Rise of the Demon God

"You want me to intentionally injure them?" Zhu Chang asked. 

"That's not difficult. I can do it, but what's difficult is collecting blood at that moment. I'm sure I'll injure them during battle, but how can I collect blood right there without being noticed?" 

"That's just what we need to work on. But at least we have a plan now," Long Chen let out. "We should be able to find a solution to that problem before your battle as well."

"Sigh, I can't guarantee anything. Just know that I'll be mostly focused on battle. I'll probably forget everything else at that time. Don't keep your hope high," Zhu Chang lazily said.

He continued flying towards the top. 

Before long, they reached the top of the mountain. 

"Here we are," Zhu Chang said, landing on the ground, looking at the thousands of people that were on top of the mountain, which seemed to be more like a massive arena for some reason. 

It was a ten-kilometre-long arena that looked off at the top of the mountain.

The entire arena was surrounded by the statues from all sides. And each of these statues belonged to a Black Tortoise. 

The people on the top of the mountain were more focused on the statues.

Most of the people had made groups before specific statues that they preferred. They were sitting there, meditating before the statue of their choice. 

"This is Plum Blossom Mountain? It's a meditation ground?" Long Chen asked, frowning. 

"It's not a meditation ground. It's much more than that," Zhu Chang let out. "It's the Inheritance Ground."

"What?" Long Chen asked. 

"Each of these statues... They contain a soup fragment of my ancestors. Each statue belongs to one of my ancestors. Before dying, each of the Godly Beast Kings in my clan comes here and carves a statue with their own hands and leaves their soul fragment behind."

"One day, my father will come here as well. And someday in the future, it'll be my turn," Zhu Chang said, sighing. 

"Anyways, each of my Ancestors was a powerful being. They all carved their own path, making themselves different from the crowd."

"Each of them made a powerful skill of their own that was their most prized skill. They relied on their self made skills more than the skills they learnt in the clan."

"Also, none of them left any trace on how to learn that skill in the clan for their descendants. The only information about those skills are in the statues. That's why all these people come here to meditate here in hopes that they'll get to learn the skills."

"In any case, even if they don't get the skills, they certainly grow their strength and understanding of this world by meditating here."

"So all Godly Beast Kings make a skill of their own?" Long Chen asked. "Did your father make one as well?"

"Yep. He did."

"And you?"

"I still haven't achieved that feat. All my skills are what I learnt in the clan, but I'm still working on it. Maybe one day... I still have a lot of time after all," Zhu Chang answered. 

"I still don't understand one thing though. Why were you acting like it's a dangerous place for the weak? Why did you say we were going to need Revival Talisman? It's just a meditation ground, no matter what you call it."

"Also, did you seriously destroy half the mountain? And the statues still remained safe?"

"Yeah. Fortunately," Zhu Chang let out, scratching the back of his head. "I think it's because they are special. Even though half the mountain was destroyed, they still survived."

"But my father really scolded me for it. For no reason at all."

"Anyways, the reason I asked you to bring the talisman and called it a dangerous place is because of something else. You still haven't seen it. What you're seeing is just the tip of the iceberg," Zhu Chang said, smiling. 

"Do you want to meditate before the statues and test your luck? You might learn their skills," he further suggested. "Or you want to see why I brought you here first?"

"I think I've already trained enough. I don't have much strength to attempt again," Long Chen answered, shaking his head. 

"Good then. Come," Zhu Chang said, smiling. 

He started walking towards the center of the arena. Long Chen followed him but noticed that Xun was standing in her place, looking at one specific statue. 

"Xun? What happened?" Long Chen asked Xun. 

"Huh? Nothing." Xun shook her head. 

"You were looking at it. Did you notice something?" Long Chen asked. 

"I do remember seeing him before," Xun said, keeping her voice low. "He's in my memories."

"Something related to Tian Shen?" Long Chen asked. 

"Yeah. From what I can remember, he and Tian Shen fought once. Tian Shen left him injured, but he was also hurt. So he had to escape. At least that's according to my memories," Xun said, sighing. "Maybe this is also a fake memory. I can't confirm it.'

"Let me ask him," Long Chen said 

"Zhu Chang!" He called out, catching up to Zhu Chang. 

"Can you tell me more about that Ancestor of yours?" Long Chen asked, pointing towards the statue on his right.

"Ah, Ancestor Zhu Qi. A great and powerful beast. He is known as one of the strongest Godly Beast Kings. Moreover, his barrier was said to be impenetrable. Even the Dragons weren't able to penetrate his barrier," Zhu Chang said. 

"He only suffered one loss in his entire lifetime," he continued. 

"Who defeated him?" Long Chen asked. 

"I don't know. Actually, no one knows. One day, he simply returned injured. His right hand was missing, and he was poisoned as well. People asked him again and again who did it to him, but he never answered."

"All he said was that he lost... It's still a mystery who defeated him. I don't think it was the Dragon Clan or the White Tiger Clan. But only they can be strong enough to defeat him."

"A few days after returning, he came to this mountain and carved the statue before transferring his Godly Core to his son, Ancestor Li. His statue is right beside him. Anyways, why are you asking about him? Do you feel an affinity with him?" Zhu Chang asked. 

"Ah, no. I just felt like his aura was really powerful. I wonder who could have defeated him. So he left no clue?" Long Chen asked. 

"None that I heard about. Who knows. There might be some clues that are only passed from Leader to Leader," Zhu Chang shrugged.. "A thing like that has never happened since then."