Vermilion Bird’s famous Land of a Thousand Lakes was towards the north of Ignispolis. It had beautiful scenery, clear lakes, and was a well-known sightseeing spot.
One lake, the Lake of Islands, was particularly famous. It was as vast as a sea and its claim to fame were the innumerable islands floating on it. Each and every island boasted endless fields of fragrant flowers that were serenaded by birdsong, creating a picturesque locale.
However, few playing at the Lake of Islands knew that it had a counterpart in the dead and gloomy Abyssal Battlefield. Its counterpart also boasted of a lake as vast as a sea, but its water was a turbid black that stunk to high heaven. Dense, black mist drifted above the lake, rendering even the vision of beastmasters useless.
Strange aquatic lifeforms lurked in this lake. Reportedly included in their number were hibernating wildbeasts, who spent their days waiting for prey to pass by.
Logically speaking, the Abyssal Battlefield’s Lake of Islands should be a place beastmasters kept a respectful distance from. However, a white-clothed, flawless young woman was currently drifting across the surface of the lake. Her calm and tranquil demeanour, combined with her breath-taking visage, made her seem like a lotus flower.
The lotus flower grew in muddy water or swamps, and the Abyssal Battlefield’s Lake of Islands was precisely that sort of place. Like the proverbial lotus, the white-clothed young woman remained unsullied by all the filth around her, giving off the sense of being pure despite having such muddy origins.
The only blemish on her would be her pale complexion, which had even affected her red lips — it was less rosy than it could have been. A learned doctor might think her anemic, such was her paleness. The strangest of all, however, was a purple imprint between her brows. The imprint constantly wriggled in a chaotic and demonic manner, one that was reminiscent of feelers digging into her flesh and feeding on her blood.
However, the white-clothed young woman didn’t concern herself with the purple imprint, her eyes fixated on what lied ahead; she was apparently looking for something.
Her act of standing on water and moving forward without pause would raise eyebrows. However, a closer inspection would reveal that she wasn’t standing on the lake’s surface, but instead on a giant beast. The giant beast was cruising along in the water, making detours around the various islands as it headed deeper into the lake.
Dragon-like scales could be seen on the beast, their azure tint glistening even in the black water.
Flipping to page three thousand, eight hundred and sixty-two of the Vermilion Bird Lifebound Beast Compendium would reveal the identity of this beast. It was a low-tier seven-star water-type mammal lifebound beast — the Rage-Dragon Whalelord.
The sea was the Rage-Dragon Whalelord’s world. The Lake of Islands was large, but it still wasn’t large enough for the whale to roam freely. Still, as a whalelord that was yet to mature, it would need another twenty years if it wanted to really make a splash in the lake of islands.
“Blueshine, have you found it yet?” The white-clothed young woman looked down and said gently to the giant beast.
“Yes. It’ll notice us in a minute too,” the whale replied telepathically. Even though the lifebound beast had advanced from a Deepsea Bluewhale to a Rage-Dragon Whalelord, she hadn’t changed its name. That name had become a habit after twenty years. However, some things had changed. For one, the whale had probably forgotten that it had once had a playmate called Midas.
To its left was a flood dragon. It had purplish scales, a large maw filled with razor-sharp teeth, four muscular limbs and a tail covered in spikes.
On its right was a giant turtle. It had a dark-gold shell that was densely covered in barbs, making it reminiscent of a mountain of spears.
It was obvious that they were different from lifebound beasts like the Rage-Dragon Whalelord. Their eyes, in particular, lacked any semblance of intelligence whatsoever, filled only with a beastial savagery.
These two wildbeasts, a Purple-Scaled Flood Dragon and a Gold-Plate Barbed Turtle, were natives of the Lake of Islands. Each were rulers of their own region of water. They were four-star wildbeasts, and if in water, they could unleash combat power surpassing even the Jade-Scaled Flaming Eagle.
Why then, were they following the white-clothed young woman?
A strange purple imprint was fixed on their heads too. It resembled the one on the young woman’s forehead, and as it continued to drain their blood without end, these beasts grew even more savage by the minute.
“It’ll be great if I could learn this Purple Blood-Imprint too. Blood is something I have more than enough of.” The whale looked at the young woman with a trace of regret.
“It can’t be helped. Lifebound beasts can’t learn secret techniques, especially taboo techniques.” The white-clothed young woman looked ahead sternly. “This is the most important chance of my life. Whether I follow him to Heaven’s Elysium or wait for him back at Lightning Manor depends on this.”
“I know.”
“What's there to fear in life and death?” A gentle smile touched her lips, as if nothing was worth mentioning now. She looked back at the two beasts following. With three giant beasts under her control, she was much stronger — even if the process made her look frail.
“Go.” She ordered. The quiet Lake of Islands exploded into battle with her single word, the three beasts under her command charging into the depths of the lake. The sounds of battle echoed out from the depths of the lake, with countless spines suddenly appearing in those murky depths. Each spine was as thick as a thigh, and over ten metres long. Sharp barbs containing dark-green venom also grew all over them.
The main thing, however, was that there were over a hundred such spines!
The three attackers began to unleash their spiritsource and innate abilities as they besieged the spiny monster.
With a mighty yank, the flood dragon pulled out its foe, revealing a sea urchin-like wildbeast. Its body was like a ball covered in over a hundred sharp spines, without a mouth or nose visible.
This wildbeast was a five-star wildbeast, the Hecatoncheires Black-Devil! The Black-Devil was the strongest wildbeast of the Lake of Islands, its overlord.
The flood dragon and turtle could only tremble in awe at it. Five-star wildbeasts were something only Unity stage powerhouses could fight. If it was a mature wildbeast, these three would be doomed to lose.
However, now it wasn't yet mature, and its combat prowess was at most a four-star wildbeast. The one called the overlord of the lake wasn’t actually it, but its mother had died of old age. But now it was alone, unable to withstand the attacking beasts. Furthermore, there was a beastmaster who hadn’t made her move yet.
The white-clothed young woman stood on an island, watching the ongoing battle impassively.
It didn't take long for the young Hecatoncheires Black-Devil to be utterly defeated, its body completely riddled with injuries. Although its regeneration speed was fast, there was nothing it could do against the relentless assault by the three giant beasts.
The Black-Devil trembled. It wasn’t intelligent and didn’t know why it was being attacked, but it could still feel very clearly the threat of death.
At this moment, the white-clothed young woman stepped on the waves and rushed to the whale’s head.
The Black-Devil subconsciously trembled when it saw her purple imprint at her forehead. It could see similar marks on the flood dragon and turtle.
“Submit, or perish,” the young woman uttered coldly as she began to activate a technique. A small knife appeared in her hand, which she used to nick her wrist. Fresh blood began to pour out of her, and she began to look no different from a bled corpse, as she prepared to do something to the Hecatoncheires Black-Devil.