Chapter 3532: Chapter 3532: The Misty River Race

After killing his opponent, the winner stood in the forest glade without moving. He did not take the piece of Gold and Silver Bone away. Instead, he seemed to be waiting for someone.

Zen watched curiously. After a few moments, there was a stir on the other end of the glade—a huge creature had appeared.

The new arrival was enormous, at least twenty feet tall, resembling a human in appearance but with three horns on his head. His body flashed with a bold bronze color. Everyone felt the ground trembling as the giant strode heavily towards the stone platform. He clearly had formidable physical strength.

When the three-horned giant reached the stone platform, he bent down and stretched out his hand to grab the piece of Gold and Silver Bone. The giant stuffed the bone in his mouth, barely chewing before swallowing in large gulps.

Gold and Silver Bone was a precious rarity in the Divine River. Its hardness was its most valuable characteristic—replacing one's skeleton with Gold and Silver Bone led to a great enhancement of their physical strength. But now, this gigantic monster was devouring the bone as though it was no more than a snack.

The cracking of the bone could be heard throughout the forest.

However, as the monster chewed and swallowed, another sound echoed in the forest. It seemed to be the clash of colliding metal.

The winner's face turned pale as he witnessed this scene. But of course, he didn't dare to show any displeasure in front of the giant, so the winner gave a forced, strained smile.

“Have too many Gold and Silver Monsters in the Jade Pure Realm been slaughtered? This Gold and Silver Bone has no chewiness at all, and it tastes really terrible,” the three-horned monster complained. He walked with booming steps towards the winner, lifting his arm while announcing, “Congratulations! You're the winner of the duel, so you're qualified to obtain the reward!”

The giant then stuffed the remaining one-third of the Gold and Silver Bone into the winner's hand. The winner gingerly held the mangled bone and almost grimaced before changing his expression into a smile. Finally, he turned and walked quietly away, teeth gritted with suppressed indignation.

“Any more battle for today?” said the three-horned monster, turning to the other creatures in the forest.

Silence fell over the forest clearing. Within the Flaming Maple Forest, this three-horned giant had absolute authority.

The powerful Other Shore creatures, even the Element Spirit Civilization and the Nihility race were deferential to the three-horned monsters in this forest.

The giants were all-powerful in this domain. They played the role of arbiters in every issue, and extorted every creature in the forest at whim.

If the winner had dared to show any obvious discontent at the meager reward, he would have been killed ruthlessly.

“Good. If you don't have any more conflict today, don't bother me anymore, or I'll teach you all a good lesson!” shouted the three-horned monster, shaking a bronze fist. With that threat, the giant began lumbering away, back to the other end of the forest glade.

As soon as the three-horned giant was gone, the atmosphere in the forest clearing changed. Everyone started moving, becoming more loud and active.

The water splashed over the banks as someone jumped into the Divine River. Others followed suit, jumping with noisy splashes into the river.

Many creatures swam and waded in the Divine River, tirelessly dragging the soil for treasures. Others stayed in the clearing, exchanging the treasures they had obtained from the Divine River with great caution.

Zen stood still and observed everyone, then asked in a low voice, “What was that gigantic three-horned monster?”

“That was a member of the Misty River race,” said Fuxi. A frown of disgust appeared on his face as he spoke. “That race has very, very few members. There are roughly over twenty of them in existence. But their massive bodies and formidable physical strength make it almost impossible to defeat them here...”

In general, physical strength was unimportant in the Three Purities Stage. If the creatures here were free to use their theurgies, few would be afraid of the Misty River race.

However, with the protection of the Flaming Maple Forest, no one could do anything to harm the three-horned giants.

Over the years, the members of the Misty River race had decided to live on both sides of the Divine River. They constantly took advantage of the situations to further strengthen themselves. Their bodies became stronger and stronger, and now they had complete control over this area.

“Have they never left the Flaming Maple Forest? Not even once?” Zen asked with interest.

Fuxi chuckled and said, “Actually, there was one such case. It was the last patriarch of the Misty River race. He had benefited greatly from the Divine River, and his physical body had reached its peak, which made him believe that he was invincible in the world.” Fuxi paused as though remembering the hubris of the giant, shaking his head. “But the monster lasted perhaps five minutes after he stepped out of the Flaming Maple Forest. Within minutes of leaving the forest, his body and soul were completely eliminated.” řἈƝ𝙤ВÊS

Many races hated the Misty River race to the core because of their outrageous habit of cheating and robbing those who passed through the forest. For instance, the Element Spirit Civilization and the Nihility race had always wanted to get rid of the Misty River race, but they could do nothing to them in the Flaming Maple Forest.

