“I have some matters to attend to, so I must take my leave,” Ice Talker said, giving a brief nod. She then took the members of the Nature Clan and Saint Spirit Clan into her World-in-Hand and disappeared.
The arrival of Centeror and the others completely disrupted her plans. She needed to counterattack.
“Roar…”
The Hunters roared angrily, a countless number of them surging forward like a tidal wave.
John had already slain over seventy Hunters’ Brood Mothers, including two Golden-striped Hunters’ Brood Mothers, causing the Hunter marks on his body to deepen even further.
However, these Hunters posed no real threat to him.
“Kill that Golden-striped Hunters’ Brood Mother!” he thought, recalling the Golden-striped Hunters’ Brood Mother that had appeared earlier. He wielded three longswords, cutting through the surrounding Hunters, and began pursuing the direction in which the Golden-striped Brood Mother had vanished.
His Soul Technique and mental strength had both greatly improved, and his Soul Perception now covered a radius of a hundred miles. It didn’t take long before he detected the aura of the Golden-striped Brood Mother.
“I found it!” he muttered, increasing his slaughter speed and accelerating toward the fleeing brood mother.
It seemed the creature sensed the danger, as more and more Hunters flooded the area, pouring in from all directions.
“Nine Heavens Sword!” John roared, invoking his Immortal Art. Three enormous sword beams swept through the air, cutting down the incoming Hunters in their path.
System prompts kept appearing as one Hunter after another perished under his blades. He once again plundered a large number of attributes and Shadow Power.
However, the percentage damage increase from Shadow Power had seemed to hit its cap at 1%. His Shadow Power had surpassed one million points, but the life percentage damage had not increased further.
He wasn’t concerned, though. His current damage output was terrifying, far surpassing the life limits of Hunters with demigod-level strength.
Soon, he spotted the Golden-striped Hunters’ Brood Mother, a massive body frantically fleeing.
Clearly, it had noticed him.
But its enormous size and clumsy movement made it impossible for it to escape.
“Return of Ten Thousand Swords!” John shouted furiously, and a storm of sword beams whistled through the air, quickly clearing the surrounding Hunters as he closed in on the Golden-striped Brood Mother.
“Human, don’t kill me!” the Golden-striped Brood Mother cried out in panic, speaking human language. “You possess Shadow Power. I can bind our souls and share power, sparing your life.”
“Hmph, I don’t need that!” John sneered. With his Golden Lotus Manifestation, he was immune to soul damage and had no interest in the Brood Mother’s soul-sharing offer.
What he truly wanted was the Golden-striped Soul Essence from this creature.
“Die.” He was too lazy to waste more time talking. Golden Lotus Hellfire surged upward and instantly devoured the Golden-striped Hunters’ Brood Mother.
“Roar!” A pitiful scream echoed as the creature struggled in the golden flames.
Soon after, a flash of sword beams illuminated the sky as Return of Ten Thousand Swords was once again unleashed, shredding the Brood Mother into pieces. It had no ability to resist before John.
It was much like an ordinary Hunters’ Brood Mother, except that it possessed a powerful Soul Technique, Resurrection Hunters, and the ability to form a soul-sharing pact with a Shadow Clan expert. Other than that, it had almost no offensive capabilities.
[You have killed the Golden-striped Hunters’ Brood Mother and gained 26,766,000,000 experience points.]
[Plunder talent activated: Soul Technique +1000, Shadow Power +10, Shadow Law +0.1%, Spirit +5000.]
[You have killed the Golden-striped Hunters’ Brood Mother. The Hunters’ Vengeance Mark deepens.]
System notifications flashed as John once again Plundered a 0.1% increase in Shadow Law.
His control over Shadow Law had now reached 2.3%.
“What exactly is the use of this attribute?” he wondered. He felt as though something stirred within him, as if a unique force, one belonging to the Shadow Star, was beginning to awaken.
Perhaps his mastery of the Shadow Law was still too weak to manipulate it fully.
He didn’t want to dwell on it. The surrounding Hunters were becoming more frenzied, charging at him with increasing madness.
He easily slaughtered them, but his brow furrowed slightly as he turned his gaze toward a direction behind him, coldly commanding, “Come out!”
There was a stir behind him as a powerful spirit beast appeared.
It was the same spirit beast leader that had appeared outside Nature City earlier, with the peak power of an upper-tier god.
“Roar!” it bellowed, sending ripples of fear through the surrounding Hunters, who slowly retreated.
John was surprised—these Hunters actually feared the spirit beast. He locked his eyes on the creature, coldly saying, “You’ve been following me!”
The spirit beast was merely at the peak of an upper-tier god, and John felt no fear.
“Human, allow me to introduce myself. I am Thunder Fireworks, the Fire Kirin of the spirit beast tribe!” it said. Purple flames enveloped its body, flames that were no less powerful than the Undying Flame, and also carried a soul-damaging effect.
John was astonished. This Thunder Fireworks was far stronger than an ordinary upper-tier god at the peak level.
The spirit beasts must possess some unique abilities if they can establish a presence on the Shadow Star, controlled by both the Shadow Clan and the Hunters.
“Let me see what you can do!” Thunder Fireworks roared, its figure turning into a blur as it charged toward John with lightning speed.
John was unruffled. He swung his longsword, and the sword beams flashed, striking precisely at Thunder Fireworks.
Boom!
The purple flames surged, and John was blasted backward by the impact.
He could sense that the strike was just a test, and this Thunder Fireworks’ power was no less than that of the Cand-Dragon.
“Heaven and Earth Transformation!” John roared, and a gust of wind howled as a terrifying aura spread. In an instant, his form transformed into a towering giant, tens of thousands of feet tall.
