Chapter 48: Secret of Argaman Range
As Ryker slowly ascended the steep rocks, he could understand why most adventurers bolt when they reach a certain range to the mountain. A mighty aura, so strong that even being near it makes you feel like being drowned, the pressure pushing you as all of your instincts tell you to run for your life.
Most of the adventurers who survived the fifth and final peak of the Argaman Range are sensible and logical people. Those who stay long enough to grab as many natural treasures as possible are classified as brave and sensible, taking what they can before leaving.
The others, all that died because they decided to continue climbing are simply insane, crazy, and another synonym. Unfortunately, he will be categorized in the third category, for he was insane enough to traverse the steep slopes of the fifth peak.
As he stepped onto the first flat ground, he used his aura to protect himself from the others' aura, not enough to nullify it, but just enough to allow him to at least breathe easily while on the fifth peak.
He also activated his concealing technique, his presence disappeared or at least was undetectable to the powerful beasts residing on the peak. As he looked around, he felt something was wrong.
He's not sure what he feels is wrong but he always trusts his instinct, the reason he could survive without protection in this dangerous world. His instinct guided him through every danger, allowing him to able to survive even some dangerous situations while training under his parents.
"What could be wrong here?" he mumbled, "It's not like the place is dark or leaking dangerous poison or the plants would wither already. The only thing would be the eerie aura. There are no dangerous beasts here to-!"
His eyes widened as he suddenly realized what was wrong. There are no wild beasts. He didn't even spot a single one when he climbed the peak. There are only two options, one, he didn't spot any yet, or two, there are no wild beasts because one very powerful one killed and chased the others off.
He leans to the second option as he already traversed half of the mountain height and still no beasts in sight. He hoped the beast at least be only a 5th Stage Genesis Beast as it would increase his survival odds.
He wondered what type of beast would it be before he was distracted by a shining berry. "Glittering White Berry! A Genesis 4th Grade Spirit Fruit!" he exclaimed before spotting a bunch of flowers with blood-red coloring.
"Blood Orchid! And so many of them too!" as he looked around, he spotted more and more natural treasures. A part of him wants to grab all of them but the sensible part wants to grab them but leave some behind.
He decided to follow the sensible part, after all, if the beast realized something had been grabbing all of its treasure, he would be hunted relentlessly. As he scoured the area, he found more and more natural treasures.
If not for his self-control, he would have stripped it all down. Instead, he took one-third while leaving the other behind. As his treasure hunting slowly led him to the peak, he started to be more cautious, looking around for any signs of danger before grabbing the natural treasures.
As he ascended, he could feel the aura growing stronger to the point even the shielding he did to himself was not enough, forcing him to use more of his qi to protect himself. Thankfully, his reserves are the highest possible in his realm, so it should be enough to protect himself.
If not, he has a lot of Qi Supplying Pills, in the rare case he exhausted his Qi reserves. As he continued to climb up, he could feel something else. Another aura besides the terrifying one. One that he couldn't put his mind to it. He was sure he had some exposure to the second aura, but he couldn't remember when.
Deciding to satiate his curiosity, he concealed his presence before climbing up. Thankfully, one of the training his parents made him do is moving under powerful pressure. While the pressure is powerful, it is still not enough to cause much trouble than some breathing problems.
As he climbed up, he could see a cave, radiating the powerful pressure. He was sure he was hallucinating but he was sure the cave released several black and red aura. He steeled himself, took a deep breath, and went inside the cave.
The moment he entered, he was hit by a powerful aura, strong enough that he could feel his heart stop beating for a second. Covering his body with several layers of qi, he continued onwards.
Thankfully, the cave has a straight path instead of multiple intersections and something like a literal maze. If not, he was sure he would die if he kept on going. Even with the cave being a straight line, the aura made it almost impossible to get through.
The only reason he could keep walking was because he was already used to powerful pressure from very powerful experts. As he kept going, he could sense the second aura, one that slowly became more and more familiar as he got to its source.
He then thought of a possibility. "Could it be-" he muttered to himself before moving forward, the only thing left is to prove his idea is correct.
As he kept going, he spotted the exit, a red light shining from it. A part of him is terrified but the insane part told him to just keep going. Unfortunately, he listened to the latter part for today. As he soon reached the exit, he was greeted by a terrifying yet marvelous sight.
Several powerful beasts, all reaching the 5th Stage Genesis realm, all over the place. "Those are Red Earth Lizards," he quickly noticed the similarity of the creature with the one he had read before.
"But they never get this strong, and their color changed slightly, but they are still, Red Earth Lizards, meaning this must be a mutated one. Then again, not they didn't adapt to that, they won't be able to remain in this place," he talked to himself, the lizard beasts moved slightly, allowing him to see the thing that they surrounded, a heart. Or more specifically, a dragon heart.
The reason he felt a similar aura is that he practiced an art that utilized the aura that the dragon heart emitted, death energy. The dragon had been dead for so long that it let out death energy.
He looked around, already finding it's skull, ribs, and some other bones. While there is no meat or skin left, if he has to guess, the creature is at least in the Saint realm, which is why a Genesis Stage 2 Beast like the Red Earth Lizards could become a Genesis Stage 5 Beast.
"Calling them Red Earth Lizards is not fitting, what about Red Earth Lizard Dragon," he said to himself.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
-- Power
stone