The longevity of a soulbeast couldn"t be understated. Even a cla.s.s six soulbeast could live for over two hundred years if left to their own devices. A cla.s.s seven soulbeast could live for five hundred and a cla.s.s eight soulbeast could live for over a thousand years. A mid-stage or late-stage cla.s.s seven could live for even longer.
But longevity was not equal to immortality. As a lifespan of a hundred years had an end, so did a lifespan of a thousand years. Even a cla.s.s eight soulbeast would seek for a natural end in a place of their own choosing.
For those close to the end of their natural life span, they wished to meet their end in a place where their descendants could still be given the last "gift" they could spare.
That place was known as the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts!
A land sacred to any soulbeast and unique beyond all else!
It didn"t even exist in the real world but in a "pocket dimension". No one even understood its properties, much less knew when it"d appear.
It wasn"t impossible to enter the tomb. The Soulbeast Forest was so ma.s.sive in area that it was home to a mult.i.tude of entrances to this pocket dimension. One only needed to find one of those entrances for a chance to enter.
Of course, there was still one last obstacle. These entrances had to be opened by a cla.s.s eight soulbeast. Only they had the power to do so, and only a peak late-stage cla.s.s seven soulbeast were allowed to go in—or any powerful enough soulbeast dying of old age.
These were the iron-clad rules of the tomb that survived the pa.s.sage of time. It was said that an extremely powerful individual had set up that dimension that way and established those unviolatable "laws".
One had to be a peak late-stage cla.s.s seven soulbeast and have a cla.s.s eight soulbeast "open" the path to the tomb. Then one would need to seek for one of the inheritances of their ancestors for the chance of enlightenment and becoming a cla.s.s eight soulbeast.
For soul cultivators, the chance to become a Soul Emperor happened only once. In the best-case scenario, one can succeed and become a Soul Emperor. In the worst-case scenario, they failed and died. In a compromise, one could also fail and become a "Half-emperor", though they would never gain the chance to try again.
That wasn"t the case for soulbeasts. There was no such equivalent of a "Half-emperor" for them. A peak late-stage cla.s.s seven soulbeast could fail in becoming a cla.s.s eight soulbeast multiple times!
And that was one of the biggest differences between a soul cultivator and soulbeasts.
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Today, Bai Yunfei and Xiao Qi would be entering the holy land of soulbeasts, the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts.
Under the guidance of the Three-eyed Tiger King, Bai Yunfei was able to use the Core Stone to teleport them toward the closest entrance. It took three days, but soon the group arrived in front of a large gray and misty valley.
It was only him, the Three-eyed Tiger King, and the Ancient Crocodile King there. The Bloodhowl Wolf King and the others had decided to remain where they were to take care of other matters.
Well, Xiao Qi was with him too. As a peak late-stage cla.s.s seven soulbeast, entering the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts was well within his rights.
“Go on in. We"ll wait outside for you.” The Three-eyed Tiger King nodded.
“You should have some understanding of what might happen in there. Head for where the avian ancestors burial grounds are and Xiao Qi should be able to find an inheritance to use. It"s very likely he becomes a cla.s.s eight soulbeast if nothing happens. As for you…stay cautious and find the best time to try and breakthrough. Don"t try to force it.”
“Rest a.s.sured, Tiger King, I"ll do my best.”
The tiger nodded. Sharing a glance at the Ancient Crocodile King, he and the other soulbeast stepped forward into the valley. Waves of soulforce began to radiate from them as they raised their right hand up!
The world began to tremble and shake as a fissure in s.p.a.ce ripped open in front of Bai Yunfei!
Unlike other cracks in s.p.a.ce, this fissure had a very distinctive landscape within it! It was the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts!
“Head on in. We wish you good fortune.”
“Thank you for your a.s.sistance, seniors!” Bai Yunfei gave a sincere bow to the two soulbeasts. Glancing at Xiao Qi, he and his partner stepped into and beyond the spatial fissure.
The first thing Bai Yunfei noticed upon stepping into this place was the atmosphere. The air felt thick here like he was walking into an invisible wall almost. His vision blurred for a second before refocusing just as quickly onto a completely different landscape than the valley he came in from…
He wasn"t in that valley anymore, but a field that was as quiet as it was empty!
The ground beneath his feet was yellow and sandy, and the skies above him were dark. He could see several mountains off in a distance, but those were still far away.
Specks of light littered the ground in just the right amount of numbers to serve as a light source.
The closest speck of light s.h.i.+ned green in color. Bai Yunfei could see a completely motionless soulbeast resting beside it.
The air felt oppressive to him. Something about this place was rejecting his very presence. He noticed that Xiao Qi looked absolutely normal, meaning this "rejection" had to due with him being a soul cultivator rather than a soulbeast. The Tomb of the Emperor Beasts was rejecting him.
The only reason he was able to enter this place was due to the work of the Three-eyed Tiger King and Ancient Crocodile King. Bai Yunfei would"ve been straight up thrown out from the Tomb if not for the two of them imparting a bit of their soulforce in him.
Bai Yunfei was unable to bring out anyone from the Core World due to that rejection.
This pocket dimension had its own "Laws" established here by the powerful individuals of long ago. For example, Bai Yunfei noted that flight was impossible in this place along with instantaneous traveling methods such as teleportation. Bai Yunfei also learned from the Three-eyed Tiger King and Ancient Crocodile King that it was only possible for a peak late-stage cla.s.s seven soulbeast to stay in this place for a hundred days at most. The laws that supported this dimension would kick out anyone that had either been here for a hundred days or managed to become a cla.s.s eight soulbeast…
In other words, these restrictions were put in place in this dimension to deter soulbeasts from doing anything else but focus on their own training.
“Phew…”
Exhaling slowly, Bai Yunfei headed east while glancing around the place.
The Tomb of the Emperor Beasts was huge and had no distinctive land markers other than the bodies of those soulbeasts who died. It was only due to these bodies Bai Yunfei had an idea where the avian soulbeasts were buried.
The Three-eyed Tiger King already told him that the entrance Bai Yunfei entered the Tomb from would land him at the edge of it. Directly north of that entrance was for the wolf clan, to the north-east was the tiger clan, and to the direct east was the avian clan.
It wasn"t in Bai Yunfei"s immediate plans to find enlightenment and make the breakthrough. He had something else that he deemed was more important…
He was after something the Three-eyed Tiger King told him about before—those upgrade stones! They were here! He was heading to the mountain where the avian clan"s burial grounds were just to find those upgrade stones!!