GAMMT - Chapter 108
Chapter 108: It
Bordered by an ice mountain range to the north and the Asle Volcano to the east, the extreme juxtaposition of cold and heat had created a lush, vibrant rainforest. It teemed with countless strange and wonderful plants. Amidst this floral splendor, the steaming hot spring pool was shrouded in a hazy mist. Without specifically activating a pupil technique or possessing exceptional observational abilities, it would be impossible to make out the figures within the vapor.
Unfortunately for any sense of privacy, the young man possessed such a pupil technique. His eyes seemed to glow with an orange light, and he was in the middle of a fierce battle. So, when the unexpected visitor, Fu Chuan, suddenly crashed into the rainforest and fell into the hot spring, he turned his head and immediately saw that the newcomer was a young woman.
He gave her drenched body and face a fleeting, slightly surprised glance… a stunning, momentary meeting of their eyes. Then he looked back at Fu Chuan herself. The violent lightning wings behind him flared, and he dodged a gamma-ray beam fired from the Aoyin's palm.
The beam was a deep violet, and incredibly fast. The Aoyin itself was covered in orange-bronze mechanical armor and was likely around level 50. As an adult, its combat power was clearly immense, perhaps even stronger than the level 70 orange-robed man. Fortunately, this Aoyin was not one of the most terrifying Forbidden Masters.
But the young man was formidable as well, his evasion speed astonishingly quick, allowing him to dodge the gamma-ray.
After evading, his gaze swept over, and a spirit-bound weapon suddenly materialized before Fu Chuan.
She saw the weapon, a manifestation of an arcane truth, appear abruptly in the mist.
This was dangerous. Was he trying to kill her?
A thought flashed through Fu Chuan's mind, and she raised her hand.
The manifested weapon was a long spear, and along with it appeared a sequence-generated clone. The clone gripped the spear, and with a flick of its wrist, spun it into a grid of exquisite electric light, directly blocking the attacks that had splashed toward her.
Then, Fu Chuan released a burst of light that filled the air, approaching the young man's body from all angles.
She knew he was injured, and severely so.
The light began to mend him at a frantic pace.
They had joined forces!
There was no trust or tacit understanding between them. After all, how could anyone who ventured into such a dangerous wilderness easily trust a stranger? Their seamless cooperation was simply because the young man, upon seeing her, had likely noticed how quickly her own wounds were healing. Realizing she was a professional healer, he had immediately sent a team invitation.
If the Aoyin hadn't been so powerful and indiscriminately hostile toward humans, Fu Chuan would not have agreed.
But as things stood, she calculated that if she tried to escape and the Aoyin shifted its focus from the young man to her, she would have a hard time surviving.
So, teaming up was the better option.
The Aoyin instantly recognized that the two humans, complete strangers, had chosen to band together under its threat. It was also clear that the woman who had just arrived was a physician.
It had fought this young man before and knew how difficult he was to deal with. He could hold his own even while seriously injured and without a healer. With a physician's support, he would be even stronger. Thus, it followed the ironclad rule of battle—kill the healer first. While firing a gamma-ray at the young man with one hand, its other hand disassembled into two small, flying gamma-ray machines that soared through the air and attacked Fu Chuan.
By this time, Fu Chuan had seen through her pupil technique that the young man had moved to engage the Aoyin head-on, blocking the frontal assault. So she didn't move. Instead, she opened her four-field fusion Infinite Flow directly behind him.
As for whether this person could find her later… with a great enemy before them, who had time to pretend to be weak? Besides, although she couldn't see a clan emblem on him, her own powerful genetic bloodline allowed her to feel that her current Xie Clan blood was suppressed by his. At the very least, when her tentacles slipped into space, she felt the pressure from the sequence he released.
This person likely possessed a Purple Blood bloodline no weaker than that of the Dongke Clan. She just didn't know which province he was from.
There were only a few possibilities.
Most importantly, after her fierce battle with that giant bird and her sudden predicament, she hadn't had time to conceal her appearance. He had already seen what she looked like. If he was determined to find her, he could track her down to the Sage Medical Hall based on her appearance alone. Given his background, it wouldn't matter much even if he knew she and Xie Keli were a devouring dual-body pair.
