Beast God's Inner Core

The golden summit of Sword Gate Mountain was crowned by a resplendent main hall, magnificent and imposing.

Standing atop the golden summit, one bathed in an hour more sunlight each day than those below the mountain. At the center of the summit stood a towering platform, upon which crouched an exotic beast with four heads, each facing one of the four directions of the Great Wilderness.

The exotic beast was like a statue. Since coming up the mountain, many Qi refiners had never once seen it move in the slightest.

On this day, the exotic beast suddenly shook its body. The golden hairs on its neck stood erect one by one. One of its heads widened its eyes and stared intently toward Beast God Ridge, suddenly letting out a deep, muffled roar.

The roar was low and heavy, shaking the golden summit.

Suddenly, a streak of white light flashed. A white-robed elder appeared atop the platform and asked tensely, "Four-Clarity Beast, what happened?"

The exotic beast opened its mouth, its voice trembling through the air as it said solemnly, "Reporting to the Great Elder, there is movement in Beast God Ridge of the Great Wilderness. I can faintly sense the might of gods and devils."

Because the Four-Clarity Beast had four heads, it could observe all four directions and see extremely far. It was a rare auspicious beast of the Great Wilderness, and thus the elders of Sword Gate had placed it at the highest point of Sword Gate Mountain to watch over the movements of the hundred-thousand-mile Great Wilderness. If any anomaly or foreign invasion occurred, it could issue an early warning.

"Great Elder, look."

The head facing Beast God Ridge widened its eyes, shooting out a curtain of light. The scene of Beast God Ridge was faintly reflected within it. In the center of the eight-hundred-mile Beast God Ridge, a terrifying sight suddenly appeared: a god-devil a thousand zhang tall threw back its head and roared furiously, shattering the drifting clouds in the sky!

This was the phenomenon caused by Zhong Yue triggering the intermediate killing formation within the Beast God Seal and slaying that Demonic Race Qi refiner!

"This is..."

Streaks of white light flashed and fell atop the platform, transforming into Sword Gate elders in white robes. They looked toward the scene in the Four-Clarity Beast's eyes, all startled, and cried out, "A God-level Seal!"

"It is said that Beast God Ridge was formed from the corpse of a Beast God after its fall. Could the rumors be true? Was that place truly formed from the corpse of a Beast God?"

"The formation from the Beast God's corpse is one thing, but why would a God-level Seal be left behind? That is the real issue! Could it be that the Beast God sealed away its own treasure?"

"This is disastrous. The Demonic Race beyond the Great Wilderness has long eyed our land like a tiger eyeing its prey. Only because Sword Gate suppresses them here have they been unwilling to invade the Great Wilderness and suffer heavy casualties. Now that the God-level Seal in Beast God Ridge has appeared, proving that Beast God Ridge truly contains a Beast God's treasure, the Demonic Race beyond the Great Wilderness may well strike at our territory..."

The many Sword Gate elders wore expressions of unprecedented gravity, feeling boundless pressure. The current Sect Master of Sword Gate was already old, and Sword Gate had fallen into internal turmoil over the matter of choosing the next Sect Master. With this external threat added to the mix, it was truly adding fuel to the fire!

"These are troubled times, troubled times indeed."

The oldest elder was the Great Elder of the Youyu Clan. He spoke solemnly, "The emergence of a God-level Seal in Beast God Ridge of the Great Wilderness cannot be hidden from the Demonic Race. Immediately summon all the elders to the golden summit to discuss the matter and devise a response."

Within the main hall atop the golden summit, all the elders of Sword Gate gathered. After learning the details, they each fell silent. After a long while, the Shuitu Clan elder slowly said, "The Sect Master is old and should not go to war with the Demonic Race. In my view, if the Demonic Race comes to negotiate, there would be no harm in letting them enter Beast God Ridge to explore. It is better to have one less trouble than one more."

The Leihu Clan elder had a face covered in bushy whiskers. He sneered, "The Great Wilderness was opened up by our ancestors. We cannot yield an inch of its soil. If the Demonic Race comes to fight for it, then we'll fight them! If we die, we'll die facing the heavens! What's there to fear?"

