"The ancient ancestor has awakened; you may all step forward to give your offerings. Whoever receives the most valuable reward shall be the successor of the Ganglie beast spirit!" After receiving the pellet, Ying Shihou placed it in his sleeves and moved aside. Three people—Chu Zhaoyang, Qi Heng, and the plump Daoist—walked up from the crowd, each of them holding on to a jar and looking at each other with hesitation.

None of the three dared to move further, until Qi Heng finally let out a cold laugh and stepped forward. "I’ll be first, then!" He walked in front of the desk and placed his jar on top before calling out with a clear voice, "Esteemed Ancient Ancestor, I am the son of Bohai’s Qi Clan, Qi Heng. I am here to offer you the blood of an ape beast with the ancient Diabolic Ape bloodline..." Once he’d finished speaking, he took a step backwards, inhaled a deep breath, and extended his palm to break the vase.

"So it was the blood of the Diabolic Ape..."

"The Qi clan sure spent quite a bit of money on this! Looks like they’re sure they’ll have the Ganglie beast spirit for themselves!"

"Shixiong Qi already said seven days ago that the Ganglie beast spirit was going to be his. It’s probably because of this jar of beast blood!"

People began chattering amongst themselves within the crowd. The Myriad Beasts Sect spent most of their time with spirit beasts, so it was only natural they knew how precious the blood of a Diabolic Ape was. It was rare to see any Foundation Stage beasts in Jambu ever since the beast tribes had moved to the north, and some of the spirit beasts with rare bloodlines had been killed off or captured by cultivators. Even the Myriad Beasts Sect—who specialized in beasts—didn’t see them often. The sect master had also ordered for the disciples to prepare the blood themselves this time, making it even less likely for something so rare to show up.

A strong scent of blood immediately spread out as the jar broke, and it was even possible to faintly hear the howl of the Diabolic Ape as an ape-like shadow leapt up from the blood and disappeared in a very perplexing manner. Furthermore, the purple smog covering the area above began to move in an odd manner, as though something was about to fall. Everyone subconsciously held their breaths and looked up towards the smog without a single blink.

A full two breaths later, the purple smog abruptly shook and something fell down from it.

Qi Heng was overjoyed. He quickly held out his hands and grabbed the item against his chest before impatiently taking it out to have a look. It was a small plate the size of a palm, colored blue with a strange pattern carved into it. Upon seeing this, he immediately knew this was no ordinary item, but he didn’t know its usage and quickly handed it over to Sect Master Ying Shihou for appraisal.

Once Ying Shihou received the tablet, he gave it a few glances, sent in some Qi to feel out what it was, and then finally passed it back with a smile. "This is a Beast Control Tablet. You will be able to seal a beast’s Spirit Sense within, and the beast will follow your commands from then on..."

Startled, Qi Heng hastily asked, "What is its value?"

"Superior!" Ying Shihou declared with a smile.

Qi Heng beamed as he took his Beast Control Tablet and sent a look of pride towards Chu Zhaoyang and the plump Daoist.

Chu Zhaoyang let out a long sigh as he held his jar against his chest, his decision already made within his mind. "My turn!" He’d prepared the blood of a ninth-tier thunder-propertied spirit beast, and although it was nothing compared to Qi Heng’s Diabolic Ape blood, he’d already decided he’d slit open his palm to allow his own blood essence to flow into it during his offering. Although this would reduce his cultivation level by an entire tier, the quality of his blood sacrifice would undoubtedly experience a huge improvement, hopefully moving this ancient ancestor.

Of course, this was also because he’d been left with no other choice. Although he was the head core disciple of the Myriad Beasts Sect, if he didn’t get this beast spirit, he wouldn’t be able to break through into the Foundation Stage—this was a gamble he had to take! Just as he took a couple steps forward, however, an abrupt voice stopped him, "Older Brother Zhaoyang!"

Chu Zhaoyang stopped and turned towards the voice, only to see Ying Qiaoqiao walking towards him. She opened the lid of his jar, took out a small silver knife, and then—with a quick slit along her right index finger—added a few drops of her blood. Chu Zhaoyang looked on in astonishment as she explained, "I have inherited the beast spirit of the Yinglong Dragon, my blood is therefore also the blood of a dragon. This should be able to satisfy the ancient ancestor!"

Chu Zhaoyang was completely surprised, as were all the other disciples within the Myriad Beasts Sect. The expression of the overjoyed Qi Heng—who was holding on to his Beast Control Tablet—suddenly changed as he looked towards the sect master with dissatisfaction.

"That is Qiaoqiao’s choice; I am in no position to interfere.." the sect master could only calmly reply. This caused Qi Heng’s expression to become even worse.

Chu Zhaoyang was full of gratitude as he whispered, "Little Shimei, rest assured. I will definitely kill that brat for you in the future..."

Ying Qiaoqiao showed a sweet smile. "It’s probably not going to be left to us. You go ahead first; I’ll let you know why later."

Chu Zhaoyang nodded with joy and stepped forward with the jar. Following the same method, the beast blood was splattered over the jade desk, and it didn’t take long before the purple smog began to move once more and something flew down from the sky. Chu Zhaoyang hastily grabbed hold of it and saw that the item in his palms was twinkling in a silver aura. It gleamed in the moonlight, and it certainly looked extraordinary, but he was unable to appraise what it was and passed it on to the sect master as well.

