Abyss Ring!
Situated fifty kilometres from it was the Cooter Clan, gradually making their way to the Abyss Ring while dealing with the Phells on one side and the Bludders on the other. It had taken them three years to get this far while minimising their losses.
And as long as they manage to return to their positions on the Abyss Ring and control the region, they'll be able to stabilise their situation and capitalise on the new changes.
Among the 52 Empyrean Snappers active in the region, there was a group of five huddled close to one another. Four of them positioned themselves in a defensive ring around the First Empyrean Snapper.
After all, there was an important individual on board it.
Aged slightly over fifteen, sporting a shiny bald head that glistened under the sun while faint streams of mist flowed out of his eyes every time his eyelids flapped. His clothes extended to a length of over twenty metres, behaving like a stream of water as they floated behind him despite him being seated on the floor of a stone house.
Supreme Snapper—Wally!
As an Expert Gold Grade Pranic Beast, despite only being fifteen years old, Wally's mental age was significantly greater, allowing him to plan his actions accordingly.
Seated before him, expressing utmost worry was Geugeu, "Why have you come here, Wally?"
"Should I not have come, Chief?" Wally expressed his distaste, "Are you intending to stifle my potential like you did to my brother?"
"What?" Geugeu roared in anger, "I stifled Wittral's potential? Are you fucking serious?"
"Even though I grew up in another branch, news regarding my brother's exploits frequently reached my ears." Wally stared at Geugeu and subtly expressed his anger, "Whether it was in terms of refining medicines, conceptualising Skills, or creating techniques related to Subtle Terrain Domination, he was in a class of his own."
"So, even if such an individual lost his Spirit Container, instead of giving it your all to help him recover his power, you sidelined him." Wally grumbled, "You lot don't even realise the meaning of being the perfect Empyrean Snapper."
"It would have been enough if everyone expressed support to him. Based on his capabilities, I'm sure brother should have been able to figure out a way to birth a new Spirit Container." Wally shook his head, "It's your indecisiveness that led to his death."
"What do you want?" Geugeu glared at Wally, "Did you come here to blame me, is that it?"
"Do you even realise that it was the actions of your parents that caused Wittral to despair?" Geugeu stared at Wally's eyes, "The two Minor Treasures that have fused with your eyes belonged to him in the first place. But the force supporting you pressured me to return them the moment your mother was pregnant."
"You dare say that I was the cause behind his death?" He hadn't realised it, but by the end, Geugeu's shouts were ear-piercing, reverberating across the entire mountain growing on the back of the First Empyrean Snapper.
"Other than the Empyrean Snappers, you're the sole Cooter Clansman with Gold Grade strength." Wally retorted calmly, "As the Cooter Clan Chief, you're the only person who could command the Empyrean Snappers."
"Your word is the law here." Wally patted his thigh as his clothes fluttered to form tidal wave patterns, "Are you telling me that despite your overwhelming strength, you failed to change the minds of the force supporting me, even though they only have Silver Grade strength?"
As the Cooter Clan cultivated in peace, as their mode of cultivation was perfect, unlike the Mammoth Clan who fused with Pranic Beasts at the Body Stage, it was relatively easier for them to stack their bodies at the Life Stage.
As a result, even the weakest Settlement Leader was at the 8-Life Stage, with a fair share of them reaching the 10-Life Stage. There were an even greater number of Cooter Clansmen with Iron Grade strength who were at the 10-Life Stage.
But despite their numbers, none of them were as strong as a 10-Life Stage Geugeu, who possessed Gold Grade strength. "Tell me how that is possible?"
Wally pressed forth, "How did they pressure you?"
"Do you think they'll have succeeded in influencing your decision if you were confident in the first place?" Wally snorted, "You didn't believe in my brother, which is exactly why you accepted the whims of the people supporting me and my parents."
"You lost confidence in him first!"
While the two argued, everyone else who had surrounded the stone house as a layer of protection was sweating profusely, feeling the tension rising in the air. Even the First Empyrean Snapper felt it, causing it to stare at its brethren with a perplexed gaze.
Despite being only fifteen years old, Wally was confronting the Cooter Clan Chief, an old monster who was older than the majority of Empyrean Snappers.
"Tell me what you want." Geugeu changed the topic in the end, "If it doesn't have value, I'll use my authority as the Chief to send you home."
"The Dralh Sea is too dangerous for you."
"I came here for you, Chief." Wally said after a moment of thought, "I want you to go on a journey with me."
"Why?" Geugeu frowned, "What reason compels you to leave the safety of the Cooter Clan?"
"To grow stronger, why else?" Wally snorted and spoke before Geugeu could retort, "I managed to figure out the condition."
"You did? Finally!" Every point that Geugeu wanted to argue about went up in smoke as he stared at Wally with excitement, "Goodness, that's the best news I have heard about in decades. So, what's the condition?"
