Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Eight: The Blood of Heaven and Earth!

Among second-tier magical beasts, those approaching or having reached the pinnacle of the second tier can unleash attacks like ice spikes and fireballs—much like human cultivators who, upon reaching the profound stage, can project their fighting spirit externally. On the surface, these beasts seem a bit stronger, as such techniques are typically only wielded by ground-tier cultivators, such as Dou Kings.

However, this doesn’t mean that pinnacle second-tier beasts match the strength of Dou Kings. In a direct confrontation, the ice spike attacks from a peak second-tier beast can be completely blocked by the fighting spirit of a profound-stage Douluo. These attacks are more a characteristic expression of the beasts’ nature. Once a beast reaches this level, dealing with it becomes considerably more difficult.

Ordinary second-tier beasts can be handled or even hunted by a group of regular Dou cultivators. But when facing a pinnacle second-tier beast, common Dou cultivators become cannon fodder. At this point, only peak eighteenth-grade Dou cultivators can somewhat manage the threat, and even then, victory is uncertain. Thus, in the past era when large-scale hunts for magical beasts were driven by alchemists, mercenary groups always had one or more Douluo experts stationed for protection.

“But how did a peak second-tier beast end up here? This is the outer region...” Su Yi was puzzled and grew more tense. He had initially hoped to find an ally to deal with the beast in the water, but now it seemed the situation might be spiraling out of control.

As Su Yi hesitated, the multi-horned beast suddenly spun its ice spike with a sharp “chirp” and drove it straight into the head of the snake-tailed wolf! A piercing howl echoed, the wolf’s body twitched a few times before collapsing motionless to the ground.

The few surviving snake-tailed wolves immediately halted, exchanged quiet calls, then swiftly turned and fled, vanishing between the trees in moments.

“It’s over...” Su Yi sighed and began contemplating his next move. Suddenly, a shudder ran through him instinctively, and he stepped forward, unknowingly stepping on a dry branch. The unmistakable snap echoed beneath his foot, causing his expression to change sharply.

“Damn!”

Though the sound was faint, the highly alert multi-horned beast heard it. It twisted its body, its sharp horn immediately aiming in Su Yi’s direction.

“It’s surprisingly cautious, not charging straight in...” With no other choice, Su Yi sprang into action. Reaching into his pocket, he produced a stone roughly the size of a fist. With a swift flick of his arm, the stone shot through the air toward the multi-horned beast with a sharp whoosh.

The stone’s speed was tremendous. Perhaps wounded, the beast attempted to dodge but failed to evade entirely. By sheer misfortune, the hefty stone struck its injured leg, and faint cracking sounds—like breaking bone—could be heard.

The beast roared wildly, maddened by pain, and charged straight at Su Yi, seemingly intent on crushing him into pulp. Su Yi, the culprit, had already taken off running.

Behind him, thunderous roars echoed. Sweat broke out on Su Yi’s forehead. “This guy’s stronger than me. Charging headlong through stones and trees, nothing up ahead can slow him down...”

“Looks like I’ll have to take a detour...” Resolving to evade, Su Yi twisted his path into a large S-shape. Though the multi-horned beast was a second-tier magical beast, it lacked higher intelligence and, combined with its injury, its speed wasn’t significantly faster than Su Yi’s. The distance between them did not shrink much in the short term.

Suddenly, a chill ran through Su Yi’s body. Glancing back, he noticed with alarm that the multi-horned beast was gathering ice spikes atop its head again. This was bad news—the ice spikes flew fast, and combined with the beast’s full-speed charge, being struck would be disastrous.

Before Su Yi could dwell further, a piercing sound sliced the air.

With a light snort, Su Yi flung three large stones, each half his height, backward. Boom, boom, boom—the flying ice spikes collided with the rocks, exploding them into fragments. After piercing through three stones, the ice spikes were half broken and veered off slightly, still flying past Su Yi’s ear at considerable speed.