"Ahem, ahem. That may be true, but the Sect Master is advanced in years, and the next Sect Master has yet to be chosen. The younger generation has not yet matured. If Sword Gate goes to war with the Demonic Race, I fear we won't even be able to protect the entire Great Wilderness!"

The Shuitu Clan elder argued, "I'm not saying we must yield Beast God Ridge. I'm only saying that we should allow the Demonic Race to come explore it. At worst, we lose a little face, while retaining what truly matters and avoiding bloodshed. Senior brothers, do you truly intend to go to war with the Demonic Race and let the various tribes of the Great Wilderness suffer countless casualties? If you have a better solution, I would be grateful for your instruction!"

The elders from the various clans fell silent one after another. Even the Leihu Clan elder knitted his brows deeply.

After a moment, the Youyu Clan elder coughed and said, "Junior Brother Zi'an, you have broad connections, and even the foreign clans often show you respect. If the Demonic Race truly learns of the news concerning Beast God Ridge, you will negotiate with them. But I have one condition: not a single inch of our Great Wilderness's land may be yielded! The lives of our people are worth more than gold! Whoever comes from the Demonic Race, once they enter our Great Wilderness, must behave themselves. If they dare make any unusual move, then the only outcome will be war between our two races. No one will get off lightly!"

The Shuitu Clan elder hurriedly nodded and said with a smile, "Zi'an will not fail in his duty! There is one more matter. The sudden appearance of a God-level Seal in Beast God Ridge shows that whatever is sealed within is no trivial thing. Should Sword Gate investigate first? Perhaps we could obtain some of the Beast God's treasures and strengthen Sword Gate."

"The Beast God's treasures should all be treasures of the Demonic Race. We are the Human race. Even if we obtained them, we would be unable to use them."

The Youyu Clan elder shook his head and said, "Besides, breaking a God-level Seal is extraordinarily difficult. Obtaining the Beast God's treasure would be unimaginably hard. We might lose soldiers and generals, only to find that the treasures we obtained could not be used. That would be a loss outweighing the gain. If Junior Brother Shui is interested, you may investigate it, but do not devote too much effort to it."

The Shuitu Clan elder, Shui Zi'an, nodded and smiled. "The Great Elder is right. I will send people to investigate it."

At the Beast God Seal, Zhong Yue had walked and stopped countless times along the way and was finally about to reach the core of the Beast God Seal. Using his vision, the Kindling Child looked around. Suddenly, he let out a sigh of relief and laughed. "What luck, what luck! I never expected that the dead Beast God would have made other arrangements here. It's not as simple as just the Seven Kill Formation."

Zhong Yue's heart tightened, and he hurriedly asked, "It's not just the Seven Kill Formation?"

The Kindling Child swayed out from between his brows and landed on his shoulder. Its flame bobbed as it smiled. "Look at this river."

Zhong Yue focused his gaze. He saw a thin stream winding along from the core area of the Beast God Seal, meandering through eighteen bends and flowing past one Seven Kill Formation after another.

However, the riverbed was broken in several places, preventing the stream from flowing beneath all the stone steles. The terrain of the Beast God Seal had probably changed, making it impossible for the river to follow its original course.

"This is the Yin Dragon River, another great killing formation. It complements the Seven Kill Formation. Besides that, there is also the Grass and Trees Become Soldiers Formation, but that has been destroyed as well."

The Kindling Child sighed repeatedly, its heart itching with eagerness. It stamped its feet on Zhong Yue's shoulder and said, "For such formations to remain incomplete is truly a great pity."

Zhong Yue coughed and reminded it, "Kindling, the Beast God Essence is what matters."

The Kindling Child looked at the side of his face expectantly and asked, "After we collect the Beast God Essence, can we complete these three formations?"

Seeing its gaze, Zhong Yue's heart immediately softened. He nodded and said, "We'll do as you wish."

The Kindling Child hopped about, cheering repeatedly, but suddenly quieted down. It clasped its hands together and asked expectantly, "After we complete the formations, can we activate them for fun?"

