36: Calm beast

Blood Escape (This skill cannot be upgraded): Consumes one's own vital blood to perform an escape technique. The distance traveled depends on how much vital blood the host consumes (consuming all vital blood results in the host's immediate death). The direction of escape is random.

Looking at this skill, Xun Xiuyuan didn't overthink it and learned it first.

He then looked at the Transcendent-grade Equipment Selection Treasure Chest in his backpack. This time, there was no need to consider; he chose armor.

illusory armor: Transcendent-grade. Can resist most damage from Transcendent-grade powerhouses' attacks.

A breastplate, as thin as cicada wings and seemingly transparent, appeared in Xun Xiuyuan's hand.

He didn't care about anything else, putting it on close to his body. With this illusory armor, plus his own Copper Wall Iron Barrier, as long as he didn't encounter an overly outrageous expert, self-preservation would definitely not be an issue.

Qianlong City, City Lord's Mansion, Xie Shan's office.

Looking at the battle report before him, confusion filled his heart.

"An Innate, who killed two Immaculate Realm Alien Beasts, and earned over a hundred thousand military merits in a single Alien Beast siege battle. This kid is truly not simple," Xie Shan muttered to himself.

Unable to figure it out, Xie Shan called Xie Lin again, because the only members of the Xie Family who had directly interacted with him were Xie Lin and Xie Nanqiao.

Upon Xie Lin's arrival, he didn't know what was happening and waited for his elder brother to speak.

Unexpectedly, Xie Shan just pondered silently, handing over a piece of paper.

After Xie Lin saw the battle report on it, he also fell into contemplation.

"I inquired about this child when I was in the Mystic Realm, after all, Nan Qiao has a good impression of him."

"He was once abandoned by his family deep within the Exotic Beast Mountain Range. At that time, he had no cultivation talent, but he survived in the Exotic Beast Mountain Range for two years and walked out of the mountain range, appearing at Yuncheng Pass, already a sixth-grade Martial Marquis."

"Before entering the Ningshen Mystic Realm, his cultivation should not have reached Innate. He probably advanced inside the Mystic Realm."

"But for an Innate who just advanced to kill five hundred Innate Realm Spirit Condensing Beasts is also very remarkable. Even fighting them one by one, it would be difficult to complete in over three hours."

Xie Lin spoke all of this in one breath, then paused.

"You mean, in just a few days, he advanced to Immaculate? How is that possible? The battle report clearly states that he used something similar to an explosive bead to severely wound the Immaculate Realm Alien Beast, and then killed it."

Xie Shan thought for a moment and said.

Xie Lin was speechless after hearing Xie Shan's words: "The battle report states that he alone entangled with two Immaculate Realm Alien Beasts for a long time. Are you pretending not to see it?"

Then, without waiting for Xie Shan to flare up, he continued: "Whether he advanced to Immaculate or not is not important, but his potential is very important. With his talent, not to mention Po Kong Realm, advancing to Transcendent is probably a matter of just a few years."

"A twenty-year-old Transcendent, haha, and a Transcendent with abnormal combat power. Have you considered the change it would bring to the battle situation on the Abyss Battlefield?"

Xie Shan understood perfectly, but since it concerned his daughter, it was always right to be cautious.

"How is Nan Qiao doing lately?" Xie Shan asked.

Xie Nanqiao wasn't close to him, but she was very close to her uncle, Xie Lin.

Xie Lin took a bottle of water from a nearby cabinet, drank two gulps with a clunk, and said: "She's a Martial King, and her progress is very fast. She has never cultivated so diligently before. With her talent, if she had always been this hardworking, she would have reached Innate long ago."

Hearing that his daughter had advanced to Martial King, Xie Shan was also very proud, because Xie Nanqiao's aptitude was excellent, she was just a bit too easygoing.

Xie Lin saw Xie Shan's proud expression and sighed: "Big brother! Do you know why Nan Qiao suddenly started cultivating so diligently?"

Xie Shan was stunned: "Why?"

"Why? Because Xie Family members can go to the battlefield once they reach Innate. She told me to quickly reach Innate because she wants to go to Fortress 100 to find Xun Xiuyuan."

Upon hearing this, Xie Shan almost coughed up a mouthful of old blood.

Xun Xiuyuan became famous in one battle at Fortress 100. His subsequent operations were very smooth, and not even Alien Beasts were found near the small Soul Stone Mine.

It was as if after this battle, the Alien Beasts had contracted their activity range.

However, with no Alien Beasts appearing, Xun Xiuyuan subsequently refined soul stones every day, and his mental power greatly increased, but the data on his panel remained completely unchanged.

