Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After he left the courtyard, Ze Hai first went to the nearby shops to look around, then bought a couple maps in a store. After he had the maps, Ze Hai flipped through them, then put them away, disappearing into the crowd.
The streets were bustling with activity. The monster trainer felt something bump his shoulder, but when he turned to look, there was nothing.
“Come get this deal! A Lord-tier Saffron Tiger! Its three tufts of hair are as red as blood, an authentic Saffron Tiger!”
“Qingyuan fruit, Qingyuan fruit, the premium food for Earth-type monsters! Don’t miss out, come take a look—”
Ze Hai inconspicuously left the city gates amid the hollering of street vendors. On his head was a bamboo hat that had come from nowhere, and he had changed into different clothes. He turned around and looked at Fallen Star City with an unreadable expression, then took big strides north.
Gao Peng was tailing him.
After a day of walking, he was very far from Fallen Star City. Ze Hai stopped in his tracks. He turned to look in the direction of Gao Peng. In that direction, an invisible Gao Peng stood quietly in place. Two bright eyeballs glowed in his eye sockets. They were crystal clear, with white light flowing out of them.
Gao Peng could see Ze Hai’s every more from six miles away. He had been exposed. That’s what he thought when Ze Hai turned around, but Ze Hai probably wasn’t the one who had discovered him. Rather, it was the being hiding in Ze Hai’s body.
He thought this because Ze Hai’s gaze was empty. He had looked in Gao Peng’s direction, but they were separated by mountains and hills. If Ze Hai had really seen him, his gaze should have been focused, but at that moment, Ze Hai’s gaze was scattered. It was probably the being inside him that had informed him of Gao Peng’s location.
“Come out, since you’ve been following me all this way… Gao Peng,” Ze Hai said slowly. “I didn’t expect you to actually follow me. Why did you do that? Are you tired of living?” He sighed. “I really do admire you. We’re different, you and I. You’re a genius who made it through your own hard work.”
Stretching out his right hand, he distorted the vanity space. A large, blood red monster hit the ground like a small mountain. Rumble—
A cloud of dust rose from the ground as the Blood Lizard’s giant body roared at the sky. The Blood Lizard, the Giant Plague King, was covered with a mass of blood-like liquid. Its dense blood aura pierced the sky.
Ze Hai took a step forward and became one with the Blood Lizard. At almost the exact same moment, the Blood Lizard roared furiously. Its scales shattered, and its eyes glowed crimson. The air was thick with the aura of madness.
Crack, crack. Bones dripping with blood pierced through its skin. Its fangs swelled. While the Blood Lizard took on a terrifying appearance, its aura also grew increasingly disturbing.
“Merge with me completely!” With a howl, the Blood Lizard’s aura became frantic. It instantly broke through the barrier between Saint-tier and Quasi God-tier. A wave of blood washed over the sky, the lizard’s eyes filled with madness.
At this moment, the Blood Lizard’s appearance changed completely. It became a prehistoric beast, though its eyes had an inkling of clarity hidden behind the madness.
“Plague Bloody Sea!” It opened its mouth and out gushed a sea of bloody mist. A sea of blood washed over them, the dense mist devouring everything in its path. Trees, rocks, monsters—everything it touched was disintegrated, becoming new sanguine mist.
“Make it fast!” The Blood Lizard knew it couldn’t maintain this form for much longer. It would attract the attention of that person in Mingyu Country. It decided to finish Gao Peng within the minute.
“Your familiar just broke through the Quasi God tier a month ago. It’s new to Quasi God. It won’t take more than a minute to kill you!”
“Big Sea.” Gao Peng saw the Blood Lizard, which had broken through to Quasi God-tier, and gave up the idea of summoning Stripey to beat it. It looked like he could only summon Fatty Big Sea.
Slap. A big-headed carp flopped on the ground. Fatty Big Sea opened its eyes to a giant Blood Lizard charging at it through a sea of blood. Its mouth was like a bottomless hole, its uneven teeth giving off a cold glint. It was so close that Fatty Big Sea could even smell the sourness of its breath in the air.
Fatty Big Sea’s mouth twitched, its nostrils twitched, and it huffed out two puffs of air. Eat me?
“Howl!!” A wild wind swept across the ground. The mountain peaks were crushed flat, the sky darkened, and suddenly, a howling beast that had slaughtered gods in ancient times showed its true form. Each of its black, shiny scales was the size of a house.
Crunch. The Giant Plague King disappeared, as did the sea of blood and the plague. Only a messy battlefield, some crushed mountain peaks nearby, and the ground that had been corroded hinted at the destructive battle that had just taken place.
A seven-foot-long Fatty Big Sea lay in place leisurely, chewing on something like a carrot. “Achoo!” Fatty Big Sea sneezed and spat out a red and green blood clot that resembled an organ. The blood clot, which encased a white finger bone, was still wriggling around. This thing tried to make a run for it the moment it touched open air. Fatty Big Sea, who had expected this, took out the Endless Reincarnation Labyrinth and caught it in its net.
“I’m a god; I can give you endless power. I can make you the strongest familiar—”
“Noisy.” Fatty Big Sea shut the Endless Reincarnation Labyrinth. Hmph! The only reincarnated god that Gao Peng needs is me! Violence flashed in Fatty Big Sea’s eyes. It looked like it wanted to find a chance to finish this guy off.
Gao Peng’s footsteps approached from behind. “You finished him, huh,” Gao Peng said with a laugh.
“Of course. I took the field and gobbled it up.” Fatty Big Sea said without a change in expression.
“That guy probably had a snapped finger from the God of Plague. Don’t lose it,” Gao Peng advised.
Fatty Big Sea was stunned. How did you know it had the God of Plague’s finger?! Fatty Big Sea didn’t feel embarrassed about its useless attempt to hide this information and nodded maturely. “I put that finger away. By the way, next time you want me to face something like this, give me a heads up. This God of Plague might have only been a tattered body, but it still has some Divine Power. Eating it gave me a cold!” At the end of his sentence, Fatty Big Sea sneezed again. “Achoo!”
“You’re infected? Are you all right? Should we get you treatment?” Gao Peng said with concern.
“It’s no biggie.” Fatty Big Sea waved its fins carelessly. Then its expression changed and began to study the environment. “We’re in Jiutian Shidi? How did you get here? Watch out, this place is murky.”
“What’s murkier, Jiutian Shidi or Surface Sea?” Gao Peng teased.
“Obviously Surface Sea!” Fatty Big Sea humphed. “Don’t look at me like that, I’m not just tooting my own horn. What you know of Surface Sea is only a very small part of it. Even I don’t know how big Surface Sea really is. The Divine System battles didn’t affect the entire Surface Sea.
“But the Surface Sea I’m talking about is the real one hidden in the heart of chaos. The part of the sea that’s in contact with Jiutian Shidi is no match for Jiutian Shidi. That Surface Sea once went into battle with Jiutian Shidi and suffered heavy losses. This world has a lot of powerful beings.”
