The Vermillion Pheonix hardly had time to turn around before Atticus wrapped his long body around the creature, sinking his teeth into its neck and injecting it with his venom.
While Rat Snakes were not generally very venomous creatures, Atticus' bloodline had strengthened that aspect immensely, turning his bite into something incredibly powerful that his opponents would rather avoid.
Not only did his venom have a paralyzing effect, it also had a secondary effect from the Illusion Affinity that would cause those affected to hallucinate.
The Juvenile Vermillion Pheonix found its vision becoming blurry, as if it had become a human and drank too much alcohol. It stumbled a few times as the intensity of the hallucinations increased, then it fell to the ground when Atticus let go, unable to get back up in a short period of time.
Two down already, he's performing quite well. William praised the Mythical Rat Snake in his mind.
To be honest, William expected Atticus to struggle quite a bit against four peak Tribulation Transcendence Magical Beasts, but it seemed that the Illusion Domain wasn't just for show.
Even if Atticus wasn't as lethal as the other Beasts, they couldn't even locate his true body, much less injure him. Wide-range Magic Spells were the only way to damage him even slightly, but he was able to merge with the ground to avoid most of the damage.
The Illusion Territory allowed Atticus to meld his body with the World, but it seemed that it couldn't entirely prevent him from being targeted by Magic. If the Spell hit the right place at the right time, Atticus could be injured, but William made sure to heal his Companion Beast at every opportunity.
After roughly an hour of back-and-forth fighting, the four Magical Beasts gave up and paused the battle. They couldn't take out Atticus, but he couldn't permanently restrain them either. While he could quickly deal with each opponent one at a time, they became more defensive and started exhausting Atticus' Mana.
Since Atticus wasn't like William with an almost infinite supply of Mana, he was only able to last a few hours. It had become a stalemate.
"You haven't beaten us... yet." the Azure Wyrm panted as he looked at the absurdly powerful Mythical Rat Snake, but his eyes also contained a hint of respect.
Dragons were prideful, but strength was strength.
"I think you've had enough now, haven't you?" William said as he cast four Complete Confinement Arrays simultaneously from his Array Wheel, sealing the movements of all four at the same time.
With their stamina depleted from the fight with Atticus, the peak Magical Beasts had no ability to resist. They looked at William with anger, but they could only blame themselves for being easy to catch.
If they had all ran away instead of confronting this monster, they probably wouldn't be in this situation, but it was too late for regrets.
A new era was forming, where the younger generation of Cultivators surpassed the old, something that hadn't happened in a very, very long time.
After reviewing the waves of messages in the community forums and other direct messages from her admirers, Fria went shopping for the necessary equipment and prepared for an outing. She needed more Points, and Cultivating more wouldn't be very useful.
Where should I go? she pondered on her options while looking at a map provided by Elder Fan.
It was newly updated, even showing the locations of recent Elemental Beast Tides and when their next appearance should be, but none of the Beast Tides seemed to line up with her interests. They were either over a week from forming, or too far away to attempt.
I guess I can go to the Providence Zone, as long as I'm careful, I might be able to find some nice treasures. Fria decided after some deliberation.
She left her personal cave abode and called for Elder Fan, who showed up at a moment's notice. Given Fria's status as a Core Disciple, this was the minimum treatment given by the Elders of the Sect, who sincerely cared about their younger generation.
"Miss Fria, is there something you need?" Elder Fan asked.
"Ah, yes Elder. I'm going to the Providence Zone, can you inform the Sect Master whenever he's free?"
"T-The Providence Zone? I know you're strong, miss Fria... but that is not a place you should go. There are dangerous Beasts there that would kill any one of us in an instant, and they don't care about the rules of the Continent.
If any one of them gets out... it would spell doom for many Sects and Cities. Especially with Supreme Left and Unbreakable Right gone. They were the only ones other than our own Sect Master that would dare to compete with those monstrous beings." Elder Fan explained with clear worry in his voice.
He himself had been to the Providence Zone a few times, but every excursion was made with a group of four or more Cultivators in the Soul Formation Realm. Many times, even their own Sect Master went along. It wasn't a trip to be made by a woman of barely twenty, no matter how talented.
"But I heard someone else stronger than both of them, and the same age as me has appeared. How can I sit by idly while everyone else is improving?" Fria complained.
"That's true... but-"
"If you don't want me to go alone, why don't you follow me?" Fria asked, issuing the same Party Notification as the one that William received in the past.
Sensing a powerful aura behind Fria's notification, Elder Fan felt this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. "As you wish, miss Fria. But we need to be careful."