Sumatra's Greatest Fan

Chapter 163: Mud Viper Dinner

There was a pod at the foot of the Mud Viper Nest, which brought the duo to the top. As he exited the pod, Torq walked towards the edge of the nest and peered downward, immediately taking a step back.

Beginner Iron Grade Pranic Beast–Mud Viper!

A territorial Pranic Beast reaching two metres in length, sporting a bony head and a lizard-like body. A Mud Viper’s greatest strength was the sheer numbers of its kind and their unity against an external foe.

They lived as a colony and treated the colony above their sense of self, hence able to literally swarm their opponents to death.

The moment Torq arrived at the edge of the Mud Viper Nest, his senses perceived the danger and retreated before he triggered the Mud Vipers by mistake.

All the gruff man did in the meantime was observe his actions from behind, nodding in approval upon seeing Torq judge the situation well in advance.

"Grandfather," Torq turned to stare at the gruff man, "Wouldn’t it have been an issue if I triggered the Mud Vipers into action?"

"It will, yes." The gruff man nodded, "But it’s a risk I’m willing to take if it means I can gauge your disposition."

"Now, I’m sure." He nodded, "You will become the Leader of the Spectral Boar Branch."

The reason the gruff man stressed upon the topic was due to the changes that happened in the Wean Clan. During the time Torq was unconscious, MyuraBuntara had another child, a daughter.

Another successful Spectral Boar was born. But that wasn’t all. A few more Wean Clansmen also managed to successfully birth Spectral Boars, causing the population of Spectral Boars Branch to reach six now.

Now that there were a few more in the Branch, it was a necessity to appoint the Branch Leader. The Wean Clan only intended to wait until the current branch members reached maturity. They wanted to evaluate all the Spectral Boars and appoint the most capable as the Branch Leader.

Originally, GaraBuntara would have become the Leader if nothing else changed, for he was the first Spectral Boar to be born a Wean Clansman. However, him falling unconscious changed the status quo, where the Spectral Boars born later managed to outpace his growth.

But then, upon desperate attempts by the gruff man and MyuraBuntara, the Celestial Boar took notice of the situation. And then, the latter left behind two words, and a date, "He’ll recover."

And as stated, Torq indeed managed to regain consciousness. But that wasn’t all. He even benefitted from the situation and received a reward from the Celestial Boar, the first to do so.

At the moment, even though he hadn’t started harnessing his strength, his potential stood above the rest of his brethren. For upon obtaining a Tertiary Nature, his strength shot up, to the literal peak.

Mutated Expert Gold Grade Pranic Beast–Empyrean Spectral Boar!

His Prana capacity increased to 8400 units, the literal peak of the Gold Grade. His lifespan too reached the peak of the Gold Grade, now spanning 2000 years.

Spectral Boars were already Advanced Gold Grade Pranic Beasts. So, the jump in strength didn’t seem much in comparison, since the skill set of a Spectral Boar allowed them to ignore such differences and easily kill a stronger foe.

But even though the differences hadn’t appeared, they will soon start showing. Whether it be in terms of the body, mind, and soul, Torq had reached the peak of the Gold Grade, bearing enough physical characteristics for a Gold Grade cultivation technique to be created out of.

The gap between him and a Deity was extremely thin. Instinctively, the gruff man could perceive it, which is why he claimed Torq will become the Spectral Boar Branch Leader of the Wean Clan.

Torq didn’t say much, other than to nod in acknowledgement. It was part of his plan, for he intended to reach the level of a Deity soon. That was how he would maximise his build, for he had to keep one restriction in his mind.

State of Harmony–Past’s Treasure!

It could summon the build of his previous lifetime as a Treasure and allow him to wield its power fully. However, the principle behind this power’s workings was similar to how Sumatra spawned its Mystic Empyrean Tentacle variants.

Therefore, the limit of spawning was the limit imposed by Sumatra for natural birth, which was Expert Gold Grade.

Every Continent had the same limit for births. This was because a Mystic Grade existence, in essence, was one that had surpassed the Continent’s limits.

Therefore, if Torq ever reaches the Mystic Grade, that build wouldn’t be accessible in a future timeline through Past’s Treasure. That was why he wanted a Deity’s strength, for a Deity was significantly stronger than a Gold Grade Pranic Beast, with enough foundation to reach the Mystic Grade, but was still considered an Expert Gold Grade Pranic Beast.

Of course, since his enemies were Mystic Grade existences, having Gold Grade strength wasn’t enough. That was why his final build would be a Mystic Grade existence that can wield the builds of all previous lifetimes.

That wasn’t all. Starting with the Spectral Boar, Torq intended to ensure his every build would reach a level where despite being a Gold Grade existence, it can kill a Mystic Grade existence.

"How do I fish a Mud Viper out of the Nest?" Torq asked after a minute’s worth of observation.

"Just take it." The gruff man didn’t explain past that.

"I understand," Torq didn’t ask either. He simply walked towards the edge of the nest, peered downward, and jumped.

Primary Nature–Mud Ball!

The Mud Vipers were able to fire metre-wide spheres of mud that upon slamming into the target, could harden into stone. The moment any foreign entity intrudes upon their nest, hundreds of Mud Balls would be fired at the intruder.

The Mud Vipers secreted toxins from their glands capable of melting the stone into clay, which is how they dig into the flesh of their opponents that had been turned into stone sculptures. Generally, Mud Vipers avoid eating the contents in a sculpture.

They will wait and dig in only after judging the entity within the sculpture had been weakened significantly, enough for the bodies of the Mud Vipers to tear into.

The moment he jumped into the nest, the Mud Vipers targeted him promptly. However, before any of them launched a Mud Ball, the gruff man tapped the nest with his leg once, activating the Rockatrice’s power infused within the stone walls of the Nest.

Primary Nature–Rocky Intimidation!

The intimidation effects numbed the Mud Vipers, preventing them from churning Prana through their bodies for a short duration.

Ten seconds later, Torq landed on the top of the Nest, holding by the neck the body of a Mud Viper slightly bigger than his body.

’He’s brave!’ The gruff man’s smile was pretty evident as even a chuckle escaped out of his stubborn mouth. "What are you waiting for, my Grandson?"

"Eat it."

"Yes," Torq nodded as he noticed the Mud Viper struggling to break free from his grasp. However, no matter what it did, his grip was unaffected, ’My strength has increased significantly.’

He then extended his index finger and placed it on the Mud Viper’s chest, surprised to see the finger move inside with the slightest exertion of force, ’It feels like pushing my finger inside cotton.’

[I’m sorry, but you should avoid struggling.]

He spoke in the empirical means of communication used by the Mud Vipers to converse among each other. At his words, the Mud Viper’s resistance spiked, stopping a second later as he had ripped out its heart.

Gulp!

Within two minutes, a Mud Viper Tangible Nature appeared in his stomach, looking no different to a hatchling. Upon seeing its appearance, Torq smiled. And then, he slurped the rest of the Mud Viper’s bleeding body.