Acquiring Lackeys
Xue Bai wasn't at all concerned about the strength of the bird, as the hawk that flew at him was only in the Blood Exchange realm, and he could easily slice it in two.
However, if he did that, it would also reveal his cultivation base to the other hawks on the mountaintop, so Xue Bai, instead of killing the bird, released the aura of his high Heaven-grade bloodline to let every hawk on the mountaintop know that he was royalty.
There was a strict hierarchy in the world of demonic beasts. Like in the mortal world with nobles and emperors, the higher the rank of a demonic beast's bloodline, the higher it would be up the imperial chain.
Moreover, there was a powerful suppression effect between ranks. A demonic beast with a middle Yellow-ranked bloodline wouldn't even be able to raise their head in the face of a demonic beast with a peak Yellow-grade bloodline.
And since Xue Bai had a high Heaven-grade bloodline, he could be called the Crown Prince of the demonic beast world. The only thing that would be above him would be the Emperor, demonic beasts with a peak Heaven-grade bloodline.
Such demonic beasts were few and far between, though. Demonic beasts with that high rank of a bloodline would be in the Immortal World at the peak of cultivation. Not stuck in a random secret in the Baishen Plane.
So for the random hawk with a bloodline not even in the Black-grade, Xue Bai's bloodline suppression was more powerful than if Xue Bai had a cultivation base in the Xiantian Great Realm.
Appearing in his hybrid form and fully unleashing his high Heaven-grade Bloodline into the air, Xue Bai showed his status of royalty. And the hawk that thought it had another easy meal became mortified and, without hesitation, instantly pressed itself against the ground in fear.
Even if it were a bloodline in the Black-grade, the hawk would've submitted. It was instinctual.
Xue Bai's Heaven-grade bloodline was utterly overkill.
And soon enough, the hawk in front of Xue Bai wasn't the only one. Out from the trees, other hawks flew out from where they were before and prostrated themselves on the ground in front of Xue Bai.
Hawks from the early stages of the Blood Exchange realm to the peak of the Muscle Nourishment realm flew out from their nests and lay on the ground with their beaks pressed against the rocky floor as they awaited Xue Bai's next move.
However, Xue Bai was still waiting, as the mountain overlord hadn't come out of his nest yet. The overlord was the only creature in this secret realm that was in the Bone Strengthening realm, and Xue Bai needed its strength to wipe out all of the members of the Wang Clan.
Huli Jing had told him that the Wang Clan group only had four peak stage Muscle Nourishing realm cultivators, but Xue Bai wanted to be 100% sure.
And while Xue Bai could see that there were a lot of demonic beasts in front of him, there was a problem. There were indeed more than four peak stage Muscle Nourishing realm hawks.
But Xue Bai couldn't see the cultivation bases of the hawks!
He was, after all, in the Vein Transformation realm. So how could he see the cultivation bases of demonic beasts two realms above him?
So he wanted to wait for the overlord to come. That was the only demonic beast he knew the strength of.
And after waiting for another minute, the hawk flew out. But compared to the rest of its species, it looked different. Along its wings, there was a trace of lightning flickering.
"You actually have a trace of a Thunderhawk bloodline. I didn't notice before, but you are indeed special among the rest." Xue Bai thought aloud.
A Thunderhawk was a beast that could potentially grow to the Immortal Great Realm. At that level, every flap of their wings could create thunderstorms, and every roar of theirs would sound like a lightning bolt. Such beasts were storms incarnate.
Sadly, this little hawk in front of him didn't have a pure enough bloodline to do anything near that significant. Just the fact that it was still in the Bone Strengthening realm showed that.
At most, it had a smarter brain and could inherit the lightning attribute of its ancestors. Still, for the lower realms of cultivation, that was a great advantage.
"Well, that is going to make everything easier." Xue Bai spoke.
Pointing his finger at the beast, Xue Bai gestured for it to come close. And though it was still terrified of Xue Bai, it still walked over and prostrated itself at Xue Bai's feet.
Climbing on its back, Xue Bai patted it, saying, "Get up. You have to kill a group of people for me."
Usually, a beast in its realm wouldn't be able to understand Xue Bai, but since it had a trace of an Immortal Bloodline through its inherited memories, it was able to understand the general meaning of Xue Bai's words.
So after Xue Bai sat down comfortably, it stood up and cawed loudly for the rest of its species to hear while flying off the mountaintop.
After flying off, the other hawks, who were still prostrated on the ground, stood up and flew in the direction of the Thunderhawk.
Although Xue Bai subdued it and made it his lackey, it was also the overlord of the secret realm.
Using its own bloodline suppression, it could command the rest of his species. So after hearing the Thunderhawk's caw, they all followed him.
While sitting on the thunderhawk's back, Xue Bai guided it toward the Wang Clan cluster. However, along the way, Xue Bai would stop and pick up various natural treasures that he spotted.
Though they were only of the low Yellow-grade, they all would help Xue Bai path out his veins faster, so he collected them without restraint.
The Wang Clan members wouldn't escape anytime soon. He could waste a bit of time looting.
Moreover, they were free! So why wouldn't he grab them?
Finally, after another hour of flying and scavenging, Xue Bai found the Wang Clan members. Currently, they were fighting a small clan of ape demonic beasts.
The leader of the clan of demonic beasts was a tall and ferocious-looking ape that stood at over 3 meters and was half a step into the Bone Strengthening realm.
