Chapter 164: Clues to the Ten Thousand Beasts Origin Emerge

The smell of blood inside the cave dwelling was barely masked by the scent of lime and herbs, but the metallic rust odor seemed to have seeped into the cracks of the stone.

Wang Shan sat cross‑legged at the deepest part of the cave, his eyes tightly shut.

The feeling of Foundation Establishment truly is a whole different matter.

The Spiritual Power within no longer drifted like vague qi; it had become a thin stream, babbling through the Meridians. With each circuit around a heavenly cycle, it conveyed a weight and solidity far beyond the Refining Qi stage.

This is the liquid form of Spiritual Power; the strength feels as if a few hundred pounds have been added out of thin air.

"It does feel great..."

Just as that thought surfaced in his mind, a mood‑killing feeling followed.

Each time the Spiritual Power completes a circuit, somewhere in the Spirit Vein it feels as if an invisible needle gives a light, neither heavy nor light, prick.

It doesn't hurt, but it's maddeningly annoying. Like a clerk constantly reminding you that you still owe a debt.

He of course knew what it was.

Forcefully triggering Ten Thousand Beasts Reversal, detonating the Wan Honghai technique, cannot be without a price.

【Warning: Zhuren's Spirit Vein has incurred slight Counter-Devouring damage.】

【Detected that the inherited forbidden arts Ten Thousand Beasts Reversal and Soul Thorn both carry high‑grade Counter‑Devouring risk; prolonged or overloaded use will cause permanent damage to the Spirit Vein, and in severe cases the mind will be corrupted by beastly nature, turning one into a monster that knows only slaughter.】

The system's prompt, as always, was emotionless, blunt to the point of chilling.

Wang Shan opened his eyes, and the vision of Beast Taming Sect disciples turning into half‑human half‑beasts, tearing at each other, flashed before him again.

So that was the ultimate outcome.

He twitched the corner of his mouth; this deal was truly... fair to both young and old.

"I've barely managed to live a second life, and I don't want to become that kind of thing that's neither human nor ghost."

He stood up and walked to the corner of the cave, where a pile of storage bags looted from Wan Family Cultivators and Black-clothed Persons lay.

"System, retrieve everything."

【Retrieving loot, tallying...】

【Third Tier Magic Artifact 'Black Wind Blade', Second Tier Upper Grade Magic Robe, various Talismans, pills... total recovered Spirit Plant Points: points.】

【Detected special item: Wan Family core technique jade slip Ten Thousand Beast Method, recovery value Spirit Plant Points, retrieve?】

【Detected special item: Black-clothed Person organization Identity Token, recovery value 1250 points, retrieve?】

"Ten Thousand Beast Method is not for sale, and the token stays," Wang Shan waved his hand, "the rest, convert all into points."

【Retrieval complete, Zhuren's current Spirit Plant Points balance: points.】

Looking at the long string of numbers on the system panel, Wang Shan's lingering irritation finally eased a bit. Whether spirit stones or Spirit Plant Points, this is the capital for securing one's livelihood.

"Exchange for the Third Tier Clear Heart Pill formula, then accelerate the analysis of the Beast Taming Sect Inheritance, first resolving the 'Counter‑Devouring' and 'Control' sections."

【Exchange successful, consumed 8000 Spirit Plant Points.】

【Accelerated analysis in progress, estimated Spirit Plant Points consumption?, duration three hours.】

Wang Shan clicked confirm, without the slightest hesitation.

He fished a alchemy furnace and several staple spirit medicines from his storage bag, lit the furnace and began refining pills. With his current cultivation and soul strength, forging Third Tier pills was no difficulty, his movements as practiced as if he'd been doing it for decades.

An hour later, three dragon‑eye‑sized pills, exuding a faint fragrance, rolled into the Jade Bottle.

He pinched one and tossed it into his mouth; the pill dissolved instantly, a cool medicinal force coursed down his throat, spreading through his body and quickly seeping into the Meridians.

The needle‑like sting was indeed suppressed, feeling much more comfortable.

"Huh... as long as it works."

He took the remaining pills and left the quiet chamber.

In the outer cave hall, Li Hu and Zhang Mei were speaking softly, while the two grandsons, Wang Zhize and Wang Zhitao, lay side by side on a makeshift stone bed.

"Master."

