Chapter 55

High mountains stood tall, and the green grass was lush.

After everyone had finished eating, they escorted Lin Yiming and Xiaoguoguo in the middle and walked together towards the Yuanyang Mountain.

Lin Yiming had heard many descriptions of Yuanyang Mountain, all of which said it was fraught with danger. However, when he reached the entrance of Yuanyang Mountain, he found everything to be quite normal.

"Whoosh..."

Just a hundred meters away from entering Yuanyang Mountain, suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew from all sides, so powerful that it almost knocked everyone off their feet.

"This wind... it's coming from Yuanyang Mountain." Lin Yiming raised his hand to shield his face from the dust, and through the gaps between his fingers, he looked ahead.

Suddenly, in the next moment, a sharp bird call rang out.

A huge, fiery red figure suddenly flew out from Yuanyang Mountain. As this massive figure emerged, Lin Yiming felt the air around him become scorching hot.

A giant bird, completely red, about a dozen zhang long, with wings spanning over twenty zhang, flew in the sky. It looked somewhat like a turkey and somewhat like a crow. Its fiery red feathers shimmered with a strange light, and red rays of light flickered on and off.

"Sun-swallowing Fire Crow!" Lin Yiming exclaimed in surprise after recognizing the giant bird in the sky. When he was at Shuiyao Gate, he had read many books, including "Continental Oddities" written by Fang Fuli, which described the Sun-swallowing Fire Crow.

Because of its fiery red body and resemblance to a crow, and its habit of flying into the sky at the most intense sunlight and sunset, opening its mouth towards the sun as if trying to swallow it, it was named the Sun-swallowing Fire Crow.

Fang Fuli even wrote in the book that, according to his research, the Sun-swallowing Fire Crow had the bloodline of the legendary divine bird, the Phoenix. Whether his words were true or not, the Sun-swallowing Fire Crow was undoubtedly an extremely powerful demonic beast.

"It's the Sun-swallowing Fire Crow. According to legend, the Sun-swallowing Fire Crow has the bloodline of the Phoenix. The Phoenix never appears without treasure. This Sun-swallowing Fire Crow suddenly appearing here means there must be a great treasure!" A man beside Bai Tong exclaimed, his face showing a hint of joy.

"That's right, there must be a great treasure. This is a huge opportunity for us. If we're lucky, we might even obtain this great treasure, and then we'll really be rich. The value of a treasure that can attract the Sun-swallowing Fire Crow is absolutely astronomical!"

Bai Tong and his group, including Bai Tong himself, were all visibly moved.

As they spoke, the Sun-swallowing Fire Crow flew high into the sky, and then two more shadows darted out from behind it, quickly flying to its rear.

"That's the Three-Element Birds. However, the Three-Element Birds always fly in threes. Why are there only two here?" Sun Pingyang, beside Lin Yiming, looked at the two giant birds that had flown into the sky, which were slightly smaller than the Sun-swallowing Fire Crow, with a puzzled expression.

"The missing one is the Wood-Element Bird." Bai Tong, looking at the two giant birds, one fiery red and one icy blue, speculated, "Did the Sun-swallowing Fire Crow eat the Wood-Element Bird? Otherwise, how could such high-level demonic beasts as the Three-Element Birds and the Sun-swallowing Fire Crow come to the edge of Yuanyang Mountain?"

"Eaten?" Lin Yiming's heart stirred. He remembered that "Continental Oddities" had mentioned that the Three-Element Birds always came in threes, each representing one of the five elements: wood, fire, and water.

Wood generates fire, and the Sun-swallowing Fire Crow is covered in flames. Could it have really eaten the Wood-Element Bird?

Just as Lin Yiming was puzzled, the two Three-Element Birds, as if seeing their mortal enemies, immediately let out a cry upon seeing the Sun-swallowing Fire Crow. They spread their massive wings, which blocked out the sky, and suddenly flapped, rushing towards the Sun-swallowing Fire Crow from two directions.

"Shriek..."

A sharp, piercing cry echoed, as if it could pierce through the clouds and split the mountains. The Sun-swallowing Fire Crow remained in place, its massive wings flapping violently. With each flap, powerful tornado-like gusts of wind rose in the sky, swirling and blowing in all directions.

In the mountains, rocks shattered instantly under the force of the wind and were swept into the tornado. The wind blew so fiercely that trees were uprooted.

The two Three-Element Birds and the Sun-swallowing Fire Crow collided head-on.

"Boom..."

In an instant, Lin Yiming felt the ground shake violently from the impact. His face turned pale with shock. Just the collision in the sky caused the ground to tremble. The force of the impact was immense.

Is this what the battle of the world's strong looks like?