With a deep brown coat of fur that was extremely similar to that of a mortal ape, the ape leader obviously didn't have an extremely special bloodline like the Thunderhawk under Xue Bai.
However, with his blood-red eyes and the dozens of cuts, slashes, and bruises on the body of the ape, one could tell how hard it was for him to cultivate its level.
Having a mortal bloodline in the demonic beasts was just as bad as having no Martial Veins in the human world.
So the fact that the ape leader could become a demonic beast and a beast with half a step in the Bone Strengthening realm spoke miles about its talent.
Sadly, talent didn't mean much as it was on the verge of collapse from the Wang Clan siege.
Since the Wang Clan members didn't have a cultivator with half a step into the Bone Strengthening realm like the ape, in order to contain the ape, the four Wang Clan members that were at the peak of the Muscle Nourishing realm joined together and were suppressing him.
Advancing half a step into the next realm was indeed great for ensuring a slow but safe breakthrough was a common method. But other than more Spiritual Qi and a bit more combative ability, it didn't give much of an advantage.
So even though the four peak stage Muscle Nourishing realm Wang Clan members were able to successfully contain the ape leader, they were now trying to slowly whittle him to death by using guerilla tactics.
In the meantime, the weaker Wang Clan members were wiping out the clan of apes under the leader.
From what Xue Bai could see, the members of the Wang Clan wanted to kill off the weaker apes and then group together for a large siege against the ape leader.
Looking at the Wang Clan group, Xue Bai could see the Grand Elder's grandson a few hundred meters away from the battle, calling out orders whenever needed, which gave him the appearance of a scholarly strategist. However, Xue Bai knew that he was just as bloodthirsty as Wang Yu.
His identity was just as prestigious, and it allowed him to do as he wanted. And with a demonic sect as their superior, how could he not act as he wished?
As the Wang Clan members fought their hearts out, Xue Bai stood in the air and watched them calmly. Though he had enough battle power to kill them all with the hawks he had brought with him, he wanted to play the role of a fisherman and wait until both slides were weak, then come in and wipe them both out.
There was no rush. He still had nine hours until the closing of the secret realm. Waiting a bit more for the battle to finish wasn't much.
The battle continued on for a long time, but the Wang Clan members were winning in a dominant fashion.
The monkeys were only holding on because the ape leader was holding back the Wang Clan's strongest fighters. And without the strength of the peak Muscle Nourishing realm cultivators, Wang Mo, the Grand Elder's grandson, ordered them to fight in groups of three to ensure there were no casualties. This strategy worked, but it also slowed down the speed at which the monkeys were killed.
Wang Mo was a demon, but he also made sure to have a good image in the minds of his clansmen. He couldn't just wildly sacrifice them in such a scenario.
This, of course, didn't mean he wouldn't do such a thing. He would. However, he would only do so during times of importance.
They were just fighting a small clan of apes. Sacrificing useful pawns at such a time was idiotic and would hurt his reputation.
Seeing all of this, Xue Bai estimated that the fight wouldn't end for another hour. So he sat down on the thunderhawk and started to cultivate.
"Make a sound when the battle ends." Xue Bai ordered before sealing his senses.
Currently, Xue Bai was at the 7th stage of the Vein Transformation Realm as he had just pathed out his Lung Vein.
So taking out a spirit fruit from his spatial ring, Xue Bai quickly consumed it and prepared to path out his Heart Vein.
The spirit fruit in Xue Bai's hand was nothing special, nor something grand, but just a mutated pear.
Not just humans and animals but also flora could also cultivate. Weeds could become Immortal Grass. Trees could become Divine Spirit Trees, and so on.
So it wasn't rare for random fruits to evolve and turn into spirit fruits, especially when they were created in a secret realm where Spiritual Qi is everywhere and dense.
Even a random ape could cultivate until it was half a step into the Bone Strengthening realm. For a pear to become a natural treasure, that wasn't impossible, just rare.
Also, it was merely a low Yellow-grade natural treasure.
In the Vein Transformation realm, the Heart and the Brain Vein were the most important of all the veins.
The Heart Vein could increase your regenerative abilities tenfold. Blood was the foundation of a strong body and flowed all throughout the body. So with the Heart Vein, you could constantly funnel Spiritual Qi into blood, helping to strengthen your body from the inside.
While the Brain Vein increases your intelligence, computing power, and comprehension ability.
However, they were also the most dangerous to path out. One wrong step during either of them could kill a cultivator. So during this process, Xue Bai was extremely careful, and only after swallowing a Soul Stabilizing Pill that he had gotten so long ago did he start to cultivate.
After consuming the first spirit fruit, Xue Bai sensed that it only gave him about a fifth of the needed Spiritual Qi to path out the next vein.
'Thankfully, I came prepared.'
Becoming a nouveau riche incarnate, Xue Bai casually pulled out another four mutated apples and pears. With no regret or hesitation, Xue Bai then swallowed the four spirit fruits as quickly as possible.
Unlike other cultivators who would have to worry about impurities, Xue Bai didn't. With the Kidney Vein, he wasn't worried about building up any impurities within himself.
Once again, looking at the Wang Clan's fight, Xue Bai sensed it wouldn't take less than an hour to complete. So Xue Bai closed his eyes and started to cultivate.
'Next is the Heart Vein!'
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