Chapter 85. Deep Into Qinling, an Unfettered Realm Mutated Beast, That's It? (1)

The terrain within the mountain range was treacherous.

The towering trees blotted out the sky, painting a scene reminiscent of the world before humans came to be. The wild grass had grown as tall as a person, while the coiling vines were as thick as jars, and the fallen leaves had piled up so high they could easily engulf a vehicle.

A mutated beast taller than a two-story building—a massive roe deer—burst from the undergrowth. It charged forward, snapping vines as the ground trembled from its immense strength. Moving swiftly, it carried a momentum that would turn even an Awakened into a bloody mist.

Just then, a figure dropped from high above, landing squarely on the beast's back. A single stomp shattered its spine. The massive roe deer shrieked in pain as its body was split apart. Then, it collapsed to the ground, never to stand up again.

"So this is Qinling... even a random beast is at the Foundation Realm V. Unfortunately, a beast like that is still too weak to withstand even a single blow from me. It seems that I have to go deeper."

The figure, Lu Yuan, landed beside the fallen corpse and shook his head. He had been traveling through Qinling for two days now, pushing into its depths.

At first, the mutated beasts he encountered had not been formidable, mostly at the Foundation Realm I or II. As he ventured deeper, that changed; nearly every creature was at least at Foundation Realm V.

Still, they posed no real threat, and he could kill them without employing any techniques.

Without hesitation, Lu Yuan pressed onward at extreme speed, covering a hundred meters with each step. He wasn't moving blindly but with a purpose. He headed north, guided by the memory of something he needed in that direction.

His target—a mutated beast suitable as a mount—was powerful. He believed that it had to be around the Unfettered Realm at this point in time, so it obviously couldn't be in the periphery.

If he wanted to encounter it, he had to go deeper into Qinling.

Mutated beasts were different from humans; they evolved faster, and some mutated beasts possessed powerful, inherent bloodlines that would make them terrifying beyond all reason once it was somehow awakened.

Hence, humanity remained on the defensive, retreating into supercities while avoiding direct confrontation against the horde of mutated beasts outside.

Lu Yuan's decision to venture deep into a famed mountain to hunt a mutated beast was unprecedented but foolish. It was foolish, as everyone knew it was tantamount to suicide.

However, Lu Yuan clearly thought differently, as he had decided to traverse Qinling by himself.

He encountered many mutated beasts on his journey. There were black spiders larger than trucks that spat silk tougher than steel cables; speedy red-furred apes capable of hurling boulders weighing dozens of tons as if they were mere pebbles.

He also faced wild bisons, white wolves, and more powerful beasts. Some were even at the Awakened Realm. These formidable creatures would surely make anyone pale at the sight of them, but for some reason, they couldn't withstand even a single attack from Lu Yuan; all were slain in mere moments.

Lu Yuan relied purely on his raw, physical strength against them. He hadn't employed any of his techniques; the Great Luo Sword Embryo and the Bloodforce Pagoda remained idle as well, as they were all unnecessary.

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

It was a true one-sided slaughter.

However, Lu Yuan discovered something amiss during the slaughter—the mutated beasts within Qinling were unusually aggressive. Whenever he met a large group of beasts, they would immediately charge at him in a desperate frenzy.

Dean Zheng said that there's something wrong with the mutated beasts within Qinling. Was he talking about this?

Lu Yuan tore apart an Awakened Realm wild bison. Then, he looked at the corpses nearby, falling into contemplation. He knew that powerful mutated beasts possessed intelligence equal to humans. Moreover, they were bloodthirsty and harbored much hostility toward humans.

Sometimes, they would gather hordes of mutated beasts to attack human cities.

Shuntian City, Hu City, and other cities had all suffered such attacks. Chang'an surely wouldn't be spared. Could that be the reason behind the bizarre aggressiveness of these mutated beasts?

Lu Yuan pondered while moving deeper into Qinling. Soon, he stopped and looked in a certain direction. From there, a surging heat wave approached, carrying a terrifying and fierce aura.

An Unfettered Realm mutated beast?

Lu Yuan's eyes brightened as if he had discovered something wonderful.

The flesh and blood of mutated beasts provided the nourishment necessary to bolster one's evolution. However, Lu Yuan had become so strong that ordinary mutated beasts could no longer be of use to him.

However, an Unfettered Realm mutated beast was different. It would surely be of immense help to him.

Lu Yuan licked his lips and charged forward. He had no choice. Since he entered Qinling, he hadn't eaten anything!

***

In a conference room somewhere in Chang'an's branch of the Aurora Academy, Dean Zheng, Defense Force Commander Xu, and several vice deans gathered along with the city's higher-ups.

Additionally, there were six white-robed elders who looked very old, but each had ruddy complexions. They looked ordinary, but their auras were formidable. All were Awakened Realm experts.

These elders had official positions and were considered high-tier experts. They had come here to help Chang'an in the upcoming crisis, and they were in the conference room to observe what was about to happen.

Commander Xu checked the list of attendees. Upon confirming that everyone was here, he glanced at the uniformed young man beside him and said, "Everyone's here. Little Liu, you may begin."

"Yes." Little Liu stood up, bowing slightly to everyone before walking to the front and turning on the projector. The words, "Report on Chang'an's Defenses Against a Beast Tide."

They had spent the last two days making plans since they detected the chaos among the mutated beasts within Qinling. The meeting was held to implement their plans as soon as possible.

After all, no one knew when a beast tide would arrive.

According to Little Liu from the military's defense forces, some powerful beast kings were forcing the mutated beasts to gather in one place. Beast kings were truly formidable, considering the monarchs of their kind.

At the very least, their level of strength stood at the Unfettered Realm. Fortunately, the military could detect and track the presence of such beast kings through technology, but the tracking wouldn't last long.

It was also prone to interference and could easily lose its target if the beast king in question were to use its ability to hide.

"Our predictions indicate that the beast tide will arrive in about ten days," the young man announced. "We must have our defenses established by then, or we'll face disaster."

"Qinling has changed drastically. Now, it spans at least five thousand kilometers and is sprawling with mutated beasts. We've counted no less than a hundred mutated beasts at the level of beast kings."

The expressions of many people changed upon hearing that. No less than a hundred beast kings? That meant no less than a hundred Unfettered Realm experts. If they all attacked at once, how could the city possibly be defended?

"Everyone, stay calm," Commander Xu chimed in, directing everyone's attention to a display of red dots. Ten of the largest red dots are positioned in Qinling, which is close to Chang'an. "Those beast kings are all spread out, and each of them has its own territory. We predict that only ten of them will lead the beast tide."

In truth, the government had long implemented numerous measures against mutated beasts, and they had expected those mutated beasts to become humanity's great enemy, especially after the Global Awakening.

With that deduction in mind, they focused the majority of their resources and manpower on doing some research into them by exploring many different famous mountains and rivers.

In the end, many lives were lost, but they had also obtained a wealth of information. For instance, they learned where the powerful mutated beast kings resided and when they would most likely threaten the cities.

They had even risked their lives just to take photographs of such beast kings in hopes of gaining a better understanding of them so that they would have the best plans possible in case a specific beast king had decided to attack a city.

The government officials were staring at the bigger picture. Civil unrest wasn't frightening; what was frightening was the extinction of humanity and Huaxia's bloodline.