by KSY
Alwin and Sheena were no different as they could tell that Ryan was genuinely thinking about the wellbeing of their son, as they knew how difficult it was to find a young descendant of a Divine Elemental Beast or a Divine Elemental Bird. Ryan’s position rose to an unprecedented level in their hearts.
The entire Sundering Valley had erupted into laughter when they heard Sherman call his own Ancestor stingy. Ancestor Ron was also present in Sundering family at the time, and his face was twitching when he heard the laughter from the people in Sundering Valley.
He wanted to beat the shit out of Sherman for making a fool out of him. The thing that pissed him, even more, was Sherman’s promise. He’d already felt Oscar’s gaze on him for quite some time. His Cultivation Level was similar to that of Oscar’s, that is Immortal Emperor Realm, because of which he had no intention of exchanging blows with him. Oscar was the top genius of his generation who was well known for his terrifying combat prowess, unlike him. So, he knew that he had no chance of winning if he and Oscar were to exchange blows. He could tell that Oscar cared for his grandchildren a lot, so there was a high chance that he would revert to his old self. He knew that he would have to give Cris a chance to attempt to form an Equal contract with the young Night Fury Bird otherwise he might anger Oscar.
Ryan was certain that as long as Sherman had promised him that he would ask Ancestor Ron to allow Cris to attempt to form an Equal contract with the young Night Fury Bird, then Ancestor Ron would have no choice but to agree to it, as not agreeing was equal to saying no to his grandfather’s face. Oscar was one of the best amongst his generation, and he was bound to be a pillar of strength for the Eternity Family Clan in the future. So, Ryan was certain that the chances of Ancestor Ron not agreeing were next to zero. Poor Sherman had no idea that he had been being used by Ryan to scheme against his own Ancestor.
“Ron, I wish to discuss the matter regarding that young Night Fury Bird,” Oscar said as he approached Ancestor Ron with a smile on his face. This attracted everyone’s attention in Sundering Valley. It was not every day that they got to see such an interesting show.
Many people wanted to buy that young Night Fury Bird from Ron for their own descendants, but had decided to hold themselves back, as they didn’t want cause trouble for Oscar for numerous reasons. The fact that he had good relations with Sheldon, Danr and Brian was also a good reason for not interfering.
“Oscar, I am OK with allowing Cris to attempt to form an Equal contract with that Night Fury Bird, as Ray has already been rejected by it. You will have to pay a fifty million high-grade Darkness Elemental stones if he is successful,” Ron said with a greedy look on his face.
“Are you not overpricing the young Night Fury Bird?” Oscar said as his expression turned a little aggressive.
“I am not. Night Fury Birds are extremely rare in the first place. I was lucky enough to encounter one, and that too, such a young one. The young Night Fury Bird that I caught possesses Mid-grade bloodline purity,” Ron countered.
Oscar also felt that Ron was justified in asking such a price for the young Night Fury Bird. It would be wrong to say that he was not tempted after coming to know that the young Night Fury Bird had Mid-grade bloodline purity. If Cris was able to form an Equal contract with the young Night Fury Bird and its bloodline purity went up, then Cris would have a being with a terrifying potential by his side.
“I already have an offer from Alchemist Hon for the same sum. You can confirm it with him, if you wish. He wants to make pills out of the blood of the Night Fury Bird,” Ron added in a calm manner, as he could tell that Oscar was quite tempted, so he hadn’t reduced the rate. Night Fury Bird is renowned for its overbearing might and combat prowess so it was natural that Oscar was quite tempted. If Cris could have the young Night Fury Bird as his Soul being, then he would be the happiest person.
“Ron, are you going to go back on your words about selling that young Night Fury Bird to me?” a crisp voice resounded in Sundering Valley which attracted the attention of everyone there. It belonged to a middle-aged man who was slowly but steadily walking towards Ron and Oscar: none other than Alchemist Hon.
He was in dire need of the blood of the Night Fury Bird so he didn’t mind offending Oscar. The fact that he was an Alchemist was also one of the reasons he was not scared of Oscar or his relations with Sheldon and his four companions, as all factions treated Alchemists with extreme respect, no less than for doctors.
