It was unwilling to give up on the human inside it being refined, and equally unwilling to give up on the Tao Principle of the Forget River outside.
It originally thought it could quickly refine Li Fei, making it free to fully contest for the Tao Principle.
Who would have thought that such an ordinary human without a Tao Principle could endure so much?
Now, it was in a bit of a bind.
Seeing the four Ninth Grade Exotic Beasts outside in a fierce battle, tangled with each other, it was a perfect opportunity for it to make a move.
But first, it needed to release Li Fei to have the strength to break the space prison outside.
Yet, Jiao Yuan worried whether once it released Li Fei, he would turn against it?
Then this space prison would instead become a 'gladiatorial arena' for them both.
Jiao Yuan was not afraid of Li Fei, just reluctant to be tied down like this and lose the opportunity in vain.
"Human!"
The mighty power of heart and spirit transformed into a 'heart sound', resonating within Jiao Yuan.
These Ninth Grade Exotic Beasts could not speak human language but could use the power of heart and spirit to emit 'heart sounds'.
As long as there was spiritual power and the creature was intelligent, it could understand the 'heart sound'.
This was a profound technique, but for a Ninth Grade Exotic Beast that had lived nearly a thousand years, it was just a small skill honed during idle time.
"I release you, and you deal with that Ninth Grade Exotic Beast from before, how about it?"
Jiao Yuan spoke straightforwardly.
"Oh?"
At this moment, Li Fei was completely in the dark about the situation outside.
Because the copper coins he had hidden outside were now all destroyed during the intense battle among the Ninth Grade Exotic Beasts.
Isolated by Jiao Yuan, he had no idea what was happening outside.
The reason he hadn't left was he sensed the Ninth Grade Exotic Beasts were fighting, thus deducing their target should not be Mirage above the Extreme Abyss.
And the Myriad Blood Pearl was about to upgrade!
"I'm giving you a way out, what are you hesitating for?"
Jiao Yuan asked irritably and impatiently.
"What are you competing for?"
Li Fei countered.
Jiao Yuan, furious: "Do you really think I can't kill you?!"
Li Fei chuckled coldly: "If you had that capability, you wouldn't need to negotiate with me now."
Jiao Yuan, extremely agitated: "I've already noticed, your power heavily relies on the Heaven and Earth Qi. If I sever your channel to absorb it, how long do you think you can last?"
This was indeed Li Fei's critical point.
Without the Heaven and Earth Qi, Blood Rage lost its support, as did various divine skills.
If Jiao Yuan really severed the channel for Heaven and Earth Qi, Li Fei would have to break out early.
"Then why are you still hesitating?"
Li Fei didn't back down verbally.
He had also realized that Ninth Grade Exotic Beasts had a considerable need for Heaven and Earth Qi, not just to maintain their combat power, but more importantly for self-healing.
The other party didn't have a Swallowing Heaven Tao Principle like Li Ming's to unilaterally cut off others from absorbing Heaven and Earth Qi.
Once it severed the Heaven and Earth Qi, Li Fei couldn't absorb it, and Jiao Yuan would also face significant consequences.
While in normal times it might have been fine, at this moment, facing other Ninth Grade Exotic Beasts, Jiao Yuan didn't dare take that risk.
"Human, what is it you seek in the Extreme Abyss?"
Seeing Li Fei unmoved, Jiao Yuan had to suppress its anger and change the question.
Li Fei: "You tell me first, what are you contending for?"
Jiao Yuan: "Tao Principle."
It still spoke the truth, after all, Li Fei wasn't a Ninth Grade Exotic Beast and had no means to contend for an unclaimed Tao Principle.
Moreover, once it released Li Fei, he would eventually find out.
Li Fei was startled at hearing this, thinking he had heard wrong: "What nonsense is that?"
Jiao Yuan: "An unclaimed Tao Principle."
"How is that possible?"
Li Fei's first reaction was to find it absurd.
How could there be an unclaimed Tao Principle in this world?
But the contention of the Ninth Grade Exotic Beasts didn't seem fake.
Jiao Yuan: "I've told you the answer, now it's your turn. What do you want?"
Li Fei didn't speak.
Jiao Yuan urged repeatedly, but Li Fei remained silent.
Just as this Ninth Grade Exotic Beast was about to lose patience, Li Fei suddenly movedβ
The dark golden sword peak abruptly disintegrated, dazzling lights suddenly appeared from within!
An unparalleled Sword Intent seemed to pierce through the entire Extreme Abyss; in Jiao Yuan's horrified perception, a Sword Light fiercely broke through the space reinforced countless times by the Void Flame, then broke through the exterior Void Flame, and finally layer by layer, broke through the blood and flesh, bones, and organs inside Jiao Yuan...
Within the enormous space prison, Jiao Yuan, with wings spread wide, suddenly lit up its abdomen, as if it had swallowed a star!
Then this star ascended, transforming into a dazzling light, like a sharp sword slashing upward from the abdomen, finally piercing through that dragon head, almost cleaving Jiao Yuan in two!
Li Fei's heart sound, following this outburst, also landed on Jiao Yuan's heart and spirit:
"I want your life!"
Inside, the Myriad Blood Pearl had already upgraded to Level 87, with the Blood Soul Quantity increasing to 12,090.
After the upgrade of the Myriad Blood Pearl, Li Fei exited the 'Blood Demon Extreme State'.
To prevent the upper limit of Blood Rage from lowering, he immediately consumed 8,463 Blood Souls to re-enter the 'Blood Demon Extreme State'!
These 8,463 Blood Souls were all used to perform the Sword Sacrifice!
Adding more than 7,000 Blood Souls already invested before the battle, the life force refined by the Sword Sacrifice had reached a terrifying level.
If Li Fei were still a Martial Arts Master, this divine skill might have exploded directly within the Tao Foundation!
Fortunately, the Sword Sacrifice had already combined with other divine skills to collectively form the Mixed Element Sword Body, allowing the 'pressure' to be distributed.
This life-risking divine skill, in a thousand years, perhaps had never 'burned' like this moment!
With the burst of power, Li Fei easily broke free.
He intended to continue attacking Jiao Yuan, but was immediately drawn by the ghostly lights above.
Looking up, he saw countless light spots converging here, vaguely hearing the sound of a great river flowing.
"Forget River?!"
Li Fei's eyes widened.
What shocked him wasn't just why the Tao Principle belonging to Nether River Ancestor had appeared here.
At the moment he looked toward Forget River, an attraction seemed to be born from deep within his soul.
His Mixed Element Sword Body was craving this Tao Principle!
...
Looking up, he saw countless light spots converging here, vaguely hearing the sound of a great river flowing.
"Forget River?!"
Li Fei's eyes widened.
What shocked him wasn't just why the Tao Principle belonging to Nether River Ancestor had appeared here.
At the moment he looked toward Forget River, an attraction seemed to be born from deep within his soul.
His Mixed Element Sword Body was craving this Tao Principle!