His powerful body, as well as his intangible and wicked aura of charm, gave him a strangely attractive feel.
However, the bad was equally obvious.
If the magic-infusion started to go out of his control, his existence would probably move away from that of an adept’s. Instead, he would start to become more and more like the demons of the lower realms!
On one hand, he coveted the increase of power brought about by the abyssal aura. On the other, he feared the possibility of falling to the level of an abyssal creature. As a result, Greem ordered the chip to closely monitor every single change occurring within his body.
On his fifth day on the ship, one of his organs reached eleven percent infusion. Greem took out a vial of potion from his belt and drank its contents without hesitation.
The viscous and purple liquid had just slid down his throat, and already a pungent odor had permeated the entire room. An indescribable and odd feeling started to spread in his mouth and stomach, before gradually emanating towards the rest of his body.
Greem raised his hands and watched as wicked traces of crimson smoke started to seep through his skin, before they dispersed in the air.
Since he already knew the dangers that the Flame Fiend's Heart posed to himself, Greem had already prepared potions to deal with the situation. The potion was able to slowly but surely extract the abyssal aura from within his body. Of course, Greem was unable to craft these potions by himself. He had exchanged for these potions with Ferrier using a dark blue gem the size of a fist.
He would have to control the quantity of the potion he ingested each time, such that it would be able to extract the abyssal aura without triggering a decline in his Physique. The only downside was the terrible smell. He was stinking.
An intolerable odor was emanating from all over his body!
Chapter 273
The attacks on the battleship didn’t stop once it passed five thousand kilometers into the black forest.
Fortunately, the flight path the Silver Union used was one they discovered after a thousand years of bloody exploration. This path already avoided the hunting and living territories of the high-grade magical creatures. Even though the attacks were many, most of the enemies were only First Grade creatures that lived in groups. The number of Second Grade creatures that appeared could be counted on a single hand.
With the cooperation of the numerous adepts on board, along with the powerful barrier erected around the ship, they had been able to drive away the creatures.
The floating battleship was cruising at a thousand meters in the sky. Normal magical creatures with no flying abilities couldn't even reach them.
Greem had personally witnessed a terrifying Second Grade Hill Giant climbing out of the ground when the ship passed by a large black chasm.
The giant was at least thirty meters in height. It was literally a moving hill.
The Hill Giants were a branch of the Earth Giants. They were naturally tough, resilient, and immensely strong. Every part of their body was pieced together with large grey and white rocks. Like the dragons, they loved their sleep. Every time they ate and drank their fill, they would find an area with dense earth elementium concentration to dig underground and find a spot to sleep.
The reason the floating battleship chose to fly through the Giant's territory was because it had no ability to fly whatsoever. Moreover, the giant was usually hiding underground and sleeping most of the time. It was very unlikely to draw the giant's ire by driving through its territory.
However, their luck clearly wasn't so good this time. They had arrived just as the Hill Giant awoke.
It sensed the thick aura of human blood and flesh coming from the sky and slowly climbed up from below the black chasm. It lifted its humanoid head, opened its massive mouth, and let out a deafening and wrathful roar at the battleship.
All of the magical creatures in the black forest were extremely territorial. There was no room for diplomacy. They would fight you with all they had the moment they found you trespassing in their homes.
That was why the Hill Giant didn't give up. He strode across the land with heavy footsteps, destroying a wide path through the forest as it crashed through the trees, closely following below the ship. Every time it got close enough, the Hill Giant would roar with all his might and raise his massive stone hands up into the skies. The yellow-brown earth elementium would instantly gather together to form a massive rock.
It would then throw the boulder towards the ship, the rock whistling through the air as it did so.
The adepts on the ship bent over the railings to look at the giant. All of them went pale when they saw the massive rock shooting towards them. It was a rock that was almost as large as a house after all! Even Greem could feel his heart tighten for a moment, but his eyes were locked on to the flying rock. Data was quickly being collected and analyzed.
"Beep.
Main composition of rock: earth elementium and various impurities.
Density of rock: 1.73 kilograms per centimeter cubed.
Size of rock: Approximately three meters cubed.
Weight of rock: Approximately 5.24 tons.
Estimated maximum possible height reached by rock: 729 meters… "
"What is the altitude of the floating battleship now?"
"Beep. The current altitude of the floating battleship is 1142 meters… "
Greem was finally able to set aside his concerns after going through the detailed data provided by the chip. Instead, he focused on observing the body data of the Hill Giant.
These higher-grade creatures were extremely powerful, and had a massive amount of energy stored within their bodies. These energies would cause a defensive field similar to a barrier to form around their bodies. Usually, the chip would not be able to penetrate through the barrier from such a distance and collect any data. However, now that the Hill Giant was continuously attacking the ship, the chip was able to analyze the strength of its attacks and the consequences of its actions on its surroundings. Through this data, the chip was able to indirectly calculate and provide a basic estimation of its strength.