He was certain that Ron would definitely sell the young Night Fury Bird to him if he applied a little bit pressure, as no one wished to be on the bad side of an Alchemist, but he’d made a little mistake in his calculations this time. If the person in front of Ron hadn’t been Oscar, then things would have gone in his way. Ron had a very deep-rooted fear of Oscar as he had seen him in action two decades ago. The ruthlessness and cruelty displayed by Oscar at that time was still ingrained in his mind, and he had no intention of experiencing that himself.
“Alchemist Hon, I never agreed to sell that bird to you. We were still in the negotiating stage. If Cris fails, then we can again sit at the table to negotiate things,” Ron replied snappily. He could already tell what Hon was trying to imply.
It was clear to him that Hon had never seen the Oscar from two decades previously. Hon was like a fawn that had no idea about the dangers in the forest. Hon didn’t retort as he currently lacked the words to do so, as what Ron had stated was true. They had not agreed to anything. He could only pray that Cris failed to form an Equal contract with the young Night Fury Bird.
“Where is the young Night Fury Bird?” Oscar asked. He had no intention of wasting any time as he knew that a lot of people were interested in it.
“Let’s go to my place,” Ron said as he could understand Oscar’s concern.
A smile appeared on Oscar’s face, but it soon faded away, as he looked with disbelief at the screen showing Ryan. It was not just him: all the people present in Sundering Valley had similar expressions as they heard Ryan asking Sherman the location of the Metallic Hell Dragon’s lair. Anyone could tell Ryan’s intentions.
The thing that was even more bizarre was the fact that he was trying to find the Metallic Hell Dragon for its feces.
“When did the feces of Metallic Hell Dragon become a prized alchemy material?” everyone thought to themselves, including the Alchemists present in Sundering Valley. They soon got their answer which many had been expecting from the start: the feces of Metallic Hell Dragon were not prized alchemy material at all.
“What is Ryan up to?” Julia asked in disbelief and with a scared expression. She didn’t wish to see Ryan getting severely injured.
“No idea,” Emilia said as she looked with deep concern at the screen. Other members of Ryan’s family were looking with concern at the screen too.
Oscar lost the impetus to take Cris to Ron’s place, and Cris was no different. He was also concerned about his brother’s wellbeing, and had no intention of leaving Sundering Valley until he’d confirmed with his own eyes that his brother was OK.
Ron could but naturally tell this, so he didn’t disturb them at that moment. He too was looking intently at the screen showing Ryan.
The expressions of everyone in the Sundering valley including that of Sheldon, Brian and Danr were of disbelief as they saw him fight the entire pack of Metallic wolves. They were unable to fathom why he was fine even after taking the full-powered attacks of Metallic wolves that had Cultivation Levels of Late Mortal King Realm or why he had such terrifying bodily strength. It didn’t take long for them to come to an inference.
“It seems that his Cultivation Level has increased exponentially during the Closed-door Cultivation session,” a member of the Upper echelon of Heaven Sundering Family Clan suggested. Many others had also come to the same conclusion as her. No one was sure as they were sensing a Cultivation Level of Early Mortal Elite Realm from Ryan.
“It would be odd if his Cultivation Level didn’t increase after absorbing so many
precious Poison Attribute Plant Spirits,” another member of the Upper echelon said with a sigh. He knew that Ryan was able to increase his cultivation so fast all due to his physique, which had extremely high resistance towards Poison Attribute. This fact made him envious of Ryan a little bit. It was not just him but everyone that was present in the Sundering family.
The heartbeats of Ryan’s family members and well-wishers increased when Ryan left for the lair of the Metallic Hell Dragon at an extremely fast pace, after slaughtering the entire pack of Metallic wolves and bidding Sherman and company goodbye. The fact that Ryan had the ability to finish of Late Mortal King Realm Metallic wolves didn’t give them peace of mind as the Metallic Hell Dragon was totally in a different league.
Ryan was moving in the northern direction as directed by Sherman. He had already made up his mind to have that Metallic Hell Dragon as his Soul beast. Metallic Hell Dragons are extremely rare in Grandura and are known for their overpowered Innate Abilities and bodily toughness. Ryan knew that finding a Metallic Hell Dragon would be a hundredfold tougher on Grandura, because of which he’d decided to form an Equal contract with this one inside the Treasure Space.
