Chapter 9: Purgatory of Mutant Beasts (Part 2)

Gradually, Guo Shier saw the snow mountain clearly. In horror, he said, “This isn’t some damn snow mountain—it’s a bone mountain!”
Hong Yuguang asked, “Look at the top of the mountain! What’s that?”
Guo Shier narrowed his eyes. After a while, he said, “It’s a black rock… It must be really huge…”
When the five of them got within dozens of kilometers, the herd of mutant beasts clearly became agitated and sped toward the foot of the mountain. Often, before even reaching the base, they began fighting among themselves. The scene was extremely spectacular—even as they fought, they kept rushing toward the mountain foot.
Guo Shier looked down in shock and said, “Damn, this ice surface…”
The ice surface wasn’t white at all but dark black with a dull red tint—it was ice formed from blood. There were also some black ice blocks on the ground, which Guo Shier immediately deduced to be chunks of flesh torn off by the battles.
Countless mutant beasts fought around the foot of the mountain. Most strangely, those severely injured would desperately climb up the bone mountain, only to die there. Their blood flowed down like waterfalls, quickly cooling to form layers of blood-red ice. Some highly powerful mutant and abominable beasts would climb to extremely high places before dying quietly.
The battles were brutal—thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions of mutant beasts fighting each other. The scene shocked the five of them greatly. They exchanged glances. After a while, Li Ran said, “What the hell is this? It’s really scary. Thankfully, it has no effect on us…”
Guo Shier muttered to himself, “Damn, this is a goldmine! So many abominable and mutant beasts dying—how much soul energy there must be…” Not only was he envious, but even Zhen Wuji and Li Ran were jealous. No professional could remain indifferent to seeing so many souls, especially those of high-level mutant beasts.
Hong Mu asked worriedly, “If we charge in, will it provoke an attack from the mutant beasts?”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Let Brother Li Ran give it a try. If there’s no attack, we’ll go up. If there is, with Brother Li Ran’s strength, he can get us out.”
Li Ran laughed and said, “You little rascal. Fine, I’ll give it a try. Keep an eye out. If the mutant beasts don’t attack, just charge in right away.” He suddenly teleported away.
Guo Shier stared at the area where the abominable beasts were fighting. Sure enough, Li Ran reappeared. As soon as he showed up, he flew upward toward the mountain, where there were countless abominable and mutant beasts on the verge of death—perfect places to collect soul energy.

Zhen Wuji took just a few glances before he couldn’t hold back and said, “I’ll give it a try too.”
About fifteen minutes later, Hong Yuguang said, “The mutated beasts don’t care at all. Guo Shier, are you going by yourself or with us?”
Guo Shier replied, “I’ll go by myself!”
Hong Yuguang said, “Okay.” He and Hong Mum flew off.
Only then did Guo Shier bring out the altar, shrinking it to a very small size—just big enough for him to sit on, like a folded table, looking unremarkable. The handsome old man poked his head out and said, “Great opportunity, Shier. You take charge of Gu Xi Bi to collect Soul Beads, while I’ll search for rare mutated and aberrant beasts. Hehe, we’re bound to get a lot this time—enough Soul Beads to help you advance to the ninth-tier altar.”
Guo Shier asked, “Weren’t we already done collecting enough?”
The handsome old man retorted, “Pah, who said that?”
Guo Shier was speechless. He steered the altar into the chaotic battlefield. Suddenly, a thick tail lashed out, scaring Guo Shier into leaping away. Only then did he see an aberrant dragon-type beast frantically attacking a mutated talisman beast nearby. He hurriedly fled.
The handsome old man said, “That was close! Kid, stay focused!”
Although the mutated beasts didn’t attack Guo Shier, the battles between them were fierce. Moving through them required extreme caution; even a slight mistake could get him caught in the crossfire. If hit, he might not die, but he’d lose half his strength.
Guo Shier used the altar to find gaps among the mutated beasts, constantly ordering Gu Xi Bi to collect Soul Beads. There were also many dead mutated beasts here, but not many. He tried his best to get away from this fighting crowd.
Punches, bites, tears, roars, swipes, collisions—each mutated beast used every trick in its arsenal to attack everything around it. Due to their close proximity, they couldn’t use many tactics, making them extremely aggressive. Some could even use instinctive talisman techniques desperately in the chaos. Though these techniques could kill many mutated beasts, they also drained their strength, leaving them unable to use them again.
Guo Shier focused hard, knowing he couldn’t afford to be careless. He dodged perilously through the beast herd.
In just a short while, Guo Shier was deep in the battlefield at the foot of the mountain. Continuous dangers left him exhausted. He kept communicating with the handsome old man, “Old man, this is deadly… Ugh, damn it… It’s all legs… I can’t stay here long… Get out!”

