A great commotion could be seen on the surface of the river with water splashing everywhere, even reaching Pure Yang Lord standing a few dozen meters away from the shore.
He realized the unusual nature of this river—flowing with great currents and turbulence, despite there being no heavy rainfall or great storm of any kind. His heart raced as he deduced this could only mean one thing –something extraordinary lay beneath. A treasure.
His eyes further lit up with anticipation when he sensed Princess Sara locked in a fierce struggle against the currents, her cultivation power flickering which was noticeable on the surface. This meant that despite her formidable cultivation, she was having trouble against something.
He clenched his fists in frustration, feeling powerless that he couldn't participate either to go and support her or to compete against her for the treasure due to his puny cultivation.
He finally made up his mind. If he ever wanted to have his fate in his own hands, he would have to make use of this system – even if it was evil as this was currently his only hope to reach higher cultivation levels. Only with high cultivation does he have a chance to break free from its control and seek revenge on its creator.
While anxiously waiting for Sara in helplessness, he turned his attention inside his mind.
'Hey, system. What do you mean by enslaving the princess?'
[You have to successfully place a slave seal on the princess for her to be considered enslaved.]
"You are definitely messing with me, right?" he retorted.
"She's at least a Martial Saint –maybe even a Martial Emperor level expert! How do you expect me, a puny Body Refinement Realm cultivator, to place a slave seal on her who is several realms higher than me?"
[She's only at the Void Amalgamation Realm–also known as Martial King Realm in your previous world.]
'But how can she fly around so easily if she's only a Martial King?' he asked, puzzled.
[People with cultivation few realms below Martial Saint can fly around if they have suitable flying treasure and secret flying battle techniques. Even people with lower cultivation can fly using their swords or special magical artifacts.]
He fell silent listening to the system. For the first time in a long time, he felt like a frog at the bottom of a well. Despite reaching the Martial Emperor Realm in his previous life, there were still many things he didn't know.
He sighed, shaking his head. 'Looks like lots of cultivation knowledge were lost in that cataclysmic war. No wonder people couldn't reach higher realms in the future. Worst of all, I haven't recovered all of my memories yet.'
ROAR!
His conversation was interrupted by a loud sound that reverberated through the water causing ripples and waves on the surface.
[The system suggests hostage retreat far from the river if the hostage doesn't want to die in the aftermath of their battle.]
He gritted his teeth and ran far from the river into the thick forest.
He sighed again, feeling at a loss. 'Who would've guessed that someone who once roamed the world freely as the peak expert, would be reduced to such a sorry state someday?'
He finally came to a stop hundreds of meters away from the river and landed on top of an enormous tree to observe the battle in the river.
The mist that blanketed the river slowly dispersed and the once-turbulent river began to calm but ripples could still be seen on the surface.
An enormous serpent slowly emerged, floating above the river. The sleek body of this magical beast was seven or eight meters long with scales in shades of deep blue and emerald green. At the crown of its head, there were twin dark blue helix-shaped horns. Its eyes were large with iridescent pupils that were narrowed with anger, shining menacingly. Two small feathery appendages could be seen on its back akin to partially grown wings. This creature resembled a mix of a serpent and a dragon.
The serpent stood in the air and released a shapeless pressure with a great roar, causing Pure Yang Lord's heart to tremble despite the distance between them.
"Is this… the legendary Soaring Sea Serpent?" he mumbled softly, unable to believe his eyes.
He was deeply shocked to see this magical beast which was the symbol of both beauty and destruction in the myths.
This creature was considered to be extinct in his previous life and only appeared in historical books. It was said that the Soaring Sea Serpent had a trace of bloodline from legendary dragons and would become a Beast Emperor equivalent to Martial Emperor Realm upon maturity.
He shifted his gaze to another well-proportioned and exquisite body floating out of the river. A tight, violet-colored armor had magically appeared around Princess Sara and she was holding an exquisitely carved longsword that was emitting a radiant purple light.
Her beautiful yet slightly immature face was surprisingly calm, without the slightest change facing this legendary magical beast. On her back, a pair of purple-colored wings could be seen simmering with faint azure light.
"Puny human, you'll pay for disturbing my slumber!" The huge serpent in the sky suddenly roared using human language, fille with disdain.