A huge mountain came into Ryan’s view after he’d run at the same speed for ten days. This was the mountain under whose foot the Metallic Hell Dragon lived. The mountain was like a Divine Sword embedded in the ground as it pierced the blue sky of Raspite. It gave off an extremely oppressive aura which increased as he moved closer to it. The huge mountain was in the Inner region of the Metallic Sheen Mountain Range so the purity of the Metal Elemental Energy around it was extremely high.
Ryan had felt the increase in the Metal Elemental Energy as he had steadily moved deeper into the Inner region. Because of that, most of the powerful beings of the Metallic Sheen Mountain Range had accumulated there too. Ryan had tried his best to avoid them for the past few days, and because of that, he was able to reach the mountain close by whose foot the Metallic Hell Dragon lived.
Ryan had also collected seven more medallions on his way which took the tally in his possession to sixty-three. Most medallions in Metallic Sheen Mountain Range had already been picked up by other participants, so the ones Ryan found were the leftovers, which the other participants had been unable to find because they’d been hidden in difficult-to-find places.
The Metallic Hell Dragon was feeling bored after it had chased away the previous group of participants that had come for its treasure. It regretted its decision about showing off its true might, because now, no one came to mess with it. Just as the Metallic Hell Dragon was thinking of entering a deep sleep-state, it noticed a young human boy running in its direction. It sensed a Cultivation Level of Early Mortal Elite Realm from the boy, but its instinct told him that he was way stronger than a typical Mortal Elite Realm Martial Artist. This increased its curiosity about Ryan. Its golden eyes were shining brightly: it had already decided to toy with this human boy.
A big black-colored boulder lay next to its huge body – the Dark Star Ore.
Ryan could already see the Metallic Hell Dragon which was lying lazily near the foot of the huge mountain, and he couldn’t help but feel awe when he saw it. Its most striking feature was its golden eyes and the golden horn in the middle of its forehead. These features signified that this Metallic Hell Dragon was a male, as the females of this dragon species lack the golden horn and golden eyes. He was gigantic in size, though he was still way smaller in size than Thorn, but nevertheless he was huge. He had four legs, two gigantic wings on his back, a long neck and a spikey tail. He was pitch-black in color and the scales on his body had a metallic sheen, that gave off a creepy-feeling similar to that of a sharp sword. Ryan was certain that the scales of this dragon were not as simple as they looked.
Ryan was unable to tell what was going on in the mind of the Metallic Hell Dragon but he had already decided to go to the bitter end to make him his Soul being. It took about half an hour for him to arrive near the foot of the mountain where the Metallic Hell Dragon was lying lazily on the ground and looking at Ryan with curiosity. Ryan was just a few kilometers from the Metallic Hell Dragon, but that distance was nothing for the Metallic Hell Dragon as it could traverse that in less than a second.
“Do you want to leave this small world?” Ryan sent a Mental-message transmission to the Metallic Hell Dragon, who looked at Ryan in a peculiar manner.
On seeing the Metallic Hell Dragon’s reaction, Ryan continued, “How about forming an Equal contract with me?”
The Metallic Hell Dragon was stunned on hearing Ryan’s words. It had been a long time since someone had dared to ask him that question.
Participants that lacked Soul beings had always tried their luck in getting themselves Soul beings inside the Treasure Space, and this Metallic Hell Dragon was infamous for hurting all the participants that had ever tried to do that with him. It was not just him, but all the creatures in the Immortal Realm behaved in a similar manner, though the reason for that was not known to anyone. Because all the Immortal Realm creatures of Raspite behaved that way, participants were apprehensive about even attempting to form an Equal contract with them.
The Metallic Hell Dragon’s Cultivation Level had already reached a stage where he was unable to advance any further along the Martial Path unless he ascended to a Divine World, and for that he would first have to exit Raspite.
He was already fed up with life in Raspite, and wished to go outside. As a result, he’d already decided that if Ryan’s Martial Spirit had the potential to increase his bloodline purity then he would agree to form an Equal contract with him.
