While Luo Feng began practising the Ninety Nine Tempering Spirit technique, the councillors who had been warned by Hong all behaved themselves. Countless ordinary citizens across China were also busy preparing for the coming New Year’s Day.
The entire Earth remained peaceful.
9:36 p.m., 30 December 2058.
Deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, several hundred kilometres away from the Hawaiian Islands.
Cold.
Dark.
In this region of the seabed, a mysterious black oval egg measuring around twelve metres in diameter had remained undisturbed for more than a year. Covered in mud and seaweed, it had become completely unremarkable.
Many sea monsters had discovered the mysterious egg over a year earlier, but none had ever managed to bite through its shell.
Gradually, fewer and fewer monsters paid it any attention.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
The mysterious black egg trembled slightly, causing some of the mud and seaweed covering it to slide away.
In fact, the egg had already begun trembling occasionally over a month earlier, and the frequency had steadily increased.
Just the previous day, it had shaken more than ten times.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
The black egg trembled once again.
More mud and seaweed slid away, gradually exposing strange golden markings on the surface of the black shell.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
The black egg suddenly began shaking violently.
The tremors became stronger and stronger.
Then came a crisp cracking sound.
A long fracture appeared across the shell.
Immediately afterwards…
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Several loud explosions echoed as the cracked shell burst apart.
A pitch black, slime covered creature slowly emerged from inside.
Crunch. Crunch.
The unknown creature immediately began devouring the eggshell.
It was as though it had been starving for countless years.
It ate frantically.
In little more than ten minutes, nearly a third of the twelve metre egg had already disappeared.
The creature finally emerged completely.
It was an unfamiliar reptilian beast, entirely black and covered in dark scales. It possessed four powerful limbs, a pair of enormous scaled wings, and a tail that swayed gently like that of a dragon.
Its raised head bore a single proud horn pointing towards the heavens.
Its entire body remained covered in slime, making its true appearance impossible to distinguish.
As it consumed the shell, the creature’s body continued growing.
From an initial length of around twelve metres, it gradually became larger.
By the time it had eaten the entire shell, it had reached sixteen metres in length.
At that moment, all the slime had been absorbed, revealing the creature’s true appearance.
“Woo…”
A sharp, delighted cry escaped its throat.
It was a sixteen metre beast unlike anything ever seen on Earth.
Its black scales resembled countless razor sharp blades, enough to send chills down anyone’s spine.
Its entire body exuded an indescribable pressure that made breathing difficult.
Its savage wings, powerful limbs, tail, and horn were all an icy black.
More accurately…
Its jet black horn faintly displayed mysterious golden markings.
They were so subtle that they could only be noticed upon close inspection.
Those mysterious golden markings spread from the horn across its head, neck, and the scales covering its back, resembling a layer of golden armour fused into its body.
Dense golden patterns branched out across both wings before extending further down towards its powerful claws.
After finishing the eggshell, the mysterious beast remained crouched upon the seabed, surveying its surroundings.
Ancient memories hidden within its bloodline gradually flooded into its mind.
Its pair of dark golden eyes suddenly shone brilliantly.
The mysterious golden markings along its horn, neck, and back also glowed faintly with visible golden light.
The surrounding seawater seemed to freeze for an instant.
Even the rocky seabed beneath it trembled slightly.
Streams of energy poured into its body.
Yet only moments later, the absorption stopped.
“Woo…”
The mysterious beast stood up in frustration, constantly glancing around as though trying to figure something out.
Finally, it let out an unwilling growl before flicking its tail.
Whoosh.
It shot forward through the water.
It seemed born without any need for oxygen.
Moving across the seabed was as effortless as walking on land.
Suddenly, a school of monstrous fish appeared ahead.
Each possessed rows of interlocking teeth, glowing red eyes, bodies over five metres long, and, most strangely of all, two three clawed limbs protruding from beneath their bellies.
“Yoo.”
At the shrill command, the entire school rapidly surrounded the mysterious beast.
They had already regarded this unfamiliar creature as prey.
There were simply too many varieties of sea monsters.
Even creatures that spent their entire lives beneath the ocean constantly encountered unfamiliar species.
Generally, they judged strength by body size.
Sea monsters were typically much larger than land monsters.
King level sea monsters generally exceeded one hundred metres in length.
Even lord level sea monsters usually measured over twenty metres.
The mysterious beast before them was only sixteen metres long.
It was probably not even lord level.
Naturally, the fish monsters were unafraid.
Working together, their group had even hunted monster lords before.
“Yoo.”
With a single command…
The fish monsters charged simultaneously.
Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.
Dense crimson beams shot from their glowing eyes.
Thousands of red rays instantly formed a vast net, completely enveloping the mysterious beast.
The beast’s icy eyes calmly watched the countless fish monsters rushing towards it.
“Woo…”
A low growl sounded.
Whoosh.
Its pair of razor edged wings suddenly spread open.
Fully extended, they measured over twenty metres across.
Then it moved.
Instantly, the mysterious beast transformed into a faint golden blur.
The afterimages spread throughout a radius of three hundred metres.
Within that area, everything became a zone of absolute death.
Every fish monster died instantly.
Even numerous other nearby sea monsters were shredded.
They had all been cut apart by those terrifying wings.
Crunch. Crunch.
The mysterious beast dragged over the corpses of the three strongest sea monsters.
Together, the three corpses were larger than the beast itself.
Its enormous jaws devoured them effortlessly.
Within barely ten seconds, everything had been swallowed.
“Woo.”
The mysterious beast let out an unhappy growl.