At the level of a Purple Blood clan, such abilities weren't earth-shattering. After all, the three from the Dongke Clan hadn't paid much attention to a dual-body individual like Flosius.
Besides… Fu Chuan glanced at the team name. The other party's name was very direct. It didn't seem like a fake name, but it did resemble a screen name.
Yi Ye Hanzhuo.
Unfortunately, this wasn't a screen name. The surname Yi Ye was too famous. Fu Chuan felt a bit conflicted. If Qin Minfeng were here, he probably wouldn't care that the other person was a man and would gladly marry into the family.
In an instant, all of Yi Ye Hanzhuo's wounds were healed, and even his energy was replenished. The continuous flow of power slightly astonished him.
What a powerful physician!
Infinite Flow?
Though surprised, he unleashed his full power. The lightning was ferocious. He was already level 50 with four maxed-out sequences. Instead of pursuing multi-elemental field fusion, he had chosen to fuse five fields of the same lightning element.
In short, it was the strongest lightning, the strongest attack. With Fu Chuan's support, the Aoyin was beaten into a rage. Suddenly, a hole opened on its mechanical head, and from it, it released…
A sonic shockwave.
The piercing sound drilled straight into her skull. Fu Chuan felt a wave of dizziness, and the flow of light to Yi Ye Hanzhuo faltered for a moment.
She was hit!
The Aoyin seized the opportunity, teleporting over. Its body sharpened, its long mechanical arm transforming into a razor-sharp scythe as it swung in a swift, arcing slash.
It had already sensed that this woman possessed a strange pupil technique, allowing her to predict their every move.
Therefore, ranged attacks were useless; they required elemental mobilization and had a reaction time. A physical, close-quarters attack was necessary.
So it came.
But just as it teleported in front of Fu Chuan…
Forbidden Arcane and Probability God Slash were unleashed simultaneously.
Miss, miss. Both of them missed.
Damn it. This mechanical Aoyin's aptitude was too high. Its resistance armor was so strong that it negated her abilities without even trying.
Little did she know, the Aoyin itself was startled. This human's techniques were quite formidable. She looked like a healer, but her methods were on par with a top-tier combatant.
If not for its own race's inherent strength and resistance armor, it might have been hit.
But just as the Aoyin was feeling relieved, it froze. Its legs were ensnared by tentacles shooting up from below.
Yi Ye Hanzhuo saw it, and his orange, magnificent pupils brightened slightly.
A feint. Beautiful!
Pupil techniques and Forbidden Arcane were non-contact, ranged abilities. But if the tentacles made physical contact, the probability of Forbidden Arcane succeeding was actually higher than with the pupil technique.
Most Arcanists wouldn't choose close combat, especially at higher levels where spirit-bound weapons made ranged battles the norm.
But the Aoyin, confident in its racial advantage, never expected a single person to possess two different methods of inflicting Forbidden Arcane. It had fallen into a trap!
The moment the Aoyin was afflicted by Forbidden Arcane, Yi Ye Hanzhuo, spear in hand, appeared behind it. He amplified the spear with his pupil technique, but his primary genetic talent wasn't the orange pupils, but the purple lightning tattoo on his right arm. It seemed to emit the roar of a lone wolf. Then, the arm holding the spear swelled with immense power, its force so great that it distorted the very air around it.
Fu Chuan was surprised. Purple Blood?
Then, the spear shot forward…
Bang!!
The spear tip pierced the back of the Aoyin, which was weakened and unable to use its arcane abilities due to the Forbidden Arcane. It let out a muffled grunt as the spearhead burst through its chest, spilling the unique energy fluid that served as the mechanical race's blood.
Severely wounded, the Aoyin fell from the sky. But the duration of Forbidden Arcane had passed. As it hit the ground, it disassembled and reconfigured, transforming into a small aircraft that shot away to escape.
Neither Yi Ye Hanzhuo nor Fu Chuan gave real chase. They merely launched some long-range attacks to feign pursuit. Then, Yi Ye Hanzhuo avoided looking at Fu Chuan, as she was still in the water.
Once Fu Chuan emerged from the spring, they decisively fled in the opposite direction.
