Chapter Forty-Three: At Last, We Arrived

High above, an outrageously large sparrow soared across the sky with a mighty mammoth straddling its back. Clinging atop the mammoth was a beautiful spider-woman, and, naturally, sitting on her was Chu Tian himself. Perched on Chu Tian’s head was the little white pup—such was the current configuration of the Vladino Marquis family.

The Boeing 747 more than lived up to its name. Once an aerial transport for the beastfolk, its chest and belly were festooned with hanging cabins of various sizes. Inside these pods, two dozen surviving griffins, the gargoyles Chu Tian had extorted, and several hundred third-tier berserker wolves that had followed Hummer, were all resting. As for Barbossa, Carter, and the three rescued magi, they were accommodated in a rather luxurious cabin on the Boeing 747’s back.

After stripping Basten of his last possessions through relentless extortion, Chu Tian finally let him be. Barbossa patched him up and left him with enough rations to await rescue. After all, Basten was a beastfolk prince and chieftain; confiscating his troops and magical pets as spoils of war was customary on the continent—no one would raise an eyebrow at that. But killing him would have caused serious trouble: even if the beastfolk didn’t go to war with the Caesar Empire, the minotaurs across the continent would ensure Chu Tian’s future was far from comfortable.

Fortunately, Chu Tian’s spatial ring was spacious enough, and his habit of preparedness meant that the gifts for the Dragon Emperor and the various powers—safely stored in the ring—remained unscathed. Essential supplies like food were salvaged from the remains of the airship and hastily crammed onto the Boeing 747. The only regret: the wine was gone. First, it was used to tempt Basten, then to placate Hummer and the berserker wolves. After this round of negotiations, Xiaobai’s stock was utterly depleted. Chu Tian had to agree to a succession of unequal treaties just to quell Xiaobai’s fury.

As for the gargoyles, having accepted them in full, Chu Tian promptly assigned them a code name—Speedsters—clearly hoping they’d serve as guided missiles for the Boeing 747.

The Boeing 747 flew smoothly; aside from the exhilarated Chu Tian family atop its back, no one sensed they were hurtling through the air at great speed. The endless expanse of Dusty Marsh was traversed in less than three days, thanks to the Boeing 747’s pace, and soon, the Agura Mountains loomed ahead.

“Boeing 747, steady! There’s no wind, so why are you swaying? Hummer, behave yourself! AK47, why are you trembling?” Chu Tian cast a puzzled glance at his pets. Ever since that towering peak—whose summit was lost even to the eye in the clouds—appeared, the magical beasts had grown restless. Only Xiaobai remained unaffected, hugging an empty wine jug and sighing forlornly, paying no heed to Mount Agura.

“Damn, the dragon’s aura here is suffocating! I can barely breathe!” AK47 muttered quietly, answering Chu Tian’s unspoken question.

Compared to humans, magical beasts had a keener instinct for danger, and among them, a strict law of survival prevailed. The oppressive presence of the tenth-tier Dragon Emperor and countless dragons was so overwhelming that even the eighth-tier Hummer felt it from a hundred miles away. “Uncle, I don’t want to go there!” Hummer protested, pointing his trunk toward the distant Agura Mountains.

“You have trespassed into dragon territory! Halt and submit to inspection!” Just as Chu Tian was soothing Hummer, a stern shout rang out. A massive azure dragon swiftly appeared before the Boeing 747.

“I am Vladino, Marquis of the Caesar Empire! I am here at the Dragon Emperor’s invitation!” Chu Tian shouted, simultaneously assessing the dragon’s strength: eighth-tier. The reason was simple—among his pets, only Xiaobai and Hummer dared look the blue dragon in the eye. Xiaobai was notoriously thick-skinned—the Dragon Emperor himself might not make him blink—but Hummer’s innocent attitude was telling: only when faced with another eighth-tier beast would Hummer show no fear.

“Vladino? Please present your credentials!” The blue dragon’s demeanor softened at mention of the Dragon Emperor’s guest. After verifying Chu Tian’s invitation, it said, “Greetings, Lord Vladino! I am Clark, an eighth-tier wind dragon. Please, follow me.”

Indeed, an eighth-tier dragon—praise be to the Goddess of Life! The dragon clan’s might was no exaggeration: even their greeters were eighth-tier beasts! Marvelling, Chu Tian ordered the Boeing 747 to enter the Agura Mountains.

The sheer scale of Agura far surpassed Chu Tian’s expectations. Halfway up a towering peak, a vast platform had been carved out and paved. The Boeing 747 landed on this airstrip, now looking no more remarkable than a modest plane.

Chu Tian disembarked with Barbossa, Carter, and the three magi, carefully surveying the plaza: a broad terrace jutted out from a cliff as if sliced by a blade, shrouded in swirling clouds. Where the platform met the mountainside stood a massive gate, dozens of meters high, leading straight into the mountain’s heart.

“Lord Vladino, as per the rules of Agura Mountain, you must relinquish all arms—including magical beasts and weapons,” Clark reminded him after the landing. “I will personally return them to you when you depart.”

Disarm? Chu Tian was reminded of the Wudang Sect back on Earth. It seemed that not only had their founder traveled to another world, but even their custom of surrendering weapons before ascending the mountain had made its way here.

“Very well, no problem!” On another’s territory, Chu Tian had little choice but to comply, especially since he was here seeking the dragons’ favor. He handed Dracula’s Fury to Clark and then shouted, “Brothers, come on out!”

Dracula’s Fury alone astonished Clark—it was a weapon that would be rare even in the Dragon Emperor’s treasury! But soon Clark’s attention was drawn to Chu Tian’s pets: a swaggering little white dog led its underlings down from the mighty sparrow’s back; the eighth-tier mammoth, the seventh-tier spider-woman, several hundred third-tier berserker wolves, and finally, the Boeing 747 stretched its wings and, with a flurry, released more than a dozen griffins and eight Speedster-brand gargoyles!

“Heh,” Clark forced a laugh. “Lord Vladino’s strength is indeed impressive!”

Chu Tian replied with polite modesty, though inwardly he was proud: with this lineup, he could probably wipe out a small nation! But Clark quickly poured cold water on his pride: “With these magical beasts, plus Lord Vladino’s own eighth-level skills, you could just about survive against a ninth-level foe…”

Chu Tian’s elation evaporated. He had to admit that, while he commanded a considerable force, in the face of true masters, only Hummer could pose any real threat. The rest of his beasts were good for little more than covering a retreat.

Clark then arranged for another seventh-tier dragon to escort Chu Tian’s magical beasts and companions to temporary lodgings at the foot of the mountain, before leading Chu Tian himself into Agura Mountain.