Chapter 589: Chapter 589

The Five-Colored Peacock of Jiang Fengxian is also a kind of barbaric exotic species, possessing a trace of Phoenix Bloodline. In terms of battle capabilities, it’s not at all inferior to Zhouyang’s Golden-winged Thunder Eagle.

After leaving Jiang Fengxian’s cave with Zhouyang, this beautiful big bird, caged for nearly a hundred years, immediately began to frolic to its heart’s content.

At times, it stretches its neck to let out a high-pitched, exciting bird call; at times, it flies into the clouds, stopping only when it reaches several thousand zhang high under the Gang Wind Layer; at times, it abruptly swoops down, landing on a tall fruit tree, pecking at the spirit fruits on the tree.

Only because Zhouyang possesses a strong physique and exceptional adaptability did he not get worn out by its antics.

However, he was not interested in playing such thrilling games with the bird anymore, so after riding it for a while, he released his own Golden-winged Thunder Eagle and switched to riding the golden bird.

The Five-Colored Peacock had seen the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle before, and they had even fought each other.

Seeing Zhouyang suddenly abandon it to ride the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle, it immediately became enraged, letting out loud cries towards Zhouyang and the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle.

Zhouyang didn’t understand bird language. Although he noticed the Five-Colored Peacock’s irritation, he pretended not to notice and ignored it.

The Golden-winged Thunder Eagle, however, couldn’t stand the provocation. It cast a quick glance at the Five-Colored Peacock with its eagle eyes, then with a flap of its wings, released a gold lightning bolt towards it.

The Five-Colored Peacock seemed unprepared for the sudden strike from the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle and was struck by the gold lightning without having time to react.

Fortunately, the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle knew the Five-Colored Peacock was not an enemy, so the strike wasn’t full force, and the Five-Colored Peacock suffered no severe injury, though a large area of its luxurious feathers was singed.

The feathers being scorched was more infuriating to the Five-Colored Peacock than an injury, so it quickly retaliated angrily, sweeping its long tail to release a five-colored spiritual light aimed at the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle.

The five-colored spiritual light of the Five-Colored Peacock contains the power of the Five Elements. When used offensively, it can disrupt the flow of magical power within an enemy, causing their magic to become chaotic; defensively, it can significantly weaken the potency of enemy magic, making it a powerful divine technique for both offense and defense.

Unfortunately, the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle is not a Five Elements attribute demon beast but a thunder attribute demon beast, so the five-colored spiritual light had little effect on it.

After being hit by the Five-Colored Peacock’s five-colored spiritual light, its body only stiffened slightly for a moment. Then, with a crackling burst of golden lightning, it dispersed the discomfort and triumphantly let out an eagle screech, weaving a golden electric net towards the Five-Colored Peacock.

Yet this time, the Five-Colored Peacock was on guard. With a flourish of five-colored spiritual light, it formed a five-colored protective shield around itself, easily blocking the golden electric net’s attack.

Just as it prepared to employ other methods for a counterattack, the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle abruptly stopped playing with it, transforming into a strand of gold lightning and leaving the scene.

Upon seeing this, the Five-Colored Peacock was unwilling to let it go and immediately turned into a five-colored glow, chasing after the gold lightning ahead.

In terms of combat strength, the Five-Colored Peacock might not lose to the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle by much, but in terms of speed, the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle far exceeds it.

If not for Zhouyang’s deliberate instructions for the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle to travel at only eighty percent speed, it wouldn’t take an hour before the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle would have left it far behind.

After pursuing for tens of thousands of miles, probably finding it pointless, the Five-Colored Peacock voluntarily slowed down, conceding defeat.

Seeing this, Zhouyang certainly wouldn’t genuinely abandon it and instructed the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle to slow down slightly.

Within the Wilderness Jungle, there is no shortage of fierce demon beasts and barbaric beasts, but Zhouyang did not conceal his Golden Core Stage cultivator’s aura, and combined with the high speed of the two birds, many beasts, even observing them passing through their territories, had no intent to attack.

However, on this day, as Zhouyang rode the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle past a mountain range’s edge, he suddenly heard a cacophony of beast roars and bird cries rising from the mountain depths.

