The other two Primordial Beasts were also in similarly miserable positions. Although they had not died yet, they were very close to death.
The Primordial Beast fighting Wang Xiaoyun was being tormented by her. She had ripped off two of its limbs. It was a large black panther with two white stripes, and it was currently wailing in agony.
Hei Gou's opponent was by no means in a better condition, but where Wang Xiaoyun was tormenting her target, Hei Gou was just toying with his. A smile hung on his lips, and he was casually fighting with his claws.
He would swipe them time and time again, ending up causing his opponent, a large wolf, to be wounded time and time again. Its entire body was drenched in blood, and the previously white fur had turned red.
"Finish up quickly!" Xue Wei growled in a deep voice. Blood was starting to appear in his eyes, making him seem ferocious and evil.
Wang Xiaoyun and Hei Gou could feel the killing intent in his voice almost vibrating in the air towards them, and they hurriedly finished off their opponents.
"Leave the corpses; we’ve got to go. The smell of blood is going to lead the others to our tail very soon," Xue Wei said. But he was smiling contrary to his cautious statement. There was no troubled look to be found on his face, only a sinister curve of glee.
"Let them come, but we want one group at a time so we don't get overwhelmed," he casually added.
"We could also hunt them! We could execute every single Primordial Beast within the formation!" Wang Xiaoyun could sense that Xue Wei wanted to kill, his killing intent so thick that it laid itself like a blanket over the trio. That he was eager to cause blood to flow in rivers, and that he was nowhere near satisfied with what he had done so far.
Xue Wei felt tempted. Eradicating twenty groups of Primordial Beasts sounded fun. Just thinking about it made his blood boil, but the downtime after the fight slowly brought back his rational thoughts.
"We need to find the treasure," he finally decided with a sigh. "But if someone comes looking for trouble, I can’t be blamed for being ruthless!"
Wang Xiaoyun was somewhat disappointed. She had hoped that they would kill lots of Primordial Beasts.
She could only hope to cross paths more often than not with the other groups of Primordial Beasts, but it was likely they would avoid a majority given Xue Wei’s ability to scan ahead with his spiritual energy and swerve such encounters.
Just as they had left, another group of Primordial Beasts made their way through the thickets and arrived at the scene of the battle. They inspected the scene.
"Elder Wan did say that there was someone else who would shake up our test," one of the Primordial Beasts said after a bit of time. "It seems we underestimated this formation and the allure of the treasure. It seems that a third party has arrived as well."
"These guys took on their original shapes before dying," another commented as he looked at the destroyed corpses. "But there is no sign of blood from someone other than these five. The ones who killed them must have been able to overpower them completely."
"They hid here," a third Primordial Beast said, crouching behind the log where Xue Wei and company had hidden previously.
"I guess it was an ambush, but they were only three according to these markings... and yet they managed to dispose of five Primordial Beasts as fast as they did?"
"We started moving the moment we felt the fluctuations in the heaven-and-earth essence, but it seems we were too late."
They kept observing the surroundings before one of them started sniffing the air. "They went this way. Should we follow them or avoid them?" he asked the leader of their group.
The leader’s human form was that of a handsome young man. He had black hair and brown eyes. His skin was white like porcelain, and he had upwards slanting phoenix eyes.
He was slightly feminine, but also undeniably handsome. Not just that, but a dangerous, almost unwilling ripple spread out from his body when asked about their next move.
"We will not follow them. We will first look for the Seven Star Nightflower," he said after a bit of hesitation.
"Only the team that gets its hands on the Seven Star Nightflower can be considered the winner of this test," he said as he scoured the surrounding area for signs of the flower in question.
"We will need to find the Seven Star Nightflower if we wish to get in the good graces of Elder Wan. He is one of the Supreme Elders, so to be looked favorably on by him would be a great benefit to us. Much more than killing some random troublemakers."
The group quickly vanished into the distance, resuming its search for the herb.
While the Primordial Beasts were searching for the Seven Star Nightflower in their many groups Xue Wei led his team towards the inner regions of the barrier while avoiding them.
The further they went in, the more silent the area became. There were no birdsongs or other sounds of mortal animals; not even Fierce beasts or Primordial Beasts could be heard any longer.
The animal trails they had followed up until now ceased to exist, and instead they had to pave a road themselves.
Although no living creature was present, Xue Wei did not slack on observing their surroundings with his spiritual energy.
"The center of the formation is actually at the very foot of the Goat Mountain," Xue Wei said with confusion.
"Could it be that there is an entrance into a cave within the Goat Mountain? This road has not been traversed in a long time, so I don't think we have to worry about someone else coming this way and causing problems for us. But the question is – why aren’t they coming here?" he said contemplatively.
