Mutant Beast

Biodata

Power Progression

These entries record changes in individual beasts, not a single progression shared by the entire category.

Nature and Origins

• Inherited bloodlines: Most mutant beasts possess a special bloodline or mutate after consuming a rare mountain treasure 40.
• Concentrated vitality: Spiritual energy from mountains and rivers, together with medicinal-herb essence, makes their flesh and blood substantially richer in vital energy than ordinary animal meat 66.
• Bloodline awakening: The Scarlet Tide stimulates mutant beasts and may awaken ancient bloodlines that have remained dormant for years 198.
• Different strength levels: Documented specimens include peak Meridian-Opening beasts, a newly Bone-Forged wolf, and an Organ-Nourishing Mighty Demon Ape. “Top-tier” does not necessarily mean a higher realm: the Golden-Armored Berserk Bear is peak Meridian-Opening but approaches Bone-Forging-level combat strength 167 168 191.

Known Varieties

Mountain Wildlife

Assessment Beasts

Abilities and Behavior

Physical Strength and Defense

• Armored varieties can resist conventional weapons; Ironback Mountain Boars defeat guards’ spear attacks, while the Golden-Armored Berserk Bear’s scales are difficult to damage with swords or sabers 121 167.
• A Meridian-Opening beast’s connected sinews and bones provide explosive power and reactions far beyond those of a Skin-Training beast 122.
• Organ-Nourishing specimens possess formidable vitality. The Mighty Demon Ape delivers a lethal-strength counterattack even after its heart has been burned away 196.
• Toughness is not invulnerability: precise attacks, vulnerable points, and concentrated martial forces can overcome their defenses 121 167 169.

Bloodline Powers

• Special traits vary by beast, including pack command, poisonous fire, extraordinary speed, metallic baleful energy, and lightning 40 168 189 191 198.
• Stronger beasts can intimidate weaker ones. The Azure-Horned Savage Bull’s roar makes boars and badgers hesitate; the Golden-Armored Berserk Bear frightens nearby caged beasts 121 167.

Intelligence and Survival Instinct

• Mutant beasts seek advantage and avoid harm rather than fighting indiscriminately. Both the Thunderwind Eagle and the wounded Mighty Demon Ape retreat when continued combat becomes too dangerous 189 192.
• The Mighty Demon Ape uses a familiar cliff route to escape, prepares a boulder ambush, and draws Lu Chen into a cave that restricts his mobility 192 193.
• Fear can increase agitation: after Lu Chen’s first punch, the Red-Back Gray Wolf recognizes him as dangerous but becomes more restless rather than immediately fleeing 169.

Cultivation and Economic Value

• Blood essence: Refining a mature beast’s essence blood is worth at least dozens of Blood-Qi Powder doses. It can help Blood-Moving martial artists advance from major accomplishment to the peak 66.
• Exceptional breakthroughs: An outsider reportedly used a Five-Colored Divine Deer’s blood essence to advance beyond Blood-Moving and defeat a powerful Huang Family martial artist 40.
• Sale value: A rare mutant beast can fetch a thousand taels or more, encouraging organized hunts by major lineages 40.
• Recovery food: Gao Manor’s specially prepared beast meat helps Lu Chen recover from Flying Dragon Art training. He arranges for a chest every three days 112.
• Technique ingredients: The Crimson-Scale Fire-Skin Technique requires fire-aspected mutant-beast blood essence, though its cultivation risks burning the meridians 96.
• Sacred-bloodline premium: Even a trace of a Five Saints bloodline makes a beast far more valuable than ordinary mutant beasts. A specimen raised for decades may yield only a few drops of blood essence 213.

Five Saints Bloodlines

The Five Saints Life-Exchange Scripture permits sacred-bloodline mutant beasts to substitute for the nearly unobtainable true Five Saints. Their essence reconstructs the practitioner’s organs; thinner bloodlines produce weaker results, but repeated refinement can progressively improve them 197 198.

• The five organs can be cultivated separately; the practitioner need not obtain all five bloodlines at once 198.
• Purer bloodlines and higher-realm specimens provide better materials 213.
• The Martial Temple supplies Lu Chen with Red-Feather Fire Crow meat and Black-Shelled Water Turtle blood essence. He uses the fire-crow meat to begin transforming his heart 214.

Taming and Mounts

Story Role / Major Arcs

• Pre-examination hunts: Thousand Crane Martial Hall, Mighty Far Hall, the Huang Family, and smaller lineages enter Scarlet Cloud Mountain seeking essence blood to strengthen disciples before the June examination. Thousand Crane forces Lu Qiao to guide its hunt; Lu Chen later brings a Scarlet-Blood Deer carcass to Ge Ye 66 74.
• Medicinal harvest attacks: Beasts drawn by ripening herbs threaten Gao Manor’s crops. Lu Chen stops the fast badgers, assists against the boars, and secretly kills the Azure-Horned Savage Bull after luring it away 118 121 122.
• Heavenly Strategy Academy assessment: Caged mutant beasts test candidates under potentially lethal conditions. Lu Chen’s defeat of the unexpectedly Bone-Forged wolf draws the academy heads’ attention 166 167 168 169.
• Scarlet Tide competition: Valuable essence attracts beasts and martial artists alike. Lu Chen defeats the Mighty Demon Ape and discovers the Five Saints Life-Exchange Scripture behind its lair, giving sacred-bloodline beasts new importance to his cultivation 191 196 197 198.
• Blood sacrifice and resurrection: Beast corpses become both fuel for the Blood Sacrifice Formation and raw material for the Burial Thunder Ghost King’s army 218 222.

Thunder Beasts

• Heaven-Burying Thunder erases dead mutant beasts’ remnant souls and refines their flesh, bones, and remaining essence into yin-lightning shells. These Thunder Beasts are no longer true mutant beasts 222.
• Reconstruction can radically alter their bodies: a dismembered Mountain-Splitting Bear becomes a fifty-foot monster, while dozens of python corpses fuse into a thousand-foot serpent 222.
• Their thunder-tempered bones are harder than those of ordinary mutant beasts, and their attacks can collapse martial artists’ blood energy 222.
• Although their minds are erased, instincts to avoid danger remain. Lu Chen exploits their thunder energy for cultivation and ultimately destroys a surrounding pack, gaining the Thunder Prison Demon-Subduing Golden Body 224.