“Indeed, you are one of The Immortals!” Thunder Fireworks grinned with excitement. It let out a roar, and its own form twisted and expanded, growing to a massive size, easily matching John in stature.
This was just its true form.
“Roar!” With another shout, it stepped onto a cloud and charged at John once again, purple Thunder Fireworks swirling around it in the sky.
The wind howled violently.
John hesitated for a moment, then sheathed his longsword, choosing to face the beast with his bare fists.
He could feel that the creature had no real malice. Its attacks had been nothing more than probes, testing his strength.
Boom! Boom!
Thunder echoed through the sky, like a series of violent explosions.
The man and the beast were locked in battle, their every move shaking the earth. Rocks crumbled and the ground trembled with a deep, resonating Tremor as they clashed.
In terms of pure physical collision, their strengths were evenly matched.
Boom!
With another violent crash, both John and Thunder Fireworks were sent flying hundreds of meters before stabilizing their footing.
“Haha, as expected from a The Immortals powerhouse! Even with your demigod-level strength, you’re able to fight me!” Thunder Fireworks laughed heartily. His massive form shrank, clearly no longer wishing to continue the fight.
John also retracted his Heaven and Earth Transformation, equally surprised by the strength of the Fire Kirin. However, if the battle were to continue, he was confident he could eventually defeat the beast.
He hadn’t even used his skills, soul attacks, or World-in-Hand yet.
His eyes flickered as he gazed at the Fire Kirin. A thought began to form in his mind: perhaps he could tame this creature.
Moreover, his World-in-Hand still contained large deposits of Spirit Stone mines waiting to be harvested. If he could capture a group of spirit beasts to use as laborers, it would be an excellent option.
“Human, I am willing to swear fealty to you as my master,” Thunder Fireworks suddenly spoke.
“W-What?” John was momentarily stunned. He had been thinking of ways to forcefully tame the creature, but here it was, offering itself voluntarily.
Thunder Fireworks explained, “I have been waiting for the arrival of someone from The Immortals. You are strong, and you must be the one I’ve been waiting for.”
It glanced at John, continuing, “You don’t need to doubt me. I was once part of The Immortals, and I truly wish to pledge my loyalty to you. I also have more than ten thousand upper-tier god-level spirit beasts under my command. They should be able to assist you.”
“You were once part of The Immortals?” John was shocked.
The abilities Thunder Fireworks had demonstrated, including the Heaven and Earth Transformation, seemed similar but were not exactly the same. Moreover, they were on Shadow Star, a place where spirit beasts appeared to be native. How did this all tie into The Immortals?
“You don’t know?” Thunder Fireworks frowned, seeing that John was genuinely unaware. It then explained, “Shadow Star was once the territory of The Immortals.”
“What?!” John exclaimed, even more stunned.
Thunder Fireworks nodded, continuing, “The Immortals were extremely powerful, but for some unknown reason, they suddenly began to decline. That weak Shadow actually became a Lord God, and with the help of other Lord Gods, they destroyed The Immortals. Afterward, the Gods’ Game descended, annihilating countless life-bearing star systems…”
“Wait a minute,” John interrupted, his voice tinged with disbelief. “How many The Immortals are there in this world?”
Clearly, the The Immortals from Shadow Star, as described by Thunder Fireworks, were not the same The Immortals that had appeared on the Skyline Continent.
The The Immortals from Skyline Continent seemed to originate from Earth, were much weaker, and had been destroyed by the Shadow Clan. The Shadow Lord God hadn’t even appeared in that timeline.
“Many, but I don’t know the specifics,” Thunder Fireworks replied, unsure how to explain. He looked at John and said, “But I can feel it—your aura matches The Immortals more than any I’ve encountered. You must have inherited the legacy of The Immortals.”
John nodded, trying to process all this information. After a pause, he asked, “What is your purpose in pledging allegiance to me?”
He didn’t believe he was some great The Immortals powerhouse, so why would Thunder Fireworks offer to join him voluntarily?
“It’s simple,” Thunder Fireworks said seriously. “Destroy the Shadow Clan, restore the glory of The Immortals, and stop the Gods’ Game from continuing to destroy other star domains. I believe this is your mission as well.”
Destroying the Shadow Clan, stopping the Gods’ Game from wreaking havoc—these objectives did indeed align with his goal of protecting Earth.
However, restoring the glory of The Immortals—he didn’t believe he had the power for that.
Still, taming this creature would definitely be a good choice.
“Alright, I agree,” John said decisively. Having a powerful army of spirit beasts would certainly be a great help.
He looked at Thunder Fireworks and continued, “There’s one more thing I need your spirit beasts to assist me with. You’re aware of the Spirit Stone mines, right? I need your help to mine them. Of course, I can offer you some Spirit Stones as a reward.”
Mining Spirit Stones was grueling, physical labor, and he worried that Thunder Fireworks might refuse.
“No problem,” Thunder Fireworks’s eyes lit up as he agreed without hesitation.
Spirit Stones were rare and beneficial for spirit beasts’ cultivation. This was hardly a bad deal for them.
“I’ll gather my subordinates right away!” He was afraid John might change his mind, so he immediately began summoning his followers.
“Roar…”
A deep, resonating roar echoed through the area, with multiple responses reverberating around them. One after another, spirit beasts began to appear, numbering over one hundred thousand.
The weakest among them were mid-tier gods, but the majority were upper-tier god-level spirit beasts, with over ten thousand of them at the peak of upper-tier gods.
John’s influence grew even further as his forces were bolstered.