"A very good answer."
The girl affirmed.
"What about the lightning?"
Li Fan asked expectantly.
"The lightning you speak of will disrupt the balance."
Li Fan was speechless upon hearing this.
"But to use a small amount of imbalance to suppress a greater imbalance, I have no reason to refuse."
The girl said, walking slowly forward.
"Makes sense."
Li Fan became vigilant, but remembering it was his dream, he reasoned he wouldn't be bullied by an outsider and remained calmly in place.
The girl stopped a few meters away and said sternly, "Finally, a warning: do not attempt to establish a new order, or I will consider you an enemy."
New order?
Li Fan was taken aback by the words.
"What is new order?"
"If you can reach the end and wait until the moment of choice arrives, you will understand."
After the girl in the white dress finished speaking, the hall she saw became blurry in distortion.
Li Fan opened his eyes and sat up abruptly, a scent of roasted meat filling his nostrils.
"You're awake, meow. This is raw meat Kuku brought back. It'll be ready in a bit."
Dilu, who was roasting meat by the bonfire, informed him.
"Was there anything unusual just now?"
Li Fan asked tentatively.
"No, meow, it was as quiet as ever. Speaking of which, there are so few areas to explore in the ancient tower."
Dilu said helplessly.
In the past, when visiting a new area, they could freely explore and gather resources if there were no quests.
In contrast, the ancient tower area was rather dull. The top of the tower was quite spacious, but a thorough exploration could be completed in half a day.
The ground was shrouded in thick fog, with a high risk of getting lost, so Dilu had to stay on the tower top for extended periods.
Looking at the clouds in the sky that were beginning to lighten, Li Fan speculated, "The lightning is probably tonight. We need to prepare in advance."
"That certain, meow?"
Dilu, also looking at the sky, saw nothing different.
"Yes. Let's go. Bring all the monsters here."
Li Fan set off immediately.
At night, the giant full moon rose in the sky precisely on time.
Huihui, Shanshan, Zhanshan, Xiaobendan, Wanpi, Xixi, Kuku, and Juxing were all gathered there.
Although some of these monsters were confirmed to be unable to absorb red spheres, there was no harm in trying.
However, until dawn, the magnificent night sky remained silent.
Li Fan thought that the dignified Ancestral Dragon wouldn't possibly deceive him, so he decided to appease the monsters first.
Before he could speak, he noticed a strange phenomenon: most of the monsters were gathered on one side of the ancient tower.
Seeing Juxing standing alone on the other side, Li Fan immediately understood the reason.
Fortunately, Juxing had a good temperament. It lay on the ground, snoring with its belly expanding and contracting, completely unbothered by the other monsters.
"I know it's difficult for everyone to be squeezed into such a small space, but please don't be anxious. Dilu has food. Anyone who is hungry can go and get some. For the harmony of our public environment, please try to relieve yourselves at the edge of the ancient tower. If you can't, you can tell me, and I'll put you in a sphere and take you to the ground to take care of it."
Li Fan said, and the monsters responded with roars.
About an hour later, the boundary of the ancient tower secret realm, shimmering with silver light, was suddenly enveloped and swallowed by a shadow.
Dilu, the first to notice, shouted and looked up.
At this moment, the giant full moon in the sky developed a black edge and gradually turned into a crescent moon.
By the time the shadow reached the top of the first ancient tower, only a sliver of a moon remained.
Roar! Roar! Roar!
The monsters inhabiting the ancient tower secret realm scattered in fear, their roars echoing.
When the giant full moon turned completely black, only a silver ring was visible in the night sky.
Li Fan's monsters also showed varying degrees of fear, but not enough to want to escape.
Instead, they instinctively gathered around Li Fan.
Hoo~ Hoo~ Pop!
Juxing, who had been snoring, had its snot bubble on its nose burst at this moment.
Rubbing its eyes with its paws, Juxing looked up at the sky.
Roar.
In the silent atmosphere, Juxing let out a low growl.
Li Fan's eyes twitched at the sound.
"What did Juxing say, meow?"
Dilu asked curiously.
"Juxing said it's finally my turn to act. I've been waiting for this day for a long time."
"Ah, meow! Isn't this a bit reckless?"
Dilu exclaimed.
Li Fan had already told Dilu about his encounter with the Ancestral Dragon in his dream, so Dilu knew what they might be facing next.
"Don't worry, with Juxing's combat power..."
As Li Fan spoke, Juxing's gaze turned towards him.
"This kind of minor situation doesn't require me to fight."
Roar! Juxing nodded with satisfaction and grinned.
