Chapter 297: The Earth Bear

Flying west for two to three hundred li, they officially entered the Shi Jie Shan Mai.

The temperature grew colder and the air thinned; Lei En and the Extreme Warriors had the Flame Dragon lower its flight altitude, skimming through the gaps between the mountains.

As far as the eye could see, towering peaks rose everywhere.

In this harsh environment, even stronger monsters and beasts survived; Lei En, relying on his superhuman sight and vigilance, avoided danger many times.

On one occasion, they encountered a flock of white dragons.

White dragons are the lowest‑intelligence branch among colored dragons, ferocious and barbaric, acting purely on instinct like beasts, dubbed the "shame of dragons"; they appear in groups by family units.

That white‑dragon group numbered five heads, more than the Flame Dragon's count.

The two mature white dragons at the front had power at the Mid‑stage Legendary level; the other three, likely their offspring, were near adulthood.

Fortunately, Lei En spotted them from over ten li away in advance.

He immediately descended, corralled the Flame Dragon into a taming space, and led the Extreme Warriors to hide beneath a rock cave, thus avoiding a direct encounter with the white dragons.

After circling around and evading powerful monsters, they finally reached Karl Peak two days later.

Lei En landed more than thirty li away.

"What a high mountain!"

He let out a deep sigh.

A colossal peak thrust straight into the clouds stood before him, like a massive wall blocking most of the view. The cloud layer reached only to its waist; looking through the mist, the summit resembled a pyramid, cloaked in glaciers and snow, reflecting a dazzling white glare that made prolonged staring difficult.

Its slopes were extremely steep, with ridges like knife‑cut and axe‑chopped lines, sheer ice cliffs, averaging over a forty‑five‑degree incline, impossible for ordinary people to climb.

Around Karl Peak there were a dozen more high mountains, each taller than Jin Gang Peak, yet at the foot of Karl Peak they seemed insignificant, like small hills.

Amid those high mountains, Karl Peak stood out like a crane among chickens, its grandeur further accentuated.

Lei En recalled that in Dwarvish, Karl Peak was called "Solitary Peak," a fitting name; anyone seeing it at first glance would feel a sense of loneliness.

The Soul Eye measured the height but failed to obtain an exact figure.

Lei En guessed by feel that Karl Peak was at least fifteen thousand meters high, roughly twice the height of Earth's former highest peak, Mount Everest.

And this was only the world's second‑highest peak.

I truly have no idea how many meters the world's first, Zhigao Shan, reaches!

After admiring the magnificent peak for a moment, Lei En leapt onto the Flame Dragon and flew close to the ground.

【5】 Hab's information was brief; he had seen Storm Giants in the northern part of Karl Peak. Karl Peak's area is so vast, including surrounding ranges, roughly two thousand square li.

Ha Bu's information was brief; he had seen a Storm Giant in the northern part of Ka Er Feng. Ka Er Feng spans such a vast area, including the surrounding mountains, roughly two thousand square li.

Even just the north, searching for a Storm Giant clan there remains very difficult.

Moreover, Karl Peak lies in the middle of the Shi Jie Shan Mai, the turning point of the massive range; the western side of the mountains is the Minotaur homeland, Tairun Plateau, while the east side is the Death Forest Sea.

Between Tairun Plateau and the Death Forest Sea lies a narrow, low‑lying gorge, like a corridor cut through the mountains, the only route that can be traversed without crossing the Shi Jie Shan Mai, called Sokrode.

Sokrode is the essential passage linking the east and west of the Old Continent.

In the new era of thriving sea transport, the route is still in use, with many caravans and adventurers traveling back and forth; Minotaurs heading to the Empire also set out from here.

Lei En rode the Flame Dragon, searching north from Karl Peak until the Sokrode corridor.

Within three days, he made multiple trips around the area, the Soul Eye constantly active, even circling the outer rim of the Death Forest Sea to the northeast of Karl Peak, encountering many powerful monsters and aberrations, yet found no trace of Storm Giants.

In the Sokrode corridor, Lei En asked several overland caravans, and all answers were "I don't know."

An old mercenary, in a reverent tone, told Lei En that he had traversed this road hundreds of times, was familiar with the Shi Jie Shan Mai and Karl Peak, yet had never heard of Storm Giants.

Lei En fell silent.

He continued searching for two more days, still finding nothing.

"Damn, that five‑hundred Gold Shield was a scam," Lei En thought of Hab the Minotaur's honest face, "What a swindler…"

"I'll settle the score when I get back to Mo Du!"

Lei En decided to give up; it had already been over ten days since he set out, and Xikarius and the others were still waiting at Astat; first they would build the Jin Gang Fort base.

He did not return the same way, but flew east for half a day, entering the border between the Sein Plateau and the Shi Jie Shan Mai, staying away from mountain dangers to avoid encountering the white dragons again.

The Flame Dragon flew along the junction of the plateau and the mountain range.

Karl Peak fell farther behind.

Lei En glanced back and sighed, "Is the Thunder Affinity Element truly this hard to find?"

For the Thunder God's Hammer, he has been stuck at the seventh‑level Wizard for over half a year.

Although it's not exactly a delay and his strength in other aspects has improved, it's frustrating to be held up so long when he could upgrade at any time.

Perhaps he should first fuse other demon souls, and when he reaches the ninth level, look for the Thunder Affinity again?

Three Thunder Affinities should be enough to advance to a Thunder Form when ascending to Legendary, right?

"Boom—..."

Just as Lei En was considering other methods, a fierce commotion rang in his ears.

