Mythical Era: My Evolution into a Celestial Beast

Chapter 174: Steady Development, Magma Fire Tree (II)

Following behind the younger orca, the Thunder Fiery Colossal Beast swam back toward the coast for over two hundred kilometers. In a shallow sea area among a cluster of reefs, they spotted the Single-horned Orca.

As expected, it looked somewhat battered, with its thick scales torn and many wounds and burn marks visible. Some of these wounds hadn't yet healed, indicating the severity of its injuries at the time.

Despite that, however, it was undeniable that it was resilient. Its body had grown to a length of thirty-eight meters, and its immense presence indicated a recent increase in strength.

Meanwhile, the female orca guarding it was nearly thirty meters long, with a heavy and oppressive aura, hinting at a breakthrough to a higher level.

Damn, this guy eats really well, huh?

Seeing this scene, even the Thunder Beast couldn't help feeling a bit envious.

Having the talent for treasure hunting was a great advantage. Searching for natural treasures in the deep sea every day not only led to rapid personal growth but also kept the whole family well-fed and plump. If it didn’t have this family to take care of, the Single-horned Orca might have grown even faster.

Indeed, once a man got married, he was bound by family responsibilities, whether he was a human or a mutated beast.

As the Thunder Beast swam closer, lost in thought, the Single-horned Orca became excited upon seeing it. Squeak! Brother, you've finally come.

Roar! What happened to you again? How did you get beaten up like this?

The Thunder Beast couldn't help feeling indignant. Considering how long it had been in the sea, either battling or hunting more powerful mutated creatures, it rarely got injured. Thinking of this, the Thunder Beast roared in frustration.

Roar! You're useless. Tell me, where is that guy this time? I'll avenge you.

After four evolutions, there were fewer places in the sea that made the Thunder Beast wary. Even if it couldn't defeat a level 9 colossal beast, it could still escape. That is, assuming the Thunder Beast was able to sense the danger from far enough away. If said danger got too close, it was a different story; after all, it was a level 9 colossal beast.

So this time, the Thunder Beast was very determined. A high-level mutated beast was good prey, especially when coupled with the good finds the Orca had discovered.

Combined, it was worth taking action.

However, the Orca was unaware of all of these thoughts. Upon hearing the Thunder Beast's determined offer to help it seek revenge, its eyes filled with gratitude.

The female orca and the younger sibling beside it also looked at the Thunder Beast with warmer eyes, emitting soft whimpers of acknowledgment.

The second little orca even swam over and affectionately rubbed against its “uncle.”

Then...

Squeak! It hurts!

The little orca quickly darted away from the Thunder Beast with a swish of its tail, as it had just received a jolt of electricity from the beast’s autonomous defenses.

Roar! Little one, there's electricity on my body, don't get too close, the Thunder Beast reminded it.

The Single-horned Orca wagged its tail, stirring up a large swath of seawater. Squeak! Brother, you don't need to help seek revenge this time. I've already eaten that guy.

Huh! Really? You're not asking for my help this time?

Roar! Since you've taken care of that guy, why did you come to me? The Thunder Beast asked, puzzled.

Squeak! There are good things in that place, but they're hard to get.

Alright, it's because of the environmental terrain again.

Roar! Understood. Let's go, lead the way, and we’ll get those good things.

Squeak! Let's go, get those good things.

This time, since they weren't going back to a fight, the Orca didn't wait for its injuries to heal. With a swish of its tail, it took the lead and charged out, with the Thunder Beast following behind.

They swam along the outer sea in a southeast direction for about eight hundred kilometers. This took several hours this time, mainly due to the Orca’s relatively slow speed. Otherwise, on its own, the Thunder Beast would have arrived here in two hours.

Gurgle gurgle!

In the distance, the sea boiled, and large amounts of white steam mixed with various toxic substances gushed out, forming a gray mist that spread over a range of more than ten kilometers of the sea surface.

In this area, marine life was sparse, and the water temperature was as high as sixty to seventy degrees Celsius. It was evident that there was an active volcano below, continuously spewing magma.

The massive Orca suddenly dove down, and the Thunder Beast, which had been underwater the whole time, followed suit. This time, they only dove down about five hundred meters before a furnace-like volcano with a diameter of over a hundred meters appeared before the Thunder Beast’s eyes.

Rolling hot magma continuously erupted and flowed out, then was cooled by the surrounding water and turned into black volcanic rock, all the while emitting numerous toxic gasses. In the central area of the crater, the golden-red magma lake kept churning, emitting scorching heat that caused the surrounding water to boil incessantly.

Squeak! Brother, the good stuff is inside. There was a guy who could spew fire here. After fighting with me, I ate him. But the good stuff is inside the fire, and I can't get it out.

In the magma. The Thunder Beast's eyes showed surprise. Could it be another type of fire-related resource?

Roar! I'll go check it out.

With a low roar, the Thunder Beast swam towards the volcano, and in the blink of an eye, it crossed hundreds of meters to reach directly above the magma.

