The silvery-white Thunder Pillar that pierced the heavens flickered faintly, revealing Astra’s massive draconic body once more.

Its aura was now noticeably a sliver weaker than before.

This ultimate talent, Body Thunderbolt Transformation, also took a massive toll on it.

But its enormous eyes, like two suns, remained filled with cold indifference and pride.

It lowered its head, looking down upon the vast Endless Forest Sea below and the Heaven-Reaching Divine Wood that resembled a pillar holding up the sky.

It could see the Jade Dragon Emperor’s immense, emerald-green figure bursting forth from the shattered Cage of Ten Thousand Woods.

Those emerald draconic eyes stared daggers, locking with Astra’s across a distance of ten thousand meters.

That gaze was filled with an endless, almost tangible malevolence and killing intent.

Astra knew that as a veteran Catastrophe Level Giant Dragon, the Jade Dragon Emperor was not afraid to fight it.

In fact, with its masterful control over Natural Magic and the home-field advantage within the Endless Forest Sea, Astra knew it would likely be at a disadvantage if a true fight broke out.

But different breeds of Giant Dragons possessed entirely different talents.

The Jade Dragon Emperor excelled in Life and Nature Magic, in control, in restoration, in direct confrontation.

But in terms of speed, it was no match for a Thunder Dragon like Astra, which was renowned for its speed and destructive power.

It couldn’t keep up.

Astra paid the furious gaze from below no more mind.

It turned its mountain-like head, and its colossal body once again transformed into a streak of thunderous light that tore across the heavens, departing swiftly toward the South without the slightest hesitation.

A streak of thunderous light tore through the heavens.

It was a bolt of Lightning that stretched between heaven and earth, flashing past the dense clouds of the Giant Dragon Realm at a speed beyond mortal comprehension.

Dark green forests, ochre wastelands, and silver-ribboned rivers flashed by in his vision, stretched into blurred and distorted patches of color.

Just a few minutes ago, they had been trapped within the hopeless Cage of Ten Thousand Woods, a prison constructed by the Jade Dragon Emperor using the power of the entire Endless Forest Sea.

Raylo had even thought that was the end.

But then Astra had unleashed its powerful inherited talent.

Body Thunderbolt Transformation.

It wasn’t Magic, nor was it a technique. It was a fundamental leap in its very form of life.

Astra had completely converted its kilometer-long body of flesh and blood into pure, ultimate lightning.

And then, it had pierced through everything.

Raylo recalled the silvery-white Thunder Pillar that had torn apart the cage and pierced the heavens, and his heart still pounded uncontrollably.

It was the most primal, purest, most unadulterated display of Power.

After transforming into Thunderbolt to escape the Heaven-Reaching Divine Wood, Astra’s aura was clearly a sliver weaker, and even the Thunder Light Force Field enveloping them had dimmed slightly.

Clearly, using such an ultimate talent exacted a tremendous cost.

But even so, its speed was still terrifyingly fast.

A few hours later, the scent of grass and trees in the wind gradually faded, replaced by a vast, powerful rush of moist air.

The scenery ahead abruptly shifted from continuous mountain ranges and forests to a wide river so vast its other bank was out of sight.

The river water was a deep azure, churning and roaring as it kicked up thousands of whitecaps. Even from an altitude of ten thousand meters, the sound of the water was still faintly audible, like a dull clap of thunder.

The Canglan River.

The great river that bisected the Continent.

Astra’s speed finally slowed slightly as it flew above the river’s surface.

Raylo’s gaze was instantly captivated by the scene on the river, and his pupils contracted uncontrollably.

War.

A war far grander and more brutal than any he had ever imagined was raging furiously at the river mouth below.

Compared to their last flight over the Canglan River just a dozen or so hours prior, the river mouth was now stained a sickening, dark red.

A colossal blue figure, so large it nearly blocked the entire river mouth, was partially visible amidst the tumultuous waves.

Only half of its body was revealed, yet its winding draconic form was like a continuous mountain range. Each sway of its body stirred up monstrous waves hundreds of meters high.

Its deep blue scales shimmered with a faint light in the murky river water. Every breath it took caused the water level of the entire Canglan River to rise and fall visibly.

