Epoch of Twilight

The mutated human went limp after it evolved, her body drenched with sweat and was completely soaking wet. To add on to that, her petite body made her look weak and feeble.

However, Luo Yuan, with his perception had already noticed that the dimmed light that usually accompanied her had become a few times brighter. A tremendous strength was hidden beneath her delicate, harmless appearance.

Within a few seconds, her breathing gradually returned to its regular rhythm. Her fatigue reduced and every single cell in her body became vibrant and alive.

Her attention shifted as the pain from her evolution dissipated. Looking at the changes that had occurred to her scales curiously, she tried to stand up. An action that seemed so simple was particularly difficult for her at this very moment as she almost fell down after she staggered for a short while. She was frightened, so she grabbed onto a tree branch immediately.

Her fingernails easily dug deep into the tree bark even when she used only a minimal amount of energy. As she pulled out her hand, she attempted to do it again several times. Looking attentively at her fingernails which have gotten a lot sharper than it was before, excitement could be seen gradually appearing on her face as her eyes exuded a light of amazement. She moved carefully, clutching onto the branch of a tree as she tried to adapt to the power within her body.

She still staggered from time to time, nearly falling down a few times but still, she was able to react quickly during all the critical moments by holding onto tree branches.

Her awareness of the changes that had taken place in her body was probably the reason why she became bold, unafraid of making mistakes.

In the very beginning, she only jumped carefully on one single tree branch.

Soon, after about ten minutes or so, the area which she dared to move on expanded as she jumped from one tree to another.

She could be seen jumping repeatedly without getting tired as her face was covered with excitement.

However, due to her properties that had skyrocketed, her actions were quite jerky compared to her previous actions. With each jump, she either used too much or too little force. Fortunately, there were sufficient layers of branches around her that even if she were to fall down, she would be able to find a foothold somewhere with her Agility. Luo Yuan was also paying close attention to her from the sidelines.

Her evolution had vastly increased her primary attributes, with her Agility now close to 15 points and her Strength being estimated to be at 16 points. It was hard to tell whether her attributes had increased or not just by looking at the surface, but it was estimated that there were some increments.

Mutated humans like her were really favored by nature in aspects like these. If these things were experienced by the evolved humans, they would already have been listed as super-evolved humans. Amongst others, there were several such evolved humans in the reconstruction area. As a matter of fact, just two months ago, Luo Yuan was slightly stronger than her at this point in time.

However, for a mutated human like her, this was just the result of a sixth level energy crystal.

The other regret was that aside from these, the mutated humans did not seem to be gaining any abilities but instead, seemed to be evolving into mere carnivores.

...

Of course, the combat capabilities of Luo Yuan could not be simply measured by these attributes alone. His expert-level competence in sword skills, the effective use of every single muscle fiber in his body as well as the aid of his Will made up a large portion of his capabilities.

Luo Yuan’s punch would weigh an amazing 20 tons and it would increase even further if he augmented his punch with his Will. Ordinary people with the same attributes may not be able to reach even seven or eight tones of energy if they had not gone through any sort of training in the past.

To top it all off, seventh level mutated beasts would also have been easily killed if they went up against the Zhanmadao, which was able to destroy nearly everything.

...

The lake was crystal clear as aquatic plants could be seen on the move. Fish were swimming in groups and blooming trees were covering the sky while they absorbed the sun’s rays. The sunlight passed through gaps between the leaves, casting numerous shadows that were neither light nor dark on the ground.

It must be said that this place was indeed very beautiful, even it was potentially dangerous.

However, both the mutated human and Luo Yuan who were here were not in the mood. They have had enough rest today, and they continued their journey after having a simple lunch.

As they moved further ahead, the water in the lake got deeper. The gap between two trees also became wider. Typically, it was one to two kilometers away from each other. However, at times they were even five to six kilometers apart making it look rather spacious and empty.

Nearby the area they were at, one can occasionally get a glimpse of debris from dead trees. These trees were rotten, and the bark had been peeling off, revealing a black hazy color. They looked very much like giant stone pillars, standing on the lake.

There were also some trees which have completely collapsed. The extremely distorted roots looked like Qiulong[1], a horned dragon and they were barely hanging in midair.

