Chapter 614: Why Run?
"Wait a minute..." At that moment, Leon was startled. He noticed that the Three-Eyed Shadow Wolf was actually curled up beneath the crystal, fast asleep. Its fur was now shimmering with a dark golden glow.
"It seems the secrets hidden within the Primordial Deity Soul Fragment are far from exhausted." Leon stood there, pondering for four or five minutes before letting out a deep sigh and leaving the Natural Semi-Plane.
Back atop Frostpeak, Leon immediately spotted the Watson Family members who had just finished their meditation.
After just a few days, the magical aura of Cyrus Watson, the Eighth-Rank Title Archmage, had grown significantly stronger. His surging magic felt like a caged lion about to break free—clearly, he could advance to the Ninth Rank at any moment. All he needed now was time...
Reid Watson and Anthus as well—one a Title Archmage, the other a Sword Saint—had both made astonishing progress with the help of Primordial Deity Blood. Either of them could break through to the Eighth Rank at any moment...
And that moment was certainly not far off...
Now, the Primordial Deity Blood had fully merged with the demi-plane. Thanks to his deep soul connection with the Natural Semi-Plane, Leon had already begun to decipher some of the secrets of the Primordial Deity Blood. So of course he knew—the benefits it brought were far more than what they were seeing now...
In fact, what was showing now might not even be one-tenth of its true potential.
This was the blood left behind by the most powerful beings between heaven and earth—the essence of their lives, the source of their strength. Even a single drop was priceless; and these two had each drunk an entire bottle...
Leon would wager that the next three years are when the Primordial Deity Blood truly unleashes its power. During this time, everyone who drank the blood will experience a meteoric rise in strength. Cyrus Watson’s breakthrough to the Ninth Rank is all but guaranteed—catching up to Joey and Hellen is just a matter of time. The only real suspense is whether he can break through to the Heavenly Tier...
As for Reid Watson and Anthus, their progress might not be as dramatic as Cyrus Watson’s, but it won’t lag far behind. Give them a few years, and reaching the Ninth Rank Mage is absolutely within reach...
Don’t underestimate these rank advancements...
Once a Title Archmage surpasses Rank Five, every step up becomes a Herculean task. Many mages with lesser talent and fewer resources might spend one or two centuries struggling to advance a single rank. For Reid Watson and Anthus, this kind of progress is nothing short of a dream...
While Leon was sizing them up, Anthus was also sizing up Leon. Truth be told, this Seventh-Rank Sword Saint found the situation rather strange.
From Cyrus Watson’s account, Anthus had learned just how terrifying a Natural Semi-Plane could be. In his view, after Leon’s prolonged stay inside, something earth-shattering should have happened. Yet, as far as he could tell, nothing had changed.
Leon looked exactly the same as before he left. Not a single thing seemed different.
This just doesn’t add up...
Could I be imagining things?
Cyrus Watson, on the other hand, reacted in a completely different way. Ever since Leon stepped out of the spatial rift, the Eighth-Rank Title Archmage’s gaze had grown heavy—he felt Leon was unfathomable, and the aura radiating from the young mage left him breathless.
Just as he was about to say something, everyone suddenly felt the ground shake violently. It was as if Frostpeak itself was about to collapse—howling winds, falling snow, and the sense that something massive was battering the mountain.
"What the hell is happening?" Reid Watson, who had been whispering with Anthus, was the first to react to the anomaly atop Frostpeak. He rushed to the edge and peered down.
"Damn it, is that another Mountain Serpent?" In an instant, Reid Watson’s face turned deathly pale, and he screamed in terror.
At that moment, everyone saw it. The Mountain Serpent emerged from a crack in the earth, its body stretching for miles—an utterly terrifying spectacle.
But then, the female serpent spotted the corpse of the male. She opened her bloody maw and let out a thunderous roar, making the world itself tremble. Frost magic erupted, blanketing everything—the ruined peaks, the split earth. The magical aura she released felt utterly unstoppable.
