The hazy yellow dust clouds gradually dispersed, revealing the island, completely flattened by the impact, on the sea's surface.
Hiss~ Hiss~...
The quicksand flowed towards the island's edge, piling up to form sandbanks, preventing seawater from flooding in.
The Safi'jiiva stood tall in the center of the sunken sand pit, its once advantageous environment now a cage and a restraint.
Its heavily injured eyes closed once more, and two streams of green fluid dripped down from its eyelids.
"It's surrounded by the sea. I should have thought of such a good tactic earlier."
Li Fan, observing from afar, realized the possibility of using environmental factors to directly flood the origin island.
Although he didn't have powerful marine monsters at hand, the Safi'jiiva would be more passive than him if it fell into the sea.
Of course, he only sighed in admiration; the outcome of the battle was already clear.
The flying monsters returned, circling the island.
Peng~ Peng~
With its forelimbs falling, the Safi'jiiva raised its eight wing-like legs towards the sky, still struggling to resist.
However, having lost all its senses, it could no longer contend with the monsters head-on.
After several rounds of attacks, it collapsed to the ground, severely wounded.
At this moment, the quicksand stopped surging from underground, and the sandbanks were easily swept away by the turbulent waves.
As seawater poured in, the origin island began to sink.
Hoo~ Hoo~
The team, riding on Little Fool's claws, arrived at the Safi'jiiva's head.
"Are you interested in leaving with me? You don't have to die."
Li Fan attempted to communicate.
The Safi'jiiva, resting its head on the sand pile, turned its head away, seemingly unwilling to communicate.
"Alright, you probably sensed from the ley lines that the Xeno'jiiva is dead. I don't know what your relationship is, but the story of you five dragons might come to an end today."
Li Fan informed it.
Puchi...
The green liquid dripping from its eyelids suddenly increased, forming threads.
It was unclear whether it was sadness or the severity of its internal injuries.
"Don't you have any dreams? With me, perhaps they could be realized."
Li Fan persuaded.
Pucha~
The Safi'jiiva's right eyelid opened, revealing its circular pupil, torn by a sharp claw.
Yudora immediately drew her sword.
"It's not trying to launch a mental attack; it just wants to communicate this way."
Li Fan reached out to stop her.
The Wind Serpent Dragon, Thunder Serpent Dragon, and Xiao Ming could all communicate through consciousness, but in different ways.
The Safi'jiiva was no exception, and the organ it likely relied on was its eyes.
After a moment of eye contact, a lotus pattern appeared on the outer ring of Li Fan's pupils.
"When the Xeno'jiiva saved me from the serpent demon's lair, it said something similar to you. Unfortunately, there are no gods or buddhas in this world, and we all fell during the final tribulation..."
"There are no gods or buddhas in this world... Who told you there were?"
Li Fan was shocked by the Safi'jiiva's words.
"It's been too long, I've forgotten. I only remember that it enlightened me."
Huala~
As it spoke, a large amount of seawater surged into the sand pit.
"We need to withdraw. Think about it one last time."
Li Fan said, taking out a Diamond Ball, opening it, and tossing it onto the sand.
The Safi'jiiva remained unmoved, seemingly no longer holding much hope for survival. Many monsters would rather die than be captured, unwilling to submit to humans.
The Safi'jiiva, however, gave off a feeling of utter despair, as if its faith had collapsed.
Splash! Splash!....
The influx of seawater quickly eroded the walls of the dry sand pit, and the island, along with the Safi'jiiva, was washed away and submerged by the waves.
The origin island met its end.
"Being able to understand what monsters say isn't always a good thing."
Yudora, seeing Li Fan staring at the sea with a sorrowful expression, sighed.
Hunters sometimes felt pity for monsters. Some pregnant or elderly monsters, as long as they posed no threat to humans or the environment, could be classified as protected species by the Guild.
However, no one had ever truly delved into the inner thoughts of monsters.
As evening approached, the team returned to the monster camp in the Guiding Lands.
After the death of the Safi'jiiva, the Elder Dragons active in the New World now consisted of the Emperor of Flames and his mate, the Kirin, the Vaal Hazak, and the Kulve Taroth in the Golden Land.
The monster team already possessed an overwhelming advantage over them.
