After learning that an Immortal Ascended spirit beast lay ahead, the two of them, along with the Yin-Yang Heavenly Seal, no longer charged forward recklessly. Instead, they approached with extreme caution. Jiang Li soon saw a deformed azure ox the size of a hill sleeping beneath a tree.

Around its thick neck hung a bronze bell. It had four eyes and four horns, a grotesque, bloated body with its skin split open by its own flesh. Pus continuously seeped out, making it unbearably foul.

Even worse—out from those cracks in its skin crawled newborn spirit beasts one after another, each with a different malformed shape. The moment they were born, before even opening their eyes, they would lick the pus flowing out from the azure ox’s wounds.

In the blink of an eye, they grew from mere Qi Refining Stage beasts into Foundation Establishment Stage beasts, then left the place.

“This—this is the source of the spirit beasts!”

Ming Zhong whispered, his tone shaking with fury. His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at the hideous ox, his nails digging into his palms as though he wanted to rush up and kill it at once.

“That’s Master’s A Qing!”

The Yin-Yang Heavenly Seal suddenly cried out, its tone filled with disbelief and anguish. Though the creature’s form had undergone a shocking transformation, it still recognized it—this was the Dao Ancestor’s mount.

“A Qing, it’s me, the Yin-Yang Heavenly Seal! Where is Master?”

Moo— The monstrous azure ox woke with a low bellow, its four eyes filled with bloodshot ferocity. With a snort, it stomped its four hooves in agitation, crushing to death all the beasts that had been drinking its pus, entirely indifferent. In its eyes now were only the two people and one seal before it.

Especially—the talking seal!

“It’s the Dao Ancestor’s mount?”

Jiang Li had seen the Dao Ancestor’s mural at the Dao Sect—one man and one ox ascending together into immortality. He could never have imagined that the immortal beast of that painting could become this hideous abomination. The deformed azure ox charged with its head lowered.

The Yin-Yang Heavenly Seal showed not the slightest fear, meeting it head-on. It rammed directly into the ox’s horns, the collision producing a deep, echoing boom.

“A Qing, calm down!” it pleaded.

But the azure ox paid no heed. One beast and one seal wrestled fiercely, tearing the ground apart, leveling hundreds of miles of land into bare ruin. Ming Zhong was sheltered by Jiang Li’s protective force.

He couldn’t even catch a glimpse of the struggle—only the delayed echo of impact after impact, the ox’s furious bellows, and the seal’s angry roars. The deformed azure ox opened its maw and spewed out a beam of light, a devastating blast that carved a path of destruction thousands of kilometers long. The earth convulsed in its wake.

The Yin-Yang Heavenly Seal caught that strike head-on and was blasted backward, its divine body covered in soot and dust.

“A Qing, don’t force me! You know my ability—I can control your karma!” it roared.

Ming Zhong, who had always seen the Yin-Yang Heavenly Seal as a quizzical companion, was startled to witness such fury.

“Karma? Why can’t I see your karma?” the Yin-Yang Heavenly Seal was shocked.

This ox was clearly the Dao Ancestor’s mount, a beast born of the Nine Provinces; even after immortality, its karmic ties should still be traceable. Yet now—it couldn’t even see them, let alone control them. The Yin-Yang Heavenly Seal faltered for just a moment, and the next instant, it was flung away by the azure ox’s horns.

When it returned to strike again, Jiang Li had already taken its place, facing the ox head-on. At the first clash, Jiang Li immediately felt an overwhelming power that surpassed even the Tribulation Transcendence Stage—without a doubt, this was an Immortal Beast.

He activated his Manifestation of Heaven and Earth technique, compressing his size and forming a hundred-meter giant matching the ox in mass. From his back, two additional arms emerged, four hands seizing the ox’s four horns. With a mighty heave, he hurled it away.

The huge body slammed into the very tree where it had been sleeping. At that moment, a worn ring popped out from the shattered trunk, catching Jiang Li’s attention. He grasped it.

Faint threads of Immortal Power leaked from within the ring, and as soon as they touched the outside world, they transformed into vast torrents of Spiritual Qi.

