Chapter 747: Leaving the Heavenly Tomb (5000 Characters)

Zhu Kun's sudden statement naturally piqued everyone's interest.

The Earth List is a ranking of ordinary Spiritual Beasts; although these beasts aren't commonly seen, except for the top thirty, they aren't exceedingly rare.

But the Heavenly List is entirely different—the Ten Thousand Beasts Catalog's Heavenly List is also called the Divine Beast List, because every Spiritual Beast on it possesses Divine Beast bloodline, meaning that as long as these beasts receive "sufficient nourishment," they will become Divine Beasts upon adulthood—Earth Supremes!

Above Divine Beasts, Supreme Divine Beasts are even more terrifying; each one is uniquely singular, and even within Supreme Divine Beast families, there are rarely multiple Supreme Divine Beasts.

The resources required to produce even a single Supreme Divine Beast are simply too vast.

Hearing Zhu Kun's words, Xiao Yan also grew curious, flipping through the Ten Thousand Beasts Catalog with a rustling sound. But beside him, Qiao Shihong showed no curiosity, for the number one spot on the Divine Beast List was a well-known story throughout the Great Thousand World, known to every household.

"Ah?!!!!"

Yet when Xiao Yan flipped straight to the end and saw the lengthy description and the name of the Supreme Divine Beast written there, everyone—including Xun Er, Xiao Yixian, and Cai Lin, the three beautiful wives—stared in stunned silence, their lips gaping open in shock.

Because the Supreme Divine Beasts listed there were all familiar to them!

"Dragon Phoenix??"

Seeing that the number one entry in the Ten Thousand Beasts Catalog was "Dragon Phoenix (Feng)," even Zhu Kun was terrified, as if he'd seen a ghost. Xiao Yan possessed a sliver of Dragon Phoenix bloodline, but it did not belong to him—it belonged to Zi Yan!

At this moment, Zhu Kun's scalp prickled; although his Tai Xu Ancient Dragon clan descended from True Dragon bloodline and was a true Dragon Clan, it had not mixed with other bloodlines like the Heavenly Phoenix (Feng) Clan or the Nine Underworld Dark Python Clan.

The Tai Xu Ancient Dragon clan was born from inheriting a portion of the Ancestral Dragon's power, akin to a Dou Emperor Family.

But Zhu Kun also knew that becoming a Divine Beast could not be achieved merely through resources—he needed to trigger Bloodline Ancestral Return, awakening his bloodline to draw closer to the True Dragon.

Yet even then, he would only become a Divine Beast, not a Supreme Divine Beast.

But Zi Yan? She was number one on the Heavenly List—a being standing above all Divine Beasts?!

Soon after, Xun Er, having finished reading the description of the Heavenly List's number one, said: "No, this Dragon Phoenix on the Heavenly List is not a Supreme Divine Beast in the traditional sense."

With Xun Er's reminder, everyone calmed down and realized something odd: although Dragon Phoenixes had appeared several times on the Dou Qi Continent, none were born from the union of Tai Xu Ancient Dragons and Ancient Heavenly Phoenixes; instead, they gained their power by refining the Dragon Phoenix Origin Fruit and awakening its bloodline, hence the name Dragon Phoenix.

Dragons and Phoenixes fundamentally cannot produce offspring; if their union could create a being stronger than their own race, the Tai Xu Ancient Dragons and Ancient Heavenly Phoenixes, True Fengs would not be enemies—they would have intermarried for generations.

"So it's true—the real Dragon Phoenix or Dragon Feng was never born." Xiao Yan nodded in understanding after reading; the Great Thousand World had seen only one true Dragon Phoenix, during the Domain Beyond's invasion fifty thousand years ago.

Xiao Yan and the others learned that fifty thousand years ago, the Domain Beyond invaders targeted the Shen Shou Continent first; caught off guard, the Shen Shou Continent fell and was shattered by the Demon God.

After defeating the Demon God, they expelled the Domain Beyond invaders and reclaimed the Shen Shou Continent. Even shattered, the Shen Shou Continent remains one of the Ten Supreme Continents, its overall strength still formidable.

The Domain Beyond's strength was so great that even the True Dragon Clan and True Phoenix Clan could not resist them, leaving them no choice but to abandon their homelands.

Precisely because of this powerful external threat, the True Dragon Clan and True Phoenix Clan ceased their rivalry over who was the strongest Divine Beast and chose sincere cooperation; united by the heartfelt wishes of all Dragon, Feng, and Phoenix clans to protect the Great Thousand World, the Great Thousand World's first true Dragon Phoenix was born.

