Killing a group of prodigies from the spiritual beast races brought Liu Bai less than one million experience points, but the Beast Soul Points were extremely abundant, totaling more than thirty thousand points.
This was a considerable sum, enough for Liu Bai to nurture a Divine Beast level Innate Spirit with plenty to spare.
That was under the circumstance where the gap between both sides was too great. If he were to encounter some Divine Beasts at the Eighth-Grade or even Ninth-Grade Sovereign realm, the gains would be even greater.
Watching Han Shan and his group depart, Liu Bai narrowed his eyes slightly.
That fellow had indeed held something back from them. In the end, he did not mention cooperation or any information about the Treasures Beast.
In Liu Bai's memory, that was an ancient Many Treasures Beast that had reached the boundary of a Super Divine Beast. The strongest treasure conceived within its body was only at the Quasi Saint Artifact level.
Of course, it was not that Liu Bai looked down on Quasi Saint Artifacts. It was simply that for the current Liu Bai, unless it was particularly to his liking, a single Quasi Saint Artifact was not enough to move him too greatly.
Moreover, after this Divine Beast Plains concluded, Liu Bai would directly raise his cultivation to the Earthly Sovereign realm and then prepare for the final contest over the Ancient Heavenly Palace.
As for the Five Halls and Nine Mansions within the Ancient Heavenly Palace and places such as the Ancient Heavenly Lake, they likewise did not hold much attraction for him.
What Liu Bai cared about most was the final ownership of the Ancient Heavenly Palace.
After leaving the ruined Great Wasteland City, Liu Bai's group of four began heading toward the Myriad Beasts Graveyard.
The location of the Myriad Beasts Graveyard was not a secret. Almost every race knew of it, so Liu Bai and the others did not need to worry about failing to find it. The most important matter was to be cautious of the dangers within after entering the Myriad Beasts Graveyard.
"We are still very far from the Myriad Beasts Graveyard. Even if the four of us travel at full speed, it will likely take five days," Jiu You said.
Night enveloped the land. At this moment, the four of them were resting inside a natural cave. Jiu You took out a spirit map, locating the position of the Myriad Beasts Grtave as she spoke.
The nights in the Divine Beast Plains were extremely cold, and the entire world was filled with a chilling aura.
That was due to the dispersion of death aura. On this land, too many powerful members of the Divine Beast races had fallen. Even after tens of thousands of years, once night fell, the Divine Beast Plains would still be eroded by death aura, becoming incomparably cold.
Therefore, during the night, almost all experts who entered the Divine Beast Plains would not choose to travel, but would instead find a place to rest and resist the erosion of the death aura.
Liu Bai nodded and said, "Time is not the issue. What is most important now is your strength. If you can improve during the journey, then after entering the Myriad Beasts Graveyard, you will have greater ability to protect yourselves."
The danger of the Myriad Beasts Graveyard was well known, but the primary threat lay in those who entered it. The strength of those individuals was far beyond the prodigies of the spiritual beast races they had previously encountered. The true prodigies of the Divine Beast races were absolutely beyond their imagination.
However, Jiu You and the others were not like Liu Bai. They did not have a system and could not raise their cultivation whenever they wished. Thus, improving their combat strength within a few short days was extremely difficult.
"In that case, look here…"
Jiu You pondered for a moment and finally pointed to a location on the spirit map. "In two days, we will pass through this place. It is a free trading point, so experts from various races will gather there. There are quite a few good items, and treasures that can enhance cultivation may appear. Why not stop there first and see if we can purchase something useful?"
"Of course, we can also gather information there. After all, the matter of the Undying flames was only Han Shan's side of the story. We cannot confirm the specifics yet."
Liu Bai and Mo Feng both agreed with Jiu You's proposal.
As for little Mo Ling, she was extremely interested in this trading point, appearing eager to scout for some good items there.
Naturally, everyone liked the idea of obtaining treasures at a bargain, but not everyone could encounter such fortune.
After all, those who conducted trades were not fools. It was not so easy for others to gain an advantage from them.
Having settled their next objective, the four of them dispersed to rest.
Liu Bai entered an independent cultivation chamber carved out within the cave. Sitting cross legged, he slowly closed his eyes.
