"That's the Archaic Desolate Beast, the Myriad-Eyed Great Brilliance Bull?!" Fang Yuan stared as a bull's head sinking in the Falling Heavenly River drew his gaze firmly.
He hurried over, employed his methods, and fished the bull's head out.
Archaic Desolate Beasts were powerful lives that could rival Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu Masters.
The Myriad-Eyed Great Brilliance Bull was especially massive. This bull's head alone was the size of a small hill.
And incredibly heavy.
Fang Yuan had once hauled up the Valley of Defeat, yet this bull's head alone was heavier than that.
"The bulk of this head's weight is in the horns. Good heavens — these horns were already severed by sword light, leaving only half, yet they're still this heavy!"
Fang Yuan clicked his tongue in amazement.
These horns were Eighth Transformation-grade Immortal Materials, brimming with Metal Dao and Earth Dao marks.
And the bull's hide was exceedingly rare, saturated with extremely dense Water Dao marks. Unfortunately, Fang Yuan only had the hide from the bull's head. If it were the Myriad-Eyed Patterned hide from the bull's body, it would possess not only Water Dao marks but also Light Dao marks — perfect for crafting scouting Immortal Gu!
However, the pair of bull's eyes on the head were the essence of the Myriad-Eyed Great Brilliance Bull.
These eyes were pitch-black and profound, containing an extremely rich concentration of Dark Dao marks. When Fang Yuan obtained them, numerous wild mortal Dark Dao Gu — mostly Fifth Transformation — were still dwelling inside, not yet having had time to flee.
The Myriad-Eyed Great Brilliance Bull's eyes could not actually see.
They had been blind from the start.
The Bull's true seeing organs were the eye-pattern markings across its thick hide.
This was wondrous.
For Archaic-level lives like this, their Dao Marks had formed into marvelous life instincts.
Similarly, the Ten Thousand Mile Earthworm was also an Archaic Desolate Beast, possessing an extremely powerful ability to regenerate severed limbs. What granted it this ability were the wondrous Dao Marks contained in its body. Only by destroying these Dao Marks could one truly kill a Ten Thousand Mile Earthworm.
However, the Ten Thousand Mile Earthworm was a creature that dwelt deep in underground chasms or abysses. It did not exist in the Falling Heavenly River.
The lives in the Falling Heavenly River were predominantly Water Dao, supplemented by Earth Dao, Metal Dao, Wind Dao, Light Dao, and Dark Dao. Fire Dao was quite rare.
"Hmm? This is the right arm of the Antiquity Desolate Beast, the Ice Waterfall Divine Ape."
"This is the tail of the Antiquity Desolate Beast, the Snow Mud Crocodile."
"What's this? No matter — I'll stow it first."
Fang Yuan had come prepared and quickly plundered everything.
These were all severed limbs and body fragments. Some Fang Yuan could identify, others he could not.
Antiquity Desolate Beasts and Desolate Plants were the most numerous, with Archaic-level ones being rarer. But these Eighth Transformation Immortal Materials, no matter how small, were of tremendous value.
With each discovery, Fang Yuan felt a rush of delight.
"Good heavens! This looks like a Life and Death Kunpeng!" Fang Yuan exclaimed.
Just as he was about to finish collecting the Immortal Materials floating on the river's surface, he found the nineteenth Eighth Transformation Immortal Material.
It was a grey fish the size of a tower ship.
It had no fins; instead, in the place where fins should be, there were patterns of feathered wings formed by Dao Marks.
"The Life and Death Kunpeng is an Archaic Desolate Beast of the Law Dao. It is extremely unique. Its body is suffused with Life and Death Dao Marks, and it has two life forms. One is a fish, the other a bird. It lives as a fish for eight thousand years, then after death transforms into a bird and lives another eight thousand years before truly dying. This Life and Death Kunpeng appears to be close to its transformation into a bird. It's probably over seven thousand years old," Fang Yuan remarked.
Though humans were the most intelligent of all living things, their lifespans were very short — especially compared to Archaic and Antiquity Desolate Beasts, which lived for thousands or even tens of thousands of years.
Not to mention trees and plants.
The most famous example of this was in the Northern Plains — that mountain known as the Ancient Earth Tree.
It wasn't actually a mountain. It was an Earth Old Tree.
This great tree had a history of over one million years and had grown so enormous that it was called a mountain!
Compared to it, even the longest-lived Primordial Immortal Venerable had only reached twenty-five thousand years. The shortest-lived, Red Lotus Demon Venerable, had only three thousand years — not even a fraction of the Earth Old Tree's age!
This Life and Death Kunpeng's corpse was relatively well-preserved. Only the fish's head had been partially severed by sword light; the entire body remained intact.
Moreover, it bore Life and Death Dao Marks. This particular type of Law Dao mark was extremely rare throughout heaven and earth, making it all the more valuable.
"This Life and Death Kunpeng is probably my greatest haul from this trip." As he stored the Life and Death Kunpeng in his Immortal Aperture, Fang Yuan couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
At this moment, the blood-water in the Falling Heavenly River was boiling.
Large numbers of fierce beasts, even some Archaic-level water plants, were fighting over the severed remains.
Fang Yuan lacked the combat power to compete, so he could only rely on his sharp eyes and quick hands to grab the Immortal Materials floating to the surface.
Still, from time to time, more materials churned up.
Most of these materials were collected by Fang Yuan. A few, given the ferocity of the aquatic beasts, he wisely chose not to fight for.
Gradually, the riverbed descended into chaos.
These severed limbs and flesh were excellent food for these creatures.
As food grew scarce, they began to fight and slaughter each other.
Sometimes, the corpse of a fallen Antiquity Desolate Beast would float to the surface, and Fang Yuan would seize the opportunity to collect it. He truly made another fortune this way.
As time passed, Fang Yuan's harvest grew smaller and smaller, and the risk of collecting Immortal Materials grew greater and greater.