spirit beast they hunted, little beast would only go up and sniff instead of eating it.

Even if it was hungry, it would choose to suck on Su Zimo’s fingers rather than eat those actual food.

“That’s strange.”

Su Zimo was perplexed as well.

“Could little beast be vegetarian?”

On second thought, Su Zimo felt that it was not right.

The claws and teeth of little beast did not seem as though they were meant for it to be vegetarian.

These few days, Su Zimo did not cultivate much. Instead, he specially refined a few cauldrons of elixirs and selected the supreme-grade and perfect ones for little beast.

Yet, monkey, spirit tiger and little crane were the ones fighting for it while little beast refused everything.

“That’s strange.”

Su Zimo tapped on little beast’s head and chided lightly, “Why are you not eating everything, hmm?”

“Heeya!”

Little beast had yet to master demon language and could only cry out in “Heeyas”. Blinking its diamond black eyes, it looked aggrieved.

This day, monkey and little crane went out to hunt.

Su Zimo sat on his stone bed and held spirit stones in both hands, seemingly in cultivation and could not be distracted.

“The opportunity is here!”

The spirit tiger had been cultivating the Void Thunder Manual during this period of time and felt that it had gotten stronger – it was now a Foundation Establishment spirit demon.

Rubbing its paws together, the spirit tiger was prepared to take this opportunity to teach little beast a good lesson. It wanted to impose the image of a mighty, ferocious and unstoppable being in little beast’s heart.

“Black bear, stop sleeping! Wake up!”

The spirit tiger sneaked in front of little beast and growled softly, slapping little beast’s head with a backhand.

Initially asleep, little beast’s body quivered and it stuck out its claws, blocking instinctively!

“Pfft!”

Flashes of blood appeared.

A few bloody holes appeared on the spirit tiger’s paws.

The spirit tiger was dumbfounded.

Little beast was completely awake as well.

“Ow!”

Howling in pain with a pale face, the spirit tiger glared at little beast and gritted its teeth, snarling, “Black bear! You’re not trustworthy at all! Even when you’re asleep, you’re so nervous! You’ve screwed me to death!”

Little beast leaned over in embarrassment and stuck its tongue out to lick the spirit tiger’s paw as a form of comfort.

“It’s completely different from what I imagined! Even after this black bear is born, I’m still the weakest...” The spirit tiger’s face was covered in tears as sadness welled up in him.

Right then, monkey strode into the cave abode covered in blood. It was carrying a leopard on its shoulders, huge like a small mountain and covered in green fur.

Emerald Cloud Leopard!

Su Zimo recognized the leopard at first glance – it was an ancient remnant beast that was extremely strong.

The Emerald Cloud Leopard’s head was smashed in and it was filled with injuries all over, clearly already dead.

Monkey had many wounds on its body as well – it was a devastating battle.

The moment the Emerald Cloud Leopard’s corpse was placed down, little beast suddenly jumped off Su Zimo and ran over to the corpse to sniff.

Shing!

Little beast stretched its claws and cut through the skin and flesh of the Emerald Cloud Leopard easily. It opened its mouth and chomped down on a piece of meat, swallowing it.

Su Zimo narrowed his gaze at the sight of that.

He had been observing little beast during this period of time.

In the past ten days, little beast’s body grew a little more. It was no longer bloated nor similar to a black bear.

Little beast’s head resembled that of a dog’s while its figure resembled a tiger’s. Pitch black, it had no fur and upon retracting its claws, it could walk without a single sound.

Su Zimo examined little beast’s claws and teeth carefully – be it in terms of structure or sharpness, it was something he had never seen before.

Furthermore, little beast had displayed signs of its terrifying combat talent while it was playing in the past couple of days.

That combat talent seemed to be an instinct!

Extremely sharp claws and teeth, keen sense of smell, robust strength, explosive power, terrifying combat talent...

A demon beast as such was practically born to kill!

In front of Su Zimo, monkey, spirit tiger and little crane, little beast was extremely docile and adorable.

However, late in the night, it would stand up quietly and patrol the cave abode, surveying with an icy stare.

Occasionally, little beast would stand outside the cave abode and look up at the full moon, emitting an inexplicable aura that was vicissitude and mysterious – it was like a god walking through the mortal realms at night!

“How about... we call you Night Spirit from now on?” Su Zimo mumbled.

Chapter 213: Three Great Legacy Disciples

For the next half a month, Su Zimo discovered that Night Spirit – the mysterious little beast – was extremely picky with its food.

It did not touch the flesh of ordinary demon beasts at all.

When it came to ancient remnant beasts, Night Spirit would choose to eat some.

It did not seem like it enjoyed them either, eating very little.

Su Zimo did not give much thought to it, merely assuming that they had not found the right food.

After all, most demon beasts would not eat every other demon beasts as well – they had their own preference too.

Su Zimo planned to wait till Night Spirit was older before taking it out so that it could hunt on its own to see the type of demon beasts it preferred.

As time went by, Night Spirit’s body began to turn rougher as though something was growing out.

A month later.

The disheveled old man came for a sudden visit.

“Zimo, I’ve got good news!”

He said with a smile the moment he entered, “Prepare yourself. Three days later, Wen Xuan and some of the elders are going to take you somewhere.”

“Huh? Where?” Su Zimo asked.

“Fifty kilometers away from the sect exists Dongling Valley, a place with a unique terrain that is a natural spirit gathering spot. All the surrounding spirit qi in the area are gathered in the valley and injected into a spirit pool.”

The disheveled old man continued, “Every 10 years, when the spirit pool is filled, it will open once for the perfected Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the sect to cultivate within. A single year of cultivation within is equivalent to five years outside!”