In the next instant, heaven and earth shifted. Liu Bai once again seemed to be standing upon that boundless ancient battlefield, where towering killing intent and tragic aura swept around him.
At the very center of the battlefield stood a dark red figure. His body was like an immovable rock, as though even thousands of troops charging forward could not shake him in the slightest.
Liu Bai stared intently at that dark red figure. Endless killing intent gradually gathered around him, making him resemble a god of slaughter.
The dark red figure slowly raised his head. His crimson eyes seemed to glance at Liu Bai. Then the surging killing intent above him gradually condensed into countless blood red characters.
Liu Bai focused his gaze, and his heart shook violently.
Sacrificing Demonic Fist First Form Sacrificing Body Into Demon.
Boom.
A terrifying aura of slaughter and bloodshed crashed against Liu Bai's soul, causing his mind to waver as if his consciousness might dissipate from this world.
Dragon roars and phoenix cries sounded beside his ears. A purple gold giant dragon and a purple gold phoenix descended from the sky, circling protectively around Liu Bai. Only then did he completely break free from the impact of that dreadful slaughter and blood aura.
With the assistance of the True Dragon Spirit and the True Phoenix Spirit, Liu Bai finally read all the countless blood red characters in the sky.
Subsequently, the latter two forms of the Sacrificing Demonic Fist also appeared in his mind.
Sacrificing Demonic Fist Second Form Demonic Flames Soaring to the Heavens.
Sacrificing Body Demonic Fist Third Form Demonic Slaughter of Heaven and Earth.
Perhaps Liu Bai's performance had been better than Mu Chen's in the original story, or perhaps the Blood Battle King held greater expectations for Liu Bai's talent and strength. The Sacrificing Demonic Fist, which should originally have consisted of only one form as a reward, was granted in its complete three forms after he passed the trial.
Divine Ability fist techniques were relatively rare in the Great Thousand World, especially since the Sacrificing Demonic Fist created by the Blood Battle King drew its primary power from the endless slaughter intent between heaven and earth.
Its might could be imagined.
However, cultivating this Divine Ability was no simple matter. First, the fist intent of slaughtering heaven and earth was not something just anyone could comprehend. Moreover, cultivating it required the courage to press forward without fear, to shed one's body and forget life and death, to fight with one's back to the river.
All of these were obstacles to even beginning cultivation of this Divine Ability.
But Liu Bai had a system.
Indeed, no matter what difficulty stood before him, a single system resolved it all.
"I cultivated the second layer of the Dragon Phoenix Scripture through my own effort. I might as well use the experience points I saved on the Sacrificing Demonic Fist."
As techniques grew stronger and their levels higher, the experience points required for advancement also became a considerable amount.
For example, with the Sacrificing Demonic Fist, merely mastering the first form completely required one million experience points.
The second form required two million experience points, and the third form required three million experience points.
For Liu Bai, he could easily afford these experience points. However, fully executing all three forms was likely beyond what his current self could accomplish.
"No wonder the Blood Battle King promised only the first form as the reward for passing the trial. The second and third forms are not something that the Sovereign realm can display."
"If one were to forcibly use them, the terrifying slaughter fist intent alone would likely shatter the user's own soul first."
At dawn the next morning, as the night faded, Liu Bai and his group of four awoke from cultivation. After a brief adjustment, they immediately set off.
Along the way, Liu Bai began to witness the vastness and desolation of the Divine Beast Plains.
Occasionally, in certain regions, they could see chasms tens of thousands of feet deep. Viewed from high above, it would be discovered that those chasms had been torn apart by a single enormous hand, as if the entire earth had been ripped open.
Each of these scenes testified to how apocalyptic the sudden destructive assault launched by the Fiend Clans upon the Divine Beast Plains in ancient times had been.
As for the treasure light occasionally emanating from certain parts within those chasms, Liu Bai and the others could only ignore it.
There was no other choice. Even Liu Bai did not dare to venture deep into such places, because even after tens of thousands of years, terrifying evil energy still eroded those depths.
That evil energy was completely incompatible with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Once someone fell into it, the spiritual energy within their body would very likely be rapidly exhausted, and they might even be corroded by the evil energy, injuring their Divine Soul.
During their journey, Liu Bai and his group also encountered quite a few experts from other races traveling in groups. However, upon seeing Liu Bai's lineup, most of them tactfully kept their distance.
