Chapter 280: Return to the Storm Sea
Donald didn’t know that the indigenous humans he had abandoned hadn’t died in the previous battles but rather perished under the vengeful strike of the Stone Bear God. Such was the pitiful fate of mortals!
The five of them had already traveled thousands of miles away from the Barbarian Ox Tribe, crossing through instant teleportation to the snowy mountainous region in the northwest, emerging on a seaside beach.
This was the place where they had disembarked by boat before heading to the Green Trees Ruins. Donald had carefully observed the surrounding terrain earlier, and it turned out to be useful today. If they had rushed through an unfamiliar area, even with teleportation, they might have lost their direction and failed to teleport successfully.
He didn’t dare teleport back to the Iron Anchor Three Islands for fear of causing unnecessary trouble for the Iron Anchor God and the others.
He couldn’t estimate the abilities of those semi-divine warriors, but they surely had the capacity to track a person’s scent. Even if they could teleport hundreds or thousands of kilometers in an instant, staying in one place for too long would likely allow them to be tracked down.
So Donald didn’t stay put. He used the great teleportation spell once again, arriving instantly at the sea area where they first came to the Totem Continent world. Hundreds of feet below lay the end of the safe passage.
This passage formed only once a year, opening three times—once during each of the three full moons per year in the main world of Silver Moon, lasting about three days each time.
Tonight was the second full moon, the perfect time for it to open again. Influenced by the tides, the passage was already open. The next opening would likely be four months later, which was also the time they had planned to return. But since their mission had been fulfilled beyond expectations and the Totem Continent was growing more chaotic, it was better to return sooner!
On the Totem Continent side, there were also spatial storms caused by the fusion of two worlds, but these were avoided thanks to the extended passage. Thus, the return journey was much smoother than the one they had taken to get here. However, the dangerous sections in the Storm Sea still couldn’t be avoided.
“Let’s go!”
Their gains this time far exceeded expectations, so no one objected to leaving now.
Donald granted everyone Level 3 underwater breathing and Level 2 water movement skills, and added a comprehensive Sea Cloak to himself. Those who didn’t want to stay on the surface entered the water.
Beneath the sea surface, thanks to their previous experience, the five of them easily found the safe passage, which had a different color from the ordinary seawater. Once they determined the direction, they sped forward through the water at full speed.
Even though they weren’t ordinary people and had spells to speed them up, traveling through hundreds of miles of water still took several hours or even half a day.
Just as Donald and the others had crossed half of the underwater passage, Donald’s expression suddenly changed drastically. He quickly sent a message to the others through telepathy. “Go fast!” Although they were already on the verge of leaving the Totem Continent and returning to the Main World, aside from the aquatic creatures that had accidentally entered, no one should be able to find them in this unknown passage. Even if someone did, the exit on the Main World side was deep within the terrifying Storm Sea, and without proper preparation, it would be extremely difficult for even semi-godly beings to make it through. But Donald, who was usually cautious, didn’t want to encounter any accidents before leaving, so he summoned two underwater troops as before to scout both ends of the passage. Just then, the summoned creatures left on the Totem Continent were suddenly destroyed by a powerful entity. Although he didn’t have a direct view like an owl, through the telepathic connection with the summoned creatures, Donald immediately sensed their immense power! It turned out to be a semi-godly being chasing after them—most likely the Stone Bear God, the deity of the Bull God they had killed. Since the Stone Bear God could track them here, it meant he had already detected their presence. Unless he used divine power to create a shielding barrier, he could still track them even from thousands of miles away. Now, as they were in a nearly straight passage, even if they used a barrier to conceal their presence, the enemy could still follow the path to find them. So, their only option was to hurry as fast as possible, hoping the enemy’s speed in water wouldn’t be too fast. Once they reached the Storm Sea, they would have a chance to escape. Unfortunately, ordinary teleportation spells couldn’t be used in such natural spatial passages between dimensions. Otherwise, they might end up in an unknown dimension or even drift into the endless void. Moreover, outside this passage lay the terrifying spatial forces of the Storm Sea, which could instantly kill those in the Legendary realm. These forces were extremely chaotic, and even more stable and powerful dimension teleportation spells would likely be severely affected! Fortunately, the others trusted Donald completely and didn’t question him; instead, they accelerated their pace. Donald didn’t have time to explain either. To help them escape the pursuit, he set up magical traps at regular intervals along the way, hoping to slow down the powerful enemy chasing them. Although these traps were mere trinkets to semi-gods, they didn’t take much time to deploy and required little magical energy, allowing him to set them up while continuing to move. Any delay would help.