It was called Dragon Phoenix because that Supreme Divine Beast was female; if male, it would be called Dragon Feng.

During the final battle against the Domain Beyond invaders, the Dragon Phoenix born of fate chose to burn its own bloodline, briefly sealing the Demon God and granting the Ten Great Warriors the chance to defeat him.

Thus, the Dragon Phoenix ranked first on the Heavenly Beast List—not only because of its power, but also because of its deeds.

Far away, on the Dou Qi Continent, a purple dragon thousands of zhang long, its body adorned with golden Phoenix wings, lay sleeping in its nest, muttering occasionally: "Xiao Yan, hurry up and refine my pill."

After a brief shock, Xiao Yan and the others began examining the other entries on the Heavenly List; the reason was simple—Cai Lin and Zhu Kun both needed to evolve, and as demons, no, as Spiritual Beasts, they required Divine Beast blood to evolve into Divine Beasts.

Zhu Kun, though a Dragon Clan member, knew True Dragons were Supreme Divine Beasts; he needed to know what higher-level Divine Beast his Tai Xu Ancient Dragon clan ascended to, so he could obtain the necessary blood. Cai Lin faced the same dilemma: the Nine-Colored Swallowing Sky Python, like the royal line of the Tai Xu Ancient Dragons, belonged to the Tun Tian Mang Zong, and she didn't know which Divine Beast blood would best aid her evolution into a Divine Beast.

Cai Lin had far more experience with bloodline evolution; evolving a bloodline required enduring a life-or-death tribulation; originally an ordinary Mei Du Sha, she refused to accept her fate, swallowed a strange flame, and used a Secret Technique to trade nine deaths for one life, gaining the Seven-Colored Devouring Sky Serpent bloodline.

Of course, once any Spiritual Beast reaches a certain Rank, it gains the right to break its bloodline limit; for example, Zhu Kun, now a Nine-Pin Sovereign, could choose Bloodline Ancestral Return without Divine Beast blood, enduring a thunder tribulation—but the success rate is extremely low.

Divine Beast blood is like a Treasure that increases success rate, just like an Elixir.

On the Heavenly List, Divine Beasts and Supreme Divine Beasts are no longer ranked, because both are immensely powerful and rare, their strengths barely differ, and confrontations between Divine Beasts are exceedingly rare, let alone between Supreme Divine Beasts—so no precise ranking exists.

"No wonder the Great Thousand World, occupying the center of the universe, has so many Supreme Divine Beasts."

Void Spirit Turtle, Kun Peng, Nine Color Peacock, Heavenly Divine Crane, Sky-Piercing Ape, Ancient Ten Thousand Spirits Bird, Ancient Wasteland Beast, Ancient Immortal Bird, True Dragon, True Phoenix, True Feng—these were all Supreme Divine Beasts of the Great Thousand World; though how many of them still survived after the great calamity fifty thousand years ago remains unknown.

Now, most Supreme Divine Beast families in the Great Thousand World lack actual Heaven Supreme-level Supreme Divine Beasts; they possess only Earth Supreme-level Divine Beasts, yet because they carry Supreme Divine Beast bloodlines, they call themselves Supreme Divine Beast families.

"So to evolve our Tai Xu Ancient Dragon clan into a Divine Beast, the key is still Bloodline Ancestral Return, drawing closer to the True Dragon." After reading the Heavenly List, Zhu Kun nodded slightly.

The Heavenly List included many Dragon Clan Divine Beasts, such as Ancient Flame Dragon, Bei Ming Dragon Whale, Dark Heaven Dragon, and all these were classified as branches under the Supreme Divine Beast True Dragon Clan; one such Divine Beast, the Void Abyss Dragon, closely resembled the Tai Xu Ancient Dragons, specializing in space manipulation and Void traversal.

Of course, as the Earth List stated, the top four were the Four Symbols Beasts: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Black Tortoise, Vermilion Bird; Zhu Kun could also choose to pursue Bloodline Ancestral Return toward the True Dragon direction, retaining his Tai Xu Ancient Dragon traits without adding new power, merely purifying his internal Dragon bloodline—this too could make him a Divine Beast.

Precisely because of this uniqueness, the Dragon Clan ranked in the top four on the Earth List without specific subdivisions.

