Chapter 453: The Battle of Breakthrough

Chapter 453: Chapter 291: The Battle of Breakthrough

“Clara…” Su Zhi mumbled, testing the sound of the name.

He’d always assumed it was just a meaningless roar from the Earthquake Beasts, but it seemed he was wrong. It was the name of the Exotic Beast before him!

[As for your question…]

Clara looked at Tuoba Jing again, completely ignoring his furious, wide-eyed expression, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

[That’s right. It’s always been me. I created the Earthquake Beasts, I granted them their power, and I was the one who sent them out from the underground to carry out their great and glorious mission…]

“Nonsense!” Tuoba Jing’s angry shout cut her off.

In Su Zhi’s experience, the man had always been a refined, easygoing senior with considerable self-restraint—but at this moment, Tuoba Jing’s ashen face and bloodshot eyes made him look terrifying.

Su Zhi saw that his fists were clenched so tightly that his nails were digging into his palms, yet he seemed completely unaware.

“Do you have any idea how many villagers die each year because of the Earthquake Beasts? Do you know how many children have lost their parents, how many parents have lost their children, how many families have been destroyed by their rampage? When those people knelt and begged your Earthquake Beasts for their lives, did they ever show a shred of mercy?!”

Tuoba Jing roared, his sleeves snapping like a banner as he raised his arm.

“You possess such immense power, yet you turn your murderous spear on unarmed civilians and dare to call it a ‘great and glorious mission’! You’re nothing but a Fierce Beast!”

[Oh my, are you angry now? I thought you could come up with some nastier insults.]

Facing Tuoba Jing’s accusations, Clara still looked lazy and amused, even shifting into a new lounging position.

[As expected of a great Beastmaster. Look at that concern for all living things, that grand perspective. Look at that righteous conviction! You almost moved me… Ha! Just kidding. I’m messing with you!]

The angrier Tuoba Jing became, the more mocking her expression grew.

[Tuoba Jing, you’ve experienced plenty of battles, both before and after entering this Secret Realm. So you should understand that sometimes, to achieve certain goals, appropriate sacrifices must be made. Right?]

[Let me ask you, back then during the disaster relief, when you were prepared to slaughter Zi Lu to feed the victims, wasn’t that a sacrifice for your Pet Beast, Zi Lu? Is what you did fundamentally any different from what I’m doing?]

Tuoba Jing said nothing, only glaring at her grimly.

“You’ve been watching us.”

Su Zhi looked at Clara.

“The Disaster White Tiger… Could you be?”

[Correct. I must say, your guess is quite impressive.]

Clara paced across the Earthquake Beast, her wandering gaze landing on Su Zhi.

[You can think of me as the personification of one of Emperor Heng’s Power Fragments. I represent the Gold Element.]

Despite having mentally prepared himself, Su Zhi’s eyes still widened in shock.

Emperor Heng. The name of the first Flying Shadow Alliance Leader’s Pet Beast, and the only Yu Dian Emperor Dog to have ever appeared in the history of Blue Star!

But Su Zhi couldn’t understand.

Beastmasters took it as their duty to protect the world, and the masters of the Classical Era embodied this creed with their very lives.

Yet this White Tiger before him, this self-proclaimed fragment of Emperor Heng, had been doing nothing but creating disaster and slaughter!

“Remember what I said? Power itself is not sinful; the sin lies with the one who wields it.”

Tuoba Jing stepped in front of Su Zhi, his gaze icy.

“Look at her eyes. There’s only bloodlust and cruelty in them. The Energy she emits is filled with a nauseating violence. A Pet Beast of our kind would never have such an aura.”

[That’s why~ I’m called the Disaster White Tiger.]

Clara’s eyes narrowed, as if taking the assessment as a compliment.

[In the Ninth Year of Hongqi, my King organized a hunt for the human Beastmaster, Shao Jiguang. After paying a heavy price, we finally killed him on the spot and eliminated a grave threat.]

Tuoba Jing gritted his teeth.

The rest was well-known history.

In its fight against the Abyssal, Blue Star had forever lost an epoch-making Beastmaster, which directly impacted the regional war. For decades afterward, Yu Dian’s Southwest front was at a disadvantage.

[Did you know? The Yu Dian Emperor Dog, which was thought to exist only in legends, was actually bred by Shao Jiguang. He had no idea what he had achieved! If such Power had been mine to command, there would be no place left for you humans today!]

As she spoke, Clara’s expression turned regretful.

[However, Emperor Heng guessed our intentions. On the eve of his demise, just as we were about to take control of him, Emperor Heng forcibly split his Power and sealed the fragments away using various methods.]

Su Zhi now understood. “And this Secret Realm is the place he used to seal his Gold Element Power.”

[Not entirely accurate. This was originally an ordinary Multi-Space-Time Secret Realm that he simply repurposed. Everything here already existed before that. The mountains and rivers, the flora and fauna… and the villagers, too.]

[Then again, to protect the peace of the Current World, Emperor Heng personally brought this danger into the Secret Realm. Sacrificing one tiny Secret Realm for the safety of the entire world—how noble, wouldn’t you say? HAHAHAHA!]

Clara’s mocking expression returned.

[See this Radiant Gold Vein Opening Source Stone? It is the culmination of all the Energy contained within every Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone, and it is the source that sustains this entire Secret Realm. In order to break out of the prison Emperor Heng built for me, I have been trying every method I can think of to activate this stone, even using a Secret Technique for cross-realm perception…]

Su Zhi stared at her. “Including creating the Earthquake Beasts, and including causing disasters here and in the Current World?”