Chapter 4633: The Rewards of a Successful Hunt
Chapter 4633: The Rewards of a Successful Hunt
"Take the Godly Apex Crystal, and let’s get out of here," Roan said hurriedly. "There are definitely a few opportunists who have been waiting for exactly this moment."
Tobao and Arcis exchanged confused looks. Opportunists? Were there other cultivators lurking nearby, waiting for an opportunity to take advantage of their battle? Would there really be someone this far into the Godly Creatures’ Territories? Neither Law God wasted time asking questions, though. They immediately returned to the airplane, trusting Roan’s judgment.
Just to be safe, Celis was the one who retrieved the Godly Apex Crystal. His vines could reach the target from a distance, allowing him to avoid approaching the creature’s corpse directly. After all, those strange, shimmering lights were still floating around the Godly Apex Moth’s body. They hadn’t disappeared even after its death, and nobody knew whether they could still pose a threat.
By then, Arcis and the others had finally understood what Roan meant. A glance at the airplane’s radar revealed several readings of highly concentrated Godly Pressure approaching from different directions. Judging by their intensity, every single one of those approaching creatures was a Godly Horror. There was little doubt that they were other Moths from the surrounding swamp.
"This..."
The airplane’s Celestial Thrusters roared back to life, and Rean immediately steered Mark toward a gap in the approaching creatures’ encirclement. They had no intention of waiting around to see how the newcomers would react.
"Those guys definitely heard the Godly Apex Moth’s call," Roan explained as the airplane accelerated. "However, they didn’t come to help it; they only stayed close. They might not possess intelligence in the way we understand it, but they can still recognize an opportunity when one presents itself. The death of a Godly Apex benefits them, and they undoubtedly want its Godly Apex Crystal to increase their own strength."
He glanced toward the radar again before continuing. "There’s also the fact that we’re cultivators. Now that the Godly Apex is dead, they’ll undoubtedly focus on us if they discover our presence. That’s another reason we need to leave before they arrive."
Were they truly in danger, though?
Not necessarily.
If push comes to shove, the twins’ group could simply retreat into the Great Void and wait until the Godly Horrors abandoned the area. There would be very little their enemies could do about that under normal circumstances.
However, the group hadn’t forgotten what happened when the Thousand-Script Race expert Doluno interfered with their access to the Great Void. That incident had taught them that their escape method wasn’t necessarily infallible. Could these Godly Horror Moths somehow interfere with their access in the same or some other way? There was no evidence that they could, but there was no absolute guarantee that they couldn’t, either.
Therefore, rather than risk discovering the answer at the worst possible moment, they decided to leave the area before the Godly Horror Moths arrived. Even if the possibility of their escape being blocked was extremely small, it wasn’t worth gambling their lives over something so easily avoided.
Rean’s airplane slipped through the gap in the approaching creatures and quickly left the area behind. The Godly Horror Moths, unable to sense the cultivators’ presence because of the Godly Pressure Disguise Array, simply ignored the departing vessel. As far as they could tell, it was nothing more than another Godly Predator Moth, hardly worth their attention when a much more valuable prize awaited them nearby.
Once the airplane had traveled a safe distance and the group confirmed that none of the Godly Horrors was pursuing them, Rean finally reduced its speed to the normal Initial Stage Zone God level. He would need some time to do maintenance on the Celestial Thrusters, but otherwise, everything was fine.
*Pin!*
[Additional Objective 01 Completed.]
"Hm?" Rean and the others were momentarily confused by the notification. After exchanging glances, Rean addressed Sister Orb. "The system never announced the completion of additional objectives before. It always calculated everything at the end, once the entire quest was over."
[I know!] Sister Orb replied cheerfully, clearly pleased that they had noticed the change. [But isn’t it nice if I add these notifications? At least you can tell when you’ve truly completed part of the objectives instead of having to wait until the entire quest is finished!]
Rean shrugged. "Well, it’s definitely not a bad thing. I don’t see any reason to complain."
After all, one of the quest’s additional objectives had been to acquire a Godly Apex Crystal, and they had accomplished precisely that. There was no reason to keep that part of the quest open until the entire mission was completed. They had secured the required crystal, so that objective was finished. Better yet, they wouldn’t need to hunt another Godly Apex in the future just to fulfill that requirement.
"Sigh..." Tobao let out a long breath as he reflected on what they had just accomplished. "A Godly Apex... and a Middle one at that."
Arcis shared his amazement. "To think we could actually bring down one of those monsters. We weren’t even certain they still existed in the Godly Creatures’ Territories beyond Besgol. It’s been so long since anyone reported a sighting in any of the Regions we can contact that most cultivators had begun to doubt whether they were still around."
Roan immediately cautioned them against drawing the wrong conclusion. "To be truthful, we didn’t defeat it in a straightforward battle. If we had faced that creature while it was at the peak of its strength without any plans, all of us together would have been defeated easily. We might even have been killed if we hadn’t escaped into the Great Void or found some other way to survive. Don’t let this victory go to your heads."
Tobao and Arcis nodded without hesitation. "We’ve spent countless years giving the exact same warning to cultivators in Besgol. We wouldn’t forget those lessons just because we managed to kill a Godly Apex under favorable circumstances."
"Good," Roan said, satisfied with their response.
"So, you’ve obtained the Godly Apex Crystal you needed," Kachia remarked. Since everyone knew about the system by now, they were all aware of the quest and its requirements. "What happens now? Do we simply fly straight to the Sprouting Portal?"
"Pretty much," Rean confirmed. There was little reason to seek out another Godly Apex at the moment, especially considering the danger involved in fighting one.
However, Rean had a different idea in mind. "But before we leave, we’ll stay in this area for a few weeks."
Tobao, Arcis, and Kachia exchanged puzzled looks.
"Why?" Arcis asked.
"Didn’t you see it?" Celis interjected, his excitement apparent. "There were at least seven Godly Horror Moths waiting for the Godly Apex Moth to die. That’s seven Godly Horror Crystals just sitting there for the taking! With our current strength, we can definitely hunt them down one by one. Why would we walk away from such a harvest?"
Tobao pressed his fingers against the space between his eyes, struggling to adjust to the casual way Celis spoke about hunting creatures that most cultivators would consider catastrophic threats. "I’m still not used to the fact that we can actually kill Godly Horrors safely without the protection of a Sacred Relic’s Influence."
Kachia and Arcis couldn’t help agreeing with him. Even after two years of traveling together, they still hadn’t entirely wrapped their minds around that reality.
Yet, their current circumstances were different. With the twins’ combined strength, the Yin Yang Sanctuary, Roan’s Anti-Godly Pressure Pills, and their coordinated fighting techniques, they could handle Godly Horrors far more safely than most cultivators could ever hope to. That didn’t make the creatures harmless, but it certainly made them worthwhile targets.
As for the Godly Apex Crystal, neither Arcis nor Tobao made any attempt to claim it. They hadn’t forgotten how Roan had helped them with those ten Godly Apex Crystals in the past. Arcis and Tobao had each used one of those crystals to break through into the Middle and Late Stages, respectively, while the twins’ group hadn’t taken a single one for themselves.
Given that history, asking the twins to hand over this newly acquired Godly Apex Crystal just wouldn’t be right. Both Law Gods had their own pride, and they weren’t about to disregard the help they had received simply because a valuable prize was now within reach.
Besides, Godly Horror Crystals were already excellent cultivation resources for them. They would gladly take part in the upcoming hunt and claim their fair share of those instead.
"Very well. Let’s hunt some Godly Horrors."