Bathed in Titan and Dragon Blood

After taking some cured meat around and questioning the Eaglemen nearby who had already been out on missions,

Jiang You picked up his bone spear, draped himself in a bearskin coat, and posed as a Royal Court guard as he led his clansmen into the air, flying openly out of the camp.

They passed through without incident. There were too many groups like theirs for any Eagleman to care.

Royal Court Eaglemen headed out with fifty tribal warriors apiece, while those returning brought back only a dozen or so tribal Eaglemen.

Before a battle even began, scouting units often suffered the heaviest losses.

In these skies, the warriors of the Eagleman tribes were the weakest creatures of all. Even setting aside the Dragon hybrids that ruled the skies, the various flying lesser Dragons, and Wyverns, a single Griffin could fight a fifty-strong Eagleman scouting party to a standstill.

Just as Jiang You was about to fly beyond the camp's perimeter, a Royal Court Eagleman guard stationed there suddenly frowned and flew over to block him, asking expressionlessly,

"Who are you? Why have I never seen you before?"

"I just arrived today."

Jiang You answered calmly.

His expression was so natural that the Royal Court Eagleman guarding the camp could find nothing wrong. He nodded and let them through.

Behind Jiang You, his clansmen's hearts were pounding so hard they almost seemed audible. When the guard let them pass, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Then Jiang You's next move sent their hearts leaping into their throats again.

Instead of leaving, Jiang You quietly approached the guard, slipped a piece of gold into his hand, and asked,

"Brother, I'm new here. Could you tell me where the fighting for the skies is fiercest?"

Even in the Primordial Era, gold was hard currency. He had obtained this piece while wiping out the Snake People tribe.

The Eagleman guard nodded in satisfaction and smiled.

"I understand. The fighting in the east has been fiercest these past few days. Even several Transcendent Eagleman nobles have fallen. Since you're new, little brother, you'd be best off flying west."

"Thank you, brother."

Jiang You smiled and nodded, then led his clansmen west.

Beside the Eaglemen's camp stood the Goblins' camp. Though this race would fall on hard times in the future, in the current Primordial Era, they were one of the largest races serving the Titans.

Their population numbered in the tens of millions, spread throughout the Feland World. Some even served the Primordial Dragons.

The Goblins were very clever. At least, Jiang You could see many enormous catapults already assembled in their camp, along with wooden arrow towers and low tents. It was far more orderly than the chaotic Eagleman camp.

Beside the Goblins were the Trolls. Much like the Eaglemen, their camp was hastily thrown together and utterly disorganized.

Jiang You knew that the ancestors of the future's graceful, beautiful Elves might well be among them.

Farther ahead were Centaurs, Dwarves, half-orcs, and others.

Taken together, they formed a cross section of this world's intelligent races.

After leaving the camp, Jiang You led his clansmen farther west, searching along the way for small lakes, pools, and streams.

As for the great river running through the forest, the Old Tortoise's recollections made it clear that it was not where he had lived as a youngster.

At night, Jiang You brought his clansmen back in separate groups.

By leaving early and returning late like this, he could also keep anyone from noticing that his clansmen's numbers had barely dwindled.

After searching the west for several days, Jiang You still had not found where the Old Tortoise lived.

On the fifth day, the Eagleman guard at the gate stopped him as he headed out and told him he could not keep going west, where it was safest.

Left with no choice, Jiang You led his clansmen south instead.

They carefully avoided the flying Dragons and Griffins on the Dragons' side, but still ran into a Wyvern.

After losing several clansmen, Jiang You hurled his spear, driving it straight into the Wyvern's eye.

The Wyvern howled in agony, but the injury was not enough to cripple it. Instead, it became even more vicious.

It went berserk.

Jiang You acted at once, breaking away from the others to lure the Wyvern off alone.

They raced madly above the forest, occasionally disturbing creatures battling in the skies. Fortunately, Jiang You was a skilled flier, and the wounded Wyvern now had only one eye. For the moment, it could not catch him.

As the Eagleman and the Wyvern struggled against each other,

a vast stretch of sky suddenly went dark before Jiang You's eyes.

He looked up and saw a blue Dragon with a wingspan of five hundred meters flying overhead.

Blue lightning powerful enough to destroy heaven and earth also wreathed the Primordial Blue Dragon King's body! Scales like plates of steel covered his enormous form, making him look imposing beyond measure.

Behind Jiang You, the pursuing Wyvern let out a piercing roar at the sight.

This was its Dragon lord!

But before it could finish rejoicing,

a furious roar that shook heaven and earth suddenly rang out from the distant north!

"Arillethos, I haven't even come looking for trouble with you yet, and you dare come here to die?!"

The mighty roar made Jiang You turn to look north.

There, a towering giant two hundred meters tall strode toward them, his entire body radiating purple lightning. A hide of unknown material was wrapped around his waist, and he held a gleaming silver spear wreathed in world-destroying thunder. The earth trembled beneath his steps.

Refusing to be outdone, the blue Dragon roared back.

"Yateli, you stupid, arrogant Titan barbarian! Today, the great Arillethos shall grant you eternal oblivion!"

The distance between them seemed vast, but for such colossal beings, it vanished in an instant.

Rumble!

The two supreme powers of the Primordial Era began fighting at close quarters!

