Chapter 3203 Nearing Collapse
"Woah…"
A sound of astonishment resounded, and murmurs filled with uncertainty echoed around a large group of cultivators.
Tumultuous winds howled with an eerie, otherworldly fury, sweeping across the landscape like vengeful spirits unleashed from the depths of the earth. Giant trees as tall as mountains bent and cracked under the relentless assault, their magnificently large leaves torn away and carried into the maelstrom, leaving bare branches standing in the crimson haze.
Above, the once-blue sky had transformed into a haunting hue of crimson and violet. Dark, brooding clouds swirled ominously, obscuring the sun as it struggled to pierce through the malevolent shroud. The atmosphere was charged with unnatural electricity, casting an eerie, blood-red glow over the land below, which made most of them feel unsafe.
Anyone in the group could see the world has descended into chaos.
A few days ago, it was not like this when they entered their abodes and cultivated, but now, even the howling wind of the tempestuous storms brewing around them made the atmosphere extremely gloomy. Nonetheless, it wasn't like the realm was going to collapse as the central direction towards the north was still somewhat fine, with blue skies painting the elongating canvas above.
A few directions in the western and eastern regions also seemed to be relatively safer than the southern region.
From this, they could understand that although the apocalyptic flames had spread more, it wasn't enough to completely incinerate the realm yet.
It gave them a bit of relief, saving them a great deal of worry.
"Don't worry. Even if we die, we have achieved the dreams of trillions of immortals."
"That's right. We have stepped into the true immortal world even without ascending!"
"Aha! What's there to be afraid of when we're with the most powerful genius that even the Empyreal Monarchs of the true immortal world stood no chance? Let's follow Saint Davis to the ends of the ream and survive!"
"Yes!"
A resounding wave of passionate emotions surged from the group, brushing past Davis, who was flying towards the front, making him smile ever so lightly.
He sensed Harlen Jadelight comforting others, Larius Goldsun proudly voiced while Klaze Spacewark roared with a conviction that he or everyone would survive.
Davis understood that the Obsidian Crystal Turtle Clan's disciples knew of the prophecy and stuck with him with a gleaming light in his eyes that was no different than adoration and worship. He hadn't seen much of their reactions while he fought battles, but after his achievements fell on their ears, they looked at him like he was a deity.
The same could be said for others, even if they didn't worship him.
The weak worshiped the strong, but these people surely weren't weak as they had all grown as well, having a prowess of five levels higher at the very least.
After all, they worked hard to collect resources for him, and Sophie made sure to award them with the resources they required. After plundering the realm and the heavenly geniuses, there was an untold amount of resources that they had collected, so allowing this small group to grow powerful wasn't hard at all.
Except for magical beasts, most of them were six levels higher, becoming a force to reckon with back in the First Haven World.
They were no different from Patriarch-level candidates if they were to return. Naturally, they couldn't compare to his women, but in front of the denizens of the First Haven World, they were no different than top-tier geniuses. That's how stronger they have all gotten.
*Aooo!~*
"…!?"
Abruptly, a draconic roar reverberated across the jungle, causing all of them to look towards a giant creature approaching them, emanating immortal undulations that threatened the lives of everyone.
What appeared in their view was a dragon that was of medium size, medium when compared to other Immortal Emperor Magical Beast Dragons. This was a five-hundred-meter-long dragon with a sleek, serpentine body covered in shimmering, molten scales. They transitioned from fiery red from the head to smoldering black at the tail, giving it a regal appearance.
Atop its slender neck sat a majestic dragon-like head with two majestic horns that arced backward, its large eyes beneath murky and berserk, making it clear that it wasn't a magical beast but a feral beast. However, the funny thing was this dragon's majestic features were softened by a pair of floppy rabbit ears that drooped to the sides.
Regardless, it made their hearts jump as they just could sense the massive undulations from it, its bloodshot eyes locking onto them.
"Woah, is that a Moltenscale Dragon…!?"
"No way… that's a mixed offspring from the Lavaflare Dragon and Moltenscale Rabbit. Not only is its meat mouthwatering delicious, but it also tempers the body by leaps and bounds and gives resistance to fire-attribute poisons of the Immortal Emperor Grade, especially its innards…"
Sophie and Dalila expressed their disbelief yet, at the same time, slightly licked their lips.
