Chapter 765: Three Thousand Saintly Bodies
It wasn't just the young cultivators seated in the eighteen thousand seats of the outstanding talents who were excited; even the geniuses sitting in the three thousand seats of the heavenly prodigies were quite envious.
Who wouldn't want their own physique to become stronger?
Who wouldn't want to reach the height of a saintly body?
Even some half-saint ancestors kept licking their lips, extremely covetous. Unfortunately, they weren't guests at the Realm Son Banquet, so they had no chance to taste the Six Saints Ascending Heaven Wine. They could only gaze at it from afar, sighing in vain.
"I'm afraid only the imperial court could produce so much Six Saints Ascending Heaven Wine at once."
"It's said that the Empress killed a beast emperor and obtained seven large vats of Six Saints Ascending Heaven Wine from that beast emperor's lair. Over the past three hundred years, the Empress has bestowed the Six Saints Ascending Heaven Wine upon meritorious officials of the court many times, so not much remains. I'm afraid that for this Realm Son Banquet, she has brought out all the remaining wine. From now on, it's almost impossible to drink it again."
"With the Six Saints Ascending Heaven Wine tempering their physiques, the bodies of those eighteen thousand outstanding talents will surely rise another level, making the overall strength of the entire Kunlun Realm human race even more powerful."
"Holding the Realm Son Banquet is entirely a grand feast to revitalize the future of humanity. A hundred years from now, when the geniuses from tonight's banquet have fully grown, they will undoubtedly become regional overlords, forming the most solid backbone of the Kunlun Realm."
All the outstanding talents couldn't wait any longer. They swallowed the Six Saints Ascending Heaven Wine and began to refine and absorb it.
Shengshu Cainü nodded in satisfaction, then raised her voice again: "Heavenly Prodigy Seats, Meat Feast."
Finally, it was the turn of the heavenly prodigy seats. Everyone became extremely excited, quite curious about what treasures the three thousand heavenly prodigies would taste.
It was sure to be even more precious than the Six Saints Ascending Heaven Wine.
At the foot of the Book Mountain, armored half-human elephant warriors each carried a four-foot-tall bronze tripod, ascended the Book Mountain, and placed the tripods before the three thousand heavenly prodigies.
Among them, one heavenly prodigy couldn't suppress his curiosity. He lifted the lid of the bronze tripod first. Instantly, a mass of nine-colored flame surged out from the tripod, emitting astonishing heat.
"Whoosh——"
At the same time, a fragrance of meat also surged out, spreading across the entire Book Mountain.
At the bottom of the bronze tripod lay a fist-sized piece of meat, glistening and translucent. The flames and meat fragrance emanated from within the meat itself.
Just by smelling a wisp of the meat's aroma, everyone couldn't stop swallowing saliva, their mouths making "gulp" sounds.
One must know that once a cultivator reached the first transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, "Innate Fetal Breath," they could sustain themselves on internal qi, using true qi as sustenance, completely cutting off worldly food and reaching the state of fasting.
Yet the meat before them, with just its fragrance, was so enticing that it completely stirred up people's desires for food and drink.
"What kind of meat is this? How can it be so fragrant?"
"I feel an enormous amount of energy contained within the meat. Could it be the meat of a sacred beast?"
...
Hearing the words "meat of a sacred beast," everyone trembled all over, their eyes blazing with fervent light.
When a savage beast cultivated to the realm of a saint, it became like a living sacred medicine, with every part of its body being a treasure.
If one could eat a piece of sacred beast meat, it would not only extend their lifespan but also temper their physique and enhance their cultivation, bringing endless benefits.
Shengshu Cainü, however, smiled slightly and said, "How could mere sacred beast meat be worthy of the Realm Son Banquet? The meat before you is from the 'Sacred Flame Qilin Emperor' of the ancient barbarian secret realm."
The meat of a beast emperor?
Not only were the three thousand heavenly prodigies stunned into silence.
Everyone present, including the saints in the Divine Platform City, all drew in a sharp breath of cold air.
A beast emperor, if within human territory, would be an existence akin to a Great Emperor. Even a single drop of its blood would be a treasure that saints would fight over.
Yet what lay before them wasn't a drop of blood, but a tripod full of meat.
Not to mention a full tripod—even just a piece of meat contained at least dozens of drops of blood.
Zhang Ruochen also drew in a sharp breath, quite shocked.
He knew that by refining just a single drop of Azure Flame Mystic Turtle blood, he had broken through from the first transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm to the second. The blood of a beast emperor was countless times more powerful than the Azure Flame Mystic Turtle's blood.
From this, one could imagine how precious a piece of beast emperor meat was.
Although the three thousand heavenly prodigies trembled with excitement, they also thought of another problem. With their current cultivation, even refining a single drop of beast emperor blood was no easy task.
If they ate a whole piece of beast emperor meat, or even a full tripod of it, would they be overwhelmed and die?
Shengshu Cainü seemed to see the concern in everyone's hearts and said, "The meat of the Sacred Flame Qilin Emperor has been prepared by the imperial chefs using eighteen special ancient secret methods. Feel free to enjoy it without worry."
