Magical Beast Graveyard

"It actually lit up in a place like this?"

A faint smile curved Xiao Yan's lips. This truly was a blessing born of misfortune.

He looked around. He was in a ravine a thousand zhang deep, as though some terrifying slash had cleaved it open. Its end stretched beyond sight.

"Did I fall into Fallen Emperor Gorge?"

There was just such a treacherous place in the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Legend had it that two Dou Huang experts had once fought here, and one Dou Emperor's overwhelming attack had cleaved the other in two. The terrifying slash had continued onward, splitting open part of the mountain range and forming what would become Fallen Emperor Gorge.

Originally, Fallen Emperor Gorge had been only about a hundred li long. But over thousands of years, the gorge had gradually expanded, eventually becoming a spectacular sight that stretched for a thousand li.

The floor of Fallen Emperor Gorge lay several hundred zhang below the surface. Sunlight could hardly reach all the way down, and mist shrouded it most of the time, making visibility poor.

Moreover, violent gales periodically raged across the gorge's mouth, preventing ordinary birds and beasts from approaching.

That was why Xiao Yan had struggled to steady himself even after activating his Flying Dou Technique.

What Xiao Yan had never expected was that Fallen Emperor Gorge would actually be home to the myriad beast spirit flame.

Xiao Yan did not rush into action. Instead, he sat cross-legged where he was and slowly recovered his Dou Qi.

Forcing himself to stabilize his body earlier had consumed far too much Dou Qi. In such unfamiliar surroundings, he dared not act rashly until it had fully recovered.

Xiao Yan sat motionless for a full hour before his Dou Qi completely recovered.

Xiao Yan held the Heavenly Flames Coordinate Map in his hand. Within a certain distance, the soul imprint on the map would turn into wisps of soul beacons, guiding its bearer toward the marked target.

"This way!"

Clearly, he was already very close to the location marked on the Heavenly Flames Coordinate Map. The soul imprint within it began burning away faster, turning into beacons to guide him.

Xiao Yan proceeded cautiously in the direction indicated by the beacons.

There were few living creatures down here. With so little sunlight, however, mosses and fungi of all kinds flourished.

Some of them were even quite rare low-grade medicinal ingredients.

But Xiao Yan had no interest in any of them at the moment. All his attention was fixed on the heavenly flames.

After walking an unknown number of steps, Xiao Yan suddenly noticed that the mist shrouding the gorge floor had vanished-or, more precisely, had evaporated.

Stepping into the mist-free area, Xiao Yan distinctly felt the temperature rising.

"The heavenly flame is right here!"

Xiao Yan was tremendously excited. This was something countless people across the Dou Qi Continent dreamed of obtaining. He had never imagined he would actually encounter it himself.

But he also knew that heavenly flames were inherently destructive. Without the Xiao Clan's divine pattern, he would have had no chance whatsoever of subduing one.

Even with the support of his bloodline power, however, he had to secure his footing at every step. The moment he confirmed there was danger, he would flee without hesitation.

Xiao Yan took a deep breath and put on the Inner Armor Yun Zhi had given him. Although it would be useless against a heavenly flame, it would improve his chances of survival if there were other magical beasts down here.

Xiao Yan continued forward. Soon, a curving bend appeared ahead. The moment he rounded it, an enormous magical beast came into view.

Xiao Yan was startled. Despite being so close, he had not sensed its presence at all.

He instinctively summoned his Dou Qi Armor, preparing for battle, only to discover that the enormous magical beast, several stories tall, did not move at all.

A closer look revealed that it was a magical beast's corpse. Its skin was deeply wrinkled; clearly, it had been extremely old.

"A Mountain-Bearing Beast? At that size, it must have been at least a fifth-rank magical beast. To think it died in a place like this."

Yet Xiao Yan could see no wounds on the Mountain-Bearing Beast. It looked utterly peaceful, as though it had simply reached the end of its natural lifespan.

Looking farther ahead, Xiao Yan discovered that it was not the only one. Corpse after corpse of magical beasts lay throughout the gorge.

None of these magical beasts had been low-ranked. Even the weakest had been fourth-rank, while the strongest had reached the sixth rank!

None had suffered any injuries. They had all died peacefully.

They had also died at different times. Some had only recently passed away and looked as though they were sleeping, their bodies still retaining some vitality.

Others had rotted away completely, leaving only enormous skeletons.

At a glance, there were no fewer than a hundred such corpses!

The sight immediately reminded Xiao Yan of something he had read back on Earth.

Certain animals, when they knew death was approaching, would choose a quiet, secluded place and silently await their end.

And here at the bottom of Fallen Emperor Gorge, so many magical beasts had willingly come to bring their lives to a peaceful close.

"Who would have thought there would be so many magical beast corpses here? Calling it a magical beast graveyard would be no exaggeration."

Xiao Yan did not disturb the magical beasts already resting in eternal slumber. Most of their bodies had lost all vitality. Even if he dug out their magic cores, they would be nothing but ornaments with their power exhausted.

Seeing so many magical beast corpses, Xiao Yan finally understood why the myriad beast spirit flame had been born here.

According to legend, the myriad beast spirit flame was nurtured from the spiritual essences and lingering souls of countless magical beasts. There could be no place better suited to nurturing it than this Magical Beast Graveyard.

Xiao Yan threaded his way among the magical beast corpses. As he reached the center of the Magical Beast Graveyard, the last trace of soul power in the Heavenly Flames Coordinate Map was completely exhausted, leaving an ordinary Sheepskin Scroll.

"That's it? I haven't even caught a glimpse of the heavenly flame yet."

Xiao Yan felt rather helpless, as though the lantern in his hand had gone out halfway through his journey.

Now he could neither advance nor retreat.

But having come this far, there was certainly no question of backing down.

Xiao Yan put away the spent Heavenly Flames Coordinate Map. Fortunately, there was only one path through the gorge, so he did not have to worry about getting lost.

Yet just as Xiao Yan took his first step, his divine pattern activated on its own and began to flash.

It was his body's instinctive response to danger.

Before Xiao Yan could understand what was happening, the ground around his feet suddenly cracked apart. A gigantic flaming python burst out of the earth and lunged with its jaws open

at Xiao Yan!

"A heavenly flame?"

Xiao Yan immediately spread his Eagle Wings and shot away at full speed, dodging the flaming python's attack.

But before he could regain his footing, an enormous flaming eagle swooped down from the sky, reaching for Xiao Yan with its talons.

Xiao Yan countered with a backhand Great Flame Palm, striking the flaming eagle and sending it flying with a single blow. But he knew the attack had not destroyed it, only driven it back for the moment.

"Could there be two heavenly flames?"

Very soon, however, Xiao Yan realized he was wrong. A gigantic flaming ape, a fierce flaming tiger, an enormous flaming elephant-one magical beast after another, condensed from flames, gradually took shape on every side, surrounding him completely!