The continuous thunderous rumbling rolled in like distant thunder. Golden light flickered within that small grove, rising higher and higher, splitting away from the surrounding mountains.

　　In the moonlight, Brian Cooper saw a colossal creature shaking its body as it stood up, towering like a mountain, with that small grove right above its head.

　　It shook its body, and three thick, giant legs supported it, making it more than half again as tall as the surrounding mountains!

　　Brian Cooper shuddered. “Three-legged Toad Emperor!”

　　Regarding this super ninth-rank wild beast, everyone in the northwestern frontier was all too familiar with it, and all sorts of terrifying legends about it circulated throughout the northern lands.

　　This giant beast liked to slumber, and thus had an extremely long lifespan. There was a legend about the wealthy northern The Sullivan Family, whose family heirloom was the treasured Fahua Sword, carried by the head of the family for generations, said to ensure the family’s safety and prosperity. The Sullivan Family flourished for three generations, but when the fourth-generation head entered the mountains, he encountered the giant beast, which swallowed the entire caravan and dozens of cultivators in one gulp. Only the fourth-generation head escaped alone, but the treasured Fahua Sword was lost.

　　From then on, The Sullivan Family was beset by misfortune, and within a few years, their vast fortune vanished like smoke, declining ever further. Dozens of generations later, the descendants of The Sullivan Family had become mere woodcutters, making a living by chopping and selling firewood each day.

　　One day, as a woodcutter was felling trees in the forest, a sudden landslide occurred. It turned out the giant beast had transformed into a mountain, lush with trees, where the woodcutter had once chopped wood.

　　The giant beast exhaled mist and vanished like a mirage. After it left, something suddenly fell before the woodcutter. After cleaning it, he realized in shock that it was the ancestral treasure, the Fahua Sword—nearly a thousand years had passed! Remembering the glory of his ancestors, the woodcutter held the Fahua Sword and could not help but weep.

　　Another legend said that the belly of this giant monster was vast, like a world within a cave.

　　It was said that during a time of great chaos, disaster struck the borderlands, and for a thousand miles around, not a single grain was harvested. The governor’s hair turned white overnight from worry. The city’s military officer, a genius of his generation, heard that a Three-legged Toad Emperor had appeared in the nearby forbidden zone. Knowing the beast’s habits—devouring everything in a frenzy and then storing it in its body before falling into a deep sleep for centuries—he ventured alone into the forbidden zone, fought desperately, and slew the Three-legged Toad Emperor. Inside its belly, he found several granaries and mountains of treasure.

　　The governor then opened the granaries to relieve the famine, gathered the refugees, and used the mountains of treasure to raise an army and vie for the world.

　　That governor became the founding emperor of the Hongwu Dynasty, and that military officer was the “Heavenly Master God of War,” who helped the emperor ascend the throne before resigning and traveling the world, leaving behind many legends.

Chapter 0011: The Forbidden Zone of Divine Cinders Mountain (Part 2)

　　Encountering such a super giant monster, Brian Cooper cursed repeatedly, “This is the fucking core of the forbidden zone—any kind of giant monster can show up!”

　　The Three-legged Toad Emperor had its back to them, opened its mouth toward a patch of darkness, and inhaled. A furious gale swept up, and countless wild beasts and insects floated through the air, sucked into its belly.

　　Brian Cooper and Eric King both screamed, each grabbing onto the nearby mountain rocks. Even though they were behind it, their bodies were lifted into the air like two flags.

　　For a full cup of tea’s time, the Three-legged Toad Emperor continued this “inhalation.” Its body grew even larger, now twice as tall as the surrounding peaks.

　　It moved its three thick, giant legs, shook its body as if preparing to leave, and in doing so, collapsed the mountain where Brian Cooper and Eric King were clinging.

　　Amid the thunderous landslide, the two had no time to react before disaster struck. Huge boulders crashed down. They did their utmost, but still couldn’t dodge them all—a massive rock smashed down on their heads.

　　“Ah—!” The two screamed miserably, and with a thud, everything went black...

　　...

　　Ethan Hill crept nervously along the edge of a forest, his heart pounding uncontrollably.

　　With only three fingers left on his right hand, he secretly gripped his delicate flying sword, paying close attention to every sound around him. He was even more terrified than Brian Cooper and his companion. Near midnight, he had just left Olivia’s place—even though it was his turn to rest, he didn’t dare stay away from camp all night. It was already late, but as a squad leader in the Wolf Soldiers Camp, he naturally had ways to get in.

　　Just as he reached the camp gate at midnight, his vision went black, and after a brief dizziness, he found himself standing here.

　　A giant Netherflame Night Owl soared into the sky from the forest—a seventh-rank celestial bird and wild beast that scared Ethan Hill out of his wits. Even more shocking, just as the Netherflame Night Owl flew several hundred yards, hundreds of massive tree vines suddenly shot up from the forest, wrapping around the owl and dragging it down.

　　The seventh-rank celestial bird shrieked miserably, its cries piercingly tragic. Each one made his heart tremble. He finally remembered the imperial edict outside the Heavenly Fire, and looked around in disbelief: Was this the forbidden zone of Divine Cinders Mountain?!

　　He dared not enter the forest. In the distance, huge black shadows loomed—mountains in the night, each like a giant beast ready to devour him. He dared not approach, so for now, he moved along the forest’s edge.

　　Suddenly, there was a faint sound ahead. Ethan Hill’s hair stood on end. He immediately stopped and crouched low, straining his ears to listen.

　　Thump, thump, thump!

　　From the darkness came the sound of wings flapping—a huge flock of... something! Cold sweat streamed down Ethan Hill’s forehead to the tip of his nose, but he was completely unaware.

　　The faint sound of sweat dripping from his nose, in this deathly silent domain, was as loud as a thunderclap!