Immortal-Exterminating Divine Venerable

Time flows like water, never ceasing.

After an intense half-hour battle, Yang Xiao, controlling his Qilin True Body, finally slew the last Tier Four Dominator Level Barbaric Beast within a three-thousand-li radius.

Three months had passed.

Over these three months, Yang Xiao had been tirelessly crisscrossing the lands, fighting his way over a thousand li, and enjoying himself immensely.

Including the one from today, he had killed a total of twenty-seven Tier Four Barbaric Beasts and over a hundred Tier Three Barbaric Beasts, all of which were the dominators of their tier.

His gains were immense.

’I’ve wiped out every Tier Four Barbaric Beast within this three-thousand-li radius. Now, it’s time to test my blade against the Tier Five Barbaric Beasts.’

He carved out the Inner Core and had the Qilin True Body devour all the flesh and blood.

Looking at his Qilin True Body, which had now become faintly corporeal...

Yang Xiao felt a surge of pride and satisfaction.

Over the past three months, the Qilin True Body’s growth had been the most rapid.

It had progressed from Tier Four Middle Grade to its current Tier Four Upper Grade. Though it was only an increase of a single grade, its combat power had multiplied several dozen times over.

This was equivalent to a cultivator advancing from the Martial Grandmaster Fourth Layer to the Eighth Layer.

Moreover, the Evil Qi emanating from it was growing increasingly dense. On top of that, Yang Xiao had been continuously feeding it the Heaven and Earth Origin Flame to refine its bloodline.

As a result, even opponents stronger than the Qilin True Body were no match for it.

Take the beast he had just killed, for example. This Tier Four Dominator Level Barbaric Beast was the strongest creature below Tier Five within a three-thousand-li radius.

Its power was equivalent to that of a human Peak Martial Grandmaster.

Yet, after Yang Xiao unleashed the Great Divine Technique of the Qilin True Body, the beast had only lasted for half an hour before dying beneath its claws.

Its flesh and blood, its Inner Core, and the Level 9 Peak Spirit Medicine it had been guarding—all of it now belonged to Yang Xiao.

This was a testament to the Qilin True Body’s rapid growth.

’However, with the bloodline provided by the Earth Fire Qilin Beast, reaching the level of a Peak of Tier Four Beast is its absolute limit. To advance further, I either need to obtain purer Qilin Treasure Blood, or I myself have to break through to the Yellow Flame Realm.’

Precious blood was the most critical component for cultivating a Supreme True Body.

If he could obtain the corpse of a true Qilin, Yang Xiao could directly refine his Qilin True Body to the stage of Great Success.

Aside from that, obtaining Qilin Treasure Blood through purification was another viable path.

For instance, back when Yang Xiao was in the Red Flame Realm, he had been able to refine six drops of the Earth Fire Qilin Beast’s Essence Blood into a single drop of mediocre-quality Qilin Treasure Blood.

Later, having it devour the Heaven and Earth Origin Flame of the Orange Flame Realm also served to temper the Qilin Treasure Blood within the Qilin True Body.

However, the Qilin Bloodline within the Earth Fire Qilin Beast was ultimately too sparse.

After those two rounds of tempering, reaching the level of a Peak of Tier Four Beast was its absolute limit.

It could not be improved any further.

A breakthrough would only be possible if Yang Xiao himself broke through to the Yellow Flame Realm, allowing the Qilin Bloodline within the Qilin True Body to be tempered even further.

The other option—the most common path—was to obtain higher-quality Qilin Treasure Blood.

However, beasts possessing the Qilin Bloodline were exceedingly rare.

Despite all the beasts he had slain in the Celestial Cloud Mountain Range, Yang Xiao had not encountered a single one.

Finding one was likely even more difficult than him breaking through to the Yellow Flame Realm.

This was precisely why Yang Xiao had been reluctant to cultivate this Great Divine Technique in the past. Although it had no prerequisites for cultivation—even an ordinary person could attempt it—

the materials required for its refinement were exceptionally demanding.

Much like Artifact Refining, it was heavily dependent on external materials, and Yang Xiao had naturally been unwilling to expend the mental energy required.

But now that he had already started cultivating it,

Yang Xiao had no choice but to think about these things.

Especially now, when the Qilin True Body was arguably his strongest trump card.

’Whether it’s for the Qilin True Body, my own cultivation level, or even for practicing the Nine Yang Celestial Skill, I need to break through to the Yellow Flame Realm. From now on, I’ll focus my preparations on that.’

Yang Xiao made up his mind.

