The overflowing dragon energy dispersed across the island's surface, causing birds and insects to take flight and flee en masse.
On the dark red ground, crisscrossed with lava veins, a giant Diablos twisted its neck to look at Hui Hui in the air.
Li Fan, clinging to the shoulder of the Mantis Captain, quickly noticed its presence.
Reflected in the lava, the Diablos appeared predominantly orange.
Large swathes of deep blue were visible on its head, the tips of its wings, and the outer side of its tail club. Li Fan had only seen a similar color on the Zanchuan Tailblade.
The sharp horn on the left side of its head was a broken one, regrown. However, unlike the fractured surfaces of other broken Diablos horns, this one seemed to have been influenced by something akin to Cheche's [Chaotic Regeneration]. Three sharp, small horns had grown from the break.
Li Fan was certain this was an Elder Dragon Diablos, a special individual.
Noticing that Hui Hui had also spotted it, the Elder Dragon no longer merely turned its head to observe but swung its entire body to face the latter.
As its feet moved with heavy pressure, the blocky rock strata beneath the ground sank, and lava was squeezed out from the surface fissures, spreading outwards.
The continuously surging lava quickly pooled around the Elder Dragon's claws, accompanied by hissing and wisps of smoke.
However, the creature paid it no mind, its gaze fixed on Hui Hui's position.
"The Elder Dragon isn't afraid of heat, meow?" Dilu asked incredulously, removing one of her earplugs.
In her memory, while Diablos shells were thick, they didn't seem to be resistant to molten lava.
"I surmise the Elder Dragon used a method similar to Zanchuan's Smelted Tailblade to forge a shell that is impervious to high temperatures," Li Fan speculated.
"But Diablos don't have the ability to smelt minerals, meow?" Dilu inquired curiously.
"The Elder Dragon doesn't need to smelt. Volcanic lava is rich in minerals. It only needs to soak in it for a prolonged period," Li Fan explained.
"No wonder many parts of its body are deep blue. So it's mineral residue, meow? If this theory holds, how did the Elder Dragon initially..."
"It endured, of course, not by diving to the bottom of a lava pool, but through constant cycles of cooling and heating," Li Fan stated with certainty, being an expert in monster cultivation.
"So, the Elder Dragon didn't eat a Jewel or a Dragonite, but simply became a special individual through training, meow?" Dilu couldn't help but feel admiration.
"Not necessarily. Besides the heat-resistant mineral shell and the horns formed by chaotic regeneration, it also possesses the ability to release steam blasts. This might be difficult to ascertain solely through ecological observation."
"It has steam blast abilities too, meow!... Wait, why didn't the Guild or the Dragon Calendar Institute mention this in their intel?"
To master the timing of using her Soundproof Gloves, Dilu had been studying intel on the Elder Dragon.
Yet, even with Li Fan's classified information, she had never noticed any mention of steam blasts.
"Perhaps enemies worthy of using such an ability haven't appeared yet," Li Fan offered as a guess.
Sensing the approaching tremors, the Elder Dragon turned its head towards the Dragonfly Captain again.
Soon, Xi Xi landed on the ground, and Zanchuan was released from its ball. Li Fan leaped down and slowly walked to the center. The Elder Dragon glanced at the opposing lineup, immediately lowered its stance, and its two claws began to drag and scrape across the lava-filled ground.
"Roar..."
Hearing the low growl, Li Fan's expression became slightly surprised.
"What did the Elder Dragon say, meow?"
"It said, 'I only intend to kill you all, or be killed by you all.'"
"How arrogant, meow!" Dilu exclaimed in disbelief.
"Let's test its strength first," Li Fan said, feeling that the Elder Dragon's confidence was not unfounded.
"I'll go first. Dilu, put on your earplugs and activate your sonic dampening. Xi Xi and Zanchuan, provide support."
Drawing the Thunderclap Divine Blade, Li Fan strode forward.
The excited Elder Dragon raised its head, and a roar, accompanied by turbulent air currents, surged towards the ground.
Li Fan stopped abruptly, switching to a side grip on the Thunderclap Divine Blade. He struck the ground with the blade like a pickaxe. As a small amount of blue starlight flowed into the blade, he took half a step back, spun around, and with a swing of the blade, dispersed mist-like Qi evenly in front of his body in a net pattern.
"Hum~"
The turbulent air currents flew past on either side, and the mist-like Qi, impacted by the roar, displayed dense, linear ripple patterns on its surface.
With a thrust of his sword, all the Qi activated by the impact was absorbed into the blade.
To more reliably withstand the effects of the roar, Dilu had already covered Li Fan's ears with her Soundproof Gloves.
Seeing that the Spirit-Breaker Slash had successfully neutralized the attack, she quickly removed her cat paws.
Seeing the Elder Dragon lift one of its claws, Li Fan felt puzzled.
