Chapter 309: with translation of chapter title

Boom—

Without any warning, the entire Huanhu Dao ground violently trembled.

At the same time, on the lake surface surrounding Huanhu Dao, even more turbulent waves surged.

Suddenly.

The surrounding rich spiritual energy, as if sucked away by something, suddenly vanished.

Furthermore, the range from which this spiritual energy was being drawn kept expanding.

Not only the area of nearly a thousand li within Huanhu Dao, but the range of disappearing spiritual energy almost instantaneously expanded to two thousand li, three thousand li, five thousand li, six thousand li.

An extremely surging and terrifying spiritual energy vortex, towering several hundred zhang high, hovered in midair.

The demon beasts freely moving within Huanhu Dao suddenly stiffened; those with cultivation base below the Third Stage all dropped to the ground, horrified, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

Only Third Stage demon beasts could barely maintain their forms, but the fear they felt far surpassed that of the Second Stage demon beasts.

At this moment, the two demon beasts Green Jade and Bai Ning, who were playing atop the Hundred Treasures Tower built by Yunhe, also sensed that aura; simultaneously, their hearts surged with shock, and they instinctively glanced at each other.

For them, having awakened part of their inheritance, this feeling was naturally understood.

A demon beast is attempting to break through to the Fourth Level!

And within the entirety of Huanhu Dao, only one demon beast possesses the qualification to attempt the Fourth Level breakthrough.

Their Huanhu Dao master, Yunhe!

To be frank.

Although Yunhe had already told them that he could at any time attempt the Fourth Level demon beast barrier, he truly hadn't expected it to come so quickly.

Especially Green Jade.

As a former member of the extraordinary Azure Phoenix Clan, it all too well knows how difficult it is for a demon beast to raise its cultivation base.

It itself can't even remember how strong it once was, but it knows that even if it were the most talented demon beast of its clan, it would be impossible to break through to the Fourth Level this quickly.

How long has the master of Huanhu Dao, Yunhe, been cultivating?

Although Green Jade joined Huanhu Dao later, it estimates that Yunhe's cultivation span certainly does not exceed three hundred years!

Three hundred years to reach Nascent Soul is considered extraordinary talent among human cultivators.

But three hundred years to attempt the Fourth Level for a demon beast is almost unheard of, a rarity of ten thousand or even tens of thousands of years!

It had long known that their Huanhu Dao master's talent was extraordinary—being able to endure two years in the Demon Cleansing Pool was already unique, yet now they must prepare for a Fourth Level breakthrough.

"We need to go over there, guard the dharma!" Bai Ning hurriedly said.

Upon hearing this, Green Jade also reacted, nodding as its Demon Sense spread out under the terrifying demonic aura, and its voice rang in the ears of all demon beasts on Huanhu Dao.

"All demon beasts on Huanhu Dao, those at Third Stage and above, quickly come to the island to guard the dharma; those below Third Stage who remain conscious, hide!"

Having said that, it together with Bai Ning swiftly moved toward Huanhu Dao under immense pressure.

At the same time, five Giant Rock Stone Monsters and Kun Earth Silkworms also, under Green Jade's command, headed toward the island.

At the very moment the demon beasts on Huanhu Dao were greatly affected, Yunhe inside the Huanhu Dao cave dwelling furrowed his brow, his whole body slightly trembling, suffering greatly.

"A demon beast breaking through to the Fourth Level is actually this painful!"

Yunhe, enduring intense pain throughout his body, constantly cursed silently in his heart.

The difference between a demon beast breaking through to the Fourth Level and a cultivator reaching Nascent Soul lies in that, if a cultivator wishes to further advance his cultivation base, he must pour his entire spirit into the golden core, shatter the core to condense into a Nascent Soul.

But a demon beast does not need to shatter its own demon core, for even if a demon beast breaks through to the Fourth Level, its greatest reliance remains its internal demon core.

It appears to be one step simpler than a cultivator shattering the core to form a Nascent Soul, thus reducing the difficulty somewhat.

Actually, that is not the case.

A demon beast does not need to shatter the core to form an infant, but it must re-forge its own demon beast bloodline, infuse blood into the internal demon core, refine its demon beast's savage aura, thereby completing the double transformation of its demon blood and demon core.

Of course, this process cannot be done without the heavens' spiritual energy pouring into the body.