Guo Shieru darted under the belly of a mutated beast. At a glance, it was covered densely with thick thighs. The sound of footsteps made his ears ring, scaring him into immediately fleeing.
The handsome old man also kept shouting, “Move aside! Damn it… get out of the way!”
Their cries couldn’t reach the altar at all; the noises around them were thunderous. Guo Shieru was drenched in sweat, and the handsome old man’s soul trembled in panic—things here were too chaotic.
The handsome old man roared, “Kid, if you can’t get out now… things will get really bad!”
Guo Shieru shouted back, “I know… but damn it, I can’t find the way!” They had to shout to hear each other clearly; actually, they were both a bit panicked. Soul vibrations would allow better communication, but the chaos around them filled their ears with chaotic noises, like being in a noisy market with all sounds amplified a hundredfold.
He couldn’t use the Moon Blade to slash but only to block, and he relied on the tentacles of Guxi Bi for protection. Guo Shieru flailed around like a headless fly. Fortunately, both his size and that of the altar were tiny, so he could always find gaps to pass through among the massive mutated beasts. Though extremely dangerous, he would eventually escape their grasp.
Guo Shieru’s face was covered in sweat—not from fear, but from intense concentration. He couldn’t attack; he could only dodge. This bizarre situation was the first he had ever encountered. After much struggle, he finally reached the foot of the mountain, where the battle was even fiercer. The mutated beasts here were mostly injured, making them ferocious and wildly aggressive.
All sorts of instinctive talisman techniques flew around, and the expanding ripples reminded Guo Shieru of the war in his past life, with its bombardment-filled battlefields—only a hundred times more intense. As soon as he saw something resembling talisman fire falling, it was met by ice spears that sent sparks flying. Poor Guo Shieru could only defend passively. The umbrella-shaped sacrificial treasure emitted a strong glow—its defensive talisman light after being attacked.
Not only did Guo Shieru use the sacrificial treasure to block, but Guxi Bi also used its tentacles. In an instant, hundreds of tentacles transformed into spiritual forms before being absorbed back by Guxi Bi to regenerate new tentacles.
Guo Shieru had many sacrificial treasures at his disposal, and with the help of the handsome old man, the two kept dodging on the battlefield at the foot of the mountain. Thankfully, they weren’t facing the beasts head-on, and their attacks weren’t aimed at them. Even so, Guo Shieru was in a dire situation. He tried hard to fly up the slope, willing to take extra detours to reach the mountain, knowing it was the relatively safer place.

At least about 20% of the mutated beasts and aberrant beasts here are dragon-type, with various dragon-type mutated beasts abound. This is because dragon-type beasts are among the strongest among all beast species, more prone to mutation and advancement, which is why there are always many dragon-type mutated beasts and aberrant beasts among them.

Right in Guo Shier’s sight was an extremely powerful dragon-type beast—a mutated Tyrannosaurus Dragon, at the 16th level. At least a dozen mutated beasts had died around it, but it was also severely injured and was furiously attacking a Mountain Snow Ape. This Mountain Snow Ape was an aberrant beast, slightly lower in level at only 15, but it was a giant of the snowy mountains, born and raised in an icy world, skilled at utilizing ice and snow. With fewer injuries, it was fighting fiercely against the Tyrannosaurus Dragon.