Nearly an hour passed in this way. Water was indeed different from land; at such a distance on land, it would have taken less than half a minute for someone to catch up. But the resistance in water was far too great for those not adept at aquatic combat. Coupled with the small obstacles Donald had set along the way, it wasn’t until they were close to the exit that the demi-god warriors managed to narrow the distance to less than twenty li. Even in water, that distance meant both sides could likely see each other in just a short time. Seeing that their pursuer was closing in fast, Donald gulped down a large bottle of magic potion and then cast the spell “Sea Cloak” on the others. After that, he asked the strongest of them, Carlisle, to lead the way, sparing no effort in leaving behind over a dozen advanced summoned creatures of level six or seven using his magic cores. After all, these advanced magic cores were obtained by killing sea beasts, and for him now, they were merely useful for exchanging for Gold Solars. It wasn’t a loss if wasted—they were still worth it for ensuring their safe return. With the Sea Cloak in place, the speed of the powerful swordsmen and knights doubled, especially Carlisle, who could carry one person and still match the speed of Vincent and the other two. This made traveling with Carlisle much faster than going on his own, without slowing down the group. A few minutes later, Donald, freed from having to walk, created another piece of floating ice and activated his divine shield to protect everyone as they left the water. In their last glance above the surface, they could see a tall figure not far behind, roaring in frustration as it pursued them. Magical beasts of level six or seven were generally much stronger than ordinary ones in this world, and many of them were aquatic warriors skilled in water combat. Even though the Stone Bear God was a demi-god, its name indicated it was a totem god not adept at water. Though it was a deity, it wasn’t in its own domain, so those dozen or so powerful summoned creatures still caused it some trouble. Under normal circumstances, such trouble could be resolved in minutes, but this was a critical moment of pursuit over vast distances. Even this slight delay allowed Donald and his group to emerge from the water. Seeing this, the Stone Bear God, after dealing with those obnoxious creatures, found itself repeatedly blocked by inferior tactics and couldn’t help but let out a roar that shook the mountains.
The domain of the Stone Bear God is located in the mountains, where mineral and stone resources are abundant. Thus, it obtained the three divine seals of miner, mining, and smelting. Once it combined these three into the forging divine seal, it would become a lower-tier totem god, with the potential to rise to a mid-tier totem god if given enough time. It possesses the earth element domain, the metal domain, and an incomplete fire domain. It wields a square-peak pick, a secondary divine artifact, and is skilled in close combat, but in this underwater environment, its strength is severely limited.
It has been a god for nearly a thousand years and has long reached the demi-god level. Even outside its domain, the Stone Bear God remains a powerful demi-god, which is why it traveled thousands of miles to pursue its most loyal subordinate god after discovering that it had been harmed.
It first detected the other party’s presence shifting to the northwest. After a brief hesitation, the Stone Bear God set out in pursuit.
Due to conflicts in their divine domains, the Stone Bear God and the Warhammer God, a demi-god totem god under the Great Snowy Mountains, have always been natural enemies. The Warhammer God also possesses the smelting divine seal, as well as the metal and fire domains. Skilled in forging weapons, it lacks the miner, mining, and earth element domains but has a combat domain, giving it an edge in combat strength over the Stone Bear God. Moreover, the Warhammer God is a subordinate god of the mighty White Mountain God, while the Stone Bear God is a subordinate god of the Storm God—a rare lower-tier totem god that does not get along with the White Mountain God. As such, the Stone Bear God dare not act recklessly in the White Mountain God’s domain.
Yet, after some thought, it still pursued, as the location of the other party’s presence was already on the edge of the Great Snowy Mountains’ territory. If it acted quickly, it could eliminate a few pests who dared to offend its divine authority and leave the Great Snowy Mountains’ domain before nearby totem gods arrived.
Upon arriving at the location, the Stone Bear God found that the other party had already left, using teleportation or similar methods to escape. Even though it detected the other party’s presence disappearing overseas, the Stone Bear God did not pursue it out of fear, as ordinary totem gods would. With its strength, as long as it did not venture deep into the sea and encounter more than two demi-god-level ocean lords, it could escape even if surrounded by a group of legendary warriors.