They were the ones truly escaping.
This Tong Lu Mountain was the territory of the Aoyin and the Dwarf Race!
Fu Chuan could tell that if Yi Ye Hanzhuo hadn't been afraid of angering the entire Aoyin race, that last spear thrust could have killed it.
But they still had to run!
If an Aoyin Forbidden Master showed up, they would both die.
This area was near the Asle Volcano range, but Red Snow Tong Lu Mountain was vast. The true region of Tong Lu Mountain lay to the west. The mountain's topography was unique, with crisscrossing foothills and peculiar flora that tended toward extremes—either frigid or scorching.
Both were extremely cautious, moving stealthily and concealing their tracks. When they reached a lake district in the middle of the foothills, using the rainforest as cover, Yi Ye Hanzhuo slung his spear across his back, ready for battle at a moment's notice, and thanked Fu Chuan.
"You're welcome. I might not have escaped on my own either."
She said "might not," implying she had trump cards. Yi Ye Hanzhuo knew this physician was no simple character. Noticing she was observing the faint scars that remained on his already healed wounds, he said, "My injuries weren't from the Aoyin."
Fu Chuan had been curious about this from the start. The wounds on his body carried a trace of poison, a strange toxin she had never encountered at the Sage Medical Hall or even during her time as a resource merchant.
While healing Yi Ye Hanzhuo, she had noted that such external injuries should have been easy to fully restore without leaving a single scar. But these were different. They had consumed a significant amount of her power, yet still left scars with a lingering trace of poison.
It was very difficult to eliminate.
"Is there a beast in Tong Lu Mountain with such a peculiar poison?" Fu Chuan felt a pang of anxiety. She had researched extensively before coming, and while she knew Tong Lu Mountain was dangerous, she had only focused on the Aoyin and the Dwarf Race. She had never considered a beast like this.
To injure Yi Ye Hanzhuo, it would have to be a high-bloodline beast BOSS of level 80 or higher, and at least Orange tier.
"I'm not sure what it is, because I never saw its true form. It was likely some distance away from me at the time, but a toxic mist enveloped me, corroding my body directly. My resistance armor was almost useless. I managed to escape in a sorry state and fled, but my flight attracted the attention of that nearby Aoyin, who took the opportunity to attack… and then you appeared."
Yi Ye Hanzhuo's appearance and voice were both somewhat cold. Most people would be intimidated by his solitary, unapproachable aura, but Fu Chuan, having met him by chance and teamed up briefly, was less sensitive to such things. She focused only on the information he provided.
To be so powerful without even showing itself—this beast was probably far more terrifying than the Aoyin.
In that case, choosing Tong Lu Mountain as her destination was likely a terrible decision.
Should she leave now?
Fu Chuan didn't reveal her inner hesitation. She simply said to Yi Ye Hanzhuo, "Thank you."
Then she left the team and turned to disappear into the dense forest.
Yi Ye Hanzhuo stood in place for a moment, watching her go, before darting down a different path.
He knew that, like him, she was hesitating, wondering whether to abandon her objective and leave early.
But what was the outcome?
Fu Chuan still decided to proceed with her original plan to reach the rift valley in the foothills of Red Snow Tong Lu Mountain. The light element was most intense there, and the life force was at its strongest, sufficient to meet the needs of her species conversion.
Fortunately, she currently had an advantage. As long as she wasn't targeted, she could use Forbidden Arcane on herself to move stealthily. Even that Aoyin might not be able to see through her concealment.
As long as she didn't run into any other powerful adult Aoyin or that strange beast, she should be fine.
Fu Chuan proceeded with extreme caution, following the map and quickly approaching the rift valley. Little did she know that two other groups were also present near Red Snow Tong Lu Mountain.
In the dense forest to the south, a team of over thirty people was moving with meticulous stealth. They were led by two elders and a young man and woman. If Fu Chuan were here, she would have immediately recognized them as Dongke Hetu and Dongke Jin.
So, their reason for leaving Beluke Province wasn't fabricated after all. They had truly come to a dangerous wilderness.
