Chapter 1290: Fossil Forest
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The peak of the Holy Mountain was a lone floating geometric structure above the clouds and close to the sky.
It did not have the undulating ridges and peaks of the ordinary floating mountains. Its outline was straight as if it was some gigantic man-made object, like an inverted pyramid.
It was floating so high that the surging waves in the sea of clouds had turned into ripples in a pond in its eyes.
The floating mountains hidden in the sea of clouds, including the Thousand Blades Peak and Scarlet Peak, which only revealed their sharp edges, turned into tiny chess pieces and chips, allowing it to move and throw them.
The sky was so low and the sun was so close that even the stars that pierced through the chaotic sky seemed to be within reach.
However, standing on the summit of the Holy Mountain, the most bizarre scenes that one could see were far more than that.
They were formed by the dust, broken rocks, the remains of the Angels of Slaughter, deactivated pieces of the totem armor, and corpses of the giant totem beasts that circled the summit of the Holy Mountain. They were also floating in the sky and also revolving at the speed of a hurricane, as though they were “rings.”
Due to the countless spirit swirls in the sky that were constantly colliding and reacting violently, colorful spirit flames were bursting out from time to time in the “ring” on the summit of the Holy Mountain.
It was accompanied by earsplitting noises as if endless fireworks were being set off.
It was no wonder that when the warriors of Turan came here thousands of years ago and looked up at the colorful, burning, and exploding “ring,” they regarded this place as a temple where the ancestral spirits would drink and party, a battlefield of eternal slaughter!
Lying on the edge of the Holy Mountain’s summit, Meng Chao looked down at the soul-stirring scene below. After taking in more than ten breaths of the freezing air in the high sky, he was still shivering in fear and cold sweat.
Even now, he still could not believe that he had really made it!
He had thought that as long as he arrived at the correct coordinates on the edge of Scarlet Mountain at the right time, he would be teleported to the summit of the Holy Mountain like the previous spatial changes.
He did not expect “Jackal” Kanus and him to be teleported to the top of the Holy Mountain at a rapid speed. Spirit flames surged, and the debris, as well as corpses, kept colliding with each other inside the star ring, which was moving irregularly and violently.
The Wolf King told Meng Chao that the star ring was the ladder to the top of the Holy Mountain.
It was also the first test that the oldest ancestral spirits had left for their descendants.
They had to withstand the flying debris, the whistling debris, and the surging spirit flames in the hurricane. At the same time, they had to quickly search for a suitable foothold to jump and climb before they reached the gate of the treasure.
The slightest carelessness would cause the spirit flames to heavily injure their internal organs, limbs, and bones, clogging every nerve and blood vessel. As a result, they would fall from a height of ten thousand meters. Before they could activate their totem power, they would be smashed into pieces.
The difficulties and obstacles were no less than Meng Chao’s leap from Thousand Blades Peak to Scarlet Peak.
In the sky tens of thousands of meters above the ground, Meng Chao had to raise every hair on his body and sense every spirit energy turbulence in the surroundings as carefully as a radar.
He also observed and listened to everything, scanning every piece of debris and corpse that were sweeping toward him from all directions.
He quickly calculated the brand-new trajectories of their movements after they collided with each other in his mind.
Only then was he able to avoid the debris that was even faster than bullets and burning with invisible spirit flames.
Thankfully, the Wolf King seemed to be familiar with the place.
He was so familiar that it was as if he had climbed the “star ring” that led to the Holy Mountain’s summit several times.
The Wolf King knew exactly where the spirit energy turbulence was the most intense, when he should sprint at full speed, and which giant rock suspended in the sky could be used as a place to rest.
Meng Chao followed him closely behind. Before his spirit energy and computational ability were exhausted, he finally climbed to the highest point of the “star ring” without any danger.
Then, with all his strength, he jumped to the edge of the Holy Mountain’s peak and flipped over again. Finally, he climbed to the top of the square-shaped mountain that looked like the base of a pyramid.
“Huff, huff, huff…”
Even though Meng Chao had trained his Ultimate Style to perfection and possessed three to five times the endurance combat ability of an ordinary superhuman, after a series of events, such as the Angel of Strength’s self-detonation, fighting the Wolf King to the death, passing through the “star ring,” and so on, he was exhausted to the extreme.
He could only lie on the ground on his back, gasping for breath. His ability to respond to the threats around him had fallen to the bottom.
Meng Chao could not help but glance at the Wolf King beside him, who was also sprawled on the ground, drenched in cold sweat. He was gasping for breath, and trying hard to suppress the urge to vomit.
Meng Chao was not sure how real and fake the Wolf King’s exhaustion was.
He was also curious as to why the Wolf King had not attacked him in the “star ring” just now.
After all, he had destroyed the Wolf King’s grand scheme, which he had painstakingly planned for more than ten years. Meng Chao had also indirectly caused the death of the Wolf King’s meticulously crafted and outstanding wolf warrior.
