Chapter 440: Emerging

Chapter 440: Emerging

The strongest Ancestor of the Animal Kingdom was Mure Emberheart—a middle B-Grade leonine. This millennium was his shift of watching over the Animal Abyss.

Generally speaking, such a shift was a highly boring duty. He couldn’t leave without reason, so all he did every day was cultivate in isolation. Every hundred years, he would venture into the Abyss to see if he could find anything, and that was the sole break in his routine.

When the chase for Jack Rust ended up on his doorstep a year ago, that had been a pleasant change of pace for Mure, but even that excitement only lasted briefly. Before he knew it, he was alone again, cultivating in darkness.

Mure sighed. If not for the Animal Kingdom founders specifically ordering for B-Grades to guard this place, he would have delegated the duty long ago.

On this day, Mure was cultivating as usual when something changed. An almost imperceptible ripple ran through space. His eyes shot open. What was that? His Dao spread outward, covering a massive range and finding nothing out of the ordinary.

Did it come from inside the Abyss?

The Animal Abyss could not be scanned with one’s perception. A Dao ripple there could only indicate the emergence of a supreme treasure—Mure’s eyes were instantly filled with lust. He was the only one here. If some great treasure on the level of Thunder Body or Heaven Return appeared, he could just take it. No one would know. Instead of sharing with the other Ancestors, he could cultivate it in secret for a few years and then emerge strong enough to dominate everyone. He could become the King of the Animal Kingdom!

Most factions had a faction master. In the Animal Kingdom, the holder of that position was called King instead, but the throne had been empty for a hundred thousand years. The Lonihor and Emberheart families ran the Kingdom together, so a King appearing from either family would ruin the balance and cause the Kingdom to fracture. That would be unwise. Therefore, the two families had sworn a mutual agreement to keep the position of King empty unless someone appeared who was strong enough to lead the Kingdom into a new era.

Mure Emberheart was already close to the strongest cultivator of the Kingdom. With a supreme treasure in his hands...he would rise!!

Such thoughts of grandeur filled Mure’s mind. He was no longer paying attention to the Animal Abyss, and why would he? Nothing had changed about it for the past million years. The only exception was the appearance of treasures, which could only be a good thing.

Mure rose to his feet and prepared to dive into the Abyss. Suddenly, he frowned. A new ripple escaped the Animal Abyss, stronger than the previous one. Something was wrong.

Astral winds picked up. The void stretched and contorted like an accordion. Stars twinkled in the distance. Mure’s robes fluttered wildly, and though his Dao kept him safe, he was not calm at all. This place was the lifeblood of his Kingdom. If something happened...

What is it? he thought frantically. What could be happening!?

But, no matter what, this was greater than him. It was not something he could stop.

The vacuum of space compressed around him. The Abyss itself warped. Spatial storms tore free, shooting off in random directions and annihilating the void. Some sank into the fabric of space to reach the interdimensional sea—others, the weakest ones, wrought havoc as they were blasted into deep space.

The Animal Kingdom had set up two formations around the Abyss, at a thousand and a million miles respectively. These formations represented the labor of their ancestors, thousands of years of effort for multiple B-Grade cultivators. They were the Kingdom’s pride.

Now, those formations were pierced through by space storms like sheets of paper. Holes appeared, leaking energy. Space warped around the Abyss, folding in on itself, and the formations cracked and shattered like glass. The formation cores next to Mure exploded one by one, turning into dust.

Millennia of effort, gone in the blink of an eye.

Mure was already breathless. This had occurred too quickly, too suddenly. He had no idea what was going on. The Animal Abyss had remained silent for a million years. Why now? Why on his shift!?

The Hand of God! he thought. Jack Rust! Those people must have done something—it’s their fault!

He roared in impotent fury. There was nothing he could do. He was floating a hundred miles away from the Abyss, and the spatial undulations here were already horrifying. Moreover, he didn’t specialize in the Dao of Space—if he went any closer, he could perish.

Mure felt like someone had invaded his home, slept with his wife, befriended his dog, then stolen his most precious treasures from right beneath his nose. The range of emotions he’d gone through, from fear to greed to awe to...whatever this was...was indescribable.

“How can you be alive?” he asked, barely restraining himself. “You should have died a year ago. They all said so!”

“And yet, here I am.”

Jack began walking through space. His every step was calm, slow, and deliberate, as if he was taking a stroll through his own backyard. Yet, Mure was surprised to discover that Jack was moving a hundred miles with every step. He had no idea how this was happening—he couldn’t see any spatial fluctuations or signs of teleporting. Jack’s spatial mastery had already surpassed his scope of understanding.

A hint of fear emerged in Mure’s heart. Yet, as he scanned Jack and saw he was still Level 303, he was enraged at himself. He was a mighty, middle B-Grade leonine, one of the strongest people in his constellation. Trillions of cultivators worshiped him. He’d lived for seventy thousand years, carved his name into the galaxy.

Since when could he be intimidated by a little human who wasn’t even fifty years old!?

By the time Mure could think this far, Jack had already approached. The leonine snorted coldly. “I don’t know who you think you are,” he growled in a low voice, “but you made a mistake by appearing before me.”

“Oh yeah?” Jack replied. “How about you give me a lesson then?”

“That’s exactly what I plan on doing. Call out your backers. Let’s see what capital you have to contend with me.”

Now that he could think clearly, Mure was not afraid of Jack himself. There was no world in which a middle C-Grade could match a middle B-Grade. If Jack dared to approach, he must have someone guarding him from the shadows. That was the person Mure was really afraid of.

Yet, facing his question, Jack only smiled. “There is no one else,” he said. “For trash like you, I am more than enough.”

“You are courting death!” Mure’s eyes widened. He had already been intimidated once—now, Jack’s taunting grated against Mure’s pride, making him want to attack. He quickly considered things. If someone was here, hidden so well that Mure couldn’t detect them, he was probably dead anyway. But why hadn’t they acted yet?

On the other hand, if Jack Rust really was alone...

Mure’s eyes flashed. Speed wasn’t his strong suit. He had no illusions of catching up to Jack if he decided to run away, but since he was this close, he couldn’t possibly react in time. If he could cripple him in one strike, he would win everything. Not just the Animal Abyss which Jack had just pocketed, but every other treasure on his body. This was the greatest genius Mure had ever seen. His secrets should be world-shattering—maybe even enough for an old man like him to make another breakthrough!

Mure’s breathing turned shallow. He decided to act fast and without warning. Power gathered around him, endless layers of supremacy. The universe bowed to its master. Mure’s fist shot out, obliterating space wherever it passed, trying to strike Jack before he could run away. This was the fastest attack Mure could unleash. Surely, it would annihilate this little ant who thought himself a god.

Mure was already grinning, imagining his bright future. His fist crashed into something impossibly hard. A backlash traveled through his body, making him cough out blood.

“What!?”

Another fist had risen at some point, clashing squarely against his. Jack had moved in time. He’d grown larger, somehow, and two new arms had appeared on his body, crossed against his chest. He remained relaxed; that taunting smile was still on his lips, tinged with a hint of pity.

Mure’s mind flashed with panic. How!?

“Is this all a middle B-Grade can do?” Jack asked. “How disappointing.”