"Good." The 12th Elder of the Beast Clans nodded in satisfaction. "This trial paves the way for the rest of your lives. You've only just gained your true forms, but don't forget what it means to be a beast…"
The 12th Elder began an impassioned speech that many of the youths turned a deaf ear to. This 12th Elder of theirs really spoke too much.
Just like Dyon's Granny Celest noted, the only reason why celestial beasts hadn't lost their ability to turn into humans from birth was due to their celestial bloodline. However, for every other beast below the supreme grade, one must reach the celestial realm first before gaining a humanoid form.
These 50 geniuses here had recently crossed this threshold. Some just a few months ago, while others had done so decades ago. This symbolic threshold of the beasts was the marker for this trial.
While Dyon's home universe was seemingly only adjacent to one universe, it was actually connected to two. Of course, these two were Chaos Universe and an edge territory of the Uidah. However, on the other side of Chaos Universe was actually an edge territory of the Beast Clans.
This alliance of beasts was known as the Five Crowns Alliance while these geniuses were among the Clans of said alliance.
"… We all have ambitions that we strive for and dreams that we wish to grasp. Never forget your roots, but always seek to improve, to break from your old molds and cocoon into the mature warriors I know you have the potential to be…"
The various beast geniuses rolled their eyes. What kind of beast who remembered their roots was so infatuated by such empty poetry? Wasn't this old man trying to masquerade as a human scholar? A bad scholar at that…
Unfortunately, none of them could say this aloud. The status of 12th Elder was no joke. He was effectively the 12th strongest of the second oldest generation, who would dare call him out on his habits?
Of course, there was also the oldest generation that had long retired from their roles as elders as well, but even taking them into account, this 12th elder was ranked in the top 30 of their whole alliance.
For context, there were only about 50 to 70 of them here. They constituted a generation. If they were to pick out the 12th ranked among them and scale upward by several hundred thousand years… Well, all of them got the picture. After stealing glances at the fifteen youths that stood ahead of them all, their respect for 12th Elder deepened.
They were all geniuses in their own right, but none held a candle to the young masters and mistresses of the Five Crown Clans that formed the center of their alliance.
"… Ah, I've spoken too much." 12th Elder sighed. "Make sure to understand your limits. These Embryonic Infernal Beasts are no joke. Although they are technically ranked as Heaven Grade beasts based on the potential of their bloodlines, this analysis is on a completely different scale than what you're used to. However… their body parts are highly valuable and their meat is highly beneficial to your cultivation.
"That said, only a few of you are capable of directly eating this meat." A rare serious tone escaped the 12th Elder, taking a glance at the 15 who stood proudly at the forefront. "However, the rest of you should store this meat and have it diluted into pills you can take over time. Don't die premature deaths simply because you overestimated yourselves.
"There are less than five of you capable of defeating even the lowest level infernal beast alone, so form teams. If I learn of anyone inadequate travelling alone by choice, even if they come back alive, I'll slaughter them personally!"
12th Elder sighed. "Alright, that's enough. Off you go."
After hours of rambling, 12th Elder finally concluded his rant and sent them off. The youths were so eager that they barely waited for him to finish before surging forward.
"OH AND!" 12th Elder shouted as he watched their receding backs, but that only made them run faster. "REMEMBER THAT THE GATE ENTRANCE IS FLUID. CALCULATE THE NEW LOCATION USING YOUR STAR MAPS!"
**
While 12th Elder was rambling, Dyon was devouring his hard-earned meat. It was almost comical watching his body inflate and deflate like a balloon with every bite. Still, Dyon continued, his runic flame working hard.
While Dyon ate, his flame acted like a metabolizer, burning away the energy into an easier to consume form. Dyon found the state quite interesting.
Although he could feel himself getting stronger, his body cultivation was somehow still stuck at the 1st celestial stage. It was an odd feeling.
Was what he was doing now not body cultivation? Weren't his muscles growing firmer and stronger? So why was his strength increasing while his cultivation remained stagnant?
"I really don't understand much about body cultivation, huh?" Dyon mumbled to himself.
What was happening now basically made his assessment of his body's grade useless. Wasn't he certain that he was a first-grade body cultivator after awakening his constitution? So why did it seem that he was steadily increasing his grade still? What the hell was above the first grade?
The more Dyon ate, the lighter the burden of his body weight became. He had been at half a million jin, but now he felt like he could increase this by a few thousand.
'Hm?' Dyon paused as he suddenly ran into something hard and round within the infernal beast's meat. 'What's this?'