Race: Hill Giant.
Class: Second Grade Earth-Attribute Higher Lifeform.
Size: 31-33 meters in height, 8-10 meters wide.
Weight: 97 tons.
Attributes: Strength 27 | Agility 10 | Physique 25 | Spirit 14
Even without the use of any of its earth abilities, this Second Grade Hill Giant could easily roll over any human adepts of the same grade simply by relying on its terrifying weight and Physique.
Greem didn’t expect anything of the Second Grade adepts waiting on the ship. If any of them were to try to duel the Hill Giant, they would be completely crushed and reduced to dust.
The Grade of a lifeform was a good basic indicator of its strength, but it was not absolute.
Some powerful races born for combat would have tremendous bonuses to their power. What Grade they were at didn't truly reflect their complete prowess. For example, the Hill Giant's massive size had provided him with immense bonuses to his Strength and Physique. These additional attributes made it a far more terrifying foe when compared to ordinary Second Grade body refining adepts.
Greem repeatedly looked over the Hill Giant's attributes projected by the chip, and couldn't help but be awed by the creature.
This was just one of the Second Grade magical creatures that existed in the black forest! Moreover, it wasn't even the most powerful one! The Hill Giant was considered a magical creature with barely average abilities!
If the floating battleship wasn't cruising at such a high altitude, and all sixty adepts were walking on the ground, disaster would probably befall them. The Hill Giant only needed to use its hill-size body to charge through the adepts' ranks and they would suffer grievous losses.
Greem might have made a name for himself as the Flame Demon, but even he wasn't sure if his Magma Fireballs would do anything to the enemy's defensive barrier and body of rock.
&
nbsp; The most likely outcome of battling with such a monster was death. He would probably be crushed into human paste before he could even blast a single rock off the giant's body!
The rocks whistled and soared through the air. The kinetic force driving them upwards was slowly exhausted, and they fell towards the ground once more.
Every rock would cause the adepts to gasp in terror.
The runic arrays at the tail of the floating battleship glowed brilliantly. The ferocious wind particles blew on with even more strength than before, and the ship charged through the clouds, quickly speeding away from the giant's territory.
The Hill Giant was initially able to follow behind the ship with its massive steps. However, as the ship continued to accelerate, the giant was gradually left behind.
Finally, when the battleship disappeared into the horizon, all that the adepts could see was a speck standing on top of a cliff, roaring angrily in their direction.
After leaving the Hill Giant's territory, the battleship had also passed through the territory of a strange mirage beast.
An adept suddenly pointed at the forest and cried out, "Look… what's that?"
Everyone hurried to take a look.
Everything seemed so peaceful within the depressing black forest. It was so silent and quiet, as if nothing was happening.
However, everyone could feel a deep dark shadow flowing through the forest beneath the thick tree branches and dense foliage. The shadow was stalking beneath them.
"That's a mirage beast!" A Silver Union adept wearing a silver adept robe explained with a smile on his face, "It's a strange magical creature that's similar to the corruptor. It is able to create fantastical illusions akin to mirages in the desert, then silently devour the creatures caught in its magic. It is also Second Grade, but it is far more terrifying when compared to the Hill Giant. Avoiding the Hill Giant in the black forest is no problem as long as you are being cautious. However, there is absolutely no chance of escape from a mirage beast!"
"I have also heard of this creature!" A tall and skinny adept quickly added, "They like to press their bodies against the ground, creating images of clear lakes, beautiful gardens, and mansions full of treasures above their bodies. The realm of illusion is, in fact, their stomachs. They would lure their prey inside, and then the prey would have their bodies dissolved by the illusion while being completely oblivious to the situation."
"Thank god they don't have any means of attacking over long distances!" An adept finally expressed everyone's thoughts.
The adepts nodded in agreement.
The Silver Union adept was clearly dissatisfied with everyone’s attitude. He shook his head and warned, "Don't go feeling relieved. The most trying part of this journey comes after we pass through the mirage beast's territory."
"What is there after this?" An adept asked.
"Winged Lions!" The Silver Union adept frowned as he spoke, "The next territory we are passing through belongs to the Winged Lions. Everyone had best be careful!"
There were many adepts on board, but not all of them had heard of these creatures known as the Winged Lions. Thus, the voices of chattering adepts quickly filled the ship.
Some more familiar and friendly adepts had started exchanging information with each other.
Greem paused for a second.
Winged Lions?
He had heard of these magical creatures before.
Ordinary humans always had trouble distinguishing the Winged Lions from the Gryphons. They were extremely similar creatures, with traits of lions mixed within. However, they were two entirely different beings.
Gryphons were winged beasts with the heads of eagles and the bodies of dragons. This meant that they had heads and beaks of eagles, and the bodies and claws of dragons, as well as a pair of large fleshy wings.
