Clearly having noticed something, the Flying Mantis then picked up the topic and said:

"My lord, the Heavenly Dao Laws in the Demon Cave are incomplete, so cultivation is naturally difficult, with danger at every step. The slightest carelessness means eternal damnation, body and soul annihilated."

"Compared with the same realm outside, cultivating inside the Demon Cave at least costs several times more effort and time than the outside! The countless hardships and perils one has to go through are really unbearable to look back on."

"This is also the fundamental reason why, despite us cultivating for a thousand years, our realms are not high."

The Cold Flood Dragon took over again: "Once we lowly ones left the Demon Cave, no longer suppressed by heaven and earth, and patched up the missing Laws in our bodies, our strength naturally skyrocketed."

"That is the true reason we lowly ones were able to break through repeatedly in such a short time."

After listening, Yang Yan still felt a bit weird.

He certainly knew these fellows were definitely not young.

But he never would have thought that the five Exotic Beasts in front of him were actually several thousand years old.

Old monsters who had cultivated for thousands of years—he had no idea how much more effort they had paid than ordinary people to make it this far in the Demon Cave.

Thinking about it now, once the five great Exotic Beasts broke through the restrictions and completely cast off their shackles, it was no wonder that in just a few days they could advance by leaps and bounds, making a thousand-mile stride in a day, and display their current strength.

At the same time, Yang Yan also felt deeply fortunate.

The Heavenly Dao Laws of this stretch of heaven and earth they were in were still relatively complete, and the Spiritual Power was several grades richer than in the Demon Cave.

At least cultivating here wouldn’t be like in the Demon Cave, with so many shackles; it was certainly much easier than it had been for these five fellows.

"Then have the Laws in your bodies already been repaired by now?" Only after a short pause did Yang Yan come back to himself and continue asking.

The faces of the five great Exotic Beasts looked somewhat bitter; in the end it was still the Cold Flood Dragon, as the leader, who shook its head and spoke via Telepathy:

"Born with incomplete Heavenly Dao Laws, they have already been deeply rooted in our bodies. To change that now—easier said than done!"

"What happened is merely that we were suppressed for too long at our original realm in the Demon Cave. Once out of the Demon Cave, our realms rose rapidly—this is nothing but the result of long accumulation bursting forth."

In Yang Yan’s heart, a hundred thousand grass mud horses were galloping.

So many Cultivators might spend their entire life stuck at a bottleneck without breaking through, yet these five great Exotic Beasts actually broke through several realms in a row simply because they’d been suppressed for too long.

If others found out, wouldn’t they die of anger?

However, when Yang Yan thought it over, he felt relieved.

They had cultivated for several thousand years to finally achieve this result; the hardships and suffering they had gone through were absolutely beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

"So doesn’t that mean if you can补全修成 the Dao Laws throughout your bodies, your strength can still improve?" Yang Yan, though he understood in his heart that this was surely the case, still wanted a definite answer from their mouths.

"Mm, we should be able to raise a few more realms! But again, easier said than done. At the very least, we absolutely don’t dare to dream of it." The Black Death Tiger answered offhandedly.

Its tone gave Yang Yan a heavy mental hit.

He didn’t know whether to say the Black Death Tiger’s nerves were thick, or it was just born that way.

Don’t even talk about rising several realms at once—even the tiniest bit of progress was something Cultivators dreamed of but couldn’t get.

Even for Yang Yan himself, with his extraordinary talent and as a once-in-ten-thousand-years Flawless Divine Body, each realm he ascended required countless time and massive effort.

Not to mention how much more time and effort it cost to break through between major realms.

Before Yang Yan could finish ranting inwardly, the five great Exotic Beasts were already staring at him eagerly.

Those fervent gazes made Yang Yan feel uncomfortable all over; he hurriedly sent a Telepathy message: "If you’ve got something to say, just say it. Don’t hem and haw."

Only then did the Cold Flood Dragon grin.

But it was better when it didn’t smile; that bloody mouth was rather creepy.

At least Yang Yan absolutely didn’t like the sight.

"We hope my lord will lend us more aid in the future, help us cast off these heavy, clumsy bodies as soon as possible, and transform into human form." The Cold Flood Dragon said respectfully.

The other four beasts behind it seemed to have a tacit understanding; they immediately echoed in unison, "We beg my lord to grant this!"

Only then did Yang Yan see the light.

The five great Exotic Beasts had cultivated for thousands of years no matter how you looked at it; logically, they should already have taken human form and be able to speak human language.

Yet the five great Exotic Beasts before his eyes still had to use Telepathy to communicate.

Although the Beast Blood of the five great Exotic Beasts wasn’t pure, inferior to the Devouring Void Tiger, born with certain flaws, in theory their intelligence shouldn’t be this low.

What’s more, they had already cultivated for thousands of years; by any calculation, they were existences at the old-monster level.

However, the intelligence they were showing now clearly wasn’t high; this must also be a result of long-term suppression in the Demon Cave.

With this thought, Yang Yan finally nodded and said, "As long as it’s something I can do, I’ll definitely do my utmost to help. But..."

Yang Yan changed the topic, suddenly fixing his blazing gaze on the five great Exotic Beasts, asking meaningfully, "You don’t dare to try it lightly yourselves and have to seek help. That means this matter isn’t that simple, right?"

If it had been in human form, Yang Yan would definitely have seen an awkward expression on the Cold Flood Dragon’s face at this moment.

It had thought Yang Yan would agree in one breath, but it hadn’t expected the little schemes in its heart to have long been seen through.

After exchanging a glance with the others, the Cold Flood Dragon could only give a bitter smile and send a Telepathy message: "Please don’t blame us, my lord. We truly didn’t mean to hide anything. This re-casting of the Dao Body Law is anything but something that can be summed up in a single sentence."

"Oh? How so?" Yang Yan knew nothing about this and immediately followed up with a question.

After all, the only similar thing he had experienced was changing his cultivation system; as for other matters, he had never set foot in them.

The Cold Flood Dragon promptly explained, "From the moment a Cultivator starts cultivating, they are closely linked with the heaven and earth they reside in. The completeness or incompleteness of the Heaven and Earth Laws to a great extent determines the ultimate height a Cultivator can reach."

"But in the Demon Cave the Heavenly Dao Laws are incomplete; those incomplete Laws have long since been deeply planted into a Cultivator’s body during their cultivation."

"If one wants to mend the Laws within their body and make them complete, that means giving up all their previous cultivation, breaking before standing, and starting all over again."

After hearing this, Yang Yan was truly shocked.

To abandon the cultivation you already have and start over from scratch...

How much courage did that take?!

Seeing Yang Yan’s expression, the Cold Flood Dragon suddenly laughed, even speaking in a tone of comfort:

"Please rest assured, my lord. As long as the Laws within the body can be successfully repaired, then recovering our strength will only be a matter of time."

"After all, the foundation and experience of thousands of years of cultivation are still there. Compared to purely cultivating anew, it will naturally be twice the result for half the effort."

"We might even, given the right chance, advance by leaps and bounds and return to our peak in no time!"

Only then did Yang Yan feel as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

If the powerful henchmen he had just taken in became weaklings before they even got to do anything and needed him to look after them instead, wouldn’t that be like getting himself a few ancestors for nothing?

"You can all relax. Since you’ve followed me, Yang Yan, your affairs are my affairs. I’ll definitely do everything in my power to help." Yang Yan quickly patted his chest and promised.