Chapter 161: The Beast King Lurking Behind
The milky-white rib had been grafted on quite a long time ago, blending seamlessly with the red ribs so that they were indistinguishable from one another.
Lu Yan snapped off this section of the rib.
Instantly, the Daoist Tome reacted violently, vibrating with an overwhelming sense of yearning.
Lu Yan immediately connected with the Daoist Tome, causing a phantom projection of it to fly out from between his brows and swallow the rib whole.
After consuming the rib, the Daoist Tome glowed brilliantly, and Lu Yan could clearly sense a wave of sheer satisfaction radiating from it.
Shortly after, a surge of energy poured out from the tome.
"First, let's advance the Heart-Tempering Art."
With a single thought from Lu Yan, the energy released by the Daoist Tome cascaded over the Heart-Tempering Art avatar. The color of the 100% mark above the avatar's head began to deepen continuously.
"This rib bears some resemblance to the finger bone I obtained from the bloody terrain in Dingxing City. I wonder if there is any connection between them?"
Lu Yan pondered to himself.
Then, his gaze fell upon the corpse of the ferocious beast.
This beast, a fierce tiger, weighed several thousand catties. It had not mutated, and its flesh was of supreme quality—without a doubt, top-tier Tier 2 beast meat, or perhaps even Tier 3.
Its combat strength far surpassed that of an ordinary Fifth-Stage Martial Marquis; a typical Tier 2 beast could never match this level of power.
It was undoubtedly a Tier 3 beast, holding immense value.
Yet, there was simply no way to carry it out of here.
"I'll bury it first and deal with it later. If I get the chance, I'll take it; if not, so be it."
Making up his mind, Lu Yan's hands turned golden as he began to claw at the earth. He quickly dug a large pit, buried the fierce tiger's carcass inside, and cleaned away the bloodstains on the ground.
Then, he departed swiftly.
After running for several miles, Lu Yan's eyes lit up.
At that moment, the Heart-Tempering Art had broken through.
Having accumulated sufficient energy at 100% of the first layer, it successfully advanced to 1% of the second layer.
"It seems that when the Heart-Tempering Art avatar reaches the peak of a certain layer, it truly needs to accumulate energy to serve as a catalyst. Excellent."
A beaming smile spread across Lu Yan's face. As long as it could break through, that was all that mattered.
Following the breakthrough to the second layer, the progress of the Heart-Tempering Art began to soar rapidly once more.
The energy contained within that section of the rib seemed virtually inexhaustible.
"I wonder if there are any more Daoist Nourishments."
A wave of eager anticipation welled up in Lu Yan's heart. After running a bit further, he actively communicated with the Daoist Tome.
To his surprise, a response came immediately upon connection.
The Daoist Tome guided him toward a specific direction where another Daoist Nourishment awaited.
Lu Yan walked resolutely toward that direction without delay.
Not long after Lu Yan departed from the spot where he had just slain the fierce tiger, two figures appeared nearby—none other than the Bai Clan Martial Marquis and the old crone.
The old crone held a compass in her hand, but its needle remained completely motionless.
"What is going on? Why has this compass used for tracking the immortal bones stopped moving? The needle was moving before—why did it freeze up just as we got close?"
The old crone frowned deeply.
The Bai Clan Martial Marquis also locked his brows, utterly baffled.
Could the compass be broken?
Or perhaps the beast implanted with the immortal bone had moved away?
"Let's continue searching ahead, but we must pick up the pace. Although the Demonic Attraction lured away the beast king of Mount Kunwu, there is no guarantee that another beast king hasn't been left behind to guard this place. We must still resolve this quickly."
Said the Bai Clan Martial Marquis.
This location lay deep within the Sea of Vermilion Jade Flowers, the forbidden zone for this expedition, and they felt constant dread every moment they spent here.
"I wonder if Li Wenxuan has entered. That man is as crafty as a fox; we must be on guard against him."
The old crone remarked.
Holding the compass, the two continued onward, heading in the exact same direction as Lu Yan.
Before long, the needle on their compass began to twitch once more, pointing straight ahead.
