Chapter 1280: A Crushing Defeat

Viscous, dark golden liquid flowed slowly on the blood lotus. An ancient, primordial pressure emanated from it, causing the Dragon Spirit Heaven Cave to tremble violently and even show signs of shattering.

Yao Yao and the other Saints, including Jin Yanghuang, all changed their expressions at this moment.

"Sacred God Marrow?!" Jin Yanghuang's deep voice rang out, unable to conceal his shock. "How could this item be in Ancestral Soul Mountain?!"

The Dragon Spirit Heaven Cave is a small space that exists in conjunction with the Myriad Beasts Heaven. Thousands of years ago, when the Saints of Myriad Beasts Heaven discovered it, Ancestral Soul Mountain was already located there.

They had also explored Ancestral Soul Mountain and knew it was formed from a faint wisp of the Ancestral Dragon's remnant soul. The Saints of Myriad Beasts Heaven didn't find this too surprising; after all, the Ancestral Dragon embodied all things. Even after long ages, many traces of the Ancestral Dragon still existed in the world.

These traces created numerous marvels, and Ancestral Soul Mountain was just one of them. Furthermore, during their explorations, they didn't detect any unusual fluctuations within Ancestral Soul Mountain. Eventually, they gradually treated this place as a training ground for Myriad Beasts Heaven.

Yet, they never imagined their explorations would have such a significant oversight, failing to discover the Sacred God Marrow suppressed within Ancestral Soul Mountain!

The so-called Sacred God Marrow naturally originated from the supreme Sacred God of the Saint Race. Such an existence is indestructible; even the divine blood flowing from its body possesses incredibly terrifying vitality. What's more, this marrow is even purer than ordinary divine blood.

A substance of this kind would not be easily discarded by an entity at the Sacred God's level. So, why would this item appear in Ancestral Soul Mountain?

Jin Yanghuang's eyes flickered. Immediately, another Saint from Myriad Beasts Heaven said in a low voice, "Could it be from when the Sacred God launched the world-annihilation war and was severely wounded by the Ancestral Dragon's will?"

Upon hearing this, Jin Yanghuang's heart suddenly trembled. He realized, "That must be it!"

In ancient times, the Sacred God was severely wounded by the Ancestral Dragon's will. If Sacred God Marrow flowed out then, it would be logical. With the Ancestral Dragon's will still lingering, it might have directly moved one strand of Sacred God Marrow to the Dragon Spirit Heaven Cave, then suppressed it with Ancestral Soul Mountain, attempting to completely obliterate it.

However, looking at the Sacred God Marrow now, it was exceptionally active, not at all like something about to be obliterated.

Jin Yanghuang's expression turned stern. He gazed through space, staring at the numerous battle platforms on Ancestral Soul Mountain. A moment later, a flash of insight struck him. His voice then became somewhat strained as he said, "Everyone, I fear we have been lured and manipulated by the Sacred God."

"What do you mean?" The other four Saints of Myriad Beasts Heaven all frowned.

"Ancestral Soul Mountain was formed from a faint wisp of the Ancestral Dragon's remnant soul, its purpose being to suppress and obliterate a strand of the Sacred God's marrow. However, every time the Dragon Spirit Heaven Cave opens, our Myriad Beasts Heaven sends elite seventh-grade cultivators to train there, and then they battle on the Ancestral Soul Mountain platforms, all for the so-called Law Domain Seed."

"But looking at it now, this kind of intense fighting has continuously produced malevolent energy. This malevolent energy accumulated and brewed within Ancestral Soul Mountain, ultimately becoming nourishment for that marrow, allowing it to persist despite Ancestral Soul Mountain's suppression."

"Therefore, I suspect that all of this was a lure from the Sacred God Marrow."

"The Saint who explored the Dragon Spirit Heaven Cave back then, that should have been Great Venerable Meng Yi of the Divine Tiger Clan, right?" Jin Yanghuang's gaze turned to his side, where a towering, muscular figure stood. As he stood there, faint tiger roars emanated, carrying the power to shake the heavens. That was Great Venerable Meng Yi from the Divine Tiger Clan.

