Chapter 224 – The Two Blood Beads
Jin Hao and the young woman both grieved as they mourned Yu Cheng Kun’s death. The only comfort they had was that the little brat from High Heaven Pavilion was also dead, so at least their disciple brother would have company on the road to the Yellow Springs.
After waiting by the cliff side for a while just in case, the two eventually decided to leave.
This cliff was extremely high and, not knowing if there was any danger lurking below, they did not dare to descend in order to retrieve Yu Cheng Kun’s body, they could only allow time to bury him in this strange wilderness.
Beneath the cliff, Yang Kai hovered about with his Flaming Yang Wings before softly landing beside Yu Cheng Kun’s Blood Bead, swiftly collecting it.
[Worthy of a True Element Boundary elite, this Blood Bead is more than double the size of one condensed from a Separation and Reunion cultivator, roughly the size of a longan; the energy contained within this one is also significantly richer.]
Yang Kai had already experienced the sweetness of refining Blood Beads, so after obtaining such a large one, his thoughts began to wander. If he could kill every True Element Boundary cultivator that entered here, how great would his harvest be?
Back at the lake, Yang Kai had estimated that the number of cultivators who had entered this isolated world was around two or three hundred.
With two or three hundred Blood Beads of this size, would it not be easy to break through to the True Element Boundary? Thinking until here, Yang Kai could not help trembling, quickly reigning in his wild ideas for fear that they might permanently stain his heart with murderous hostility.
Storing this Blood Bead in the Universe Bag in his sleeve, Yang Kai quickly scanned his surroundings before dashing off in a random direction.
This huge valley obscured by clouds was surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs over ten thousand steps high. For an ordinary person, it would be absolutely impossible to climb down safely. Even if one’s strength had reached the True Element Boundary, without knowing what dangers lay hidden beneath the clouds, they would be highly unlikely to descend here.
Wandering around the valley for a day or so, Yang Kai gradually began to understand the terrain here, unable to suppress some joy from welling up inside him. Given the surrounding geography, he was certain he would not meet any other cultivators; therefore, he would not have to worry about meeting any more opponents he could not handle.
Along the way, he had also beheaded several Fourth-Order Monster Beasts and gained a small harvest.
As long as he had enough time, his strength would definitely increase, meaning that when he eventually left here, he would no longer have to worry about those True Element Boundary cultivators.
In this immense valley, Yang Kai continued exploring and hunting, every day reaping some harvest, carefully avoiding the occasional Fifth-Order Monster Beast he encountered, not wanting conflict with such a beast yet.
A dozen days later, Yang Kai had gathered more than thirty Monster Beast Blood Beads.
Finding a safe place to spend a few quiet hours, he quickly refined and absorbed them clean. Coupled with the Blood Bead condensed from the dead Yu Cheng Kun, Yang Kai felt like had reached the bottleneck at the top of Separation and Reunion Fourth Stage, only needing a little more before he could break through again.
It was a very satisfying harvest.
However, the number of Monster Beasts within this valley seemed to be limited. With the passage of time, Yang Kai began to find it difficult to find Fourth-Order Monster Beasts to behead, and although he had discovered a few Fifth-Order Monster Beasts, Yang Kai really did not want to engage in a costly battle with them.
After running a circle around the whole valley, Yang Kai gradually returned to the place he had originally landed.
Pondering for a while, Yang Kai eventually decided to explore the valley’s central region to see if he could find any more Monster Beasts. If there was also nothing there, his only choice would be to leave the valley and try to find a new hunting ground.
Having made a decision, Yang Kai dashed towards the middle of the valley, meeting a few Monster Beasts along the way and swiftly harvesting their Blood Beads. However, as he moved closer to the valley’s center, he no longer encountered any Monster Beasts.
In fact, he could not even see traces of Monster Beasts.
A faint doubt rising in his heart, Yang Kai continued to press forward.
A few days later, Yang Kai suddenly came to a halt and stared, wide-eyed in front of him, his face filled with an astonished and amazed expression.
Before him was an enormous skeleton!
A hundred meters ahead, there was a white skeleton quietly lying on the ground, but even from so far away, Yang Kai could feel an oppressive pressure from the aura it was radiating.
This skeleton was at least a hundred meters tall with a length that was uncertain, its bones flashing an ivory-like luster. Even after so long, it still maintained such a state, not yielding to the river of time, standing firm without crumbling into dust.
Leaving behind such a massive skeleton, Yang Kai could not even imagine what kind of power and majesty this Monster Beast possessed before its death.
Eventually recovering from his initial shock, Yang Kai slowly began to advance towards it.
Approaching closer, Yang Kai discovered that it was not just a single skeleton here. Rather, there were two.
One of them grand enough to be seen from afar, the other somewhat smaller but no less exquisite. At first glance, these two skeletons seemed to be a single entity, but if one looked carefully, they would notice that the smaller skeleton embedded into the bigger one’s chest.
“These two Monster Beasts must have killed one another!” Old Demon asserted.
Yang Kai nodded, agreeing with his inference as, through these two skeletons, he could vaguely sense traces of a violent struggle; these two Monster Beasts, one great and one small, had fought to mutual annihilation here.
Monster Beasts were prideful, neither of these two would have ever shown cowardice or retreated from the fight. The smaller Monster Beast had clearly torn through giant one’s belly, but the former dealt it a fatal blow in the process, falling dead along with its foe.
Countless years later, the wind and sun, along with the dust and rain, had buried all traces of this heaven-shaking battle. However, what remained, buried within these colossal bones, was an unyielding murderous aura.
Yang Kai’s shock was not small, his eyes never once leaving the giant skeleton.
He had no idea what kind of Monster Beast could possess such a huge body. Falling to the ground, it still towered over a hundred meters high, and this was only the part of its frame that was exposed, there was still more of its body buried beneath the dust.
