Guiyuan reached out and caught the stone stele flying toward him.
It felt cold and heavy to the touch. The stele was ancient and unadorned, its profound markings barely visible, but many places had been eroded by filthy fiendish energy, leaving its spiritual light dim.
Styx leaned closer to look. Two divine characters of the Great Dao had been naturally carved into the stele.
[North Xuan].
"This treasure is called the North Xuan Stele." Guiyuan swept it with his divine sense and instantly understood its origins. His voice carried a note of regret. "It was originally a true ancestral treasure nurtured by the northern Ancestral Vein, and should have been a Top-grade Innate Treasure."
His fingertip brushed a conspicuous smear of fiendish energy on the stele's surface.
"Unfortunately, it spent countless years in a Ferocious Beast lair, polluted day and night by Chaos Sha. Its Great Dao is now incomplete, and its grade has fallen. It's only a high-grade Innate Treasure now."
Hearing this, Styx felt a pang of sorrow as well. "An ancestral treasure! What a waste!"
"It must be because you cleared the fiendish energy from the north and then slew Taowu, earning good fortune and merit. That's why this treasure favored you."
Styx smiled.
"Its functions remain intact," Guiyuan continued. "It can still draw upon the power of the northern earth and water veins to suppress enemies. If fully activated, it can even borrow the vast power of the entire northern Primordial World and channel it into its wielder."
He shook his head and balanced the Xuanzhong Stele in his palm.
"But for now, the Ancestral Vein itself is damaged, and this treasure is damaged too. It has less than a tenth of its former power."
Styx looked at the stele defiled by fiendish energy, then thought of the desolation he had seen across the north. Even he, with his blazing killing intent, couldn't help but snarl, "The Ferocious Beasts really do deserve to die!"
Guiyuan nodded, his gaze sweeping over the fiendish-energy-shrouded lair before settling on the silent Xuanzhong Stele in his hand.
"My initial plan is to purge the fiendish energy from the Ancestral Vein, and, while I'm at it, refine Taowu's body and soul into my treasures."
Guiyuan looked at Styx. "I may need to enter seclusion for a while."
"Sure. In that case, I'll have a look around the north. I can see you need these Ferocious Beasts' bodies, so I'll test my sword and bring back a few corpses."
Having gained something from Guiyuan, Styx intended to repay the favor. He knew Guiyuan could refine Ferocious Beast corpses, and this would give him a chance to test his sword.
"Good."
Styx instantly transformed into a streak of blood-red light and departed. With a casual wave, Guiyuan sent the Xuanyuan Controlling Water Flag into the void and set up a grand formation that enveloped the entire Changbai Mountain.
Only then did he sit cross-legged.
Guiyuan had already made a plan for how to purge the fiendish energy.
"First, I'll refine Taowu's soul and body into the Thirty-Three Fiendish Treasures, then devour the fiendish energy on the Ancestral Vein. Two birds with one stone."
Guiyuan sat deep within the Ancestral Vein of Changbai Mountain. With a flip of his hand, Taowu's soul and enormous body appeared in midair. Without hesitation, he cast them into the thirty-three fiendish treasures hovering around him.
"Refine!"
Guiyuan's low shout rang out, and the Dao Fire created by the Great Treasure Refining Technique roared to life, wrapping around the soul and body. Flames churned, their scorching heat warping the void.
Though Taowu's true spirit had perished, its remaining instincts still struggled. Its soul howled and its body trembled, releasing wisps of Daluo might in an attempt to resist the refinement.
Guiyuan remained expressionless and pressed down with one hand.
"Suppress."
His boundless magical power crashed down like a giant mountain, crushing the last of its resistance. The soul and body gradually melted in the Dao Fire, turning into pure fiendish energy and a savage source essence that slowly seeped into the thirty-three treasures.
Guiyuan divided his attention, controlling the refinement on one hand while drawing upon the fiendish energy filling the Ancestral Vein with the other.
Rolling black clouds surged in like water sucked up by a dragon, constantly pouring into the treasure formation to fuel the refinement.
At the same time, Guiyuan began refining the North Xuan Stele.
The stele was cold, wrapped in fiendish energy that clung like a parasite to the bone.
