Chapter 23 - Offering of the Spirit Beasts
On a tree trunk, there was an unremarkable little plant in the middle of the Demon Beast Forest. On top of the small plant, there were two very small fruits, one completely black, the other fiery red. Now, between the black and red fruits, a small transparent whirlpool was forming. The whirlpool was quite small, only as big as an adult"s thumb, but this small whirlpool was swallowing up all the energy from the surrounding area. The force that was absorbing the cultivators" vitality had come from this whirlpool.
Along with the whirlpool, external energy was also being absorbed and the fruits slowly turned brighter. This change was minuscule and if one were not carefully observing them, it would be impossible to notice.
Now surrounding the plant was once again surrounded by several hundred ghost and sun birds. All the ghost birds surrounded the ink black fruit while the sun birds surrounded the fiery fruit. Whether it was the ghost or sun birds, both looked at the fruits with a grave, revering gaze.
Rumble
A burst of energy spread into the sky and the shaking of a stampede came from every direction, shaking the earth. Unexpectedly, all the spirit beasts within the Demon Beast Forest were now running towards this area. In just a short moment the area spanning a hundred li outwards was filled with numerous spirit beasts who were all heading this way.
Lin Haoxue and Shen Molian were exceptionally tiny when compared to the ma.s.sive horde of demon beasts, but none of the spirit beasts paid attention to them. The all stared intently at the plant on top of the tree trunk with an expression of profound reverence.
"I didn"t expect that the spirit beasts would offer a sacrifice," Shen Molian said amazed. "The Yin Yang Double Gateway is hard to come across in ten thousand years, and for humanity, it is one of the most valuable treasures. I would exactly how it is related to spirit beasts..."
"What do you mean offer a sacrifice?" Lin Haoxue asked with confusion.
"As far as I understand it, it"s like this," Shen Molian knew that Lin Haoxue was unaware of the situation and explained. "As our knowledge of the environments here in this big world is too little, there are still many things that are not quite clear. On our continent, the spiritual wisdom of spirit beasts isn"t always inferior to that of humans, but their lifespan far surpa.s.ses that of the human race. Some spirit beasts have n.o.ble blood so when they increase their spiritual wisdom enough, this allows them to evolve to become something like a human. They don"t cultivate in the same way we humans do, but spirit beasts view one"s blood as the most important factor. In some regions, spirit beasts and human cultivators split the land and rule separately. Also, spirit beasts with n.o.ble blood are especially resilient. When their strength reaches the apex and they are at death"s door, they are able to seal their soul for several thousand years letting them slowly recover. Spirit beasts offering a sacrifice is a ceremony to awaken a sealed spirit beast"s soul."
"In other words, right now within this Yin Yang Double Gateway is the soul of a spirit beast? Doesn"t that mean we have no chance at all to beat it as those at the peak are not people we can deal with."
"That"s not exactly the case. When these souls wake up, their strength isn"t anywhere near their peak. Even if they succeed in reawakening, they will need to slowly recover their strength through a long process, and this is our opportunity."
As she said this, Shen Molian"s eyes were extraordinarily bright and shone with desire.
"Wait, no way. You"re thinking about how to deal with that spirit beast"s soul?" Lin Haoxue suddenly understood and almost jumped with fright, "We have no idea what realm it had reached. Be careful not to be devoured instead." "If I don"t try, how can I know if it will work?" Shen Molian looked at Lin Haoxue with a raised brow, "Don"t tell me that this is what you truly think."
"Hehe," Lin Haoxue laughed slightly. The truth was that because she had the little black dragon within her dantian, she also had thoughts about fighting this spirit beast"s soul.
Lin Haoxue already knew from earlier when she was read up on spirit beasts, that Profound Pract.i.tioners realm cultivators were able to subdue spirit beasts and use them for their own benefit. But a cultivator that could do such a thing was extremely rare as they needed to have a lot of willforce to subdue a spirit beast. If they didn"t have enough they would suffer and be devoured. Crisis and opportunity went hand in hand, and although there was danger, if one managed to subdue a spirit beast then their fighting strength would soar. It would then be easy to challenge higher realm experts.
"In this situation, the beast soul goes to me, the Yin Yang Double Gateway goes to you," Shen Molian said with determination.
"Sure," apparently she wanted the beast soul no matter what, and the two people quickly reached an agreement before they once more looked towards the plant.
At this moment the transparent whirlpool between the Yin Yang Double Gateway gradually changed forming a white coc.o.o.n. This coc.o.o.n was forming and rapidly expanding. In just a few breaths it had become an egg with a diameter of ten feet. Its sh.e.l.l was bright white and on top of the white eggsh.e.l.l, there were faint black and red colored lines that appeared to form a net, releasing a mysterious aura.
Kaaa!
The sound came from inside the egg and forced its way outside. Suddenly, the sky turned overcast, and in an instant, a strong whirlwind came to life which picked up sand and rocks flinging them everywhere.
Lin Haoxue and Shen Molian had no other choice but to squat down in an attempt to block the storm. At the same time, they were prepared to withdraw at any moment.
The sound of the bird"s cry was similar to ripples in a lake. As the soundwave spread through the air all the beasts besides the ghost and sun birds turned into a dense graveyard of bones. After a short while, these bones all turned into ashes that spread through the wind. Seeing this sight, Lin Haoxue and Shen Molian"s hearts trembled slightly.
