His Divine Sense scanned the Beast. It was a Three-Headed Black Crow, its cold, sharp aura emanating a thin layer of coarse jade essence—proof that it had consumed wild jade essence to reach the Azure King realm. It was an arrogant and cruel Beast, typical of a peak predator of the Southern Mountain Range.

  Zhi Xuan narrowed his eyes. His heart, though beating normally, pumped cold spiritual blood throughout his body. He circulated the remaining black jade essence, focusing himself on defense and a swift attack.

  Suddenly, three hoarse, cold roars ripped through the silence of the Southern Mountain Range night.

  WHUSHHH! WHUSHHH! WHUSHHH!

  Three pitch-black silhouettes streaked through the air, emanating a piercing cold aura. The Three-Headed Black Crow landed harshly on the grassy slope below, its cold, jade eyes instantly fixated on the mist-shrouded pool of jade essence.

  The Beast was enormous—the size of a small hut—with jet-black feathers that looked like honed jade blades and three sneering heads. Each of its long, sharp beaks emanated a deadly essence of wind.

  However, its attention was immediately diverted. The Beast sensed an anomalous presence—a human cultivator standing haughtily atop a stone, emanating a disturbing cold aura. The Three Black Crow heads turned in unison, locking their gaze onto Zhi Xuan. A more aggressive roar—a combination of three piercing voices—echoed.

  The roar of the Azure King level Beast not only contained deafening sound waves, but also vibrations of coarse essence aimed at suppressing his black jade essence.

  Zhi Xuan stood tall, allowing the sonic attack to crash into him. Although his essence was depleted, his Divine Wheel spun fiercely, resisting the pressure of the arrogant Beast's will. He sensed the Beast’s will, a pure greed for the jade essence pool and a quick confusion as to why a mere Blood Transformation cultivator dared to stand before it.

  "Wild Beast," Zhi Xuan snarled, he waved his hand and the divine cauldron immediately jutted out and whizzed above his palm. "Just a newborn Azure King, nothing more than a lost little beast.”

  Zhi Xuan’s words, though softly spoken, carried a cold, contemptuous spiritual will, colliding with the pure arrogance of the Three-Headed Black Crow. The three heads of the Beast flinched, shocked by the blatant insult. In the Southern Mountain Range, an Azure King was the king of predators, yet the lowly cultivator before it dared to compare it to a stray puppy.

  The Killing Intent from the Three Black Crow heads exploded.

  WHIRLLL!

  The first Black Crow opened its beak, spitting out a deadly Essence Wild Wind—a series of wind blades made of coarse jade essence. The blades shot toward Zhi Xuan with lightning speed, strong enough to cleave a large boulder in two.

  Zhi Xuan did not retreat. He knew that with his depleted essence, dodging the attack was a waste of energy.

  "Divine Cauldron!"

  He waved his hand, and the divine cauldron in his hand enlarged and spun around in front of him. The cauldron was like a catapult released, soaring upward to meet the threatening wind blades.

  DING! DING! DING!

  The essence wind blades struck the Divine Cauldron. The wind blades shattered and were absorbed, but Zhi Xuan's divine cauldron shook violently. He felt a deadly pressure; his black jade essence continued to drain. The cauldron, although effective, could only withstand an Azure King level Beast's attack for a few moments.

  "Wild Beast!" Zhi Xuan growled, channeling his essence and throwing the cauldron, grinding the wind blades and crashing the cauldron into one of the crow's heads.

  The Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron shot out like a solid, dark purple meteor. Zhi Xuan’s throwing speed was incredibly fast, propelled by his remaining Black Jade Essence and his spiritual will. Although the Cauldron was not activated with full power, the weight and density of the Heaven-grade artifact were enough to be lethal.

  BLAARRR!

  The cauldron struck the right-side head of the Black Crow with a deafening explosion. The head shrieked, not the proud roar of a Beast, but a sharp cry of pain. Jet-black feathers as hard as jade peeled off, and a rough crack was visible in the Beast’s beak.

