Ultragene Warlord

The mammoth elder explained, "A very long time ago, the former herdleader found this valley and a curious pond of frothing water nestled within. The walls of stone all around block the worst of the inclement weather, and the frothing water continuously gives off heat. The former herdleader was very taken by this location, so he improved it a little with his authority and told me about it."

Li Feng murmured, "No wonder the temperature within this valley is higher than that outside—there's a hot spring right here!"

"A hot spring?" the golden mammoth asked.

"The humans call the frothing water you describe a hot spring."

The elder seemed to suddenly understand something. "So this is a hot spring! I've learned about it before from my human friends, but I've never seen one in practice."

"There are two different mechanisms by which hot springs can be produced. First, lava deep underground, perhaps as a by-product of a volcanic eruption, can be exposed by shifting tectonic plates. Any uncooled lava deep underground will continuously release huge quantities of heat, forming natural hot springs in the vicinity and turning much of that water into steam," Li Feng explained. "Second, water that seeps into the ground as part of the water cycle can subsequently be heated up geothermally to form hot water, which bubbles back up to the surface."

The golden mammoth asked curiously, "How was this hot spring formed?"

Li Feng shrugged. "I don't know, either. We'd need to find a geologist to figure that out. Either possibility might be the case here."

After all, the hot spring was located in a valley, and simultaneously rather close to regions of volcanic activity.

"That said, I don't think it would be easy to find a geologist."

Most hunters who had managed to ascend to the third realm were hunters first and foremost, though perhaps a few had made geology their hobby.

"But I might be able to find some specialists from the world federation to ask for more information, if it's of any interest?"

The elder murmured to himself, "The former herdleader once said that, if there were ever a crisis that forced the herd to depart from its home, this valley would be a perfect shelter. I never expected the day when we were forced to use it would ever come..."

No one had expected the mammoths, at the height of power, to suddenly need to relocate so suddenly.

The golden mammoth wondered, "Isn't this an idyllic valley? It's even safer than our original territory. Why didn't the herdleader send some mammoths here first?"

The elder replied, "The valley might be large, but it's not limitless. The former herdleader was an ambitious mammoth, and he wanted to be able to keep expanding. Furthermore, this valley is too safe, and it would be easy for the mammoths situated here to grow complacent. At that point, no strong warriors would emerge from our tribe. Of course, those aren't the only reasons. The most important is froststeel."

"There aren't any froststeel veins here..." Li Feng began.

The elder nodded. "The former herdleader mentioned that this valley is extremely safe, but that safety also precludes opportunity."

The golden mammoth nodded without fully understanding what the elder meant.

Li Feng glanced at the hot spring and suggested, "Let's make a communal bath. I heard that hot springs have the ability to relieve stress and lethargy. All the mammoths must be tired from making their way here, and I'm very curious what hot springs are like myself."

"How?" the golden mammoth asked.

"The water here seems too hot for direct bathing. We simply have to divert some water from the hot spring and from the regular stream here."

Both Li Feng and the golden mammoth were fit adults, and they immediately began to enact their plan. They rapidly dug channels to divert the flow of water and quickly managed to develop a simple, crude bath.

As the golden mammoth and Li Feng submerged themselves in the warm water, feeling almost as though they were about to dissolve in it themselves, the golden mammoth sighed in relaxation.

Li Feng praised, "No wonder so many people enjoy soaking in hot springs."

The golden mammoth suddenly asked, "I know it's rather thick-skinned of me, but I'd like to ask if you can spare some land for us mammoths. It doesn't have to be too large, as long as it's large enough for us to live in."

Li Feng hmmed curiously. "Aren't you satisfied with this valley of yours?"

"It certainly is idyllic, but I want to make a contingency plan for the future. This frozen world is hazardous, and I need to be able to think of the good of my people."

Li Feng replied, "I'll help you ask around, but I can't make any promises."

"Thank you, my friend. I'll be happy to go to the draconian world with you and formally apologize to the leader of the humans for the former herdleader's transgressions."

Eventually, Li Feng and the golden mammoth were forced to drag themselves out of the hot spring bath. The golden mammoth steeled himself as the elder came back to report on the status of the herd, but she couldn't help letting out a sigh. Almost a thousand mammoths had been lost to the herd during the arduous trek.

Some had fallen behind during the journey and likely perished, while others had left the herd to become independent warriors. Fewer than five thousand mammoths had ended up at the valley—and to think that the mammoths had been ten thousand members strong before the volcanic explosions!

The hot spring was immensely popular with the mammoths, many of whom fell in love with such a novel bathing experience.

When the golden mammoth explained her plans to the elder, the elder immediately agreed to reforge connections with the humans. After all, the elder now understood that there was a huge gap between the mammoths and the humans, and the mammoths still had much to learn from them.

Thus, the golden mammoth and Li Feng set off back to the human world.

On another battlefield, tens of thousands of demons emerged in the draconian world through a spatial wormhole.

The demons were uniformly large, over three meters tall. Their skin was purple, and they gave off a horrendous stench. Large pustules covered their skin, and they each held a huge spiked mace.

Zhou Ying stood atop the city walls. An outburst of green light shielded Zhou Ying. Her hair grew long enough to reach her legs, turning into a green the color of sparkling jade. The vitality radiating from her was visible to the naked eye. She seemed to have become one with the land.

When the demons saw the beautiful goddess atop the walls, their eyes opened wide as they shouted, "A woman!"

"A woman!"

"A woman!"

They turned crazy at the sight of her.

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"[Avatar of the Fae: Earthbound Prison]!" Zhou Ying released all her stored energy at once, causing the ground to quake as thousands of jade-green wood dragons rushed out of the earth. Each was at least thirty meters long, and they easily covered the skies with their combined bodies.

The dragons curled around the demons, who swung their maces and chipped away at the dragons' bark. When those slivers of bark landed on the ground at their feet, they transformed into trees that wrapped around the demons and prevented them from moving.

Some of the demons reacted quickly enough to avoid the sudden trap, but others weren't so fortunate. They began to turn to bark. What Zhou Ying didn't expect, however, was that the demons' bodies would contain such severe poison that the bark was dyed purple.

Fortunately, her trees were particularly resistant to poison, and they would be able to hold out for some time. In the absence of any external factors, the demons would poison the wood dragons to death, but the wood dragons would likewise turn the demons' hearts to wood.

However, the demons who had escaped the trap began to save their comrades, who were currently only partially turned to wood. The demons tore off parts of their comrades' bodies, only to have those torn-off parts regrow at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Zhou Ying frowned. "Superb regenerative abilities... it looks as though this will be a drawn-out fight."