Lord of the Magical Beasts

Chapter 696: Dimensional Merchants

Many Divine Demons surrounded and attacked the Ancient Wizards and their followers under the orders of the Creator.

After gaining some understanding of the truth behind the ancient Great Battle of the Gods and Demons, Yang Ling was beyond surprised, feeling incredibly shocked. Originally, all he had wanted to do was to learn about the situation in the Nine Phantom Mountain Range and Skyreach Tower. He did not expect to obtain this piece of information.

Could the so-called almighty Creator be the true enemy of the Ancient Wizards?

Yang Ling’s expression did not change, but a wave had crashed down on his heart. In the past, he had thought that the enemies of the Ancient Wizards had been a massive Divine Branch from a major faction, or an influential family. He did not expect it to be the so-called almighty Creator. The City Master of the City Amongst the Clouds was troublesome enough; how would he be able to deal with the omnipotent Creator?

“Miss Natalie, just how many survivors were there from the Great Battle of the Gods and Demons?” Yang Ling forcefully suppressed the urge to take the risk and subjugate the Great Black-horned Demon immediately. Instead, he continued questioning her, hoping to gain a further understanding of the legendary Great Battle of the Gods and Demons.

“I’m not sure… I don’t know if anyone else survived, other than Kansas!” Thinking about the black-robed elder who had killed Core Deity Solomon in one stroke, remembering the talents of the Ancient Wizards that surpassed her imagination, the Great Black-horned Demon felt her scalp crawl. She slowly started speaking up again after a moment’s deliberation.

As it turned out, the Ancient Wizards were incredibly elusive, moving from dimension to dimension. No one knew where they originated from, nor did they know their names. All they knew was that they rode on a strange Arc as they wandered within the Space Turbulence. They had left their traces behind in the six Core Dimensions as well as in several physical dimensions where not many people tread.

Before the Great Battle of the Gods and Demons, the Great Black-horned Demon Natalie had been training for a long period of time. She had only been exposed to the might of the Ancient Wizards when she followed Kansas to the Graveyard of Deities and Demons. After being spared by the elder who was on close terms with the father of the leader of the Abyssal Demons, she quickly left the bloody battlefield together with Kansas. She did not know how the Great Battle ended, nor did she know how many people survived that unprecedented tragedy.

“Lord, shouldn’t an Ancient Wizard like you be more familiar with the ending of the Great Battle of the Gods and Demons than me?”

After giving a brief explanation of what she knew and seeing that Yang Ling was listening intently to her, the Great Black-horned Demon Natalie suddenly had a seed of doubt in her head. Both his appearance and the method he used to imprison her made Yang Ling extremely similar to the Ancient Wizards back then; however, if he was indeed an Ancient Wizard who had survived the battle, how could he seem completely oblivious to the events that had occurred at that time?

“I truly do not know much about the Great Battle of the Gods and Demons!” Seeing that the Great Black-horned Demon was starting to doubt him, Yang Ling was not flustered, and he slowly said, “I come from a faraway place and am here in search of my long-lost tribespeople!”

Yang Ling did not have to think too hard to come up with a suitable excuse. With this, he could learn more about the situation from the Great Black-horned Demon while not provoking her suspicions.

In search of his long-lost tribespeople?

Looking at the dejected Yang Ling, then thinking about the Ancient Wizards who wandered between dimensions, the Great Black-horned Demon came to an epiphany. She finally understood why the Ancient Wizards would not stop wandering throughout the dimensions. She finally understood the reason that Yang Ling would be oblivious to the Graveyard of Deities and Demons. She secretly thought about ways to successfully escape this jail!

She had completely given up on the idea of forcing her way out of this jail after coming to understand Yang Ling’s identity. An Ancient Wizard with many talents is not someone an average person could handle. She was not confident in facing a powerful Ancient Wizard at her peak, much less now that she was heavily injured and only had thirty percent of her strength!

“Miss Natalie, what’s going on with the Nine Phantom Mountain Range and the Skyreach Tower?” Seeing that the Great Black-horned Demon Natalie was also not too clear about the situation in the Graveyard of Deities and Demons, Yang Ling changed the topic and asked about what he had come here for in the first place.

“Lord, I am sorry, but I only know that the Skyreach Tower is a relic left behind by the Ancient Wizards. I am not too sure about the specifics!” After a pause, Natalie took a deep breath and stared at Yang Ling as she said, “The leader of the Abyssal Demons, Kansas, frequently travels around and has many friends in the Core Dimensions. If I had the chance to be reunited with him, I might be able to help you find out more!”

The Great Black-horned Demon veiled her request, hoping that Yang Ling would let her off like the elder had done before. It had been a million years, she had been recuperating in the Demon Palace after being injured, and she had finally been awoken, only to find herself trapped in this dark, dingy underground jail once again. She wanted to see the leader of the Abyssal Demons, Kansas, once again, even in her dreams. She would definitely take any chance she got.

