A teleportation array disk was tossed out by Boyan West, and above it, a circular portal three zhang wide appeared.
"Everyone, enter the portal now. Once you come out, you'll be directly inside Savage Beast Gorge." Boyan West pointed at the portal and, after speaking, stepped aside.
The prodigies on the plaza stepped into the portal one after another. Joe Di was about to follow when Jason May swept past him, entering the portal first.
Joe Di watched Jason May's back and sneered inwardly. How arrogant must this guy be to dare leave a divine sense mark on him—especially with such swift technique?
However, Joe Di didn't bother to remove the divine sense mark and stepped into the teleportation array after everyone else.
With a tremor underfoot, Joe Di landed and immediately saw the massive entrance to the gorge ahead. Just one zhang outside the entrance stood a stone stele, inscribed: "True Domain Forbidden Ground, Savage Beast Gorge."
It turned out to be a forbidden ground. Joe Di did not rush in immediately, while most of the other cultivators landed and charged straight into Savage Beast Gorge without hesitation.
Joe Di remained still, watching as Jason May approached him. If Jason May dared to make a move here, Joe Di wouldn’t mind dealing with him ahead of time.
"Joe Di, I'm sorry." Before Jason May reached Joe Di, Joanna Brooks had already stepped in front of Joe Di.
Seeing Joe Di and Joanna Brooks talking, Jason May shot Joe Di a cold look, then turned and entered Savage Beast Gorge. Joe Di must die, and it's even better to kill him inside Savage Beast Gorge.
"Sorry for what? You didn't do anything wrong at the time." Joe Di looked at Joanna Brooks in confusion. In that critical moment, he had thrown her out to save her—because saving even one life was worth it.
Joanna Brooks shook her head. "It's not that. You saved my life, but my Brooks Family still wants to kill you."
Joe Di's expression instantly turned cold. To be so ungrateful—this was going too far.
Joanna Brooks looked somewhat ashamed. "My brother, Victor Brooks, fell at Cultivator's Mount, and you didn't bring him down the mountain. The Brooks Family wants to blame you for it. If it weren't for you in the Desolate River Forbidden Zone, I wouldn't be alive. But my abilities are too weak, so what I say in the Brooks Family..."
She truly had no way out. She'd seen the footage of her brother trying to snatch Joe Di's ring—it was true that Victor Brooks had confronted Joe Di. No matter how you looked at it, it was her brother who wanted what Joe Di possessed and ended up dying at Cultivator's Mount. Blaming Joe Di for Victor's death was a stretch. She also knew that if Joe Di hadn't been at Cultivator's Mount, Victor Brooks probably wouldn't have gone to his death.
Only now did Joe Di recall his grudge with the Brooks Family. Victor Brooks had tried to chop off his arm and take his ring at Cultivator's Mount—naturally, Joe Di felt no goodwill toward him, nor would he ever have brought Victor Brooks down the mountain.
Joe Di could tell this had nothing to do with Joanna Brooks. He said calmly, "When I was in the Desolate River Forbidden Zone, you helped me too. Now our debts are settled—you don't owe me anything. But there's one thing I need you to tell the Brooks Family."
"What is it?" Joanna Brooks asked instinctively.
"Your brother died because he was too greedy—it had nothing directly to do with me. If the Brooks Family tries to come after me, don't blame me for being ruthless." With that, Joe Di stepped into Savage Beast Gorge.
Joanna Brooks was stunned and shook her head helplessly. She knew Joe Di was tough—if he weren't, he wouldn't have offered her a fifty-fifty split back then. But she also knew that such toughness meant nothing in front of the Brooks Family. Joe Di probably didn't realize just how powerful her family really was.
There's a saying: 'The ignorant are fearless.' Maybe it was made for Joe Di. Back in the Desolate River Forbidden Zone, when he met her, if it had been someone else, after Joe Di suggested a fifty-fifty split, they would have just subdued him and forced him to help.
...
Such dense spiritual energy! Before Joe Di even landed, he was swept by an overwhelming surge of spiritual energy—Savage Beast Gorge was actually a cultivation paradise.
Boom! A terrifying burst of true essence struck Joe Di's right side; he didn't even have time to dodge and took the hit head-on.
Joe Di spat a mouthful of blood in midair, and the Azure Veil Blade swept out in a brilliant arc.
Bang! The true essence exploded; Joe Di's blade forced the attacking fiend beast back, and he landed on the ground.
When he swept out with his divine sense again, the fiend beast that had just ambushed him was already gone. Here, his divine sense was obstructed—he could only sense within a hundred zhang radius.
That fiend beast was definitely a peak ninth-level beast. If he hadn't perfected his body refinement, that strike would have shattered his physical body.
Savage Beast Gorge was truly a forbidden ground—no exaggeration. Before the ambush, he hadn't sensed even a trace of killing intent.