Apparently, the three corpses had left it thoroughly dissatisfied.
Its body remained sixteen metres long, without the slightest change.
Whoosh.
Its tail flicked again as it continued forward.
Any monster below lord level was beneath its notice.
Soon, two lord level Mountain Shaking Whales appeared ahead.
The beast growled once more before spreading its wings.
From that night onwards…
The surrounding seas descended into a bloody hunt.
Its stomach seemed like a bottomless abyss.
It simply kept eating.
It devoured enormous numbers of powerful sea monsters, every one of them at lord level.
If all those gigantic corpses had been piled together, they would have formed an entire mountain.
Yet after less than a single day, despite consuming so many monsters, its body had hardly grown at all.
…
For this region of the ocean, it was nothing less than a catastrophe.
The deaths of so many lord level monsters finally attracted the attention of the ruler of these waters.
A mighty king level monster.
The Dragon Turtle.
Occupying a territory stretching thousands of kilometres within the central Pacific, the Dragon Turtle ranked among the most terrifying of all king level monsters.
Before the Great Nirvana Period, it had already lived for over a century inside an underwater cave.
Among turtles, it possessed extraordinary longevity.
“Roar.”
The gigantic Dragon Turtle surged across the seabed like an entire mountain range.
Its shell alone exceeded three hundred metres in diameter.
If it surfaced, it would resemble a small island floating upon the sea.
Fortunately, its immense size prevented it from travelling inland through rivers.
Otherwise…
The Dragon Turtle, renowned for its incredible defence, would have become one of humanity’s greatest nightmares.
“How dare it slaughter so many of my subordinates inside my territory.”
“I’ll kill it.”
“I’ll definitely kill it.”
The Dragon Turtle roared inwardly.
King level monsters possessed intelligence.
Some were even cleverer and more cunning than humans.
“There it is.”
Guided by one of its monster lord subordinates, the enormous Dragon Turtle rapidly advanced.
An invader had entered its territory and massacred its followers.
It had no choice but to kill the intruder.
Otherwise…
It would have to surrender the territory.
That was the law among sea monsters.
…
“Woo.”
“Woo.”
The mysterious beast, now nearly one day old, remained deeply dissatisfied.
It had consumed vast numbers of powerful sea monsters.
According to the inherited memories within its bloodline, creatures of that size should have possessed considerable strength and provided substantial benefits.
Yet…
Despite eating so many…
It had gained almost nothing.
The benefits did not even amount to one ten thousandth of what it had gained from consuming the eggshell.
“Woo.”
Frustrated and irritated, the mysterious beast finally decided to lie down and rest.
After all, it had been born less than a day earlier.
Suddenly…
The beast slowly raised its head and looked into the distance.
A faint golden light appeared within its icy eyes.
Its golden pupils seemed capable of seeing across the endless darkness of the ocean floor.
“Woo.”
It instantly sprang to its feet.
After an excited growl, it flicked its tail and shot forward like lightning.
Deep beneath the sea.
The sixteen metre black beast finally came face to face with the colossal Dragon Turtle.
The two stood barely one hundred metres apart.
The Dragon Turtle’s gigantic eyes, each as large as a three storey building, stared down at the tiny creature before it.
Sixteen metres long?
It truly was insignificant.
“What species is this?”
“I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It has clawed limbs like a land beast.”
“It has wings like a bird.”
The Dragon Turtle was highly intelligent, yet no matter how it examined the little creature, it could not identify its species.
It looked like a land monster.
It possessed the wings of a flying beast.
Yet it moved effortlessly beneath the sea.
What exactly was this thing?
“Woo.”
The mysterious beast gave an excited growl.
Its scaled wings spread wide.
Whoosh.
It instantly transformed into a blur.
The Dragon Turtle merely watched calmly.
As a creature famed for its defence, even other king level monsters found it almost impossible to injure.
Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash.
The gigantic Dragon Turtle, resembling an underwater island, suddenly shuddered.
The mysterious beast’s razor sharp wings had swept across its shell.
To the Dragon Turtle’s astonishment…
The shell cracked.
Fortunately, the shell was incredibly thick.
It suffered no real damage.
“That little thing…”
The Dragon Turtle stared in disbelief at the mysterious beast floating before it.
“Woo.”
The beast chirped happily.
Whoosh.
This time it did not spread its wings.
Instead, it became a straight streak, almost as though it had teleported directly before the Dragon Turtle’s enormous head.
Its forelimbs extended.
Each limb possessed five toes.
Now…
Swish. Swish. Swish. Swish. Swish.
The claws that normally remained hidden shot out like rows of razor blades.
Whoosh.
One swipe crossed the Dragon Turtle’s head.
Its hard, scale covered skull was ripped apart effortlessly.
Brain matter exploded outward.
“Too fast.”
Only a trace of terror flashed through the Dragon Turtle’s mind.
Then it died.
Too fast.
So fast that even a king level monster could not evade it.
Its attack was overwhelmingly powerful.
One claw strike had instantly killed the king level Dragon Turtle.
“Woo.”
The mysterious beast happily began devouring the Dragon Turtle.
The enormous beast, as large as an underwater island, proved far easier to eat than the eggshell.
Within only a few minutes…
Nothing remained.
Not even a scrap.
The surrounding monster lords had long since fled in terror.
There was no helping it.
The mysterious beast’s savage reputation had already spread throughout the region.
“Woo.”
After finishing its meal, the mysterious beast lay down comfortably and narrowed its eyes.
At last…
It finally felt slightly full.
And only then…
Its body length finally increased by roughly ten centimetres.