But this kind of Bloodline Ancestral Return is far more difficult; it requires True Dragon blood of Earth Supreme Rank, far more precious than the blood of ordinary Dragon Clan Divine Beasts.

Yet one thing left Xiao Yan helplessly shaking his head: the Great Thousand World's Heavenly Beast List contained no Supreme Divine Beasts of the Snake Race; although there were Supreme Divine Beasts with similar abilities to Tun Tian Mang—such as Taotie—and Supreme Divine Beasts of the same lineage as Black Tortoise, like the Void Spirit Turtle, there was simply no Snake Race Supreme Divine Beast.

There were many ordinary Snake Race Divine Beasts, such as Pinning Star Giant Python, Sky-Blocking Black Demon Snake, and even a familiar name Xiao Yan and the others spotted: Ancient Nine Headed Snake!

This surprised Xiao Yan slightly—he hadn't realized the Ancient Nine Headed Heavenly Snake he had revived as Qing Lin's guardian beast possessed Divine Beast bloodline; it made him wonder whether the Nine Headed Snake had died before even reaching adulthood.

Yet for the Nine Headed Snake to truly become a Divine Beast, it would still require some means to replenish the bloodline lost through death and compensate for its innate deficiencies.

"Since the Snake Race has no Supreme Divine Beast, I shall become the first." Cai Lin didn't mind the absence of a Supreme Divine Beast in her race; the path of Cultivation has no limits.

The Great Thousand World offers more than just bloodline to break a Spiritual Beast's limits; once one reaches Earth Supreme Perfect, one can break the Heavenly Earth limits through one's own Cultivation Realm; Divine Beast blood and similar items merely allow one to reach Divine Beast status earlier, akin to walking the path of one's ancestors.

Hearing this, Xiao Yan nodded in agreement and smiled: "I believe you can."

Cai Lin glanced at Xiao Yan; though she said nothing aloud, a warm current flowed within her heart.

Soon, Xiao Yan and the others each set their own goals and, accompanied by Qiao Shihong, the "tour guide," departed the Heavenly Tomb toward the largest City in the Western Realm, leaving Xiao Xuan behind as an empty-nester.

Western Region City, the oldest great City among the Four Earth Domains of Ning Tian Continent, occupied a uniquely strategic location at the convergence of Ning Tian Continent's Four Earth Domains, functioning as a neutral City where goods from all Four Domains were traded and circulated—it was the largest City in the Western Realm.

Although Western Region City lay far from where the Heavenly Tomb fell—equivalent to flying from Zhong Zhou's Northwest Region to the Southeast Region on the Dou Qi Continent, spanning nearly half of Xin Region—their current Cultivation Realm made crossing Xin Region no challenge, merely a few Space Translocations away.

About half an hour later, Xiao Yan and the others tore through Space, bringing Qiao Shihong to the forests near Western Region City; finally, to conceal their identities, they donned black robes before entering the City.

Upon entering Western Region City, Xiao Yan and the others finally felt they had truly arrived on a new Continent; noise and bustle surged at them—endless towers, broad streets, and in the Sky above, they saw ancient palaces and divine towers floating like aerial pavilions!

"The architectural style of the Great Thousand World differs greatly from that of the Dou Qi Continent," Gu Yuan remarked, observing the surrounding buildings.

Xiao Yan nodded in agreement; his formidable Soul Force subtly swept through the area: "It seems Spirit Arrays are commonplace here; many buildings are protected by Spirit Arrays, and that area especially has an abundance of them, with even denser Spiritual Energy."

Qiao Shihong looked toward the spot Xiao Yan pointed to and said: "Master, that is the location of the Western Region City's largest merchant guild, the Western Guild; they employ specialized Spirit Array Masters to construct Gathering Spirit Arrays for various Sects—the largest Gathering Spirit Array in Western Region City is there."

"Gathering Spirit Array?" Xun Er asked curiously.

"A Gathering Spirit Array is a type of Spirit Array; this special Array gathers surrounding Heavenly Earth Spirit Qi into a concentrated, richly charged environment, allowing cultivators to train with double the efficiency," Qiao Shihong chuckled bitterly. "But setting up a Gathering Spirit Array requires not only a powerful Spirit Array Master, but also rare materials; even a low-grade Gathering Spirit Array isn't something anyone can afford."

As they listened to Qiao Shihong explaining the basics of the Great Thousand World, they walked down the street; this Western Region City was immense, teeming with traffic and crowds, where cultivators and mortals jostled shoulder to shoulder, and sweat dripped freely here.