"Did they stop coming here because there is no more treasure, or because it is too dangerous? I cannot imagine it being a walk in the park."
Wang Xiaoyun shrugged her shoulders. She smiled in a gentle and confident way "Even if it is difficult, I doubt it is impossible. We need to remember that this is a test made for the younger generation, so only those who are beneath that age can enter. We are already considered geniuses, so although we aren't the strongest in this age group, we might have enough strength to survive."
Hei Gou nodded his head in agreement. He flashed a smiled, showing his pearly whites. "We cannot back out now. We finally seem to have found something useful. Cave or not, let’s give it our all and get the best out of this!"
Seeing his two comrades being so optimistic about it, Xue Wei snickered. This was what he needed. If they were to survive this endeavor, then they needed positive thinking.
It did not take them long to reach the rugged surface of the mountain. The Goat Mountain was incredibly steep, and the mountain in front of them was like a wall, almost standing straight up into the sky.
Xue Wei, Hei Gou, and Wang Xiaoyun started to inspect this mountain wall in front of them. They were expecting something to pop out from the wall, an entrance of some kind, but they found nothing even after scrutinizing the entire wall. No keyhole or anything to place a token into, either. it looked exactly like a flat, ordinary mountain wall.
"I guess we were overly excited and are bound to be disappointed," Wang Xiaoyun sighed as she straightened her back and looked at the pondering Xue Wei.
Hei Gou and Xue Wei seemed as if they had not heard her words, and continued to look at the mountain wall. Their eyes wandered over even the grass that grew up along the surface of the stones, and they took down large trees and plants that were growing on, and close to, the wall to see if anything was hidden beneath.
Wang Xiaoyun stepped back and watched them as they tried to repeatedly inspect the same spot just in case they overlooked something. Her brows furrowed slightly and she started nibbling at her lip.
She thought it was a waste of time. It was obvious that there was nothing special about the wall to her. She did not care too much about getting her hands on the inheritance or the treasures within, all things considered.
She was a Wayfarer, and she had a set of profound martial art techniques. She also had her mutated bloodline that had been activated with Primordial Beast blood, which had given her a few abilities innate to the Wayfarers.
Although a supreme expert’s inheritance was an amazing thing, it could never be more important and familiar to her than the profound martial arts she had trained since she was a kid or the innate abilities that laid dormant in every Wayfarer's bloodline.
Xue Wei, on the other hand, was in quite a pickle. He also had some profound martial art techniques, but he had already trained them to perfection. The only thing he could do to improve their power was become fundamentally stronger.
But he had no innate abilities, apart from the Azure Dragon Scripture’s dragonized form, so he was limited in the difference of attacks he could use.
"Oh, where is this?" A voice suddenly sounded in Xue Wei's mind. The owner of said mind instantly grew ecstatic.
"Tianyi!" he exclaimed excitedly. "We are currently in an age-restricted formation," he began to explain.
"We won the tournament, and Elder Wan Qiang asked us to fetch a Seven Star Nightflower for him. We found the herb, but now we are looking for the treasure left behind by the supreme expert that sat up the formation."
"Wise choice," Bai Tianyi laughed. "That lass over there is quite astonishing," he said after a bit of time, "She seems to be a mutant of some kind. The world has truly changed a great deal since my imprisonment."
"She's Wang Xiaoyun," Xue Wei introduced her, "my sweetheart from back in Tiankong City."
"Ohh, she is your sweetheart? Well, fate is with you since it allowed you to be reunited. Okay. Wait a few moments, I will unseal this treasure trove in front of us, but I need to finish my soul body first."
"What is a soul body exactly?" Xue Wei asked curiously.
"Human bodies are composed of flesh and blood and Qi. The stronger you become, the more of your body will be fortified with Qi and come closer and closer to immortality. I am unable to cultivate Qi, but I can cultivate spiritual energy and soul energy." Bai Tianyi explained.
"I am a true immortal. Unfortunately, I am a sword spirit, so I am no longer human."
"I can create a body for myself with spiritual energy, and I have been collecting spiritual energy ever since we met. Especially that tournament – it allowed me to harvest enough soul power to create the simplest body for myself."
"Wait a moment. I am almost done. Put the sword down on the grass," he instructed. Xue Wei did as requested.
Moments after, all the heaven-and-earth essence in the surrounding areas started gathering towards the sword. It churned chaotically. The sword that was lying down on the grass started to turn golden before the light that shone from it turned white. Xue Wei and the others were blinded by it, so they turned away while covering their eyes with their arms.
This light was at first only on the ground and the sword, but soon a pillar of light shot straight into the sky through the treetops above them, and laughter soon started ringing out from within the light.
"Finally!" the voice exclaimed. "I am finally a real person again!"