Davis also smirked, not having expected to be met with this kind of delicacy, even though they were traversing a similar path as the transcendents who had gone ahead with the immortals. They missed it, but they had the luck to be met with it, although whether it was fortune or misfortune was unknown.
"Retreat."
He ordered as he looked at the Moltenscale Dragon rushing towards them.
This was not an opponent anyone could possibly defeat, as it was a Late Stage Immortal Emperor Feral Beast. He didn't know if the transcendents scouted ahead and decided to avoid it, but he could tell that it wasn't one of the eight prisoners held as it appeared to be a Feral Beast, not to mention that it had no chains on its body.
*Whoosh!~* *Whoosh!~* *Whoosh!~*
Everyone fled in the direction they came, except for Davis, who shot toward it.
He swiftly appeared before its dragon jaws that opened up to swallow him in a single now. With his speed and reflexes, he touched the corner of its elongated mouth with his palm, a dark crimson glow suddenly engulfing the dragon's head.
*Booom!~*
*Aooo!~*
The dragon roared while Davis flipped and shot ahead, attracting its attention as he allowed it to follow him.
"Hmm?"
At the same time, he noticed a few individuals observing him from a huge distance away. They were concealed, but he could still find them with his seamless soul sense that spread across the region.
*Aooo!~*
Turning around, he saw he had successfully attracted the Moltenscale Dragon's attention. Its bloodshot eyes gleamed as it let out a dragon cry again, but it was not one of pain. He recognized the one before was also not of pain. Instead, it was one of arrogance, stemming from the fact that it was attacked by a lowly Immortal King like him.
"…"
Davis couldn't help but grin. His attack using annihilative heavenly flames did nothing, not that he doubted it could do anything in the first place, as this was a Late Stage Immortal Emperor Feral Beast with the blood of a Lavaflare Dragon and Moltenscale Rabbit.
The Lavaflare Dragon was a mix between the Fire Dragon and Raging Fire Serpent, while the Moltenscale Rabbit was also a mix between a Flameswirl Rabbit and Moltenscale Viper, all of them immortal beasts at the same level, although the Fire Dragon was obviously stronger.
Nonetheless, this was a breed that was difficult to see in the First Haven World as the chances of these beings copulating were extremely rare, brought forth by chance or force and were only mentioned in some records, but here, he finally saw one although its blood was highly impure and didn't have much sentience, making it a Feral Beast.
"Sigh… this is a magical beasts' free-for-all breeding playground…"
It wasn't just the Moltenscale Dragon, as he had seen many, many mixed feral beasts here.
The moralistic ethics of a magical beast was truly hard for him to comprehend as he low-key knew from plundered memories that many male magical beasts would be regularly hired or taken from the wild and sent to copulate here before they were returned to their natural habitat or region.
This wasn't exclusive to the Astral Forgeheart Minor Realm but was allowed almost anywhere unless specified. It wasn't legal, but it was not illegal either.
It was truly a beast's world.
*Bzzz!~*
Davis abruptly launched himself towards the individuals who were watching him.
They flinched and quickly shot away, causing them to gain distance.
"Oh? They're from the Beast Autarch Upper Realm…?"
Davis noticed their distinctive black-white robes that were unique to the Beast Autarch Upper Realm, and from the burst of their undulations, he could tell that they were Peak-Level Monarchs with a dense aura equal to a Kingly Monarch.
Their fleeing speed sure was fast, but it wasn't at a speed that he could not catch up to them.
However, he turned around, looking at the even faster Moltenscale Dragon that incinerated everything in its path, burning like a monstrous being as it snapped its jaws on him.
*Boom!~*
The snapping of its jaws created a resounding boom that sent shockwaves across the region, but suddenly, its long head had a third hole other than its nose as a swirling whirlwind of dark crimson flames and crimson-jade winds shot out, causing blood to spurt from the hole.
*Aooo!~*
Finally, the Moltenscale Dragon released a painful roar as its bloodshot eyes glanced at the puny man who escaped from its jaws that had never ever released a prey. Instead of moving erratically or impulsively, it finally stared at him as though assessing him again.
"If your scales are hard to damage, then it's like tofu from the inside…"
Davis chuckled at the Moltenscale Dragon before he turned to look at the fleeing silhouettes, which had come to a stop in the distance.
"What? Do you two want to tame the Moltenscale Dragon and bring it back?"
He asked with a loud voice, knowing the disciples from the Beast Autarch Upper Realm were beast tamers!