Chapter 197: Splendor of the Eas

"No way...it's that thing!" Never in her life could Dong Ling forget the jump scare spurred by the Blood Yang Gorilla in the Ice-Fire Cave's Frigid Grave. Thankfully, Xinzi managed to redirect the Blood Yang Gorilla's thirst, or both Dong Ling and Chun Xu would have suffered unspeakable horrors.

On its way through Nameless City, the Blood Yang Gorilla smashed through countless bandit hideouts, crushing the heads of rogue gang leaders, before snatching their treasures and storage ring as an offering to the Colorful Peacock it chased.

A pity that said peacock had no interest in the Gorilla's offerings, draining her monster core to flee at maximum speed, hoping to lure the Gorilla towards the Nameless Sword Tomb.

"It broke through. From rank-four Beast General, that Blood Yang Gorilla has risen to rank-five Beast King!" Dong Ling despaired.

Though remarkably dimwitted, Blood Yang Gorilla's possessed a strong bloodline that enabled them to cultivate Blood Energy and Yang Qi at a vastly superior rate than other Mysterious Beasts or humans. On top of its rank-five Monster Core, this Blood Yang Gorilla also possessed third-order Blood Energy and astounding Yang Qi. Throughout the seven states of Yanzhou, under Divine Transformation, few cultivators would be able to compete with it, much less defeat it.

There was no such thing as "Blood Yin Gorilla," driving the oversexed males of the tribe to chase other more appealing species for breeding purposes. For months, this Gorilla had been on a mission to track down the entrance to the Green Leaf Village, using its recent breakthroughs to smash information out of the locations that Xiao Hu directed it to.

It did find the village, but without the Green Immortal Sword Art, had no means to charge through the formation that kept it concealed. Disgruntled, the Gorilla did what it did best: chasing fleeing beauties! Little did it expect that, not long after it embarked on this ancient Dao, it'd stumble upon a Nine-Headed Colorful Peacock of rank-five Beast King cultivation! Better yet, this peacock seemed to have no backbone, and fled as soon as the Blood Yang Gorilla made his first move.

The chase went on for weeks, but till now, the Blood Yang Gorilla refused to balk!

"This isn't right. Nine-Headed Peacocks rank extremely high in the hierarchy of mysterious beasts. With both being at the same level, you mean to tell me that this peacock has no other choice but to flee?" A'Zhi and A'Zhu said at the same time.

Chun Xu aside, the girls all unleashed their Spiritual Senses, nervously trying to make sense of the situation.

"She is...injured! Oh peacock sister, it is one thing to stumble on a calamity, but why did you have to bring it to my face?" Dong Ling wanted to cry but couldn't find the tears. Indeed, she was right. Once a rank-nine Holy Beast King known throughout the Four Continents as the Splendor of the East, this Nine-Headed Colorful Peacock became one of the first victims of the new Eastern Imperial clan's Anti-Beast decree.

The experts of the Shentu Spirit clan chased her from one extreme of the land to another, almost obliterating her existence and dealing her Monster Core such atrocious damages that, her cultivation base dropped all the way down to rank-five Beast King. Worse, due to her core malfunctioning, once a month, she'd turn into a Golden Pheasant, losing all battle capabilities. For that reason, those aware of her condition mockingly called her Zhiji Jing: "Essence of Pheasant."

She embraced the name, and through a balance of cunning, flattery, hiding and fleeing, managed to survive over 10,000 years of persecution. Little did she expect, that, right after she'd recovered from her monthly pheasant transformation, Zhiji Jing would stumble upon a rank-five Blood Yang Gorilla—and an unusually strong one at that!

With 10,000 years of experience, she didn't waste a second before spreading her shimmering wings and flying out of the Blood Yang Gorilla's reach. Alas, its appetite for beauties knew absolutely no limit, and having seen her in her human form, the Gorilla pledged not to rest until she bore him 1,000 sons!

Dong Ling felt wronged, but what was Zhiji Jing supposed to feel?!

"Dong Ling, Yan Le, Li girls, cooperate with us to activate the Dark-Moon Scythes and buy Chun Xu time to break the barrier. That peacock likely hoped to lure the Gorilla into the Sword Hurricane Barrier. But with us here and Chun Xu trying to break it down, our fall will be the only end-result.

'Junior sister, I'm sorry. Use your Holy Beast Descendant background to establish goodwill with the peacock and have her cooperate with you. if she does, by relying on the Liberation Temple's artifacts, you can still resist that hateful beast long enough for me to break the barrier. Afterward, I will take control of the Sword Tomb and execute the beast!' Chun Xu told Dong Ling, splitting a part of her Sword Sense from the barrier so she could communicate with her sworn sister.

The move caused a disruption in Chun Xu's soul, hitting her hard with internal damages. Still, the Sword Fairy stayed in control of her body, refusing to let a blood-coughing fit derail her at this critical juncture.

'Senior sister, don't worry about it! If I wasn't in such a hurry to find my A'Xin, I would never mind going rogue with you.' The time for rebukes and complaints had long passed. Dong Ling agreed to Chun Xu's plan, and closed her eyes.

Vast golden energies erupted from her lustrous skin, rising alongside a column of first-order Blood Energy, that morphed into the shape of a gold-red reptile. The gold-red reptile shifted between a gargantuan king cobra and a wingless dragon, failing to settle into a firm shape. Yet, the pressure emanating from this shape alone dwarfed the Blood Yang Gorilla's momentum, forcing him to halt his chase and stare in awe at this tyrannical apparition.

This wasn't about Dong Ling's strength. Rather, her bloodline reminded the Blood Yang Gorilla and all Mysterious Beasts in the vicinity of the altitude that her ancestors once stood at.

'A descendant of the Nightmare Ridge's Zi clan?' Instantly, Zhiji Jing recognized the energy signature, better, she, unlike the Blood Yang Gorilla, could tell that Dong Ling's bloodline neared a complete atavism that would not only send her back to her ancestor, the Amethyst Holy King's bloodline level, but also help her draw some of his father's divine bloodline as well!

If she could master both the Amethyst King's Holy Blood and Immortal Dragon King's Divineline, her future...was hard to fathom.

Meanwhile, Yan Le and the twins got to work, each summoning a two-meters-tall dark-blue scythe that stood in suspension, rippling with ferocious heretical energies. These earth-grade artifacts, part of the haul that Xinzi had received from blackmailing the Dark Moon Cult, carried too much energy for the twins or Yan Le to control individually—even with their current foundations.

With all other initiates and Dong Ling, however, the situation became simpler to manage. It wouldn't be easy, and they would likely damage their Dao Foundation, but with the current ordeal, they had no other option!

"Let me help you!" However, they wouldn't have to go that far, because as soon as Zhiji Jing recognized Dong Ling as one of her own, and noticed the situation the girl had fallen in, she volunteered to take charge, pouring her holy force into the three scythes!