Beast King's Mansion

"Come, sword."

Lu Chen released his spiritual energy and summoned the Primal Chaos Greatsword, then swung it with spiritual energy wrapped around it.

Sword Qi shot toward the mountain on the left like a roaming dragon, stirring up dust that filled the sky.

The breeze swept up the dust and let it settle. The upper half of the mountain had already vanished, leaving behind a platform as smooth as a mirror.

Lu Chen looked at the mountain he had sliced into a platform. "The Breath Regulation Realm is more than a hundred times stronger than the Qi Gathering Realm. Spiritual energy projection alone is enough to prove that the storytellers were right. Once cultivators step into cultivation, they are dragons soaring through the heavens. Moving mountains, crossing seas, severing rivers with one finger—those are all matters of merely brushing off one's sleeves."

Watching Lu Chen flatten the mountain with a single sword strike, Nantian Wan'er said, "Brother Lu, you're amazing. My brother couldn't do anything this powerful when he had just entered the Breath Regulation Realm."

"It's not that amazing. Only now do I understand that entering the Breath Regulation Realm means truly stepping into the Cultivation World." Hearing Nantian Wan'er's praise, Lu Chen scratched his head and burst into laughter.

"Qi gathering tempers the body, refining essence into Qi. Breath regulation tempers Qi, refining Qi into spirit. If I want to keep improving, I still have a long road ahead of me."

"Hm? What's this?" Lu Chen noticed a change within the space.

"What is it, Brother Lu?"

Lu Chen said, "Wan'er, wait here. I can sense that an area within the Small World has opened. I'll go take a look."

"Alright, Brother Lu. Be careful." Nantian Wan'er gently straightened Lu Chen's clothes and watched him leave.

With the Yin Sea Pearl's return, the world within the Twin Fish Plate had expanded dozens of times over. It was now the size of a city, and the third region had opened.

A forest and a lake had appeared in the third region. Together with the previous plains, they formed a three-star formation guarding a massive palace thirty zhang tall.

Through the dense fog, Lu Chen could sense that the lake, plains, and forest each revealed only a portion of themselves. Vast areas remained hidden behind the thick mist.

Lu Chen approached the palace. The plaque above its entrance bore the words: Beast King's Mansion.

"This... this is Lord Beast King's residence. No wonder I felt such sorrow when I looked at those plains before. This is actually the residence of Lord Beast King."

Wind Dragon's voice came from within the Primal Chaos Greatsword, heavy with sorrow.

"Wind Dragon, what's wrong?"

Hearing the sorrow in Wind Dragon's voice, Lu Chen found it strange. Why would a residence make him so sad?

"This is the residence of Lord Beast King, the Sixth Ancestor. I never thought I would see it here again. Around the residence are the Wilderness Plains, the Forest of Despair, and the Ice Hill Deep Sea. Those were the places where we demonic beasts used to live. I never expected them to have been placed here."

"Come on, let's go in. Lord Beast King must have left us plenty of good things."

Wind Dragon urged Lu Chen to enter quickly.

The palace was not as magnificent as Lu Chen had imagined. There was only a deep, shadowy passage leading into the unknown. Small rooms lined both sides of the passage, and the roars of demonic beasts continuously echoed from within.

As soon as Wind Dragon entered the palace, he pulled Lu Chen forward at a run, as though something ahead were drawing him in.

"These are the rooms where Lord Beast King raised demonic beasts. Every room contains demonic beasts of a single race. They were placed here and raised from birth. Three thousand years have passed; even the weakest among them should now possess strength above the Core Condensation Realm."

"Why do you not welcome my master?"

Wind Dragon released his aura, and his shout traveled to the end of the passage.

The demonic beasts felt Wind Dragon's suppressive aura, and their roars immediately fell silent.

"Little Lu, there are five levels here in total. The first level contains ordinary demonic beasts, whose cultivation generally does not exceed the Core Condensation Realm. However, this level also has the greatest number of demonic beasts. The first five hundred rooms house Gold Element Demonic Beasts. After that, every five hundred rooms contain demonic beasts of a different attribute."

Wind Dragon continued guiding Lu Chen onward. Each time they passed a room, he opened it for Lu Chen and introduced the uses of the demonic beasts inside.

The demonic beasts in the rooms lowered their bodies toward the doors and let out low growls, expressing their submission to Lu Chen.

Only after walking for a full half hour did Lu Chen reach the end of the passage. Along the way, he had learned nearly all the basic knowledge about ordinary demonic beasts.

At the end of the passage stood a spiral staircase that wound directly up to the second level.

The second level was extremely quiet, without the roars Lu Chen had expected.

"Little Lu, this level has only one hundred rooms. They mostly contain demonic beasts in the Core Condensation Realm and Chongtian Realm. These demonic beasts possess intelligence and can speak, but they may not submit easily."

The moment Wind Dragon finished speaking, all one hundred doors opened.

One hundred enormous demonic beast heads stretched out from the rooms and stared at Lu Chen. "Human, why have you come here?"

Before Lu Chen could speak, Wind Dragon's aura erupted.

"From today onward, he is your new king. Why do you not welcome your new king?"

Upon hearing Wind Dragon, a fire-attributed serpent-like demonic beast emerged from the first room. It was likely the strongest creature on this level.

The serpent-like demonic beast circled Lu Chen twice, staring at the Primal Chaos Greatsword in his hand as its forked tongue flicked out.

"Lord Wind Dragon? Our only king is Lord Beast King. A mere human in the Breath Regulation Realm dares to become our king?"

