Chapter 234: A strong crowd
The gigantic cyclops’ powerful body fully depicted its strong soul as it shook the ground and mountains in its path, snapping ancient trees, and causing many beasts to flee.
Even in the Dark Forest, where super rank magical beasts lurked everywhere, very few beings were actually willing to provoke a being as powerful as a cyclops. Having bad relations with such a big fellow was not an easy thing.
Han Shuo and Gilbert followed the tracks that the cyclops left behind and caught up without too much effort. In order to prevent it from noticing them, Han Shuo rode on Gilbert’s body and intentionally created a large distance between them and the cyclops.
As they hurried behind the cyclops, Han Shuo carefully surveyed their surroundings and actually discovered several powerful auras that seemed to be interested in the cyclops’ actions.
However, the owners of these auras also intentionally avoided the cyclops. They hid far away, unwilling to approach it, and only followed the tracks that the cyclops left behind, seeming to have the same idea as Han Shuo.
When Han Shuo sensed these powerful auras, he immediately told Gilbert to revert back into his human form. He then dragged Gilbert along using the Art of the Demonic Ninth Heaven to prevent Gilbert’s large body from catching the attention of these powerful beings and becoming their prey.
The three yin demons kept watch on the side and continuously paid attention to any approaching danger that might befall them. Danger lurked around every corner in the Dark Forest, so Han Shuo couldn’t help but remain vigilant.
Each step of the towering cyclops covered five or six meters. He finally entered a small valley after a long period of rumbling, hasty travel.
A waterfall crashed within the valley, the vegetation green, the lake clear, and strange flowers bloomed. Odd rocks of various colors sat at the bottom of the clear river. They dazzled beneath the sunlight, making the river ripple and shine and the fishes’ color even brighter in contrast.
What was surprising was that after the cyclops suddenly became very cautious after arriving at the valley. He set each step down very carefully, as if afraid of breaking the silence of the valley, or disturbing some powerful being.
Following the cyclops from a distance away, Han Shuo hid at a cliff above the valley. He looked down from above, observing the cyclops’ movements.
The cyclops advanced forward carefully after arriving at the valley. As it walked, it reached back to undo the huge shovel, heading for the small lake underneath the waterfall.
Contrary to Han Shuo’s expectations, the small lake was extremely deep. The cyclops was nearly ten meters tall, and yet the lake water reached his shoulders when he entered the lake.
As careful as the cyclops had been, he caused numerous violent ripples to spread when he entered the lake. Fish of various colors scattered in fear, and the clear waters around his body gradually became muddier, clearly affected by his movements.
When the cyclops moved its hands and started using shovel, the lake water surged even more and the clear surface of the lake became even murkier, as pieces of gigantic rock were flung onto the bank by the moving shovel.
The cyclops was able to determine with just one glance which rocks were useful, and which were useless. He would put away the useful rocks the moment he excavated them and then continued working.
All of the rocks that the cyclops dug out had some sort of muddy silt stuck to them. Han Shuo couldn’t determine what they were. However, since the cyclops had become interested in them, and had snuck over to dig them out from such a far distance, they were unlikely to be something that could be easily found.
Suddenly, several powerful auras descended on the valley. All of them locked their attention onto the cyclops, as if waiting for something.
Han Shuo instantly slowed his breathing and heart rate, and began intentionally concealing his presence. He wanted to prevent anyone from discovering a single trace of him and bringing him unnecessary trouble.
As a super rank magic beast, Gilbert also had a miraculous way of concealing himself. He slowly snuck into the current in the lake after a glance from Han Shuo, continuing to sink downwards until he reached the muddy layers at the bottom of the lake.
As one of the evil races of the underground world, the dark dragons had a natural talent for hiding in mire. When Gilbert sank into the mud and was blocked by the flowing water and mud, even Han Shuo needed to sense very carefully before being able to find a trace of the dark dragon.
After concealing himself, Han Shuo commanded the three yin demons to slowly move around the valley and slowly scout out the direction where he had sensed the powerful auras.
Firstly, there was an old woman, whose face was full of wrinkles, wearing a flaming red magician robe, who stood on top of a branch of a seven-meter-tall tree. From the magical insignia on her robe, Han Shuo recognized that this old woman was actually a fire grand magus. Her vision did not rest on the cyclops. Instead, she kept casting her gaze around, as if more interested in the valley itself.
The second person was a middle-aged hulk. He looked rather handsome, with short golden hair sticking up, appearing very energized. He’d stopped behind a boulder and was focusing his attention on the cyclops itself.
There was a strange aura around the middle-aged hulk. It was actually rather similar to Gilbert’s aura. Han Shuo carefully observed the middle-aged man and suddenly understood that he was an adult, golden dragon.
The third powerful being had landed within the bushes. It was a savage, huge ape around five meters tall with long silver fur and a pair of blood-red eyes. Its long arms ended with sharp fingernails that were akin to knives. There were traces of blood on one of them, as if it had just ripped open a magical beast.
The last person was a beautiful young girl, who was hovering in the air on the back of a pegasus. She had clear eyes, white skin, and a flawless face. A holy aura emanated from her features. She rode atop the pegasus with a straight back and breasts held high, appearing quite full. Her attention was also on the cyclops.
