Chapter 049 Bloodline Pressure

The three of them fixed their gazes on the fallen corpse. The leader was a youth with starry eyes and sword-like brows, but his expression was somewhat cold. The vitality within him was astonishing, faintly crackling like wind howling.

"How ruthless, killed with one blow!" exhaled a black-clad youth beside him, slowly speaking, while a hint of killing intent flashed in his eyes.

"Hmph, instead of staying in the cave to improve cultivation, they came out now. Serves them right for dying." A woman in a white dress glanced at the dead beautiful woman, a sneer flickering in her eyes.

"Jiang Yuan, they should have the map of that cave, right?" The leading youth fell silent for a moment, then looked around and frowned, barking out.

"Young clan leader, this..." Jiang Yuan looked at the location, hesitating, unsure in his heart. The Jiang family was also a great clan, and the young clan leader Jiang Ling's talent was astonishing, commanding great prestige among their generation.

"How could they have the cave map? Did Second Uncle give it to them?" The woman beside him scanned the surroundings, her brows shooting up, then stared at the fallen body, scolding, "They deserved to die. They must have gone out to search for the cave while we were converting the ancient energy, and got killed!"

"The map has been taken. No matter what, our Jiang family finally discovered an ancient stronghold's treasure site last time; we must not let outsiders get it." After rummaging through the debris on the ground, a hint of ferocity rose in his eyes. Jiang Ling clenched his fist and barked.

"Right, if the three of us join forces to use the Three-Yuan Sword Formation, even a Holy Son-level figure won't gain any advantage. Besides, those figures are all in seclusion now and won't come out." After thinking for a moment, Jiang Yuan snorted coldly.

Then he flicked his sleeve, and a small green insect appeared in the air, thumb-sized, exuding a bloodthirsty aura. Jiang Yuan took out a bottle from his hand, uncorked it, and a black mist surged out.

Jiang Yuan blew gently, and the black mist drifted into the air. The small insect sniffed it, let out a sharp screech, and flew forward.

"It's indeed the direction of the cave. Hurry, chase!" Seeing the direction, Jiang Ling's expression changed slightly, and he immediately shouted. The three followed the insect and rushed forward.

Along the way, Yang Tian kept dashing, encountering many precious spiritual herbs, several of which were extremely hard to find outside, but their ages were low; most had been picked, leaving only seedlings that had grown to now.

"What kind of beast is this?" Yang Tian's speeding body suddenly halted. Ahead of him stood a beast three zhang tall, entirely cyan, with a horse's mouth, a dragon's tail, and two sesame-sized eyes, glaring at Yang Tian with a ferocious gaze.

"Roar!" With a roar, the beast's eyes shot out hostile light, its aura rising step by step, twice as fierce as beasts of the same level outside.

Gazing at the charging beast, before Yang Tian could move his feet,

"Swoosh!" Suddenly, Xiao Bai, who had been dozing in his robe, abruptly opened his eyes, leaped out, and dashed toward the beast.

"Can this little guy handle it?" Looking at Xiao Bai's tiny body, vastly different from the beast's size, a hint of worry arose in his heart. Just as he was about to rush forward, Yang Tian's eyes widened.

The once arrogant beast now seemed to have met its natural enemy, its aura rapidly shrinking like a deflated ball. It stared at Xiao Bai, fear in its eyes.

"Roar." Letting out low whines, the three-zhang-tall beast seemed greatly wronged, a human-like expression in its eyes, and then it turned and fled.

"Uh..." Seeing this, Yang Tian scratched his head, disbelief in his eyes. The beast clan values hierarchy; usually, low-level beasts flee when they see higher-level ones.

Another reason is the pressure of bloodline. Bloodline is inherited from ancestors; the stronger the ancestor, the greater the bloodline pressure. When fighting beasts of the same level, victory usually goes to those with stronger bloodlines.

"Ao!" Xiao Bai let out a joyful cry, his speed suddenly surging, the vacuum constantly burst by this gust of wind. In less than two breaths, he reached the beast that had run some distance.

That beast grew even more terrified. Before Xiao Bai, it couldn't muster any fighting strength. Xiao Bai's claws directly tore open its skull, blood spurting out instantly.

"A peak first-tier beast, killed in one blow, and without any resistance." Clicking his tongue, Yang Tian admitted he couldn't do it as easily as Xiao Bai.

"What kind of creature is this little guy?" Watching Xiao Bai, who had eaten the inner core and looked unsatisfied, Yang Tian rolled his eyes, patted Xiao Bai's head, and murmured, "Seems this place is good for you; you need to hunt more beasts."

Yang Tian paused here for a while, then dashed toward the direction indicated on the map. All the beasts encountered along the way were killed by Xiao Bai. Yang Tian vaguely sensed that the inner cores here greatly benefited Xiao Bai; with each beast core swallowed, Xiao Bai's physical body strengthened considerably.

Passing through a desolate area, Yang Tian arrived at a jungle. The towering ancient trees around were five or six zhang tall, reaching into the clouds. The ancient energy in the air was much stronger than in the desolate area. Along the way, Yang Tian also noticed many people in seclusion.

"This is the Ancient Forest. From here, several hundred li east is the cave occupied by the Li family..." His gaze fell to the east, a hint of killing intent flashing in Yang Tian's eyes.

"Now is not the time to fight. The Li family must have sent many people." Shaking his head slightly, Yang Tian suppressed the wild thoughts in his mind. With his current cultivation not yet at half-step warrior, his chances of victory against the well-funded Li family's young holy son were slim.

Thinking this, Yang Tian dashed forward. After about three hours, he gradually approached the red circle area marked on the map.

When he reached a dense forest, Yang Tian stopped, examining the ancient tree ahead, which looked no different from the surrounding trees.

"The map marks this place. Could it be an illusion array?" Scanning the ancient tree ahead, Yang Tian frowned slightly. He knew nothing about arrays and had no time to study them. If it was an array, he was helpless.

"Ao wu." At that moment, Xiao Bai suddenly leaped out, his paws landing on Yang Tian's shoulder. His big black eyes looked at the ancient tree ahead, then he let out a few low growls.

"Eh?" Seeing Xiao Bai's action, Yang Tian was momentarily stunned, then a hint of joy appeared on his face. He murmured, "Could this little guy understand arrays?"

"Ao wu." Wagging his tail, Xiao Bai looked as if he understood, then he pushed off with his legs and walked toward the ancient tree, occasionally urging Yang Tian to follow.

"Roar." Standing where two ancient trees intersected, Xiao Bai suddenly roared, his body emitting a holy light, and he floated in the air. Xiao Bai opened his mouth and spat out a white orb of light.

"Sizzle." As soon as the white orb touched the ancient tree, the tree twisted violently. After several consecutive white orbs, the distortion grew more intense, and a crack gradually appeared on the tree.

"That works?" Staring blankly at the torn opening, Yang Tian said incredulously. The opening was big enough for both of them to enter.

"This little guy is truly extraordinary." As Yang Tian and the other disappeared, the area returned to normal, and the crack in the array vanished as well.