"What was that?"

He looked toward the source; from the mountains ten‑plus li to his right‑front, a massive cloud of dust rose as a herd of cobalt‑colored wild horses galloped swiftly between the peaks, their thunderous charge stirring the air violently as if a storm had been summoned.

The herd numbered three to four hundred; they could stride on air, moving over rugged terrain as if on flat ground, at incredible speed.

While running, the massive herd's aura merged, appearing as a single entity.

They were pursuing a great bear.

Lei En, surprised by the bear's appearance, recognized it as the legendary beast "Earth Bear", about eight meters long, with a round, plump head, immensely strong, weighing an estimated over a hundred thousand pounds, yet moving with swift strides; its thick fur emitted a brown earth‑element glow, forming an impenetrable armor.

The Earth Bear evolved from a high‑level earth brown bear; a single character difference, yet its power is worlds apart.

Legends say the Earth Bear possesses the strength to slay giant dragons.

However, this Earth Bear was being chased by the herd of wild horses, looking rather beleaguered.

On its back, Lei En saw a dwarf silhouette, wielding a soul gun with an extremely long barrel, periodically turning to fire.

The gunfire boomed, bringing down a wild horse, yet it failed to create an effective block.

In the dwarf's headspace, a pale‑green illusory bird hovered, its wingspan less than two meters, small in size, looking like an owl.

Lei En was greatly astonished.

A legendary dwarf hunter, whose animal companion was also a legendary beast, was being chased by a herd of wild horses, repeatedly in peril, and it looked rather ominous.

He did not hesitate, letting the Flame Dragon accelerate and fly over.

As they approached, the Earth Bear had already run down from the mountain, sprinting across the flat plateau. Its speed was not slow—each step covered several meters—but it was still slightly slower than the wild horses behind, and full‑speed running could not shake them off.

When it was about to be caught, the Earth Bear suddenly stopped and turned back, slamming its front paws onto the ground.

Massive earth spikes burst through the ground, thrusting straight into the sky.

The wild horses' hooves tangled with light, and a pair of translucent wind‑wings sprouted from either side of their bodies, trailing faint glimmers as they ran, quite dazzling.

They ran above the ground, not truly taking flight, merely leaping while sprinting.

Some slightly shorter wild horses were instantly impaled by the earth spikes.

However, their skin and muscles were extremely hard; the spikes could not pierce, leaving only shallow wounds.

The injuries provoked the wild horses' frenzy; they roared, and a gust of seemingly solid wind gathered before the herd, accelerating forward and smashing through the stone wall summoned by the Earth Bear.

Seizing the chance, the Earth Bear turned and fled.

Amid booming sounds, the herd of wild horses trod over broken stone, persisting in the chase as if bearing a deep‑seated blood feud.

Pursuit, stone‑wall obstruction, smashing, continued chase… gunshots rang intermittently, or other earth‑type spells eliminated some horses, yet could not inflict effective damage on the whole herd.

This scene replayed over and over on the plateau.

When Lei En flew close, the dwarf on the bear's back immediately spotted him and shouted to the sky, "Help! Young man, hurry, help me! These bronze wild horses have gone mad!"

He kept shouting, first pleading in the Empire tongue, then switching to dwarf language, barbarian tongue, elf tongue, and even giant tongue, taking turns, lest anyone fail to understand.

Lei En examined the two eyes carefully.

The dwarf wore a straw hat, deep‑blue eyelids, light leather armor, a dense fiery red beard covering most of his face, and two thick braids hanging from his chin, bound with copper rings at his chest.

Fine dwarf script was engraved on the copper rings.

From those characters, Lei En recognized him as a member of Zuo Er Tan's clan, possibly from the same lineage, and decided to act.

He thought for a moment and drew his Arcane Flood Staff.

Then he commanded the Flame Dragon to fly at full power, unleashing several bursts of raging flame, arriving ahead of the Earth Bear's escape route, holding the Flame Dragon aloft in the sky, and opened an Arbitrary Door.

One end of the Arbitrary Door was on the dragon's back, the other end on the ground.

Seeing the Arbitrary Door, the dwarf instantly understood Lei En's plan, his face brightening, and he urged the Earth Bear to speed toward the door on the left.

When he was less than a hundred meters from the door, the herd of wild horses caught up behind him.

Lei En shouted, "Close your eyes."

The dwarf complied, closing his eyes, and the Earth Bear's pupils were covered with a layer of earth‑colored protective haze.

A burst of light shot from Lei En's staff into the air, suddenly exploding with a loud "boom," a fierce white glare flashing, instantly blinding the hundreds of bronze wild horses, halting their charge, and they collided, emitting painful screams.

This Four‑Ring Light Burst Technique achieved an excellent result.

The Earth Bear reached the Arbitrary Door, and as the dwarf leapt off its back, its size shrank rapidly, turning into a cute little bear within seconds, and followed the dwarf through the door.

One person and one bear landed on the dragon's back, and Lei En immediately closed the door.

The dwarf's other pet, that owl‑like strange flying bird, also flew up and settled on the dwarf's shoulder.

On the ground, the wild horse herd regained sight but could not find a target; they circled a few times before slowly heading east, disappearing from view.

The dwarf breathed a sigh of relief, then gratefully said, "Thank you, young man." He glanced at Lei En, proudly introducing himself, "I am Bu Lai Mi Te, from the Copper Ring Clan of Rongyanbao, the greatest hunter and archaeologist among dwarves—perhaps you have heard my name."

(End of chapter)