The hands of the ugly beast descended like a hammer and Little Shrubby could not react to it due to still recovering from the previous attack. For the first time, he was unable to use his speed and was helpless.
It watched as the fists descended, anger burning in his eyes. But at the same time, a hint of helplessness and sorrow was also present there. He didn't know if he'll be able to survive this or not, but he just thought about Lin Mu instead.
"Sorry I won't be to protect you master…" Little Shrubby muttered.
He closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable… but instead of that, something else happened.
~DENG~
As if a bronze bell had been rung, sound waves spread in the area. A jet of wind also spread along with it, prompting Little Shrubby to open his eyes. And when he did, so he saw something shocking.
Standing there was Lin Mu, the top half of his robes were missing and his head was lowered. A shadow was cast on his face, making it impossible to see his appearance. He had extended his right hand up and had held up the fists of the Ugly beast.
If anyone were to see it right now, they would be shocked. Lin Mu was blocking an attack of a Dao Shell realm beast with a single hand. His torso, left bare, rippled under the force as vitality and spirit Qi stirred like a stormy ocean.
"Master…?" Little Shrubby spoke.
Lin Mu turned his head and looked at him as a smile appeared on his face.
"It will be fine now…" He said before turning to look at the ugly beast who was a bit bewildered and confused.
~CRACK~
Lin Mu brought his fingers together and made a fist with his left hand before punching out.
Boulder Collapsing Fist: First Form- Impact!
~BOOM~
The skill hit the Ugly beast's hand like a truck, knocking him back and making him trip over the trees behind him.
~Crash~
The beast fell to the ground, crushing many beasts and trees beneath it.
"UGGGAAAAAAAAA!" The Beast let out an angry cry and flailed his hands before using them to prop himself up again.
Lin Mu finally got to take a proper look around him, now that he had gotten a full hold of himself.
"Are you fine?" He asked Little Shrubby.
"I'm good… just a bit tired," Little Shrubby replied.
Lin Mu nodded his head and saw the thousands of beasts that were present here. All of the beasts were now looking at him as well, as if he was a juicy piece of meat.
"What exactly is happening here, senior?" Lin Mu questioned.
"~Sigh~ I had hoped this would not happen, but it seems like it is." Xukong replied.
"What do you mean, senior?" Lin Mu said, feeling confused.
"This is the effect of the Five Treasures realm," Xukong stated.
"Huh? How?" Lin Mu was even more confused now.
"Well, the Five Treasures realm refines your organs, right? Well, while it does increase your own power, those organs are also very valuable to others. If a beast or cultivator can get them by killing you, they will be able to use it to further their own cultivation.
This is another reason why Body cultivators can be considered to be a bit rare. The ones that reach a higher level are sometimes hunted down for their bodies. For example, in the five treasures realm, your organs will literally become a treasure for cultivators.
Of course, normally most cultivators would not be able to sense it, but the beasts in this minor plane are rather different and have a higher sensitivity, it seems. All of them desire your treasured organs and want to kill you." Xukong explained.
Hearing this, Lin Mu was quite stunned. He had not expected there to be a reason like this.
"Then… does it mean I'll be hunted down all the time now?" Lin Mu questioned.
"No… fortunately, this effect on the beast is only temporary. I reckon it happened due to the aura flare up during your breakthrough. That was like a tribulation, you could say. After all, now that your heart is also refined and you've completed two treasured organs, your body is now equivalent to that of an Adult Soul stage Nascent soul realm cultivator." Xukong answered.
~phew~
Hearing this, Lin Mu took a breath of relief. While he was not that afraid of fighting beasts, if he had to constantly do this, even he would get annoyed. But knowing that this was just a temporary thing felt better to him.
"GUARARAR!" The Ugly beast looked at Lin Mu and shouted at him, spittle flying all over.
Lin Mu blinked at that moment and dodged the disgusting spit.
"Ugh, what is this beast even?" Lin Mu said as he took note of the different features of the beast.
The beast had too many different things on its body, which made it difficult to estimate what kind of a beast it was.
"Huh? That's a Demon beast. It seems like… an impure one though." Xukong spoke.
"That's a demon beast? Aren't they supposed to be a bit more… normal?" Lin Mu said.
"Yeah, as I said, it is impure. While it did manage to awaken its demon bloodline, it was far too impure and muddled. That's why it has so many mixed features and parts. If it had awakened a more pure or refined demon bloodline, it would have looked far more normal." Xukong replied.
Lin Mu had learned about demon beasts before and had also read about them in the memoirs of the Lost Immortal. Demon beasts were nothing but beasts that had the bloodlines of demons in them.
Similar to how humans could have beast bloodlines, the beasts could also have demon bloodlines. This was usually due to a beast having an ancestor that managed to reach a high enough cultivation base so as to transform into a humanoid form.
The offspring of a transformed Beast and Demon was a Demon beast.