"Young Master, Second Miss, when you left, everyone outside thought you were just making an excuse and were still within the family grounds. In reality, you've secretly come here. But this place is treacherous; we must remain cautious."
"Naturally." Dongke Hetu looked at the ground energy map transmitted by the satellite sensor and pointed to a spot.
"A very intense battle just erupted here, but it ended quickly. It seems there was a result. Perhaps we are not the only group that has come here."
The Dongke Clan elder saw it too and frowned slightly. "The family's scouts searched for many years before detecting the aura of the Three-Eyed Split Spirit Vine here in Tong Lu Mountain. Could someone else be tracking this peak Purple-tier plant, just like our Dongke Clan?"
"It's uncertain. But since they've come, even if their goal isn't the Three-Eyed Split Spirit Vine, they certainly won't miss it if they find it. Everyone, conceal yourselves. We cannot be careless until we find it." Dongke Hetu knew that once they obtained the Three-Eyed Split Spirit Vine, he and Dongke Jin would be able to unleash power several times greater than their current strength. At that point, the likes of Xie Keli and Wei Mingtang would be far from a threat to them.
While their group moved in stealth, another party had just arrived in the area between the Asle Volcano range and Tong Lu Mountain. They stood on a high cliff, with molten, flowing lava behind them. The three leaders were all dressed in black robes adorned with a blood-red vortex eye. One of them looked at an old man who was using a device to inspect the energy readings. "Lord Fine Scale, are you certain the master sent us here to find it? I currently do not sense its presence."
The speaker was Poison Snake, one of TK's veteran subordinates, but he was clearly much more deferential to this Lord Fine Scale.
The fine lines at the corners of Fine Scale's eyes curved upward, as if in a smile, or perhaps a calculation. "Don't forget, it has always been cunning, obeying only the master's commands. It is insidious and skilled with poison. When the master met with disaster back then, one of his bodies was brutally killed, and it barely escaped with its life. It must have been on the verge of death. Now, with the master's main body not yet here, it has been free for so many years and has recovered some of its strength. It may not be willing to return. So don't think you can force its submission with a summons. We must proceed slowly. Most importantly, we cannot let it know we are here. Otherwise, it will either ambush and kill us or flee. Finding it again then would not be easy."
"That is true."
These men were clearly extremely wary of "it." Another white-haired old man sneered, "This forest seems restless. We can use them to attract it, and we shall be the oriole."
Fine Scale said nonchalantly, "No rush. The longer this takes, the more it benefits us."
The three old men exchanged glances, having reached a decision. Poison Snake watched as Fine Scale took out a box of strange powder and poured it into the lava.
The lava flowed along the earth's veins, accumulating downstream and entering the entire mountain range, including Tong Lu Mountain, through underground rivers.
And this powder would drive "it" into an extremely frenzied, bloodthirsty state, making it eager to slaughter every living creature in Tong Lu Mountain.
When the snipe and the clam grapple, the fisherman profits.
Fu Chuan was still unaware of these developments. For several hours, she carefully traversed the dangerous foothills of Tong Lu Mountain, avoiding both the Aoyin and the Dwarf Race. It was exhausting. At one point, a strange tremor from underground startled her, and she quickly hid before emerging again later.
Fortunately, she was skilled in this sort of thing. Her two pupil techniques were quite overpowered, and in terms of survivability, she was even stronger than Yi Ye Hanzhuo.
The journey had been relatively safe, but… she sensed something strange.
Her Mental Eye made her extremely perceptive, able to see the fluctuations of mental threads in space.
She hadn't seen any other Arcanists nearby, but she could see that some of the lesser monsters and other BOSSes in Tong Lu Mountain seemed very wary, keeping their Mental Power in a constant state of high alert.
"Either they've sensed an external enemy invading Tong Lu Mountain and feel threatened, or some treasure is about to be born…"
She wasn't sure which it was, but she felt that either possibility could be beneficial to her.
Her goal lay elsewhere. If a treasure attracted both foreign enemies and the native Aoyin and Dwarf Race to fight over it, she could use the opportunity to reach her destination.
Just as Fu Chuan was entertaining this thought and moving closer to the rift valley, she soon felt a sense of dread.
