A lush field of grass and shrubs grew along the cliffside of a mountain, one trailing from a plateau. A scant few Iron Grade Pranic Beasts lived amongst the shrubs, eating the leaves for sustenance.
The location of each Pranic Beast was signified by the flowers blooming across the shrubs, fertilised by the pollen caught on the fur of these beasts as they feasted upon the leaves. Depending on the influence of the Pranic Beast, the type of flower blooming across this shrub species varied.
A few shrubs had multiple colour varieties among their flowers. The petals scattered when a gentle, but firm wind flew up the cliffside, creating a picturesque scene. A gust of wind carried a stream of petals and swirled around closer to the peak, remaining airborne for a few seconds to form a large cluster.
A traveller would have taken the time to sit beside a shrub and sip tea while appreciating the imagery. For one carefree, this would have been heavenly. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for the figure who flickered past the cliff and barged through the cluster of petals.
It was Gannala, her appearance dishevelled. With a face brimming with frustration, she jumped down the small protrusions across the cliffside and landed lithely on the ground. "Shit!"
She turned around for an instant before resuming her sprint, running at her top speed. Carried in her hand, almost torn to shreds was the figure of Blola, gasping as root tendrils stabbed into the ground and absorbed nutrients bit by bit.
"It's done, right?" Gannala shouted in a fluster, relieved immediately upon reading through Blola's recent string of memories. "Thank goodness!"
"I'll buy you some time to flee." His eyes glistened firmly as Blola jumped from her grasp and landed on the ground, "My other body's task at the Zahara Kingdom is done. So, I can unleash the strength of a 2-Life Stage Transcendent Eater."
"Kill yourself if he expresses any intention of swallowing you! Don't take any chances!" Gannala shouted as she continued to run at her top speed.
It had been less than two seconds since the exchange between her and Blola when the figure of Brangara leapt from the cliffside, his confident expression oozing determination. Half his body was severely scorched, with flames still bursting out from his flesh.
His Prana constantly healed his body, keeping up with the rate of damage. A platform appeared under his feet, serving as a surfboard as he surfed through the ground, cranking the power of Subtle Terrain Domination to improved levels.
As he jumped past the cliffside, Brangara noticed the figure of Blola taking position before the Transcendent Eater appeared. Its branches expanded rapidly to cover the region, preventing him from avoiding its grasp.
"You came at the perfect time!" Brangara grinned as he assumed Celestial Boar form and tangled with the Transcendent Eater. The two sides bit and tore into each other, with the Transcendent Eater ending up on the losing side immediately.
A large number of branches were torn off and slurped by the Celestial Boar. And at every point of contact between their bodies, blood flowed out of the Transcendent Eater and was absorbed by the Celestial Boar.
A group of branches coiled around his left arm that sported severe burns, actively being engulfed by flames and exerted strength. Carnivorous teeth latched onto the shoulder joint and violently yanked out the arm.
"Ugh!" The Celestial Boar grimaced under pain as the Transcendent Eater was extremely violent with its actions, intending to inflict as much pain as possible. Conversely, as a plant-type Pranic Beast, the Transcendent Eater was unfazed by damage.
'He's significantly stronger than before.' Brangara relied upon his Prana-detection means to sense the density of the presence emitted by the Transcendent Eater, 'He experiences such a huge leap in power merely upon entering the 2-Life Stage?'
'Even if it's a watered-down version, it's still a Transcendent Eater, huh?' Brangara thought as he tussled with the branches while his feet dug into the ground and unleashed Subtle Terrain Domination, using the ground to shred the roots apart.
He uprooted the rest and stuffed them in his mouth, grinning contently as his stomach digested it. "You can't keep this up for long!"
A mere ten seconds later, he stuffed another portion in his mouth and grinned, staring at a weak branch trembling before him. His gaze fell upon the ground, observing that it had lost all vitality, "You have already sucked all the nutrients from this region."
'So, that's its weakness. Then, the Transcendent Eater will be at its strongest in blessed lands like the Brimgan Empire.' Brangara thought as he watched the branch standing before him wither rapidly, signalling that Blola had committed suicide.
'I lost some time.' He thought in a hurry and leapt as high as possible, observing the figure of Gannala running a few kilometres away, being chased after by a group of Tangible Natures that kept track of her position.
Of course, they couldn't follow her for more than a few seconds before being left in the dust by Gannala.
The moment he landed on the ground, Brangara kicked forth as the ground acted like a spring and launched him forth, giving a kickstart to his sprint. He extended his hand and transformed into the Celestial Boar to increase the reach of his Spirit Weapon range.
The moment the Tangible Natures came within range, he absorbed them into his Astral World and condensed them on his hand once again. With a grunt, he hurled them at Gannala, intending to make them keep track of her while he focused on closing the gap between the two.
This was how he kept pace without losing her.
For every step he stomped into the ground, the earth coiled into a pressurised spring that pushed his body forth to a greater extent, making him cover longer distances with each step. Moreover, he employed Subtle Terrain Domination to increase his traction, ensuring he didn't slip on the varying, uneven terrain while running.
'She's able to achieve a similar result through Internal Inertial Gravity alone.' He thought, observing that Gannala was gradually getting faster in her pace, seeing her figure skip past the uneven ground without issues.