The earth shook beneath their battle, the sky was torn apart, and the forest was trampled flat. Fierce winds swept endless clouds of dust through heaven and earth.

As their masters' battle began,

countless races from both sides clashed on the ground and in the skies.

On the ground, Minotaurs swept great trees through their enemies, Goblins hurled stones from baskets on their backs, Trolls swung stone axes, stone men smashed their bodies into the earth, horned goatmen attacked headfirst, Centaurs galloped across the land, snake-bodied people wielded wooden bows, Dwarves raised stone hammers to slay their foes, and Boarfolk claimed lives with their tusks...

In the skies, Eaglemen fought in flocks, Two-Headed Flying Dragons screamed through the air, flamingos set the heavens ablaze, Griffins tore with sharp fangs and claws, and dragonhawks beat wings like blades...

This was a mythical battlefield of epic proportions!

And Jiang You was closer to the two colossal beings than anyone else.

Whether he could snatch a prize from this inferno remained to be seen!

Almost instantly, Jiang You made his decision.

Behind him, swept up in the atmosphere of the battlefield, the Wyvern charged at Jiang You with even greater excitement.

Battle raged all around, and flames burned across the sky. Jiang You stopped dodging. Instead, he drew a bronze short sword from inside his coat, darted forward the instant the Wyvern lunged, and landed atop its head. He plunged his sword into its skull and gave it a savage twist.

[You have killed a Wyvern. Experience +100]

Once the Wyvern died, its enormous body plummeted.

Jiang You lay flat on its back and fell with it, pretending they had killed each other.

He had already spotted a small crescent-shaped lake below.

Remembering that the Old Tortoise's future home was also a vast crescent-shaped lake, he became certain that this had to be the place.

He and the Wyvern hit the water with a splash.

The Wyvern floated on the surface, and beneath its shadow, Jiang You swiftly dove underwater.

After swimming around for a while, he soon discovered an adorable little pink turtle at the bottom of the lake, resting on a smooth, uncut stone shimmering with a blue-green glow.

Joy surged through Jiang You. This had to be it!

He swam hard toward the little turtle, stroked its tiny head, then picked it up and placed it in a corner of the blue stone before sitting down himself.

At once, an incredibly cool pulse spread throughout his body.

Outside,

in the Vast Sea Forest, wounds marked the massive, powerfully built body of the two-hundred-meter Titan giant. An icy chill filled his gleaming golden eyes.

"Hmph! Everything in this world belongs to the Titan Race! You Dragons are nothing but a pack of damned thieves!"

"Calling yourselves a race of gods-how arrogant! Even in the Astral Realm, races like yours are rare. You deserve to die!"

The blue lightning Dragon gave a furious laugh, and the two clashed again.

He swung his tail, dozens of meters long, with lightning crackling across it, ready to burst.

The Titan giant laughed loudly and thrust his three-hundred-meter spear straight at him.

"We Titan Giants have the power to move mountains, fill seas, and overturn heaven and earth! Why shouldn't we call ourselves gods?"

"Ridiculous!"

As those words fell, the two mighty beings collided again, sending dust billowing into the sky. Thunder fought thunder, and their struggle grew ever more brutal.

Golden blood scattered through the air as they fought, raining down across the forest battlefield.

They had long since become Demigods, their blood turned to gold!

At one point in the battle, the blue lightning Dragon Arillethos slashed open the Titan giant's shoulder with his claws. A great spray of glittering golden blood fell into the small crescent-shaped lake where Jiang You sat.

Almost immediately, golden blood filled the entire lake. In that same instant, it engulfed both him and the little turtle!

A searing sensation shot through his whole body, as though fierce flames were roasting him alive!

It was like being trapped inside the sun, scorched by flames a hundred thousand degrees hot!

At the same time, the system's voice rang out.

[You have bathed in titan blood. All attributes increased!]

It hurt too much!

Even with a will as tough as iron, the burning pain made him wish he were dead.

Beside him, the little pink turtle had been scorched red and was flailing on the blue stone.

But the next instant, an incredibly cool sensation flowed into his body.

Jiang You looked down and saw the blue-green light blazing from the stone, enveloping him and the little turtle.

Yet the relief did not last. After that brief coolness, the titan blood in the lake kept surging toward them.

Not only that, but because they were so close to the two Demigods' battlefield, the Primordial Blue Dragon King's blood also fell into the lake.

Wave after wave of burning pain descended once more.

[You have bathed in the blood of a Titan and a Dragon King. All attributes increased!]

Only now did Jiang You understand why the Old Tortoise had been unwilling to say much about the details of his awakening. It hurt far too much. It was sheer torture, inflicted over and over!

He had no idea how much time passed.

[You have bathed in titan and dragon blood. All attributes increased!]

[You have bathed in titan and dragon blood. Thunder Power awakened!]

[You have bathed in titan and dragon blood. Your bloodline has changed!]

[Your will has been strengthened by titan and dragon blood!]

[You have awakened the talent: Champion's Will!]

Only after Jiang You and the turtle had absorbed all the essence of the golden blood in the lake did the agonizing torture stop.

By then, both of them looked drastically different.

The little turtle's shell had turned purplish blue, with threads of lightning curling around it, and its mung-bean-sized eyes were filled with intelligence.