82: Ten years of seclusion! The prelude to the transformation of the physical body into a god!

Inside the Beast God Pool, golden light shone brilliantly.

The thick True Blood of Divine Beasts tumbled like boiling lava; every drop was as heavy as a thousand catties, containing terrifying energy sufficient to make an ordinary Cultivator explode and die.

Gu Yang sat cross-legged at the bottom of the pool with his eyes tightly shut. His body was covered in a thick layer of golden blood scabs, looking like an ancient golden Buddha statue.

“Gurgle... Gurgle...”

On the shore, the Gibbon Demon Emperor and several other surviving Demon Emperors stared longingly at the pool, the sound of swallowing saliva echoing from their throats.

That was the foundation accumulated by Myriad Beast Mountain over a thousand years!

Usually, it was difficult for them to even get a whiff of it, yet now it was being monopolized by that freakish human alone?

“How about... we sneakily scoop a bit while he's cultivating?” a Black Tiger Demon Emperor suggested in a low voice, his claws reaching restlessly toward the edge of the pool.

“Do you want to die?” The Gibbon Demon Emperor slapped the tiger's head. “Didn't you see what happened to that Demonized Qilin? Even its heart was swallowed alive by that kid! Do you want to become braised tiger?”

The Demon Emperors shuddered and could only lie obediently by the pool, cultivating with the escaping golden mist, which was better than nothing.

At the bottom of the pool, Gu Yang's state was in an extremely profound Realm.

【Devouring Divine Beast True Blood... Energy overload...】

【System auxiliary compression... Physical Body restructuring in progress...】

Within his body, his internal organs, Meridians, and bones were undergoing earth-shattering changes.

His original Physical Body Nascent Soul (that small golden figure condensed from blood and Qi) had now completely dissolved, turning into countless golden threads that merged into every cell of his body.

The Nascent Soul and the Physical Body merged into one!

This was the ultimate goal pursued by Body Cultivators—the body itself is the Dao, becoming a Saint through the Physical Body!

Time flowed quietly in the silence.

One year, two years, three years... The water level of the Beast God Pool dropped slowly, while Gu Yang's aura grew weaker and weaker, to the point where even his heartbeat almost stopped.

A thick golden shell formed on the surface of his body, like a giant golden cocoon, resting quietly at the bottom of the pool, waiting for the moment to break out and transform.

During this period, the Black Stone Tribe had completely risen in the Great Desolation.

A Gu led three thousand Wolf Cavalry, sweeping through dozens of surrounding tribes and planting the totem flags of the Black Stone Tribe across ten thousand miles.

Every first and fifteenth of the month, A Gu would lead his clansmen to the foot of Myriad Beast Mountain, bowing in worship toward the Forbidden Ground and praying for their Divine Envoy to finish his seclusion soon.

In the blink of an eye, ten years passed.

On this day, the originally calm sky of the Great Desolation suddenly changed colors.

Rolling black clouds gathered from all directions, blotting out the sun. Within those black clouds, the phantom of a giant Demon Palace faintly emerged, emitting a suffocating sense of pressure.

“Heavenly Demon Cult”!

Not the fake one from the Chaotic Star Sea, but the top-tier Demonic Path sect that truly dominated the central Great Desolation!

“I sense it... it's right down there!”

Above the Demon Palace, a woman in a black gauze dress, walking barefoot through the air with an enchantingly beautiful face, held a compass and stared intently at the depths of Myriad Beast Mountain.

She was the Saintess of the Heavenly Demon Cult—Saintess.

“Ten years ago, the aura of the Demon God's Heart disappeared here. Someone must have beaten us to it and refined the Demon Heart!”

“That is the Sacred Object specifically requested by the Cult Leader! I want to see them if they're alive, or their corpse if they're dead!”

“Search! Even if you have to flip this mountain over, find them!”

“Yes!”

Hundreds of black-armored Demonic Path experts descended like dark clouds; every single one was at the Nascent Soul Stage, and the two leading Protectors were even great experts at the Early Spirit Transformation Stage!

The Demon Emperors of Myriad Beast Mountain trembled with fear, not daring to obstruct them at all.

“Boom!”

A Demonic Path Protector shattered the Restriction outside the Beast God Pool with a single palm strike.

At the bottom of the dried-up pool, that giant golden cocoon was exposed before everyone.

“What... is that thing?”

Saintess You Ruo frowned slightly as she felt a heart-palpitating surge of blood and Qi from the golden cocoon.

“No matter what it is, take it back for the Cult Leader to study!”

She reached out her slender hand, and a strand of Devilish Qi transformed into a chain, intending to wrap around and take the golden cocoon away.

Just as the Devilish Qi chain was about to touch the golden cocoon.

Crack!

A crisp cracking sound was exceptionally piercing in the deathly silent valley.

A crack opened on the surface of the golden cocoon.

Immediately after, more and more cracks appeared, spreading like a spiderweb.

Thump!

A heavy heartbeat sounded.

The sound wasn't loud, yet it felt like a heavy hammer smashing ruthlessly against the hearts of everyone present.

Those Nascent Soul Stage Demonic Cultivators were actually shaken by this heartbeat to the point where their blood and Qi surged, nearly causing them to fall from the sky!

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The heartbeats grew faster and louder, eventually turning into rolling peals of thunder!

“Roar—!!!”

A long howl broke through the golden cocoon and soared straight into the clouds!

A terrifying wave of air erupted instantly, blowing even the two Early Spirit Transformation Stage Protectors back several hundred meters.

The golden light dissipated.

A slender man, completely naked with skin as warm and smooth as white jade, slowly walked out.

He no longer looked as exaggeratedly muscular as before; instead, he possessed an ethereal aura of returning to simplicity.

But when he opened his eyes, two golden divine lights pierced through the Void Realm like sharp swords, making it impossible for anyone to look at him directly.

A Half-step Soul Transformation Body Cultivator!

Indestructible War Body—Major Achievement!

Gu Yang stretched his neck, which hadn't moved in ten years, producing a series of crackling pops.

He looked down at his "shrunken" muscles and curled his lip with some dissatisfaction:

“Although I've gotten stronger, why do I feel like I've gotten thinner? It's not very imposing.”

Then, he looked up at the black-clothed beauty in the sky who wanted to capture him.

“Hey, you barefoot woman.”

Gu Yang pointed at himself, then at the eggshells (golden cocoon fragments) on the ground.

“Just now... were you trying to steal my eggs?”

Saintess You Ruo's beautiful face flushed red with anger at these crude words:

“Presumptuous! I am the Saintess of the Heavenly Demon Cult! Who are you? How dare you embezzle my cult's Sacred Object!”

“Embezzle?”

Gu Yang grinned, revealing a row of large white teeth.

“Once something enters my stomach, it's mine.”

“I just woke up, and I'm a bit hungry.”

He kicked off the ground, and the earth instantly collapsed into a thousand-meter crater.

His entire being was like a golden nuclear bomb, soaring into the sky!

“Since you're here, then stay and be my breakfast!”