  The cauldron hovered and spun in the air, evading and engaging in physical endurance with the three crow heads. The head of the Black Crow struck by the Divine Cauldron roared with excruciating pain and blind fury. It was an Azure King Beast; a blow from a Heaven-grade Artifact thrown without full essence should not have injured it so badly! The insult was far more painful than the crack in its beak.

  The two remaining Black Crow heads, their eyes filled with jade-green fire, reacted in unison.

  WHIRLLLLL!

  The middle Crow spat out a dense ball of essence fire—Wind Fire Jade—formed from compressed coarse jade essence. Meanwhile, the left Crow channeled its essence into the air, summoning a thicker and faster curtain of wind blades, locking the space around Zhi Xuan and blocking the path of the Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron.

  Zhi Xuan knew he was in a very precarious condition. He had exhausted his essence. Relying on the Divine Cauldron to withstand the dense Wind Fire Jade attack was suicide. The artifact would be absorbed or even cracked by the accumulated essence explosion from the two Azure King Beast heads.

  'Pull back the Cauldron and run,' hissed Ruo Xianxue, the Ancient Devil Monument, from his Sea of Consciousness. 'Do not die foolishly for a promising stone.'

  Zhi Xuan ignored the Ancient Devil Monument's advice. Retreating meant allowing the Beast to reach the jade essence pool and, worse, the cave where Mei Hua was.

  He stretched out his left hand. The Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron spun, scraping away some of the obstructing wind blades, and returned to his palm. The bronze surface of the cauldron felt hot and shook violently, his remaining black jade essence barely enough to keep the artifact's formation intact.

  "You want this pool?" Zhi Xuan murmured, his voice calm, even though his breath was short. "Then come and take it!"

  Zhi Xuan leaped backward, his movements agile and fast despite his depleted essence. He pulled the Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron back into its jade-gold bead form in his hair, as if surrendering to the pressure of the menacing Beast. His backward steps of several meters opened up a tempting gap for the Three-Headed Black Crow.

  The two remaining Beast heads, their eyes alight with jade-green fire, saw it as a sign of weakness, a confirmation that the audacious human cultivator was finally out of his depth. A roar of victory—a mixture of cruelty and greed—shattered the silence.

  “Hahaha! You run away, little dog!” Ruo Xianxue’s hoarse laughter echoed from Zhi Xuan’s Sea of Consciousness, a laugh filled with cosmic contempt. “As it should be. I expected no more from a monkey who knows how to avoid danger.”

  If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  Zhi Xuan ignored the taunt. A thin, almost invisible smile crossed Zhi Xuan's pale lips. He had opened the path the Beast desired.

  The dense Wind Fire Jade and the thick curtain of wind blades shot past Zhi Xuan's previous position, hitting the stone behind him and leaving scorch marks and rough cracks. The Beast's attention was now entirely focused on the retreating cultivator, no longer on the jade essence pool.

  WHUSHHH!

  The three heads of the Three-Headed Black Crow shot forward, its hut-sized wings flapping with monstrous force, creating a gust of wind that tore up the ground. The Beast moved with deadly speed, wanting to immediately crush the human cultivator who dared to insult and injure it.

  Zhi Xuan continued to retreat, but his sapphire eyes remained cold and calculating. He measured every inch of distance between himself and the Beast, every gust of wind brought by its wing beats. Just as the Beast was within ten meters—the ideal distance for Zhi Xuan to react—he stopped.

  “Xiao Die!” Zhi Xuan called out, his voice low, yet containing an absolute will.

  At the same time, the curtain of waterfall concealing the cave trembled. The Heavenly Moth, Xiao Die, who had been huddled beside Mei Hua, now woke up. Her palm-sized wings vibrated, emitting a soft, rainbow pollen dust.

  The moth floated out of the cave, its wings flapping rapidly. In a flash, it shot into the night air, directly toward Zhi Xuan. However, it did not head toward Zhi Xuan to land. Instead, it hovered above Zhi Xuan's head, its wings beginning to pulsate with a faster rhythm, emitting a brighter rainbow light.

  The Three-Headed Black Crow, which was shooting forward to tear Zhi Xuan apart, sensed an anomaly. The spiritual presence that suddenly appeared above the human cultivator's head... It was an aura that was pure, ancient, and most importantly, suppressive.

