Chapter 149: Perhaps We Fit the Definition of Friends

Chapter 149: Perhaps We Fit the Definition of Friends

From the blood light earlier, Su Nan sensed a clear fluctuation of energy particles.

This thought made him suddenly pause. He turned around and returned to where he had slain the Fine-Jawed Dragons, landing to inspect their bodies.

As expected, the Fine-Jawed Dragons' soul auras had completely dissipated.

It was normal for a creature's soul to dissipate after death, but this process usually took time and didn't happen instantly.

Yet, just two or three minutes after the Fine-Jawed Dragons had died, their souls had vanished without a trace, which was highly unusual.

Rather than dissipating, it seemed as though their souls had been extracted.

Moreover, the Fine-Jawed Dragons' bodies appeared visibly shriveled, as if all their essence had been drained.

"So that blood light was formed from the Fine-Jawed Dragons' souls and physical essences."

Su Nan mused, looking in the direction the blood light had disappeared. He had a hunch about what was happening.

Continuing in the direction the blood light had vanished, Su Nan moved forward, gathering materials and searching for traces of the sub-dragons.

The ecological garden was home to many sub-dragons, and he soon encountered another Spine-Backed Wingless Dragon.

The Spine-Backed Wingless Dragon was a legendary sub-dragon, with the combat strength of a first-circle legendary creature.

Unfortunately, it was no match for Su Nan.

Without using his Magic Pattern Core, he easily dispatched the Spine-Backed Wingless Dragon with a few spells.

After collecting the materials from the Spine-Backed Wingless Dragon's body, Su Nan waited a minute. As expected, a faint blood glow appeared on the corpse, forming a blood-red beam that shot off into the distance.

The direction was the same as the first blood light.

This time, Su Nan was prepared. Without hesitation, he activated the High-Rank Runic Gem in his palm, enveloping himself in a layer of green light and chasing after the blood light like a gust of wind.

However, the blood light was astonishingly fast. Even with the High-Rank Runic Gem, Su Nan could only barely keep up.

When the High-Rank Runic Gem's energy was depleted, he had no choice but to stop, watching as the blood light disappeared into the horizon.

Sighing, Su Nan wasn't too bothered.

He already knew how the blood light appeared. He could just kill a few more sub-dragons to find its endpoint.

"Speaking of which, this ecological garden is ridiculously large."

So far, Su Nan had traveled at least twenty kilometers in a straight line and still hadn't reached the end of the garden, indicating just how vast it was.

With this in mind, Su Nan didn't rush to find the blood light's endpoint. Instead, he continued exploring in the direction the blood light had disappeared, gathering materials and observing the surroundings.

Whenever he felt it was time, he would kill a sub-dragon and adjust his exploration direction based on the blood light's path.

As he ventured deeper, he encountered more and more sub-dragons.

In the distance, Forest Land Dragons moved slowly through the trees, occasionally raising their long necks, covered in leaf-like scales, to bite off leaves from the roadside.

In the sky, groups of Pterodactyls soared, emitting loud, resonant cries.

Even further away, he could see vast lakes and thundering waterfalls. Some aquatic sub-dragons occasionally emerged from the lakes, their bright blue scales shimmering in the sunlight.

Su Nan was increasingly amazed.

This ecological garden was like a living encyclopedia of sub-dragons.

He had already seen at least a hundred different sub-dragon species.

If he could control this ecological garden, he would never worry about a lack of sub-dragon blood.

He could even select suitable sub-dragons from the garden to form a dragon cavalry army.

The thought excited him.

Boom!

Suddenly, a thunderous roar interrupted Su Nan's thoughts.

His eyes flickered, and he flew in the direction of the sound.

As he got closer, the sound became clearer and louder, sounding like a battle was taking place.

Soon, after passing through a few tall trees, a wide lake came into view.

Above the shimmering lake, three figures were engaged in a fierce battle.

The battle was two against one.

The two opponents were a black-robed figure and a gray-robed figure.

The black-robed figure was rather short, standing only at the waist height of an average adult male, like a dwarf.

More than a dozen pitch-black tentacles emerged from beneath his black robe, tapering from thin to thick, each over a hundred meters long and as thick as a barrel at the ends. Each tentacle had a large mouth filled with fine, sharp teeth, which was unsettling to look at.

