Towering mountains broke through the clouds and threatened to challenge even the heavens with their breadth. There were only 5 mountains out of the 50 total that could be seen at the moment, but any of these 5 could be considered unrivaled in the outside world.
Each mountain seemed to carry its own habitat and ecosystem, completely varying depending on the location. Some areas were scorching deserts, while others were raging tundras. It all seemed unpredictable, but had a certain balance to it that could only be admired.
Beautiful trees with trunks thicker than the combined width of several men stood proud among the everlasting scenery, radiating an aura of ancientness and wisdom.
The ground was covered in various flora, ranging from beautiful iridescent flowers to the most common of grasses, but for some reason, even these seemed to carry a weighty presence.
An unruly jungle spanned as far as the eye could see, adding an air of untamed savagery to the ethereal environment.
And encasing it all was a massive wall of fog that blotted out the sky, the Myriad Illusion Veil. Strangely enough, the veil didn’t impede on the internal environment in the slightest, stopping at the edge of the surrounding jungle as if it was a defensive mechanism set up by the heavens themself.
It was faint, but there was one final piece of notable scenery that Damien could see. On the horizon, there was a massive tree incomparable to those in the immediate vicinity.
Its branches alone spanned several kilometers, its canopy cast an unseen amount of space in perpetual shadow, and the aura of life it gave off could be felt even at the outskirts of the environment where Damien and Ruyue were currently standing.
But none of these features could be called the crowning achievement of the tree. That award was reserved for its mountainous size. Indeed, mountainous was the only word that could be used to describe the breadth and height of the massive tree that competed with the surrounding mountains in their bid to challenge the heavens.
“So this is the 3000 Beast Mountain Range,” Damien commented in awe.
Ruyue nodded her head absentmindedly, too focused on taking in the scenery to fully concentrate on his words.
Even Zara, who usually didn’t care much about such novelties, was stunned. This kind of scene wasn’t something she had ever seen. Even though her travels with Damien had taken her far and wide, such pure natural beauty was still new.
Her feelings now reminded her of a time back when she was still naive and unable to converse, when she first exited the dungeon with Damien. At that time, they landed in an ordinary forest, but it seemed to be an immortal spring to them.
But this time, they were truly in a place magnificent enough to be described as such.
At least, the environment itself seemed to suggest it.
But it didn’t take long for Damien to come out of his reverie. The second he spread his awareness, a bucket of cold water was poured on his head.
He shuddered at what he was seeing. His awareness, no matter how large its reach had grown, could only cover a bare minimum of the surroundings.
Hell, he couldn’t even reach a single one of the nearby mountains, a testament to the sheer size of the area. But, he didn’t need to do so to understand the true nature of the mountain range.
He couldn’t comment on its entirety, since even now he could only see 1/10th of its total size, but it was enough to form a preliminary impression.
Countless thousands of beats swarmed the ground level, filling in the unruly jungle with their presence. Among those thousands, there were hundreds, if not more, 3rd class beasts. Evidently, they were quite common in the mountain range.
Though, it could be said that it was to be expected. The reputation of the mountain range stemmed from the 3000 Beast Kings that were rumored to reside within it. There was no way such a vast number of powerful entities could rise without this kind of competition.
These beasts were at each other’s throats at all times. Even now, there were numerous battles and skirmishes taking place within the range of Damien’s awareness.
‘Beauty and savagery coexisting in harmony to create a stable ecosystem. It’s like a natural embodiment of balance or yin and yang.’
He could only count himself lucky that there were so many beasts present, as if the amount of activity was any smaller, such a large scan of the terrain would have been easily pinpointed and traced back to him.
Neither he nor Ruyue was in any condition to battle these beasts. He still had to find time to deal with the poison inside his bloodstream, as well as recover the mana he used in his final attack. As for Ruyue, although her injuries weren’t as severe, she didn’t have his insane regeneration and needed time to inject healing pills and recuperate.
The only one with proper strength at the moment was Zara, and although this kind of place was perfect for her, it wasn’t somewhere she could strut around without caution.
The first thing the trio needed to do was find a safe spot to set up residence. Until then, they were out in the open and completely susceptible to the hostile environment and raging beasts. Any one of the three would be great nutrition for a beast aiming for 4th class.
Zara immediately set off. She concealed their presence as best as she could, but refrained from using mana otherwise. Such a move would only attract attention. Instead, she used the natural power of her body and wings to silently propel them forward, streaking through the terrain.
Damien and Ruyue remained silent throughout. There were plenty of things to discuss, from the prior battle to the Death Seed to a plan for escape, but neither was in any condition to do so.
With the immediate danger subverted, their adrenaline was slowly waning, allowing them to feel the true pain their injuries had brought.
Luckily enough, it didn’t take more than a few hours for Zara to find a secluded cave for them to set up camp. The cave itself was partially covered by dense vines and shrubbery, making it nigh invisible to the eye.
It was only through other forms of detection that one would be able to locate it, but it was enough for a temporary solution.
Arriving within the cave, Damien and Ruyue dismounted Zara’s back and sat against the wall, using their own means to begin healing.
Damien focused his attention within himself. The spread of the poison hadn’t been too fast, but it had still happened since his regeneration was being curbed by outside factors.
He sighed lightly at the scene. Until this point, any foreign invasion within his body had been swiftly taken care of by his Void Physique. This left him with the subconscious notion that his internal body would always be safe from this kind of attack.
But he now knew that it was just wishful thinking. It wasn’t actually hard to figure out the theory behind it. Every foreign invasion so far had been energy-based. Whether through evolution or even the foreign mana from Elder Baba’s residence on the way to the convention.
It was always a matter of mana.
However, the poison in his body now was different. He could tell that much by scouring it with his awareness. This poison was entirely natural, created through herbs and plants in a similar vein to alchemy.
Such a poison wouldn’t alert his Void Physique at all, since it didn’t use foreign mana to attack him.
Since his regeneration had been passively fighting off the poison all this time, it had been stuck in a stalemate, unable to advance and unwilling to retreat. But with his conscious effort, it was relatively easy to expel.
He had expert control over his body after all these years of evolution, so separating the poison from his bloodstream wasn’t a problem. He guided it all to one point in his hand and coagulated it.
The next step was the simplest but most excruciating. Taking the coagulated mass of liquid, he pushed it through his skin, attempting to excrete it through his pores.
“Shit.” He cursed, gritting his teeth in an attempt to stop himself from screaming.
Perhaps his idea was stupid, but he was a reckless person to begin with. This was the quickest and most efficient method, so he would endure the pain and finish the job.
Slowly but surely, the poison exited the skin on his palm. However, in the process, his skin, muscles, and even a bit of his bones ended up being corroded and melted by the vicious poison.
But in the end, he succeeded. He gently maneuvered the floating blob of liquid in his hand and stored it in a jade flask he had lying around in his subspace.
‘This poison is truly vile. Still, it might come in handy in the future.’
With that out of the way, the rest was smooth sailing. All he needed to do was recover his mana and allow his passive regeneration to do its job.