Chapter 1320: Bull King Breakthrough

"During your breakthrough, it's best not to use the inherent power of the Beast Emperor lineage within you. You understand what I mean."

Of course, King Niu was no fool. Having reached his current stature, he was well aware of the situation.

This was precisely why he had never attempted to cultivate the inherited power of the Beast Emperor lineage within him: he did not want the Mad Ox clan to fall under the true control of the Beast Emperor.

This breakthrough was also the most crucial step for King Niu to completely free himself from the Beast Emperor's influence. After a deep gaze with Xu Yang, King Niu no longer hesitated, immediately entering a state of absolute calm for cultivation.

Finding his desired rhythm, he immediately immersed himself in the breakthrough, frantically mobilizing the scarce life force remaining within him.

An intense aura of power began to regenerate within King Niu's injured flesh, and the inherent life force in his body awakened furiously at that moment. Powerful shockwaves of energy emanated from King Niu's body, one after another.

As expected, his breakthrough immediately triggered an instinctive resistance from the Beast Emperor lineage power within him. King Niu instinctively frowned.

However, at that moment, he was utterly powerless to expel the hindering force from the Beast Emperor lineage within his body. It was at this critical juncture...

...Xu Yang acted without hesitation. He condensed his spiritual power into the shape of a massive palm print and plunged it into King Niu's body, forcibly extracting that powerful inherited Beast Emperor energy from the old Mad Ox.

Only then did he help King Niu break through the greatest obstacle in his bloodline during the breakthrough process.

Motivated by this narrow escape and rebirth, King Niu pushed his breakthrough state to its maximum.

After several consecutive roars from the Mad Ox, King Niu's entire body finally emanated a new layer of pale golden light. With the appearance of this light, King Niu's physical body rapidly healed under the surge of newfound power. In less than half an hour,

King Niu manifested his perfect new form. He had finally completed this crucial breakthrough, achieving the status of the strongest First Warrior among the Ten Guardian Kings.

"Hahaha, congratulations!"

King Niu had finally succeeded in his breakthrough. He slowly opened his eyes, but the first thing he did was to approach Xu Yang. He respectfully knelt on one knee before Xu Yang, cupping his hands in salute.

Then, using a ritual exclusive to the Mad Ox clan, he respectfully placed his proud ox horns near Xu Yang's feet.

This was a profound bow King Niu had performed only once before, when he accepted the leadership of the Old Mad Ox. Now, it was enacted once more for Xu Yang.

"If it weren't for your guidance and help, I would have perished just now. Indeed, as we suspected, the inherited power of the Beast Emperor lineage, though seemingly a support for each of us Ten Guardian Kings,

is in fact a surveillance mechanism and a time bomb implanted within us. It fundamentally suppresses the further enhancement of our individual strengths.

Just now, when I was attempting to break through, this power was frantically suppressing my bloodline potential.

Had you not intervened in time to strip it from my body, given my extremely weakened state, any further delay would have made this breakthrough impossible, and I would have inevitably perished."

Xu Yang nodded with a smile. "Yes, that's right. And I also discovered something during your breakthrough just now.

Although the inherent power of the Beast Emperor lineage can impose strong restraints on each of you, to truly trigger a counter-attack from this power, or to activate the awakening mark sealed on you,

it must be triggered only when your life force is nearing depletion.

In other words, as long as you Ten Guardian Kings are not completely killed by external forces, this inherent power sealed within your bodies will not be easily triggered.

This is precisely why I was able to strip this power from you.

If that power had already been activated just now, even with my timely intervention, you would not have escaped death."

The old Mad Ox was now filled with lingering fear, but thankfully, it was all over. Without Xu Yang's help, he would never have encountered such a tremendous opportunity.

With Xu Yang's gentle support, King Niu stood upright again and solemnly handed this inherited power to Xu Yang.

As before, Xu Yang then transferred this third source of inherited power into Xiao Hua's body.

"Sir, I have a concern, and I'm not sure if I should voice it.

I am well aware that your true purpose in coming to the Extreme Northern Wildlands is to find clues related to the Heart of the Sacred Beast.

These clues are either sealed within these inherited powers, or the Beast Emperor lineage themselves hold the true secrets. You will undoubtedly face more battles in the Extreme Northern Wildlands moving forward.

However, the clash between you and me earlier has likely disturbed other tribes to some extent.

It may have even alerted the Beast Emperor lineage. Therefore, your path forward will likely become much more challenging.

It's even possible that the other Ten Guardian Kings, those leaders still under the Beast Emperor's control, might band together to counter your invasion."

Xu Yang could tell that the old Mad Ox's concern for his team was genuine, and he offered a slight smile.

He patted King Niu's shoulder. "Don't worry, brother. You don't need to be concerned about us. No matter what situation we encounter, our team can easily resolve it.

Besides, if the leaders of those major regions truly gather together temporarily,

it would actually be a good thing for us. That way, we could gather all ten inherent Beast Emperor powers much faster." King Niu, hearing Xu Yang's supremely confident and powerful response, shook his head with a helpless, wry smile. "Alas, perhaps only someone of your power level can possess such a way of thinking.

All I can do is offer advice as an observer. Ultimately, I just hope you all take care. After all, to me, you are no longer enemies of the Mad Ox clan, but our benefactors."

After King Niu finished speaking, he provided Xu Yang and his companions with new guidance for their upcoming journey. Simultaneously, a large, expansive area was revealed on the map in Xu Yang's hand.

This time was different from before; three regional map locations had awakened simultaneously on the map.

"Holy cow, boss! We've hit the jackpot this time; such a huge area on the map has awakened at once!"

Qing Long and the others were visibly surprised, while Xu Yang's expression became a bit more serious. "This may not necessarily be a good thing for us. Waking up such a large map area at once makes our search scope much wider, potentially wasting more time.

Look closely at these three large awakened areas. They are almost all the most treacherous battlegrounds in the entire Extreme Northern Wildlands." Everyone nodded gravely, finding Xu Yang's assessment and foresight very reasonable.

"In any case, we've bitten off the hardest bone and defeated the Mad Ox clan. Now, we should quicken our pace, because the commotion from your battle with the old Mad Ox earlier was too significant. I'm truly worried that the Beast Emperor lineage might make a move against us prematurely."