Chapter 517 — Vajra Body & Hydra Tribe

For the next few days, the Blood Forest Realm remained relatively calm.

That calm, however, was limited to most of the continent.

In the far east region, changes were quietly taking place.

More precisely, in a small forest located at its very edge.

--

A soul-stirring roar suddenly echoed through Twilight Forest, reaching the ears of every living being within it.

A Rank 6 ape demon stood on top of a small hill and looked at the bloody corpses of its dead companions lying across the ground, its pupils filled with hatred and terror.

The metallic scent of fresh blood assaulted its senses, as its gaze remained locked on the culprit behind everything.

Though intelligent, the ape demon couldn’t understand what had happened and why.

In the eastern part of the continent, Rank 6 beings were considered supreme powerhouses. No one would easily offend one, including other Rank 6 beings.

With several Rank 6 demons leading it, the ape demon could be considered an apex force of the eastern region.

Yet, the sudden arrival of the other party had broken the peace that had lasted for decades.

Only a few moments had passed since they arrived.

But in such a short period of time, all its companions had been ruthlessly killed.

The ape demon was unable to see how this had happened.

It was the strongest of its kind, reaching the peak of Rank 6 and being infinitely close to becoming a Rank 7 World Lord.

Despite this, it knew full well it could not contend with such an opponent.

At the same time, however, it knew it could not back down.

Its roar grew even more terrifying.

Its fur shook, and its body expanded at an astonishing rate, growing several tens of meters tall in the blink of an eye.

Then, it lunged at its opponent with all of its strength.

It soared into the sky and raised its fists, planning to smash them down onto the enemy’s head.

Unfortunately, it couldn’t go very far.

While it was still midair, it found itself unable to move, as though the laws of gravity had ceased to exist.

The fear in its eyes grew ever more obvious.

It felt as though something had been awakened within it.

The next moment—

Bang!

Its body exploded into a mince of flesh and blood.

Liora did not allow it to fall to the ground, much less return to the outside world.

With a move of her mind, Predation was activated, transforming into a large black hole in front of her.

An enormous devouring force descended.

Whether it was the recently deceased ape demon or its long-dead companions, they were all obliterated in an instant, their essence falling into the hole and disappearing.

In turn, their Cosmic Energy became Liora’s nourishment while a new talent gene was awakened within her.

She paid little attention to the latter for the time being.

Her consciousness concentrated on one of her talent genes, and she worked to suppress it.

Only when this was no longer possible did she relax her constraint and watch it evolve into Rank 6.

Feeling the power feedback as it leapt in dimensions, she nodded her head in satisfaction.

"This is the fiftieth Rank 6 talent. In a certain way, I currently possess the fundamental strength of fifty Rank 6 Awakeners."

"No.", she suddenly shook her head and corrected herself:

"Rank 5 Predation should be roughly equal to a Rank 7 talent on its own. Combined with the rest of my talents..."

Liora shook her head. It was hard to make a definitive evaluation.

After the evolution process was over, she focused on another matter.

On her newly obtained talent.

The relevant information immediately came to mind.

Every ape demon of this tribe possessed the C-Rank talent "Superhuman Strength".

After several such talents were fused together, they had been upgraded to B-Rank "Vajra Body".

Liora was satisfied to see this.

"A rare passive talent that requires no activation and whose effects are useful at all times."

"Although its current Rank is somewhat low and might not be of much use, it has a lot of potential for the future."

While she was thinking, part of her mind integrated all her insights, solidifying them into the Strength Domain and merging them with the Vajra Body talent gene.

Within moments, this new talent had been upgraded to Rank 5.

Liora did not push it any further.

Its future advancement required large amounts of Cosmic Energy.

With her upgraded Cosmic Devouring Technique, all she needed was to devour a few Rank 6 demons.

Unfortunately, this was no longer an option.

As Liora’s World of Heart unfolded and covered most of the Twilight Forest, she discovered that the entire forest was deathly silent.

Most of the demons were already dead, and those who were lucky to survive were shivering fearfully in some corner, as though afraid that the great devil would find them.

Seeing their reactions and knowing full well they were trying to avoid her, Liora couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

Did these weaklings really think she would waste her time hunting them?

Clearly, they were thinking too highly of themselves.

Still, such a sight let Liora know that it was time for her to leave.

Not only because most of the powerful demons were already dead, but also because the changes in Twilight Forest were bound to attract attention soon.

Besides the Orion Tribe, there were other human settlements near this place.

It was only a matter of time before they discovered the disappearance of so many demons and began to suspect something.

As soon as this thought appeared, Liora didn’t hesitate.

Her body transformed into a gust of wind the next instant, soaring into the sky before disappearing into the horizon.

--

The Hydra Tribe was the largest human settlement of the eastern region.

It housed several powerful Awakeners, while the Nine-Headed Hydra, their deity, was one of the continent’s most revered Gods.

Its influence over the region was evident to anyone who had ever been there.

At the same time, the difference between it and the other tribes was huge.

Unlike the barren villages of ordinary tribes, the Hydra Tribe was situated in a giant city.

People wearing fine clothes and Awakeners soaring into the sky could be seen constantly, with some Hydra Tribe members riding on giant beasts rather than walking.

As soon as she saw this scene, Liora’s eyes couldn’t help but narrow.

Wearing the clothes of the natives, she approached the city’s entrance, ready to go through the check-in.

Subconsciously, her gaze locked onto the nine-headed serpent-looking statue beside the gate, whose power closely resembled that of the God of Hunting.

Sensing the simulated power of faith attempting to investigate her, Liora immediately channeled the technique she had previously developed.

Instantly, her very essence appeared to have changed.

From a normal human of the outside universe, her structure became exactly the same as that of the secret realm’s natives.

The statue’s investigation did not last for long.

Only a brief moment later, the power of the faith vanished, clearly detecting nothing wrong with her.

Liora breathed a sigh of relief.

She had previously been cautious about the Human Temple’s methods, unwilling to interact with other humans before she found a way to bypass them.

Fortunately, after a few weeks of studying the Tribe Chief’s memories and using her own rich experiences, she was able to create a way to escape the natives’ detection.

Only then did she finally feel confident enough to move among humanity openly.