Beasts didn’t only come to the city to die or to lay eggs; the beast springs were another focus!
A minority of cultivators could stay away from temptation. They continued riding with their beasts, especially the older experts.
Finally, a few beasts made it to their destination, a mountain stream or a pool of water. They patiently waited.
“Boom!” These sources of water had spring coming out without warning. The liquid had the color of breast milk instead of a clear shade. The waiting beasts finally got what they wanted and started drinking their fill.
“What’s going on right now?” The young cultivators that tagged along were unaware.
“That’s the beast springs. C’mon, collect some now.” The experts from the last generation came prepared. They jumped off their beasts and collected the liquid.
“What does it do?” The youths jumped down to help while asking.
“Add lifespan by just drinking, or be used to refine pills.” A senior couldn’t wait and ordered his juniors to be faster.
So it turned out that this liquid could prolong life. Though it couldn’t reach the mythical level of immortality, delaying death was possible, especially for the ancestors who have used longevity pills before. They have reached diminishing returns so they needed something different.
This liquid was indeed one of the best options, so they risked everything to come here.
At this time, some saw a magical scene. After drinking, some beasts started to shed their white fur, making it look as if they were standing on snow. Next, black and shiny fur started to grow.
Other beasts shed their skin for an entirely new layer.
“That’s incredible, it’s like they’re becoming younger again.” The spectators gasped.
An older cultivator immediately copied them. He got in the spring and started to crazily drink the liquid until his stomach bloated.
“Why am I not losing my white hair?” Not a single strand of white hair shed, let alone growing a new head of hair.
“Idiot.” His ancestor shook his head and laughed: “It’s called beast spring, so the effect is stronger and faster for beasts, not for you. Time is required to absorb the essences within. Because of this, alchemists take their time to refine this liquid. If one can just drink it and becomes younger, then it wouldn’t be your turn to take them. Progenitors and powerful beings would have monopolized the liquid, and it would be called eternal spring, not beast spring.”
The old cultivator had a pained expression due to his bloated stomach and nearly cried: “What, what should I do now? I’m too damn full.”
“Just take the time to digest it.” The annoyed ancestor stopped caring.
Of course, it wasn’t that easy to find this liquid. When there is an abundance, the beasts didn’t mind sharing with the cultivators. But when the opposite was the case, the beasts wouldn’t mind attacking instantly the men.
“Boom!” Skeletons also crawled out of the ground and ran for the beast springs.
“Start killing them!” Battles broke out in these areas between the three sides. Blood and casualties became inevitable; the stench of death permeated.
***
One more thing attracted everyone’s attention - the dao bones.
A cultivator made it to a towering pinnacle and saw a divine tree hidden among the thick forest. It actually had a piece of dao bone with a warm yet dazzling glow. Runes would periodically flash.
“A dao bone!” The cultivator wanted to climb the tree, ecstatic.
The moment he made contact, lightning suddenly coursed through the tree and struck him, rendering him to ashes.
Another noticed a yellow dao bone deep in a valley. This caused quite a stir so people started infiltrating the valley. One unlucky soul decided to enter despite the potential risk.
Before he could react, a yin energy appeared, causing him to be frozen. The guy fell straight to the ground - the end of his story. This scene naturally deterred the other spectators.
Dao bones would only appear in the dangerous areas, virtually impossible to reach. The greedy would throw away their lives for naught.
Furthermore, even those who actually obtained these dao bones couldn’t do anything since they failed to understand its mysteries.
“Could you explain these dao bones to me?” A junior became vexed at his inability to obtain one but remained curious.
“I’m not sure.” His ancestor replied: “Rumor has it that occasionally, after the death of a coinbeast, only its best bone would remain. This bone would be gestated by the heaven and earth and contain the profundity of the grand dao. If you can understand it, you would be able to see the most primal mysteries, truly helpful to cultivation, perhaps even better than a progenitorial merit law. Why? These laws are created by the progenitors and are most suitable for them. But by comprehending these mysteries and morphing them to your own use? They can be the most suitable for you and become a part of your foundation.”
His juniors enjoyed this lesson about the dao bones.
A different ancestor added: “Elucidation True Emperor obtained a dao bone as well. Because of this, he could activate the dao source of Resting Bull. Otherwise, just his scripture alone wasn’t enough to revive a withered dao source.”
Unfortunately, obtaining a dao bone was harder than reaching the heaven. Some extremely powerful ancestors tried, only to fail. The rarity increased the value of the bones.
***
While everyone else was aiming for the eggs, springs, and dao bones, Li Qiye’s group rode the Kui farther along, straying from the rest.
They also met skeletons along the way, but these skeletons were far inferior to the Kui. They were smart enough to back off.
Eventually, they saw a great mountain range presiding over the land like an imposing coinbeast lying down. All the previous mountain ranges they have seen in their lives failed to compare to this one.
Before getting close, one could sense a boundless air of the beast billowing as if the king of all beasts was here. This terrorizing aura naturally made people shudder with an indescribable feeling. Even the imperious Kui restrained its aura and slowed its pace, seemingly showing respect.
“Unbelievable…” Wu Binging was startled after feeling this beast aura.
“Our goal.” Li Qiye’s eyes became profound.
Perhaps there were other beasts capable of getting to this place, but they would stop before reaching the mountain range, only daring to observe from the distance.