Dragging her colossal body, the female serpent coiled around Frostpeak and surged toward the summit. Her head soon broke through to the top, and when she found it empty, she roared furiously. The frost swirling around her shone with blinding light, shaking the earth to its core.
"Heavens... it’s the female serpent..." Reid Watson rubbed his eyes in disbelief, and when he realized he wasn’t dreaming, panic and despair filled his voice.
After their first encounter with the Mountain Serpent, Reid Watson had asked Cyrus Watson all about it, including the difference between male and female serpents...
Never in history had both serpents appeared at the same time.
In all of Northend’s history, only two female serpents had ever appeared. At birth, they weren’t much stronger than their male counterparts, but after the ninth cycle of sleep and awakening, the female serpent would gain the Serpent Rune and become terrifyingly powerful. That rune granted her even greater mastery over ice magic.
What’s more, the Serpent Rune meant she didn’t need a mana source—her magic was inexhaustible. As long as she kept casting spells, her power was nothing short of monstrous.
So when Reid Watson saw the frost rune on the female serpent, he knew things had gone south—this was at least a Mountain Serpent that had undergone nine cycles of sleep. Facing her, survival was a matter of luck.
"ROAR!"
By now, the Mountain Serpent had scaled the summit. Reid Watson could clearly see her massive, menacing head raised, her gaping maw gathering pure, immense magical power. If unleashed, it would be nothing short of apocalyptic.
"We should run..." The Serpent Rune on the Mountain Serpent was drawing in torrents of mana, and as Reid Watson felt the overwhelming magical pressure, despair crept across his face.
"Run?" Leon asked, oddly curious.
"Trust me, we need to run. We’re no match for the female serpent," Reid Watson said, staring at the approaching beast with a primal fear—as if facing a natural predator.
"Run? Why run? Don’t you want magical materials delivered right to your doorstep?"
"Huh?" Reid Watson stared blankly, unable to make sense of Leon’s words.
But Leon wasn’t paying him any mind anymore...
Leon turned, excitement lighting up his face as he issued commands to the Dragonblood Orc, Frost Dragon, and the Alchemical Golem.
"No problem, leave it to Master Shuban!" The Dragonblood Orc roared, his weapon, Carnage, bursting with dazzling dark-gold light as he charged at the Mountain Serpent.
"Crap, this is bad!"
Reid Watson’s face went pale as he rushed to Cyrus Watson, hoping he could stop Leon. But before he could speak, a thunderous boom cut him off.
Startled, Reid Watson turned to see the Dragonblood Orc erupt with terrifying power. Carnage smashed into the Mountain Serpent’s head, sending the massive skull flying dozens of meters.
Then, Shuban swung Carnage again—the ten-thousand-pound weapon crashed into the ground, sending visible shockwaves rippling out. The resulting blast flung the Dragonblood Orc hundreds of meters into the air, his dark-gold glow staining the sky red.
The Dragonblood Orc wasn’t holding back at all, unleashing his full strength like a thunder beast. He dove from the sky, slamming Carnage into the Mountain Serpent’s head before it could even react.
A muffled "bang" echoed, sending chills down everyone’s spine...
No, no, it wasn’t just the Dragonblood Orc...
While Reid Watson was still reeling, the Alchemical Golem struck as well. Waves of astonishing magic—Starfire Rain, thick with blazing heat—appeared above the Mountain Serpent. Ten spells, like a net, engulfed the beast in an instant.
Empowered by the Primordial Deity Blood, the Alchemical Golem’s Hydra Heart had fully transformed. Its spellcasting was now terrifying—a Sixth-Rank Starfire Rain, and even hundreds of meters away, the pressure was overwhelming.
Struck by so many Starfire Rain spells, the Mountain Serpent’s body erupted in brilliant sparks. The flames left scorching marks across its scales, and the icy rune-lit plates were seared red in seconds...
"How is this possible... How is this possible..." Reid Watson broke out in a cold sweat. Those were Sixth-Rank spells—he needed to chant incantations for just one, but the Alchemical Golem was casting them instantly, and in such terrifying numbers.