However, even recruiting them would only offer limited improvement, and Li Fan wasn't very interested in them.
After dinner, Li Fan took out his handheld console and lay on the stone bed in the cave, examining MeowscularChef's status panel.
(MeowscularChef)
HP: 26994/38101
Status: Super regeneration, Happy, Sweet, Anticipatory, Expectant.
Why were they all positive statuses? Shouldn't monsters be filled with negative emotions after being captured?
This was completely different.
After reviewing the relatively concise status bar, Li Fan noticed something was amiss.
Level: 277
Strength: 5791↑
Agility: 2206
Intelligence: 309
Skills:
This monster is adept at tracking scents to hunt Elder Dragons with high energy.
This monster has found its ideal mate.
This monster has an enmity with the Grimalkin.
This monster believes in strength; all attack and defense moves are executed with ultimate power.
After finding its ideal mate and achieving energy saturation through excessive energy intake, the Nergigante will condense energy to lay eggs.
When this monster consumes food containing high energy, it will decompose the energy and inject it into its body, enhancing its strength attribute.
The higher the energy content of the food, the greater the increase in strength.
This monster can decompose food at an extremely rapid pace.
When its internal energy is sufficient, this monster can heal injuries at an extremely rapid pace.
The Nergigante channels energy to its surface, forming hard spikes.
The spikes generated by the Nergigante in a single burst during combat possess terrifying strength and resilience.
When the Nergigante combines its strength and performs slams and strikes, it will reflect the impact to its surface, launching spikes.
The Nergigante leaps up rapidly, condensing all its strength into its forelimbs, unleashing a terrifyingly powerful slam.
This is an attack that is extremely difficult to dodge while also possessing immense power.
When sufficient spikes have formed on its surface, the Nergigante leaps up and dives towards its target, combining a charge with a series of consecutive attacks.
This monster was once an executor of some form of ordered self-purification.
This monster, influenced by the flesh and blood of the Black Dragon, has become an executor of disordered self-purification.
Description: A monster that uses spikes and formidable strength to kill enemies.
Due to its habit of preying on Elder Dragons, it is known as the Elder Dragon Slayer.
"A truly devoted heart... However, this asexual reproduction doesn't seem to harm me."
Through the skill descriptions, Li Fan finally understood MeowscularChef's reproduction and felt relieved, while also deducing the reason for the Nergigante's rarity.
It was because even with asexual reproduction, it required two conditions: finding a mate and energy saturation.
Li Fan wasn't sure how difficult it was to find a mate.
However, achieving energy saturation and laying eggs was accomplished in a short period only after consuming the Black Dragon and the Xeno'jiiva.
Such a level of energy intake, if it were any other Elder Dragon, who knew how many would need to be hunted to satisfy it.
This was likely the fundamental reason for its scarcity.
However, it was precisely because of this difficult reproductive characteristic that the Nergigante was an excellent candidate for ecological cleanup.
On the old continent, Elder Dragons rarely fought each other. Even when facing the ecological menace of the Wind Serpent Dragon and the Thunder Serpent Dragon, if the Steel Dragon found it couldn't win after obtaining a Dragonite, it would simply flee.
This indicated that Elder Dragons lived long lives due to biological characteristics and a certain degree of self-awareness, understanding the importance of protecting their own lives.
But the Nergigante was different. Elder Dragons were not only high-energy food sources but also crucial for reproduction.
When a creature's basic needs could only be met by Elder Dragons, it was no wonder the Nergigante would fight to the death.
Li Fan decided to record these related findings and hypotheses.
This way, if future crises caused by Nergigante arose in other regions, there would be sufficient data to consult, and perhaps a safe solution could be found.
This was also an important significance of ecological reports.
He got up and walked through the cave entrance to the adjacent small cave.
There, Dede was rapidly recording information in front of a large open book.
From time to time, she would check the photo album on the 3DS on the stone table to refine her writing.
"After such a harsh hunt, aren't you resting?"
Li Fan asked.
"Much ecological information needs to be captured now, meow, otherwise it will be forgotten over time... Uh, what should I write next?"
Dede, in the blink of an eye, had already forgotten.
"Let me see... You're recording well. You've meticulously documented the ecological information of the Safi'jiiva. It seems you've become a mature compiler."
