In the world of Beasts, there existed a clear distinction between evolved and non-evolved Beasts. In fact, the latter was widely considered a completely different organism, impossible to compare. Most even thought of them as less than livestock and domestic animals.
However, when it came to evolved Beasts, there was a limit on the number that a person could slay. Yes, the strong ruled in the world of Beasts but no one would respect a ruler who always bullied the weak to prove their superiority. This kind of action would lead to a rebellion against said ruler and he would soon meet his demise.
This just goes to show that even in a survival of the fittest world like that the Beasts lived in, unspoken rules existed and they were strongly enforced. The fact that evolved Beasts weren’t nearly as plentiful as humans also played a part.
Unfortunately, it was impossible for the current Beast race to punish the humans for their unspeakable crimes of slavery and hunting among other things. All they could do was resist and retreat to their safe haven while making sure to preserve and continue their great heritage.
Do not be mistaken though, this did not mean that the Beasts would take their beating lying down. No, it was impossible to outright stop it but it was still possible to deter the humans from committing such great crimes frequently. For example, capturing and using their strongest warriors as sharpening tools for their up and coming talents. These were things they copied from human behaviour.
There was also the case of slave trade by the dark organisations of the Beast world. A trade started by the humans and frowned upon by Beasts however, it was a fact that such trade still existed today. If the major organisations did not wish it to exist, could a few dark institutions hold them back or be capable of even running their business? The answer was simple, of course they wouldn’t!
Those shady trading hubs only remained functioning today because the large ‘up-standing’ organisations allowed them to continue their operations. Their purpose? To deter and scare the humans.
……………….
Zilan was still calmly sitting cross-legged on the surface of the lake. His eyes were firmly shut and a trace of smile could be seen on his face.
The effects of the gravity chamber were truly wonderful. One might be wondering why exactly the supposedly strong body of Zilan even quivered when facing just a seven times increase in gravity. However, what those who questioned missed, was the fact that the chamber was not just increasing the gravity of the surroundings, it was essentially pressuring Zilan using the universal laws that governed gravity.
His body couldn’t take it because he hadn’t comprehended its laws nor had he evolved in a way to embrace them. If it was simply a seven times increase in gravity, a lesser cultivator let alone Zilan would have been able to survive it.
After all, his body had long seized to be confined within the box that is basic human capabilities. Maybe humans might falter but Beasts were built differently. What they lacked in brains, they made up for with their blessed physiques.
Inside Zilan’s body, his cultivation was slowly but surely increasing. When he had first transformed into an adolescent Dragon, he had suppressed his cultivation so that he could reap the rewards later on when the opportunity presented itself.
Currently as both his body and mind were resonating with the laws of water, Zilan had a feeling that now was the best time to progress.
The more he analysed and dove deeper into the Infinite Rain technique, the more he felt that he was actually drifting, being carried by a very powerful tide towards the source. Towards the one true law that governed water and all it entailed.
His comprehension along with the knowledge left behind by Zaum allowed him to traverse this huge sea much easier than probably even the Rain Dragon himself would have predicted.
“Unstoppable, calm, unpredictable, direct, violent and overwhelming.” Whispered Zilan as he continued to decrypt and understand more about Infinite Rain.
“70th level, 72nd,75th,77…
80th,85th,88th…
90th, 91st….”
Unfortunately, it appeared all that saving up and waiting on an opportunity to capitalise was not going to fully pay off.
“Swish!”
A sharp, fast flying object tore through the air as it approached Zilan from a peculiar angle.
Hesitant and unwilling, he could only break away from his meditation in grief. He had suppressed his cultivation just so that he could find the opportune moment to push through all the way to the limit of the Tempering stage however, even then because of some bastard his plan was foiled and he was now ten huge steps away from the peak.
“Who!?” growled Zilan as his blood boiled with rage.
He flicked away the sharp object that was heading towards him as he glared at the surroundings.
“Haha, did you think we wouldn’t come for you?” laughed the chimp-like man.
Without thinking, Zilan had already appeared next to the newly revealed chimp and without hesitating he sent a palm strike towards his head.
“Pah!”
The force that collided with the chimps face was too strong, disfiguring it before his whole head exploded.
The tiger was too late in reacting as he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Too bad Zilan had also noticed him, swiftly sending a kick his way that surprisingly caused him to fly through the air, skipping through the lakes surface before he ultimately crashed onto the other side of the lake.