Even just its bones gave off such a strong and powerful aura, with such a towering body; it must have been an extraordinarily strong Monster Beast.
Considering this, what kind of Earth shattering heritage did the smaller Monster Beast hail from that it could allow the beast to fight evenly with such an opponent?
“Old Demon, do you know what Monster Beasts they were?” Yang Kai stood dazed for a long time before gradually regaining his wits, eventually posing this question.
“From only their remains, it’s impossible to tell.” Old Demon responded.
Yang Kai stretched out his hand and gently touched one of the giant white bones, but as soon as he did, a burst of noise rang out and the bone instantly crumbled.
This unexpected event suddenly set off a chain reaction as all the other bones in these two skeletons gave of a cracking sound, soon after collapsing into a pile of dust.
These two had died and were buried here, had their Souls also ceased to exist here? Even this unfathomably strong pair of Monster Beasts could not escape such a fate, it was truly sad.
However, after pondering for a while, a light flashed across Yang Kai’s eyes, quickly glancing around the remains.
“What are you looking for Young Master?” Old Demon asked, slightly puzzled.
“Their Blood Beads, these two Monster Beasts were so powerful, how could their Blood Beads not be extraordinary?” Yang Kai replied with excitement.
“These two have been dead for so many years; wouldn’t their Blood Beads already be gone?”
“I bet they’re still here, do you believe it?” Yang Kai confident smile.
“Please enlighten this Old Servant…” Old Demon humbly asked.
“This place is in a tremendously deep valley shrouded in clouds, so very few, if any, True Element Boundary cultivators should have been here, right?” Yang Kai laughed lightly, “Even for me, I only wound up here because I was desperately escaping and had no other choice; normally, I would never have considered exploring down here.”
“However Young Master, even if no cultivators have come here before, that doesn’t mean that no Monster Beasts…” Old Demon suddenly paused, realizing that for the past few days as they were journeying here they had not seen any traces of Monster Beast activity.
With no cultivators exploring here, and no Monster Beasts daring to approach here, the Blood Beads of these two Monster Beasts really might still be here.
Yang Kai was too lazy to keep explaining, and having already laid things out up to here, Old Demon would certainly be able to draw his own conclusions. Finished speaking, Yang Kai drew out a drop of Yang Liquid, shaped it into a shovel, and began digging.
(PewPew: Really… wasting a drop of Yang Liquid on that… he couldn’t find a stick or something instead?)
(Silavin: Considering the height of the cliff face, I doubt there will be any wood close-by. At the very least, those present would have snapped due to the impact of its descent.)
Yang Kai did not dig aimlessly, instead choosing to excavate along the places where the giant bones had been.
Since the Blood Beads he was searching for condensed from these two Monster Beasts immediately after their deaths, they would certainly be buried in the sand near the bottom of their resting place.
Dirt and dust flying out, Yang Kai quickly dug a deep pit, careful not to miss any suspicious places along the way.
After the pit had expanded to more than a hundred meters around and many meters deep, a ray of crimson light suddenly flashed from the ground.
“Found it!” Yang Kai let out a joyous shout, quickly and carefully removing the surrounding soil, his eyes flashing an anxious and impatient light.
(Leo of Zion Mountain: ‘My Precious…’)
He suspected that the Blood Beads condensed from the remains of such powerful Monster Beasts would be the size of a head, if not, at least as big as a fist.
However, things did not turn out like he had expected; the Blood Bead he found at the bottom of the pit was smaller than the one condensed after Yu Cheng Kun’s death, only slightly larger than one from a Fourth-Order Monster Beast.
Did he guess wrong? Were these two Monster Beasts actually not as strong as he had believed?
His heart filled with doubts, Yang Kai continued to dig and soon found a second Blood Bead close by; however, it too was of a similar size to the first one he found.
These two Monster Beasts had similar strength when they were alive, so it made sense that their Blood Beads would be of similar size.
Frowning slightly as he held the two Blood Beads, Yang Kai slightly circulated his True Yang Secret Art in an attempt to probe the amount of energy they had.
Unfortunately. the instant he started revolving his Secret Art, Yang Kai immediately convulsed, hurriedly sitting cross-legged, and his face showing a look of unbridled dismay.
“Young Master!” These actions had frightened Old Demon into shouting out, but he was unable to get a response from Yang Kai. However, in the next moment, his soul trembled as he felt an overwhelming surge of energy flood into his young master’s body.
On top of that, this energy was not pure; mixed in was a thick Evil Spirit Qi and Beast Aura. This level of Beast Aura and Evil Spirit Qi was something Old Demon had only ever felt when he had encountered supreme Devil Lords, causing him to tremble involuntarily.
Yang Kai also trembled violently, his meridians saturated in a flash as the torrent of energy rushing into them greatly exceeding the rate at which his True Yang Secret Art could refine the impurities and then store it into his Unyielding Golden Body.
At this moment, he put aside all his previous doubts, only one question flashing across his mind.
[What the hell kind of Monster Beasts were these two!? Why are the Blood Beads condensed after their deaths so different from all the others?]
For all the other Blood Beads he had absorbed, the energy contained within was extremely pure and could be easily refined, but these two Blood Beads were completely different. Wild Monster Beast Aura and Evil Spirit Qi filled them. If any of it were haphazardly absorbed, the cultivator doing so would definitely lose their human nature and become akin to a Monster Beast in human skin.
Was it that, when an entity’s strength reached a certain level, the Blood Bead condensed after its death would show such a difference?
Yang Kai wanted to stop absorbing this energy, but all his attempts to do so were futile, the surging energy from the two Blood Beads was far beyond what he could control; his only choice was to try to bear with it by refining it as quickly as possible.