Beast God Seal

Yu Feiyan and Li Xiuniang's expressions changed slightly. They quickly shouted, "Junior Brother Zhong, come back quickly!"

Zhong Yue sprinted like the wind, several times faster than a swift horse. He shouted, "If that ram escapes to its master, none of us will get out of Beast God Ridge alive!"

The two women watched as he moved like a Flood Dragon, weaving through the mountains and forests. In moments, he reached the summit and descended, disappearing from view!

"Junior Brother Zhong is just buying us time. If we alert the Demonic Race Qi Refiners, we'll all die here!"

Li Xiuniang said rapidly, "Let's catch up to Tao Daier and the others immediately, leave Beast God Ridge, and notify the Sword Gate higher-ups!"

Yu Feiyan nodded. The two women immediately took flight. Yu Feiyan's back sprouted wings, while Li Xiuniang's steps bloomed like lotuses as they quickly pursued Cloud Canvas and the Demonic God Lotus Leaf.

Not long after, the two women caught up to Tao Daier and the others, along with the disciples of the Lishan Clan. The women made a swift decision and galloped towards the outside of Beast God Ridge. Li Xiuniang and Yu Feiyan looked down and saw Zhong Yue had caught up to the ram. The man and beast collided briefly, then the ram leaped, throwing Zhong Yue aside. A trail of blood splattered in the air!

"Let's hope Junior Brother Zhong can kill this ram before alerting that Demonic Race Qi Refiner, and return safely..." the women thought to themselves.

Within the forest, the ram's combat power was astonishing. Fighting Zhong Yue, it caused swathes of the forest to collapse. "Might makes right" was indeed true; the larger the body, the greater the strength. This ram stood over nine zhang tall. With a single leap, it could reach sixty to seventy zhang high, covering over a li, its explosive power incredible!

Under normal circumstances, facing it head-on, Zhong Yue wouldn't dare claim he could surely defeat the ram. Fortunately, the ram had dug its own grave. To lure Zhong Yue and the others into a trap, it had inflicted some wounds upon itself. It was also heavily injured by Li Xiuniang, breaking several ribs, and its hide was riddled with holes.

With its strength greatly diminished, Zhong Yue still didn't dare to be careless. Despite its severe injuries, the ram was a cornered beast, still possessing the strength to kill him.

If he were to become complacent and capsize in a ditch, the loss would be immense!

"Kiddo Yue, the direction this ram is fleeing is where the Beast God Essence is located."

Suddenly, Xin Huo's voice echoed in Zhong Yue's Sea of Consciousness. "It seems the ram's master, that Demonic Race Qi Refiner, is trying to enter the Beast God Seal to seize the Beast God Essence."

Zhong Yue's heart grew solemn. "If that Demonic Race Qi Refiner is inside the Beast God Seal, not only will I have no chance of obtaining the Beast God Essence, but I will absolutely die by his hand..."

"You underestimate the Beast God Seal too much. When the Beast God died, it sealed its soul and essence to prevent death, achieving eternal life through sacrifice."

Xin Huo sneered, "His seal, even if loosened, is not easily taken. A god or demon like that, with a single thought before death, can set up all sorts of seals, restraints, and killing formations within their body. That Demonic Race Qi Refiner is likely struggling to break through these formations right now. Obtaining the Beast God Essence is not an easy task."

As they spoke, Zhong Yue caught up to the ram again. He leaped onto its back, galloping rapidly towards its head. Simultaneously, sword light flashed behind him, and the Dragon Scale Sword transformed into a bolt of lightning, stabbing towards the ram's heart!

Just then, Zhong Yue's footing suddenly went empty. The colossal ram's body rapidly shrank, causing him to miss his step. The Dragon Scale Sword also missed its target.

The ram transformed into a creature about a person tall, standing on two legs like a human. It had a human torso and ram legs, wearing a sheepskin coat. Only its neck bore a ram's head with a long white beard, and it had only one horn on its head; the other had been severed by Zhong Yue.

"You brat, my master is nearby. I'll make sure you have no place to be buried!"

This half-human, half-ram monster, heavily wounded, glared at Zhong Yue. Its legs sprang like springs, allowing it to dodge the lunging Dragon Scale Sword and Thunderclap Sword Qi as it fled towards a cliff face.

The cliff face was like a snow-white curtain, stretching across the landscape of Beast God Ridge, appearing very abrupt.

If Li Xiuniang or Yu Feiyan had come here, they would have been utterly astonished. They had been to Beast God Ridge before and had never seen this white, curtain-like cliff. This cliff must have appeared in Beast God Ridge very recently!

However, Zhong Yue had never been here before, so he wasn't surprised at all, focusing solely on pursuing the ram.

"Master, Master, save me!"

Enveloped by the Thunderclap Sword Qi, the ram crashed through it and hurtled towards the cliff face, shouting, "Master..."

Its speed was incredible. At this pace, crashing into the cliff would surely shatter it into pieces. Zhong Yue ignored it. Lightning erupted beneath his feet, increasing his speed, accelerating with the momentum of Dragon Travels Ten Thousand Miles.