Li Hu and Zhang Mei saw him emerge and hurried to stand. Relying on Wang Shan's pills, their injuries had mostly healed, though their complexions remained a bit pallid.

Wang Shan waved his hand, letting them sit, and walked to the bedside.

Wang Zhize was already awake, staring up at the cave ceiling with wide eyes, his thoughts unreadable. Seeing Wang Shan approach, he nudged himself up and sat, his eyes full of stars.

"Grandpa!"

"Hmm, how do you feel?" Wang Shan patted his head.

"Much better!" Wang Zhize puffed his small chest, "Grandpa, you're amazing! One slap and you sent that villain flying!"

"They were just too weak," Wang Shan replied offhand, his gaze landing on the still‑slumbering Wang Zhitao beside him.

The little grandson's brows knit tightly, a strange bluish hue spreading across his small face.

Zhang Mei whispered beside him, "Master, Zhitao woke once, cried out in pain, then fell back asleep. He took the detox pill you gave, but it seems..."

"That Black-clothed Person's poison is severe, targeting the villain's blood‑root foundation; a Third Tier detox pill can only keep him hanging on," Wang Shan placed a hand on Wang Zhitao's pulse, his fingers lingering on the small wrist, "It won't matter; give me some time, I'll find a way to cleanse him completely."

He knew that to eradicate the toxin, either a higher‑tier pill was needed, or… he would have to extract a more special method from the Beast Taming Sect Inheritance.

After soothing the family, he once again walked alone back to the deepest part of the cave.

The spot that had been activated earlier by his breakthrough and blood‑line resonance now emitted a faint glow.

It was an ancient Altar.

The Altar was modest, about a person's height, entirely fashioned from an unfamiliar black stone. Its surface was covered with dense runes and patterns, far more intricate than the cave walls before.

The designs were no longer single ferocious beasts but a myriad of indescribable exotic creatures, interwoven, entwined, fused together, making one's scalp tingle. At the Altar's center lay a bottomless vortex‑shaped rune; staring at it felt as if one's soul would be drawn in.

The whole Altar was cloaked in a thin luminous film, like an antique shrouded in dust for a thousand years, just now polished at a corner.

【System deep analysis in progress...】

【Analysis complete. This is the Beast Taming Sect core positioning formation, also a one‑way teleportation Altar.】

【Formation points to: Man Yun Mountain Range core Forbidden Zone — 'Ten Thousand Beasts Origin'.】

【'Ten Thousand Beasts Origin': the site of the Beast Taming Sect's ancient relics, the source of the sect's power and its ruin, detected to contain ultra‑high‑grade energy reactions and extremely dangerous unstable spatial laws.】

Ten Thousand Beasts Origin?

Wang Shan looked at these four words, and his heart gave a violent lurch.

The Wan family's incomplete Ten Thousand Beast Method, the lethal "Myriad Beasts Devouring the Master" counter-devouring, the complete inheritance he had obtained by a stroke of fortune, and the altar before him pointing toward an unknown perilous place.

All the clues suddenly connected together.

The answer, in all likelihood, lay in that place called the "Ten Thousand Beasts Origin."

There, there might be a true method to resolve the Ten Thousand Beasts Reversal's counter-devouring, higher-tier Beast Taming Sect techniques, and even power that could let him thoroughly escape his current predicament.

But the words "extremely dangerous" in the System Prompt were marked in blood-red.

This godforsaken place was absolutely no tourist destination — it might well be the mass grave of the entire Beast Taming Sect.

But could he not go?

The threat from the Wan family was not yet over, and that secretive Black-clothed Person organization was even more of a trouble. The strange poison in his grandson's body awaited a cure, and the hidden danger of counter-devouring on himself also had to be eliminated.

Each and every one of these matters was like a great mountain.

He was now like a farmer who had just acquired a divine weapon — swinging it could kill people, but one moment of carelessness and that sharp thing could cut himself instead.

He had to find the true "instruction manual," or even the "forging blueprints."

And that manual was at the "Ten Thousand Beasts Origin."

Wang Shan reached out and lightly touched the light membrane on the Altar's surface; a cold and ancient aura passed through his fingertips.

New trouble had already come knocking at his door, and there was no hiding from it.

Since that was the case... then he had no choice but to venture into an even more troublesome place.