More shockingly, the black-robed figure's face was completely unobscured, yet looking under the brim of his hat revealed only a deep, inky blackness, with only two points of crimson light where his eyes should have been.

The gray-robed figure was grotesquely bloated, a stark contrast to the black-robed figure.

His robe was wide open, revealing a massive, blood-red maw that stretched across his entire chest and abdomen. The mouth was filled with long, sharp teeth, and blood and flesh fragments still clung to the gaps between them.

The other opponent was a man with a rather ordinary face, except for his unusual green eyes.

He held a branch in his hand, from which a gentle green light emanated, forming a translucent, pale green aura around him.

It was this aura that allowed him to withstand the combined attacks of his two adversaries.

After observing for a while, Su Nan determined that all three combatants were third-level Wizard Apprentices.

The gray-robed figure was clearly pursuing the path of biological modification. The massive maw on his chest and abdomen likely came from some strange beast, occasionally vomiting out chunks of flesh that contorted and writhed, transforming into a naked, blood-red bird that screamed as it charged at the green-eyed man.

As for the black-robed figure, Su Nan couldn't quite figure him out.

From his appearance, he seemed to be on the path of partial shadowification.

Some wizards, in pursuit of greater power or extended life, would infuse their bodies with shadow energy, transforming their bodies into shadows and gaining the ability to manipulate shadow forces.

Of course, a Wizard Apprentice couldn't achieve full shadowification, but partial shadowification was possible.

Moreover, the black tentacles the black-robed figure controlled resembled shadow tentacles.

It was also possible that he had fused with the bloodline of some unusual shadow creature.

Regardless, the powers currently displayed by the black-robed and gray-robed figures were at the level of a third-circle legendary creature, placing them among the upper echelons of third-level Wizard Apprentices.

Such third-level Wizard Apprentices were rare, and Su Nan was curious about where two such powerful individuals had suddenly appeared from.

Recalling the wizard information he had seen before, he couldn't identify any matching targets.

As for the identity of the green-eyed man, Su Nan had no clue either.

In terms of strength, the green-eyed man was no less powerful than either the black-robed or gray-robed figure, but he was struggling to hold his own against both of them.

Just then, the black-robed figure, who had been attacking relentlessly, suddenly spoke, his voice high-pitched and almost like that of a teenager going through puberty.

"Traveler!"

"Stop struggling and hand over the Green Spirit Branch, and I'll spare your life."

Traveler!

Su Nan was startled, his gaze filled with surprise as he looked at the green-eyed man.

Is that the Traveler?

The last member who had disappeared after joining the Forest Hut?

"Most likely, I heard from Evans that he met the Traveler in the Underworld."

Su Nan couldn't help but smirk.

He had previously wished to meet the Traveler, but he hadn't expected to encounter him under these circumstances.

In response to the black-robed figure's offer, the Traveler laughed and said:

"Don't waste your breath, Magician's Hand. The Infinitas' reputation is notorious, only fools would believe your promises."

Magician's Hand said coldly, "I can swear an oath."

"Ha, I don't trust the Infinitas' word. Who knows what tricks you might play in an oath? How about this: you sign a soul pact with me, becoming my follower, and I'll give you the Green Spirit Branch."

"You're asking for death!" Magician's Hand's tone immediately turned icy.

The Traveler was undaunted, grinning, "Don't get so worked up. You've been chasing me for over a year, desperate to get the Green Spirit Branch. Your bloodline rejection must be severe by now, right?"

"If I destroy the Green Spirit Branch here, will you still be able to find another way to solve your bloodline rejection problem?"

As the Traveler spoke, the two points of blood-red light under Magician's Hand's hat flickered more intensely, clearly indicating his agitation.

In fact, if not for the fear that the Traveler might destroy the Green Spirit Branch in a last-ditch effort, his and Blood Mouth's hands would have been free to finish the Traveler long ago!

This damn guy!

Magician's Hand was seething with anger, but his tone remained icy, "What do you want?"

"How about this," the Traveler said calmly, "you let me go first. Once I reach a safe place, I'll find somewhere to leave the Green Spirit Branch and use a communication crystal to tell you where to find it."

