Chapter 1699: Chapter 1699: The Terrifying Bark

This enormous creature did not look like a dog at all. If anything, it looked like a lion with overgrown fur.

Its black fur shone nicely, making its coat look like satin.

As soon as Zen stepped onto the yard, the dog stood from its place in the doghouse and ran towards him.

It pawed the ground, creating two holes that were half a foot deep.

“Woof! Woof!”

All of a sudden, fear washed over Zen like a waterfall. He was paralyzed to the spot, his pulse bounding in his ears. Zen tried to steady his breathing in an effort to quell the panic but found that he couldn't. Was he honestly afraid of a dog's bark?

Zen had already mastered the warrior spirit to consummation during his time in the Divine Refinement Forbidden Land. Hardly anything affected his state of mind now. Facing a True God didn't even make him flinch.

However, the fear he felt now was different. Terror had sucked the very breath from his lungs. He couldn't think much of anything except that he had to get away.

This dog was causing him to feel this way, and if he stayed like this for another minute, he was going to die for sure.

Clink! Clink! Clink!

The sounds the silver dog chain made were not helping at all. In the haziness of his mind, Zen hoped that it wouldn't break.

If it did, there'd be nothing to restrain the dog from eating Zen for dinner.

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

The dog stuck out its thorny scarlet tongue as it tried to reach Zen. If Zen had been an inch closer to the dog, he would've already been dog chow.

Zen was getting lightheaded by the second. He knew he needed to flee but he could no longer control his legs; they were shaking violently.

“Blackie! Back to your house!”

Saul, who had hurried over, shouted.

At Saul's command, the violent and manic aura that surrounded the dog dissipated. It turned its head towards Saul, licked its lips, shifted on its haunches, and bounded back to the doghouse.

With the dog gone, Zen finally regained control of his breathing. His hands were still shaking as he wiped the perspiration off of his brow. His clothes were drenched in sweat.

It had been a long time since he felt fear that intense.

The strength of that dog truly was terrifying. Even Zen, who had a firm state of mind and possessed the Gold Fighting Soul, was frightened to such a degree. How much more would it affect other weaker warriors?

“That's a Soul-shaking Mastiff,” Saul said, eyes trained at the dog. “It's a true spirit that my master subdued. Later on, it stayed in to guard the fairy palace. It has the ability to shake souls. Its bark can annihilate evil spirits and drown a True God in fear.”

Zen, still shaken up, nodded weakly. This dog's ability was indeed great. He wouldn't know what to do if it decided to turn on him.

“It guards the fairy palace? But it's chained up. How does it guard the palace?” Zen asked in confusion.

Saul grinned and replied, “The Soul-shaking Mastiff protects it from things outside the enchanted barrier. When the enchanted barrier is opened and something breaks into the palace, the Fairy Chain will break and release Blackie.” 𝘙𝒶ɴÔᛒĘ𝙨

Then it clicked.

The fairy palace wasn't located in the Evolutionary Universe, but in a strange forest.

There was no need to guard against people like Zen who came from the Evolutionary Universe. Even Supreme Lords could not barge into the fairy palace as they wouldn't be able to open the enchanted barrier around the palace.

This part of the forest was located in a very special place in the divine land. And even if the enchanted barrier was breached, the fairy palace had its means to protect itself, and the Soul-shaking Mastiff was one of them.

Although Blackie returned to the doghouse already, Zen still did not dare to go over. If it decided to bark and pounce on him, he'd be dog dinner for sure.

“Don't worry, Blackie is actually very docile. It won't attack you,” assured Saul when he sensed Zen's hesitation.

'Won't it?' Zen thought, but nodded anyway. He stared at the dog warily as he cautiously walked over to the doghouse.

Just as Saul said, Blackie was acting tame and harmless. It stuck its tongue out and rolled on its back, eyeing the both of them expectantly.

“He's the new master of our palace. Remember him,” Saul told the dog, his finger pointing at Zen.

There were many creatures whose intelligence was not directly proportional to their strength. Blackie was one of them, but while it wasn't very bright, it understood what Saul was saying.

To Zen's surprise, Blackie rolled from his place by the doghouse and stopped at Zen's feet. Its thick legs pointed at the sky as it offered Zen its belly.

“It's...”

Zen was at a loss for words. This abnormally ferocious dog was suddenly acting like a house pet in front of him.

“It means you can pet it,” Saul beamed.

Zen hesitated for a moment before reaching out to give the dog a belly rub. Its fur felt cold and silky like satin.

“Awoooo!”

Blackie pressed its head against the ground and let out an appreciative sound.

"Oh!

You're finally here!"

a voice coming from the depths of the yard suddenly said.

Zen turned to see a long-haired man sitting on a patch of grass, not far away from him. Silver chains, much like the one around Blackie's neck, bound his hands and feet.

Behind him, was a narrow entrance that led to the dungeon of the fairy palace.

Zen's breath caught in his throat.

His father had told him of the vicious and cruel characters imprisoned in the fairy palace's dungeon. They were extremely manipulative and only desired freedom.

If Zen were to enlist their aid and freed them in exchange, there was no guarantee that they would keep their promise.

They might even turn on him if he wasn't careful.

But Mike had no choice but to make this suggestion. If only the Evolutionary Universe wasn't at a point where it couldn't be saved, then he wouldn't have told Zen about this at all.

Zen had been clear about the Evolutionary Universe's situation. The three True Gods sent out by the Sacred race already gave their verdict. Moreover, Zen had already known the new rules of the Hall of Holy Beings. This was their best hope.

And it all depended on these guys.

Zen mentally prepared himself as he walked over to the man. “Hello,” Zen smiled. “I am the master of this fairy palace!”

“Duh,” the man said with a wave of his hand. “I knew that after you barged into this place with your cultivation base of the nature level. But I tell you, your rate of improvement is really amazing.”

The man looked at Zen with gleaming eyes.

Bromley had made a promise to them before, saying that if someone were to take complete ownership of this fairy palace, everyone in the dungeon would be released.

For hundreds of millions of years, they had waited for this day to come, and now it was finally here.

It took everything to hide his excitement. After being locked up for so long, they were finally going to be set free.

“Hmph! What's there to be surprised about? This guy made us wait for almost twenty years!” A hoarse voice came from the dungeon.

It had been nearly twenty years since Zen first stepped into the fairy palace.

Saul frowned. “A few years ago, who was it that said it would take a thousand years for Zen to rule the fairy palace?”

Hearing these words, the entire dungeon fell silent. Although they were powerful, they were still no match for Zen. After all, it was because of the three Holy Beings' painstaking effort that Zen had become this strong.