"Hm, this is called the Beast Lock Ring, an item that can be used to lock beasts or imprison people. It is a rather rare item..."

Chu Zhaoyang’s eyes subconsciously lit up when he heard those words, showing his excitement. It was at this moment that Qi Heng impatiently asked, "Esteemed Shifu, which of us received the more valuable reward?"

The sect master thought about it for a short while. "Both are superior-quality spirit tools, but because their uses are different, I cannot really determine which is better or worse. It can only be determined by the old elder within the city after we return back to Sea Beast City."

"Then let’s go back now?" Qi Heng was so anxious that such words casually slipped out.

"There’s no need to hurry. Isn’t there still one more person left?" The sect master calmly replied. His gaze swept towards the timid Yu Sanliang who had been shrinking away.

Qi Heng followed the sect master’s eyes and felt a sense of disdain, not believing Yu Sanliang would be of any threat to him. In fact, if it weren’t for the sudden intervention of Ying Qiaoqiao who used her blood of the Yinglong Dragon beast spirit, not even Chu Zhaoyang would have been able to receive a spirit tool on par with the one he had, much less this stupid fatty outsider. However, the sect master had already spoken, so Qi Heng did not dare to contradict him; he just looked towards Yu Sanliang and let out a cold laugh. "Your turn!"

Yu Sanliang took a slow, nervous step forward.

Qi Heng suddenly sneered and asked, "Shidi Yu, what did you prepare for the sacrifice?"

The plump Daoist wiped the sweat from his forehead. "T— tier nine beast blood.." he answered, his voice nearly giving out.

"Heh, without even any elemental properties?"

"Doesn’t.. doesn’t seem like it..."

"Haha.." Qi Heng was relieved and gave another cold laugh. "Then please hurry!"

As the plump Daoist walked past, Qi Heng suddenly whispered, "Even though you’re incredibly annoying, I do want to have a taste of that fat meat on your bones..." Qi Heng licked his lips as he spoke—it seemed he genuinely wanted to take a bite out of the plump Daoist.

This sent the plump Daoist into a fright. He knew if he didn’t inherit the Ganglie beast spirit, he would have lost any purpose he had to the Myriad Beasts Sect, and even Elder Moye would no longer be able to protect him. This vicious guy might truly take him and eat his flesh! Amidst his thoughts, his legs began to shake and he nearly stumbled on his way towards the jade desk, causing Ying Qiaoqiao to crease her brows.

"Stupid fatty, hurry up and walk! Stop wasting time!" she coldly commanded.

Yu Sanliang’s legs shook even more, and even his arms holding the jar began to shake. He couldn’t help but to begin praying to any god who would listen, ‘Dear gods, please help save me. I’m even willing to never eat meat in the future...

‘Fang Xing, you little turtle egg of a bastard, you really caused all sorts of trouble for me...

‘...’

While lamenting to himself within his mind, he finally arrived at the jade desk and exhaustedly placed the jar on top of it. "Dear gods of the heavens, please be kind to me..." After praying for a while, the plump Daoist finally clenched his teeth and broke the jar with his fist.

Crash ...

The jar shattered and fresh red blood flowed along the jade desk. The plump Daoist held the edge of his robe tightly with both hands, and he couldn’t stop his heart from shivering as he looked up towards the sky. The purple smog began moving within the air, as though something was about to fall. However, although the smog moved for a short while, it soon calmed down.

Nothing fell.

The plump Daoist looked upwards in a daze, his mind strained more and more towards the breaking point.

"Haha," Qi Heng’s loud laughter rose up. "Maybe the ancient ancestor didn’t even take notice of this sacrifice, and so didn’t reward anything?"

The Myriad Beasts disciples showed irregular smiles as well. Some had half-smiles of laughter towards the plump Daoist, others had smiles of disdain, and yet others had contempt. Ying Qiaoqiao, on the other hand, simply sneered; it felt as though a boulder had been lifted off her chest now that this fatty was finally unable to inherit this spirit beast.

Just as everyone was convinced no rewards would fall, however, the purple smog began to wildly move about as a faint sound rose up. With a swoosh , an extremely large item—seemingly a giant boulder nearly ten feet tall, with strange noises coming from within—smashed against the jade desk with a loud bang.

All of the Myriad Beasts disciples were stunned, momentarily unable to believe what they’d just seen. As for what had fallen down, it was a dull-feathered roc that was impossible to tell whether it was dead or still alive. Whatever it was, it had taken quite a hit from the fall.

"This... What is this treasure?" The plump Daoist was also stunned as he looked at the strange bird in front of him.

Just at that moment, the purple smog began to stir once more. Another strange sound rang out as a human-shaped object fell down from the air, waving in all directions before it landed heavily against the strange bird.

The bird let out a pained cry as though returning to life, and the person who’d fallen—who was completely uninjured—immediately jumped up from the jade desk and raised his head. "Fatty?" he asked, filled with surprise.

When the plump Daoist saw this person, his mind immediately broke.