They cautiously avoided the wyverns and griffons of the Dragon faction, yet still encountered a ferocious two-legged wyvern.
After losing several tribesmen, Mike hurled a spear with deadly precision, piercing the wyvern's eye. The beast let out a piercing shriek—but the injury only enraged it further.
It went berserk.
Acting decisively, Mike broke away from the group, luring the wyvern after him alone. They raced madly through the forest canopy, disturbing other skyborne creatures locked in their own battles. Thanks to Mike's skilled flying and the wyvern's impaired vision, he managed to stay just out of reach.
As their aerial duel reached its climax—
The sky suddenly darkened.
Mike looked up to see a massive blue dragon, its wings spanning five hundred meters, blotting out the sun. The Ancient Blue Dragon King crackled with world-sundering lightning, its iron-scaled body radiating terrifying majesty.
Behind Mike, the pursuing wyvern let out a triumphant roar.
This was its Dragon Lord.
But before it could rejoice—
A earth-shaking roar suddenly erupted from the distant north!
"Arilecthos! I haven't even come to deal with you yet, and you dare deliver yourself to death?!"
The tremendous bellow made Mike whirl toward the north.
There stood a towering titan two hundred meters tall, his entire body radiating violet lightning. Clad only in a loincloth of unknown material, he wielded a gleaming silver spear wreathed in world-ending thunder. With each massive step toward them, the very earth trembled.
The blue dragon roared back defiantly:
"Atri! You foolish, arrogant titan brute! Today, Lord Arilecthos shall grant you eternal oblivion!"
Though the distance between them seemed vast, for beings of their colossal size, it was but an instant's crossing.
KABOOOM!
The two supreme beings from the primeval era began their close-quarters battle!
The earth trembled under their combat, the sky was torn asunder by their blows, and forests were flattened beneath their feet. Fierce winds swept endless clouds of dust across the world.
As the masters clashed,
Countless races from both factions joined the battle across the land and sky.
On the ground, minotaurs swung giant trees like weapons, goblins hurled stone pellets from their back-baskets, trolls brandished stone axes, rock giants smashed the earth with their bodies, goat-horned warriors charged with their heads, centaurs galloped across the battlefield, serpent-folk fired wooden bows, dwarves wielded stone hammers, and boar-men gored enemies with their tusks...
In the sky, harpies fought in swarms, two-headed wyverns shrieked across the heavens, flaming phoenixes scorched the firmament, griffins tore through the air with razor-sharp talons, and dragonhawks sliced through the wind with blade-like wings...
This was a mythical battlefield of epic proportions!
Yet, Mike found himself in the closest proximity to the two colossal beings.
Snatching victory from the jaws of danger—his fate hung in the balance.
Almost instantly, Mike made his decision.
Behind him, a wyvern, frenzied by the chaos of battle, charged at him with even greater bloodlust.
Surrounded by combat, with flames engulfing the sky, Mike stopped fleeing. Instead, he drew a bronze dagger from his chest and, the moment the wyvern pounced, dashed forward, mounted its head, and drove the blade deep into its skull with a vicious twist.
[You have slain a wyvern. EXP +100]
The wyvern's lifeless body plummeted downward.
Clutching onto its back, Mike rode the falling corpse, feigning a mutual demise - for he had already spotted a crescent-shaped lake below.
He recalled the Elder Turtle's future dwelling would be a massive crescent lake, and knew this must be the place.
With a tremendous splash, both he and the wyvern crashed into the water.
As the dead wyvern floated on the surface, Mike quickly dove beneath its shadow into the depths.
After swimming through the murky waters, he soon discovered an adorable pink baby turtle resting on a smooth, blue-glowing stone at the lake bottom.
Mike's heart surged with excitement - this was definitely the one!
With powerful strokes, he swam to the little turtle, gently patted its head before moving it aside, then seated himself upon the mystical stone.
Immediately, waves of refreshing energy coursed through his entire being.
Outside the lake:
In the vast Emerald Forest, the 200-meter-tall Titan stood wounded yet formidable, his golden eyes gleaming with icy fury.
"Hmph! This world belongs solely to the Titan Pantheon! You dragons are nothing but thieving parasites!"
"To proclaim yourselves divine? Such arrogance is rare even across the Astral Realms! You deserve nothing but obliteration!"
The Blue Lightning Dragon roared with furious laughter as the battle reignited.
Its massive tail, dozens of meters long, crackled with explosive arcs of electricity.