Moreover, her footsteps didn't leave behind any imprints, lithe to the extreme. It was in contrast to the environmental damage Brangara was doing, leaving behind large craters upon each step as the residual compressed energy from the earth springs exploded, the shockwaves of which formed craters.
'I knew there were risks involved in fighting him prematurely like this, but I didn't think he would improve to such drastic extents in a matter of minutes.' Upon seeing Brangara steadily keep pace with her, Gannala thought in worry.
It all started forty seconds ago. Orakha's attach was perfect as the ink-black substance latched onto Brangara and began to burn through him. Moreover, the substance had been created to possess a strong affinity for Brangara that it formed a stream in the air to latch onto him like a river, constantly burning him.
The effect was similar to what Virala displayed at the Brimgan Empire by using his Gold Nature Weapon of Leech, able to draw in the blood of everyone within his Sprit Weapon range.
The ink-black substance was a product of Selectively Permeable Plasma. So, it was only harmful to Brangara. Towards anyone else, it was no different from water. They could ingest it and experience effects no different from drinking water.
Orakha had created it with extreme care in mind so that only the targeted individual would be harmed by it while to all the bystanders, it was pretty much clean, purified water.
"Argh!" Brangara punched Virala while in pain from the flames. He was still engaged in a fistfight, unwilling to leave a large enough opening for his opponents to take advantage of to unleash a critical hit.
'No!' He didn't even hesitate and focused on the six Tangible Natures of Empyrean Snappers in his Astral World that he hadn't activated yet. But right as he was about to activate them, he stared at the two Tangible Natures of Empyrean Snappers that he had activated. 'Wait a second…!'
'What are my powers, exactly?'
Primary Nature—Voracious Cultivator!
Secondary Nature—Astral World!
Tertiary Nature—Major Treasure!
He focused on his Tertiary Nature, 'Since it's a Major Treasure, why the fuck have I been using it like a Nature? Am I nothing but a gobbling pig? Fuck!'
A Major Treasure needed to be used as a Major Treasure. The moment he had that realisation, dozens of ideas popped up in his mind, allowing him to think of ways to use his powers beyond what he was doing currently.
'An out-of-the-box approach to a problem. Is this the terrifying advantage the Mystic Paths possess?' His expression soured, though he had developed ways to harness a greater extent of his infinite potential.
After all, he had listened to the tales about Mystic Paths from Yennda and referenced many insights Yarsha Zahara gained from interrogating both Yennda and Grehha. All the accumulated knowledge served as a spark of inspiration for his enlightenment.
Unfortunately for him though, that was the natural state of being for his enemies—the Mystic Paths.
They had the experience of living in another world, able to think from angles that the denizens of Sumatra would never even expect or conceive the notion of. It allowed him to understand the source of strength in possession of his enemies better.
"Whatever, I too will access the full extent of its ingenuity eventually." He grunted and vanished, stunning everyone. In his place appeared two Tangible Natures of Empyrean Snappers, filling up the space completely so that the dome created by the Transcendent Eater was ripped out forcefully.
Primary Nature—Voracious Cultivator!
As a Major Treasure, Brangara fused into the body of one of the two Tangible Natures of Empyrean Snapper. Immediately in response, the Empyrean Snapper Tangible Nature became able to harness the power of his three Natures.
It flashed its neck once and swept around, using Subtle Terrain Domination to unleash a dust storm, making it hard for the enemies to target it for a few seconds.
In the meantime, it opened its mouth and gobbled upon the second Empyrean Snapper Tangible Nature, using the power of Voracious Cultivator to consume it. And employing the sheer digesting prowess of the Astral World, the second Empyrean Snapper Tangible Nature was used as a fuel to grow it.
Immediately in response, the Empyrean Snapper Tangible Nature that Brangara had fused with unleashed a flux of Prana. Its presence spiked as its second body formed, having perfectly digested the other Empyrean Snapper Tangible Nature.
Empyrean Snapper Tangible Nature—2-Life Stage!
'This is it! This is the proper way to use my power!' Brangara groaned at his prior foolishness, 'If I had done this at the Dralh Sea, I could have avoided wasting eight Natures of Subtle Terrain Domination! Fuck!'
Currently, he was acting as a Major Treasure, allowing the Empyrean Snapper Tangible Nature to control his power atop wielding its power of Subtle Terrain Domination. Thanks to that, it gained tremendous power.
The Tangible Natures of Subtle Terrain Domination present in Brangara's Astral World had influenced his Prana, allowing him to wield the power of Subtle Terrain Domination without activating the respective Tangible Nature.
And now, this influence permeated the Empyrean Snapper Tangible Nature, allowing it to wield Subtle Terrain Domination. Adding to the fact that its body was stacked twice at the 2-Life Stage, the Empyrean Snapper Tangible Nature was currently wielding the power of three Natures of Subtle Terrain Domination.
This was the same as what Brangara was wielding before. But the difference was that the one using Subtle Terrain Domination now wasn't the Celestial Boar but an Empyrean Snapper, the Pranic Beast geared to use this power the best.
Immediately in response, the power Brangara could unleash climbed to a whole new level, barely losing any power even under an Inhibition Dome.
"Now, it's my time to retaliate!" Brangara roared as he split his bodies. The Empyrean Snapper relied upon its long neck to launch the second body of Brangara like a trebuchet towards the Zahara Kingdom.
Following that, it began to fight the quartet of Virala, Orakha, Blola, and finally, its main target, the Supreme Tusk's successor, Gannala.