Upon hearing this, Meng Yi's rugged face changed slightly. He nodded, "Yes, I was responsible for exploring the Dragon Spirit Heaven Cave back then."

"And later, you also promoted the trials in this Dragon Spirit Heaven Cave, didn't you?" Jin Yanghuang said slowly.

Meng Yi replied, "This matter was indeed beneficial to Myriad Beasts Heaven..."

At this point, his expression became completely grim, as he too sensed something amiss. While, under normal circumstances, the Dragon Spirit Heaven Cave was indeed a good thing for Myriad Beasts Heaven, given his personality, he wouldn't typically be overly enthusiastic about such matters. Yet why had he personally pushed for it?

Jin Yanghuang gave a wry smile and said, "Great Venerable Meng Yi was likely influenced by a subtle suggestion from the Sacred God Marrow. This suggestion guided him to facilitate the trials in the Dragon Spirit Heaven Cave."

"Later, the continuous malevolent energy generated during these battles allowed this marrow to survive. All it had to give in return was the production of some Law Domain Seeds by leveraging the power of the Dragon Spirit Heaven Cave."

The other three Saints of Myriad Beasts Heaven gasped, looking at the Dragon Spirit Heaven Cave's marrow with apprehension and fear. "Is this Sacred God truly terrifying to such an extent? Just a mere strand of marrow can influence even Saints with suggestions?!"

Jin Yanghuang said, "There's no need to think of it as quite so terrifying. Ultimately, it simply hid too deeply. And Great Venerable Meng Yi, upon discovering that the Dragon Spirit Heaven Cave was formed from a faint wisp of the Ancestral Dragon's remnant soul, didn't maintain excessive vigilance. Furthermore, even then, the Sacred God Marrow could only induce by offering benefits. So, it can only be said that this Sacred God Marrow is exceedingly cunning, truly worthy of its origin from *that one*."

"Haha, Jin Yanghuang, you truly have some insight."

At this moment, from the spatial rift, the loud laughter of a Saint from the Saint Race rang out.

"Now that the Sacred Blood Essence has emerged, our mission for today is complete, hahaha, no need to see us off."

As the words fell, the vast power surging from the spatial rift fully receded, and the rift gradually dissipated.

Jin Yanghuang and the others did not stop them, because they knew resistance would be futile. The opponents had merely projected themselves using the "Sacred World Divine Map," and strictly speaking, they hadn't truly entered the Myriad Beasts Heaven.

However, seeing their opponents come and go so freely, Jin Yanghuang and the others naturally felt a degree of suppressed frustration.

In the previous struggle, the opponents had already begun to show signs of exhaustion, but their initial goal was merely to delay. Now that their objective was achieved, there was no longer any need to continue the entanglement, so they withdrew directly and decisively.

"What about the Sacred God Marrow? Should we ignore the Dragon Spirit Heaven Cave and intercept and seal it directly?" Great Venerable Meng Yi's gaze turned to the Sacred God Marrow as he spoke.

"It's too late." Jin Yanghuang shook his head and said, "When this marrow broke through Ancestral Soul Mountain's suppression, it likely already established a connection with its main body; it cannot be stopped."

Under Jin Yanghuang's gaze, the blood lotus above Ancestral Soul Mountain slowly rotated. As it rotated, it rapidly turned illusory.

Finally, in this eerie manner, it gradually vanished directly from everyone's sight.

In the void mirror, Yao Yao merely watched this scene, making no move to stop it, as she also knew that interception would be futile.

And as the blood lotus, carrying the Sacred God Marrow, vanished, the inexplicable chilling pressure that permeated the Dragon Spirit Heaven Cave also rapidly receded.

The Myriad Beasts Heaven personnel within couldn't help but sigh in relief, feeling fortunate as if they had survived a catastrophe.

But Zhou Yuan did not feel this way; instead, his brows furrowed tightly.

Although the Saint Race paid the price of one Saint being severely wounded this time, they still achieved their objective. Their elaborate efforts to retrieve that strand of Sacred God Marrow must indicate a much larger scheme.

Therefore, from any perspective, this time, Myriad Beasts Heaven had been thoroughly outmaneuvered by their opponents.

It was, one might say, a complete defeat.