Thus, that terrifying spiritual energy vortex formed.

Furthermore, the size of this spiritual energy vortex far exceeds that when his cultivator body was attempting to reach Nascent Soul; right now it has already swept clean the spiritual energy within a radius of six thousand li.

Judging by the current situation, it likely will spread to a vast extent of tens of thousands of li!

And within such a vast area, the demon beasts, whether or not they are from Huanhu Dao, have only panic left in their hearts.

"I never expected that having three demon cores would make my demand for spiritual energy so enormous when attempting the Fourth Level."

That's right.

Because Yunhe possesses three demon cores, his demand for spiritual energy when attempting the Fourth Level is at least three times that of other demon beasts, if not more!

However, the abundance of spiritual energy is only one aspect; with such rich spiritual energy pouring into his body, the pressure on his demon beast body can be imagined.

At this moment, on Yunhe's greatly trembling body, cracks like a spiderweb actually appeared, accompanied by a trickle of bright red seeping out.

Given his demon beast body's strength, though not equal to a Fourth Level demon beast, it still far surpasses other late-stage Third Stage demon beasts; this spiritual energy infusion puts even his demon beast body at risk of being unable to withstand it.

With trembling claws, he grabbed three healing elixirs from his storage bag and stuffed them into his mouth.

While a cultivator has methods to follow when attempting Nascent Soul, a demon beast body attempting the Fourth Level has no fixed 'rules'; all of his experience depends on the information he gained from observing the Lu Shan Turtle's Fourth Level breakthrough.

Moreover, his condition is still different from that of the vast majority of demon beasts.

Therefore, facing such a powerful influx of spiritual energy, he can only endure it head-on.

Fortunately, he had made some preparations beforehand; aside from that, he had plenty of healing elixirs on hand.

"Click, click-click—"

Yunhe suddenly let out a muffled groan.

On his huge turtle back, a massive crack suddenly appeared; soon after, the blood-colored patterns on his body increased, and in just a few breaths, he transformed from a black giant turtle into a blood-red giant turtle.

But Yunhe could also feel it.

As spiritual energy continuously poured into his body, the three demon cores were also taken in large amounts, like a whale swallowing, accepting all that came.

Meanwhile, as a large amount of spiritual energy poured into the demon cores, three illusory, vague figures also appeared atop his demon cores.

Ang——!!

Three phantasms almost simultaneously shouted, turning into Yunhe's roar that shook the universe.

Following that came the constant transformation and purification of his bloodline, accompanied by the continual extraction of tender buds from his ruptured body.

When spirit qi reached a certain level, it stimulated his demon core, finally evolving his bloodline and simultaneously giving birth to his demon body.

However, this change was no different from crushing his bones and extracting his marrow; the pain can be imagined.

But fortunately, Yunhe's demon sense was strong enough; even under such severe 'torment,' he showed no sign of fainting.

At such a time, once he fainted, the consequences would be unpredictable.

In fact, when most demon beasts assault the fourth level, the first gate is the demon body gate.

If one cannot accommodate a large amount of spirit qi flooding the body, then breaking through is naturally impossible.

And the second gate is the demon sense gate.

Bone-tempering marrow-refining blood-congealing pill—every aspect severely tests whether a demon beast's demon sense can endure this torment; if the demon sense is insufficiently strong and one faints, lacking consciousness to aid the cultivation method in accelerating spirit qi absorption, the breakthrough is undoubtedly failed, and the massive spirit qi will directly blast the demon beast's body apart.

Meanwhile, in this tempering process, the demon sense gradually integrates into the demon beast's essence blood, bone marrow, and even flesh, forging a stronger demon body.

Furthermore, the integration of demon sense with the body is also an indispensable part of a demon beast's breakthrough to the fourth level and transformation into human form; only thus can the demon beast minutely master its body and have the chance to become human.

Wa——

Yunhe violently coughed up a mouthful of dark black blood reeking of strong fishy odor.

These are the dregs and impurities within his body.

Good good good.

Enduring the pain, Yunhe's blood‑filled mouth suddenly split open, revealing a somewhat mad smile.

"The more spirit qi absorbed, the stronger the spirit qi taken in, the greater the benefits to the body, demon core, and demon sense, right?"

His claw trembled as he patted his storage bag.

