Fishing in Troubled Waters: Origin Stones

Beast Valley is the most dangerous place in the Demon Realm, teeming with Devil Beast Valley. It also has a peculiar phenomenon: the gate to Beast Valley opens once every thousand years, lasting for one year. After that year, the Beast Valley closes again. To enter again, one must wait a thousand years.

The Beast Valley is strictly hierarchical. Each powerful Devil Beast has its own territory, and other Devil Beast are not allowed to enter. Entering is considered an invasion and will result in a fierce attack from the master.

No one knows the true size of Beast Valley; all that is known is that no one has ever reached Beast Valley deepest point. The deeper Beast Valley, the stronger the concentration of Demonic Sha Energy becomes, and the higher the level of the Demonic Sha Energy Devil Beast that also crave this energy. The seven major sects have visited Beast Valley many times, but each time they've only targeted the outermost perimeter, preying on the weakest Devil Beast. Devil Beast with territory possess at least the strength of Nine Heavens Profound Immortal—and here, Nine Heavens Profound Immortal refers specifically to those in the Demon Realm! In other words, almost all beasts with territory have reached the Form Transformation Stage.

"Alright, everyone's here now. Same rules as before, everyone grab your own Substitute Stone. We can handle the Devil Beast on the outskirts that don't have territory. True Person Xingfeng, I forgot to tell you, the Devil Beast here that don't have territory have almost no Substitute Stone. Only the Devil Beast that have territory have them. And the Devil Beast that have territory are no less powerful than that little Devil Beast we just encountered!" Tian Nan kindly reminded him.

Zhang Xingfeng smiled; the Tianlong Sect had already told him all this. Nevertheless, he smiled in gratitude. Now, only he and Little Dragon were unaffected by the situation; wouldn't he make the most of it?

"True Person Xingfeng, will you be joining our Bright Sun Sect? We'll split the Substitute Stone we seize!" Gan Feng thought he was being very generous to Zhang Xingfeng. He was a Nine Heavens Profound Immortal with two Great Luo Golden Immortal under his command, while Zhang Xingfeng and his group only had two people. Saying they would split it equally seemed more sincere.

However, Zhang Xingfeng thought to himself, "Divide it equally? You can barely handle Devil Beast that have just reached the Form Transformation Stage. This elder can easily deal with those kinds of Devil Beast!" But on the surface, Zhang Xingfeng said, "No need, Little Dragon and I will do it ourselves. This is also a good opportunity for cultivation!" Zhang Xingfeng smiled and thanked Gan Feng, declining the offer.

Gan Feng didn't say anything. He was only doing this to win over Zhang Xingfeng. Besides, he always felt that taking Zhang Xingfeng with him and giving him half of the Substitute Stone was a loss for him. If Zhang Xingfeng really followed him, it would really hurt him to take so many Substitute Stones.

"Alright, everyone, proceed on your own. Remember, the Beast Valley Gate will only be open for one year. You must all get out within that year. You all know the location of the Teleportation Array. Once you're out, leave immediately; there's no need to wait. Oh, by the way, Elder Xingfeng, this is what the Substitute Stone looks like!" After announcing Tian Nan casually summoned an object with his energy. Once that was done, he led his three disciples, all Great Luo Golden Immortal, in a chosen direction and left.

Zhang Xingfeng looked at it carefully for a few moments, made sure he remembered it, and then stopped looking. At this time, the other sects also began to say goodbye and leave. Zhang Xingfeng and Little Dragon were very polite. They only started to move after watching the teams of the seven major sects leave.

"Little Dragon, I still can't distinguish your realms. I only know that the Boundary Ridge is the Form Transformation Stage. What are the other realms?" Zhang Xingfeng asked Little Dragon. Zhang Xingfeng knew nothing about the realms of divine Immortal Beast, and other races.

Little Dragon smacked his lips and said cheerfully, "Actually, it's nothing. Although the beast race is divided into Devil Beast, spirit beasts, Immortal Beast, and divine beasts, this is only based on their birth status. Immortal Beast are of a higher level than spirit beasts, but that only means that Immortal Beast are born better and have easier cultivation. It doesn't mean that Immortal Beast are stronger than spirit beasts. For example, there are many Devil Beast here that haven't reached the Form Transformation Stage. Although Devil Beast are of a higher level than spirit beasts, these Devil Beasts are not as strong as A Jiao!"

Zhang Xingfeng was paralyzed. Divine beasts, Immortal Beast, Devil Beast, and spirit beasts only represented different aptitudes for cultivation. Among them, divine beasts had the best aptitude and cultivated the easiest. Spirit beasts faced the most difficulties and had the worst aptitude. However, A Jiao, who had reached the Form Transformation Stage, was definitely stronger than those divine beasts and Immortal Beast that had not reached the Form Transformation Stage.

