Chapter 621 - 452: Baofeng’s Final Destination and the Cloud Sea Giant Whale
Chapter 621: Chapter 452: Baofeng’s Final Destination and the Cloud Sea Giant Whale
A faint black fissure appeared out of thin air, then violently tore open.
"RRRIP!"
A deafening sound, like fabric being ripped apart, echoed across the heavens and the earth.
A massive spatial rift, two to three thousand meters long and three to four hundred meters wide, stretched across the sky like a hideous scar.
Through the rift, Raylo saw another world.
It was a world without land or sea, only an endless expanse of roiling clouds. Above this Cloud Sea was a brilliant, starry sky.
Before anyone could recover from the spectacular sight, a school of enormous creatures shot past within the rift’s frame.
The creatures were bluish-white, their bodies shaped like whales. They had a pair of giant fins that they used to propel themselves through the waves of clouds, navigating the Cloud Sea.
"Cloud Sea Giant Whales!"
Raylo’s breath caught in his throat.
There were dozens of these Cloud Sea Giant Whales. They seemed to have been startled, their flight paths chaotic and panicked.
The next second, a terrifyingly large, golden bird of prey lunged out from the depths of the Cloud Sea.
It resembled both an eagle and a hawk. Its spread wings blotted out the starlight visible through the rift, its wingspan likely exceeding two thousand meters.
The golden Giant Eagle let out a shriek that could pierce clouds and shatter stone. Moving at incredible speed, it thrust a pair of massive talons, gleaming with a cold metallic light, directly toward the school of whales.
A Cloud Sea Giant Whale that had fallen behind was too slow to dodge and was seized firmly by the Giant Eagle’s talons.
"WHINE!"
A mournful cry echoed across the Cloud Sea.
A nearby whale tried to rescue its companion, but the Giant Eagle’s sharp talons slashed open a wound on its tail so deep the bone was visible. Blood sprayed out, instantly dyeing the surrounding clouds red.
In agony, the injured whale thrashed its tail wildly, breaking free from the talons’ grasp and fleeing in terror.
The school of whales, utterly terrified, scattered in all directions.
The golden Giant Eagle, holding one victim, seemed unsatisfied. Its sharp eyes locked onto the heavily injured Cloud Sea Giant Whale and it dove again.
The wounded whale let out a despairing cry.
It saw the spatial rift ahead—the gateway to another world. It was its only path to survival.
Without hesitation, it summoned all its strength and charged headfirst toward the rift.
Everyone’s heart was in their throat.
The golden Giant Eagle was clearly unwilling to let its prey escape. Its enormous talons followed close behind, reaching for the fleeing whale.
The Cloud Sea Giant Whale’s massive head was the first to burst through the spatial rift, appearing in the sky above Black Stone Territory.
Its body was immense, like a moving mountain.
However, the Giant Eagle’s talons were faster.
Just as the Cloud Sea Giant Whale had squeezed most of its body out of the rift, the golden talons reached through as well. Half a claw crossed the boundary between worlds and dug viciously into the whale’s back.
"SQUELCH!"
Raylo could clearly see the sharp talons pierce flesh, sending a spray of blood and scales flying.
"WHINE!"
The Cloud Sea Giant Whale let out a cry more piercing than any before. Its massive body lost its balance and began to plummet from the sky toward the mountains below.
At that moment, the spatial rift began to close rapidly, forcing the golden talons to retract.
From the other side of the rift came the frustrated shriek of the golden Giant Eagle.
As the rift vanished completely, the sky returned to normal, leaving behind only a dead silence.
"BOOM!"
The next moment, a deafening crash echoed out.
The Cloud Sea Giant Whale’s colossal body slammed into a valley less than a kilometer away from Raylo and the others. The ground trembled violently, as if from a powerful earthquake.
Countless rocks tumbled down the mountainsides, and a plume of dust shot into the air, obscuring half the sky.
Everyone was stunned by the earth-shattering scene, rendered momentarily speechless.
The dust slowly settled.
Raylo saw the enormous Cloud Sea Giant Whale lying in the massive crater it had created. Its bluish-white body was covered in wounds, especially the gashes on its back from the talons, which were deep enough to expose bone. Blood poured from them like waterfalls, pooling into a lake of red beneath it.