Horrified the ten lackeys that thought this was going to be just another easy pay-day suddenly all turned away to flee.
Seeing this, Zilan’s cold blue reptilian eyes suddenly began glowing with murderous intentions.
A faint mist abruptly exploded from both sides of waist before slowly taking shape into two gigantic dragon claws that reached out to the sky, seemingly wanting to grab hold of it.
The escaping Beasts could feel the danger from behind them and understood that if they wished to leave with their lives, their best bet would be to gang up on the monstrous Half-Breed in hopes of killing him.
“He can’t kill all of us….” Shouted the smartest one amongst them but he could only blame his luck for provoking the wrong opponent.
“Shiu!”
Ten separate smaller liquid claws, without notice and as fast as lightning struck down on the ready to attack Beasts, and in an unbelievable turn of events, completely sliced through each of the underlings.
Each of them had been cleanly cut up into three pieces, from head to toe. It was to the extent that their bodies did not separate until they hit the ground, sending a mixture of blood and bodily fluids spraying out into the surrounding forest.
“Ha…ha…ha….” Out of breath and face devoid of colour, Zilan quickly came back to his senses.
Looking at what he’d done, he surprisingly only frowned before turning towards the direction of where the green tiger had flown.
“I know you’re alive, who are you?”
The green tiger had seen the whole thing and quite frankly he still wanted nothing more than to run. “Maybe I can make it?” He thought.
But once those cold eyes of Zilan locked onto him, his courage shattered, dispersing into the wind along with his dignity.
“Please don’t kill me, I won’t tell anyone!” Tears flowed down his face as he begged for mercy.
“Who?” Zilan asked again.
“Yes, I was sent to seek revenge by my Master. You…you..eh..killed my Senior Martial Brother Chui…”
Zilan stared at the grovelling green tiger and then turned to look at the bodies behind him.
“Leave then! If I see you again, I will not show mercy.”
Leuis was ecstatic, in his eyes looking at Zilan was the same as staring into the eyes of a demon. Even the techniques he employed, without knowing or even seeing what had happened, his crew had been dissected and his junior Martial brother had his head exploded. If this wasn’t the work of a demon then what was?
In the future, just the mere thought of Zilan would be enough to drive him to madness. In his entire life, this was the first time he’d been so close to a gruesome death.
Watching the departing figure of Leuis, Zilan suddenly felt angry. There were two reasons for his anger, one was the sudden enlightenment he’d been waiting for and counting on to reach the peak of the Tempering stage had been cut short and two, he was pissed that the Beast inside him would sometimes take over and do things he otherwise wouldn’t do if he was thinking clearly. The second level of the Gift of love also wouldn’t interfere since not only was it what the inner Beast Zilan wanted thus it was hard to override but also for battle, he was already in the optimum condition thus no tweaking was needed.
Stuck in his own world of thoughts, he suddenly noticed an existence hiding not too far from him. His body instantly went into high alert.
“Who?” This time his voice was much bolder, spreading farther.
………………….
Meanwhile in another area of the Association,
“Teacher, I’ve finished investigating that matter.” Said a young pretty female Alchemist whose beauty could be described as sneaky. Her expressions were cold but one could only imagine what would happen if she cracked a smile. Maybe the sun would appear even brighter than it usually was and the moon even more captivating.
“Oh, good! As expected of my favourite student, let me see what you found.” Laying back on his chair, an old badger otherwise known as Senior Mo calmly received a small jade tablet that had information on his newest prey.
“Hmm, what…WHAT NONESENSE IS THIS?” He almost fell of his chair just by reading the first line.
“This, this, this…it’s perfect! Amazing work Maua, teacher will make sure to reward you.”
Important announcement ;
I will continue to release a chapter a day for a while as we get back into the groove of things. If you would like to read chapters in advance without having to wait days, then please feel free to check out my patreon page. (https://www.patreon.com/emeraldragon)
Finally, I would like to announce the launching of my twitter account. I’ve been using social media for a while for personal use but I’ve always shied away from using it as a platform to communicate with my readers…(don’t really know why) However, that has now changed! I will be using twitter to interact with my followers on a daily basis and not just have the usual, “chapter updates and then silence”. No! Through memes, gifs and well tweets I will strive to not only entertain but actually interact and converse…but as you know, one can’t talk to themselves at least not without having a mental problem so please follow me as we move on with our journey.
Your humble author,
emeraldragon.