The serpent-like demonic beast opened its enormous jaws toward Lu Chen, intending to swallow him whole.

Facing the bloody maw before him, Lu Chen did not move. Azure Emperor Divine Tree tendrils emerged from behind him and coiled around the serpent-like demonic beast. Lu Chen swung the Primal Chaos Greatsword and held it between the serpent's eyes.

Just as the serpent-like demonic beast tried to struggle, a miniature Azure Emperor Divine Tree appeared above its head. A phoenix bird circled above the treetop, using bloodline suppression to restrain the serpent-like demonic beast.

"Azure Emperor Bloodline? Phoenix Ancestor Bloodline?" The serpent-like demonic beast had followed the Sixth Ancestor for a long time, so it naturally recognized both bloodlines.

"Then can I be your king now?"

Lu Chen stepped forward and stared into the serpent-like demonic beast's eyes. Though he did not know why Nantian Wan'er's bloodline had appeared within him, he figured that their talents must have merged as well during the earlier Heavenly Pool fusion. It was just right for subduing the demonic beasts before him.

"Y-yes. You are our king."

"Why do you not greet our king? Roar..." A demonic beast behind the serpent-like creature roared.

"Greetings, our king!"

The demonic beasts on the second level all lowered themselves toward Lu Chen and let out low growls. Their strongest had already been defeated by the youth before them, so naturally none of them could stand against Lu Chen.

Lu Chen withdrew the Azure Emperor Divine Tree. The serpent-like demonic beast followed beside him, introducing the strength of the demonic beasts on this level.

"My king, the Azure Emperor Bloodline flows through you. You must be a descendant of Lord Beast King. But I do not understand why the Phoenix Ancestor Bloodline has appeared on your body."

The instant the serpent-like demonic beast finished speaking, Wind Dragon's aura emerged from the Primal Chaos Greatsword and pressed down upon it.

"Is the king's secret something you can pry into? Properly introduce the demonic beasts' information to the king."

The serpent-like demonic beast said, "Yes, yes. I spoke out of turn."

Lu Chen said, "Wind Dragon, it's fine. They are demonic beasts who followed the Sixth Ancestor, so we are naturally all one family."

"I haven't figured out the bloodline matter either. Just consider it a mutation." Lu Chen spoke to the serpent-like demonic beast.

"Thank you, my king." The serpent-like demonic beast turned and shouted to the demonic beasts on this level, "Did you all hear that? Our king possesses not only the Azure Emperor Bloodline, but also the Phoenix Ancestor Bloodline. Like Lord Beast King, he is our king."

Hearing the serpent-like demonic beast's words, the surrounding demonic beasts shouted again, "Welcome, our king!"

"My king, there are currently one hundred demonic beasts on this level. Seventy are in the Chongtian Realm, and thirty are in the Core Condensation Realm. As long as the demonic beasts on this level surpass their cultivation and reach the Territory Realm, they may proceed to the level above. Therefore, the demonic beasts on this level are rather mixed."

The serpent-like demonic beast led Lu Chen onward. Whenever they passed a demonic beast, the symbol of an Azure Emperor Divine Tree formed above its head, linking Lu Chen and the demonic beast together.

With only one hundred rooms, Lu Chen reached the end in ten minutes. Looking at the spiral staircase before them, the serpent-like demonic beast did not lead Lu Chen directly upward.

"My king, you must walk the rest of the path yourself. I have not yet reached the Territory Realm, so I am not qualified to go up."

After thinking for a moment, the serpent-like demonic beast added, "My king, I know you still intend to continue upward, but the demonic beasts above can already take human form. Without true strength, they will not lower their heads to you."

"I understand. Go back first." Lu Chen looked at the spiral staircase and dismissed the serpent-like demonic beast. He could already feel the aura from the level above.

Lu Chen stared at the spiral staircase for a while longer, then hefted the Primal Chaos Greatsword onto his shoulder. "Wind Dragon, let's go."

Lu Chen stepped onto the staircase and entered the third level. The second level grew lively again.

A burly monkey came to the serpent-like demonic beast's side. "Old Snake, does he really have what it takes to be our king? His cultivation is only at the Breath Regulation Realm right now. He is far weaker than us. Compared to Lord Beast King, he is even further beneath him."

The serpent-like demonic beast turned to glare at the monkey. "Put away your childish thoughts. Do you think Lord Wind Dragon could not have considered what you can think of?"

"Lord Wind Dragon had me test his cultivation just now, precisely to teach me a lesson. Otherwise, with my cultivation, how could I possibly approach Lord Wind Dragon? The new king's strength is a hundred times greater than that of ordinary cultivators at the same realm."

"Really?" The monkey did not quite believe it.

"Why would I lie to you? Go tidy up and improve your cultivation. Our three thousand days of being here are about to end. Once the new king comes down from above, he may be able to take us outside for a walk."

The serpent-like demonic beast seemed to miss the days outside. He stopped paying attention to the monkey and returned directly to his room.

The monkey instantly understood what the serpent-like demonic beast meant. Lu Chen was only in the Breath Regulation Realm right now, so he would surely need some fighters in the outside world. When the time came, they would be summoned by Lu Chen to fight, and they could take the opportunity to get some fresh air.

Having figured it out, the monkey immediately returned to his room and began cultivating, hoping he would be the first to leave.

The more intelligent demonic beasts nearby also understood the connection and returned to their rooms to cultivate. Only a few demonic beasts that had only recently developed intelligence remained, following the others around and asking why.