Certain trees were still stubbornly alive, but they will not likely live long without the presence of sunlight.

All the trees here were extremely large, with luxurious branches and leaves. One big tree was already sufficient to form a green and luxurious forest. The tree canopy was also incredibly huge, its circumference had a perimeter of up to a few kilometers. However, at the same time, they were difficult in a survival situation.

It would appeared that this piece of water was considered dangerous, just by looking at these dead trees debris and fallen trees.

He had seen it many times along the way. Whether it was a sudden massive whirlpool that appeared suddenly or a silent shadow that skimmed across the bottom of the lake would result in Luo Yuan having a dignified look.

Although these aquatic mutated beasts were not of a high level, they grew large because water was more buoyant than air and it could offset gravity in an aquatic environment by a substantial amount. Said like that, the size of the terrestrial creature would never measure up to the size of an aquatic creature which was also of the same level. Each one of them was appeared to be very large in size. The limitations of their size were believed to be only the depth and area of the water as well as, the richness and amount of their food.

They were particularly difficult to deal with in addition to the unique characteristics of an aquatic environment. Luo Yuan would have had a hard time fighting back in the event of an attack.

When it was three o’clock in the afternoon, Luo Yuan witnessed the fight between two, seventh grade mutated beasts from far away.

One of them was an giant aquatic beast, with a flat tail and limbs and sharp teeth with a big mouth, looking like a lizard. Another one was a vigorous, robust golden bird that looked mysterious with its three tail feathers which exuded a blue light.

This giant golden bird kept hovering midair with a wingspan that approached nearly 100 meters. As a result, the sky was shrouded by its shadow.

However, the size of this bird was still considered to be petite and dainty as compared to the lizard-like giant beast. Without taking its wings into consideration, its body size was perhaps only as big as the lizard’s head.

Nonetheless, this giant golden bird was moving at a very fast speed, similar to the speed of lightning and electricity. It was in a more favorable position to win this battle.

Every time the giant golden bird dived, a cone-shaped cloud was created from the sonic boom and lingered in the air for a long period of time. Even in the eyes of Luo Yuan, its speed was as swift as a shadow and as quick as lightning flash. It was just mere seconds before its claws reached the eyes of the giant beast in the water. Although the giant beast was trying hard to evade the giant golden bird’s attack, there was still blood that the bird drew from its body with every attack.

Luo Yan had noticed that the giant beast has become blind in one eye after it was scratched directly in the eye. Its scalp had also being torn by the giant bird’s needle-sharp claws and blood kept dripping from its head, revealing its jade-white skull.

Intense pain had caused this lizard-like giant beast to go on a rampage above of the lake. Each of its movements came was made with enormous force and had a gigantic motion. More than 10,000 tons of lake water was shot up into the air and did not fall down for a long time. It seemed like the whole lake had exploded that just a few kilometers away, it seemed like it was raining.

While the golden giant bird appeared to be in an advantageous position compared to the giant beast in the water that was unable to fight back; it was actually not the whole truth. Although the giant aquatic beast looked miserable, it was not fatally injured. Even if it eventually lost, it could still hide in the water. However, when it came to the giant mutated bird, it could possibly be cast into eternal perdition even if it made only one mistake.

And this giant aquatic beast was not as manic as it appeared to be. Otherwise, it would not have been so passive with its attacks. Luo Yuan had observed attentively that the giant aquatic beast would move its mouth, which was full of sharp teeth, away from the direction of the giant bird’s attack furtively.

It was a very patient hunter. Its manic act was just a bait, an attempt to weaken the opponent’s battle awareness and it seemed that the giant aquatic beast was waiting for the perfect time to strike. After half a minute, as expected, the giant aquatic beast suddenly flung its head back and bit its opponent after the giant golden bird had once again, pounced on him like a lightning bolt. It was the one and only attack from this giant beast that Luo Yuan had witnessed and it had remarkably demonstrated the and it had remarkably demonstrated the saying ’One shot. One kill.’

The moment the giant bird realized something was wrong, it flapped its wings furiously but it was already too late. It’s lightning-fast speed that initially gave it an edge when it was attacking, also made it difficult for it to stop. It would only watch as its body approached the wide, deadly mouth that was beneath it.