"It's to adapt to the Sandy-Grey Void." Wally said, watching Geugeu's face freeze up in response, "The day I adapt to the Sandy-Grey Void and control it using my powers is when I'll enter the Mystic Grade."
"As I adapt, my Primary Nature will evolve accordingly." Wally said, "It'll be dangerous at the start, as I'll have to return to Sumatra the moment my life's at risk. So, I need you to form a shelter close to the Sandy-Grey Void where I can flee to recuperate."
With Geugeu's strength, accumulating enough resources for Wally's needs wouldn't be a problem. Moreover, moving alone was easier in terms of mobility.
"Is there…no other way?" Geugeu asked with a despondent sigh.
"As if!" Wally rolled his eyes, "Be glad that we at least have a path to the Mystic Grade now. As long as I succeed, I can forge the path for other Empyrean Snappers to enter the Mystic Grade."
"It's impossible to become a Mystic Grade Pranic Beast without facing risks." He commented, "At least, it's easier for us. Based on the trace information present in the Bolts of Transcendence that slammed into my parents at the time of my birth, the conditions for other races are significantly worse."
The Empyrean Boar King will appear when an Empyrean Boar swallows all its brethren and gets hit by a Bolt of Transcendence. The Empyrean Tusk would have to live in two different worlds. Empyrean Tentacles had to consume their brethren. And finally, a Zinger needs to surpass its gender restrictions.
Of these, Brangara hid all information regarding his birth, unwilling to result in the birth of another Empyrean Boar King, for his path resulted in the eradication of the Empyrean Boar race.
The Empyrean Tusks would need to migrate to live in another world, which could only be achieved through the help of a Transcendent, for heading to another Continent didn't make the cut.
There can only be one Royal Zinger, which is Inala. So, no one else from the Zinger race could reach the Mystic Grade. When compared to all these, the condition for the Empyrean Snappers to enter the Mystic Grade was relatively easier, with possibilities of future replications.
Wally wasn't lying. As long as he succeeds, other Empyrean Snappers could build places upon his experience to realistically succeed in entering the Mystic Grade. Their chances were the highest among all the races.
"Am I alone enough?" Geugeu asked, "Why don't we bring a few more Cooter Clansmen with us?"
"No, one is enough." Wally shook his head, "Once I try to adapt to the Sandy-Grey Void, things won't be pretty. There's a significant chance of me going mad, due to penetrating influences from the Cosmic Beings."
"You know about them?" Geugeu was in shock, "How do you know about Cosmic Beings without being able to communicate with our Transcendents?"
"The entirety of the information and essence within the Bolts of Transcendence that impacted my parents were funnelled into me through my umbilical cord." Wally revealed the truth as he pointed at his stomach, "I was born with a Minor Treasure."
"I thought they…failed." Geugeu frowned as he stared at Wally, "If a Minor Treasure indeed formed in you, we would have sensed it. But we don't."
"The Minor Treasures on your being are only those we gave you." He expressed his confusion.
"I'll tell you about it later." Wally got up, saying casually, "Please make the necessary preparations, Chief. I want to make the journey as soon as possible."
"Alright…" Geugeu's words arrived at a halt when powerful shockwaves slammed into their stone house, eliciting screams from the Cooter Clansmen standing guard.
"Stay here!" Geugeu felt the familiar presence as he shouted at Wally in alarm, before glaring at the Mammoth Clansmen desperately, "Escort him away from this place, no matter what."
"Sacrifice as many Cooter Clansmen as necessary, but Wally should make it out safely."
"Wait…I can fight!" Wally shouted, only to be glared at Geugeu.
"He's not someone the current you can hope to face." Saying so, Geugeu nodded at his fellow Clansmen, and assumed his Spirit Weapon transformation, flashing out as a bolt of lightning, "Please, bring him to safety."
"Our Clan's future rests on his shoulders."
Shockwaves billowed across the region as Geugeu hurriedly condensed into a thundercloud, hovering at a height of a kilometre from the seal level, accumulating strength as much as possible.
His heart lurched as he despaired, seeing the figure of the Celestial Boar seated on the mountain growing on the back of an Empyrean Snapper, having formed a large depression on it. Large craters spread from his position at the centre as blood gushed out like a fountain from throughout the place.
Held in his hand was the severed neck of an Empyrean Snapper, its eyes in a daze. Due to the sheer concentration of Prana circulating through its head, it was alive despite its head getting severed. In absolute disbelief, it stared as the Celestial Boar slurped it like it was a noodle.
Just like that, a majestic Empyrean Snapper was killed.
"Why? What did we ever do to you?" Geugeu lost his mind in rage and rained down lightning strikes on the Celestial Boar, "Fucker!"
"Why?"