Chương 122: A Feast of Beasts

The Yin Map Fragment devoured the icy energy with mounting hunger. Spiritual energy from the surrounding lakebed rushed toward it like water swirling down a drain. A faint vortex began to form. Huaijin's expression tightened. Several Tier 2 auras were bearing down on his position, fast. His mind worked at lightning speed. Spiritual sense lashed outward, branding the Yin Map Fragment with his personal seal. Then, without an instant's hesitation, he flung the fragment hundreds of meters away.

The Primordial Tai Chi Visualization Diagram spun in his sea of consciousness, its black-and-white radiance pulsing in a steady rhythm, cloaking his presence until not a trace remained. He retreated slowly, carefully, melting back into the shadows until he found another hiding spot. His spiritual sense stretched outward, monitoring the fragment. The energy within it swelled by the second. BOOM! A savage aura erupted from the lakebed.

A Tier 2, third level Tooth Flame Fish materialized out of the gloom, its crimson eyes gleaming with avarice as it fixed on the fragment's radiant energy. It shot forward like an arrow, desperate to claim the prize. Clearly, some kind of unborn treasure was stirring. But it wasn't alone. More Tier 2 spirit beasts emerged from the darkness, all at the mid stage Four of them. Five. They circled one another, growls rumbling in their throats, each ready to tear apart anything that got too close.

By now, the energy swirling within the Yin Map Fragment had grown almost blinding. It hung in the lake's depths like a pitch-black sun, rising slowly, irresistibly, drawing the gaze of every beast for miles around. More Foundation Establishment spirits poured in, nostrils flaring, hunger blazing in their eyes. The weaker Qi Refining beasts didn't even dare approach. The violent energy twisting through the water sent ripples spreading in all directions, a warning none of them were foolish enough to ignore. BOOM!

The Tier 2, third level Tooth Flame Fish could hold back no longer. It lunged at the fragment, jaws wide. That single move broke the dam. Every other Foundation Establishment beast attacked, not the fragment, but it. Power erupted in a cataclysmic explosion. The entire Netherpassage Cold Pool convulsed, the waters churning as if the very heart of the lake had been ripped open. Energy waves crashed and collided, spiraling into chaos.

"What in the…"

"Move! The Cold Pool is going berserk! Any Qi Refining cultivator still here is as good as dead!"

"Out of my way!" Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Panic swept through the cultivators training in the pool. In the span of a single burning incense stick, spirit boats capsized by the dozen. Hundreds of Qi Refining cultivators were hurled into the freezing depths Chaos reigned. Shouts, battle cries, screams of terror, they rose and fell in a discordant symphony. And far below, at the lakebed, nearly twenty Foundation Establishment spirit beasts fought with desperate ferocity.

Blood painted the murky water crimson. Rippling shockwaves battered everything in reach. The Yin Map Fragment lay motionless at the bottom, drinking in the surrounding spiritual energy with ever-increasing greed. The battle grew more savage with every passing breath. The Tier 2, third level Tooth Flame Fish lasted barely a dozen heartbeats before it was torn apart, its flesh ripped and devoured by the very beasts it had tried to challenge. It had overreached, and paid the ultimate price.

Its death was only the beginning. The slaughter intensified. Within seven minutes, a second beast fell. Maddened by the scent of blood, the survivors grew even more vicious. Huaijin stayed perfectly still in his hiding place, his presence compressed to nothing. He didn't dare move, not even a twitch. If he were discovered, these blood-crazed monsters would turn on him in an instant. But watching them tear each other apart, his heart raced with cold calculation. A dozen-plus Tier 2 beasts locked in mortal combat.

If they all fell here... the raw flesh-and-blood energy alone would be enough to fill the Realm-Breaking Pearl's stores completely. Huaijin waited. A quarter-hour crawled by. Five mid stage beasts had already perished. Then, from the farthest reaches of the darkness, a colossal silhouette emerged, twenty-six meters long from head to tail. A peak stage (of Tier 2) aura rolled outward like a tidal wave. Huaijin froze. He barely dared to breathe. The creature was massive, utterly black, a turtle-type spirit beast.

Its claws were thick as pillars, wreathed in strands of profound yin energy. Its shell bore ancient golden patterns that seemed to pulse with their own inner light. With each step, the water around it crystallized into faint ice, black light shimmering across its surface. Its blood-red eyes held nothing but cold, detached indifference. And trailing behind it, a faint, unmistakable wisp of dragon aura. Tier 2, upper grade. Peak Stage of Foundation Establishment. Frost Dragon Tortoise.

Legend whispered that this beast carried dragon blood in its veins. Its lineage was ancient, its combat prowess fearsome. Its only weakness? Speed. Beyond that, it had none. Spirit beasts already enjoyed long lifespans. Turtle-types lived several times longer than most. Given time, this creature could easily reach Tier 3, perhaps even Tier 4. The Frost Dragon Tortoise was one of the undisputed overlords of Netherpassage Cold Pool. And more than that, it had a real shot at breaking through to Purple Mansion Realm.

The moment it appeared, the chaotic battle ground to a halt. Silence fell like a shroud. The energy within the Yin Map Fragment had reached its peak. A mysterious, ancient aura was already beginning to leak from its surface. Huaijin's heart pounded against his ribs. His gaze flicked to the Frost Dragon Tortoise, and a cold killing intent stirred in his chest. He hadn't anticipated this many Tier 2 beasts in the pool... And certainly not a powerhouse like this.

The Frost Dragon Tortoise surveyed the battlefield like a sovereign inspecting its domain. One by one, the injured beasts lowered their heads, trembling, terrified of becoming its next meal. Now the Tortoise loomed directly above the Yin Map Fragment. Its crimson gaze swept the surroundings with imperious dignity. A massive claw descended toward the fragment. But at that exact moment, several late-stage beasts exchanged glances. Then, as one, they attacked.

The energy radiating from the fragment was simply too vast, surpassing even Tier 3 treasures. They could not, would not, let it fall to the Tortoise. The five late stage beasts struck with everything they had. Their assault reignited the others' bloodlust. The remaining dozen-plus Tier 2 beasts surged back into the fray. ROAR! The Frost Dragon Tortoise's eyes blazed with icy fury A thunderous bellow, laced with the weight of dragon might, shook the waters to their core.

Its claws swept forward with devastating power. In a single, brutal motion, it tore a Tier 2, fifth level beast clean in half. Blood erupted in a crimson fountain. Shredded flesh scattered through the water. Bones and viscera swirled in the currents, thickening the already suffocating aura of slaughter. And in that moment of chaos… Huaijin, cloaked in black, moved. Silent as a shadow, fluid as a fish, he slipped through the turbulent currents.

He drifted, patient and precise, toward the edge of the fragment's territory. The faint mystical aura now emanating from the fragment curled around him like a whisper…. And began to envelop his body.