Joe Di took a deep breath. Even here, his divine sense could only sweep a hundred zhang, which meant ordinary prodigies couldn't sense beyond a single zhang—many couldn't even project their divine sense outward.
A lightning-fast shadow suddenly appeared in Joe Di's divine sense. Before he could identify what kind of fiend beast it was, it lunged straight at him.
Getting ambushed once was understandable, but twice? That would be strange. With a flick of the Azure Veil Blade, Joe Di unleashed a wave of blade energy.
Bang! The blade wave struck the charging fiend beast, spraying a mist of blood. The beast seemed baffled that Joe Di could sense its ambush. After being hit by the Azure Veil Blade, it turned to flee, but Joe Di moved faster, appearing before it. With a reverse sweep of his blade, another blood mist erupted—the fiend beast was slain instantly.
Joe Di picked out a beast core—it was another ninth-level fiend beast. He was about to store it in his True Spirit World when, suddenly, the beast vanished without a trace.
An illusion? Joe Di immediately knew it wasn't—there was still blood in the air, and the beast core was in his hand.
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The beast core radiated strong blood energy—definitely a ninth-level fiend beast.
After putting the beast core away, Joe Di was certain Boyan West had lied—the death rate here was definitely higher than forty percent. If his strength had been any lower, he might already be dead.
Joe Di unleashed his full divine sense—within a hundred zhang, nothing could escape his perception.
Two cultivators appeared within Joe Di's divine sense. They were likely True Domain prodigies, moving cautiously with shields on their backs. Even though Joe Di was just a dozen zhang away, they didn't notice him at all.
After just a few breaths, another fiend beast appeared in Joe Di's divine sense. This time, it didn't attack him, but pounced on one of the cautious cultivators he sensed.
Bang! The cultivator's round shield was knocked away by the fiend beast. Only then did the cultivator react, trying to summon his magic weapon, but the beast's claw had already shattered his skull. A prodigy at the Tribulation Birth Stage was killed by a ninth-level fiend beast just like that.
Joe Di sighed inwardly—thank goodness he hadn't brought Geng Ji here. This place was far too sinister.
Seeing the fiend beast about to devour the cultivator, Joe Di stepped forward and struck with the Azure Veil Blade. The blade's force instantly enveloped the beast—it could easily kill a Tribulation Birth prodigy, but it couldn't escape Joe Di's blade.
Swish! The blade light swept through, and Joe Di collected another beast core.
What unnerved Joe Di was that not only did the fiend beast's body vanish, but even the slain Tribulation Birth cultivator disappeared without a trace.
What a bizarre place. He finally understood—snatching things here was pointless. If you killed another prodigy, their body and ring would vanish, so there was no way to take their beast core.
Joe Di carefully examined the spots where the beast and the cultivator had disappeared—it was just ordinary ground, nothing unusual at all.
Unable to figure out why the bodies vanished, Joe Di grew even more cautious, spreading his divine sense across the ground. If any danger appeared, he'd immediately escape without hesitation.
A huge stone appeared in Joe Di's divine sense. When he scanned it, he discovered the stone actually had a trace of life force.
A phantom beast? Joe Di was instantly certain—that was exactly what it was.
Phantom beasts were highly valuable, whether for their beast cores or body materials. At this moment, Joe Di even suspected the True Domain had set the second round of the Prodigy Trials in Savage Beast Gorge just to collect phantom beast cores.
He wanted that phantom beast core. As Joe Di swept out with the Azure Veil Blade, before he could strike, a wave of deadly intent washed over him. His scalp tingled with shock; he couldn't bother with the beast that had disguised itself as a stone—he immediately dodged away.
Crack! Two massive fangs pierced Joe Di's waist. He lashed out with a heavy kick, and the fangs instantly let go—even a phantom beast couldn't evade Joe Di's kick. Ignoring his own wounds, he lunged forward and slashed with his blade.
This time he used the Bleakwind Blade. The Azure Veil Blade's intent surged into an unstoppable killing aura, enveloping the fading shadow in the void.
Swish! Blood mist exploded as the fading shadow was cleaved by the Azure Veil Blade. With a flick of the blade tip, Joe Di picked up another beast core.
Joe Di didn't bother with the phantom beast's corpse. Shifting aside, he struck again with the Azure Veil Blade at the beast disguised as a stone.
Maybe the phantom beast hadn't expected Joe Di's divine sense to detect it. It kept trying to ambush him, but ended up being ambushed by Joe Di instead.
The huge stone burst into a mist of blood—Joe Di collected yet another phantom beast core.
Both phantom beast corpses vanished, and Joe Di breathed a sigh of relief. These phantom beasts were truly impossible to guard against—even his tough body had been bitten twice. If not for his heavy kick, those fangs would have closed and he'd have lost half his body.
Such a massive phantom beast, yet it had hidden itself as a wild blade of grass at his feet—who could have guessed?