Limitless: New Dawn

Chapter 295: Grassland

Arthur’s body floated silently at the center of the devastation, suspended motionlessly above a crater so enormous that even from high above it looked like a scar carved directly into the secret realm itself. The once towering mountain range had completely disappeared, replaced by an endless abyss of molten rock, shattered earth, and rivers of magma stretching across hundreds of kilometers. Thick smoke rose endlessly into the sky while faint bluish-golden flames continued burning across parts of the destroyed terrain without any sign of extinguishing naturally. 

The air itself felt unstable, warped by the terrifying heat that still lingered after the eruption of the Fragment of Origin True Fire. The cavern that once housed the lesser dragon no longer existed and everything had been erased completely.

At the center of the destruction, Arthur’s body was covered in traces of bluish-golden flame but it was not harming him. The flames surrounding him gradually retracted into his body before disappearing beneath his skin. Deep within his Sea of Consciousness, the Origin Flame fragment remained sealed beside the Spear of Heaven under countless golden chains forged from the mysterious golden energy connected to his soul.

A few moments later, his fingers twitched slightly. Then slowly… he opened his eyes.

The instant his gaze swept across the devastation below him, his calm expression finally broke slightly in surprise. His eyes widened faintly as he stared at the scale of destruction spreading far beyond the horizon.

“…What the hell…”

Even after everything he had experienced so far, the sheer destructive capability of the Origin True Fire still exceeded his expectations by an absurd margin. The entire underground ecosystem had been annihilated. Mountains had collapsed inward, lava rivers carved new paths across the land, and the atmosphere was still distorted due to the lingering heat.

He slowly descended a little while instinctively calculating the energy output of the attack.

The environment of immortal worlds was fundamentally different from ordinary planets. Space was tougher, matter denser, and the terrain naturally reinforced by spiritual energy over countless years. Destroying mountains here was vastly more difficult than on Earth or even Thyrandel. And this secret realm’s environment was even tougher than the outside world due to the dense spiritual energy saturating it.

Yet despite all that… the Origin Flame had still caused destruction on this level.

He slowly clenched one hand while sensing the faint heat flowing through his body. “Even with my full strength…” he muttered quietly, “…I wouldn’t have been able to cause even one tenth of this damage.”

That realization alone made the Origin True Fire far more terrifying in his eyes.

Still, Arthur understood another important fact almost immediately. Just because the flame possessed this level of power didn’t mean he could fully wield it yet. Right now, the fragment had erupted almost instinctively after being refined, he hadn’t controlled that power directly. If he tried forcing out its true potential recklessly, he might end up destroying himself before his enemies.

But that would change eventually as his mastery over the flame improved, the amount of its power he could safely release would naturally increase as well. And according to the system description, the flame itself could evolve further by devouring other powerful flames.

Arthur’s eyes narrowed slightly at the thought. “…Interesting.”

Only then did he finally notice another issue. His clothes had completely disintegrated during the eruption. Arthur glanced down at himself silently before sighing faintly. “Right… forgot about that.”

Without much concern, he activated Matter Manipulation. Tiny particles gathered around his body instantly before weaving themselves into dark clothing that covered him completely. The process only lasted seconds before he was fully dressed again.

Arthur slowly landed on the scorched terrain beneath him afterward. The ground still radiated terrifying heat capable of instantly killing Hollow Immortal realm cultivators, yet he walked across the molten landscape casually while observing the aftermath more carefully.

Then his gaze eventually shifted toward the center of the crater where the lesser dragon once rested. “…What a waste.”

There was genuine regret in his voice this time. The corpse of a lesser dragon alone would’ve been an absurdly valuable research material. Its bloodline, scales, bones, and core all possessed immense value. Unfortunately, there wasn’t even ash remaining now. The dragon had been completely erased during the Origin Flame’s eruption.

Arthur shook his head lightly afterward. “There’ll be other opportunities.”

And without staying there any longer, he shot upward and left the ruined mountain range behind.

…

Several thousand kilometers away from the destroyed mountain range, the environment gradually transformed into endless grasslands stretching toward the horizon. Towering grass over ten meters tall swayed beneath powerful winds while strange insect-like cries echoed occasionally throughout the region. Unlike the mountains Arthur had just left behind, this place felt strangely alive… but also deeply unsettling.

At that moment, several cultivators were desperately fleeing through the sea of grass with pale expressions filled with panic.

“Hurry!”

“It’s catching up again!”

“Damn it! Why won’t this thing leave us alone?!”

One of the younger cultivators stumbled slightly while blood dripped heavily from a deep wound across his shoulder. Terror was visible on every face as they pushed their movement techniques to the limit.

Behind them chased a grotesque monster resembling a gigantic mantis. Except… its upper body was disturbingly humanoid.

Its green exoskeleton reflected sunlight sharply while two enormous scythe-like limbs sliced effortlessly through the towering grass as it chased after them. Its body was lean yet unnaturally muscular, and unlike the salamanders Arthur previously encountered, this creature possessed obvious intelligence.

The monster could’ve killed the fleeing cultivators long ago if it truly wanted to. Instead, it repeatedly attacked just enough to wound them before retreating again as though enjoying their fear.

“KRRRREEEEE!”

The creature suddenly vanished from sight.

SHING!

“AAGHHH!”

Blood sprayed through the air as one of the cultivators screamed in agony. His entire arm flew away before landing several meters away in the grass.

“Senior Brother!”

“Get up! GET UP!”

The injured cultivator collapsed while clutching the bleeding stump desperately. Meanwhile, the mantis creature reappeared nearby holding the severed arm casually within one clawed hand. Its strange humanoid face almost seemed to twist into amusement before it crushed the limb beneath its foot.