“Before I find my long-lost tribespeople, in order to protect my identity, I cannot let you out, unless…” Yang Ling pretended to be uncertain and deliberated for a moment, then continued, “After the battle at the Demon Palace, you lost your freedom in exchange for preserving your life. That is the price you have to pay. Followers of the Ancient Wizards who bore the Soul Imprint of a Great Wizard retain their thoughts and freedom, but can never betray their master. The situation is different if you are willing to become my follower!”

An Ancient Divine Demon who managed to survive the Great Battle of the Gods and Demons must have powerful abilities. Even a heavily-injured demon would have talents that he could not imagine. Without enough confidence or benefits, Yang Ling would not easily let the Great Black-horned Demon go!

Never be able to betray their master?

The Great Black-horned Demon Natalie trembled, silently mulling over Yang Ling’s words. She wanted to get out of this place, even in her dreams, but as a once high and mighty Evil Demon, she had never once thought about being someone else’s follower.

“Miss Natalie, take your time to think about it. You can crush this crystal when you come to a decision!”

Yang Ling had been prepared for the Great Black-horned Demon’s silence and refusal. He left quickly after leaving a piece of crystal behind. The Ancient Divine Demons had their pride as creatures with high authority, and it was normal that she would not accept his offer for the time being. In fact, one of them immediately agreeing would be abnormal. However, faced with the layers of mysterious restrictions, the Great Black-horned Demon would not be able to do anything even if she wanted to. He had the time to wait. If his offer failed, it would not be too late for him to subjugate her after he advanced to the peak of Soul Wizard or Wizard Deity.

Subjugating the Great Black-horned Demon also meant getting one step closer to obtaining the leader of the Abyssal Demons, who had alarming abilities. Yang Ling would never let this opportunity go that easily!

Time went by in a flash. Three days had passed in the blink of an eye!

After organizing the information he’d obtained and completing his preparations, Yang Ling led the rest of the group toward the Nine Phantom Mountain Range. In order to avoid attracting the attention of the major Divine Branches in the Chaos Dimension or any unparalleled fighters, and in order to gather even more information about the Nine Phantom Mountain Range along the way, they decided to make the journey on the Twin-legged Flying Dragons. Powerful Magical Beasts like the Corpse Wizard King Rodriguez, Blood Angel Ophelia, and Golden Roc Mertesacker, along with Sofia, Yuna, and Alice, came along on the journey. There were twenty-five of them in the group, each one of them riding on their own Twin-legged Flying Dragon, pretending to be wanderers as they set off.

Unable to bear the pleas of Sofia, Yuna, and Alice, as well as to atone for neglecting them during his training, Yang Ling decided to bring them along. The three of them had already advanced to reach the divine level, with the Poison Wizard Alice developing alarming abilities. They would be able to defend themselves even if they encountered any danger. With the Wandering Divine Beast Golden Roc staying by their side and protecting them, too, there was enough of a guarantee of their safety.

Compared to the Wandering Divine Beast Golden Roc, the Twin-legged Flying Dragons were not much faster than snails, but objectively, they were fast. Riding on the Flying Dragons, the group quickly flew past barren deserts, tall mountains, and clear streams. They also passed through several towns along the way.

Yang Ling would enter and rest within a larger town or wanderers’ base if he came across one, secretly scouting for information about the Nine Phantom Mountain Range and Skyreach Tower. A month later, while they had not made progress in the area of the Nine Phantom Mountain Range or Skyreach Tower, they did instead gain a deeper understanding of the situation in the Chaos Dimension.

The Chaos Dimension was vast and had rich resources; the Spiritual Energy there was a dozen times richer than on the Tailun Continent. Training here required less effort for double the results. Many influential families or large territories had countless divine-level troops, but there were also people amongst the lower-middle class who were not able to make it past the sage level in their entire lives. However, the population here was massive, which made it seem like there were a large number of Divine-level Experts.

Along the way, the group encountered many troops and adventurers who had not even reached sage-level, but also bandits with abilities at the divine level. Yang Ling was awed by the bravery of the former, taking such a risk to live on; as for the latter, Yang Ling would either fly past them from high up in the sky, or get the Corpse Wizard King, Dark Dragon King, and the rest of the group to teach them a harsh lesson. One time, the Golden Roc felt an urge to fight and reverted to his original body to unleash a massacre, scaring a few insolent fools out of their wits!

“Lord, according to the intelligence we’ve obtained, there’s a Wandering Castle not far away. I heard that there’s a full range of resources there, with everything you could ever want. In fact, we might even come across mysterious Dimensional Merchants there. Shall we go there and have a look?” Gazing at the tall peaks on the horizon that looked like a camel crawling on the ground, the Corpse Wizard King quickly asked Yang Ling for instructions.

Dimensional Merchants?

Seeing the two peaks that looked like the humps on a camel’s back, faintly sensing the ripples of energy coming from far away, Yang Ling nodded and instructed the Corpse Wizard King to lead the way. Dimensional Merchants were elusive and moved between various Core Dimensions to peddle precious treasures and Divine Weapons. He had heard many stories about them during this journey, and Yang Ling wanted to see what they were really like.