It was even possible that the Wolf King’s ambition to ascend to the supreme throne and reach his so-called “supreme goal” would be ruined in one fell swoop.
Based on the Doomsday Wolf’s character, this guy should hate him to the bone.
The “sincere cooperation, mutual benefit, and a win-win situation” bullsh*t that came out of his mouth was even more fragile than wet papyrus, and it could be torn to shreds in a minute.
However, in the middle of the star ring earlier, Meng Chao had revealed a few flaws in the most dangerous place, but the Wolf King had remained indifferent. He just continued to act as a guide at the front. Not only did he not intend to expose his true intentions, but he also did not guard his own back, as though he had predicted that Meng Chao would not attack him from behind.
It was unknown whether it was all just for show or not.
They were supposed to be at daggers drawn and scheming against each other. However, Meng Chao felt that after the Wolf King discovered his identity as an Earthling, their relationship had undergone a subtle change.
The Wolf King was becoming more and more… relaxed. That’s right, relaxed.
It was as if this fellow had a rather blind trust in Earthlings.
It was really strange.
Even if an Earthling had taught the Wolf King his skills, there was no reason for him to trust an Earthling so much.
“Do you find it strange?”
Sensing Meng Chao’s suspicious gaze, the Wolf King indifferently said, “Because I didn’t attack you on the way to the top of the Holy Mountain?”
“That’s right.”
Meng Chao pondered for a moment and said, “Your calmness and steady nature are admirable, Wolf King. It’s worth learning from. If I were you, it would be hard for me not to attack a guy who had just destroyed the plans that I’ve worked so hard on for ten years and invested all of my resources into.”
“Even if I cut you into pieces, the wolf warriors that I have carefully cultivated won’t be able to come back to life. They have already made sacrifices for our supreme goal. I can’t let their precious sacrifices run along the Turan River into the sea and turn into bubbles, becoming worthless.”
Deep inside the Holy Mountain’s summit, the Wolf King pouted and said, “You cannot die yet. At least, you are still useful before you reach the entrance of the Holy Mountain temple.”
Meng Chao looked in the direction he was pointing at.
He could not help but suck in a breath of cold air.
At first, he thought that the top of the Holy Mountain was as empty as the surrounding rock walls, which were as smooth as mirrors.
After all, the air there was extremely thin, and the ultraviolet rays and cosmic radiation were extremely intense.
Even experts like Meng Chao and the Wolf King found it difficult to breathe and felt dizzy when they reached the top of the Holy Mountain. Every time they tried their best to expand their lungs, they could clearly feel the faint pain in their sternum and ribs.
It was hard to imagine what kind of animals and plants could survive in such a harsh environment.
However, on the summit of the Holy Mountain, there was a vast, lush, and primitive jungle that blotted out the sun.
What made up this jungle was not plants.
It was the remains of a giant killing machine: An Angel of Slaughter that was even larger than an Angel of Strength.
It was a humanoid beast that was several times larger than a barbarian elephant warrior and was covered in totem armor.
There were also all kinds of strange shapes. It was unknown whether they were creatures or machines, but they only appeared in the deepest level of one’s nightmares. They were existences that could scare monsters to tears.
They had tangled with each other, stabbed each other fiercely, and fought with all their might. They formed a large sculpture called Asura Hell.
Under the feet of these giant killing machines, there were also countless human, dwarf, elf, orc, and troll corpses. It was like an ocean of death made of piles of bones. The way they had fought each other until their last breath was equally tragic and shocking.
No matter how prestigious and awe-inspiring they were when they had been alive…
No matter how profound the magic and overbearing totems they had once mastered…
Every day, every moment, and every second of the three thousand years, spirit energy was constantly tearing, eroding, stripping, shattering, and devouring them.
The warriors, heroes, Nine-Ring Magicians, high priests of the Holy Light, the gods of war, saviors… All the colors and lusters of their bones and remains had been peeled off. It was as if all the vitality and the possibility of awakening had been lost. They had turned into an endless “fossil forest.”
Even so, the magnificent fossil forest still shocked Meng Chao and rendered him speechless for a long time.
Ice Storm had once told him that the Holy Light Army from three thousand years ago had once reached the peak of the Holy Mountain and started a large-scale excavation there. However, they were unable to find the true entrance to the Holy Mountain temple. In the end, they could only return empty-handed.
However, Ice Storm never told Meng Chao that the Holy Light Army and the Turan army at that time had once erupted into such a grand, tragic, and shocking final battle at the peak of the Holy Mountain.
As a result, Meng Chao could even see and hear the sound of ten thousand war horns blowing three thousand years later in the face of the fossilized forest of bones. Ten thousand mages had drawn complicated magic rune arrays in the void at the same time; ten thousand orc warriors had worn their armor at the same time and released totem power that bared their fangs and claws; ten thousand elves had put on bows and arrows; ten thousand trolls had opened their bloody mouths; and ten thousand dwarfs had ignited their bronze cannons!
