While passing through the seventh strip of the Sticky-Slip Plateau, the 1st Empyrean Tusk suddenly kneeled over, anaemic. A group of Decaleeches targeted it during its state, overwhelming its defences. Even Raaha became busy, as tens of thousands of Decaleeches were currently targeting the Mammoth Clan.
And no matter how much they killed, the numbers didn't seem to drop.
Anaemic, the 1st Empyrean Tusk didn't have enough strength to clear out the path before it and ended up slipping as a result. Right at this moment, lying in wait all along in a house dangling from the rear end of its tusks was Blola.
When the 1st Empyrean Tusk toppled over and skid across the Sticky-Slip Plateau, Blola's house shattered, since he had weakened it to the limit beforehand.
The four elites standing guard were stunned when the house shattered, causing them to lose the platform they stood upon. Everyone, including Blola, fell to the ground. It happened too suddenly. Hence, the elites were unable to react on time as the rolling figure of the 1st Empyrean Tusk swatted them like flies and turned them into a paste.
As for Blola, he was prepared all along. And hence, when the house shattered, he leapt in a direction that brought him far away from the herd. Seeing the ground approach him at an accelerated pace, he was scared, knowing very well that he would splotch upon impact and turn into modern art.
Thankfully, he had a solution in place.
Expert Gold Grade Pranic Beast—Transcendent Eater!
A massive, plant-like monster with carnivorous flower vases for a head appeared as its roots burrowed into the ground, rapidly sucking in nutrients to produce Prana and heal the damage it had sustained from the fall.
Blola then awaited, watching a group of Decaleeches swarm him. His carnivorous plat heads casually ripped them apart to display to a concerned Raaha that he could handle himself.
Since the 1st Empyrean Tusk's anaemic state concerned him, Raaha focused on that, thwarting the larger group of Decaleeches that for some reason targeted it. Their numbers targeting the 1st Empyrean Tusk were quadruple the amount targeting the other Empyrean Tusks, a very concerning situation even for Raaha.
In the short window of time where Raaha was too busy to bother about Blola, considering how the latter displayed that he was strong enough to handle himself for the time being, an opportunity presented itself.
Blola had been preparing for this moment all along. He arrived at his mind space and punched a weakened Transcendent Eater, defeating another portion of it, the last necessary for him to attain another breakthrough.
Immediately in response, the pathway for him to enter the 2-Life Stage became open. Without any hesitation, the Transcendent Eater absorbed a voracious amount of resources from the soil, causing the land ten metres under the topsoil to die in response, deprived of everything that amounted to anything.
Using this, copious amounts of Prana were generated, following which Blola began to build a second body. But knowing that doing anything more would be too eye-catching, since the environment would die, he stopped.
A body had formed successfully, at the entry level of the Body Stage. That was enough. And before anyone could feel the presence of a 2-Life Stage cultivator from Blola, the new body split off and hid amidst the Transcendent Eater's massive body in human form.
One of the roots dug into the soil, creating a bunker deep underground, in which Blola jumped and hid within. The hole was expertly covered up as Blola continued to face the Decaleeches in his Transcendent Eater form until Raaha managed to control the situation with the 1st Empyrean Tusk and return to retrieve him.
"You're not hurt anywhere, right?" Raaha asked, more concerned about Blola's revival ability than his condition. After all, he never forgot the fact that Blola killed an Empyrean Tusk. So, he only wanted Blola to be sane enough to be useful for the Mammoth Clan.
"Yes, Chief." Blola returned to his human form and climbed the 1st Empyrean Tusk to enter a new home that appeared at the rear end of its tusk. Using Mystic Bone Art, the 1st Empyrean Tusk created his home within a second.
Soon, the Mammoth Clan exited the final strip of the Sticky-Slip Plateau. Once they entered the subsequent region, they began to consume the bountiful resources there to replenish their lost reserves of Prana and blood.
"What's the status report?" Raaha asked, expressing absolute shock once he received it, "What the fuck is this? Are you serious?"
The master in charge of the report kneeled in fright upon seeing the voluminous amount of Prana oozing out of it, making it seem as if the terrain around them would morph into myriad forms in an instant the moment he thought of it.
"Chief, all the Settlement Leaders are expressing their frustrations." The master continued, "All our resource stockpile has been wiped clean!"
"Everything?" Raaha asked, his eyes glinting dangerously.
"Yes!" The master said in a hurry, "All Empyrean Tusks can barely function for two or three days at most before they collapse. We need to gather the resources necessary for their upkeep before that."
'The Decaleeches weren't potent enough to cause this. Even if all of them were to swarm and target a single Empyrean Tusk, it would take them an entire day to steal all the resources contained in it. And this is while keeping a generous estimate of their abilities.' Raaha frowned, closing his eyes for a moment before his Prana radiated radially outward, focusing on the people he doubted, 'If there's any unknown variable, there can only be one cause.'
He first focused on Resha, observing the latter's strength to be at the same level as before entering the Sticky-Slip Plateau. His attention then fell on Grehha, Virala, and Blola, unable to find anything different from before.
He then stared at Blola and asked, "Where is Yennda?"
"He's dead," Blola said, "He committed suicide the moment we entered the Sticky-Slip Plateau."
"What of his strength?" Raaha asked next.
"The same as before." Blola then asked next, "Shall I revive him now, Chief?"
"Do it," Raaha said and then commanded the Empyrean Tusk herd to camp at a relatively safe region. He summoned the Settlement Leaders and gave them an order, "Mobilise all elites and masters. Gather everything of value in this region, from nutrient-rich soil to Pranic Beasts. bring everything!"
"I alone am enough to guard this place until then."
"Yes, Chief!" The Settlement Leaders responded in unison and charged out amongst large raid groups, wreaking havoc in the region as they hunted and gathered everything they laid eyes upon.
A day later, Blola finished reviving Yennda. Raaha immediately inspected him and frowned, 'His strength is the exact same as before too. What the heck is happening?'
'How did we suffer such overwhelming losses then?' Even he was unable to figure out the reason. In the end, he could only focus on resource gathering to help the Empyrean Tusks as soon as possible.
They camped at the place for three months, and once the region became bare, they were forced to head out to other regions to fill up the voracious appetite of the Empyrean Tusks.
In the seventh strip of the Sticky-Slip Plateau, ten days after the herd left moved on from the region, a hole opened up, revealing the human figure of Blola, his expression sporting a subtle smile upon seeing his gamble pay off.
His eyes then arched forward and stared at a fist-sized object present a metre away from his spot, a Nature Weapon. Upon seeing it, his smile widened, "You're a fucking genius,"
"Virala."