As the ram was about to smash into the cliff, the cliff face suddenly rippled, and the ram vanished.

Zhong Yue's heart stirred, and he followed closely. The cliff face rushed towards him. Just as he was about to collide, the cliff rippled like water, and he passed through without touching anything, along with the Dragon Scale Sword.

"Sword Qi Across the Heavens!"

Zhong Yue grunted, lightning dancing like golden snakes around him, protecting him from surprise attacks. Once he stood firm, he looked around.

Xin Huo praised him inwardly. A month ago, Zhong Yue was still a reckless youngster, less experienced than Ting Lanyue or Tao Daier, often needing their guidance. Now, Zhong Yue had become extremely seasoned and shrewd, making remarkable progress.

"Huh, where is this?"

Zhong Yue looked around. The scenery here was vastly different from the outside. The outside mountains were treacherous but also verdant and possessed a unique beauty. This place, however, felt rather eerie.

Stone tablets stood in rows, each several zhang high. Between the tablets were flowers, trees, and small rivers. Occasionally, high platforms could be seen erected between the stone tablets.

However, everything here was in motion. The stone tablets constantly changed their positions, and the flowers and trees also shifted, as if they were alive!

The only things not moving were the dozens of high platforms.

The ram had already entered the stone tablet forest, not far from Zhong Yue, appearing very cautious and standing still, afraid to take another step.

"This is the Beast God Seal."

Xin Huo looked around through Zhong Yue's eyes. "These stone tablets, flowers, trees, and platforms are all manifestations of the Beast God's spiritual power before death, crafted with spiritual power. Look closely; nothing here is actually moving. It's being decomposed and then reshaped."

"Manifestation of spiritual power?"

Zhong Yue focused his attention and looked closely. He indeed saw a more subtle scene. These stone tablets, flowers, trees, and flowing water were constantly decomposing and recombining, turning into the most minute spiritual power before manifesting again!

It was just that the changes were too fast for the naked eye to easily capture. Fortunately, he had tempered his soul with lightning and his body with the Flood Dragon, allowing him to barely catch the subtle changes. However, with his current eyesight, he couldn't see clearly.

"Before the Beast God died, it used its spiritual power to lay down this seal, protecting its essence from dissipation. The stone tablets are covered in various totemic patterns, and each tablet contains a killing technique."

Xin Huo continued his observation. "Because everything here is composed of spiritual power, if someone steps into it, the Beast God's spiritual power will activate the killing techniques within the stone tablets to slay the intruder. Each stone tablet is surrounded by six adjacent stone tablets, meaning seven killing techniques will combine to form a Seven Kill Formation.

Zhong Yue pondered, "So, each stone tablet is a Seven Kill Formation? And each Seven Kill Formation is different? This Seven Kill Formation can be passed with this method, but using the same method on the next Seven Kill Formation would be a death sentence?"

"Correct."

Xin Huo praised him. "However, this is just a minor path. Look at those high platforms. Near each platform are forty-nine stone tablets, forming another, larger formation. This is a medium-sized killing formation composed of forty-nine Seven Kill Formations, interlinked with the minor formations. Activating a minor formation can trigger a major formation! The minor formations can easily kill Qi Refiners, and even figures like Fang Jiange and Zuo Xiang Sheng would meet their end in the medium formations. And there are forty-nine such high platforms, forming yet another killing formation. This grand killing formation, hehe, is truly astonishing. Even your Sword Gate's Sect Master might perish."

Zhong Yue looked up and said, "There are only forty-eight high platforms."

"So this is why the Beast God Essence is leaking."

The Kindling Child was also observing and said, "The other high platform is still there. I estimate that a great earthquake once occurred in the Great Wilderness, changing the terrain and sinking that platform underground. This caused the great killing formation to be unable to operate, and also loosened the seal. This formation is too exquisite; as long as there is a single flaw, more flaws will appear. They are linked together, and if one link fails, the chain breaks. The running paths of these stone tablets have also changed, their power weakened. Some stone tablets can no longer form the Seven Kill Formation, and their power cannot erupt, allowing people to enter. If the seal formation were complete, I think even I would have a headache for a long time trying to get in, but now it's much easier. Young Zhong Yue, I'll guide you into the formation, and we'll go seize the Beast God Essence!"

"What about that ram?"

"This fellow took a wrong step just now; it's already dead."

Zhong Yue looked at the ram and saw that the stone tablets near it suddenly stopped operating. Blood seeped out of the stone tablets, as if they were bleeding. The blood on the stone tablets writhed, drawing a series of strange totems.

Seven stone tablets were bleeding simultaneously, and the totems on them gradually became clearer. The ram hurriedly tried to escape, but suddenly, seven gods and demons appeared from the stone tablets. Giant hands grabbed the ram's head and limbs and, with a forceful pull, tore it into several pieces. The seven gods and demons then devoured it completely!

As the blood flowed on the stone tablets, the seven gods and demons disappeared again, and the totem patterns on the stone tablets also faded.

"See? If you take one wrong step, you'll suffer the same fate as that ram."

The Kindling Child said proudly, "But with me here, it will be a piece of cake for you to pass through this seal and enter its center!"