Jarius snapped his eyes open in the midst of his cultivation!
His pupils now shimmered like radiant purple stars, his aura surging far beyond what it had been twenty years ago.
At the second tier of transcendence, his profession as a Thunderwing had reached its pinnacle.
He gazed toward the distant west, where the earth trembled with a thunderous roar, rapidly drawing closer.
Soon enough.
An ancient colossal dragon and a towering Titan, over a hundred meters tall, came into view.
The ancient black dragon was jet-black, its scales gleaming with a metallic sheen, though it was in poor shape, its body marred with bloody gashes.
The Titan was a female giant, adorned with a crown woven from vines. Her face was breathtakingly beautiful, her skin fair, her figure graceful.
If her size were reduced a hundredfold, she'd resemble the kind of stunning human beauty Jarius had seen on the internet in his previous life.
Faced with the sudden arrival of a Titan giant and an ancient dragon, Jarius was utterly baffled, but his resolve remained unshaken.
"Why in the world are a Titan giant and an ancient dragon fighting here?" he muttered.
He summoned several adult eaglefolk and issued his orders.
"Quick, follow the clan's protocols. Lead everyone to the refuge caves!"
"Yes, Clan Leader!"
The eaglefolk responded swiftly, obeying Jarius without hesitation.
For twenty years, every eaglefolk had followed his commands unquestioningly!
Watching the adult eaglefolk spring into action, Jarius nodded in approval.
He glanced westward, hesitating for a moment before spreading his wings and quietly soaring toward the source of the commotion.
Thousands of miles away, deep within the western forest…
The Titaness raised her spear high, heedless of her grievous wounds, and thrust it fiercely into the ancient black dragon's reverse scale. Golden blood sprayed forth in a torrent!
"Mephit, you killed my brother! Today, you'll join me in eternal slumber!" she roared.
The ancient dragon, realizing escape was impossible, let out a long sigh and sneered.
"Very well, Asuna. To be buried alongside a Titan beauty like you? I can't say I'm disappointed!"
With that, his dark aura erupted violently, shrouding the heavens in an inky blackness. A massive, obsidian dragon claw emerged from the darkness, sharp as a blade, and plunged ruthlessly into the Titaness's ample chest!
Asuna endured the excruciating pain, channeling nearly all her radiant power. Her light pierced through the darkness, and her gleaming spear, imbued with unmatched brilliance, drove into the black dragon's skull!
The clash of light and darkness exploded, obliterating every tree in Jarius's line of sight in an instant.
The world descended into chaos!
Even as Jarius sensed danger and retreated urgently, the blast dazed him, sending him crashing to the ground!
When the dust finally settled, Jarius clambered to his feet and surveyed the scene. The forest for thousands of miles around was utterly devastated, a barren wasteland where light and dark energies intertwined, rendering it a true no-man's-land.
At the center of this desolate expanse, the corpses of a Titaness and an ancient black dragon lay motionless upon the earth.
"How extraordinary!"
Jarius flew above the two ancient demigods, undaunted by the domineering auras still emanating from their bodies. He let out a soft exclamation, a smile curling his lips.
"A dead Titan and a dead ancient dragon!"
"The heavens favor my clan. I already know how to make use of you!"
The corpses of demigods, imperishable through the ages, could be hidden away as treasures to be passed down through the clan!
After marveling for a moment, Jarius's gaze fell upon the golden blood pooling on the ground, and a pang of regret struck him.
"I need to fetch the bluestone. This blood cannot go to waste."