Fierce Beast Merit

The Qilin, Divine Dragon, White Tiger, and Vermilion Bird raced through Fire Cloud Cave as a mountain-guarding grand formation enveloped the entire cave.

"Haha, with the Four Symbols Formation and Fire Cloud Cave's own grand formation protecting it, even if a Great Luo Golden Immortal came in person, they would never break through Fire Cloud Cave in a short time."

Red Cloud nodded in satisfaction, then flew to his celestial seat. There was another palace there, situated upon the immortal island where he had discovered the Yi-Wood Pot.

This palace was called Firecloud Palace. Red Cloud used it as his place of cultivation, intending to make his breakthrough here.

Red Cloud had refined magical treasures for a hundred thousand years, integrating his Dao into them. Every refinement served as confirmation and reflection, and his cultivation had long reached the point where it overflowed naturally.

As the gates of Firecloud Palace closed, waves rose in Fire Cloud Cave despite the absence of wind, and sheets of spiritual clouds gathered from all directions.

Red Cloud devoured vast amounts of spiritual qi, transforming it into mana. His cultivation naturally broke through to the Mid-Stage Golden Immortal.

"Phew, it's time to continue traveling."

Once his cultivation had stabilized, Red Cloud felt the urge to explore beyond the cave. Opportunities did not come to those who waited; one had to seek them out and seize every possible chance.

Red Cloud quietly left Fire Cloud Cave, riding a cloud of auspicious vapor as he continued fleeing toward Buzhou Mountain.

While traveling, Red Cloud did not forget to use the Illustrated Record of Literary Fortune to deduce the thirty-six Heavenly Dipper Divine Powers and the seventy-two Earthly Fiend Divine Powers. Each divine power could lead directly to a Law.

For example, Creation Manipulation among the Heavenly Dipper Divine Powers required one to comprehend the Creation Law before it could be cultivated successfully.

Creation Manipulation: This was the ability to create something from nothing or alter the essence of things, allowing one to create all things. It could also overturn the existing laws of the universe and redefine new laws.

Looking at the Jade Ganoderma Immortal Herbs growing across the ground like weeds, Red Cloud could not help but feel deeply moved.

At this time, the Primordial World was rich in innate spiritual qi, containing boundless creative vitality. Ten-thousand-year-old spiritual herbs were commonplace and could be found nearly everywhere.

Thinking of how, after Buzhou Mountain collapsed, countless cultivators would fight to the death over a single ganoderma herb that was now as common as grass, stirring up bloody storms, Red Cloud could not help sighing. It truly was important to be born into a good era.

This era was somewhat unusual. Even ignorant, mindless wild beasts were born with strength comparable to Human Immortals, reached Earth Immortal level upon maturity, and generally became Heavenly Immortals once they awakened their spiritual intelligence and attained the Dao.

This was a benefit brought by the era. However, as resources were constantly consumed with nothing replenishing them, the price future generations would have to pay to become immortals would grow ever greater. The Immortal Dao would become difficult to attain.

Unlike now, when ordinary wild beasts could become immortals merely by eating a few Jade Ganoderma Immortal Herbs. As long as they did not die, they could attain the Dao and live forever.

Of course, Heavenly Dao was impartial. Although cultivating immortality was easy now, ordinary beasts found it difficult to awaken spiritual intelligence. Generally, they would only develop intelligence after cultivating to the Heavenly Immortal realm.

In later ages, although the Immortal Dao would be difficult to achieve, many demons, monsters, ghosts, and strange beings would possess spiritual intelligence while still very weak.

Spiritual intelligence was extremely important in cultivating and seeking the Dao. No matter how powerful a beast without intelligence became, it was still merely a beast—muddled and aimless, living only to feed.

Why were the Human Race created by Nuwa called the leaders of all living beings? Because the Human Race was born with stronger spiritual intelligence, giving them a higher upper limit in cultivation.

However, they also had a flaw: before reaching the Golden Immortal realm, the Human Race generally had shorter lifespans than demonic beasts.

After traveling several hundred thousand li, Red Cloud unexpectedly spotted a Fierce Beast. He considered it a pleasant surprise.

Fierce Beasts were difficult to encounter in this era. They had been the protagonists of the previous calamity, but had now withdrawn from the stage of the Primordial World. Yet their names still remained on the Heavenly Dao Kill List.