It was still breathing. Its huge chest rose and fell faintly, but each breath was clearly a struggle.
"Lord..."
Beside him, Ed was stunned by the earth-shattering scene, his voice hoarse.
Raylo snapped back to his senses, a look of determination flashing in his eyes.
He immediately gave an order.
"Quick! Ed, return to Black Stone City at once and bring Master Barnaby to me! Tell him to bring the Heart of the Ancient Tree!"
He turned to the Hill Giant beside him.
"Kado, take your people and seal off that valley immediately. Drive away any nearby Magical Beasts, but don’t get close to its wounds. Stay on high alert!"
The wind from the valley carried a thick, metallic scent of blood that was heavy and suffocating.
Soon, a small black dot appeared in the distant sky. The dot grew rapidly, revealing a Two-legged Flying Dragon that beat its wings and landed precisely next to Raylo.
A figure leaped down from the Flying Dragon’s back.
His hair was a bird’s nest, and his robes were stained with the juice of some unknown herb. It was Master Barnaby.
When Master Barnaby saw the Cloud Sea Giant Whale, his mouth fell open, and his glasses slid to the tip of his nose.
"My heavens... What... What is this?"
He rushed to the edge of the valley, craning his neck to look down, his expression like someone who had just laid eyes on the world’s most perfect work of art.
"A Cloud Sea Giant Whale."
Raylo walked to his side.
"A Cloud Sea Giant Whale..."
Master Barnaby muttered to himself, his eyes feverish with excitement.
’Incredible biological structure. How does a body this massive even sustain itself? How big must its heart be? How is its circulatory system designed?’
"Master."
Raylo interrupted his academic musings.
"It’s dying. I need you to save it."
Only then did Master Barnaby shift his focus from biological research to healing. He carefully examined the deep, bone-exposing wounds on the whale’s back, his brow furrowed in concentration.
"These wounds... What clawed it? There’s a scorching, tyrannical Power lingering in the claw marks, destroying its life force."
He crouched down, pinched a bit of blood-soaked earth from the ground, and raised it to his nose to smell.
"Can you save it?"
Raylo asked directly.
Master Barnaby stood up and dusted the dirt from his hands, a pained yet proud expression on his face.
"Lord, this whale is quite lucky."
He carefully took out a Crystal Bottle from his worn-out Spatial Bag.
The bottle contained an emerald-green liquid that gave off a soft glow. Just looking at it, one could feel a rich aura of life.
"This is the first Life Potion I managed to concoct using the Heart of the Ancient Tree. I was planning to save it for research."
There was a hint of reluctance in Master Barnaby’s voice.
"Only a Potion of this caliber can keep it alive."
Raylo looked at the palm-sized Crystal Bottle, then at the mountain-like whale in the valley.
"Is that tiny bit enough?"
"Hmph. Lord, this is the very essence of essences."
Master Barnaby said with a look of pride.
"Forget just saving it. As long as it can swallow this, its wounds will stop bleeding and start healing in less than half an hour."
A new problem arose.
The Cloud Sea Giant Whale was unconscious, its mouth shut tight. How were they going to get the Potion down its throat?
"Kado!"
Raylo shouted toward the Hill Giants.
Kado walked over.
"Lord."
He responded in his booming voice.
"Take a few of your people and find a way to pry its mouth open."
Raylo gave the command.
Kado glanced at the massive head, nodded, and led a dozen or so Hill Giants sliding down the slope into the giant crater.
The Giants walked up to the Cloud Sea Giant Whale’s head. In comparison, they looked like children surrounding an elephant.
"One, two, three, HEAVE!"
Kado roared. A dozen Hill Giants exerted their strength in unison, pressing their thick arms and shoulders against the Cloud Sea Giant Whale’s lower jaw. Their muscles bulged and veins popped.
The whale’s jaw didn’t budge an inch.
Gordo and Ug joined in as well.
"Again!"
The Giants’ faces turned red with effort. They let out low, guttural grunts, the ground beneath their feet sinking under the pressure.
"CRREEEAK..."
After a teeth-grinding sound of grating bone, the Cloud Sea Giant Whale’s mouth was finally forced open a crack.