The problem was that the battle between the two aberrant beasts blocked Guo Shier’s path, forcing him to keep moving around. It was impossible to bypass them, and he and the Altar had become entangled in their fight.

The Tyrannosaurus Dragon was 2,000 meters long, while the Mountain Snow Ape was not far behind, at 1,500 meters tall. But that wasn’t even the worst—what really mattered was that the Mountain Snow Ape’s shoulders were 800 meters wide. When it stood upright, it was almost indistinguishable from a mountain, terrifying beyond measure.

The Mountain Snow Ape had already been struck repeatedly by the Tyrannosaurus Dragon’s thick tail, leaving its body covered in wounds and looking grotesque. Just as the Tyrannosaurus Dragon tried to strike again with its tail, the Mountain Snow Ape grabbed its thick tail, roared loudly, and actually spun around the 2,000-meter-long Tyrannosaurus Dragon.

Guo Shier was stunned. The old man shouted, “Dodge!”

The Altar shot upward like a rocket, just avoiding the Tyrannosaurus Dragon’s flying body. Instantly, countless attacks surged toward it, scaring Guo Shier into a scream. He immediately controlled the Altar to dive downward.

The Mountain Snow Ape roared as it spun the Tyrannosaurus Dragon aside and then smashed the two giant mutated beasts away. The Tyrannosaurus Dragon roared in anger, twisted its body sharply, and bit down fiercely on the Mountain Snow Ape’s neck.

With a loud crack, the Mountain Snow Ape freed one hand and pushed hard. The Tyrannosaurus Dragon’s jaws bit into its shoulder, then its body straightened abruptly, instantly pulling the Mountain Snow Ape down. With a thunderous crash, the Mountain Snow Ape fell onto the ice. It roared, turned its head, and bit hard into the side of the Tyrannosaurus Dragon’s face. The two rolled across the ice like thunder rolling across the land.

Seizing this opportunity, Guo Shier steered the Altar over. Still shaken, he said, “Damn, it’s really fierce.”

The handsome old man said, “Damn it, you scared the old man to death! Kid, if you slow down any more, there’ll be another altar there…”
Guo Shier said, “Hurry up, we need to clear some space here…” He looked up and saw that Li Ran and Zhen Wuji had already reached very high places, with Hong Yuguang and his wife ahead as well. He couldn’t help but exclaim, “They’re really fast!”
Beyond the foot of the mountain, Guo Shier’s altar climbed up the slope. At this point, most of the mutated beasts appeared listless but still climbed frantically upward. From time to time, mutated beasts could be seen dead from exhaustion. Then, Guo Shier would fly up using his altar and use the tentacles of Gu Xi Bi to extract their souls.
Layers of corpses piled up like mountains. Guo Shier shuddered in horror and said, “How many mutated beasts have died here?”
The handsome old man replied, “Stop counting. It’s impossible to calculate.”
Beneath the corpses, countless bones could be faintly seen, intertwined in the ice and snow.
Guo Shier felt an extreme sense of unease in his soul. He said, “This place is filled with soul fragments. Old man, can you feel it?”
The handsome old man replied, “Strange. The souls of these dead mutated beasts haven’t completely dissipated, nor have they formed soul beasts. What does this mean? I can’t figure it out…”
Gu Xi Bi kept extending its tentacles, waving them around randomly in the air. Guo Shier noticed that Gu Xi Bi was extremely excited because it knew its master only wanted complete souls, not those fragments. These fragments were its food, but there were so many here that it was thrilled and devoured them frantically.
The handsome old man warned, “It’s still not safe here. Hurry up and go up!”
Guo Shier slapped his altar and said, “Okay!” The altar quickly climbed uphill. He secretly hoped to discover something on the mountain.