"There's a reaction. The beast with the immortal bone is right ahead. Let's go."
The pair rushed forward at high speed.
"Another one."
Lu Yan gazed ahead.
A blood-red horse possessed a pair of wings, resembling a legendary heavenly steed, extraordinarily majestic and divine.
According to the guidance of the Daoist Tome, the Daoist Nourishment resided within this red horse.
After casting a habitual glance around to ensure there were no anomalies, Lu Yan charged straight out.
The strength of this red horse was visibly inferior to that of the previous fierce tiger, falling quite a notch short. Lu Yan brought it down with a mere three saber strikes.
Right at the rib area of the red horse, he discovered another section of milky-white bone.
Lu Yan once again manipulated the Daoist Tome to swallow the milky-white bone.
Bones of this nature were undeniably precious and had been artificially implanted into the beasts.
Lu Yan guessed that this was most likely the handiwork of the beast king of Mount Kunwu.
Carrying such an item around was like holding a hot potato, so letting the Daoist Tome devour it to destroy all evidence was the wisest course of action.
Repeating his previous trick, Lu Yan dug a pit, buried the red horse's carcass, and departed in a hurry.
Moments after Lu Yan left, the old crone and the Bai Clan Martial Marquis arrived at the vicinity.
Yet, sorrow and frustration clouded both of their faces.
For shortly beforehand, the compass needle had frozen once again.
"Could this beast possibly sense our presence? Why does it always flee just as we are about to reach it?"
The Bai Clan Martial Marquis asked with a gloomy expression.
The old crone was equally speechless, utterly unable to comprehend what was happening.
"Perhaps it is just a coincidence. Let's keep searching forward."
Said the old crone.
This time, the two exercised much greater caution. They reined in their auras, slowed their pace significantly, and moved at a low speed under the cover of tall grass and massive boulders, careful not to stir up any noise that might alert the beast.
Sure enough, after they had traveled several miles, the compass needle began to twitch again.
"It's right ahead. Be careful this time and make no noise."
A look of joy appeared on the old crone's face.
The pair grew even more cautious, regulating the flow of their vital blood and softening their breathing as they inched forward.
"The third one."
Lu Yan stared ahead, his eyes shining brightly.
A leopard-like beast stood in front of him, and the Daoist Tome sensed a Daoist Nourishment inside its body.
After a quick observation, he charged out directly.
This leopard beast was nimble, agile, and blindingly fast.
Unfortunately for it, it was countered by Lu Yan, whose speed was even greater. Thus, after just a few strikes of his blade, the leopard was slain, and a piece of bone was excavated from its body.
This time, it was not a rib.
Rather, it was a section of bone from the leg—small, roughly the size of an adult's fist.
The phantom of the Daoist Tome flew out and swallowed the bone fragment in a single gulp.
"That's three pieces now. Can this propel the Heart-Tempering Art all the way up to the highest eighth layer?"
"To think there are so many of these bones within Mount Kunwu. What kind of creature do these bones actually belong to? Are they from beasts that surpass Grandmaster-level beasts?"
Lu Yan made wild guesses, though a chill ran through his heart.
Bones of this caliber were unquestionably precious. If he kept excavating them one after another, would those beast kings fly into a frenzy if they found out?
"Just one more piece. I'll dig one more and then leave. I mustn't be too greedy."
Lu Yan cautioned himself.
He dug a pit, buried the leopard beast's carcass, and pressed onward.
"It stopped moving again. What is going on? Why has it stopped moving again?"
Both the old crone and the Bai Clan Martial Marquis were on the verge of losing their minds.
This time, they had been cautious enough, making virtually no noise at all. Why had the compass suddenly gone dead silent once more?
Deciding to forgo stealth, they quickened their pace and arrived at the vicinity where Lu Yan had just slain the leopard beast.
"Something is definitely wrong. Let's search the area and see if there are any anomalies."
Said the old crone.
The Bai Clan Martial Marquis nodded, and the two began to meticulously inspect their surroundings.
