Chapter 386 — First Kill of the Time Ember Totem

But Ji Li stared at Eleven in shock, seeing through its boundless potential at a glance; its foundation was probably even stronger than that of the Martial Emperor's Iron-Eating Beast at king-tier.

She looked at the gray-robed elder before her in astonishment. A moment ago, she had paid little attention to Shi Jin, who at his age was still only a level-six beast tamer, but upon discovering Eleven's uniqueness, Ji Li was utterly stunned; she had not expected this elder's cultivation of the Iron-Eating Beast to have reached such an inconceivable level.

"How did you do it?"

Even with Zhongxuan's help, it should have been absolutely impossible to reach such a stage.

"How did I do what?" Shi Jin feigned ignorance.

Ji Li fell silent, then said, "Can you tell me what the outside world has gone through in these nearly two thousand years?"

Shi Heng nodded and said, "After the Martial Emperor and the Fallen Mad perished together, the Eastern Brilliance Ancient Nation fell into totem warfare. The Martial Emperor Dynasty collapsed, and it went through a period of warlords dividing the land that lasted several hundred years. During this time, many powerful beast tamers capable of fighting totems did emerge among the humans of Eastern Brilliance, but none of them completed the unification of the realm."

"Not until several hundred years later, when a female emperor ascended to legend and once again unified Eastern Brilliance, driving many totems eastward and subduing the world. But after that, Eastern Brilliance went through three more totem wars, until one hundred eighty years ago, when the totem chaos was once again ended by a new human legend."

Ji Li was silent. She had expected much to happen over these two thousand years, but she had never imagined that the Eastern Brilliance Ancient Nation would go through so many periods of war, one after another.

"So this place should not be within the Eastern Brilliance Ancient Nation."

"If it were within the unified ancient nation, the Fallen race should not have been able to invade."

She looked beyond the void and said, "That totem-tier Fallen outside, I can sense it."

"Indeed it is not. This is a totem nation outside the Eastern Brilliance Ancient Nation, called the Heavenly Fox Nation."

"Then are you a human of the Eastern Brilliance Ancient Nation?"

"Of course I am. Otherwise I could not have gained Senior Zhongxuan's recognition. I came here because the descent of this relic is connected to the Iron-Eating Beast, which is why Eastern Brilliance places such importance on it."

"Then, Senior Ji, can you tell me what the situation here is now?"

Ji Li looked at Cen Yu and said, "I can. You should be clear on this: after the Martial Emperor and the Fallen Mad perished together, the Eastern Brilliance Ancient Nation fell into chaos, the Fallen race and the various totem races invaded Eastern Brilliance, and a new round of totem war erupted."

"Among them, the Fallen race, fearing the Iron-Eating Beasts and the Iron-Eating Beast Legion, issued an order of extermination against the Iron-Eating Beast race. Forced by circumstance, apart from the Iron-Eating Beasts still able to fight, we took many Iron-Eating Beasts that had not yet developed combat strength and scattered into hiding, in the hope of rising again."

"The Iron-Eating Beast must not be exterminated."

"I commanded one of those groups, but our trail was exposed and we were surrounded and killed by a Fallen totem general. The army escorting us fought a great battle with that Fallen general, and after the fighting we were no match, so we could only sacrifice our lives and use an ancient sealing relic to seal the Fallen general here."

"And seal those Iron-Eating Beast cubs here as well."

"This is an ancient time-essence relic handed down from antiquity. Its sealing power is mighty, able to seal even a top-tier totem at its highest. Unfortunately, those sealed do not die as time-essence flows past; it can restrict their movements, but it cannot completely kill them."

"After that, I became the relic's array spirit, suppressing the Fallen general. During the seal, time-essence stopped flowing, and it was only in recent years, as the seal loosened and the Fallen general's power leaked out, that I awoke."

"You saw it yourself." She looked toward the interior of the ruins. "The inside of these ruins has already been corroded by these forces. As the spirit of the ruins, to ensure those Iron-Eating Beast cubs would not be eroded by these forces, I teleported them out."

"However, if this continues, it is only a matter of time before this Meteor Clan general breaks the seal. Ultimately, that treats the symptom, not the root cause. And these ruins no longer have any surplus power to reinforce the seal."

Shi Jin's expression changed at these words. So the Iron-Eating Beast clan's broken inheritance really was because some race feared the Iron-Eating Beasts' formidable potential,

and nearly exterminated them as a result?

Shi Qi gazed deep into the ruins.

"AWOO!!!" Eleven also glared angrily into the depths of the ruins.

Seeing the expressions on Shi Jin and the others' faces, Ji Li said, "So I wanted to ask—the Iron-Eating Beast clan now..."

Shi Li: "Senior Ji, the Iron-Eating Beast clan was not completely wiped out. Their numbers are no longer large, but a small portion still survives in various parts of the Eastern Radiance. It is only a pity that their inheritance was severed amid the wars, and they have become an ordinary transcendent race."

"Of course, because a genius archaeologist appeared within the Eastern Radiance and recovered the Iron-Eating Beast clan's method of evolution, the Iron-Eating Beasts now hold no small standing within the Eastern Radiance."

"And the Iron-Eating Beast cubs you teleported out are safe as well—they are living normally nearby."

"Is that so." Ji Li let out a breath of relief. This was the greatest fortune amid misfortune—at least their mission had not failed, and the Iron-Eating Beast clan had not been entirely annihilated under the totems' extermination order.

Still, Ji Li looked at Shi Yan and Eleven and could not understand. Had it not been said that the Iron-Eating Beasts' inheritance was severed? This one did not look like its inheritance had been severed at all. This Iron-Eating Beast was simply stronger than any Iron-Eating Beast of the same tier during the peak of their development.

Never mind. It no longer mattered.

She said, "Thank you very much. You have let me hear such good news in the final moments of my life. You said just now that you came to investigate these ruins, correct?"

Shi Heng nodded. "Yes..."

"These ruins, as I said earlier, are nothing special. However, when we fled, we brought a large quantity of Iron-Eating Beast cultivation resources with us. Take these resources back to your country."

"Judging from the current situation, the outside world is the Totem Nation, and it may be extremely dangerous. Your strength is not great, so I will do all I can to activate the ruins' seal power and trap the totems and overlords outside for a moment. Use that time to escape."

"If possible, it would be best to take the Iron-Eating Beasts I teleported outside with you as well."

"Moreover, it seems the Meteor Clan has not been completely eradicated. With these Iron-Eating Beasts and those Meteor Frenzy fragments, you must be careful of the Meteor Clan along the way. From what I sensed earlier, you should have a totem-tier companion, no? It should be the Eastern Radiance's guardian deity. With its help, you need not worry too much."

Shi Jin's expression lit with joy. There really were Iron-Eating Beast evolution materials!!!

"Wait, Senior Ji, what did you mean by the final moments of your life?" Shi Shuo stared blankly.

Ji Li smiled. "That Meteor Clan general could break free of the seal at any moment and descend upon the world again. Naturally, I cannot let it escape."