Not far ahead, a tree trunk exploded under the impact, leaving a large hole. “Such powerful force...” Su Yi’s pupils constricted slightly. He shifted direction, altering his running path once more toward the water pool.

After shooting the ice spikes, the multi-horned beast’s speed did not diminish; it might have even increased slightly. Whether out of anger at missing its target or because Su Yi slowed, Su Yi’s heart tightened as he glimpsed the pursuing beast gaining ground. “I hope I’m not in too deep this time.”

Fortunately, it did not launch any more ice spikes. Su Yi guessed such attacks must be draining, otherwise they wouldn’t be reserved as a trump card. Soon, the outline of the water pool came into view. Oddly, the water pool beast remained there, seemingly doing nothing—curious.

Leaping out of the forest, Su Yi quickly hid beneath a nearby rock. Soon, just as planned, the multi-horned beast charged fiercely forward. Its ferocious aura immediately alerted the water pool beast nearby, which let out a warning roar as if its territory was being invaded.

The enraged multi-horned beast responded with a brutal roar and lunged at the water pool beast. The latter swung its long, massive tail, and the two beasts engaged in a fierce battle. The sounds of fighting and destruction resounded through the surroundings.

“Heh heh... It’s best that they aren’t communicating in this state...” After waiting a while, Su Yi ceased watching the beasts fight and seized the opportunity to sneak into the pool.

Compared to others, Su Yi was perhaps best suited for entering the water. Others would need extensive preparation, but Su Yi only had to enter, for he had suddenly gained the ability to breathe freely underwater and underground since that day in Changling City. To him, water was no different from land.

He even wondered if this ability was granted specifically to help him delve into the pool for the Blood of Heaven and Earth.

The water’s temperature was cold, but it posed no problem for Su Yi. What surprised him was that the pool didn’t seem very deep from above, but upon descending, it proved deeper than expected. Pressure increased at the bottom but remained bearable.

After some reconnaissance on the pool’s floor, Su Yi found nothing remarkable and felt a slight pang of disappointment. Could this really be just an ordinary pool, unrelated to the Blood of Heaven and Earth?

A cold current stirred within him. Following his intuition, Su Yi changed direction and squinted, spotting a faint red glow. Intrigued, he moved toward it, eventually arriving before an entrance.

“Sure enough, there’s a way through...” Suppressing his excitement, Su Yi approached. The entrance was about two-thirds the height of a person; bending could allow passage. The surrounding stone was mottled and indented, bearing marks of excavation. Stones that should have been there were missing. Such an entrance would not appear in an ordinary pool.

This place was indeed extraordinary!

Thrilled, Su Yi hesitated—should he enter now? What if the water pool beast and the multi-horned beast had finished fighting and returned? Would he then be trapped like a fish in a barrel?

After a pause, Su Yi made his decision. Fortune favors the bold; without risk, how could he seize opportunity? As someone unable to cultivate fighting spirit, the greatest chance lay in the Blood of Heaven and Earth.

He bent down and stepped into the passage. Ahead was darkness, but faint red glowing orbs dotted the distance, seemingly guiding him. The path wasn’t long. Soon, Su Yi found himself in a spherical cavern.

The cave was not large, enough to hold a dozen or twenty people. Water still filled the cavern, but it seemed clearer and more vibrant than outside, exuding a comforting vitality that invigorated him as if his very being was reawakening.

Within the water flowed red, vein-like tendrils, pulsating with mysterious life force. This vitality seemed to emanate from these blood-vessel-like structures.

“This life force wasn’t noticeable outside. Could there be some special barrier here blocking the flow of energy?” Su Yi pondered, shifting his gaze to where the veins converged.

There, a blood-red orb about the size of a human heart hovered, pulsing with a strange rhythm, flickering like a true heart beating.

Though he had never seen or heard of such a thing before, Su Yi’s heart suddenly raced at the sight of this red energy cluster. A name whispered in his mind as if from a dream—

Blood of Heaven and Earth!