Just like the last time when he faced the shackles of skin refinement, Ye Tian had now encountered the shackles of flesh refinement. Within a few hours, Ye Tian broke through these barriers, successfully surpassing the limitations of refining his flesh.
"Indeed, my strength talent is merging with my muscles, albeit slowly. I suppose I'll only know what's happening once I've fully established a perfect foundation," Ye Tian mused to himself.
At present, his talents for strength and defense had reached the peak levels. He had also broken through the limitations of refining skin and flesh. Next, he aimed to find higher-level or peak-level bone talents. However, such talents were difficult to find because they were exceedingly rare; only a handful of ferocious beasts possessed them. Among them was the Diamond Beast.
"Diamond Beasts usually live in groups. If I find a group of them, I can assimilate a top-tier Diamond Bone talent. However, finding such a group in the vast Cloud Sea (Yunhai) Forest is difficult, especially considering the presence of king-level beings deep within. If the Diamond Beasts reside there, it's unlikely that I'll be able to acquire their bone talent. But, there's still hope; someone once captured a Diamond Beast in Yunhai Forest," Ye Tian contemplated.
Left with no other options, Ye Tian had to pin his hopes on the Diamond Bone talent of the Diamond Beasts. He already possessed a high-level Diamond Bone talent; duplicating it twice would achieve his goal, making it far easier than searching for another type of high-level bone talent.
Next, Ye Tian embarked on a journey to find the Diamond Beasts. However, on the third day, he ran into a group of people. The group comprised around 40 individuals, including 5 grandmasters and 35 peak martial artists. These five grandmasters were not ordinary; they were considerably more powerful than the ones Ye Tian had killed last time.
Within the group of 35 peak martial artists, a few displayed talents for offensive abilities, making them a formidable force. Nevertheless, Ye Tian could sense disharmony among them—complete lack of discipline—and noticed that they seemed to be searching for something.
Hoping to acquire information about the Diamond Beasts from them, Ye Tian deliberately crossed paths with the group.
"Halt!" A grandmaster shouted upon noticing Ye Tian.
"What is it? I'm busy searching for Diamond Beasts," Ye Tian feigned.
"Searching for Diamond Beasts?" Several grandmasters perked up, chuckling. "You, a peak martial artist, aim to tackle a Diamond Beast? They're incredibly hard to kill and have high-level Diamond Bone talent. One slap from them could reduce you to dust."
"I have my methods," Ye Tian confidently responded.
"Really? Do you have any special talents? Our team is short of members. We're about to confront a formidable beast king. According to intelligence, this beast king has a few Diamond Beasts under it," one of the grandmasters said.
"Is that true?" Ye Tian inquired, skeptical.
"Of course it's true. Why would I lie to a peak martial artist like you? However, if your skills are lacking, you won't qualify to join us," another grandmaster added.
Ye Tian demonstrated his speed, although he only showed 18-fold acceleration, equivalent to an basic speed talent.
"Basic speed talent, not bad. You're qualified to join us!" exclaimed the five grandmasters in unison.
With such a talent, and being a peak martial artist, Ye Tian was deemed capable enough to handle a plethora of high-level ferocious beasts. They were going to confront a beast king that commanded numerous high-level beasts, leaving the high-level beasts for the martial artists to tackle.
"Beast king? Could it be a king-level entity?" Ye Tian questioned.
Of course, he was quite certain that the beast king they were talking about wasn't king-level. If it were, this group wouldn't dare to confront it and would have fled long ago.
He had asked on purpose. "How could it possibly be the Beast King? If it were the Beast King, all of us together would still be no match for him. Little guy, don't worry. The strength of the five of us Grandmasters is more than enough to deal with the Beast King. You'll be safe, I assure you. Once this is over, we'll give you treasures worth 5 billion."
Several Grandmasters promised. 5 billion! For a great warrior, this was certainly a huge sum. Few would turn down such an amount.
However, Ye Tian didn't believe that these Grandmasters would actually fork over 5 billion. He knew that the total cost for all these great warriors added up would be over 100 billion; would the five Grandmasters really be willing to spend that much?
Any intelligent person could see through it, yet the other great warriors dared not decline the offer.
"If I don't join, they won't be so polite; they might even attack me," Ye Tian mused to himself with a cold smile.
But his objective was the Diamond Beast. If this group could actually lead him to it, then joining them would be beneficial.
Moreover, Ye Tian had a hunch that the Grandmasters were not entirely untruthful. The Beast King might indeed have a few Diamond Beasts under his command.
"I'm willing to join," Ye Tian nodded.
"Congratulations on joining our temporary alliance. Keep up!" the Grandmasters said with smiles.
The team moved on, searching for other warriors.
Soon, three days had passed. The five Grandmasters found another five peak-level great warriors, but had not recruited any more Grandmasters. Whenever they encountered another Grandmaster, they'd use their mental energy to warn them off, avoiding any meeting. Clearly, they didn't want to share the presence of the Beast King with any other Grandmasters.
"It's about time, let's move," one of the Grandmasters declared.
Immediately, the team headed deeper into the Cloud Sea Forest.
After running for about a day, they finally arrived at a valley.
Led by the five Grandmasters, the other peak-level great warriors followed them into the valley.
A horde of fierce beasts charged at them. Most were mid-level fierce beasts, and there were various kinds. These creatures would not normally live together; clearly, a more powerful beast had united them.
That powerful beast was the Beast King the Grandmasters intended to confront.
"Take action!" one of the Grandmasters ordered.
Obviously, the five Grandmasters were not going to deal with these mid-level fierce beasts themselves.
The great warriors rushed in and quickly eliminated the mid-level beasts.
Just then, a powerful aura spread. Behind it came the aura of many high-level fierce beasts.
Clearly, the Beast King had arrived with his elite subordinates.
In an instant, the Beast King appeared before them.
Ye Tian's talent for copying also enveloped an area of 600 meters, allowing him to assess the Beast King's abilities.
Upon seeing them, he was utterly stunned.
------ For announcements or to report mistakes, please join my Discord: https://discord.gg/2sZy2YcYSB Until the end of November, for each person that joins, I'll post an extra chapter!