The Titan bellowed in response, thrusting his 300-meter-long spear in a devastating strike.
"We Titans possess the power to move mountains, drain seas, and overturn heaven and earth! Who dares deny our divinity?!"
"Ridiculous!"
With those words, the two colossal beings clashed once more, sending shockwaves through the battlefield. Dust and debris filled the air as thunderbolts collided with thunderbolts, their battle growing ever more brutal.
Golden blood rained down from their wounds, splattering across the forest battlefield.
Having long ascended to demigod status, their very essence had transformed—their blood now liquid gold!
At one pivotal moment, the Blue Lightning Dragon, Arilethos, raked his claws across the Titan's shoulder, unleashing a torrent of shimmering golden blood—
—which cascaded directly into the crescent-shaped lake where Mike hid.
In an instant, the entire lake was flooded with radiant Titan's blood, submerging both Mike and the baby turtle in its molten glow.
Agony seared through every fiber of his being—as if his body had been cast into the heart of a sun, scorched by flames of unimaginable heat!
And at that very moment, the System's voice echoed in his mind:
[You have bathed in Titan's Blood. All attributes enhanced!]
The pain was unbearable!
Even with his iron will, the searing agony threatened to consume him. Beside him, the once-pink baby turtle had turned crimson from the heat, flailing desperately atop the glowing blue stone.
Then—a surge of soothing coolness flooded his body.
Mike looked down to see the stone erupting with radiant blue light, enveloping both him and the turtle in its protective glow.
But the relief was short-lived.
Titan's blood continued to pour into the lake, an endless torrent of molten gold. Worse still—their battleground's proximity meant drops of the Ancient Blue Dragon King's blood now mingled with the Titan's, cascading into the waters.
The burning returned, fiercer than before.
[You have bathed in Titan and Dragon King's Blood. All attributes enhanced!]
In that moment, Mike finally understood why the Elder Turtle had never elaborated on the awakening process—this was torture, a cycle of excruciating torment!
Time blurred.
[You have bathed in Titan and Dragon's Blood. All attributes enhanced!]
[You have awakened the Power of Thunder!]
[Your bloodline has mutated!]
[Your will has been tempered in Titan and Dragon's Blood!]
[You have unlocked the Talent: Champion's Resolve!]
...
The golden essence within the lake had finally been fully absorbed by the man and the turtle, bringing an end to their excruciating ordeal.
Both now bore striking transformations.
The little turtle's shell had taken on a violet-blue hue, wreathed in faint arcs of lightning. Its beady eyes, once the size of green beans, now gleamed with newfound intelligence.
Outside, the war still raged—but the earth-shaking tremors from the clash of titans gradually faded into the distance.
The Thunder Titan and the Ancient Blue Dragon King had evidently moved their cataclysmic battle far from this region.
Emerging from the lake, Mike cautiously surveyed the surroundings.
Though the area lay in ruins from the recent battle between the two monarchs, not a single living creature dared approach—granting him a moment to study his reflection in the water.
The face staring back was no longer that of an ordinary hawk-man.
His beak had completely shed, replaced by a refined human nose and mouth reminiscent of his past life. The ashen down on his face had partially receded, revealing delicate, well-defined features.
The once pale-gray hair atop his head now shimmered with streaks of silver, lustrous and vibrant.
But most striking were his eyes—no longer the vertical slits of a raptor, but brilliant amethyst orbs that glittered like stars.
Even his body had undergone changes: many of his feathers had molted, and his once-talon-like claws had softened, taking on a more fleshy, humanoid form.
His body was gradually evolving toward human-like hands and feet.
The twin wings on his back, once dull gray-black, now bore streaks of pristine white feathers—freshly grown and still tender to the touch.
He had evolved, just like his ancestors before him.
Opening his status panel, he found his data utterly transformed:
[Name]: Mike
[Race]: Hawk-Man (Bloodline Mutating)
[Age]: 16
[Attributes]
Strength: 10
Constitution: 10
Spirit: 13
Agility: 11
Charm: 5
[Level]: Locked (Sealed until game activation)
[Skills]
Throwing (Mastered)
Spear Combat (Mastered)
Thunder's Might (Transcendent)
[Skill Points]: Locked (Sealed until game activation)
[Talent]: Champion's Resolve
(Your perception and reflexes are unmatched, with combat instincts that reign supreme.)
[Mission System]: Locked (Sealed until game activation)
[Game Activation Countdown]: 3,646,486 days, 5 hours, 35 minutes