Chapter 289: The True Prey of the Slumbering Wasteland

Pitch black chains, like giant pythons reaching out from the abyss, wrapped around the limbs and neck of the Earth Vein Ancient Turtle. However, with a deep, rumbling roar, the ancient turtle jerked its massive body backward violently.

Boom!

The ground within a radius of several hundred meters collapsed all at once, and countless shards of rock were blasted into the air by the terrifying force, causing Zich’s expression to change slightly.

What tremendous strength!

Even at level twenty nine, relying on his own power alone, he could not possibly drag such a level thirty behemoth, not to mention that the body of this Earth Vein Ancient Turtle was practically no different from a small mountain.

What he truly needed was not to defeat it, but only to drag it away.

"Iron."

Iron tightened its grip on its massive bone greatsword and shot forward in an instant, slamming the greatsword into the ground beneath the ancient turtle’s feet the next moment.

Boom!

Stone fragments flew everywhere, not to harm the ancient turtle, but to forcibly alter the terrain beneath it and deprive it of stable footing.

At the same time, Tiamant spread her wings, and the pitch black chains suddenly tightened, finally dragging the Earth Vein Ancient Turtle a short distance by sheer force.

"Keep going."

There was not the slightest hint of relaxation in Zich’s eyes, for he knew they could not stop now.

Seven magical beasts nearby had already been awakened by the commotion, and three of them were closing in. Farther away, beasts that had only been twitching slightly were also gradually waking.

Even without any beast dying and releasing a Blood Awakening Pulse, the sound, the impacts, and the fluctuations of magic would keep expanding the affected area.

If they could not quickly drag this ancient turtle to a location far from the main cluster of beasts, then what awaited him next would not be a single battle, but a true beast tide.

"Blood Leech."

Blood Leech silently slipped out from behind a boulder.

"Scout ahead. Find an area with no sleeping magical beasts."

After blood leech left to carry out the order, Zich raised his head to look into the distance, where the twelve kilometer finish line lay and where the Slumbering Altar stood.

He suddenly noticed something: along the way, although the magical beasts had grown denser and denser, the closer they got to the finish line, the quieter it became.

Under normal circumstances, the area around an altar should be the most dangerous part of this wasteland, and the number of guardian beasts should also be the highest, yet even now, he had not seen a single beast anywhere near the altar.

Zich narrowed his eyes as a bold guess suddenly formed in his mind. The true mechanic of this fourth floor had probably never been simply about having challengers avoid magical beasts. Those sleeping beasts were only obstacles, and the real trial target might have been at the finish line all along.

"Boom!"

At that moment, the Earth Vein Ancient Turtle exerted its strength once again, and Tiamant’s black chains suddenly pulled taut, even producing a harsh, grating sound, while the ancient turtle’s limbs sank deep into the earth, its body like an unshakable mountain.

Zich frowned. "Tiamant, release the chains."

The blue soul fire flared violently, clearly showing her dissatisfaction with this order, since she could simply blast this ancient turtle to death outright and saw no reason to go through so much trouble dragging it, but the command was ultimately carried out, and the black chains dispersed in an instant.

Freed from its restraints, the Earth Vein Ancient Turtle raised its head, its yellow vertical pupils locked onto Zich, and the next moment, it opened its enormous mouth.

Boom!

A turbid, earth yellow energy beam blasted outward.

"Scatter!"

Zich’s figure vanished in an instant with Shadow Blink.

The terrifying energy beam shot past his body, directly blasting a rock hill over a dozen meters high behind him into pieces.

That attack just now had triggered new awakenings. In other words, the ancient turtle’s attack had created enough noise, impact, and magical fluctuation to wake nearby beasts, and that meant he could fully make use of it as a moving obstacle while those beasts pursued him.

"Tiamant. Iron."

The two summoned beasts responded at the same time.

"Drive it toward the altar."

Iron charged out instantly, and Tiamant dove down from the sky as well. With two powerful summoned beasts closing in at the same time, the Earth Vein Ancient Turtle finally exploded into complete fury. Its enormous body began to move forward frantically.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With every step it took, the earth shook violently. The magical beasts waking in the distance opened their eyes because of it, but this time, Zich did not stop them. He only continued retreating with the remaining summoned beasts while observing his surroundings.

More and more magical beasts began to wake, and their target remained Zich, but the moving Earth Vein Ancient Turtle repeatedly blocked their path, forcing them to funnel around its mountainous body, and the light in Zich’s eyes grew brighter and brighter as he finally understood.

The true rule of the Slumbering Wasteland had never been "no fighting allowed." It was "no killing the wrong thing."

If a challenger fought their way through, every magical beast they killed would release another Blood Awakening Pulse, causing the pulses to keep stacking and eventually forming an uncontrollable beast tide, but if these magical beasts woke up because of the disturbances and another powerful magical beast was kept between them and the challenger as a moving obstacle, then the situation would be completely different.

Zich looked into the distance, where more and more magical beasts had now awakened from their slumber. Every one of them was still pursuing him, yet the level thirty Earth Vein Ancient Turtle remained between him and the gathering beast tide like a moving wall until it finally stopped in its tracks and slowly raised its head.

Ahead, the twelve kilometer finish line was already right before its eyes. The pitch black Slumbering Altar stood there silently.

Suddenly, the smile on Zich’s face vanished, because through Tiamant’s vision, he saw that a crack had appeared at the center of the altar at some unknown point, and a wisp of crimson mist was slowly rising from within it.

"What... what is that?"

As if to answer his question, a new system alert appeared before him.

[Warning!]

[Detected a special lifeform awakening.]

[Hidden rule of the Slumbering Wasteland has been triggered.]

[The true prey has awakened.]

Zich’s pupils contracted slightly.

At the same time, deep within the altar, those crimson eyes that had been slumbering for who knew how many years opened fully, this time without any concealment.

Boom!

The entire wasteland seemed to tremble all at once. All the magical beasts that had just awakened stopped moving at that same instant, then slowly turned their heads and looked toward the altar.

Zich’s breathing paused for a brief moment as he finally realized that those magical beasts he had seen before were never the true masters of this wasteland. They were merely prey, and now the true predator had awakened.

[Hidden Boss: Wasteland Slumberer, is awakening.]

[Level: ???]