Chapter 168: The Unexplained Watcher
For his second destination, Song Qi chose the snow-capped mountains.
Unfortunately, his guess was wrong this time.
No high-level monsters were found on the snow mountain. Perhaps the creature had merely left home temporarily, but Song Qi had no time to wait. After spending half an hour searching to no avail, he hurried onward to his next location without pausing to rest.
Driven by the need for territory and food, the domains of high-level monsters outside the Divine Kingdom were quite vast. Moreover, unlike the divine beasts within the Divine Kingdom who were well-acquainted with one another, these wild monsters kept great distances between themselves to avoid conflict, leaving large buffer zones in between. Consequently, Song Qi had to spend a considerable amount of time traveling.
Even so, he chose not to venture too far from the vicinity of the Divine Kingdom.
The reasons were simple.
First, the Divine Kingdom possessed immense power, and it was highly probable that no other rule-level monsters existed nearby, making them easy to hunt.
The second reason was Song Qi's apprehension toward the mighty entities of the Third Continent!
The Third Continent was the only continent that had not been invaded by the Demon race. This implied that at least one entity whose strength rivaled Elder Mu resided on this land, capable of guarding an entire continent single-handedly!
However, Song Qi could not be certain of their attitude toward humanity. Based on what he had seen and heard within the Divine Kingdom, as well as the leveling methods of the human race, Song Qi believed that the entity most likely felt either indifferent or disgusted toward humans. After all, if another race leveled up by slaughtering humans, humanity would hardly harbor warm feelings toward them.
Another dozen minutes later...
"Here."
Song Qi arrived beneath a towering cliff. This was his third destination—a cave completely frozen into an ice vault, which should harbor an ice-attribute monster.
A casual glance revealed a white Yeti slumbering amidst the blocks of ice. Regrettably, this Yeti was only around level 80.
"Forget it, waste not, want not."
Swish!
Song Qi appeared directly in front of the ice. The Yeti snapped awake, its massive mouth gaping wide to unleash a roar, only for a fist to be rammed straight down its throat.
Bang!
The Yeti's head exploded, scattering a spray of red and white matter across the ground. A glowing piece of armor dropped down.
[Experience points +200 million!]
Stowing away the spoils of war, Song Qi glanced at his map and vanished from the spot once more.
Then came the fourth destination, the fifth, the sixth...
Along the way, many locations turned out to be empty. While the environments seemed abnormal, no high-level monsters were present. Other locations did contain monsters, but they were only around level 80 and failed to meet the quest requirements.
Through Song Qi's relentless efforts, the high-level monsters surrounding the Divine Kingdom vanished one by one at a terrifying speed.
As the sun rose once more...
Bang!
Another mantis-like monster died a miserable death under Song Qi's feet.
[Experience points +14 billion!]
[Main Quest: Slay ten wild monsters of at least level 90 or above! (9/10)]
"Just one more left."
Song Qi let out a long breath. After a night of hunting, only two Epic-grade pieces of equipment had dropped, both of which he could not use. The good news, however, was that the main quest was nearing completion!
Yet Song Qi did not relax simply because the quest was about to finish. On the contrary, as time passed, the sense of urgency in his heart grew increasingly severe!
That lingering gaze became sharper and clearer!
The pressure weighed on him like a mountain, making it hard to breathe! During this time, he had even suspected that he was afflicted by some powerful entity's curse. But when he summoned Di Xin, that feeling of being watched still failed to dissipate, locking onto him as firmly as ever!
This meant that the observer lurking in the unknown either possessed an absurdly high tier, or was a powerhouse whose strength transcended the primal source—at least a supreme being standing above the "Supreme" realm!
Song Qi picked up the piece of equipment, cast a brief glance at it, and tossed it into his spatial inventory.
"No time to waste!"
His expression was solemn, devoid of the relaxed and leisurely demeanor he wore earlier.
"With three regions left, finishing the main quest shouldn't be a problem. Let's hope the next summoned spirit is strong enough to pull me out of my current predicament."
With that, Song Qi took a step forward and teleported into the distance.
A dozen minutes later...
"Arrived."
Song Qi looked down coldly at the terrain below. It was a massive lake! Yet bizarrely, vast tracts of cracked earth surrounded the lake, with the soil showing faint signs of desertification!
Such a stark contrast inevitably pointed to the presence of a high-level monster.
Song Qi swept his gaze across the area but saw no obvious signs of living creatures. However, he quickly realized that not only were there no surviving organisms around the lake, but not a single spark of life existed within the lake itself either!
"I see, the lake itself must be the monster."
A look of realization dawned upon him, and he tentatively chose to inspect its stats...
Monster: Purest Water
Level: 95
Strength: 40,000
Constitution: 120,000
Agility: 0
Spirit: 0
Skills: [Regeneration], [Devour], [Drain], [Spirit Summoning], [Dissolution], [Apathy]...
...
"Level 95, excellent!"
"And judging by appearances, it's even a special type of monster? Still, the fact that I can inspect its stats means it possesses no rule-based powers. Purely high stats mean nothing to me."
Even though the creature possessed a staggering 120,000 points in Constitution—making it a veritable super health tank among monsters—it had its flaws.
"Though its Constitution is high, its Agility is 0, which means it's likely a type incapable of independent movement. That actually makes things convenient for me."
Only then did Song Qi relax slightly. Such special monsters possessed absurdly strong abilities in certain aspects while harboring glaring weaknesses. Extreme defense and regeneration combined with complete immobility might prove tricky for others, but to Song Qi, it was merely a lamb waiting to be slaughtered!
Facing [Cruel Punishment], no matter how high the monster's Constitution was, it wouldn't survive twenty of his strikes.
Just as he prepared to descend, however...
Thud!
That feeling of being watched transformed instantly into a gaze as tangible as solid matter!
Boom!!!
The flame mark on his forehead suddenly burst into bloom!
Quick as lightning, Song Qi grabbed the mark, tore it off his body, hurled it away, and punched it fiercely!
Yet his full-power strike failed to disperse the mark. Instead, the flames grew even more intense!
Bang!
A flawless, pristine wing radiating a mesmerizing, awe-inspiring brilliance extended outward from the flames!
"What is the meaning of this?!"
Startled, Song Qi retreated several kilometers in a flash, and a black tome materialized in his hand.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Lü Bu, Di Xin, and Ying Zheng materialized instantly by his side.
Though unaware of what was happening, Song Qi decisively chose to eliminate the lake-shaped monster as quickly as possible.
He pointed a finger from afar.
Swish!
The lake monster and Song Qi vanished from the spot simultaneously.
The very next moment, however...
Bang!
Space shattered!
The space that had just enclosed the vanished Song Qi and the monster cracked open, and both reappeared right where they were. Simultaneously, the surrounding space was completely locked down.
An exquisite, breathtaking female face, akin to a flawless work of art, emerged from the flames. At this moment, she held a sword in both hands, with a golden-hued divine blade pointing directly at Song Qi.
Clearly, she was the culprit who had shattered his duel dimension!
"Faithless mortal?"
"What a desolate and sinful life..."
A crisp, melodious voice echoed directly in Song Qi's mind.
"The glory of my Lord ought to be cast upon this world!"