Bending down, she touched the bloodstains on the ground with her finger and sniffed the lingering scent.
A level 60 BOSS had been killed.
And… swallowed whole.
Fu Chuan saw the dust trails left by the massive BOSS's limbs as its body was dragged and squirmed before being devoured.
"The blood cells are so active; it must have still been alive. To be controlled and swallowed alive while still living, the only way is with poison."
She ventured further in and soon found traces of other powerful BOSSes that had been eaten.
This… was too ferocious.
It had already eaten seven or eight BOSSes around level 60. And the BOSSes in Tong Lu Mountain were generally not weak, having survived the hunts of their own kind, the Aoyin, and the Dwarf Race. Yet they had still met a gruesome end in the belly of this mysterious beast.
Fu Chuan's scalp tingled. She couldn't understand it. This beast was clearly not native. Otherwise, with such a perverse desire for slaughter and consumption, the ecosystem here would be wiped out in no time. The Aoyin and Dwarf Race would never stand by and watch, because if it could eat other BOSSes, it could naturally eat them too.
"It must have arrived here recently. No wonder Yi Ye Hanzhuo was so unlucky to run into a newly adult level 50 Aoyin out on its own. Could it be that the Aoyin are also investigating its whereabouts?"
It wasn't that they were unlucky, but that Tong Lu Mountain was already on edge because of this mysterious invading beast.
Fu Chuan was very worried about this situation. She slowed her approach, choosing to lie low and investigate for the time being. Then, she burrowed into the earth, examining the area from below the earth's veins. She attached her Mental Eye to a Forbidden Arcane-infused vine, letting it grow deeper to conduct a covert search… Ten minutes later, Fu Chuan arrived at a region of flowing lava.
The underground lava was scorching hot, and she could barely withstand it. It wasn't that she had discovered any trickery, but that she found the metallic scent here to be a bit strong.
Before her… was a large patch of something white.
Skin?
Snakeskin.
A massive snakeskin.
And it had been shed recently. But on the walls and ground were shattered rocks and still-warm lava.
"Did it just evolve? According to Yi Ye Hanzhuo, he nearly ran into the monster snake while it was evolving. As it shed its skin, it released a powerful toxic mist in the surrounding area to create a protective barrier for itself, and also as a warning to other creatures. Judging by the integrity of the snakeskin, its molting was successful. Why would it suddenly go berserk and attack the ground, even stirring up the lava?"
From a biological standpoint, having completed its evolution, it should be at its most stable. It might need a large amount of energy, hence the frantic hunting outside, but it wouldn't be so crazed as to bombard the ground and cause such a huge commotion.
The underground tremor she had felt earlier probably originated from its rampage.
If it was eager to hunt for food, it should have been stealthy, not making such a racket. So, it must have lost control at that moment.
Fu Chuan stood beneath the wall, looking at the indentations and imagining the snake's head smashing against it. But!
"There's lava in its mouth, which is why there are lava remnants on these teeth marks."
It ate lava?
How was that different from a mental patient drinking boiling water during an episode? Could it be a fire-attribute creature?
"No, the lingering poison on Yi Ye Hanzhuo's body shows it belongs to the yin attribute. That poison is cold and yin-natured."
So the only explanation was that there was something wrong with the lava.
Fu Chuan fell silent, but quickly collected a piece of the snakeskin and a sample of the lava. She still didn't know what this monster was, but the snakeskin might contain DNA, and the lava might hold clues. Testing them later could yield useful information.
This place was extremely dangerous. It seemed the underground was the monster snake's lair, but Fu Chuan felt that since it was in a state of frenzied hunting, it was unlikely to be traveling underground.
This was actually safer for her.
Fu Chuan decisively left the area, following an underground river. As she walked, she stopped.
She had arrived. The rift valley was just ahead.
But she stood frozen in place, a cold sweat breaking out on her brow. Because on the ground above her, less than three hundred meters high and five hundred meters away…
It was there.
Right above her head.
It wasn't that she was unlucky, but that it was blocking the entrance to the rift valley from the start.
But apparently, she wasn't the only one who was terrified. Under the probe of her Mental Eye, a person was pressed against the wall eight meters away, his back to her.