Having beast roars and bird cries in the mountains isn’t unusual, but the sudden density of these noises, filled with agitation, is somewhat out of the ordinary.

More crucially, Zhouyang’s Golden-winged Thunder Eagle and the nearby Five-Colored Peacock became uneasy upon hearing these sounds, stopping their flight to circle and chirp lowly at him.

"You want me to take you over there?"

Looking at the spiritual birds’ eyes filled with anticipation, Zhouyang pensively pointed towards the mountain depths and voiced his question.

Upon hearing his words, the birds immediately nodded in unison, then glanced at each other, letting out disgruntled cries, flicking their heads in pride and refusing to look at each other anymore.

Seeing this, Zhouyang couldn’t help but shake his head. With a serious expression, he warned, "I can take you over there, but you must follow my commands. Anyone daring to act on their own without my orders will be confined to the Spirit Beast Ring for thirty years without a moment out!"

For the two birds yearning for the sky and freedom, the Spirit Beast Ring, which only allows them to spread their wings slightly to walk around, is the last place they want to be.

Never mind thirty years, if they had the choice, they wouldn’t want to be in there even for three days.

So upon hearing Zhouyang’s warning, they both shrunk their necks and nodded repeatedly, indicating their understanding. Official source ıs novel⸺fire.net

Immediately, Zhouyang flew with the two birds towards the place in the depths of the mountain range where the roars of beasts and the cries of birds resounded.

After flying continuously for six or seven hundred miles, Zhouyang, standing on the back of the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle, used the "Separation Fire Golden Eye" divine technique to clearly see the situation in the distance.

In a valley basin over a hundred miles away, a blood-red lotus bud floated above a blood pool filled with the blood of demon beasts and barbaric beasts, slowly blooming.

Around the vast blood pool, at least several thousand demon beasts and barbaric beasts had gathered densely.

These demon beasts and barbaric beasts ranged from Tier Two to as high as Tier Five. Regardless of their strength, they were now staring with blood-red eyes full of greed at the blood-red lotus in the blood pool.

"It’s actually the [Demon Blood Ancient Lotus], no wonder it attracted so many demon beasts and barbaric beasts here!"

Zhouyang withdrew his gaze, muttering to himself with bright eyes about the origin of the blood-red lotus.

The [Demon Blood Ancient Lotus] is an extremely special Tier Five Spiritual Object, effective only for demon beasts and barbaric beasts, capable of purifying their bloodline and enhancing their cultivation strength.

Usually, this spiritual object is no different from an ordinary spiritual lotus, but when it matures, it emits a unique fragrance that attracts demon beasts and barbaric beasts to gather around it.

The peculiar fragrance it emits during maturity can confuse the spiritual wisdom of demon beasts and barbaric beasts, causing them to slaughter each other. The blood of the dead creatures becomes the best resource for the [Demon Blood Ancient Lotus] to mature and evolve.

Before Zhouyang’s arrival, the blood pool likely consumed countless blood and corpses of demon beasts and barbaric beasts.

Even now, many low-tier demon beasts and barbaric beasts couldn’t resist the temptation and stepped into the blood pool, where they fought over the ownership of the [Demon Blood Ancient Lotus], eventually becoming the nourishment for its bloom.

However, high-tier demon beasts and barbaric beasts had strong resistance to the fragrance emitted by the [Demon Blood Ancient Lotus], and were not easily tempted into bloodshed.

Zhouyang knew that this restraint would be effective only before the [Demon Blood Ancient Lotus] matured; once it matured, these high-tier demon beasts and barbaric beasts would desperately fight over the spiritual object.

If a Tier Four high-grade demon beast could consume that [Demon Blood Ancient Lotus], it had an eighty percent chance of advancing to a Tier Five demon beast. A Tier Five demon beast, upon consuming it, could also directly enhance its realm by a small grade.

No demon beast could endure such great temptation, including the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle and the Five-Colored Peacock under Zhouyang’s command.

"Stay calm, all of you!"