"The nine-colored sacred flame that the Sacred Flame Qilin cultivates is itself a supreme treasure for tempering the physique, with effects similar to the Six Saints Ascending Heaven Wine."
"If your own physique is strong enough and you eat enough Qilin meat, it can elevate your body to a level comparable to a saintly body. Moreover, there's a great chance of cultivating some special powers unique to the Sacred Flame Qilin, such as the Qilin Eye, Qilin Ear, Qilin Arm, Qilin Bone, Qilin Sacred Soul... In any case, how high your achievements will be depends entirely on your own fortune."
Before Shengshu Cainü had even finished speaking, the three thousand heavenly prodigies had already begun to wolf down the meat, their mouths making smacking sounds as if they were about to swallow their own tongues.
The rules of the meat feast were the same as the wine feast.
The higher one's seat, the more Sacred Flame Qilin meat they received. Especially those in the top ten seats, who had a full large tripod before them.
Just a short while later, a purple-robed woman seated in the third heavenly prodigy seat had her pupils turn nine-colored. Two beams of light surged out, piercing the night sky and extending a hundred miles away.
By consuming the Sacred Flame Qilin meat, she had actually cultivated the Nine-Colored Qilin Eye.
At the same time, a dull thud sounded from within her body. Her entire body emitted a bright sacred light, wrapping her like a cocoon at the center, making every inch of her skin glisten and become flawless and pure.
Leveraging the immense power contained in the Sacred Flame Qilin meat, the purple-robed woman broke through to the half-saint realm in one go, transforming from a fish into a dragon. From then on, she was no longer a mortal but a revered half-saint, who would be admired and worshipped by countless people.
Moreover, she had absorbed less than a thousandth of the Qilin blood energy. The rest was stored within her body and would be released continuously.
One could imagine that in the coming years, as she absorbed the remaining Qilin blood energy, her cultivation speed would be astonishing, advancing rapidly through the half-saint realm.
Of course, not everyone who consumed the Sacred Flame Qilin meat could break through to the half-saint realm in one go. The Sacred Flame Qilin meat only played a supporting role.
In reality, the purple-robed woman had already reached the peak of the ninth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm over a decade ago, and her comprehension of the sacred path had also reached a very high level.
Thus, consuming the Sacred Flame Qilin meat merely allowed her over a decade of accumulated experience to erupt in an instant, enabling her to break through the realm.
Cultivators who could secure a seat among the heavenly prodigies were all top-tier geniuses, and eight or nine out of ten were at the peak of the ninth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, just one step away from breaking through to the half-saint realm.
The threshold of "half-saint" was too high, blocking them outside, causing their cultivation to stagnate without progress. Some had even reached the ninth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm thirty years ago and were still stuck in the same place.
Consuming the Sacred Flame Qilin meat was like taking a potent dose of medicine, finally allowing them to break through to the half-saint realm one after another.
"I've finally broken through to the half-saint realm. From now on, the sky is high and the sea is vast, and I can roam freely. Where in the entire Kunlun Realm is there a place I cannot go?"
"Haha! I've also broken through to the half-saint realm. My lifespan has greatly increased—I can live at least two hundred and forty years. I feel much younger. When I return to Hongliang Prefecture, I'll have people build a grand saint temple, enshrine my saint statue, and use my sacred soul to absorb the incense offerings of millions of commoners."
"For twenty years, I was trapped at the ninth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm. I had given up hope, but I never expected to break through tonight. A new page has finally turned in my sacred path journey."
...
In just half an hour, over three hundred of the three thousand heavenly prodigies had condensed their sacred souls and broken through to the half-saint realm.
One moment, they were still mortals.
The next, they were half-saints.
One could imagine that as time passed, within half a year, at least a thousand heavenly prodigies would reach the half-saint realm. Just thinking about it was quite startling.
A cultivator at the ninth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm and a half-saint were as different as heaven and earth, both in status and strength, incomparable.
Moreover, after consuming the Sacred Flame Qilin meat, the physiques of the three thousand heavenly prodigies had all reached a level comparable to a saintly body.
Of course, there was still a small gap between them and a true saintly body.
Because a true saintly body possessed a "saintly body dharma appearance," a huge advantage that the three thousand heavenly prodigies lacked. Only those heavenly prodigies who cultivated special powers of the Sacred Flame Qilin could truly contend with a saintly body.
Even so, the three thousand heavenly prodigies, having broken through to the first-order half-saint realm, could still become top-tier experts among first-order half-saints, capable of contending with second-order half-saints.
With Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation at the eighth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, he might not necessarily be their match.
After all, the gap between the ninth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm and a first-order half-saint was not just one realm—it was a vast chasm, incomparable.
Huang Yanchen's eyes gazed downward, watching as people on the three thousand heavenly prodigy seats occasionally broke through to the half-saint realm, their bodies emitting extremely strong sacred light.
She showed an expression of amazement and said, "Such formidable Sacred Flame Qilin meat! It has actually created three thousand heavenly prodigies comparable to saintly bodies. If they grow up, how powerful will the human race become?"
Zhang Ruochen's expression of amazement had long since faded, replaced by a contemplative look. He said, "What's truly formidable is not the Sacred Flame Qilin meat."