But after two seconds, he turned his head, and they stared at each other.
What a coincidence, you're here too?
Looks like they had the same destination?
In the inexplicable, dead silence, the two of them felt a strange sense of awkwardness.
Resigned, Fu Chuan used hand gestures to communicate.
Fu Chuan: Lure it away.
Yi Ye Hanzhuo: Use my clone. My sequence level is decent.
Indeed, his clone was strong. He was a scion of a Purple Blood clan, after all.
Fu Chuan: I'll use Forbidden Arcane to mask its sequence aura.
Yi Ye Hanzhuo: Agreed. Invite me.
He was giving her leadership of the party? Fu Chuan didn't hesitate, immediately sending a team invitation. Then, the two of them quickly got to work.
Meanwhile, on the surface.
The rift valley was the most terrifying and dangerous area in Tong Lu Mountain. Deep within the rift lay the Tong Lu Ruins, the place where the level 90 Purple Blood expert, the Purple Cloth Marquis Tong Lu, had entered this realm and fought an equally powerful BOSS, the Red Snow Demon, for three days and three nights until they both perished. It was said the battle was so cataclysmic that it tore space itself, creating a hidden spatial secret realm that no one had ever found. Otherwise, they could have obtained the Purple Cloth Marquis's legacy from within.
At the entrance, sheer cliffs flanked the rift, their peaks soaring high while the chasm below was like a hollowed-out abyss. A ghostly wind swirled within, sounding like wailing spirits.
It was already a place where the living were not welcome, but now a creature was coiled there. Its body was thick, long, and massive, and a terrifying toxic gas flowed from its scales. Its eyes were closed, its forked, purplish-black tongue occasionally flicking out, and venom dripped from the corners of its mouth from time to time.
The venom sizzled as it hit the ground, annihilating all plant life.
It was the annihilation of the earth and life elements in the soil that had alerted Fu Chuan to the strangeness above.
But she didn't know why this hundred-meter-long, venomous python was lying here. Was it digesting after a big meal?
In any case, if they wanted to enter the rift, they had to lure it away!
The two quickly began their operation. Yi Ye Hanzhuo's sequence clone soon started to infiltrate the rift from underground.
As expected, the creature sensed it. Its massive body immediately moved. With a hiss, it whipped its tail violently at the clone that had darted into the rift.
"Huh, someone made a move?"
In the distance, the lurking members of the Dongke Clan had been pondering how to enter the rift. They had discovered the giant python an hour ago and didn't dare to provoke it, so they were at a loss. Now, seeing someone suddenly make a move to lure the python away, the subordinates grew excited, but Dongke Hetu held them back.
"Something's not right. I can sense another spiritual body here." He tapped his brow, his expression cautious.
The Dongke Clan's genetic talent was soul perception. While not an offensive ability, it was indeed very powerful, especially in a situation like this.
"Let's wait and see."
Yi Ye Hanzhuo's control was superb. He managed to make the clone dodge the tail whip and dart to the side. The creature immediately gave chase.
A perfect opportunity!
Fu Chuan and Yi Ye Hanzhuo rushed into the rift. But just as they entered, a sudden chill ran down both their spines.
They looked up.
At the top of the cliff, an even larger giant python had appeared.
It was five hundred meters long, its head as large as a house.
It stared down at them with unblinking eyes and even spoke in a human voice: "Did you think only you humans have clones?"
Fu Chuan's heart seized for a second, but just like Yi Ye Hanzhuo, her body shot forward.
Wings spinning, the two of them flew rapidly down into the rift below. But the giant python on the cliff slid off the edge, its massive body plummeting. Four wings sprouted from its body, and with a single flap of its enormous wings, it pursued them at twice their speed. Then, it opened its mouth.
Whoosh… a vast cloud of toxic mist covered the two of them, moving even faster than its body.
This is bad!
Their protective armor was like crisp paper, corroded instantly… even Fu Chuan's Rakshasa Vine was no exception.
We're done for!
And to make matters worse for Fu Chuan and Yi Ye Hanzhuo, as the giant python chased them down, another group of people swiftly entered the rift opening above, right behind them.
It was none other than Dongke Hetu and his group.
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