Such a charging posture meant it couldn't adjust its angle mid-charge.
"Bang!"
With a powerful stomp of one claw, the rock stratum beneath it sank violently. The Elder Dragon charged forward rapidly, its body slightly lifted off the ground.
Li Fan, who had been running in a circle to the side, saw this and channeled the power of his legs to their limit, accelerating his sprint.
Even though he had clearly outrun the charge, the Elder Dragon's suspended claw exerted force as it landed, and its body sharply deflected, precisely re-targeting Li Fan.
Li Fan rolled and then lunged to dodge.
At this point, his position was to the side and slightly behind the Elder Dragon. Li Fan was confident that even if it adjusted its direction with a single claw, it wouldn't be able to lock onto him.
"Whoosh! Bang!"
The Elder Dragon, having overshot, found itself unable to adjust its body's orientation and instead slammed its head down onto the rock strata below.
"Crash!" The rock strata cracked and shattered, releasing a large amount of lava.
Seeing the massive depression that would cause him to slide if he stepped into it, Li Fan could only roll away again.
The distance between the man and the dragon widened. However, compared to the disheveled Li Fan, the Elder Dragon, standing calmly in the lava, clearly held the initiative.
This intensity isn't training, it's a fight for survival!... Here it comes again!
Just as Li Fan was sighing inwardly, a new round of charge attacks arrived.
Driven by an intense desire to attack, the Elder Dragon was like a tireless killing machine, relentless unless its target was dead.
"Bang! Boom! Crash!..."
The island surface, composed of rock, was soon left scarred and pitted, with pools of orange lava appearing on the ground.
Just as the Elder Dragon was preparing to charge again, Zanchuan's Smelted White Emperor's Holy Sword descended from the sky and struck the Elder Dragon's carapace.
However, the expected outcome was completely different from what Zanchuan had anticipated.
Apart from its body sinking slightly, the Elder Dragon showed no signs of being shaken, and the White Emperor's Holy Sword melted and dissolved the carapace at an unusually slow pace.
"Whoosh! Bang!"
Its tail club, shaped like a double-bladed axe, swung and struck the side of Zanchuan, immediately knocking it down and sending it sliding dozens of meters.
Xi Xi swooped down from the sky. As its crown vibrated and rubbed, green and yellow lightning fused together, forming a long lightning blade.
The Elder Dragon hadn't noticed Xi Xi in the sky at first, but upon hearing its roar, it immediately turned its head to look.
The tail club swung upwards, and its body lowered.
As Xi Xi dived down, preparing to swing its blade, the Elder Dragon forcefully thrust its head upwards.
"Slice! Crash!"
The Ship-Shattering Blade shattered into countless tiny electric light particles and instantly dissipated.
"Roar!"
Xi Xi let out a roar of unwillingness. It did not employ its usual hit-and-run strategy.
Instead, after retreating, it hovered and descended to the rock surface, pointing its flashing, pincer-like tail at the Elder Dragon.
"Crack! Crack!..." Golden lightning converged into a beam and erupted from the tip of its tail.
The Elder Dragon did not dodge. As one of its claws lifted, it immediately charged forward.
This won't do. After landing, the second adjustment of its angle will directly send it towards Xi Xi! Li Fan felt a sense of impending doom.
A normal Diablos would use both claws to stomp the ground when charging, pursuing a more powerful impact and better angle control. However, the sufficiently confident Elder Dragon pursued speed.
Faster approach to the target, faster attack, faster kill.
"Crack! Crack!..."
The Elder Dragon charged forward, trampling the lightning, completely unable to form any obstruction.
Seeing this, Xi Xi quickly flapped its wings to gain altitude. The Elder Dragon's suspended claw stomped the ground forcefully.
"Referee!" Li Fan waved his hands and shouted loudly.
"Bang!"
As it pushed off, the Elder Dragon turned its body sideways and charged directly at Xi Xi.
"Boom! Bang!"
Hui Hui, skimming the ground at high speed, knocked the Elder Dragon flying.
After tumbling several times on the rock stratum and using the momentum to get up, before it could make any move, a massive figure loomed over it.
"Bang!" The Mantis Captain delivered a straight punch, knocking the Elder Dragon down again.
"That's enough for today. We'll fight again tomorrow," Li Fan shouted, and then retreated under the escort of the two referees.
"Roar!" The Elder Dragon, glaring coldly, let out a roar.
"You think you can stop me from leaving?" Li Fan was confused by the translation of the roar.
Half an hour later, the Mantis Captain had withdrawn to the outer perimeter of the lava island.
Inside the control room, Li Fan sat on the ground, summarizing the day's training battle with Dilu.
"Its combat power is too monstrous. It's like a monster from a different dimension, even more exaggerated than... legends." Li Fan wanted to say more exaggerated than its performance in games, but he refrained, fearing Dilu wouldn't understand.