Zhong Yue hurriedly shook his head. What a joke. A mere intermediate killing formation was already so terrifying. If a large-scale divine killing formation were activated, wouldn't it punch a hole in the heavens?

Moreover, the Kindling Child wanted to activate three killing formations at once. The might of a single formation was already beyond imagination, let alone three.

The large-headed little flame pouted and said sulkily, "A pureblood Fuxi Divine Clan would definitely agree to let me activate the three great formations for fun..."

Zhong Yue pretended not to hear it.

Before long, following the Kindling Child's directions, Zhong Yue arrived before a gate. The gate resembled a round cave entrance, its surface covered in bloodstains. The dried blood had formed layers of totem patterns across it, but the passage of too many years had left those patterns blurred and indistinct.

Moreover, the gate had already opened a crack. Waves of dense Demonic Energy seeped out from within, accompanied by a strange fragrance that refreshed the heart and invigorated the mind.

Zhong Yue sniffed and asked in puzzlement, "This fragrance is so strange. Could it be that the Beast God refined his own essence into a spirit pill?"

"Your guess is right."

The Kindling Child laughed. "The Beast God Essence is indeed a spirit pill, but this thing isn't called a spirit pill. It's called an inner core, formed from the essence condensed by the Demonic Race during cultivation. During the eras of Suihuang and Fuxi, the Demonic Race was the lowest of all races. At divine banquets, the gods would even bring out a plate of Demonic God inner cores to entertain their guests."

Zhong Yue was stunned. The Kindling Child continued, "Looking at the plight of your Human race now, I estimate that at the divine banquets of the present day, the host would bring out a plate of Human race inner cores to entertain the guests. The seal on this gate has already been destroyed. Hurry inside, take the Beast God Essence, and let's go complete the three killing formations! Oh, and hold your breath. Don't sniff this fragrance. If you take another whiff, you'll turn into a Demonic Beast ahead of schedule..."

Hearing this, Zhong Yue hurriedly held his breath. Suddenly, the back of his hand began to itch. He quickly looked down and saw a patch of scales growing beneath his skin. His scalp went numb with terror. He had only inhaled a few breaths of the fragrance, yet he was already beginning to be assimilated into a demon!

If he consumed the Beast God Essence, wouldn't he be certain to turn into a monster?

I hope the Kindling Child knows what it's doing...

He steadied himself and reached out to push the gate. With a creak, it swung open. Zhong Yue immediately stepped inside. The fragrance grew increasingly intense, seeming to seep into his body through every pore in his skin.

Zhong Yue felt the itching throughout his body grow worse. He steadied himself again and visualized Suihuang in his sea of consciousness. Only then did the itching fade away.

He looked up and saw that the space beyond the gate was extremely vast, stretching several hundred zhang in every direction and rising several hundred zhang high. A luminous pearl hung in the air, shining brilliantly, perfectly round, illuminating the entire space.

"This is the Beast God's heart chamber, where his heart once lay. Before dying, this Beast God fused his spiritual power and blood, transforming them into the three killing formations outside. He did so to protect his soul and this inner core."

The Kindling Child urged him, "Hurry, pluck out this inner core so we can go outside and tidy up the formations!"

Zhong Yue closed his eyes. When he opened them, two flood dragons sprang from beneath his feet, lightning crackling into existence. The two flood dragons bared their fangs and claws as they flew toward the Demonic God inner core suspended in midair!

He had just reached out and grasped the inner core when dense scales suddenly burst from beneath the skin of his palm!

"Hurry! Stuff the Beast God Essence into your sea of consciousness!" the Kindling Child shouted.

"How do I stuff it in?"

Zhong Yue was at a loss. The Beast God inner core was the size of a goose egg. How could he possibly stuff it into his own head?

As they spoke, even more scales sprouted and spread rapidly up his arm at an astonishing speed!

The Kindling Child shouted, "Just stuff it in!"

Zhong Yue gritted his teeth, raised his hand, and shoved the Beast God inner core toward the space between his brows!