"Before the Form Transformation Stage, every beast race, including divine beasts, only focuses on cultivating their inner core, hoping that one day their inner Great Accomplishment will be perfected and they can transform into human form. After reaching the Form Transformation Stage, their intelligence will be greatly enhanced, making cultivation much easier. After the Form Transformation Stage, the core breaks through and the nascent soul is formed, which is the Nascent Soul Stage. After the Nascent Soul Stage comes the Body Refinement Stage, which is about completely fusing the nascent Nascent Soul with the body. Second brother, you know that the physical bodies of beast races are extremely strong, so cultivating the physical body is quite normal for them. Below the Body Refinement Stage is the profound Void Realm Stage, which is extremely difficult to cultivate and requires a certain level of State of Mind cultivation to reach. After the Void Realm Stage comes the Tribulation Crossing Stage, which is the tribulation of Divine Tribulation. After successfully Tribulation Transcendence, one reaches the Ascension Stage." The Little Dragon shook its head and explained everything.

Zhang Xingfeng immediately asked, "Little Dragon, tell me in detail, which realm of immortality corresponds to each of your beast race's realms, so I can make a comparison!"

Little Dragon Long chuckled and said, "The Form Transformation Stage is equivalent to Great Luo Golden Immortal. The Nascent Soul Stage is equivalent to Nine Heavens Profound Immortal Monarch, the Body Refinement Stage is equivalent to Immortal Emperor, and the Tribulation Crossing Stage is equivalent to Low-grade Divine Human. Hahahaha... Er'e, now you know the difference. Our Beast Clan's Tribulation Crossing Stage is about the same as your Immortals successfully Tribulation Transcendence. Our Ascension Stage is equivalent to Mid-grade Divine Human."

Zhang Xingfeng's heart skipped a beat. "After an immortal successfully Tribulation Transcendence, they can go directly to the Divine Realm or continue cultivating in the Cultivation World. However, when we break through from the Low-grade Divine Human to the Mid-grade Divine Human Realm, we must go to the Divine Realm. In other words, in this realm, our strongest power is only at the Low-grade Divine Human Realm. The Beast Race's Ascension Stage is the Mid-grade Divine Human. To put it simply, the Beast Race can possess the power of Mid-grade Divine Human in their own world! But immortals cannot!"

Suddenly, Zhang Xingfeng remembered something. He had never heard of immortals needing to Tribulation Transcendence. Wasn't it said that after the Immortal Emperor came the God? Did they also need to Tribulation Transcendence? Zhang Xingfeng immediately asked, "I didn't know that immortals needed to undergo the so-called Earth Divine Tribulation to become gods?"

Little Dragon's expression turned serious. He said, "Of course, that's for sure. All of us divine beasts have to undergo this Divine Tribulation. You certainly need to as well. We divine beasts are arguably the most blessed. We don't need to undergo the transformation Heavenly Tribulation at all. But we still need to undergo this Divine Tribulation. If we don't even undergo this Divine Tribulation, without being baptized by it, the power within our bodies cannot evolve from the Yuan Power of the Dragon Hand into the Dragon God Power! However, Second Brother, don't worry, the success rate of passing the Divine Tribulation is much higher than the Heavenly Tribulation for cultivators to become immortals!" Little Dragon looked like he was comforting Zhang Xingfeng.

Zhang Xingfeng summarized the points in his mind. He understood a few things: the Divine Tribulation was something that had to be overcome, but the success rate was higher than that of the Heavenly Tribulation. Beastmen could possess the strength of Mid-grade Divine Human Being before heading to the Divine Realm, while immortals could only reach the strength of Low-grade Divine Human at most.

However, Zhang Xingfeng didn't know that Little Dragon meant it was easy for divine beasts to undergo Divine Tribulation, not for immortals. And how could Little Dragon, with his simple mind, know whether it was easy for immortals to undergo Divine Tribulation? His inherited memories told him that divine beasts had an easy Divine Tribulation. This dim-witted Little Dragon concluded that immortals also had an easy Divine Tribulation. What could you do about a guy like Little Dragon? But at this moment, Zhang Xingfeng took Little Dragon's words as fact.

Zhang Xingfeng's expression suddenly changed. He smiled at Little Dragon and said, "Little Dragon, our first battle since arriving at Beast Valley has arrived!"

A moment later Little Dragon sensed with his Divine Sense that a boar-like Devil Beast was resting in the distance. His Divine Sense told him that this boar was a territorial beast, because there was a strong boar scent within a mile of it, which was a sign of its territory. However, Little Dragon clearly sensed that this boar's strength was only close to the Form Transformation Stage, not even Form Transformation Stage. It was similar to the Fanged Demon Beast that had attacked the group earlier.

"Second Brother, this guy is for the Elder, hehe... It's just a pig, how could a pig that hasn't reached the Form Transformation Stage be a match for this Elder!" Little Dragon said smugly, his arrogant figure flashing as he rushed towards the Tian Nan boar. If Tian Nan seen this, he would have exclaimed in shock, "Ah, how can Elder Dragon be so fast? Could he also be Nine Heavens Profound Immortal?"

As usual, the Hui Hammer Pig was sleeping soundly, its grunts audible from afar. However, no Devil Beast it was truly asleep. Many had tried to ambush it while it slept, but each time the Hui Hammer Pig their psychology, feigning sleep and launching a sudden attack when they were off guard. The Hui Hammer Pig extremely powerful. Even Devil Beast of similar strength could be killed in a single blow!