"How could spirit qi within a radius of ten thousand li be enough?"

Clatter——

As the storage bag opened, a large quantity of multicolored spirit stones poured out, most of them low‑grade spirit stones, with many mid‑grade spirit stones, and even a few high‑grade spirit stones.

During this breakthrough's absorption of spirit qi, it will confidently filter out impurities in the spirit qi, so he need not worry about the effects of absorbing spirit qi from low‑grade spirit stones.

"I'd like to see just how much my body can bear!"

With that thought, Yunhe's opened eyes suddenly flashed a ruthless and resolute look.

"Give it to me, explode!"

A sound fell.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The ground was covered with countless spirit stones, each bursting open with a boom.

Immediately after, an extremely rich, almost substantive spirit qi instantly filled his vast cave abode.

And the spirit qi scattered from the shattered spirit stones was quickly drawn into the spirit qi vortex, while the radiant, drifting spirit qi also followed the vortex into his body.

This is something other demon beasts cannot do.

At least, demon beasts not of the great clans cannot do this.

In an instant.

Yunhe's cracks on his body increased again, and a massive burst of blood mist shot out, making his already agonized appearance look even more miserable.

Hum——

Suddenly.

From Yunhe's body floated a black‑covered book scroll, surging with waves of black demonic power.

His natal magic treasure—the Immortal‑Seizing Scroll!

This scroll absorbs demon beast essence blood to draw out the beast's power for its wielder; it inherently possesses the effects of purifying, tempering, and catalyzing the demon beast's essence blood.

With the aid of the Immortal‑Seizing Scroll, Yunhe's transformation process accelerated!

"The Immortal‑Seizing Scroll actually has such effects; this is somewhat beyond expectation."

Yunhe, while circulating his cultivation method to absorb spirit qi, also felt a touch of delight.

"If so, then let's go even crazier!"

He then took out another storage bag, spilling spirit stones everywhere with a clatter.

After a cultivator's body breaks through to Yuan Ying, the effect of mid‑low grade spirit stones on him is actually quite small.

Moreover, he had earlier killed many Golden Core cultivators, among whom were wealthy clan elders; the spirit stones he had stockpiled surpass even those of Yuan Ying cultivators.

So, he had ample resources to expend.

Hahahaha——

Yunhe laughed loudly, lifted his blood‑stained claw, and clenched it fiercely again.

Blast!!

Countless spirit stones shattered once more, and spirit qi surged in, eagerly absorbed by him.

The speed of his cultivation method's operation grew ever faster, and the rotation speed of his three demon cores increased accordingly.

Gradually, those three demon cores actually glowed with three different colored halos, 'illuminating' his dantian qi sea.

And Yunhe actually trembled as he rose from the ground, crackling sounds issuing from his body.

"I am a peerless talent among the demon race; merely absorbing spirit qi into the body—what is there to fear?"

His cultivator body's aptitude is absolutely lowly among humans, but his demon beast body gives Yunhe immense confidence and self‑assurance.

For a moment.

Upon his body actually appeared the aura of the Black Tortoise, Dragon Tortoise, and Great Ao—those true spirits that face everything head‑on, arrogant and unyielding.

At the same time.

Above Huanhu Dao, a colossal black turtle phantom tens of thousands of zhang tall suddenly appeared, and as it inhaled and opened its mouth, countless spirit qi were sucked in.

"A mere Fourth Level bottleneck—nothing at all!"

Yunhe then took out two more storage bags and poured out all the spirit stones they contained.

Since he was going to transform, he might as well make it more thorough.

Without destruction, there is no establishment!

Bang!!

His turtle shell and scales all exploded, leaving not a single intact scale on his entire body.

Yet the more this happened, the more surging his aura became.

The black turtle phantom hovering tens of thousands of zhang above Huanhu Dao let out a long, skyward howl.

"Ong——!!"

As soon as that sound rang out, the winds and clouds changed color, and the whole world seemed to dim.

Meanwhile, the demon beasts on Huanhu Dao felt their black demon power slowly being drawn out of their bodies and merging into that ten-thousand-zhang black turtle phantom!

At the same moment.

In the deepest part of the Abyss Ravine.

From within a hazy ball of light rang out a vigorous, powerful laugh full of smug satisfaction.

"Hahaha——My turtle clan has successors!"

————

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(End of chapter)