Crunch.

The remaining cultivators felt their scalps go numb. “This thing is insane!”

“We’re dead… we’re definitely dead…”

…

At that same moment.

BOOOOOOM!

Far above the grasslands, a figure shot through the sky at tremendous speed.

Arthur narrowed his eyes slightly while observing the endless grassfield below. Then suddenly…

WHOOOOM!

A terrifying invisible force slammed directly onto his body.

“What the…?!”

Arthur’s expression changed instantly as his body lost balance.

BOOOOM!

He crashed directly into the ground like a meteor before tumbling violently through the grasslands, tearing apart soil and flattening enormous sections of grass in his path.

After sliding several hundred meters, he finally stopped himself and slowly stood up while brushing dirt from his clothes.

“…That was unexpected.” He frowned slightly before attempting to fly again.

The moment his feet left the ground.

WHOOOOM!

The same invisible force descended once more, forcing him downward violently.

Arthur landed lightly this time, his expression turning thoughtful. “What is this?”

Almost immediately, the familiar vortex connected to the system appeared before him.

He  touched it calmly. And a second later, another system panel materialized before his eyes.

[Replying to Host: The region the host is currently standing in is covered by a wide-range formation that prevents anyone from flying. The formation is a Grade 7 one. As the host approaches its core region, additional restrictions will gradually be applied.]

Arthur’s eyes narrowed slightly while reading the information. “Grade Seven…”

That level roughly corresponded to Immortal King-level formations. Almost immediately, he recalled one of the rumors surrounding the Violet Heaven Secret Realm.

“…Was the rumor about an Immortal King sealing something here actually true?” If so, then something terrifying likely existed at the center of this formation.

And even if the rumor itself was false, no one would waste the effort required to establish a formation spanning thousands of kilometers unless something extremely valuable or dangerous was hidden here.

He slowly looked deeper into the endless grasslands. “…Let’s see what it is.”

His curiosity was immediately piqued. Since flying was impossible, he bent his knees slightly before exploding forward.

BOOOOM!

The ground shattered beneath his feet as his body shot across the grasslands at hypersonic speed. Sonic booms echoed repeatedly behind him while the tall grass and soil along his path were violently torn apart by the pressure waves.

Even without flight, Arthur’s physical body alone allowed him to move at terrifying speeds.

Several minutes later, the smell of blood suddenly entered his senses. He slowed slightly before arriving at a gruesome scene.

Three headless corpses lay scattered across the ground while blood soaked the earth beneath them. And crouched beside the bodies was another humanoid mantis monster feeding casually on one of the corpses.

Crunch.

The sound of bones breaking echoed clearly. Arthur’s expression remained calm as he observed the creature.

The monster suddenly froze, then its head snapped toward him instantly.

“KRRRREEEEEE!”

The creature abandoned the corpses immediately before lunging toward him at terrifying speed.

SHING!

Its scythe-like arm sliced directly toward Arthur’s neck.

CLANG!

A loud metallic explosion echoed throughout the grasslands as shockwaves spread outward from the impact point.

But Arthur didn’t move even an inch, he simply stood there looking at it with bored eyes. “…Are you done?”

“Kr…?”

The creature produced a confused sound while staring at its own scythe limb. Its attack… hadn’t even scratched Arthur’s skin.

Arthur slowly raised one hand toward the blade pressed against his neck.

The monster instinctively sensed danger and immediately attempted retreating backward in panic. But before it could escape…

SHING!

One of its scythe arms suddenly separated from its body.

“KRRRREEEEEEEEE!!!”

The creature screamed in pain while green blood sprayed across the grasslands. Panic overtook it instantly, the monster turned and attempted fleeing desperately.

Unfortunately for it… Arthur casually raised one hand and the creature froze midair immediately. Invisible telekinetic pressure wrapped around its body completely, locking every movement in place.

“Krrr…! KRRREEEE!”

The monster struggled violently, but it was useless.

Arthur looked at it calmly for a brief moment before he clenched his hand slightly and the monster’s body began disintegrating instantly.

Its flesh peeled apart particle by particle before collapsing into dust completely within seconds. Only a glowing green monster core remained on the ground afterward.

Arthur grabbed it casually before storing it away. Then he walked toward the three dead cultivators quietly. Though he didn’t know them, leaving their corpses behind to become monster food again felt unnecessarily cruel.

With a flick of his fingers, bluish flames appeared briefly and incinerated the bodies completely. He remained silent for a moment afterward before leaving again.

…

For the next half hour, Arthur encountered many more of the same humanoid mantis creatures throughout the grasslands. Some possessed strength comparable to True Immortals while stronger variants reached the Great Unity Immortal Realm.

But none of them posed even the slightest threat to him. Most died before they even realized what happened.

Eventually, after crossing vast stretches of grasslands filled with corpses and monster remains, he finally reached the edge of a massive forest. The trees here were gigantic, some easily hundreds of meters tall while thick fog drifted silently between them, the atmosphere itself felt strangely oppressive.

He stepped into the forest carefully and the moment he did his expression changed slightly. “…My divine sense?”

He immediately felt heavy suppression pressing against his perception. Ordinary cultivators would likely become almost blind here if they relied heavily on divine sense. Their perception range would probably shrink down to nearly nothing.

But Arthur’s divine sense fundamentally differed from other cultivators. Even though the forest interfered with his normal perception, he could still sense life forces throughout a wide surrounding area.

He couldn’t “see” clearly anymore through divine sense. But he could still feel the countless living beings hidden throughout the forest. He slowly looked deeper into the dark forest while faint rustling echoed somewhere ahead.

Then quietly, he stepped further inside.

***

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