Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Limited only to Fire-type monsters… I guess this is for Flamy.
Gao Peng began explaining the pros and cons of consuming the fruit to Flamy, clarifying what would happen if its body failed to accept it and what sort of ability it would receive if its body succeeded.
Naturally, Flamy was willing to take the risk. Gao Peng will just have to take care of me for the rest of my life if the worst does come to pass, thought Flamy. I’m okay with that.
“Bring it on!” the bird said, puffing up its chest.
“You are one brave bird,” said Gao Peng, impressed.
Flamy closed its eyes as it chewed on the fruit. It then laid down on the ground, wings spread out on both sides, its crimson feathers glistening beneath the sun.
The fruit soon took effect. Waves upon waves of pain began assaulting Flamy’s brain with seemingly no end in sight. Flamy’s body didn’t feel any pain. The pain it was feeling right now seemed to be coming from deep within its soul. It soon fainted from the intense process.
This was probably for the best. At least it was spared from feeling any pain while it remained unconscious.
Flamy woke up the next day. Goldie, which had been watching over Flamy the whole night, immediately reported this to Gao Peng. “Gao Peng, Fattie woke up, Fattie woke up.” The very foundations of heaven and earth seemed to quake as its voice carried for miles.
Flamy’s eye twitched.
Gao Peng quickly rushed over.
Flamy was still somewhat groggy from its sleep. It looked at its surroundings with a dazed look on its face.
The only noticeable change Flamy had undergone after eating the Flame Devourer Fruit was losing a couple of pounds. Its belly had noticeably shrunk.
“So did it work, Gao Peng?” asked Flamy in a worried tone. Even though it was fine with Gao Peng taking care of it for the rest of its life, it still didn’t want this to end in failure.
“It worked,” said Gao Peng, nodding.
Upon hearing Gao Peng’s “official” confirmation, Flamy heaved a sigh of relief, then felt an irrepressible urge to dance in joy. I am truly the greatest bird in existence.
[Monster Name]: Sub-blood Bi Fang
[Monster Grade]: Legendary
[Monster Attribute]: Fire
[Monster Tier]: Level 51 (King-tier)
[Monster Trait]: Wings of Fire (omitted)
Soul Dispersal (omitted)
Flame Devourer (Originally the Inferno King Crab’s innate talent, it was later extracted from its body and integrated into the Bi Fang bird’s body.
Passive Effect 1: Increased fire resistance.
Active Effect 1: Automatically absorbs certain kinds of fire, whose essences are then used to strengthen the user’s spiritual essence.)
[Monster Description]: A Bi Fang bird with an impure bloodline. Various kinds of fire exist in this world, where both man and monster covet the title of king. Upon awakening its Flame Devourer ability, the Bi Fang bird now walks the path of taking power by force. All the flames in the world now belong to it.
Gao Peng frowned at what he had just read. Flamy nervously looked at Gao Peng, wondering if there was something wrong with it.
“It’s nothing too serious. In fact, it’s probably good for you,” said Gao Peng assuringly.
Flamy grew even more nervous. Nothing almost always means something!
“I guess there’s no point in hiding it from you. Your new ability seems to have mutated.” Gao Peng began telling Flamy about the changes it had undergone.
Goldie’s eyes lit up. It gave Flamy a pat on the back, the muscles on its arms rolling like waves. “Not bad, Fattie. Path of usurping power and whatnot. Sounds really cool if you ask me. Don’t forget me when you make a name for yourself one day.”
Flamy glared at Goldie. Usurping power, my *ss. You’re not the one bearing this burden.
“Don’t worry too much about it. Whatever it is you’re going to take over in the future, we’ll always be by your side,” consoled Gao Peng.
Flamy calmed down somewhat. It couldn’t have cared less about wealth or glory, and it wasn’t as given to histrionics as Goldie was. Flamy’s Wings of Fire had already given it a boost in fire resistance. Its newly gained Flame Devourer ability had increased this ability even further.
Gao Peng asked the dwarf if it had ever heard of this path of usurping power.
The dwarf was stunned. “Why the hell would you want to know that?”
Gao Peng had only casually posed this question to the dwarf. He hadn’t expected it to have an answer for him. “So tell me. What is this path of usurping power?” he asked.
The dwarf replied, “It’s just a couple of dunderheads killing each other over something. A title, perhaps…
“The title of god, or maybe the world’s most powerful monster alive. In any case, I think it’s all rubbish. It’s not like you can break it down with my altar…” The dwarf’s voice trailed off.
Flamy absentmindedly walked up to the dwarf and kicked its altar over. It then walked away, still distracted by whatever was on its mind.
“Watch where you’re going, damn bird!” the dwarf shouted after Flamy as it picked itself up and pushed its altar back upright.
Bam. Goldie excitedly rushed by, upending the dwarf’s altar once more with a kick.
…
Flashes of lightning illuminated the sky overhead. Da Zi’s massive form was snaking through the air, a solemn look on its face. All six pairs of its wings were spread out behind it. Balls of electricity orbited its body like planets around the sun. It was warily observing the path ahead, its dragon claws tucked beneath its abdomen.
Boom! The sound of thunder rocked the heavens as Da Zi flapped its wings violently behind it. It tore through the air in the form of a purple flash of light before sinking its fangs into one of the fruits hanging from the branches of the Lightning Tree that had appeared in front of it.
The silvery tree had bloomed in the sky, illuminating the sky like a beacon. Its branches were as thick and countless as the strands of hair on one’s head.
Da Zi seemed almost insignificant compared to the Lightning Tree.
The Lightning Tree’s stem seemed to stretch deep into the infinite darkness beneath as if it was a pillar holding up the heavens on its canopy. The tree had eight fruits on its branches, each of them shaped like a pentagram and giving off starlight, pure and enigmatic.
Da Zi leaped onto one of them. The tree’s fruits were extraordinarily huge, so Da Zi began digging into one of them like a worm burrowing its way through an apple. It squirmed for a moment inside the fruit, which juice squirted out from. Da Zi’s body was soon soaked in the stuff.
When it finally managed to dig its way into the fruit’s core, the fruit began shrinking, its juice rapidly flowing into Da Zi’s body.
Da Zi couldn’t breathe. Its eyes rolled back into its head. The fruit then fell off, discarded unceremoniously by the Lightning Tree.
Ten minutes later, the fruit had withered completely, its dried-out skin surrounding Da Zi like a cocoon. Da Zi’s body spasmed for a moment in the dried-out fruit, then it fell into a deep sleep, floating silently in the emptiness of space…
After what seemed like a decade, voices echoed in the void.
“It sure can eat.”
“Yeah, it’s like a bottomless pit.”
“Is it a pig in disguise?”
“Why did you agree to help this pig… I mean, this centipede dragon? It doesn’t seem remarkably talented.”
“The portal between worlds opened by chance. It was probably fate that brought us together.”
“All right. I’ll take your word for it.”
…
A month had passed, and Gao Peng and the others were drawing nearer to the Dragon Death Valley.
The seven little Dragon Ants had grown a lot in that time. They were each now approximately five feet long.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of rushing water up ahead. A golden light peeked out from the horizon. A few moments later, sunlight flooded over the land.