  The three heads of the Black Crow flinched, its peak predator instinct screaming danger. They slowed their pace, confused. The aura felt like a gentle fog, yet it suppressed their own power. Zhi Xuan stood straight, letting Xiao Die do her work. His small body, draped in a torn robe, became the center of the grand manifestation about to occur.

  WHUMMMMM!

  With a rumbling sound that shook the mountain air, Xiao Die’s body began to expand. The rainbow pollen dust, which was originally soft, now exploded, enveloping the moth in a spiral of light.

  In a matter of seconds, the small Heavenly Moth transformed. Its silk-clean wings grew, stretching from palm-sized to tens of meters—resembling an illusionary net capable of covering a mountain peak.

  Its body swelled, from the size of an insect to a twenty-meter-tall giant, with six sturdy legs like ancient pillars and a pair of antennae stretching toward the sky.

  It was a Verdant Titan, a realm above Azure King capable of commanding dozens of Azure Kings. Its pure, ancient, and undeniable spiritual aura radiated out, hitting the Azure King Beast like an unstoppable tsunami.

  The Three-Headed Black Crow, which had been arrogant, now froze in mid-air. The three heads of the Beast trembled violently, not from anger, but from blind terror. Its cold jade eyes widened, its pupils shrinking to small dots.

  Their fierce roars turned into a piercing shriek of fear, a sound that could only be let out by a peak predator that suddenly realized they were prey.

  They felt the absolute suppression of the Verdant Titan—the true ruler of the Southern Mountain Range. It was the pressure of realm, the pressure of bloodline, the pressure of an existence far beyond their comprehension.

  “Wild Beast,” Zhi Xuan hissed, his voice calm but now colored with an unwavering authority. He stretched out his left hand, and the Verdant Titan rumbled, its gigantic wings flapping slowly, creating a spiritual gust of wind that was soft yet suppressive.

  The Verdant Titan, Xiao Die, moved. It did not attack brutally. Instead, it floated forward, with graceful yet deadly speed. Its mountain-sized wings emitted a rainbow pollen dust that now felt like sharp blades of essence.

  The Three-Headed Black Crow tried to flee. Its wings flapped frantically, trying to fly away, but the spiritual suppression from the Verdant Titan bound it, slowing its movements to an awkward, slow shuffle.

  Xiao Die wasted no time. It swooped down, not hitting the Beast, but circling it, enveloping the Three-Headed Black Crow in a vortex of rainbow pollen dust. The pollen dust, activated by the Verdant Titan's will, was not just an illusion. It was a creeping spiritual poison, piercing into the Beast's meridians and sea of consciousness.

  The shriek of fear from the Three-Headed Black Crow grew louder, now mixed with agonizing pain. Its jet-black feathers, hard as jade, began to fall out, its beak foamed, and its jade eyes became blurry. The Beast staggered in the air, then fell with a loud thud onto the mountain slope, its body convulsing uncontrollably.

  Xiao Die did not kill it. It floated back above Zhi Xuan, its wings flapping slowly. The rainbow pollen dust scattered, and in a flash, the Verdant Titan shrank back, returning to the small Heavenly Moth circling above Zhi Xuan's head, emitting a soothing light.

  Zhi Xuan stepped forward, his feet treading on the dew-soaked grass. He ignored the Three-Headed Black Crow, which now lay helpless, its entire body twitching from Xiao Die’s spiritual poison. With a flick, his devil blood sword appeared and severed the three crow heads, ending its life.

  “Foolish monkey,” hissed Ruo Xianxue, the Ancient Devil Monument, from Zhi Xuan’s Sea of Consciousness. His tone was now filled with mockery, but also a rare layer of acknowledgment. “You are indeed cunning. Using the Verdant Titan to suppress an Azure King Beast. That is an efficient use of power without waste. At least you did not fight to the death when your essence was drained.”

  Zhi Xuan merely smiled faintly. He turned his gaze toward the jade essence pool, which was now saved from disturbance. Then he turned to Xiao Die, who was now buzzing softly on his shoulder.