Usually, adolescent gryphons were no more than First Grade magical creatures that lived in groups. Other than their decent physical strength, their power lied in their speed and ability to make diving attacks from the sky. Their screeches and cries also had a trace of ability to disrupt and confuse.
Other than these traits, there was nothing remarkable about the gryphons!
Adolescent Winged Lions, on the other hand, were Second Grade magical creatures that lived in groups. They would usually live within a family unit, consisting of two Second Grade adolescent winged lions, and three to five First Grade winged lion cubs.
Compared to the gryphons, the winged lions were lions with massive wings.
They were able to cast light-attribute spells, along with possessing tremendous physical strength. One could say they were the natural enemies of certain types of dark-attribute adepts!
All of the dark adepts wearing black robes couldn't help but frown deeply when they heard the Silver Union adept's caution. They had clearly heard of this annoying light creature as well. If they were to come into conflict with the winged lions, all of their curses, corrosive attacks, and acidic attacks would be rendered completely useless. They would be reduced to spectators in the fight.
The floating battleship flew above the forest, twisting about the narrow path amongst the towering mountain peaks. The ship was trying its best to pass through and avoid all of the hazardous areas.
Still, a long and low growl rang out in a nearby cliff. Three to five black shadows took the skies, quickly gliding in their direction.
Chapter 274
They were Winged Lions!
Two dozen adepts were already in position under the Silver Union adept’s organization, silently waiting for the arrival of the Winged Lions.
The Silver Union used this flight path once every fifteen days. They knew very well what race and grade of magical creatures would appear at which areas. Other than situations where extremely dangerous creatures were migrating, or when the creatures of the black forest were falling into a riot, the path was a safe one.
However, there were always exceptions, especially within the black forest, where no one could estimate the danger lurking within. Unknown terrors were always lying in wait.
Powerful magical creatures would usually own a large territory of their own. They were the only kings within this territory and they would never allow other creatures with similar strength to enter their territory or hunt within it.
Higher-grade magical creatures were almost always as intelligent as actual adepts. They knew how to split their territories into an inner living area and an outer hunting area. However, there would always be contentious areas within neighboring territories.
Thus, the conflict between magical creatures often broke out within the black forest!
The reason the flying battleship decided to go through this path despite knowing it to be the territory of the Winged Lions was simple. Just fifty kilometers to the west was the territory of a large group of wyverns.
Even though these wyverns were only First Grade lower magical creatures, and were far weaker to the Winged Lions, they had strength in numbers. Over a hundred of them flew together. This, coupled with their bloodline as hybrid dragons which gave them tremendous strength, powerful bodies, and the ability of flight, meant they did not fear the Winged Lions at all.
In fact, if one were to consider every single factor, the Winged Lions were slightly weaker than the pack of wyverns!
The floating battleship gradually decelerated. Once it had slowed down to a certain speed, it started to weave in and out of the clouds, sticking to the mountain ridge as it flew forward.
Now that the ship had slowed down, the excess energy saved from powering the ship was used to strengthen the outer barrier. The thickness of the barrier increased slightly.
Winged lions were wickedly fast in the skies. Trying to get rid of them by outrunning them was a complete joke. It was much safer to stave off their attacks as the ship traveled!
Greem had been assigned to the front-middle of the ship. There was an adept standing five meters behind him, and another five meters in front of him. They stood in si
lence, waiting for the winged lions to attack. Their job was simple. They were to retaliate with their strongest spells when the winged lions tried to tackle the defensive barrier.
It might be tough for them to hurt the winged lions with what little power they have, but the main purpose was to exhaust the winged lions and drive them away.
Greem was still wondering why the Silver Union didn't just gather a group of powerful adepts to exterminate these winged lions. After all, they weren't all that powerful. Exterminating them would make the flight path even safer for everyone. The chip quickly provided him with an answer!
The reason they didn't choose to exterminate these winged lions was precisely for the safety of the flight path!
A forceful extermination might ensure the safety of the flight path in the short term. However, at the same time, it would also create a power vacuum in the area. The magical creatures were intelligent beings as well. The moment the powerful ruler of this area was gone, other powerful creatures would choose to move into this area.
If that happened, getting used to the attack patterns and habits of the new magical creature would bring about a whole new host of problems for the Silver Union!
Thus, after lengthy consideration, they decided to allow these powerful but non-threatening magical creatures to stay. This was the wisest and most well-informed decision the Silver Union could come up with.
After all, once the territories of the magical creatures were settled, the adepts only needed to prepare certain tricks to deal with each trouble that popped up. In doing so, they could easily pass through the area with minimal losses.
Lion roars echoed from below the ship as Greem was absorbed in thought. Five radiant silhouettes appeared before his vision.
Winged lions… so these were winged lions!
Greem looked into the distance and saw several odd beasts that closely resembled lions.
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