Meanwhile, not far from the spot where Lu Yan had slain the fierce tiger, a gigantic red ape standing over six meters tall with an immensely robust physique paced back and forth, observing its surroundings.
Suddenly, its nose twitched, and a fierce, tyrannical gleam flashed in its eyes. With a single bound, it crossed hundreds of meters in a flash. After two leaps, it halted at a specific location, its eyes locked onto the ground.
Then, it began to dig at a particular spot on the earth, quickly unearthing the carcass of the fierce tiger that Lu Yan had buried earlier.
Seeing that the ribs had been gouged out and stolen, the crimson giant ape let out a low, muffled roar. The tyrannical glint in its eyes grew even more intense, and blood-red Qi roiled over its entire body.
Thud!
It leaped into the air, gliding across the sky like a phantom, and landed hundreds of meters away in the blink of an eye.
Relying on its special sensory connection, it quickly located the carcass of the red horse.
At that exact moment, the old crone and the Bai Clan Martial Marquis made a major discovery.
Following their thorough inspection, they found that a patch of earth had been freshly disturbed.
After some digging, the pair successfully exhumed the carcass of the leopard beast.
Seeing that a piece of bone was missing from its leg, their faces darkened to the point of dripping water.
The immortal bone had been excavated and stolen.
Someone had beaten them to it.
Who could it be?
Aside from them, who else knew that the beasts here had been implanted with immortal bones?
Furthermore, the beast king had explicitly forbidden anyone from entering the Sea of Vermilion Jade Flowers. Who possessed such audacious daring?
Could it be Li Wenxuan?
The thought of Li Wenxuan crossed both of their minds simultaneously.
That was the only logical explanation.
Had this fellow refused to travel with them, entered ahead of time, and sought to monopolize the monumental achievement for himself?
They decided to change routes and abandon this path altogether.
Thud!
Thud!
Just then, they felt the ground tremble violently, as if some colossal behemoth was charging toward them.
Immediately afterward, they saw a towering red ape hurtling toward them through the sky from behind, its face contorted with tyranny and a murderous intent as vast as the tide.
A terrifying aura pressed down upon them like a towering mountain.
"Oh no, it's a Tier 3 beast king! Retreat quickly!"
The old crone's face altered drastically as she scrambled backward at top speed, followed closely by the Bai Clan Martial Marquis.
Boom!
No sooner had the two retreated than the giant ape landed on the spot they had just occupied. Impacting the ground like a meteorite, it blasted a massive crater into the earth as debris flew in all directions.
Catching sight of the leopard beast's carcass, the giant ape flew into an even greater rage. It roared like thunder and lunged at the old crone and the Bai Clan Martial Marquis to slaughter them.
"We didn't kill this beast..."
The old crone shrieked, continuing to fall back alongside the Bai Clan Martial Marquis.
However, the giant ape moved at astonishing speed, striding forward and swinging its thick, long arms. Its fists, each the size of a water vat, swept toward the pair.
Terrifying sonic booms erupted ahead of its fists, compressing the air to the point where visible ripples of compressed shockwaves could be faintly discerned.
There was nowhere to dodge.
The old crone waved her hand, unleashing over a hundred hidden weapons.
Yet, when these weapons struck the giant ape's fists and body, they sounded as though they had hit solid metal, ringing out with a clanging noise before bouncing off in every direction.
The giant ape's onslaught suffered not the slightest obstruction.
The Bai Clan Martial Marquis swung his twin swords to parry, unleashing three strands of bone-force simultaneously. Yet, the instant he collided with the giant ape's fist, his body was sent flying like a rubber ball some fifty or sixty meters away, snapping countless large trees in his wake and kicking up a trail of dust and smoke.
The very next moment, the giant fist descended upon the old crone.
She let out a piercing shriek as her body contorted and morphed, her features turning hideous while a thick, billowing black miasma poured out from her.
Thud!
A moment later, the old crone's body was likewise blasted backward. She shattered several giant boulders and tumbled dozens of meters across the ground.
Yet, the old crone sprang right back to her feet almost instantly, her mangled body rapidly regenerating. Simultaneously, a dark shadow detached itself and floated outward from her form.