He circulated his magical power, gradually stripping away the filth and awakening the spiritual essence sleeping within.
Time flowed on. Before long, an entire yuanhui had passed.
During this time, Styx returned now and then.
He never entered the formation. He simply dumped large numbers of Ferocious Beast corpses in the area outside it, then turned into a streak of blood-red light and left to continue testing his sword.
On this day, Guiyuan suddenly opened his eyes.
A flash of light shone in his gaze before his aura settled.
He looked down at the North Xuan Stele in his palm. Most of the fiendish energy had been removed, and its spiritual light was gradually returning. It had not regained its top grade, but it had stabilized as a high-grade treasure.
Once all the fiendish energy was purged, its innate nature as an Innate Treasure would allow it to recover gradually.
That was one of the differences between Innate Treasures and Acquired Treasures: innate perfection.
Even if damaged in battle, as long as the Great Dao within remained intact, they could recover on their own if left alone.
Acquired Treasures were different. Their creator had to find materials to repair them. If too much was missing, they might not recover at all.
Then he turned his gaze to the Thirty-Three Fiendish Treasures. A single glance made even him, their master, shiver.
Their light was dark and gloomy, their fiendish energy soared skyward, and countless savage auras interwove until they were almost tangible.
An ordinary Taiyi cultivator who looked at them for too long would likely suffer damage to their Dao Heart.
Taowu's soul and body had long since been completely refined.
Originally, each treasure had contained the corpse of a single Taiyi Ferocious Beast as its core. Though powerful, they had acted independently.
Now, with Taowu—a "sovereign"—commanding them, the fiendish treasures moved as one, as easily as an extension of his limbs. Their fiendish energy merged, and their power surged!
Guiyuan sensed them briefly and nodded.
"Though these are Acquired Treasures, their power is no weaker than a Mid-grade Innate Treasure. Even more remarkably, they contain Chaos Sha. Even a Daluo would have trouble if contaminated by it."
"The North Xuan Stele is a treasure for suppression. It can suppress enemies and the void. Together with the Xuanyuan Controlling Water Flag, it can seal off an entire region of space. Even an early-stage Daluo would likely struggle to break free."
"Combined with the Thirty-Three Fiendish Treasures, I finally have the strength to travel across the continent."
After putting the two treasures away, Guiyuan waved his hand and dismissed the grand formation. Daylight flooded in from outside.
Just then, a streak of blood-red light flew over and landed in his hand. It was a divine-sense message Styx had left behind.
[Guiyuan, my friend: I've been tempering my sword in the north and unexpectedly gained some insight into Daluo. I must return to the Sea of Blood to enter seclusion. If you visit in the future, Styx will welcome you with open arms.]
"Some of the fiendish energy in the Ancestral Vein has now been purged. But to venture deeper, I'll need to reach at least Daluo, or possess a special method or treasure."
"The Pure World White Lotus would naturally be the best choice. But setting aside whether this treasure is actually in the East Sea, the East Sea is the Dragon Race's territory. Going treasure hunting on someone else's turf..."
"Even if I find it, there's no guarantee I'll be able to keep it."
"It'd be best to break through to Daluo first, then go treasure hunting." Guiyuan pondered.
The fiendish energy in the Ancestral Vein had persisted for so many years, and a Daluo Ferocious Beast had once occupied it. Being able to purge even a portion of it was already an extraordinary feat.
Although he had mastered the Three Thousand Great Daos of the Eternal Life Great World, which could purify fiendish energy, the Great Dao was one thing.
The power of the divine abilities built upon it ultimately depended on his own strength. At present, he was only at the Taiyi Realm.
His power was limited, and he had discovered that the deeper fiendish energy was even more outrageous—it seemed to surpass Taowu's.
He suspected that it had been left behind by Shen Ni, the Emperor of Ferocious Beasts.
Could there be another secret behind this?
Was that why Taowu had occupied this place? But whatever the secret, Guiyuan was not capable of dealing with it yet.
Only after breaking through to Daluo, and combining that realm with his methods, would he be able to investigate.
"But to break through to Daluo, I need to condense my own Daluo Dao Fruit. That's rather similar to the Immortal Kings of the Eternal Life Great World. The question is, which Great Dao laws should I use to condense it?"
Before you continue