Even the Orca didn’t dare to stay for too long near the magma, which churned at over a thousand degrees Celsius. However, for the Thunder Beast, which could emit high-temperature flames itself, it didn't matter. In fact, it felt a more active vitality throughout its body.

Whoosh!

Flames automatically ignited all over the Thunder Beast's body, and even its breaths were spewing out flames. Its massive body plunged into the magma lake, throwing up large splashes of magma that emitted a sizzling sound upon contact with the boiling water.

Within the lava, there was no discomfort. Instead, the Thunder Beast felt a sense of relief, like a dragon entering the vast ocean.

Every cell in its body was crazily absorbing the heat energy that surged in from all directions, and the flames on its body became more vigorous, their temperature slowly rising. This caused the Thunder Beast to pause for a moment, before it remembered its ability to absorb substances with fiery energy.

The Flame Blaze ability’s initial level had been very low, resulting in mediocre absorption efficiency, so the Thunder Beast had neglected it earlier. Now that the ability had evolved from low-level to middle-level, however, the ability to absorb heat energy had become much stronger.

In the endless sea of lava, invisible energy continuously poured into its body. Some of this energy was refined by the flame energy, enhancing its ability and bloodline, while another portion transformed into biological energy, allowing slow but steady growth.

Chen Chu was even surprised to find that after half an hour in the magma, the Thunder Beast’s evolution points had increased by 1.

After rolling in the scorching lava for half a day, the Thunder Beast finally remembered its main task, its massive body stirring the magma as it dove down.

However, it had only descended less than two hundred meters when it sensed the good stuff the Orca had mentioned through its flaming feathered horns. Despite this particular sea being made of lava, it could still vaguely sense movements within about a dozen meters with its horns.

On the rock wall in front of it was a small five-meter-tall tree, with blood-red crystal-like roots that extended deep into the iron-hard rock. The trunk resembled red crystals or ore and had scale-like patterns, and the branches stretched out, with small flame-like leaves slowly absorbing nutrients from the surrounding lava.

There were nine branches in total, seven of which bore what seemed to be transparent red fruits. Four of these fruits were the size of fists, containing liquid-like fiery substances inside, while the other three were much smaller, with murky interiors indicating immaturity.

When the Thunder Beast sensed these Magma Fruits, it felt a strong urge to devour, to the point where the flames on its body surged even more intensely.

Big Horn is really lucky.

With a sigh, the Thunder Beast suppressed the urge to immediately devour them and gently picked two Magma Fruits, turning and swimming up toward the surface of the lava.

Boom!

As lava splattered all around, the Thunder Beast plunged up into the sea, instantly evaporating the water touching its body and turning it into steam that was just as quickly compressed by the surrounding seawater.

Squeak! Brother, you're finally out! I almost thought something happened to you.

The excited Orca approached.

Roar! There are four good things, there are two of us, so we split evenly.

The Thunder Beast let out a low roar, spreading out its massive claws to reveal the two Magma Fruits it had picked.

Squeak! Alright, brother. Half each.

The Orca gave an excited nod and opened its huge mouth, sucking up the two tiny Magma Fruits from the Thunder Beast's claws.

The Thunder Beast continued to roar.

Roar! The flames and lava here make me feel comfortable. I'll live here from now on.

Roar! Also, if you find good stuff in the future and encounter opponents you can't beat, don't be reckless. Come here and find me, okay? Don't get eaten by another mutated creature.

Seeing as they were already familiar, the Thunder Beast didn’t want this guy to be eaten for real one day.

Squeak! Brother, I got it.

With the Magma Fruits in its mouth, the Orca nodded and then quickly turned to take the good stuff back to feed the little orcas.

The naive Orca didn’t think too much about the possibility of there being more than four Magma Fruits.

Since the good brother said there were only four, then there must be only four.

Watching the Orca disappear into the dark ocean, the Thunder Beast shook its head and then plunged into the lava.

It's its turn now.

Returning once again to the Magma Tree, the Thunder Beast directly plucked the two ripe Magma Fruits remaining and swallowed them whole, mixed with scorching lava.

In an instant, an endless surge of scorching power exploded from its stomach. Wherever it passed, the flesh and blood inside its body faintly showed signs of crystallization, emitting even hotter flames.

Boom!

An endless amount of golden-red flames erupted from the Thunder Beast's body, shooting out ten meters away, with temperatures reaching two thousand degrees Celsius.

The scorching shockwaves were powerful enough to squeeze out a cavity of flames within the lava of the two-hundred-meter-deep lake, creating a spectacular scene.

Such a powerful effect! A look of astonishment appeared in the Thunder Beast’s eyes.

The power of its Flame Blaze ability had skyrocketed after consuming the two Magma Fruits, not only raising the Thunder Beast’s surface temperature to the point of melting gold and iron, but also doubling the total energy inside its body, based on the growth that it had experienced after devouring the silver fish before.

The flaming energy inside it was now more than six times what it was when the Thunder Beast had first evolved, and its fully unleashed breath was expected to last for more than ten minutes.

It was far less certain about how powerful its breath had gotten, but there was one way to find out. It just needed to find another high-level mutated beast...