Even though Xiao Yan and the others wore black robes, they blended into the dense throng without standing out.

In fact, the mortals of Western Region City had long grown accustomed to the bizarre and fantastical cultivators, and nothing surprised them anymore.

On the contrary, Xiao Yixian and the others, visiting Western Region City for the first time, stared in awe, seeming more like country bumpkins—just as if they had entered the Grand View Garden for the first time, dazzled by the sights.

After all, the Great Thousand World was the Great Thousand World; Ning Tian Continent was merely one of its continents, yet its area was no smaller than the Dou Qi Continent, meaning the Western Realm's size was nearly equal to Zhong Zhou. Western Region City, like Sheng Dan Cheng, saw a constant flood of cultivators entering and leaving daily—from all corners of the world—arriving on Flying Treasures, flying with wings, riding insect beasts, or even half-human, half-beast forms.

In the Great Thousand World, there were countless strange races; Xiao Yan had heard of elemental clans here—such as the Ice Spirit Clan, Fire Spirit Clan, Stone Spirit Clan, Thunder Spirit Clan, and others. These beings were neither human nor Spiritual Beasts; some were born without physical form and only took shape through cultivation, making them exceptionally unique.

Moreover, these elemental clans were immensely powerful, among the top-tier races of the Great Thousand World.

Fortunately, Xiao Yan and the others wore black robes; otherwise, the beauty of his three wives would have drawn no end of trouble.

Within Western Region City, traffic surged endlessly; countless shops, inns, and taverns lined the streets, and many itinerant cultivators set up stalls on the sidewalks. Once entering Western Region City, one was immediately drowned in a ceaseless chorus of hawking cries.

"Little Sword Grass—Top Grade Divine Plant! One glance grants sword intent, two glances grant sword heart! Only exchange for Ultimate Spiritual Artifact!"

"Void Spaceship—capable of moving through Space! Ride it beyond the continent, and wandering the heavens is no dream! An irreplaceable mobile fortress, forged by a First Rank Artificer Master as a Top Grade Ultimate Spiritual Artifact, with six layers of defense—guaranteeing safe travel through the heavens! Only exchange for equally ranked Elixirs!"

"Heavenly Flame Ore—crystalline stone from the Heavenly Flame Shan Mai, an exceedingly rare Divine Stone, usable to forge Divine Weapons! Only trade for Supreme Spirit Liquid; price negotiable."

In Western Region City, besides the Western Realm's own factions, top-tier powers and sects from other parts of Ning Tian Continent all operated shops and Pai Mai Chang here; naturally, many itinerant cultivators also sold or bartered items they occasionally acquired.

As Xiao Yan and the others entered, they saw many vendors hawking goods, while filthy itinerant cultivators simply dumped their wares by the roadside, sat cross-legged, and remained silent even when questioned—prices clearly marked, no haggling.

Of course, even though they came from the Lower Plane and were unfamiliar with Great Thousand World items, they still shook their heads at some of what they saw.

An Ultimate Spiritual Artifact to traverse the heavens? You're fooling ghosts! As for the Heavenly Flame Ore, in Xiao Yan's eyes it was trash—the ore used to forge the Heavenly Tomb was far superior, and he had mountains of it.

No one could take the Forge God Stone away; after all, most who entered the Heavenly Tomb had died, becoming corpses within it, and everything on the greedy ones' bodies had become Xiao Yan's spoils.

This time, Xiao Yan and the others came not only to gather intelligence and broaden their horizons, but also to dispose of their vast haul of spoils, exchanging them for useful items such as Supreme Spirit Liquid.

"Supreme Spirit Bone! The legendary invincible Divine Beast's bone, from a creature that reached Earth Supreme rank in life! An invincible Divine Beast from ancient times that once dominated Ning Tian Continent and challenged demons with its Divine Beast power! After its death, its flesh rotted away, leaving only this bone behind. Come see! Supreme Spirit Bone—price negotiable, containing Divine Beast essence blood!"

The vendor raised a translucent bone, within which a single drop of essence blood pulsed, radiating a faint yet potent aura; if judged solely by aura, the bone's original owner had been at least Eight-Star Sovereign rank.

Xiao Yan glanced at it, swept it with his Soul Force, and fell silent—he confirmed it was indeed a Spirit Bone, but merely an ordinary Spiritual Beast Spirit Bone, with a fake essence blood somehow sealed inside.

(End of Chapter)