Pure Yang Lord's heart shook upon hearing the magical beast speak in human language. He knew that magical beasts possessed human-like intelligence starting at Beast King level but they could only communicate in human language after they reached Beast Emperor level.
Puzzled, he asked in his mind, 'System.. did that beast just speak? Is it.. a Beast Emperor?'
[This Soaring Sea Serpent is still immature, currently only at the Beast King level. A mature Beast Emperor-level Soaring Sea Serpent needs fully developed wings. Due to some unknown reasons, this one has gained the intelligence high enough to speak human language despite its young age.]
"Well, sorry for disturbing you then. I was simply searching for a particular treasure." Princess Sara fixed her beautiful eyes on the Soaring Sea Serpent and said with a clear and soothing voice.
But the beast's expression clearly became strange upon hearing about the treasure showing that it doesn't know how to hide its emotion despite having high intelligence. Still, the beast didn't immediately attack as it felt apprehension towards her strength.
It fiercely growled, "There's no such treasure here. Bugger off before I change my mind."
Her intelligent eyes shined when she saw the change in the beast's expression when she mentioned a treasure.
"Well, it's a bead-shaped and I can give you a 'Spirit Form Conversion Pill' in exchange for the treasure." She proposed to the beast with great confidence. She seemed just as hesitant and wasn't willing to engage in a struggle with it.
'What's this Spirit Form Conversion Pill?' he asked in his mind, not sure if he forgot or haven't heard of this term.
[Using the 'Spirit Form Conversion Pill', a magical beast would be able to take on a human form. With this transformation, their cultivation speed would be equivalent to that of humans.]
He understood why turning to human form has such a great appeal to the magical beasts. Magical beasts have a far longer lifespan than humans but their cultivation speed is very slow. So, if a beast could transform into a human, its cultivation speed and comprehension of the mysteries of the universe would increase a lot faster.
But this beast contemplated for a while and shook its head. "I want the pill but I don't have any bead-shaped treasure to exchange for it. How about you change it to something else?"
Princess Sara's expression darkened, not expecting the beast to refuse her offer despite being tempted.
Both Pure Yang Lord and the princess could easily deduce that the beast definitely had a great treasure but was unwilling to exchange for it.
The princess cleverly shook her head, letting out a soft sigh, and turned around as if leaving this place. "What a pity. I'm only interested in that bead-shaped treasure. Since you don't have it, I guess I have to search somewhere else for it."
But the beast had other intentions.
"Since you already brought the pill to my doorstep, why not leave it behind?" Watching her about to leave, the beast spoke in a hostile tone.
It suddenly opened its mouth. As it did so, a green-colored wisp appeared in the air in front of its mouth turning into a vortex resembling a tornado. Soon, it increased to become over a hundred feet wide huge tornado.
The tornado swirled with great speed uprooting the trees near the river from the ground as the ferocious wind wreaked havoc moving towards the princess.
Pure Yang Lord quickly jumped among the trees widening his distance from the attack and looked back at the condition of the Princess.
In the blink of an eye, a purple-colored light spread from the princess's body turning into an enormous hand that grabbed at the tornado. The purple light brought a chilling sensation in the surroundings, causing Pure Yang Lord, who was more than a kilometer away to shiver in discomfort.
"What a terrifying sight," he muttered, his voice dry, facing the pressure of the distant tornado and the purple hand. Despite his vast experiences, he had never met any Martial King and Beast King as terrifying and powerful as these two.
'System, are these two really just at the Martial King level?' he inquired.
[The Soaring Sea Serpent has awakened a part of its dragon bloodline causing its strength to soar above the normal Beast Kings. Princess Sara has Pure Yin Physique granting her strength above the level of an average Martial King.]
'Then, who do you think will win?' He asked wiping the perspiration on his forehead while still running.
[In terms of raw strength and power, Soaring Sea Serpent is definitely stronger. But it won't be easy for it to defeat the princess who is equipped with powerful magical artifacts. Unless they possess an extremely strong trump card, it will be difficult for any one of them to defeat their opponent.]
From afar, he could only look on helplessly as the two enormous forces collided, dividing the sky into shades of green and purple colors, releasing an uncontrolled and frightening energy in the surroundings.