Chapter 68: Tide of Aura!

Above the clouds, a curious figure approached from the inner region of the Mountains—it was a Misty Sparrow... It was heading toward the valley, gazing from the clear sky at the cracked and devastated land below.

The increasingly ruined landscape passed swiftly beneath the bird's eyes, and the closer it got to the valley, the more drastic the change in the forest's territory became—even the wounded plants and animals were becoming increasingly scarce.

But soon, everything disappeared in a flash due to the sparrow's astonishing speed. It then reached an area full of elevations and holes in the ground, yet even here, a few small animals had managed to survive.

However, this was not the bird's objective. It accelerated again until, finally, a massive dark cliff came into view—where once the valley had been.

— "Tchirp" — in a low tone, with its gaze fixed on the abyss, it stopped mid-air. With an oddly human-like expression, it seemed hesitant and doubtful—but that didn't stop it from circling the edge of the abyss, never once entering.

Then, suddenly, a beam of light shot from the warped ground and struck the bird!

— "Boom" — the object, an earthy cone, hit the bird mid-flight. But strangely, the bird dispersed into mist!

In that brief moment, the real sparrow appeared above the attacker, and with a flap of its wings, several white crescent-shaped energy blades were unleashed.

"Trimmm!... Trimmm... Trimmm... Trimmm..." — The blades collided with the silhouette of the hidden attacker amidst the jagged terrain.

"Tammmm!" — The concentrated attacks caused the land formation to collapse, but before it could fall completely—"Boom..." — it shattered into multiple fragments, which then shot upward toward the sky.

The sparrow's feathers shimmered under the reflected light as it darted nimbly through the gaps between half-meter-long earth spikes — "Uuuu" — and finally, the bird soared higher into the sky, beyond the range of further attacks...

And at last, it saw its attacker. A creature the size of a pig with a shell covered in brown spikes! Clearly skilled in earth manipulation—and and like the sparrow, he was also clearly at the Primary Beast level, equivalent to the Primary Origin Realm!

But before anything else could unfold, the ground began to shake—and shake. A cloud of dust rose as more of the forest collapsed.

From the massive hole in the valley, the tremor intensified and—"Boom!" — a massive transparent jet shot dozens of meters into the air, spreading like water in all directions.

The enormous tide instantly swallowed the strange beast before it could react. But the strangest thing of all was that the sparrow left the safety of the sky and dove straight into the wave!

And thus, the Tide continued to spread...

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At a good distance away, in the territory of the monkeys—once full of fruit trees—only rubble remained. The cracked and shattered ground, along with tree debris, showed how intense the earthquake had been.

There was a single exception near the center, where three massive sequoias stood—scarred, missing pieces, and leaking sap—testifying to how bravely they had resisted the tremors and the stampede of animals, though now they were near their limit.

— "Ooh-ooh-aa-aa!" — Atop the branches and within the hollowed trunks, several monkeys could still be seen alive. They had used the super-resilient trees as shelter and survived—at least, most of them.

— "Ooh-ooh-aa-aa!" — They communicated anxiously, pointing to the devastated territory and the dying giant trees.

They grew more agitated, seemingly arguing in panic, until a roar silenced them all:

— "Ooh-ooh-aa-aa!" — The Great Monkeys had spoken—their leader standing beside the Great She-Monkey.

— "Ooh-ooh-aa-aa! Ooh-ooh-aa-aa! Ooh-ooh-aa-aa!" — With that, the monkeys calmed and began to spread throughout the territory, while others entered the giant trees.

Disheartened and sorrowful, they knew they had to leave—without trees, they were easy prey for hunters. There was no celebration, only sadness.

The Great She-Monkey stood still, and atop her head were the three little monkeys whom Tang Chun Xi would recognize if she were there—gazing sadly at everything.

While the monkeys prepared themselves, the white-tufted little monkey tilted its head and looked in a direction with confusion. The mother monkey seemed to sense something and nudged him, but couldn't break his stare. Only after several nudges did the little monkey snap out of it.

He scratched his head and made a sound, pointing toward the direction he had been staring at. The mother looked confused but couldn't understand and tried again—unsuccessfully.

After several attempts, she gave up and let him play. It was only then that a tremor occurred, shaking the monkeys.

— "Ooh-ooh-aa-aa!!!" — The monkeys panicked and ran toward the central trees, thinking another earthquake was coming, when suddenly, one monkey stopped and looked in the direction the little one had pointed. One by one, the others froze as well.

The She-Monkey looked in that direction—and froze. A few hundred meters away, a colossal wave dozens of meters high rose on the horizon, heading straight toward them.

But strangely, no monkey screamed in fear or fled. On the contrary, they ran toward the wave with expressions of desire and ecstasy. Every single one of them—from the Great Monkeys to the remaining animals of the forest.

Birds flying overhead were the first to reach it, diving into the giant wave, passing through it without resistance. Animals and plants were quickly covered by a shimmering silver and golden light.

Seen from above, the entire devastated landscape was transforming! Replaced by new plants—new trees sprouted from the rubble and reached maturity within seconds. Flowers and herbs were not spared either; even upon maturing, they didn't stop absorbing the transparent energy and were rapidly promoted from low level, to medium, high, perfect—and eventually into low-grade spiritual plants, continuing to grow.

Soon the monkeys and their giant trees were engulfed as well, and likewise absorbed the energy—their wounds healed, their levels rose—and in mere seconds, the Great She-Monkey roared. Her skin hardened, her aura surged—and boom!—she broke through to the mid-stage of the Primary Origin Realm.

She wasn't the only one. The little monkeys were absorbing it too—but the energy wasn't just increasing their level. The two little ones also gained white manes, and the one who already had a white tuft now had it spread across his ears and parts of his body...

While the wave enveloped everything, it expanded beyond, continuing to spread…