Su Zimo nodded.

In that case, Dongling Valley was truly a blessed place.

However, a doubt rose in Su Zimo’s heart as he said, “Master, I’m not at perfected Foundation Establishment.”

The disheveled old man chuckled. “This was initially none of your business indeed. However, Elder Chen made a suggestion to allow some of the inner sect disciples with immense talent and potential to cultivate within the spirit pool as well. In the main hall of Ethereal Palace, Elder Chen even mentioned your name specifically.”

“Oh?” Su Zimo was slightly surprised.

He had only joined the inner sect for a short period of time and was mostly in seclusion. As such, he truly did not know who this Elder Chen was.

The disheveled old man continued, “Zimo, when you see Elder Chen three days later, make sure to thank him properly.”

Su Zimo nodded.

After returning to the sect, Su Zimo’s schedule had been very packed.

Apart from researching weapon refinement techniques, he had to work on the Candlelight Sword Formation while raising his immortality and demonic cultivation alongside taking care of Night Spirit.

It was rare for him to have such an opportunity. Su Zimo could make use of this to put everything aside and focus on his cultivation so that he could make an early breakthrough!

...

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.

Su Zimo naturally could not take monkey, spirit tiger and little crane along with him for this trip.

Moreover, Dongling Valley was a place for immortality cultivators and it was useless even if monkey and the others joined him.

However, when it heard that Su Zimo was going to leave, Night Spirit ‘heeya-ed’ non-stop and insisted on tagging along no matter what.

After hesitating for a long time, Su Zimo’s heart softened and he finally agreed to it.

For the past month, under Su Zimo’s strict orders, Night Spirit had not taken a single step out of the cave abode.

“It’s probably time for it to take a look at the world outside.”

At that thought, Su Zimo stuffed Night Spirit inside his robes and instructed for it to not come out before leaving the cave abode.

The gathering spot was the front peak of the sect.

Upon arriving, Su Zimo caught sight of two familiar faces.

Little fatty and Leng Rou.

“Bro, here!” Little fatty waved to him.

Leng Rou nodded slightly and greeted, “Junior Brother Su.”

Given Leng Rou’s character, the fact that she would take the initiative to greet someone was already unprecedented.

It had been a while since they last met and both little fatty and Leng Rou were at late-stage Foundation Establishment.

Of course, that did not mean that Su Zimo’s cultivation speed was not fast enough.

It was the opposite.

Su Zimo’s cultivation speed was already extremely fast. Despite spending a good half of his efforts on elixir and weapon refinement, formations and demonic cultivation, his immortality cultivation realm did not fall behind!

Beside little fatty and Leng Rou stood thirty odd inner sect disciples.

Su Zimo swept his gaze across.

These inner sect disciples were all at late-stage Foundation Establishment!

Su Zimo raised his brows but did not say anything.

As time passed by, more cultivators arrived gradually.

Surveying from the beginning, be it the cultivators that arrived first or later on, Su Zimo realized that he was the only mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator!

Su Zimo sensed an unusual aura and felt that something was amiss.

If this Dongling Valley trip was based on one’s cultivation, late-stage Foundation Establishment disciples should be ranked before him who was at mid-stage Foundation Establishment.

If it was in terms of potential and endowment, why was it that other than him, the rest were all at late-stage and perfected Foundation Establishment?

The arrangement was filled with conflict no matter how he looked at it.

“Look! Those are the three great legacy disciples of our sect!”

Little fatty gave a low cry and pointed at three people who were flying over not far away, “The grey robed cultivator on the left is Ji Chengtian and it’s said that he’s a four meridian Foundation Establishment!”

Typically, perfected Foundation Establishment Cultivators would be referred to by the number of meridians they have unlocked.

“The blue robed cultivator on the right is Luo Yi and he’s also a four meridian Foundation Establishment. In the middle is the leader of the three great legacy disciples, Qin Yu. He’s at five meridian Foundation Establishment and is also the true number one of the inner sect! I even heard from master that Qin Yu has a chance of unlocking the sixth meridian before the sect competition!”

Normally, one would have an extremely high chance of forming a core if they had four meridians unlocked.

In the sect competition, four meridian Foundation Establishment Cultivators had a chance of ranking in the top ten while five meridian Foundation Establishment Cultivators were a shoo-in for the top ten!

As for six meridian Foundation Establishment Cultivators, it was considered to be very good if one or two of them appeared in the once every ten years sect competition.

From that viewpoint, one could understand the preciousness of one of Ethereal Peak’s three secret skills – Ethereal Foundation Establishment manual.

Cultivating Ethereal Foundation Establishment would ensure at least four unlocked meridians.

Thereafter, it would depend on the cultivator’s own endowment, talent, perceptiveness and fate.

Through thousands of years, there had indeed been disciples of the sect who had unlocked six meridians.

In Tianhuang Mainland, even if those at six meridian Foundation Establishment continued cultivating till they were 100 years old, they might not be able to unlock the seventh meridian.

If they wanted to progress, they had to enter the ancient battlefield.

That was the only place where they could obtain heavenly defying opportunities and lock their seventh... even eighth meridians!

The reason why cultivators wanted to unlock as many meridians as possible wasn’t only because of the increase in strength – it was preparation for core formation!

The quality of a Golden Core formed from four meridians was naturally incomparable to the quality of one formed from five meridians.

The quality of a Golden Core of five meridians was incomparable to a Golden Core of six meridians...

It was said that once the quality of a Golden Core reaches a certain level, the spirit energy in their bodies would achieve a harmony with the heavens and earth and a phenomenon that would shock the world would be born!

That was the famous Golden Core phenomenon of the cultivation world!