Thanks to the surveillance of the three yin demons, Han Shuo examined the four powerful beings from all directions. He couldn’t help but be shocked. The Dark Forest was truly a terrifying place. A single cyclops had attracted the attention of so many powerhouses.
There were four powerful beings, two beasts and two people. The middle-aged hulk was naturally a golden dragon in its human form. As the race with the most powerful bodies amongst dragons, they were publicly acknowledged to be strong. The aura of this middle-aged hulk was as steady as a mountain. He was definitely a powerful being who had evolved at least three times. He wasn’t something that a rookie dark dragon could compare up to.
The silver-eyed giant ape had an enormous body that was four meters tall. From the cold sharpness of its nails, Han Shuo could tell that they were drenched in the blood of various powerful men and beasts from within the Dark Forest. The aura of bloodlust surrounded it. Although he didn’t know what sort of mutated monster it was, its powerful aura was definitely not weak.
The old woman with a face full of wrinkles was a fire grand magus. Her control over fire magic already reached its peak, so her strength was definitely terrifying.
Han Shuo was unable to determine the strength of the beautiful young girl on the pegasus from her appearance, but since she’d dared to appear here, Han Shuo believed that she wouldn’t be an opponent that would be easy to handle. She definitely would’ve never appeared if she didn’t have extreme confidence in her own abilities.
When Han Shuo had fully appraised the four powerful beings that were hidden, he immediately contacted Gilbert, telling him to stop moving to prevent an unfortunate disaster.
“Roar…”
An enormous roar suddenly rang out from underground. The entire valley shook as the boulders on the cliffs trembled and tumbled towards the small lake.
This roar came from deep within the earth. It was filled with endless fury. The four powerful and hidden existences all displayed varied expressions upon hearing this loud howl.
The golden dragon and the beautiful girl on the pegasus were shocked and didn’t know what to do or what was happening. Their gazes shifted from the cyclops towards the lake and stream. However, the fire grand magus and the gigantic silver ape seemed to understand what had happened, and their expressions revealed a hint of eager anticipation.
After that loud roar, the temperature of the originally temperate valley shot up quickly. The lake and the clear river suddenly transformed into a hot spring as steam rose up from them and gradually diffused through the valley.
The cyclops clearly knew what was going on as well. Its originally light-footed actions immediately sped up, as if it was avoiding something and wanted to maximize the most strange ores possible from the lake in a shortest period of time. It frantically sped up its work.
The ground in the valley trembled in accompaniment to the large sound. The ground beneath the lake and river split open. The temperature in the valley rose, causing some of the fragile flowers that couldn’t withstand it to wilt. Following that, some branches and bushes cracked as they dried up and started smoking.
Even Gilbert, hidden within the mud, was unable to withstand the rapid rise in water temperature. It nearly turned him into a roasted dragon, making him want to break out from the mire.
However, Han Shuo noticed that the four hidden powerful beings had raised their vigilance to the utmost. There was an ominous killing intent that filled the valley, as if a large-scale war would unfold at any second. He was extremely shocked and hastily stopped Gilbert. Han Shuo told him to banish the thought of leaving the river bottom so that he wouldn’t become the first target to be attacked.
Han Shuo was fiercely stopping the dark dragon’s action and telling him to leverage the convenience of the mud to leave the valley. This was to prevent him from unfortunately becoming the target of everyone’s attacks and dying a terrible death.
Gilbert withstood the pain of his body being burnt and used the dark dragon’s natural talents to move to a place of lower temperature, gradually leaving the valley and disappearing in the direction of the river’s current.
A terrifying roar sounded out from underneath the ground not long after the dark dragon left. The river and lake seemed to be torn open as magma gushed through to them. The scorching hot temperature made everyone feel extremely uncomfortable.
Ten or so flaming red rock giants, that seemed to be constructed from magma, slowly stood up where the magma was gathering within the river.
The body of these giants were red like iron brands; there seemed to be magma continuously circulating throughout their bodies. Each of them were as huge as the gigantic silver ape, and appeared very savage as magma flowed in their eyes. As the magma spread through the water, they rushed towards the cyclops.
“The Scorching Demon Generals, they really are here!” The old woman, who happened to be the fire grand magus, couldn’t help but exclaim with a face full of excitement.
The huge silver ape appeared extremely ferocious. There was a savage light sparkling within its blood red eyes. It was anxiously waving its thick arms around at this moment, as if it was prepared to rush in and fight, but hesitated like it was waiting for something.
The golden dragon and the pegasus girl seemed to be targeting only the cyclops. They clearly hadn’t through that this situation would develop and froze, trying to quickly think of something.
While the four hidden powers were slowly gathering ideas, the magma constructed Scorching Demon Generals charged towards the cyclops.
The cyclops no longer dared to stay now. It picked up its shovel and once again stepped out heavily, hoping to quickly leave the valley behind and avoid the attacks of these demon generals.
The temperature within the valley rose up swiftly, immediately cracking the surrounding ground and wilting all vegetation in an extremely short period of time. The scorching temperature emanating from underneath the ground caused Han Shuo to feel very uncomfortable.
Yet, just at this moment, Han Shuo closed his eyes and relaxed his body, as if wanting to perceive his surroundings more clearly.
After a while, Han Shuo opened his eyes and light sparkled in them. He gazed down into the valley that had been turned into a sea of fire and muttered, “Yes, yes, it should be a place of extreme fire down there!”