Chapter Seventy-Six: The Origin of the Rainforest of Magical Beasts

Ling Mo paid no heed to the reactions in the barrage of comments. He let out a long, frustrated sigh and said to Catherine, “Can you be a little more careful? You do realize we’re sitting right on Anton’s leg! You’re cursing at it from this close—aren’t you worried it’ll hear you? Say one more word and I’ll toss you straight into that fiery pit as fuel for the turtle stew!”

Didn’t you say it was a heavy sleeper? Catherine grumbled inwardly, but she dared not let it show. Seeing that she was finally quiet, Ling Mo continued from where he’d left off, “The Beast Forest is actually located at the junction of the continent’s eastern and western tectonic plates. The land here is highly active, which created an unprecedentedly powerful volcano. In ancient times, this volcano was called ‘Darvaza,’ which translates to ‘Gate of Hell.’ That enormous blazing crater you just saw—that’s it.”

“Anton suppresses the volcano with its own body, absorbing the ceaseless geothermal fire as its energy source. If it didn’t do this, a supervolcano would erupt right at the heart of the Beast Forest, affecting the climate for thousands of kilometers. The vast rainforest would turn into a barren desert. If that happened, not only would crossing the continent become even harder, but the desert beasts that would emerge, nourished by the volcanic energy, would be far more dangerous than any creature now dwelling in the Beast Forest.”

By this point, Catherine was thoroughly stunned. “Master, are you saying that an eighth-tier beast like Anton needs an active volcano just to survive?”

“It’s more than just any volcano,” Ling Mo explained, climbing higher as he spoke. “A regular one wouldn’t suffice—it requires a supervolcano. Not that it can’t live without this volcano; I’ve heard the energy stored in its body could sustain it for many years. If this volcano vanished, it would just need to find another energy-rich region before its reserves ran dry.”

There was a note of admiration in Ling Mo’s voice. “But Anton is truly a kind-hearted beast. There are plenty of other energy-rich places it could have chosen—like the Eye of the Storm, or the Endless Sea—yet it chose Darvaza, the harshest environment of them all. Its kind has lived here for 170,000 years, transforming the Darvaza Desert into today’s Beast Forest, providing a mild and hospitable home for countless creatures. That, to me, is nothing short of greatness. Remember, even for a so-called ‘Devourer of Flames,’ being scorched by magma at several thousand degrees, year after year, is far from pleasant.”

Catherine pondered this. To be roasted over fire for centuries or millennia—such torment! She shuddered and said, “When you put it that way, Anton really is extraordinary... But why does it do it? For humanity? Is it really worth such sacrifice?”

“For humanity? Don’t flatter yourself!” Ling Mo scoffed. “A hundred seventy thousand years ago, humans were just monkeys swinging clubs. You think Anton’s kind would do this for a bunch of monkeys? Not a chance!”

“Then why—?”

“I don’t know. I once asked, but it refused to tell me.”

“Oh...” Catherine replied softly, then suddenly realized something significant in Ling Mo’s words. With a trace of fear, she asked, “Wait, Anton’s kind? You mean there’s more than one Anton?!”

That was truly terrifying. If there were a whole pack of eighth-tier beasts like this, how would humanity ever survive on such a perilous continent? Fortunately, Ling Mo quickly dispelled her fears. “No, ‘Anton’ is a title. While there’s a group called the ‘Antoni,’ only one can bear the name ‘Anton’ at a time. Only after the previous Anton dies can another Antoni transform and succeed the title.”

“Oh, that’s a relief...” Catherine breathed out, about to say more when she noticed the barrage of comments was especially lively. Glancing at it, she exclaimed, “Master, look at the chat! Someone’s looking for you!”

Ling Mo didn’t pause. “Read it to me. Ever since I switched to battle mode, my connection with the Magic Eye Sprite was cut. Same person, just bigger, and it can’t recognize me—what a joke! And they call this the latest model?”

Who would even consider whether the Magic Eye Sprite could still recognize a user who’d grown dozens of times in size? Catherine felt a pang of sympathy for the designers, but she let the matter go and read aloud: “It’s an officially verified ID from Shark Brawl, a geologist named Li. He says he proposed a theory over a decade ago that the Beast Forest should have a supervolcano or an extremely active seismic zone, but nobody believed him. His peers ridiculed him. Now, seeing all this, his theory is finally proven right. He’s asking if we could shoot some footage around the volcano, to help refine his hypothesis—he promises the reward will be more than satisfactory!”

“Not interested!” Ling Mo refused without hesitation. “If he’s that keen, let him come and investigate himself. That volcano isn’t just an ordinary one. According to the legends of the Red Dragons, the Darvaza magma chasm is a link between the prime material plane and the abyss. No one knows what might happen if you get too close. Besides, you should stop chatting and get ready—we’re almost there.”

As soon as he finished, Ling Mo leapt upward, soaring dozens of meters in an instant, vaulting over the mountain base that had loomed above their heads, and landed atop a thousand-meter-tall pillar that reached for the sky. Instantly, the world opened up. The black volcano that had looked vague from below now stood before them in perfect clarity.

Only by getting close could one feel its extraordinary presence. The lower slopes were the same gray-brown as Anton’s legs, but the summit was pitch black, sheathed in a thin, pale golden membrane of energy. Though this film looked as fragile as a soap bubble, Catherine was certain that an eighth-tier beast’s protection was far more formidable than it appeared.

She also noticed that, on Anton’s leg, the air was still fresh and the heat bearable. But as soon as they entered the black volcano’s zone, the temperature soared—by her reckoning, it had to be over seventy degrees! That was hot enough to scald an ordinary person. Even with her robust body as an intermediate martial artist, Catherine was soon drenched in sweat.

The air was thick with the stifling stench of sulfur, making it hard for her to breathe. With all the sweating, dehydration set in quickly, and her senses grew hazy. Ling Mo glanced at her and said, “You’re in luck—seems my old friend is sleeping especially deeply today. We made it all the way up Anton’s leg without a single encounter with the elven creatures. Normally, aside from Nellbe, we’d have run into at least three conceptual beings by now. I know you’re at your limit, but hang in there just one more minute. Once I break through that energy barrier, you’ll feel reborn!”

(A new day has arrived. Time for an update. Let’s tempt fate a little, hehe.)