Chapter 411 - 408: The Hostility of All Things

Chapter 411: Chapter 408: The Hostility of All Things

"You’re not worthy of being killed by me yet. Come back next time, and remember what I said."

The balloon looked at the dying Pangolin, took a step back, and started counting down again.

"Zero point five... zero point three..."

As the balloon chanted silently, the lava beneath the Pangolin suddenly began to churn. A pillar of magma then erupted, launching the Pangolin out of the Volcano’s crater.

The balloon remained where it was, watching the Pangolin fly farther and farther away.

It kept gazing at the sky until the pillar of magma disappeared.

"Sigh." The balloon let out a helpless sigh.

Then, it abruptly turned to look in Mo Ling’s direction.

Even though the balloon had no eyes, Mo Ling felt a scrutinizing gaze, sharp as needles.

"Are you also here to kill me?" the balloon asked from a distance.

"No." Mo Ling flapped his wings and flew to the center of the battlefield.

Just then, a warning of hostility flared in Mo Ling’s mind, coming from the lava below.

He quickly changed his position, leaping onto a nearby rock.

The moment Mo Ling dodged, a thick pillar of magma erupted from his previous spot. The scalding molten rock created a splash that scattered in all directions.

"Phew..."

Looking at the terrifying pillar of magma, Mo Ling breathed a sigh of relief.

’Thank goodness for hostility perception.’

His reaction piqued the balloon’s curiosity.

"You’re not here to kill me? Then what are you here for?"

The question left Mo Ling a bit dazed. He didn’t know why he had felt compelled to come to the center of the Celestial God Volcano.

"I just wanted to see..." Mo Ling answered hesitantly. "Your fight just now was incredible."

"Was it?" the balloon floated over the lake of lava and retorted. "I don’t find it incredible at all. The gap in our strength is too vast. It couldn’t hurt me in the slightest. A fight like that is meaningless."

Those words sounded strange, but having witnessed the balloon’s power, Mo Ling didn’t find anything wrong with them.

"Do you think the direction it took to become stronger was wrong?" Mo Ling asked curiously.

"Yes. Our race is easily influenced by other creatures into thinking the physical body is what’s most important. Many of my kind who come here to kill me have fallen into the same trap," the balloon explained faintly.

Mo Ling looked at his own mishmashed body, confused. "We can mimic the bodies of other creatures, even combine and specialize their parts at will. Isn’t that how we’re supposed to get stronger?"

"That’s a trap," the balloon retorted directly. "Using the body to fight against the world is a foolish act."

"The sharpest claws cannot tear through a flood. The hardest shell cannot block a plague. The strongest wings still fear the gales... The power of the flesh is limited."

"Our mimicry merely allows us to better perceive the world—smell, touch, taste, sight... Only after we experience the world can we understand the source of those unknown hostilities."

"Mimicry is just a tool. Our true strength lies in the omnipresent hostility."

As it spoke, the balloon suddenly floated right in front of Mo Ling.

"I know what you’re here for now."

"Huh?"

"You want to understand the source of our power, don’t you?" the balloon asked earnestly.

"Of course I want to know."

"Good. Then fight me!" The balloon suddenly grew excited.

Mo Ling was still completely baffled as the balloon flew away again.

"You will soon find out where our power comes from."

The moment it finished speaking, Mo Ling felt himself enveloped by countless hostilities.

’It’s above me!’

Mo Ling looked up to see a massive rock flying toward him.

’From the left, too!’

He turned his head and saw a tidal wave of lava surging toward him.

But that wasn’t all.

’From the right, from below, from the front... It’s everywhere!’

Rocks, lava, superheated dust and smoke...

In an instant, Mo Ling was surrounded by hostility. Danger had arrived in silence.

’Why has so much hostility appeared all of a sudden?’

In the distance, the balloon floated leisurely, its sponge-like thread swaying back and forth as if it were watching a good show.

’It’s the balloon!’ Mo Ling quickly identified the culprit.

"How are you doing this?"

"Hostility," the balloon answered faintly. "This is the hostility of the world itself."

Terrifying hostility washed over him. Mo Ling felt trapped in an invisible cage, waiting to be reaped by his enemies.

The overwhelming dangers seemed to come alive, each one aiming its gun barrel at him, determined to fight to the death.

RUMBLE!

The dust cloud outside the crater actually thundered, and a muffled bolt of lightning struck from a clear sky, heading straight for Mo Ling.

Mo Ling’s body instantly went rigid as countless streams of hostility flooded into him.

It was the hostility of every single electron.

They raged, trying to invade Mo Ling’s body and obliterate his every part.

The hostility warnings went off the charts. All Mo Ling could hear was a piercing, bee-like buzz as his body remained frozen in place.

Under this terrifying perception, his sponge-like body shut down. The power of the flesh was useless against the hostility of the world.

At that moment, Mo Ling finally understood what the balloon had said before:

"Claws cannot tear through a flood..."

"Shells cannot block a plague..."

"Wings still fear the gales..."

"Only hostility is true power."

In that instant, Mo Ling understood everything.

In the moment of his enlightenment, he seemed to see all the chaotic hostility transform into individual threads.

Everything in the world possessed hostility, and thus, possessed such a thread.

But now, all those threads were connected to him.

He was like a marionette at the mercy of others, entangled in countless threads of hostility. Some were wrapped around his neck, some were buried deep in his body, and others were balled up and stuffed into his eye sockets.

This was the source of all the danger.

Upon seeing these terrifying threads of hostility, Mo Ling, contrary to expectation, calmed down.

’I see. So this is the true nature of hostility?’

At some point, Mo Ling had become completely entangled in hostility, which was why the dangers pursued him relentlessly.

Mo Ling took a deep breath and unwound the thread of hostility from around his neck.

The muffled bolt of lightning bent and struck the ground beside him.

Without hesitating, Mo Ling pulled out the fine threads that had pierced his body.

The surging wave of lava suddenly crashed against a rock and vanished completely.

Then, Mo Ling reached into his eye sockets, dug out the tangled ball of threads, and threw it at the distant balloon.

The ball of threads spun through the air, wrapping tightly around the balloon.

At the same time, countless falling rocks rained down, instantly burying the balloon. The resulting splash of lava sprayed over the pile of stones, releasing thick black smoke.

The hostility had been transferred.

Mo Ling had pulled all the hostility from his body, and so the dangers naturally went elsewhere.

At that moment, Mo Ling was no longer a marionette on a string, to be manipulated at will.

From the distant pile of rocks, an excited voice called out:

"Congratulations. You have transcended!"