"Later, I will assess the situation and block those Tier Five demon beasts and barbaric beasts. Then, whichever of you two manages to secure the [Demon Blood Ancient Lotus], it will depend on your capabilities."

"There is one thing I hope you remember: regardless of who obtains the [Demon Blood Ancient Lotus] first, the other party must not fight for it and must assist in blocking other competitors’ attempts to seize it."

"Anyone who dares to violate these two points, I will pluck all its feathers so that it remains featherless for a hundred years!"

On the back of the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle, Zhouyang coldly gazed at the two somewhat restless spirit birds, issuing a stern warning.

He was willing to help the two spirit birds fight for the opportunity to advance to Tier Five, but he would not tolerate infighting between them—this was his bottom line.

Anyone who dared to cross his bottom line would not be spared.

The two spirit birds, both quite intelligent, calmed their restless hearts upon hearing his stern warning and nodded silently, agreeing to his terms.

Afterward, Zhouyang and the two spirit birds waited from over a hundred miles away, not rushing forward to avoid threatening the high-tier demon beasts and barbaric beasts into teaming up against him.

They waited for half a day until dusk fell, at which point the number of demon beasts and barbaric beasts surrounding the blood pool had dwindled to less than a thousand.

Yet, the [Demon Blood Ancient Lotus] in the blood pool still had a few petals that hadn’t opened.

Just then, several Tier Five demon beasts and barbaric beasts that had been quietly observing suddenly made their move.

A Red Flame Giant Tiger with fiery red fur let out a roar. Instantly, dozens of Tier Three demon beasts and barbaric beasts around the blood pool were blasted apart by the terrifying sound wave, collapsing on the spot with ruptured blood vessels.

At the same time, a massive black-furred giant ape over seventy feet tall extended a house-sized hand, slamming down on a group of Tier Three Demon Wolves. The powerful force spread over them, crushing twenty to thirty wolves into pulp instantly.

Next, a White Feathered Demon Bird with a wingspan over thirty feet swooped down, its wings slicing through the air like scissors. It circled the blood pool a few times, cutting hundreds of Tier Three demon beasts into pieces.

The actions of these three Tier Five demon beasts and barbaric beasts signaled something, quickly leading the Tier Four demon beasts and barbaric beasts to follow suit, massacring the numerous Tier Three demon beasts and barbaric beasts.

The bodies and blood of the slaughtered creatures were drawn by a mysterious force, flowing toward the blood pool, ultimately becoming the nourishment for the [Demon Blood Ancient Lotus] to bloom.

After nearly all the Tier Three Demon Beasts and Barbaric Beasts were slaughtered, the Demon Blood Ancient Lotus in the center of the pool still had two petals that had not yet bloomed.

Seeing this scene, the Tier Four Demon Beasts and Barbaric Beasts became frightened. The weaker ones among them immediately turned around and tried to escape.

But as soon as they made a move, the attacks from several Tier Five Demon Beasts and Barbaric Beasts fell upon them.

After killing as many as nine Tier Four Demon Beasts and Barbaric Beasts, the Demon Blood Ancient Lotus finally fully bloomed.

The Red Flame Giant Tiger let out a roar and was the first to pounce towards the Demon Blood Ancient Lotus.

Its whole body was burning with blazing red flames, like a huge red meteor, and in the blink of an eye, it landed on the surface of the blood pool.

But just as it opened its bloody maw towards the Demon Blood Ancient Lotus, a house-sized black iron fist suddenly slammed into its waist, sending it flying on the spot.

The Black Giant Ape punched the Red Flame Giant Tiger away, while its other hand directly reached for the blood-red lotus in the blood pool.

However, just as its palm was about to touch the blood-red lotus, a slash of white blade energy suddenly descended from the sky and fiercely struck its outstretched palm.

A miserable shriek came from the Black Giant Ape’s mouth. The palm it had stretched towards the blood-red lotus was actually cut in half by the white blade energy!

The one who released the white blade energy was the White Feathered Demon Bird, which seized the opportunity when the Black Giant Ape withdrew its palm in pain to transform into a flash of white light, darting towards the blood-red lotus.

But just as it flew over the blood pool, a massive red fireball arrived first, hitting it with a "boom" and blasting it away.