Fierce Beasts were born from the resentment of Chaos Demon Gods combined with Creation-Opening Sha Qi. As long as Creation-Opening Sha Qi remained, Fierce Beasts born of demonic resentment would never truly disappear.

During the previous calamity, the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Tribes had led all races in slaughtering most Fierce Beasts. As Creation-Opening Sha Qi became increasingly scarce, Fierce Beasts also became harder and harder to produce.

Killing Fierce Beasts was like a bonus event, granting Heavenly Dao Merit. Merit was hard to come by, so Red Cloud naturally would not let this chance pass. He immediately descended from the sky.

The Fierce Beast Red Cloud encountered resembled a porcupine. Its entire body was black, bone spikes grew from its back, and two long tusks jutted from its mouth.

This Fierce Beast stood dozens of zhang tall. As it lay there, it resembled a small hill.

"Roar, roar!"

As Red Cloud examined the Fierce Beast, it let out an angry roar and lunged at him with its jaws wide open.

"The Illustrated Record of Literary Fortune has just deduced the Flame-Spewing Spell. Let's see whether you can withstand my Earthly Fiend Divine Power."

Watching the Fierce Beast pounce at him, Red Cloud gracefully dodged its attack, then exhaled a mouthful of fiery breath.

In the next instant, that breath transformed into towering flames that blazed toward the Fierce Beast.

This was no ordinary fire. It was Samadhi True Fire, formed by Red Cloud's refined essence, qi, and spirit.

The Fierce Beast immediately screamed in agony as it burned. Even the bone spikes and fur on its body were reduced to ash.

Within moments, the Fierce Beast ceased breathing.

Red Cloud was not surprised. This Fierce Beast was only comparable to a Golden Immortal, and it possessed neither spiritual intelligence nor divine powers. It fought entirely on instinct, so its strength was naturally low. Besides, Red Cloud was stronger.

After dealing with the Fierce Beast, Red Cloud saw a thread of golden light descend and land directly upon him. It was the Heavenly Dao Merit awarded for slaying the Fierce Beast.

Red Cloud was preparing to leave when he suddenly smelled an enticing fragrance. Looking at the roasted Fierce Beast, he wondered, Fierce Beast meat should be edible too, shouldn't it?

With that thought, Red Cloud drew the Fierce Beast over. His mana condensed into a small knife, which easily peeled away the beast's hide and spikes, exposing the flesh within.

The Fierce Beast meat was already thoroughly cooked. Its surface glistened with crystalline spiritual oil, and a rich aroma filled the air.

Red Cloud casually tore off a strip of meat. It had a slightly chewy texture, much like beef, and tasted exceptionally delicious.

There was no sha qi in the meat. Instead, it was rich in spiritual qi and was indeed edible.

Red Cloud found it more delicious with every bite. Before long, he had eaten one of the beast's legs and swiftly refined it into spiritual qi.

After all, this Fierce Beast had only been at the Golden Immortal realm. The spiritual qi converted from its flesh was not even enough to match Red Cloud's cultivation rate; it merely satisfied his appetite.

"Eating it like this is a little too plain."

Red Cloud wiped the corner of his mouth. He found grilled meat alone somewhat dull. Looking at the remaining Fierce Beast meat, he pondered the matter and casually gathered some gold and stone.

Though these gold and stones were commonplace, they had reached the quality of immortal gold and divine stone. They would be difficult to find even in later ages.

Next, Red Cloud summoned Samadhi True Fire and refined the gold and stone. Within a few breaths, he melted them into liquid metal.

Samadhi True Fire, also known as Samadhi Divine Flame, was formed from a person's essence, qi, and spirit. It was a true fire with an extremely high potential ceiling and an equally low floor. The stronger its cultivator became, the stronger the true fire would become.

Every type of flame in heaven and earth was an evolution of the Fire Law. If one could control all fire in the world, then attaining the Primordial Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm would surely become a natural matter.

Yet this process was clearly extremely difficult. The flames of the world grew and changed every moment, so it was basically impossible for anyone to control all fire in existence.

Before long, Red Cloud had refined several magical artifacts. Due to the materials and limited time, their grades were not high. Most were low-grade, while only a few were mid-grade.

Still, Red Cloud was already very satisfied. Refining ordinary immortal gold and divine stone into spiritual treasures required one to have delved deeply into the Dao of artifacts, even for someone who followed that path.