Ancient Tree Roots.
In fact, they are an upgraded version of Death Roots, enabling Gu Qingyang to control all his roots in battle while greatly enhancing their power.
Following that,
Gu Qingyang turned his attention to the three newly acquired divine abilities.
[Spirit Root of the Ancient Tree: Transcendence and Spirit Transformation, granting you unparalleled innate potential, and allowing constant absorption of Sun and Moon Essence, as well as Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, to nurture yourself. However, breakthroughs will become more difficult.]
[Divine Domain: Wherever the stems and roots of the Ancient Tree reach becomes a domain, where any being below the fifth rank that enters has its power reduced by one minor rank.]
[Divine Fruit: A fruit condensed by consuming one's strength, it allows beings below the third rank to break through by a minor rank, and can cultivate intelligence in other ancient trees to become subordinates.]
"The Spirit Root of the Ancient Tree is essentially a fusion of Vigorous Growth, Spiritual Energy Affinity, and Ancient Tree Talent, yet as a third-rank innate divine technique, any function within the Spirit Root of the Ancient Tree is much stronger than the other three divine techniques.
If it were just the Ancient Tree Talent, then at my current third-rank inferior tier level, at best, I could be on par with the third-rank superior tier or third-rank perfect tier.
But now that the Ancient Tree Talent has evolved into the Spirit Root of the Ancient Tree, my power is undoubtedly no weaker than the Golden Feathered Eagle at its peak!"
Having witnessed the strength of the Golden Feathered Eagle and combining it with his current strength, Gu Qingyang can be 100% sure his power is not inferior to the Golden Feathered Eagle.
Moreover, he might even be a few degrees more powerful than the Golden Feathered Eagle, but whether he can match a fourth-rank inferior tier Fierce Beast is another question.
However,
if combined with the Divine Domain, Gu Qingyang has absolute confidence he can contend with fourth-rank Fierce Beasts.
After all—
the power of the Divine Domain is tremendous.
Any being below the fifth rank that enters the domain will have its strength drop by one minor rank.
Beings at the fourth-rank perfect tier entering the domain can only exert the strength of the fourth-rank superior tier, and if a fourth-rank inferior tier being enters, it can only exert strength equivalent to the third-rank perfect tier.
This demonstrates just how powerful the effect of the Divine Domain truly is.
Compared to the other innate divine techniques, the role of the Divine Fruit is much less significant, as making beings below the third rank break through by a stage is almost inconsequential.
The only constant is its ability to cultivate intelligence in ancient trees, making them subordinates.
…
Almost the moment the Divine Domain appeared, Yang You, who was hovering in midair, suddenly felt an overwhelming pressure come upon him, causing his original third-rank inferior tier realm to immediately drop to the second-rank perfect tier.
With the drop to the second rank, his ability to stay aloft disappeared entirely, causing him to plummet from midair.
"Careful—"
The marshal, quick in action, grabbed Yang You's shoulder, preventing him from falling to his death.
Without hesitation,
the marshal directly dragged Yang You away while loudly ordering, "Everyone retreat at least ten miles from the Kunlun Mountain Range!"
With those words,
all the evolvers who had entered the Kunlun Mountain Range to slay Fierce Beasts, and the army previously battling the Fierce Beasts, all retreated like a receding tide.
The army retreated in panic.
Although some Fierce Beasts feared Gu Qingyang's threat, their desire for flesh overruled their fear when they saw others retreating, prompting them to attack the army.
However,
these Fierce Beasts barely made a move before being pierced by roots, their flesh and blood entirely absorbed in less than a breath.
Furthermore,
all the Fierce Beasts within the range of the Divine Domain were pierced by roots, and before they could even struggle, tens of thousands of Fierce Beasts were dead or dying.
Seeing this scene filled others with utter shock and dread.
The once-formidable Fierce Beasts were now being instantly killed by the Ancient Tree, such terrifying strength was beyond anyone's expectations.
Retreat!
Flee with abandon!
During everyone's retreat, Gu Qingyang did not attempt to intercept but instead devoured all the Fierce Beasts within his domain.
It's rare to see so many Fierce Beasts gathered; once gone, the opportunity wouldn't come again.
…
"Devoured a first-rank superior tier Fierce Beast, gained fifty points of Evolution Value!"
"Devoured a first-rank inferior tier Fierce Beast, gained twenty-five points of Evolution Value!"
"Devoured a second-rank inferior tier Fierce Beast, gained two hundred fifty points of Evolution Value!"
"Devoured a second-rank inferior tier Fierce Beast, gained two hundred fifty points of Evolution Value!"
"Devoured a second-rank perfect tier Fierce Beast, gained five hundred points of Evolution Value!"
"Devoured…"
An avalanche of notifications appeared, and as Gu Qingyang saw the steadily increasing Evolution Value, he was in a very good mood.
After reaching the third rank, the Evolution Value gained from devouring second and first-rank Fierce Beasts had significantly diminished compared to when he was at the second rank.
According to the system notifications, after breaking through to the third rank, the Evolution Value gained from devouring second-rank Fierce Beasts was only half of what it used to be, and only a quarter from devouring first-rank Fierce Beasts.
As for zero-rank Fierce Beasts, Gu Qingyang hadn't encountered any for now.
After all, the Celestial Blood poured down for a long time, bathing all Fierce Beasts in it, resulting in strength boosts of varying degrees.
Even the weakest zero-rank Fierce Beast would at least advance to the first rank under the Celestial Blood's effects.
It can be said,
with this celestial blood event, all the Fierce Beasts' strengths have risen a tier.
Now,
these Fierce Beasts with skyrocketed strength have all become Gu Qingyang's sustenance.
By the time the last Fierce Beast was devoured, there was not a single living Fierce Beast within the Divine Domain.
Next,
Gu Qingyang maneuvered the roots to drag all the Fierce Beast corpses into the ground. In just a moment, all the corpses vanished, giving the impression that the entire Kunlun Mountain Range had returned to tranquility.
Finally,
Gu Qingyang glanced at his own stats,
…
Name: Gu Qingyang
Essence: Ancient Tree
Lifespan: 15/10000
Rank: Third-rank inferior (158000/200000)
Innate Divine Techniques: Ancient Tree Roots (Rank 3), Spirit Root of the Ancient Tree (Rank 3), Divine Fruit (Rank 3), Divine Whisper (Rank 3), Eye of True Sight (Rank 3), Divine Domain (Rank 3)
…
"One hundred fifty-eight thousand points of Evolution Value, unfortunately a bit short; if there were just a few more Fierce Beasts, I might have reached the third-rank medium tier!"
Gu Qingyang felt a little regretful.
If he could step into the third-rank medium tier, his power would certainly soar.
But now, nearly all the mountain's Fierce Beasts have been slaughtered, and the remaining ones aren't foolish enough to return here knowing the danger.
In fact,
when Gu Qingyang broke through the third rank and his aura leaked out, he knew no more Fierce Beasts would trespass into his domain.
Even after he reined in his aura, the result remained unchanged.
It was for this reason,
that Gu Qingyang devoured all the Fierce Beasts in one go, seeking to reap as much as possible.
However,
even though he couldn't enter the third-rank medium tier, achieving this third-rank inferior tier milestone had already exceeded Gu Qingyang's expectations.
The next step is to cultivate and recuperate, while also observing the capabilities of the Spirit Root of the Ancient Tree.
Lastly,
Gu Qingyang's gaze fell upon the Divine Fruit.