So when word spread that the patriarch of the Misty River race was planning to leave the forest, it became a rare opportunity for everyone to vent their anger. They all waited eagerly for the giant to leave the boundaries of the forest, then they attacked him immediately.

Afterwards, it turned out that more than arrogance had driven the patriarch of the Misty River race to depart from the Flaming Maple Forest. Someone had coaxed him to leave.

Since then, no one from the Misty River race had ever again left the Flaming Maple Forest. In retaliation, they squeezed the members of other races even more excessively.

Suddenly, Zen and everyone else heard the booming of heavy footsteps.

They stopped their conversation and turned towards the sound.

“Who are you?”

A new member of the Misty River race appeared behind them.

This giant was slightly smaller in size than the one that had just left, but he had a much more malicious aura.

“What a pleasure to see you! Master Larkin, have you forgotten me already?” King Ieuan said politely, stepping forward to greet the monster.

The members of the Ear Mouse race were very talented at befriending and conducting business with other races. Indeed, in the past they had acted as emissaries to help the Misty River race bargain with other forces, so this giant—whose name was Larkin—had a good impression of King Ieuan.

“I know you,” said Larkin to the Ear Mouse, his tone softening slightly. “What are you doing here?”

“I was just about to take my friends to the Divine River when Master Brigham came to arbitrate a dispute over a piece of Gold and Silver Bone. It was improper for us to interfere, so we've waited here till now,” King Ieuan explained patiently.

“Humph, go ahead then. Remember to teach these newcomers the rules of this area,” Larkin said, waving his hand.

Fuxi and the Snake Goddess were of course not newcomers, but they disliked staying near the Divine River. Because they avoided that area, the members of the Misty River race were unfamiliar with the two of them.

After King Ieuan took the three humans to the forest clearing, their group immediately attracted the attention of many Other Shore creatures.

There weren't many humans near the Divine River. Moreover, the conflict within the human race that had occurred recently had been hot news among many other races, so it came as no surprise that their appearance attracted many eyes.

Still, although other creatures were curious, they were not seriously interested in the affairs of humans. Most of the Other Shore creatures only watched the group of humans for a minute or so before getting distracted by their own concerns.

“Since the Misty River race rules over this area, how did the Element Spirit Civilization come to exert their influence on this area?” Zen asked in a low voice.

“Through benefits exchange. The Element Spirit Civilization provides some unique benefits to the Misty River race,” replied King Ieuan.

“What does that mean? Are the members of the Misty River race acting as hired fighters for the Element Spirit Civilization?” Zen asked, looking concerned.

King Ieuan chuckled and said, “How can you think that the members of the Misty River race would be so easy to manipulate? Not to mention, the Element Spirit Civilization were involved in the killing of the last patriarch of the Misty River race. If indeed they asked the Misty River race to do something for them, they would ask a huge price in return, and still there would be no guarantee that the Misty River race would keep its word.”

As King Ieuan spoke, the surface of the Divine River began to ripple. Waves were forming on the water.

Water splashed as the waves rose and fell on the river.

There were fish swimming with the waves. Each fish was fist-sized, cutting quickly through the churning waters.

“It's the Golden Bites!”

“Go ashore now!”

“Leave the water or else you will become fish feed!”

The air was filled with shouts as the creatures on the ground shouted warnings at the creatures submerged in the river.

Those who were still in the Divine River wore expressions of panic as they tried to reach the shore.

This section of Divine River was within the range of the Flaming Maple Forest. They didn't dare use their theurgies, so they had no choice but to swim desperately towards the shores of the river, hoping to get to solid ground before the fish reached them.

There were thuds and splashes as the first creatures reached the shore.

The creatures tumbled out one after another in their haste to escape from the water.

Unfortunately, not all the creatures in the Divine River reached the shores in time. A few remained trapped in the water when the Golden Bites swarmed around them.

The Golden Bites, a shoal of fist-sized fish with shimmering golden scales, completely surrounded the creatures in the river. Within seconds, their prey sank deep into the water and disappeared without a trace, leaving only the flashing golden scales visible in the depths of the water.