It was very clear that if Xun Xiuyuan wanted to advance, he had to keep fighting monsters; there was no other way.

So, the contraction of the Alien Beasts, ironically, was most frustrating for Xun Xiuyuan.

Northern Abyss.

The Shadow Demon Alien Beast's main camp.

An unusually tall Shadow Demon stood on the mountaintop, overlooking the Shadow Demon city below. This city was crudely built, mimicking human construction.

Before engaging in battle with humans, Alien Beasts lived in the wild, only having tribes, not cities.

He was the leader of the Shadow Demons, the leader on the Abyss Battlefield, Mu Tuo.

Standing beside him was a human, pale-faced, middle-aged.

The Shadow Demon spoke: "A small probe, and I didn't expect the fortresses of Qianlong City to be so strong in combat."

The pale-faced middle-aged man spoke, his voice hoarse: "Jiaolong City's Fortress Number 1 is basically empty. Two factions of Alien Beasts attacked one fortress simultaneously, yet failed. And Qianlong City's Outpost 99 also had Alien Beast attacks arranged. The main reason for this failure was that new regiment commander."

Mu Tuo scoffed: "Failure, it's more than just failure. We lost two Immaculate Realm Shadow Demons, and the Shadow Demon side is still clamoring for me to compensate them. What a joke, two Immaculates dying at the hands of an Innate, and they still have the nerve to ask for compensation."

He then asked: "Have you found any information about that Innate?"

"Xun Xiuyuan, sixteen years old, achieved Innate on the surface, and his combat power is exceptionally strong."

Mu Tuo pondered: "A sixteen-year-old Innate, your human race hasn't seen one before, have you? This person must be eliminated. A few more battles like this, and I'll lose all face."

The pale-faced middle-aged man continued to ask: "Is it impossible to break through Qiulong City and Flying Dragon City? Must it be Qianlong City?"

Mu Tuo slowly said: "Among your human race's four major cities, not to mention Jiaolong City for now, of the remaining three, only Qianlong City's strength is slightly weaker. Its two City Lords also lack mental defense secret treasures, making it the most likely to be controlled by the Emperor. The Ling Family of Qiulong City and the Wen Family of Flying Dragon City are both difficult to deal with. Humanity's ability to comprehend laws is indeed stronger than the Alien Beast Clan's; this is an undeniable fact."

He thought for a moment and continued: "In terms of top-tier combat power, Alien Beasts have quite a few more than humans, but in the few clashes of true top-tier forces, Alien Beasts haven't gained any advantage whatsoever."

The middle-aged man stopped speaking.

Mu Tuo then said: "Do you have any information, photos, or anything like that, about that Xun Xiuyuan?"

The middle-aged man took out a document and handed it to Mu Tuo.

"You return to Jiaolong City first. We'll discuss Qianlong City's matters slowly; there's no rush."

Xun Xiuyuan stayed in the fortress for a few more days, but there was no sign of Alien Beasts attacking the city. Wasn't it said that the fortress faced frequent Alien Beast incursions?

How come as soon as he arrived, the Alien Beasts became much more well-behaved? Could he truly be a fated person, with his kingly aura emanating, making the Alien Beasts dare not advance?

After much thought, Xun Xiuyuan decided to enter the mountain range alone to hunt Alien Beasts, first to advance himself to the Immaculate Realm.

"You want to go alone to the northern Alien Beast occupied territory?" Lu Wenxiu asked.

"Yes, Commander. My cultivation has reached a bottleneck, and I need to temper myself," Xun Xiuyuan said seriously.

"Bottleneck? Are you going to advance to Immaculate? How old are you? How exactly did you cultivate your mental power?"

Lu Wenxiu was greatly surprised.

"It's not that I'm about to advance, it's that my cultivation speed is slow, and I want to try a different approach."

Xun Xiuyuan said perfunctorily.

Lu Wenxiu thought for a moment: "That's fine, but your combat wristband must always be on. If there's danger, send a message immediately."

Xun Xiuyuan immediately thanked him: "Thank you, Commander."

At this moment, in the dense forest on the east side opposite Fortress 100, a Shadow Demon clad in a black robe was carefully examining a portrait of Xun Xiuyuan.

"These humans all look so similar, it's making my head spin. Patrols are patrols, but why is there also a task like this?"

The black-robed man was utterly frustrated, because he had been squatting in this dense forest for five days, but every person who came out looked somewhat different from the portrait, and he couldn't alert the enemy, which was very annoying.