As the numerous spirit beasts died, transparent rays of light arose from their ashes and shot towards the mysterious white egg. As the egg absorbed the light, more and more light rays appeared and its absorption speed increased as well. As this happened, the veined pattern on the sh.e.l.l became more distinct.
"This is a spirit beast offering."
Lin Haoxue glanced over at spirit beasts" ashes. The spirit beasts knew this was the end; however, they still ran forward with a fanatical gleam in their eyes. They made it seem as if dying in this manner was the highest honor for them.
"This beast soul is not normal in the least." Shen Molian looked respectful, and her expression was firm, "Most beast souls will never be able to invoke this kind of zealotry, but it"s precisely because of this, that I want this beast soul."
"You have a method to obtain it?"
"I naturally have a way only it requires a great amount of willforce, so I"ll need your help later."
Lin Haoxue nodded her head and looked towards the gradually changing white egg. Along with the many spirit beasts that were turning to ash, the surface of the white egg had black and red vein-like lines which were becoming more and more distinct. They gradually starting to engrave themselves onto the surface of the egg.
Kacha
Those vein-like lines got deeper and deeper, and unexpectedly, with thin, slender cracks these veins split open the top of the white egg. Each one of these extremely small and thin cracks seemed to be overflowing with energy. This energy resembled a fierce b.l.o.o.d.y mouth over its prey as it crazily swallowed both the bodies and souls of the spirit beasts.
Kacha, kacha!
It swallowed more and more energy and the cracks became deeper and deeper. Soon the eggsh.e.l.l completely cracked apart! What was inside would be coming out!
"Get ready! Wait for it! We will start soon!" Shen Molian closely watched the white egg as she took out a detailed one-inch-tall Exquisite PaG.o.da. This paG.o.da tower had seven different colors each representing incantations. Each incantation was ancients and hard to understand but they all emitted very powerful energy.
"What do you need me to do?"
"Although the beast soul had just recently awoken, its strength hadn"t been fully restored yet, but even in this state, its willforce was not something to be underestimated. In a moment, I will use my Exquisite PaG.o.da to get it inside my paG.o.da tower. It"s inevitable that I will suffer its wrath when it fights back, but you need to seize this chance to take the Yin Yang Double Gateway, after which, use your willforce to attack it and help me subdue it."
Lin Haoxue understood clearly and nodded her head. Afterwards, she gazed towards the white egg that covered the Yin Yang Double Gateway. At this moment, the egg broke and gradually exposed its treasure. It was no longer a fruit but had condensed into two black and red pearls. Apparently, the Yin Yang Double Gateway was now completely mature. The surrounding ghost and sun birds all turned listless and dispirited. They hadn"t been a part of the offering of the spirit beasts and were no longer capable of protecting the Yin Yang Double Gateway.
"Let"s go," Shen Molian said in a low voice while mumbling something to herself. As she held the seven colored paG.o.da in her hand, it suddenly started becoming bigger and bigger. Soon it exceeded ten feet in height and the seven bright lights shot out towards the white egg enveloping it.
At this same time, Lin Haoxue quickly flew over and s.n.a.t.c.hed up the Yin Yang Double Gateway. Afterwards, while she was retreating, she easily slaughtered a ghost bird and took its wings, before she swiftly returned to Shen Molian"s side. The ghost and sun birds didn"t fight against her. Although they weren"t reconciled to seeing the Yin Yang Double Gateway taken away by Lin Haoxue, now they were too weak to do anything about it.
"Quick, attack! It"s trying to break free!" Shen Molian"s Exquisite PaG.o.da"s light was restraining a small half-inch long transparent bird. The expression in its eyes was like a spirit who was looking at their body materialize. It then shifted its gaze towards the Exquisite PaG.o.da and its thoughts flashed across its mind as if considering something.
At this moment, Lin Haoxue used her willforce on it. However, she was quite surprised because she didn"t feel anything from it making it seem as if it didn"t exist at all.
At this moment, Lin Haoxue looked at the tiny light phoenix which quickly glanced at her. It retracted its two wings and then no longer resisted any more, no matter what Shen Molian"s seven-colored Exquisite PaG.o.da did to it.
"Very good," capturing the tiny light phoenix, Shen Molian was overjoyed. She seemed to love it so much that one would never get her to part with it. As she gently caressed the seven-colored Exquisite PaG.o.da she turned to Lin Haoxue saying, "Thank you."
"Don"t thank me. My strength is limited, so I couldn"t do much." Lin Haoxue smiled at her. When her willforce connected with the phoenix, it resonated with the beast"s soul and caused it to stop resisting. This was something she couldn"t understand.
"Of course I know…" Shen Molian was firmly intent on asking her about the issue when suddenly her complexion changed, "Someone is coming, let"s leave quickly."
After speaking, she pulled Lin Haoxue towards her and within her other hand was a jade card. She lightly pressed upon it, and in front of their eyes, s.p.a.ce was torn asunder. Both herself and Lin Haoxue rushed into this huge spatial rift.
Just as Lin Haoxue and Shen Molian departed from the forest, the surrounding s.p.a.ce was once again ripped open and several cultivators walked out of this new spatial rift.