"Yes, meow, and it didn't even use its steam blast." Dilu agreed.
"Zanchuan's White Emperor's Holy Sword couldn't cut it. Xi Xi's Ship-Shattering Blade was completely outmatched by its double horns. The sharpness of the Thunderclap Divine Blade could pierce the shell made of abundant mineral components, but under the pressure of frequent attacks, my opportunities to strike were too few; I spent almost the entire time dodging and rolling." Li Fan took out his notebook and began making notes.
"Also, Xi Xi was a bit impulsive today. While I know it didn't want to lose face in front of Hui Hui, that last move was too reckless. It needs to be criticized."
After finishing the summary, Li Fan leaped out of the cockpit and explained the day's shortcomings to Zanchuan and Xi Xi.
"Xi Xi, from now on, even if the Elder Dragon merely prepares to charge, you must evade it immediately."
"Roar..." Xi Xi, with its head bowed, let out a muffled roar.
"You don't know why, but at that moment, I really wanted to fight it head-on. I felt like I could defeat it."
Li Fan vaguely felt something was amiss. Many key points had been emphasized during preparation, and they had practiced them together. Logically, Xi Xi shouldn't have made such a mistake.
At this moment, Hui Hui, who had landed on the opposite mountaintop, let out a cry.
"The aura here is a bit off..." Hearing this, Li Fan became even more confused.
He opened his handheld device to check. Hui Hui and Shan Shan showed no abnormalities, while Xi Xi and Zanchuan had gained a status called [Sacred Realm].
The description stated that under this status, monsters would become impulsive and aggressive, and their metabolic cycles would accelerate to their limit.
"Sacred Realm... Isn't that the designation for one of the Forbidden Zones?" Li Fan suddenly recalled that in the classified intelligence provided by the Guild, the lava island had once been a Sacred Realm.
Considering the arrival of the Safi'jiiva and the long-term habitation of the Elder Dragon and the Blazefury King, Li Fan vaguely conceived of a possibility.
"No wonder the Elder Dragon said, 'You think you can stop me from leaving?' But if this idea is correct, there shouldn't only be two special individuals around... No! Only two survived, becoming the final victors."
Seeing Li Fan muttering to himself, Dilu curiously asked, "Have you made any significant discoveries, meow?"
"Extremely significant. If it can be verified, and we dare to be a bit bolder, we can achieve mutation once and for all." Li Fan excitedly informed her.
"Really, meow!" Dilu's eyes lit up.
"Yes, contact with one of the Forbidden Zones can also lead to mutation."
"That's great... Ah, meow!" Dilu, sensing something was wrong, had all her fur stand on end.
"It sounds absurd, doesn't it? I think so too," Li Fan said with a determined expression.
"Can you explain in detail, meow?" Dilu, with a concerned look, actually didn't want to discuss any details about the Forbidden Zones.
However, without a thorough understanding, she wouldn't be able to dissuade Li Fan.
"From a human perspective, the lava island is a magical isolated island in a pool of lava. But for monsters, it's a Sacred Realm that aids mutation."
"Uh... That's profound, meow." Dilu couldn't find any point to refute.
"It's not profound. Dilu, monster habitats affect the ecosystem, right?"
"Yes, meow."
"Then how do the Forbidden Zones affect the ecosystem?"
"That's forbidden to record and discuss, meow!"
"Indeed, it's forbidden. But its impact is right before our eyes." Li Fan walked to the edge of the cliff and looked towards the lava island.
"Could it be that the Elder Dragon and the Blazefury King became special individuals because they were influenced by the Forbidden Zone?" Dilu suddenly realized. The fact that two top-tier special individuals inhabited the lava island was already an inexplicable mystery.
But if this was the Sacred Realm Li Fan spoke of, then everything made sense.
"Precisely, it's that most peculiar Forbidden Zone that possesses such an ability. No wonder mutated monsters have this 'monstrous' characteristic." Li Fan mused.
"But what about other monsters, meow?" Dilu thought that if it were truly a Sacred Realm, the current scene should be more lively than a Hundred Dragon Night Hunt.
"This place already emits a dangerous aura. The residual dragon energy automatically drives away most monsters. It takes great courage to venture in. At the same time, the harsh natural environment also eliminates some monsters. Then, the remaining monsters, influenced by the Sacred Realm, become extremely aggressive. Only the ultimate victor can survive." Li Fan explained.
"But there are two victors, meow." Dilu questioned.
"That's because after prolonged combat, the Elder Dragon and the Blazefury King realized neither could kill the other, and thus reluctantly compromised."
"A Sacred Realm, plus daily training with the Blazefury King, no wonder the Elder Dragon is so strong, meow!" Dilu suddenly understood.
.
Zhao Lala reminds you: Remember to collect after reading.