"How do I know you won't run away?"

"I can swear an oath."

Magician's Hand hesitated, then gave Blood Mouth a nod, signaling him to stand down and block the Traveler's escape route. He then said coldly:

"Fine, let's do it your way. Let's swear the oath now.

(End of chapter)

The Traveler calmly recited the oath, his voice steady and measured.

Magician's Hand sneered coldly. "No tricks. Add a time limit and specify a safe distance."

An oath must be as detailed as possible, covering every single detail to avoid any loopholes. Devils were experts at this, having tricked countless beings into losing everything, including their souls and freedom.

The Traveler didn't seem bothered. He slowly repeated the oath, but this time, he omitted the name of the Green Spirit Branch, replacing it with the word "item."

"Are you playing games with me?" Magician's Hand's voice turned icy, and he suddenly realized something was amiss. "You're stalling for time!"

The Traveler chuckled. "Caught on, have you? Too late!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the calm lake below the three combatants exploded.

Amid the splashing water, over a dozen long, dark shadows lunged toward Magician's Hand and Blood Mouth. Each shadow was a snake-like neck connected to a lizard head, stretching over a hundred meters in length.

"Multi-Necked Dragon!"

Magician's Hand was taken aback. This was a high-tier sub-dragon, nearly reaching the Fourth Circle Legendary level!

"Roar!"

Amid the continuous, high-pitched roars, over a dozen massive jaws, reeking of blood, snapped viciously at Magician's Hand and Blood Mouth.

Magician's Hand dodged frantically, but a quick glance revealed the Traveler taking the opportunity to flee. Panicked, he tried to chase after the Traveler, only to be intercepted by one of the snake necks, leaving him both shocked and furious.

Clearly, the Multi-Necked Dragon had been lured by the Traveler. His earlier pretense of submission was just a ruse to buy time until the dragon arrived. Moreover, the Traveler must have had something to prevent the dragon from attacking him.

"Damn you!"

Magician's Hand was livid but helpless. The lake was the Multi-Necked Dragon's domain, and escaping from it wouldn't be easy. He could only watch as the Traveler vanished into the horizon.

"Ah!!"

A roar of frustration echoed over the lake.

Half an hour later.

The Traveler arrived near a canyon and dug a tunnel deep into the mountainside, stopping only after reaching a depth of over a hundred meters. He then set up several warning arrays and sat cross-legged at the entrance of the cave, meditating to restore his mental energy.

The Multi-Necked Dragon could only delay Magician's Hand and Blood Mouth for a short while; it wouldn't be enough to stop them. They would catch up soon, and he needed to recover his strength and find a way out of the ecological garden.

"Pity. I found such a vast ecological garden and was hoping to claim it, but it looks like that won't be possible now."

Staying in the ecological garden any longer would eventually lead to him being found by Magician's Hand and Blood Mouth. While the garden was valuable, his life was more important. Moreover, maintaining such a vast garden would require an astronomical amount of energy, which he couldn't provide even if he controlled it.

Years of adventuring had taught the Traveler a harsh but practical lesson: anything he couldn't make use of, no matter how valuable, was of no benefit to him. Being blinded by greed often led to death.

The Traveler took a deep breath, ready to meditate, when he suddenly felt a disturbance.

One of the warning arrays he had set up had been triggered!

The Green Spirit Branch instantly appeared in his hand, and he gripped it tightly, calling out sternly.

"Who's there!"

It couldn't be Magician's Hand or Blood Mouth; they wouldn't have escaped the Multi-Necked Dragon so quickly.

Soon, a figure appeared around the corner.

Seeing the Traveler, who was on high alert, Su Nan smiled warmly.

"Nice to meet you, Traveler."

"Who are you?"

The Traveler's eyes roamed over Su Nan, sensing the unhidden energy fluctuations around him.

Another Wizard Apprentice!

Moreover, this area was very close to Zone 2 of the ecological garden, meaning anyone active here was likely a Third-Level Wizard Apprentice.

But after searching his memory, the Traveler couldn't find anyone who matched the person before him.

"Don't be tense. I'm not your enemy."

"As fellow members of the Forest Hut, we might fit the definition of friends."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end