There was no helping it. With a Ninth-Grade Sovereign like Liu Bai at their side, what ordinary team would dare provoke them. They even had to be wary of whether Liu Bai's group might rob them midway.
In this manner, after traveling smoothly for two days, Liu Bai and the others suddenly noticed that the number of people around them had begun to increase.
This allowed them to realize that they were likely not far from the trading point Jiu You had mentioned.
Very soon, this thought was confirmed. Within their field of vision appeared a massive hill, and atop that hill lay the ruins of ancient gigantic buildings.
At this moment, numerous spiritual energy auras in the surrounding sky were rapidly entering those massive architectural remains.
"We have arrived."
Jiu You smiled as she spoke. The four of them then landed together in the outer area of the trading point.
Following the flow of people, Liu Bai and the others stepped into the trading point.
The moment Mo Ling entered, she appeared especially excited and lively, her fondness for bustling scenes fully revealed.
Liu Bai and the other two smiled at this. They had come with the mindset of searching for bargains, so they simply followed behind her, allowing the young girl to wander about freely.
Only after entering did they realize that the trading point was quite spacious.
Ancient gigantic stones stood in various forms around them. Some people sat cross legged upon those stones lining the bustling paths, and before them grew thick stone trees.
From the branches of these stone trees hung crystal spheres emitting light. Within the crystal spheres were a dazzling array of items.
Liu Bai took a rough glance. The trade items included scrolls, ancient swords, even some pale white skeletal remains, as well as various peculiar heavenly materials and earthly treasures that shone brilliantly and attracted attention.
"The death aura within the Myriad Beasts Graveyard is extremely troublesome. If we encounter items capable of resisting death aura, we might as well purchase more," Jiu You said through voice transmission as she paused before a stall, gazing at an ancient stone lamp.
Liu Bai and the others naturally agreed. Moreover, such items typically had singular functions, so their prices were not high, usually ranging from tens of thousands to over a hundred thousand Sovereign Spiritual Liquid. For Liu Bai and the others, this was not much of a burden.
Of course, during this time, Liu Bai did encounter genuine treasures. Unfortunately, the sellers were fully aware of their value and set very high prices, leaving no opportunity for bargains, which made Liu Bai inwardly sigh in regret.
The group of four slowly followed the crowd deeper into the trading point. Eventually, they all stopped before an exceptionally thick stone tree.
This stone tree was larger than the previous ones, at least a full circle thicker. The number of items hanging upon it was also considerable, and their dazzling glow suggested they were somewhat extraordinary.
Precisely because of this, quite a number of people had gathered before the stone tree, each examining the items upon it.
Liu Bai's gaze swept across them, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.
"This is… a seal."
He discovered that every item here seemed to be covered by a layer of seal. Moreover, the seals were extremely ancient, making it impossible to probe their depth.
Suddenly, Liu Bai recalled something. A gleam flashed within his eyes, and the corners of his lips curved into a faint smile.
"Brother, what is the meaning of this?"
Liu Bai looked toward beneath the stone tree. There sat a thin man cross legged. Though he always appeared drowsy, Liu Bai could sense the powerful spiritual energy fluctuations within him.
A peak Seventh-Grade Sovereign whose strength surpassed that of Zong Teng and Han Shan.
The thin man raised his eyes and glanced at Liu Bai. Upon discovering that he could not see through this young man before him, a trace of seriousness flashed in his eyes. Nevertheless, he replied lazily.
"These items were dug out by me from a ruin, but each one bears a seal. The seals are rather peculiar. The success rate of forcibly breaking them is only thirty percent.
"If one fails, the treasure will self destruct. So whoever wishes to try must pay five hundred thousand Sovereign Spiritual Liquid and may choose any one item to break the seal personally.
"Of course, whether you succeed or fail has nothing to do with me. Even if you open a Saint Artifact, it belongs to you."
The moment he finished speaking, an uproar erupted among the onlookers.
Some hot tempered individuals had already begun mocking him.
"Five hundred thousand Sovereign Spiritual Liquid for a single attempt, and the success rate is not even half. Have you gone mad?"
The thin man did not grow angry. Spreading his hands, he said indifferently, "Take it or leave it."