"Roar... You dead pig, get up! This divine beast is here to kill you!" The Little Dragon was exceptionally arrogant. This time, he didn't say "this elder," because the little bit of wisdom he gained from reaching the Form Transformation Stage told him that against Devil Beast, his elder status was probably not as useful as his divine beast status!

Hui Hammer Pig was very dissatisfied, extremely dissatisfied. He had already detected the intruder's presence and was preparing to feign sleep as usual, waiting for the intruder to launch a counter-attack. But this intruder actually...

The Hui Hammer Pig scrambled to its feet, glaring at the intruder before it, and thought viciously, "You bastard, you actually called me a dead pig? I'm the famous Hui Hammer Pig! You actually told me to get up, and you even called yourself a divine beast... What! A divine beast!" The Hui Hammer Pig finally realized, a divine beast! The creature before it was a divine beast!

But the divine beast in front of us is humanoid. Could it be... could it be that this divine beast has already reached the Form Transformation Stage?

Hui Hammer Pig knew that among beast races of the same realm, divine beasts were the most powerful, not counting divine artifacts. Even if Hui Hammer Pig reached the Form Transformation Stage, its chances of winning were not high. Not to mention, it had not yet broken through to the Form Transformation Stage, although it was close to doing so.

"Awoooooo..." The Hui Hammer Pig immediately began to squeal desperately. He had not yet reached the Form Transformation Stage and could only speak animal language.

Zhang Xingfeng couldn't understand, but Little Dragon did. The Hui Hammer Pig was saying, "My divine beast sir, spare me! I'm just an ordinary Devil Beast! I have a dozen or so spirit stones here, please spare me! Just fart a little and let this dead pig go!"

Little Dragon knows a lot about Devil Beast and Immortal Beast from his memories. He also knows about Devil Beast, such as the Hui Hammer Pig, which is an extremely cunning Devil Beast, completely unlike its seemingly honest and simple nature.

"Yuan stones, only a dozen or so, and you expect this divine beast to spare your life?" The dragon's divine sense fluctuations reached the brain of the Hammer Pig.

The Hui Hammer Pig was immediately overjoyed. A thought struck it, and it continued to howl desperately, "Awoooooo..." (I'm just a very weak Devil Beast, so I only have a dozen or so spirit stones. But there's a Dark Sting Bear ten miles north of the net, and he has several hundred spirit stones! I believe that with the power of the divine beast, you can easily deal with him.)

Little Dragon understood perfectly, so he asked Zhang Xingfeng, "Second Brother, is there a Devil Beast ten miles to the north? How strong is that Devil Beast?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xingfeng immediately spread his Divine Sense, Divine Sense quickly came into contact with that hellish place. Because of the nourishment of the Limitless Power, Zhang Xingfeng's Divine Sense was extremely powerful, and he easily discovered a powerful Devil Beast.

Zhang Xingfeng suddenly laughed at Little Dragon, a particularly happy laugh, "Yes, and it's a rather powerful Devil Beast, probably at Little Dragon Nascent Soul stage as you mentioned. I reckon even if your second brother attacks with all my might, I could kill it!"

Little Dragon's eyes widened suddenly, and he jumped up. "Ah, Nascent Soul stage? Damn it, isn't this pig trying to send me, an elder, to my death? I'm only at the Form Transformation Stage, and he wants me to fight a Nascent Soul stage Devil Beast! You pig, die!"

Little Dragon was angry and furious. He finally understood why his memory had emphasized, "The Hui Hammer Pig is extremely cunning!"

Upon seeing Little Dragon's appearance, Hui Hammer Pig, though unable to understand what Little Dragon was angrily roaring, knew his plan had failed when he saw Little Dragon's gaze that seemed to want to devour him whole. He immediately moved and rushed towards his lair.

"You dead pig, die!" Little Dragon roared, and a mountain flew out of his hand. The mountain grew bigger and bigger and charged directly at the Hui Hammer Pig.

The Hui Hammer Pig immediately saw the massive mountain crashing down on him. What terrified him most was that the mountain suddenly locked onto space, binding him and making escape impossible. The Hui Hammer Pig howled hysterically, "Awoooooo..." Its hooves flashed, and a huge hammer-shaped beam of light met the Yin Yang Mountain head-on.

"Boom!"

Little Dragon proudly raised its head, retrieved Yin Yang Mountain, glanced at the now-meat-like Hui Hammer Pig, and cursed, "This dead pig actually tried to kill me, a divine beast! How could I not kill you? Hmm... this inner core tastes good!" Little Dragon grabbed the Hui Hammer Pig's inner core, opened its mouth, and ate it, chewing it a few times with a crunching sound.

"Hmm!" Little Dragon's thick eyebrows furrowed, and his mouth split open. "Haha... This dead pig still has Yuan Stones, Yuan Stones, oh ho ho... It's Yuan Stones!" Little Dragon had already forgotten Zhang Xingfeng. Following the memories of his inheritance, he used his Divine Sense to feel the fluctuations and flew over to the distance.

Zhang Xingfeng was taken aback. "Yuan Stone? What is Yuan Stone?" Nevertheless, he followed the Little Dragon and flew over.