Cultivating Immortality :I Obtained The Villain's Ascension Code-Chapter 70: Evil Beasts

By the time the night wind had cooled, the party had reached the outskirts of Evil God Mountain.

Even Elder Xu—who had brazenly displayed his dragon aura earlier—silently withdrew his presence here. His expression turned solemn, and his steps became measured.

Qian Mo was the first to notice. "Elder Xu?"

"We’re near the domain of the Abyssal Tiger Clan. It’s best not to cause trouble."

Meng Qing frowned. "But isn’t the mountain under the control of the Evil Alliance?"

Qian Xu glanced at her sideways. "Because the beings that dwell within this mountain aren’t your average spirit beasts. Some haven’t seen sunlight since the primordial era. Evil demons... hybrids... many of them cannot be reasoned with—and some are older than entire sect lineages."

He pointed toward a distant cliff veiled in dark fog.

"Deep within, they say an Abyssal Tiger rests—one that has lived since the time of the Evil Dragon Lord. A half-step Sixth-Rank existence. Even divine beasts would be cautious before approaching such a creature."

Wu Fang’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Still alive after five millennia?"

"Spirit beasts... their lifespans far surpass ours," Elder Qian muttered with a trace of envy. "Even a rank two creature can live for several centuries without effort..."

"Oh? Feeling jealous now, are you?" Elder Xu snorted. "Hmph. If you’re so envious, go reincarnate as a spirit beast in your next life. But don’t cry when you end up as a snake in someone’s pill furnace."

"Haha, old Xu, don’t be angry! I was only joking," Elder Qian said with a hearty laugh, raising both hands in mock surrender.

Elder Xu gave a cold sneer. "You’d best keep that tongue in check unless you want that half-step Sixth-Rank senior in the mountain to overhear you."

Elder Qian’s smile stiffened ever so slightly.

Shi Ling, who had remained silent all this while, finally spoke. "A true calamity beast... Why didn’t the Evil Dragon Lord just slay it back then?"

Elder Xu let out a faint snort. "Slay it? He tried. But in the end, even the Evil Dragon Lord couldn’t bring it down. He merely forced the creature to the negotiation table. That, in itself, was already a feat worth boasting about for ten lifetimes."

Meng Qing looked up toward the mist-shrouded peak. "So the rumors were true?"

"Yes." Elder Qian’s gaze grew distant. "After a battle that shook the heavens and the earth, the two made a pact. Since then, the beast has remained deep in the mountain, and Evil Dragon City has been safe."

"But why stay?" Qian Mo asked.

Xu Long answered, "Spirit beasts born in such corrupted grounds carry a taint—corpse qi, death aura, and deep resentment. Pure spiritual qi from outside harms them. So they remain... and in return for not attacking, the city provides them with the resources they need from the outside world."

"Spiritual stones?" Wu Fang’s eyes flickered with interest.

"Among other things. Beast cores, flesh essence, even cultivation techniques at times. The Abyssal Tiger Clan rules the depths, and they are not easy to appease."

Meng Qing’s gaze sharpened. "You’ve fought one before?"

Xu Long’s expression turned thoughtful. "Not the patriarch. But once, I exchanged several blows with a Fourth-Rank Abyssal Tiger. Its power was brutal—less refined than mine, but terrifyingly direct. If not for my innate thunder resistance, I would’ve been seriously injured."

"Are they that different from other spirit beasts?" Qian Mo frowned slightly.

"They are," Elder Qian said, looking at him with a strange smile. "Spirit beasts come in two kinds—those born with intelligence, and those who awaken through fortuitous chance. Normally, beasts outside the mountain cultivate like humans do: gradually refining their bloodline and building a core."

"But the ones here are different. Their bloodlines aren’t pure. They are soaked in ancient resentment and corpse qi. They use that to refine their physical bodies instead. That’s why they are called Evil Beasts."

Few understood how vastly different spirit beasts could be from one another.

In truth, spirit beasts were a vast and varied race, creatures that cultivated spiritual energy just as humans did. They were not simple animals—they possessed bloodlines, cores, instincts, and in many cases, intelligence rivaling human cultivators. Their methods of cultivation, however, differed significantly depending on their origin.

There were three principal types:

Innate Spirit Beasts were born with intelligence and a natural connection to Heaven and Earth. Descended from ancient divine lineages, they were few in number but powerful by birthright. These beasts possessed inherent elemental affinities—flame, thunder, ice, wind—and required little guidance to begin cultivation. A handful among them were even capable of forming nascent cores within a few decades of life.

Then there were the Awakened Beasts—ordinary animals who, by chance, encountered spiritual qi, consumed rare herbs, or lingered too long in qi-rich environments. Some of them gained awareness, and fewer still survived the tribulations that followed. Their cultivation path was steep and uncertain, but those who endured often became fierce and unpredictable.

All spirit beasts cultivated through the formation and refinement of a beast core, a sphere of condensed essence within their bodies. As their rank grew, so did the potency of their core. Their cultivation ranks roughly corresponded to human stages—from First Rank, equivalent to the Spirit Awakening Realm, to the rare and terrifying Sixth Rank, which mirrored the Divine Transformation Realm.

Yet above even them stood the True Spirits—ancient entities of the primordial era. These were beings not born of cultivation, but of the world’s natural laws. Each True Spirit was a walking embodiment of a great principle: flame, lightning, time, or fate. Their existence transcended sects and realms. They required no cultivation method; their mere presence warped the world around them. Some took on human forms, others slumbered for eons beneath mountains or oceans, waiting for some destined moment to stir again.

Unlike ordinary beasts, True Spirits possessed the ability to comprehend the Dao from birth. Many of them had lived through the rise and fall of dynasties, their names whispered in the secret records of ancient sects. They could not be tamed, only bargained with—and those who dared to offend them often brought calamity not just to themselves, but to entire sects and realms.

Thus, while many cultivators sought to tame or form pacts with spirit beasts—using spiritual contracts to bond their fates together—none dared to bind a True Spirit. To attempt such a thing was to court certain destruction.

And so it was said: Among men, the strong rule; among beasts, bloodline is fate. But above all else, True Spirits bow to no master but Heaven.