It was the Red Flame Giant Tiger, which had returned despite blood dripping from its mouth!

Thus, none of the three Tier Five Demon Beasts and Barbaric Beasts gave way, as they each struck out, vying for ownership of the Demon Blood Ancient Lotus.

They took great care in their attacks, controlling their power so as not to harm the Demon Blood Ancient Lotus.

Even if some waves of battle occasionally spread over, they only caused the blood-red lotus to sway slightly, not really damaging this Spiritual Object.

As the three Tier Five Demon Beasts and Barbaric Beasts fought, the Tier Four Demon Beasts and Barbaric Beasts were also itching to move. Some impatient ones saw an opportunity and attempted to snatch the Demon Blood Ancient Lotus amidst the fire and then run.

But any Demon Beast or Barbaric Beast that did so would be bombarded and killed by the three Tier Five Demon Beasts and Barbaric Beasts.

The corpses of these high-tier Demon Beasts and Barbaric Beasts that fell into the blood pool instead made the blood-red lotus even more vibrant.

From a distance, Zhouyang saw this situation and squinted his eyes slightly. He had initially prepared to act, but temporarily dismissed the thought for the moment.

Regarding the Demon Blood Ancient Lotus, this Spiritual Object, he had only seen relevant descriptions in ancient texts, and his understanding came entirely from those records.

In fact, this type of Spiritual Object, due to its harsh birth conditions, is generally only possible to mature in places dense with Demon Beasts and Barbaric Beasts, like the Wilderness Jungle and the Broken Cloud Mountain Range.

In such places, even if a Demon Blood Ancient Lotus matures, it is uncertain if a cultivator can discover it in time. Even if someone like him happens to find it by chance at this moment, it may not be possible to snatch it from the mouths of the Demon Beasts and Barbaric Beasts.

Therefore, many cultivators in the Cultivation Realm might know of the Demon Blood Ancient Lotus as a Spiritual Object, but very few truly understand its detailed circumstances, and Zhouyang himself was not very knowledgeable.

Hence, seeing that the already blooming and mature Demon Blood Ancient Lotus could still absorb the essence blood of the Demon Beasts and Barbaric Beasts to continue growing, he was amazed and couldn’t help but want to see how far it could grow.

The three Tier Five Demon Beasts and Barbaric Beasts also noticed the condition of the Demon Blood Ancient Lotus, but they had no desire to slaughter the Tier Four Demon Beasts and Barbaric Beasts to further nourish the Spiritual Object.

For now, the Demon Blood Ancient Lotus was already sufficient to greatly enhance their power, and none of them wanted to miss the chance to acquire this Spiritual Object by going after the Tier Four Demon Beasts and Barbaric Beasts.

As time passed, the three Tier Five Demon Beasts and Barbaric Beasts began to fight fiercely, employing various powerful techniques and inflicting bloody wounds on each other.

Their blood spilled on the ground was also absorbed by the Demon Blood Ancient Lotus, making this Spiritual Object bloom even more brilliantly.

After battling the entire night, the Black Giant Ape, being a Barbaric Beast, was the first to become exhausted.

During this night’s fight, as a Barbaric Beast, it was repeatedly targeted by the two Tier Five Demon Beasts, suffering tremendous injuries.

If not for the fact that the two Tier Five Demon Beasts had differing opinions and each wanted to seize the "Demon Blood Ancient Lotus" whenever the opportunity arose, it would have likely been torn apart by them long ago.

Despite that, by barely holding on until dawn, it had lost too much blood and could no longer sustain itself, developing the intention to retreat.

As for the black giant ape’s retreat, the Red Flame Giant Tiger and the White Feathered Demon Bird did not obstruct it; their target was the "Demon Blood Ancient Lotus," not this Tier Five Barbaric Beast.

Seeing their opponent retreat wisely meant one less strong competitor, therefore, they naturally did not intervene.

But Zhouyang, who had been watching all along, finally made his move upon seeing this situation.

He did not rush to compete for the "Demon Blood Ancient Lotus," but instead followed the black giant ape. After it had traveled several hundred miles away from the Blood Pool, he launched an all-out attack to kill this Tier Five Barbaric Beast.