The Azure Wave Dragon Emperor!

The undisputed sovereign of these waters, a Catastrophe Level Blue Dragon of unfathomable power that had existed for countless ages.

And opposite it, in the direction of the Endless Sea, another equally terrifying, great power was clashing with it fiercely.

Raylo couldn’t make out the invader’s specific appearance.

He could only see a massive shadow composed of countless writhing tentacles, coiled in the seawater at the river mouth.

The shadow emanated a powerful energy that was chaotic, frenzied, and reeked of the Abyss.

Two great powers, both at the Catastrophe Level, were colliding madly.

The Water Elements roared and wailed.

At one moment, an impossibly thick, blue Water Tornado would shoot into the sky, tearing through the clouds as if to punch a hole in the heavens.

The next, a cloud of pitch-black ink with a strongly corrosive stench would spread out, turning large swathes of the river into a venomous swamp. Countless aquatic creatures, unable to escape in time, writhed in agony within it before melting into pools of pus.

Monstrous waves surged and thunder rumbled.

The entire mouth of the Canglan River had become a forbidden zone for all life.

And beyond the battlefield of the two Catastrophe Level beings was an even bloodier, more brutal racial war.

Tens of thousands of Water Beasts from the Canglan River, under the Dragon Emperor’s command, had formed a death-defying army, crazily charging the even more numerous Sea Beast Legion surging in from the ocean.

Giant sea crabs with sharp, jointed limbs; sea serpents spewing Venom; and countless bizarre-looking marine Demons reeking of the Abyss churned the murky waves, letting out sharp, piercing shrieks, their eyes glinting with bloodlust and madness.

Biting, crashing, devouring.

In this moment, life had become cheaper than dirt.

Every second, hundreds, even thousands of Magical Beasts died. Their corpses and severed limbs turned the vast expanse of water into a thick, churning stew of flesh and blood.

Raylo held his breath, his throat feeling a little dry.

’So this is a Catastrophe Level war. It isn’t just a confrontation between two powerhouses at the apex of the pyramid; it’s a war to the death between two entire ecosystems, fighting for the space to survive. Before such a magnificent yet cruel spectacle, the so-called wars between human nations, fought on a scale of tens or hundreds of thousands, seem as insignificant as children squabbling.’

"This invader is very strong."

Astra’s voice resounded in Raylo’s mind, interrupting his shock.

"It entered the Catastrophe Level over a thousand years ago. Like the Blue Dragon in the river, their Power is evenly matched."

Astra’s voice paused before it gave its conclusion.

"This war will last a long time. Years, perhaps even decades, until one of them falls for good, or until all life in these waters has been consumed."

’Years, perhaps even decades...’

Raylo’s heart was struck hard by those words.

He couldn’t imagine what kind of Purgatory a Catastrophe Level war lasting for decades would turn the central part of the Continent into.

"Let’s go."

Astra’s voice entered Raylo’s mind.

Raylo nodded.

Astra’s massive draconic body once again transformed into thunderous light, crossing the Canglan River from high above, ten thousand meters in the air.

The great dragon roars and the shrieks of the Water Magical Beasts were left far behind, soon becoming inaudible.

As they passed over the blood-stained Canglan River, the thick, metallic scent in the wind also began to fade.

The streak of thunderous light cut across the long sky, heading straight for the Giant Valley.

When the thunderous light dissipated, Astra’s enormous draconic body landed silently on the highlands outside the Giant Valley, folding its sky-blotting Thunderbolt Dragon Wings.

On the highlands, Kado and Gordo, who had been guarding the Space Stone Wall, immediately rushed over the moment they saw the thunderous light descend.

Raylo leaped down from the dragon’s back, and the feeling of solid ground finally brought him back to his senses after the breakneck, continent-spanning flight.

"Your Excellency Astra, we’ve arrived."

Raylo said to Astra.

Astra gave a slight nod, once again using its power to help Coal Ball open a spatial rift large enough for it to pass through.

As Astra entered the spatial rift, Raylo followed, leading Sun and the Black King through it and back to the Black Stone Territory.