Slaying Beasts, Claiming Merit!

Penglai Immortal Island.

Li Yi sat cross-legged in midair. A black cauldron rumbled before him as the island's innate spiritual energy surged into it like water down a drain, growing so dense it was nearly tangible.

When the commotion subsided, Li Yi opened his eyes. The Five-Colored Treasure Flags rose from the black cauldron and settled into his hands.

Sensing the innate aura radiating from the flags, Li Yi could not hide his smile.

"Each flag rivals a Mid-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure. Together, they can just about rival a Supreme-grade Innate Spirit Treasure! They may not match the Innate Five Direction Flags, but with my mastery of formations, I'd still have to fight their owner to know who would win..."

Innate and acquired treasures were worlds apart! After his refinement, the Five-Colored Treasure Flags were more than a hundred times as formidable as before.

Li Yi put away the flags and turned to the Cosmos Cauldron. After examining it briefly, he marveled inwardly.

"But this refinement has nearly exhausted the Cosmos Cauldron's source power. I doubt I'll be able to refine another Spirit Treasure for a million years..."

Returning something to its source came at a price. Raising a Spirit Treasure's grade consumed the Cosmos Cauldron's source power, which would take time to recover.

Li Yi put away the Cosmos Cauldron and looked ahead.

More than thirty thousand years had passed. The Twelfth-Rank Pure World White Lotus was almost ready to emerge.

Before him, the white lotus that had once been a closed bud was slowly opening. Milky-white immortal light flowed across its petals, a faint fragrance drifted outward, and rich spiritual energy gathered around it.

The spiritual plants nearby began growing wildly. To these innate immortal herbs, the aura of such a Supreme-Grade Spirit Treasure was an extraordinary boon.

As the final petal unfurled, a drop of blood flew from Li Yi's fingertip and landed on the Lotus Platform. He began refining the newly emerged Supreme-Grade Spirit Treasure.

In an instant, Li Yi felt a bond with the Lotus Platform, as though they shared the same blood.

After dozens of days of refinement, light flashed in Li Yi's eyes. The Lotus Platform drifted toward him, and he stood upon it with a smile.

The Genesis Azure Lotus had shed four seeds, giving rise to four twelve-petaled Lotus Platforms, each with its own unique power.

Ancestor Minghe's Twelfth-Grade Red Lotus of Karmic Fire could release red lotus karmic fire, burning anything to death through its karmic burden!

The Demon Ancestor's Twelfth-Grade Black Lotus of World Destruction could absorb violent and destructive energies. Paired with the Demon Ancestor's law of slaughter, it was formidable in both attack and defense.

His Twelfth-Rank Pure World White Lotus, meanwhile, possessed the power to nurture life and purify all things!

When the Primordial World was first formed, the resentment and tainted blood left by the fallen three thousand Chaos Demon Gods filled it with baleful energy. From that energy, the beasts were born.

Baleful energy was also central to the beasts' attacks!

Put plainly, his Pure World Lotus Platform was their natural nemesis. Those beasts would rather face an Innate Supreme Treasure than face his Lotus Platform!

The Heavenly Dao had yet to manifest. Whoever earned distinction during the Beast Calamity Tribulation would receive Merit from that calamity in the future.

Merit was an invaluable resource, whether used for cultivation or treasure refinement! While the Calamity Cycle was still underway, he could venture out and seek his share of the opportunity...

Having made up his mind, Li Yi stepped out of the innate formation without hesitation. He had refined the formation on Penglai Island, and its defenses now far surpassed what they had been when he arrived. No one would be slipping in to raid his home.

Years of slaughter by the Myriad Tribes had reduced the beasts' numbers. But a calamity was never so easily overcome: though fewer remained, those that did were more fearsome than the beasts from the world's earliest days!

After only a short journey, Li Yi found a band of beasts without effort.

The moment they saw him, they charged with savage eyes. They came in every shape: some were armored in scales like dragons, while others wore crimson feathers like divine phoenixes. They shared only one trait—a violent glare that drove them to attack any creature not of their own kind.

Li Yi glanced them over. At a thought, a wave of purifying power rippled from the pure-white Lotus Platform beneath his feet.

The white wave spread like an ordinary breeze. Yet the moment it touched the beasts, they crumbled like dry sand and turned to dust in midair!

Li Yi stared, astonished.

The Myriad Tribes had already begun hunting beasts. Any still roaming the Primordial Continent were tough prey.

Even the weakest in this group were Golden Immortals, and the strongest had reached the Supreme Unity Golden Immortal realm!

Yet Li Yi had used none of his own magic power. He had merely activated the Lotus Platform's purifying power, and the beasts had met their nemesis. Even the Supreme Unity Golden Immortal among them had been obliterated in less than half a second!

Li Yi did not linger. He became a streak of azure light and continued toward Buzhou Mountain, where the beasts were gathering. Whenever he encountered beasts along the way, he stopped to purify them with the Pure World Lotus Platform.

Once he grew accustomed to using it, he no longer even stopped. Wherever the white purifying power passed, every beast it touched was annihilated!

He was slaughtering beasts alone as efficiently as an entire great clan.

Most beasts had no reason. They acted purely on instinct and would not organize themselves.

But those that reached the Great Firmament Golden Immortal realm developed intelligence and could command the beast armies beneath them.

The most fearsome of all was Beast Emperor Shen Ni, who had reached the Primordial Unity Supreme Immortal realm. His strongest subordinates were the Four Great Beasts—Hundun, Qiongqi, Taowu, and Taotie. Each stood at the Peak Great Firmament Golden Immortal realm, and each commanded nearly ten Great Firmament Golden Immortal beasts.

That was why the Myriad Tribes had failed to wipe out the beast armies after so long. Ten Great Firmament beasts, joined by a tide of Supreme Unity beasts, could send even a Quasi-Saint fleeing.

So the clans generally hunted beasts in scattered groups. No one slaughtered them too openly, lest they draw the attention of the Four Great Beasts—or even the Beast Emperor.

Li Yi, of course, knew none of this. He killed freely as he traveled. His name gradually spread through the Primordial World, and soon he drew the attention of powerful beasts.

Inside a palace, a dragon-tiger beast ten thousand zhang tall, with a pair of wings on its back, listened to its subordinate's report. Its face twisted into a savage grin.

"What an arrogant Daoist! Summon Wangxiang, Gudiao, and Du Yan. We'll surround him and kill him!"

The beast below was just as vicious-looking, its eyes full of malice. Only when it looked toward the figure on the throne did its gaze grow a little calmer.

"Yes!"

Decades later, a streak of azure light crossed the sky. Li Yi stopped and watched beastly figures emerge throughout the surrounding valley. Far from alarmed, he smiled.

I was wondering how to find the Four Kings, and now they've come to me?