Staring intently at the black lunar eclipse, several black bolts of lightning flashed and condensed.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The black lightning struck downwards, not exploding into red spheres, but precisely hitting each monster.
After being struck, Zhanshan, Xiaobendan, and Wanpi entered an uncontrollable frenzy.
However, apart from running, jumping, and flipping, they showed no signs of aggression.
Huihui and Shanshan looked up at the sky, seemingly indifferent, as if they were outsiders.
After Kuku was struck by a black bolt of lightning, the electricity suddenly bounced off and transferred to Juxing.
The same thing happened to Xixi. However, after the electric light refracted among the monsters for a long time without being absorbed, it flew towards the nearby Yanhuo Hao.
Boom! A large hole appeared on the deck, and the black lightning entered the cabin.
Could this mean that the hull of the Yanhuo Hao, with its scorching shell, could absorb the Ancestral Power?
No, if that were true, Huihui should also have the ability of a power bank.
Too many things were happening at once. Although Li Fan was anxious, he could only deal with them one by one.
He opened his handheld device to check their status: Zhanshan, Xiaobendan, Wanpi, Juxing.
All of them had gained a new trait called "Ancestral Power" and were in a state of all-attribute enhancement.
Their health was continuously draining, similar to Kuku's previous condition.
For monsters of their size, human healing potions were of little use. Li Fan first put the four monsters into healing spheres.
Then, he used his Insect Glaive to entangle Xixi's claws and returned to the Yanhuo Hao.
He opened the door to the incubation room and was stunned by the large hole in the ceiling.
Crackling crackling.
As electric light crackled, Li Fan looked at the breached incubator and was even more surprised by what he saw.
The fire dragon egg was not only emitting electric light but its color had also changed from the previous red and green striped pattern to a red and white striped pattern.
What was going on? Did the "Heaven-Defying Charm" not work on monsters?
Li Fan began to doubt his own actions.
However, thinking that it was better than doing nothing, he removed the Heaven-Defying Charm that was hanging above the fire dragon egg.
Returning to the top of the first ancient tower, Li Fan first released Juxing, who was in the worst condition, from the healing sphere.
Perhaps due to its relatively limited combat experience, Juxing's health was draining the fastest among the four monsters.
Li Fan attached the Heaven-Defying Charm to its arm, which was covered in pink fur, and then closely monitored the status on his handheld device.
Roar.
Juxing let out a low growl.
"King of mushrooms... Dilu."
Hearing these nonsensical words, Li Fan looked at Dilu curiously.
"Uh, Juxing saw me, meow. I originally wanted to take it back to show the cats in the village, but it's okay. As long as it can help Juxing, even the King of Mushrooms can be sacrificed."
Dilu said, firing a signal flare into the air.
The Yanhuo Hao in the distance immediately turned.
"The King of Mushrooms you're talking about, isn't it that 'Heart-Pounding Mushroom' you collected on Lava Island?"
Li Fan asked tentatively.
"That's right, meow."
"The Ancestral Power and the energy of the Divine Realm are not from the same source. And the effect of eating the Heart-Pounding Mushroom is random. Isn't it too late to have a problem?"
Li Fan said worriedly.
"But Juxing wanted to eat it itself, meow. Many monsters find corresponding herbs and foods to resolve crises when they encounter physical abnormalities in the wild."
Dilu thought it was worth a try.
"Alright."
"Hey! Patchy, meow! Throw down my King Mushroom, meow!"
Dilu couldn't wait for the Yanhuo Hao to lower it and shouted.
"Really, meow! That's your treasure. Is it okay to just throw it down like this?"
Patchy said in surprise.
"Yes, meow! It's urgent, please hurry."
A short while later, a cargo box with a small parachute landed on the tower top.
Prying open the cargo box, a giant green mushroom planted in a small pot was revealed.
Li Fan picked it up and quickly ran to Juxing's side.
"Juxing, if you feel any discomfort after eating it, excrete it as soon as possible. With your abilities, you can definitely do it."
Roar.
Juxing, lying on the ground with its legs spread, responded weakly, indicating it was fine.
Opening its hippo-like mouth, Li Fan stuffed the giant Heart-Pounding Mushroom in and pressed down hard.
After chewing for a moment, the mushroom was swallowed.
Rumble. Rumble.
A rumbling sound came from its distended belly.
"What's that smell, meow?"
Dilu looked around and suddenly realized it was enveloped in green smoke.
"Dilu, you should retreat first. I'll hold the line here."
Li Fan said with determination.
"I want to protect Juxing too, meow!"
Dilu clenched its paws.