This trip to the Celestial Cloud Mountain Range had indeed brought Yang Xiao immense benefits.

Not only had he broken through to the Orange Flame Realm, but he had also used his Qilin True Body to gather a vast amount of Cultivation Resources. Once he absorbed them...

In fact, he wouldn’t even need to absorb them all. Just one-third would be enough for Yang Xiao to have a chance at reaching the peak of the Orange Flame Realm.

The remaining resources could then be used to prepare for his breakthrough to the Yellow Flame Realm.

However, before that, Yang Xiao wanted to test something else.

He wanted to test the limits of his own combat prowess.

’There are no more Tier Four Barbaric Beasts within this three-thousand-li radius, and they were no match for me anyway. It’s time to test my blade against the Tier Five Barbaric Beasts.’

Tier Five Barbaric Beasts.

Creatures equivalent to human Martial Saints.

And in the entire Celestial Cloud Region, among the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Nine Great Sects, only the Upper Three Sects had Martial Saint Level experts holding the fort.

Publicly, there were only three known Martial Saints.

If anyone else knew that Yang Xiao was already setting his sights on Tier Five Barbaric Beasts—creatures on par with Martial Saints—they would likely be scared to death.

After all, he was currently only in the Orange Flame Realm, which was, in theory, merely equivalent to the Innate Realm.

How could the gap between that and a Martial Saint be measured? It was a difference of thousands, even tens of thousands of times.

Even with a Qilin True Body comparable to a Tier Four Upper Grade Barbaric Beast, few would believe Yang Xiao could win.

The gap between a Martial Saint and a Martial Grandmaster was immense; even a Peak Martial Grandmaster could not withstand a single strike from a Martial Saint.

This was because a Martial Saint had already condensed their own True Martial Intent.

It was a qualitative difference.

It was precisely because of this difference that the ironclad rule of human Martial Artists being weaker than Barbaric Beasts of the same tier was broken.

The gap between Martial Saints could also be vast, depending on the True Intent they had comprehended.

A Martial Saint who comprehended a weak True Martial Intent might not even be a match for a Tier Five Barbaric Beast of the same level.

But one who comprehended a powerful True Martial Intent could contend not only with Tier Five Barbaric Beasts, but even with the more formidable Tier Six Barbaric Beasts.

It was even possible for them to kill enemies of a higher tier.

Such was a Martial Saint.

The pinnacle for a mortal warrior.

They had transcended the mortal coil to attain sainthood.

Of course, Yang Xiao had his own considerations.

His Qilin True Body, having integrated Qilin Treasure Blood and the Heaven and Earth Origin Flame, exerted an immense suppressive force on terrestrial beasts.

Tier Five Barbaric Beasts were strong, it was true.

But previously, when his Qilin True Body was only at the level of a Tier Four Middle-grade Barbaric Beast, it had already scared the mutated White Jade Rhinoceros into fleeing for its life.

In Yang Xiao’s opinion, if they were to truly fight, victory was not impossible.

Besides, even if he couldn’t win, escaping would be a simple matter with his current abilities.

It would be nothing like before, when a casual blast of air from the White Jade Rhinoceros could knock him out of the sky, no matter how high he flew.

With sufficient resources over the last three months,

the Heaven and Earth Origin Flame inside him was also about to reach the limit of the Orange Flame Realm.

It had even begun to produce Essence Qi.

However, Yang Xiao’s ability to fight a Tier Five Barbaric Beast relied entirely on his Qilin True Body.

Whether or not he tempered his own physical body and spirit would have some effect on the Qilin True Body’s combat power, but the improvement wouldn’t be significant.

It would not play a decisive role.

Therefore, Yang Xiao didn’t deliberately wait to temper his body and spirit before seeking a battle with a Tier Five Barbaric Beast.

Besides, after three months, he knew the surrounding three-thousand-li area like the back of his hand.

He had long since selected his target.

The White Jade Rhinoceros.

’Among the three Tier Five Barbaric Beasts nearby, only the White Jade Rhinoceros is a terrestrial beast, making it the most susceptible to my suppression. Furthermore, it’s a mutated beast, so its bloodline is the weakest. It has no inherited abilities, and its methods of attack are one-dimensional. It will be the easiest to deal with.’

One should always pick the softest persimmon.

Clearly, compared to the other two Tier Five Barbaric Beasts, the White Jade Rhinoceros was that soft persimmon in Yang Xiao’s eyes.

And then there was their prior grudge.

If he wasn’t going to crush it,

who else would he crush?