The huge tail of the Metallic Hell Dragon which had been lying motionlessly on the ground suddenly moved towards Ryan at blinding speed. It was covered in sharp spikes, but Ryan smiled at seeing this. He hadn’t sensed any Killing intent from the Metallic Hell Dragon because of which he could tell that the Metallic Hell Dragon was just testing him. Large quantities of Baleful aura, Fire aura and Death aura erupted out Ryan’s body and soon transformed into a Black dragon with red eyes.
“Roar!” Yama issued a domineering roar as he looked at the Metallic Hell Dragon with bloodlust. The Metallic Hell Dragon was shaken up for a second on seeing Yama. He was unable to tell why but for some reason, his instinct told him that this Asura Dragon Martial Spirit was not normal.
Ryan punched the incoming tail of the Metallic Hell Dragon with his full power.
Boom!!!!
A sound akin to a big explosion went off when Ryan’s fist and the Metallic Hell Dragon’s tail clashed. His strike could easily lethally injure a Mid-Mortal Emperor Realm being, and Ryan’s punch sent the tail sent flying back. The Metallic Hell Dragon was stunned when he noticed himself losing by a very big margin, even though he knew that he hadn’t used his full strength, but only what was sufficient to severely injure any Mortal Elite Martial Artist. He was unable to fathom how a Mortal Elite Realm Martial Artist could possess such terrifying strength and bodily toughness. Ryan could but naturally tell what was going on in the Metallic Hell Dragon’s mind.
“Early Mortal Elite Realm is not my actual Cultivation Level,” Ryan said via a Mental-message transmission to the Metallic Hell Dragon with a smile on his face. The Metallic Hell Dragon felt a little relieved on coming to know that. Due to embarrassment, he was thinking of finding a hole to hide his face in after the exchange between him and Ryan, so Ryan’s words put him at ease.
“So, what’s your decision? I am certain that your bloodline purity will definitely go up if you form an Equal contract with me since I possess Asura Dragon Martial Spirit,” Ryan said via Mental-message transmission as a mysterious smile appeared on his face. The Metallic Hell Dragon was also certain of that fact because of which he nodded his head slightly as he lowered his head to Ryan’s level. Soon his entire body was covered in runes.
Ryan bit the tip of his finger and dropped a few drops of his blood onto one of the runes that had appeared on the Metallic Hell Dragon’s body. A drop of N
etherworld Honey was mixed with one of the drops of blood. Ryan’s blood was quickly absorbed by the rune on the Metallic Hell Dragon, which then initiated the Equal contract between them.
Runes similar to the ones on the body of the Metallic Hell Dragon appeared on Ryan’s body following which a Soul link was formed between them. Soon he felt his affinity with Death Attribute increase by a notch, which would, in turn, increase his Cultivation speed of Death Attribute laws to whole new level.
“Roar!!!!” the Metallic Hell Dragon issued a powerful roar as he entered a deep sleep-state while his entire body was covered in an Unholy black light. This was a sign of his bloodline purity going up and his gaining one of the Innate Abilities of Ryan’s Martial Spirits. Ryan was not stunned this time, as he’d gotten used to this sight, and a smile appeared on Ryan’s face as he saw this scene.
The smile on Ryan’s face vanished soon after though: he now had another thing to worry about!
He was receiving a stream of Mental-message transmissions from Caius informing him about the frantic discussions that were going on about him in Sundering Valley. Caius had returned to Sundering Valley about two days previously. His short trip to Heavenly Forest had been extremely fruitful as he’d found a High-grade Immortal Earth Poison that had just been birthed by a Poison Attribute Treasure Land there.
Caius had had to annihilate a number of Poison Attribute beings that had also arrived there for the newly birthed Earth poison. He’d devoured the Earth Poison soon after dealing with them and now his toxicity had increased by leaps and bounds. His wings which had previously been green had turned violet and gave off a very dangerous and toxic aura. Ryan’s family members were stunned when Caius returned from Heavenly Forest as they could tell that he had become manyfold more terrifying than before.
Ryan had been expecting something like that to happen from the start. He could now only rely on Death Sword and he had already thought of a plan for introducing Death Sword to his family and the rest of the people in Sundering Valley. Ryan took out Death Sword from his Soul World and slashed him at the Dark Star Ore boulder a few times. The Dark Star Ore was cut into hundreds of small pieces and the huge boulder of Dark Star Ore turned into a huge pile of Dark Star Ore pieces, all more or less of the same size.