Deep underground, a thousand zhang down, a massive beast was curled up in a narrow cavity, emanating a dense Gold Spirit Qi.
Fang Qingyuan channeled Spiritual Power to his eyes, allowing him to see everything with perfect clarity in the darkness. The sight was so astounding it shook him to the core.
The giant beast was pure white, its eyes tightly shut. It asured ten zhang even while curled up. If it were to stand, he wondered if it could touch the heavens.
From its face, Fang Qingyuan thought it looked like a bear, but he couldn’t identify the specific species.
’Is it a Ri Wind Numbing Bear, a Ten Thousand Ridges Golden Wind Beast, or maybe a Wind Owl Bear Beast?’
Fang Qingyuan ntally ran through every bear-type Spirit Beast he could think of, but none of them matched the giant beast before him.
The most powerful of them, the Wind Owl Bear Beast, was a match in size. But the Wind Owl Bear Beast was primarily wind-elental, with the head and wings of a bird and only a bear’s lower body.
The giant beast before him, however, had no wings, and it was gold-elental—which matched the elent of the Ten Thousand Ridges Golden Wind Beast.
But the Ten Thousand Ridges Golden Wind Beast was a quadrupedal Spirit Beast, not truly a bear. Furthermore, even devoid of all life, this giant beast exuded a kind of sharp, majestic beauty, making it far more magnificent than any Ten Thousand Ridges Golden Wind Beast.
’With such an imposing aura, could it be a Late-stage Golden Core Spirit Beast?’
’No.’ Fang Qingyuan quickly dismissed his own guess. Not even a Late-stage Golden Core Spirit Beast could generate an oppressive aura as powerful as the one coming from the creature before him.
Fang Qingyuan had seen Zhao E Lian’s Golden Silk Silver-backed Manta Ray. That Late-stage Golden Core Spirit Beast was even larger than the beast before him, but it didn’t possess such an imnse aura.
Even Wei Tong’s Late-stage Golden Core Spiritual Flood Dragon, which Fang Qingyuan had seen before at the Mountain City Array, fell short. In terms of sheer presence, it was at least thirty percent weaker than this giant beast.
What’s more, the Spiritual Flood Dragon was alive, while the giant beast before him was dead.
’Then there’s only one possibility. This dead Spirit Beast is, without a doubt, a Nascent Soul Spirit Beast.’
’But why would a Nascent Soul Spirit Beast be laid to rest beneath Qingfeng Mountain? And in all these years, have there really been no strange occurrences?’
’And the annual transformation of the Qingfeng Tea Garden above during the Qingming Festival... could that also be caused by this Spirit Beast’s remains?’
The more Fang Qingyuan considered it, the more he felt he was closing in on the truth. ’But that’s all irrelevant for now,’ he thought. ’I can investigate the reasons later. The most important thing right now is what I can gain from this giant beast.’
Fang Qingyuan cautiously approached the giant beast. Once he was underneath it, he found it even harder to breathe.
Gold Spirit Power saturated the air around Fang Qingyuan. It felt like countless tiny flying swords aid at all his vital points. The sensation was like the stinging pain of ten thousand needles pointed at the spot between his eyebrows. They hadn’t pierced his skin, but the constant threat frayed his nerves.
Enduring the discomfort, Fang Qingyuan drew closer. ’The remains of a Nascent Soul Stage Spirit Beast would undoubtedly spark a bloodbath if they appeared in the outside world,’ he thought. ’Even Golden Core cultivators wouldn’t be able to resist.’
’Even just a few strands of its fur would be worth a fortune in Spirit Stones out in the world. I’ve really hit the jackpot this ti.’
But as he gazed at the giant beast, Fang Qingyuan was at a loss for where to begin. ’A beast this massive... there’s no way I can fit it inside my Immortal Mansion.’
To store anything in his Immortal Mansion, Fang Qingyuan first had to envelop it with his divine soul. With his soul’s current strength at the Fifth-Layer Qi Refining realm, he couldn’t even dream of enveloping this giant beast. If he so much as let his soul leave his body, it would likely be shredded to nothingness by the Gold Spirit Power saturating the area.
’Maybe I’ll just have to carve it up slowly,’ Fang Qingyuan thought. He took a Tier One Middle Grade Magic Sword from his storage bag and gestured with it toward the giant beast for a long mont before lowering it in dejection.
The gap in their cultivation levels was simply too vast. Even with the beast dead and at his rcy, he had no idea how to even begin.
It was a matter of different tiers of existence. Like an ant stumbling upon a dead elephant—without the help of its colony, how much could it possibly carry back on its own?
The forty-to-fifty-ter beast was bigger than an eleven-story building from his past life. A single strand of its fur was as thick as a mooring rope.
’Regardless, I absolutely cannot return empty-handed. Even if it’s just plucking a few strands of fur or collecting so blood, that’s better than nothing.’
With that thought, Fang Qingyuan’s gaze shifted to the giant beast’s nether regions. ’Maybe I can enter from there and break it down from the inside.’
’In the animal kingdom, a hyena’s tactics are despicable, but highly effective. Since no one’s around to see, it shouldn’t tarnish my glorious image.’
Having thus convinced himself, Fang Qingyuan raised his sword and hurried toward the beast’s rear. As he drew near, he realized the giant beast was actually female.
’I was hoping to harvest a giant whip,’ Fang Qingyuan thought, a little disappointed. ’A giant whip is a rare treasure. I bet even Lechuan has never seen wine steeped with one from a Nascent Soul Spirit Beast.’
After a mont of regret, Fang Qingyuan considered his options and pressed on. But just as he arrived beneath the beast’s haunches, his face fell. In this silent place, a thousand zhang underground, he heard a heartbeat.
THUMP!
Hearing the sound, Fang Qingyuan held his breath, not daring to make a sound for fear of drawing the great beast’s attention.
’Could it be... this giant beast isn’t dead?’
Fang Qingyuan was filled with regret. ’How could I possibly comprehend the abilities of a Nascent Soul Spirit Beast? Just because it had no discernible aura and was saturated with the stench of death, did that really an it was dead?’
’Bears have an instinct and Talent for hibernation. It’s not impossible for a Nascent Soul Stage Spirit Beast to have awakened one or two Divine Techniques in that vein. How could I have been so blinded by greed? I didn’t even observe it carefully before rushing forward... right under its belly, no less! Am I not just serving myself up on a platter?’
Once Fang Qingyuan steadied his nerves, he realized the heartbeats were coming very far apart. He stood still and tid them, discovering that the sound ca only once every half-quarter hour.
Fang Qingyuan stood rooted to the spot for a full two-hour period, not daring to move an inch. In that ti, the heartbeat sounded a total of sixteen tis, each one right on schedule.
’Such a steady rhythm ans the beast is still sound asleep and hasn’t noticed at all.’
Having reached this conclusion, Fang Qingyuan began to inch his way out, trying to sneak away unnoticed.
’It’s not dead after all. I shouldn’t disturb it. Best to get out of here.’
But just as Fang Qingyuan shuffled to the edge of the cavity, the heartbeat, which should have sounded right on cue, abruptly ceased.
Fang Qingyuan froze. He told himself not to take another step. He had a gut feeling that if he moved, he would die in the next instant, leaving not even a complete corpse behind.
And so, Fang Qingyuan stiffly twisted his body around to look back at the giant beast. The "corpse," which had been devoid of any aura just monts before, had suddenly opened its eyes. Its two enormous, pale, ashen orbs were fixed coldly on him.
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