“This… this is a Storage Ring used specially for storing Immortal Power?”

Jiang Li murmured. He remembered hearing Immortal Elder Changcun mention that before descending to lower realms, Immortals often prepared a Special Storage Ring filled entirely with pure Immortal Power—it could store nothing else, but its capacity was enormous, enough to supply an Immortal for thousands, even tens of thousands of years.

He had never seen one with his own eyes until today, and uncertainty filled his mind. Jiang Li now realized—the reason this land’s Spiritual Qi was so dense was because of this ring. A bold thought struck him: could it be that the entire continent’s Spiritual Qi originated from this very ring?

“You’re bad people who came to steal Master’s ring! Give it back!” the azure ox rolled over and, to everyone’s shock, spoke in human tongue.

“So you can talk? Are you the Dao Ancestor’s mount?”

“You’re bad people who came to steal Master’s ring! Give it back!”

The azure ox repeated the same sentence again and again, its four eyes wild. Jiang Li could already tell that this ox had been tainted by Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demons. Its mind was completely lost.

Those words weren’t thought but an obsession—merely an echo still trapped inside its heart. So all it could do was repeat that one sentence.

“Who would dare steal Master’s ring! A Qing! Answer me!”

The Yin-Yang Heavenly Seal still thought A Qing had some clarity remaining, and shouted in a commanding tone.

“It’s useless. It’s no longer the A Qing you once knew.”

Jiang Li shook his head, using his four arms to batter the ox repeatedly. But even as the ox’s horns shattered one by one, it still kept repeating the same phrase.

“You’re bad people who came to steal Master’s ring! Give it back!”

Jiang Li understood now. For countless years, A Qing had stayed here, guarding this ring, waiting for the Dao Ancestor’s return. It had survived only by drawing from the Immortal Power within the ring.

Fortunately, it had never left this place. If it had gone to the human lands even once, humanity would have perished long ago. An enraged Immortal Beast—there were few methods in the entire Nine Provinces capable of restraining such a monster.

Jiang Li pinned A Qing down firmly. The Yin-Yang Heavenly Seal floated near its face, speaking softly, its voice trembling with emotion.

“A Qing…”

It remembered still that day long ago—willows swaying, gentle breeze blowing, a brook murmuring nearby. A Qing had lain beneath the willow, the Master resting against its side, holding the Yin-Yang Heavenly Seal in hand, a thoughtful smile upon his face. Yet when they met again, all was lost.

A Qing was insane, the Master had vanished, and only the lonely Yin-Yang Heavenly Seal remained to recall the past. The Seal’s reflection glimmered in A Qing’s eyes as tears streaked down its face—tears tinged with blood that sizzled as they hit the earth.

“K… kill… me…”

A Qing’s voice came faintly, broken, almost unrecognizable.

“A Qing, you’ve regained your senses?” the Yin-Yang Heavenly Seal exclaimed in joy.

“You’re bad people who came to steal Master’s ring! Give it back!”

A Qing roared once more, then cried again, its tone full of pain and pleading, “Kill… me…” The Yin-Yang Heavenly Seal sighed heavily. It could tell A Qing was in indescribable torment—death was its only release.

It turned to Jiang Li.

“End its suffering.”

Jiang Li lifted his hand and beheaded the ox in one clean stroke. Though the ox was dead, spirit beasts continued to crawl from its carcass. Helpless, Jiang Li burned A Qing’s body to ashes, purging the corruption completely.

Until now, he had thought that Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demons could only corrupt beings of the lower realms. Yet he now understood—even Immortal Beasts were not beyond their reach. A Qing’s body had clearly been reshaped by those demons.

Within it, Jiang Li sensed many different kinds of beastly blood—birds, beasts, every species mixed together. Only because A Qing possessed an Immortal Beast’s physique had it survived; any lesser creature would have died long ago from such incompatible bloodlines. Thanks to readers Haizehuohuo Xiuxian Wuxian and Fang Niu Sheng for the monthly votes.

(End of Chapter)