Li Fan leaned closer to look at the book and praised her.
"Hehe, not at all, meow... You're so mean."
Dede covered her face with her paws, saying shyly.
"The moment its rocky shell completely peeled off, the Safi'jiiva regained its original appearance. Its majestic form made this meow unable to look directly... Recording from an Felyne's perspective is indeed different... When Li Fan was mesmerized by those fiery red eyes, this meow bravely stepped forward and finally succeeded in the rescue... What about the process, Dede?"
As Li Fan read, he quickly noticed a problem.
"Uh... If this is submitted in the future, no one will understand the existence of Sunny Days, meow."
Dede said helplessly.
"Yes, it's hard to be recognized and understood here when a monster suddenly appears and offers assistance... By the way, appearing from a stone and having fiery red eyes reminds me of a character from a story."
Li Fan felt the topic was a bit heavy and immediately changed it.
"I haven't heard of the stories you've read, so I definitely can't guess, meow."
The stories in the Monster Hunter world were all about monsters and hunters.
Li Fan's usual concepts were all-encompassing, and Dede felt it was impossible to guess correctly.
"His name is Sun Wukong. He also emerged from a stone and had fiery eyes. Even more powerful than the Safi'jiiva, he had the Golden Fillet, the Ruyi Jingu Bang, and a tiger-skin skirt."
Li Fan introduced.
"He must be very powerful for hunting, meow?"
"They don't need to hunt, but they fight demons on their journey."
"They, meow?"
"Yes, Sun Wukong also had companions: a human master and two humanoids."
"Oh! A standard four-person team, meow."
Hearing that a four-person team had formed a hunting party, Dede became interested.
"Oh, and they also had a white dragon horse."
"What weapon did the master use, meow?"
"Uh... a staff. But the master only liked to guide people towards goodness and didn't like to use violence."
"How can that be, meow? It's a journey full of demons."
Dede couldn't understand.
"I thought the same when I was a child."
"Exactly, meow. Even the Xeno'jiiva, who preached compassion, practiced its ideals through fierce battles."
Dede agreed.
"Towards goodness... In a world with gods and buddhas, wasn't it Sun Wukong who enlightened the Safi'jiiva back then?"
Li Fan was very surprised by such a ridiculous conclusion.
However, apart from Sun Wukong, he couldn't think of anyone else who could have enlightened the Safi'jiiva to its current state.
"Enlightened... What are you talking about, meow?"
Dede asked with a puzzled look.
"Nothing, my mind is a bit confused."
Li Fan shook his head, denying it, and immediately dismissed the absurd thought.
But thinking of those wide, staring red pupils, a new interpretation of the Five Dragon legend emerged in his mind.
However, with a sigh, Li Fan stopped delving deeper.
Because it was meaningless to dwell on these things now. Of the surviving Five Dragons, one's will had changed after consuming the Black Dragon's flesh and blood, and another had completely lost its consciousness.
What aspirations they had, what journeys they had undertaken, could no longer be verified.
The stage of the Five Dragon era had ended.
The next morning, on the deck of the Ignis, which had descended to the ground, leaves rustled, ringing bells and shouting, "Breakfast is ready, meow!"
The team emerged from the cave and went onto the deck.
Having just experienced a major battle, the entire team had slept soundly the previous night.
As for security, thanks to the recent efforts of the monsters, deterrence had been established, so no night watch was needed.
After breakfast, Li Fan took out a map and studied it on the bar-style dining table. xxs
After drawing and writing, a distribution map of the members' areas was completed.
Although with environmental changes and ecological succession, the current distribution might not be a permanent solution, Li Fan felt it was the most reasonable allocation for now.
After gathering the monsters and explaining it on a signboard, everyone understood their respective zones.
Li Fan announced that the Guiding Lands would henceforth be managed by the monsters in their respective zones.
Roar?
Bingbingzi was the first to ask curiously, stating that as long as Li Fan was there, why did monsters need to be in charge?
"Something is about to happen soon, and I need to actively prepare for it, so I won't have time to look after this place. If this ultimately fails... then in the future, you will have to rely on each other to maintain the monster camp."
Li Fan honestly informed them.
Zhao Lala reminds you: Please remember to collect after reading.