After about half an incense stick, Goldwing finally opened his eyes. Noticing everyone staring at him, he felt a bit awkward. "Boss, why are you all looking at me like that? Do I have flowers on my face, or did something weird happen?"
"Old Goldwing, how's your strength and realm after this breakthrough? You're now the king of the Golden-Winged Roc Clan, you know—those shoulders aren't light anymore." Evan Chu laughed.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!" Four Golden-Winged Rocs actually knelt before Goldwing in formal salute, leaving him completely baffled.
"Get up, get up—what's going on here? When did I become your king again? Isn't this a bit sudden?" Goldwing asked, astonished.
"This was the last order from our previous king. From now on, you're the true king of our Golden-Winged Roc Clan. The revival of our clan rests on you—your bloodline is stronger than ours, and only you can make us truly powerful again," said a middle-aged man.
"Boss, I feel like my strength is about to hit late-stage Immortal Emperor, and I still haven't absorbed all the energy in my body. But right now I've hit a bottleneck and can't absorb any more—once I break through, I'll be at late-stage Immortal Emperor for sure. I'm rising so fast, I honestly feel a bit out of sorts," Goldwing said.
"You brat, now you're really playing humble after striking it rich, huh? With a chance like this falling into your lap, you ought to be happy. Come on, let's go check out the Golden-Winged Roc Clan's territory—I hope that last fight didn't wreck too much or hurt your people again," Evan Chu said.
The group immediately took to the air, with the Golden-Winged Rocs leading the way up front. They didn't fly very fast, though—it took about half an incense stick before they arrived at a clan settlement.
Evan Chu took a quick look—the settlement was about tens of thousands of meters across, full of wooden houses. One building had three stories; that was probably the king's residence.
"How many clansmen do you Golden-Winged Rocs have in total?" Evan Chu asked at this point.
"Not many—counting the newborns, there are just over seventy of us. After losing a few in the last fight, we're down to a little over sixty. Still, with a new king, our Golden-Winged Roc Clan finally has hope for revival," the middle-aged man said.
"Don't worry, as long as Old Goldwing is around, the Golden-Winged Roc Clan will definitely grow strong again. For now, you'll have to endure a bit longer—once the Immortal-Beast War is over, I'll break the barrier of Godfall Valley so you can freely enter and leave the Immortal Realm."
"I'll also make a public announcement so no one dares bully you. Of course, the Golden-Winged Roc Clan is mighty and noble, but with so few left, your top priority is to reproduce and rebuild your numbers. That's your main task right now," Evan Chu said.
As soon as he said this, a nearby young woman blushed deeply and gave Evan Chu a frustrated look. She was a girl, after all, and found his blunt talk embarrassing—if it were anyone else, she'd have snapped back, but with Evan Chu, she could only swallow it.
"Palace Lord, you may not know—it's extremely hard for us Golden-Winged Rocs to reproduce inside Godfall Valley. We don't know exactly why, but each time we try, we hatch hundreds of Immortal eggs."
It takes thousands of years for the eggs to hatch, and most of the time, all hundred Immortal eggs die—sometimes not a single one survives. It's like we're cursed, and now most of us have given up trying to reproduce.
Normally, our Golden-Winged Roc Clan should be able to reproduce in fifty years per generation, but here it takes millennia. In tens of thousands of years, only three Golden-Winged Rocs have hatched—you can imagine how low the odds are.
Honestly, everyone thinks Godfall Valley itself is the problem. We all want to leave, but there are too many restrictions here—we can't get out and are trapped. It's frustrating, but there's nothing we can do. Now that the Palace Lord and our new king are here, we finally believe this crisis will be solved soon," the middle-aged man said.
"That's right. I'll solve your predicament—but not right away. For now, rest and recover here, and I'll make sure you're satisfied when the time comes. We have to go somewhere else now, so we won't stay here any longer. Just wait for news from us," Evan Chu said.
"Will the king leave with you?" the middle-aged man asked.
"Of course. I'll leave the clan's affairs to you for now. If you run into any trouble or need anything, just ask the Dragon Clan for help. I trust they'll do everything they can," Evan Chu said.
Goldwing gave Evan Chu a grateful look and walked over to his side. "Boss, let's head out. You've been away from Frostbane Imperial Palace for a while—you should go back and check in soon. We can't afford any more delays."
Goldwing was right; Evan really couldn't afford to linger here any longer, or this Golden-Winged Roc business would drag on who knows how long.
"Alright, let's get moving—better to leave early and come back early!" Evan Chu said.
The three of them left the Roc territory and flew toward that strange lake. The Roc clansmen tried again and again to persuade them to stay, but were refused each time.
After flying for a full day and night, they finally reached their destination. "Palace Lord, this lake ahead is the place I mentioned. I only found it by accident while flying over. Should we go down and take a look?"
Evan Chu glanced at the lake—it wasn't very big, but a faint mist hung over the water. The fog contained several unusual elements, with darkness, wind, and water most concentrated. Clearly, the lake bottom wasn't ordinary.
"You two stay here. The lake bottom is definitely dangerous—I'll go alone. Just wait for me on shore!" Evan Chu said.
Without waiting for their response, he flashed forward and used his Water Transformation art to slip into the lake. In just a few breaths, he reached the bottom.
Evan Chu took a careful look around and found the pressure at the lake bottom was immense—like stepping into a powerful expert's domain. The force was about equal to the spatial domain of a mid-stage Immortal Emperor.
"Emerald, can you sense where the soul medicine is? The lake bottom is only so big, and I haven't even seen a single fish—it's like a dead lake, no sign of life at all," Evan Chu asked.
"Master, this lake is truly weird. The darkness element at the bottom is unusually dense, which is strange enough, but I haven't found any soul medicine either. There's not even any vegetation. Still, if the Golden Dragon King said there's soul medicine here, he can't be wrong.
Right now, we just need to wait for the dark undercurrent he mentioned to appear—maybe the soul medicine grows in the undercurrent itself," said the Emerald Immortal Empress.
No sooner had she finished speaking than Evan Chu sensed a huge energy fluctuation nearby. A ribbon of black undercurrent appeared several dozen meters ahead—just what he needed. Without a second thought, he flashed forward and dove straight in, not even pausing to consider the danger...