At its peak strength, the black giant ape’s power was comparable to a Tier Five Top Grade Demon Beast, making it genuinely difficult for Zhouyang to kill it.

After all, if it couldn’t defeat Zhouyang, it could flee. With a Tier Five Barbaric Beast’s formidable life force, it was indeed challenging for Zhouyang to kill it in one strike.

But now, after a night’s battle, its strength was less than half of its peak, making it no match for Zhouyang, who struck when it was at its weakest.

The battle lasted less than a quarter of an hour before Zhouyang used the "Taiyin Soul-cutting Saber" to chop off the black giant ape’s head, then cut open its chest to extract its most precious Barbaric Beast heart.

The heart of a Tier Five Barbaric Beast is worth much more than a Tier Five Demon Pill, because Demon Pills are easy to obtain, whereas Barbaric Beasts are hard to find.

This kind of Barbaric Beast heart can even serve as the main ingredient for some life-extending elixirs, and it’s not an exaggeration to say it’s worth millions.

Because of certain plans in his heart, after taking the Barbaric Beast heart, Zhouyang didn’t touch other parts of the black giant ape’s body. Instead, he used magic power to lift it and flew with two Spirit Birds towards the Blood Pool.

The black giant ape, standing dozens of feet high, weighed as much as a hundred-zhang mountain. If Zhouyang were not a Golden Core Stage Cultivator, he would not have been able to use magic power to lift its body in flight.

After flying several hundred miles , Zhouyang directly cut into the battlefield, and under the angry and fearful gazes of the two Tier Five Demon Beasts, he threw the black giant ape’s body into the Blood Pool.

Immediately, the fall of this giant creature caused the blood in the Blood Pool to rise several feet.

In Zhouyang’s perception, as soon as the black giant ape’s body fell into the Blood Pool, the essence blood within it was drawn by a mysterious force, surging towards the "Demon Blood Ancient Lotus."

It was clearly visible that upon receiving the nourishment of this Tier Five Barbaric Beast’s body, the flower core at the center of the blood-red lotus began to shed and sprout immature lotus seeds.

"Indeed, if there are lotus flowers, there must be lotus seeds!"

"I wonder what effects such lotus seeds would have if they mature!"

Zhouyang looked eagerly at the swelling immature lotus seeds on the blood-red lotus, his eyes full of anticipation and excitement.

His intuition told him that if those lotus seeds matured, their effects might not be limited like the lotus flower, which only affected demon beasts.

The changes in the "Demon Blood Ancient Lotus" were also seen by the two Tier Five Demon Beasts. Upon witnessing this transformation, joy appeared in their eyes, knowing the lotus seeds’ potential effects would surely surpass that of the lotus flower.

However, realizing that the emergence of these lotus seeds was thanks to the black giant ape’s essence, they quickly came to their senses, looking angrily at Zhouyang, guessing his intention.

"It seems you’ve guessed it, but it doesn’t matter. If you’re afraid to die, you can run away now, and let me have the ’Demon Blood Ancient Lotus’ for free."

Zhouyang grinned mischievously, his words provoking great rage from the two Tier Five Demon Beasts.

After fighting fiercely for a whole night and finally chasing away a competitor, how could they allow Zhouyang, who had done nothing, to reap the fruits of victory?

The Red Flame Giant Tiger roared, spitting out a massive red flame fireball from its mouth, launching it fiercely at Zhouyang as a direct response to his words.

The White Feathered Demon Bird, unwilling to retreat, also flapped its wings, slashing out two white blade-like energies towards Zhouyang.

At this moment, facing the threat of the human cultivator Zhouyang, the two Tier Five Demon Beasts, who were previously battling each other, temporarily set aside their rivalry and chose to join forces against the common enemy.

Seeing this, Zhouyang remained calm and ordered the two Spirit Birds behind him, "Go kill those Tier Four Demon Beasts, take their Demon Pills, and throw their bodies into the Blood Pool as well."

Then he stepped forward to confront the two Tier Five Demon Beasts.