  "Cleanse and absorb the essence, Xiao Die," Zhi Xuan said. Although an Azure King beast would not yield a significant change to the Heavenly Moth, its essence was enough to make the moth stronger. "Leave the meat, it's quite good for roasting."

  Zhi Xuan let out a long, cold breath, allowing his partially recovered black jade essence to circulate, feeling the remnants of the adrenaline his body had released subside. He had won without wasting a single drop of his Black Jade essence—a perfect victory in his efficient calculation.

  "Arrogant wild Beast," Zhi Xuan muttered, glancing at the carcass of the Three-Headed Black Crow lying on the grass. "You were only prey who happened to swim too close."

  The Heavenly Moth, Xiao Die, trembled softly on Zhi Xuan's shoulder. She responded to her master's command immediately. Her small wings flapped, and she floated down from Zhi Xuan's shoulder, heading toward the carcass of the Azure King Beast.

  Xiao Die did not use attack or poison. Instead, she hovered over the carcass, and from her body began to radiate a soft rainbow light that enveloped the lifeless Beast. In a matter of seconds, a thin spiritual mist of jade-green color began to evaporate from the body of the Three-Headed Black Crow, sucked into the rainbow light vortex of Xiao Die.

  This was pure essence purification. Xiao Die, as a Heavenly Moth—a creature from a higher realm—instinctively knew how to purify and absorb the coarse essence of another Beast to strengthen her own bloodline. The coarse jade essence that the Black Crow had accumulated to reach the Azure King realm now became a delicious meal for Xiao Die.

  Zhi Xuan watched the process with a cold, satisfied gaze. Every drop of energy taken by Xiao Die would strengthen their bond and combat abilities—an efficient investment.

  He allowed Xiao Die to complete the absorption of the Beast's essence, turning his body to return to the edge of the jade essence pool. He sat cross-legged back on the stone, resuming his halted recovery. Xiao Die’s absorption process not only benefited the moth; the air around the pool felt purer because the coarse essence of the Beast had been filtered and purified.

  He closed his eyes. In a matter of breaths, his Divine Wheel spun again, drawing the now purer and colder black jade essence from the tranquil pool. Although a full recovery would take hours, every minute of absorption in this place felt equivalent to a day of cultivation in the Lower District.

  As the essence flowed in, Zhi Xuan also focused on restabilizing his right meridian, which was strained from the previous attempt at the Heaven Shattering Palm. He ensured that the Manifestation Channel he understood—the will that carved a hole in the air—now became an instinctive part of the essence pathway in his hand.

  The moon had traveled across the night sky, its silvery light now shifted, a bright light appearing on the eastern horizon of the Southern Mountain Range. Xiao Die had completed her absorption. The carcass of the Three-Headed Black Crow now only left a large skeleton and a mass of intact flesh.

  The Heavenly Moth flew back, landing softly on Zhi Xuan's shoulder, its wings trembling with quiet satisfaction.

  "Good job," Zhi Xuan whispered, allowing Xiao Die to feel his now recovered cold aura. His Black Jade Essence felt solid and stable, the foundation of his Eclipse phase perfectly locked.

  Zhi Xuan opened his eyes. Dawn was breaking over the Southern Mountain Range. The golden-orange light touched the surface of the jade essence pool, breaking its deep black reflection into fragments of light.

  He had spent most of the night, not only on recovery, but on forging his foundation. His Black Jade Essence, which now spun in the Divine Wheel, felt as if it had reached the highest peak of the Eclipse phase. Every drop of it was dense, cold, and barely moving, awaiting the trigger for transition.

  He stood, his body emanating an aura of harsh tranquility, much colder than when he first entered the Southern Mountain Range.

  "Eclipse Peak," Zhi Xuan muttered in his mind, ignoring the remnants of the Three-Headed Black Crow carcass lying not far from him. "The next step... Zenith Phase. The Peak of Blood Transformation."

  He knew that stepping into the Zenith Phase required a much greater and more controlled momentum. This realm leap had to be performed in absolute isolation and perfect security.