In a flash, both its feet were bitten by a deadly mouth, open wide.

The golden bird was so frightened of what had happened that it flapped its wings to the best it could. This caused an exceptional amount of wind to blow and the surface of the lake was pushed down several hundred meters, forming a bowl-shaped surface. At the same time, the giant bird was pecking at the giant beast’s forehead, trying to kill it with its beak that was as sharp as a spear.

It was a fatal attack by the giant bird as a crisp, crackling sound was heard and a hole appeared in the head of the giant beast in a moment. Luo Yuan who had sharp vision, noticed that there was a grayish-red colored liquid flowing out of the hole.

The initial situation where the giant aquatic beast made the perfect move had suddenly changed to a situation where both sides were losing.

The giant aquatic beast suddenly flipped over, pulling the giant golden bird into the water. The water in the entire lake stirred vigorously as both of them carried out the remainder of their fight in the water.

Luo Yuan had a gleam in his eyes. Originally, he was just planning to be a bystander without getting involved.

Because after all, both flying and aquatic creatures were extremely difficult to deal with. There would be a chance to fail miserably. However, they were now both embroiled in a battle underwater. It was very hard to determine the outcome of the fight in a short period of time as a seventh level mutated beast was extremely strong, even in nature. It was a pity for Luo Yuan to miss such a good opportunity.

He looked at the task information that was on the system. Fortunately, the opportunity was still there as the task had not disappeared yet. He quickly took on the task. He then exerted a small amount of force against the tree branch with his feet and his body instantly shot away like a rocket.

Realizing Luo Yuan had fled away, the mutated human who was in close proximity, quickly produced a hissing sound and kept on jumping on tree branches as she used both her hands and feet, trying to catch up with him.

...

Half a minute later, Luo Yuan was already at the top of the two giant beasts who were still locked in a fierce battle. The swelling waves were surging sky-high, and an abundance of water fell down, splashing heavily on the surface of the lake just like an enormous fountain, producing waves of more than 10 meters high. The lake water which was previously clear had now become turbid.

Luo Yan dared not hesitate and quickly came down to the surface once he got a whiff of a mild smell of blood.

Luo Yuan used his abilities to determine the location of these two giant beasts below the water. It was a very deep lake that even he, with all his abilities, had limited vision that he could use to predict what would happen in the deepest part of the lake. However, the two giant beasts were still within his sight. They were just around ten-plus meters away from the water surface.

Nonetheless, such distance was still considered quite far for Luo Yuan. To mount an effective attack, he had no choice but to risk himself going into the water. This whole body of water had been stirred into a concentrated porridge as both beasts fought fiercely in the water. It was fairly dangerous as the violent impacts of waves was the equivalent of numerous bombs exploding in deep water.

It was close to impossible to get closer to the fight after he entered the water. Fortunately, their positions changed rapidly. No matter how anxious Luo Yuan got, as a hunter he could only wait patiently for the right time to strike.

Finally, after about ten seconds or so, there was a sudden surge on the surface of the lake. A great pillar of water soared beside Luo Yuan and rose into the sky. His eyes lit up and his Zhanmadao was drawn in the blink of an eye. He leveled his saber to the water and started slashing rapidly, almost a hundred times in just a single breath.

The next moment, there seemed to be a high-frequency wave that happened to the surface of the lake, followed by a massive surge of blood coming from within the lake, turning the lake blood-red.

Accompanying the surge of blood was a small part of the golden wing. It had a smooth straight incision which was apparently slashed by the Zhanmadao.

More and more have appeared in just a while as the feathers were quite buoyant. The majority of them belonged to the golden giant bird.

The lake began to gradually calm down after around ten minutes. Everything had remained peacefully in their place. Luo Yuan was relieved after he got a notification that his mission was accomplished. Looking at the increasing amount of shadows that approaching from afar, he went up into the tree branch above him immediately.

[1] Qiulong 虬龙: A mythical Chinese dragon that is frequently interpreted as an immature dragon, at times being referred to as a horned or hornless dragon, which is rather contradictory.