"The Three-Element Birds and the Sun-swallowing Fire Crow are actually fighting. This scene is rare even inside Yuanyang Mountain. We haven't even entered Yuanyang Mountain, and we've already witnessed this." A man in his mid-twenties beside Bai Tong, while blocking the surrounding wind, licked his lips.

"Such an intense battle will surely leave both sides battered. If we're lucky and can obtain their blood, we'll be in for a huge profit. Even if we can't use it ourselves, if we keep it and take it to an auction, many powerful families will fight over it to use for their children's Blood Soul Transformation. These are demonic beasts, second only to divine beasts. They are no longer mere strange beasts!"

"Obtaining their blood is a dream. These two demonic beasts are equivalent to experts at the Innate Realm. Even Innate Realm experts might not be able to defeat them. Only a Thousand Realm powerhouse has a chance to slay them. Our strength is far too weak. Even if they are injured, a single breath from them could kill us instantly." Bai Tong sternly rebuked.

"Blood? Is their blood that powerful?" Xiaoguoguo, hearing the conversation, suddenly looked delighted. She turned to Lin Yiming and shouted, "Yiming brother, the blood of these beasts is very powerful. Let's go into the mountains and catch a big dragon. If we draw its blood, we'll become powerful, and no one will be able to bully us anymore."

"Catch a dragon..." Lin Yiming was speechless. How could Xiaoguoguo be so crazy? That's a dragon, a divine beast. From the way she spoke, it sounded like catching a caterpillar. If she really saw a dragon, she would be the caterpillar. In the eyes of a dragon, she wouldn't even be a caterpillar.

"Haha, Xiaoguoguo, catching a dragon isn't the most powerful thing." Sun Pingyang, hearing Xiaoguoguo's words, smiled. He liked this seemingly eternal child, and her innocent laughter made him laugh.

"Xiaoguoguo, do you know? Dragons are just divine beasts. Above divine beasts are even more powerful divine beast kings. Legend has it that the founding emperor of our Great Peng Dynasty once captured a divine beast king, the Great Peng. Later, he fused the bloodline of the Great Peng with his child's bloodline. From then on, the royal family of the Great Peng Dynasty possessed the bloodline of the divine beast king, ushering in the golden age of the Great Peng Dynasty."

Hearing this, Lin Yiming's heart stirred. Sun Pingyang was an expert in Blood Soul Transformation. Why not ask him about it?

Thinking this, Lin Yiming moved closer to Sun Pingyang, shielding himself from the wind. He shouted, "Brother Sun, you are an expert in Blood Soul Transformation. I want to ask you, how exactly does one cultivate Blood Soul Transformation?"

"Blood Soul Transformation? The key to cultivating Blood Soul Transformation is the bloodline. Generally, one finds the blood or essence blood of precious strange beasts or demonic beasts, and then uses a special cultivation method to integrate it into one's body. After that, one cultivates using a special method.

Although Blood Soul Transformation is not the final realm of a martial artist, it significantly affects a martial artist's life. For a martial artist, Blood Soul Transformation is crucial. Therefore, many people, after reaching the Blood Soul Transformation stage, suppress their realm if they don't have suitable blood, waiting until they find the right blood."

Sun Pingyang did not hide anything and explained everything he knew about Blood Soul Transformation: "From what I know, many powerful families send their experts to find suitable strange beast or demonic beast blood when their talented disciples reach the Blood Soul Transformation stage. Some even raise strange beasts or demonic beasts that match their family's cultivation methods.

Different cultivation methods require different types of blood. For example, if you use a cultivation method that emphasizes agility and try to cultivate with the blood of a Great Demon Golden Ape, the results will be at best mediocre and at worst lead to a mental breakdown. As for the cultivation methods, I naturally have them, but they are part of my legacy, so I can't tell you.

Of course, some powerful academies have specialized cultivation methods and top-tier blood. For example, the Qi Wang Academy is said to have even divine beast blood. Naturally, you need to show sufficient talent to be admitted, and only then will the academy provide you with such blood."

Listening to Sun Pingyang, Lin Yiming suddenly thought of his magical dagger. After the dagger opened a crack in the sky, it absorbed immortal energy.

The immortal energy undoubtedly came from the Immortal Realm, so the crack he opened must lead to the Immortal Realm. Then, what about the motionless person he saw? Could that be an immortal?

From what Brother Sun said, Blood Soul Transformation involves introducing external blood into one's body to change one's own blood. In the terms of the technological world from his past life, it's essentially altering one's genes.

If that's the case, the blood of beasts can be used, so the blood of immortals should be even more effective. Moreover, since immortals are still human, it should be easier to integrate their blood.

If he could obtain the blood of an immortal, wouldn't it be much stronger than the blood used by everyone else for cultivation? After all, it's the blood of an immortal!