"You won't be able to hold on."
"I can, meow!"
"Alright, Juxing isn't out of danger yet. Let's try not to be too dramatic later, or Juxing will be sad."
Li Fan said with some anxiety.
"Never, meow."
* * *
Pfft!
As soon as Dilu finished speaking, a strong green aura erupted from beneath Juxing.
"Ugh... Run!"
Li Fan only touched it lightly and knew this was not something he could endure. He grabbed Dilu and ran.
After escaping far enough, Li Fan took out his handheld device to check their status.
Seeing that Juxing's health had stopped decreasing, he finally felt relieved.
Soon after, Juxing's mutated state disappeared.
Its species name changed from [Great Jagras] to [Chaotic Ancestral Great Jagras], and its star rating also became four stars.
While its attributes were comprehensively enhanced, its original traits also gained additional abilities due to the mutation.
Hoo~
Juxing stood up, dispersed the green mist with its paws, and walked towards Li Fan and Dilu.
"My body feels like it's been stretched, meow, but the color and appearance haven't changed at all."
Dilu commented.
"It seems like black fur is growing on its skin surface. We can research this later. Juxing, go back into the healing sphere to recover from your injuries."
A white light flashed, and the Heaven-Defying Charm fell to the ground.
Next was Xiaobendan, whose health was fluctuating.
Li Fan attached the Heaven-Defying Charm to a piece of shell on its head.
Xiaobendan expressed a desire to see the fire dragon egg one last time before dying. Li Fan comforted it, telling it not to think too much.
Dilu flipped through a book and recounted their past adventures. Although it was unclear if Xiaobendan could understand, its emotions gradually stabilized, and its health began to slowly increase.
About ten minutes later, the "mutating" state ended.
Xiaobendan's monster name changed from [Rathian] to [Ancestral Gold Rathian], and its star rating jumped from four stars to six stars.
After Li Fan put it into a healing sphere, he released Wanpi.
Since its health had stopped decreasing and its emotions were stable, all Li Fan and Dilu could do was attach the Heaven-Defying Charm.
Five minutes later, Wanpi's monster name changed from [Rathalos] to [Ancestral Silver Rathalos], and its rating increased from five stars to six stars.
Finally, Zhanshan, who was released last, was already recovering its health.
As soon as Li Fan finished attaching the charm, Zhanshan completed its mutation.
Its monster name changed from [Zinogre] to [Ancestral Zinogre], and its star rating also increased to six stars.
The four monsters that underwent intense mutation had all safely passed the danger. The relieved man and cat immediately lay down on the tower top.
"So tired, meow, but it's good that the monsters are okay."
Dilu sighed.
Li Fan looked at the giant full moon that had reappeared and asked curiously, "Dilu, do you think something similar happened when the Zorah Magdaros set out?"
"What, meow?"
Dilu didn't understand.
"The mutation bestowed by the forbidden ones. The guild's deduction at the time was that the forbidden ones were providing energy for Zorah Magdaros to travel to the New World. But if it also included mutation abilities, then it would mean that Teostra, Lunastra, and Kushala Daora all mutated when they set out."
Li Fan made a conjecture.
"Mutations of Elder Dragon level, meow... I can't imagine. But since they set out after becoming stronger, they must have had a goal, right?"
Dilu said in astonishment.
"Exactly. It seems we're playing a similar role to those three Elder Dragons. Looking at it this way, it doesn't seem very popular. It has to find human help to influence the New World."
Li Fan speculated.
Teostra, Lunastra, and Kushala Daora would rather seek out Safi'jiiva than come to the Ancestral Dragon.
Li Fan thought that even if they were all forbidden ones, there might be factions.
With this thought, combined with the information he had accumulated, an idea quickly emerged.
"Elder Dragons... Huihui is also an Elder Dragon. Could it be that the Ancestral Power simply cannot cause Elder Dragons to mutate, which is why they went to the other side?"
Li Fan felt he was vaguely getting to the crux of the problem.
But if that were true, Xixi couldn't be explained.
Kuku's species name was [Ancestral Yian Garuga], which could be considered to have achieved mutation, and thus could not accept a massive amount of Ancestral Power, causing the black lightning to redirect to Juxing.
As for Xixi...
Li Fan thought of Xixi swallowing the Thunder God Dragon egg.
"That is to say, the unknown mutation brought by the Thunder God Dragon caused Xixi to develop a repulsion towards Ancestral Power, which is why it couldn't absorb it."
With this explanation, he felt it was roughly plausible.
"But why didn't it spare the fire dragon egg?"
Li Fan muttered with a sigh.