Read Novel Full Chapter 237: Ancestor
Chapter 237: Ancestor
Richard swam very far, as the octopus’s location was indeed much farther than that of the Giant Black Shark.
The place he headed toward could be described as severely devastated.
It was filled with underwater mountains, but those mountains were heavily damaged—some overturned, some riddled with holes, others split in half.
How could the area not be ruined, considering how crowded it was with sea beasts?
Most of them were octopuses. They were actually quite united, with no infighting among themselves. However, it seemed that groups of sea beasts frequently attacked this territory.
The moment Richard arrived, he was already surrounded by dozens of gigantic octopuses, each possessing hundreds of tentacles.
Deep Sea Octopus was the name of their race, and his target was their king—the Deep Sea Octopus King.
Those surrounding Richard were only at Tier 50 to 60.
Despite their massive bodies that made them resemble small mountains, Richard merely smiled.
"Where is your king? I want to fight him," he said.
Although they could not yet use human language, they should have understood his meaning.
Several of them grew furious and began preparing to attack.
But suddenly, a hoarse voice echoed from the distance.
"Stop. Retreat. You are not his opponent!"
The voice seemed to reverberate from beneath the ground.
It carried an authoritative force over the octopuses, causing them to immediately retreat.
Richard frowned slightly.
This did not sound like the voice of a beast capable of speaking human language—it sounded like a human voice itself.
To Richard, the difference was easy to discern.
Not long after, he saw a beam of light streaking toward him from afar.
Of course, its true size was only that of a human, and within it was a human figure—an old man who appeared to be close to sixty years old.
He had messy black hair and a cold face that looked as though it was perpetually angry.
"Who are you?" Richard asked.
"Hmph..." The old man snorted, then charged straight at Richard.
But what shocked him was that four tentacles suddenly emerged from the old man’s back, moving toward Richard at astonishing speed, leaving him stunned.
Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!
He reacted too late. Each tentacle seized one of his arms and legs, restraining him completely.
It was a speed he truly could not evade.
The old man then dragged him closer.
At this point, Richard understood—at Tier 82, even beasts with Emperor Bloodlines could not transform into humans unless under special circumstances.
Such cases were extremely rare. What was not rare, however, was Ancestral Bloodlines. Primordial Beasts with Ancestral Bloodlines could certainly become human at Tier 82.
The old man suddenly opened his mouth and spewed black ink toward Richard, instantly engulfing him.
The effect was unexpectedly brutal. It corroded his skin and blurred his vision, filling his sight with shadows. Even after that, his eyes burned intensely.
Before Richard could retaliate by unleashing the power of his Black Heart, he felt something pierce through his chest, causing his eyes to widen.
But even that was something he could no longer see. He could only feel that what pierced his chest was also a tentacle.
In his worst imagination, he never expected things to turn out this badly.
The base clearly knew nothing about the Deep Sea Octopus King.
No—this was the Deep Sea Octopus Ancestor.
Whoosh!
Richard could only activate Void Mode.
This was his only option while his entire body was bound—even entering the Dragon Hall had become impossible.
"Hm?"
The old man immediately looked confused.
On the other side, Richard stood calmly.
One good thing he discovered was that his body recovered extremely quickly.
Even having his chest pierced was no problem at all.
At that moment, the old man began looking at the surrounding giant octopuses, as if wondering why Richard was there.
Richard felt like laughing when he saw the confused expression on that perpetually angry face.
This old man could become a serious threat to the Holy Star Kingdom, Richard thought.
If he were to defeat him fairly, Richard was pessimistic about his chances. But no matter what, he had to do it to eliminate a danger to his wife’s kingdom.
Calmly, he moved closer to the old man.
His dagger was already prepared in his hand.
Richard did not move behind him—but directly in front of him.
Even so, he was actually very pessimistic. Killing a beast at this level was no easy task, especially one with an Ancestral Bloodline.
Still, Richard wanted to try stabbing his heart first.
Whoosh!
He thrust the dagger forward and returned to his normal state the moment it was about to strike the old man’s chest.
"What?" Both Richard and the old man were stunned.
Richard was shocked because the dagger only sank halfway—it could not be pushed any further, as the old man’s heart was simply too hard.
The old man, on the other hand, was shocked by Richard’s sudden appearance.
He stared at the dagger embedded halfway into his chest.
"Hahaha..." He suddenly laughed.
"Weak. Far too weak," he said, placing his hand on Richard’s shoulder.
"I never expected you to possess that legendary power. And it seems you can recover from injuries quickly as well." The old man examined Richard’s body.
Earlier, his skin had been corroded by the ink, but now it was completely healed. His chest had closed perfectly without leaving a trace.
Richard was startled by his insight—he had recognized Void power and even drawn conclusions instantly.
But this only made Richard smile.
"It’s impossible for you to kill me," Richard replied. "I merely regard you as a punching bag for my training."
"That’s true. You’re in the Grimoire Realm—it’s normal to train like this." The old man nodded.
"For the Grimoire Realm, you’re quite tough, but you’re nothing compared to others who have attacked me in this realm before."
"Oh? Who?" Richard could not help but be surprised.
"I don’t know her. She’s a black-haired woman. If I think about it, your faces look very similar."
Richard: "..."
How could that woman be stronger than me? he wondered.
"She was truly terrifying. I think if we met again at the same level, I would lose easily," the old man said.
"I could also defeat you easily if we were at the same level. Even though you seem to possess an Ancestral Bloodline, you’ve barely tapped into its potential."
"Hmph. Can’t you accept the reality that someone is stronger than you? I judged based on your strength in the Grimoire Realm..." The old man sneered.
Then he took a step back, causing Richard’s dagger to slide out of his chest.
Richard was shocked once again when black ink briefly spurted out before the wound closed tightly.
"Even if I just stand still, you won’t be able to do anything to me. Are you sure you want to use me as your punching bag, boy?" the old man mocked.
And Richard could not deny that this deeply wounded his pride.
"Boy, I don’t mind helping with your training. However, here—you will be the punching bag."
After saying that, the old man’s figure suddenly began to change rapidly.
Richard’s eyes widened as he hurriedly retreated.
The old man finally revealed his true octopus form.
He transformed into an octopus so enormous—ten times larger than the Giant Black Shark.
Richard was nothing more than a speck of dust in comparison. Worse still, it had thousands of tentacles, each seemingly lined with countless mouths filled with sharp teeth.
Even more terrifying—it had wings on its body.
Its mouth was unimaginably large when opened.
Whoosh!
It immediately spewed an extremely dense black ink, filling the sea.
Richard found no space to dodge at all.
And this time, the ink felt profoundly threatening.
Yet instead of panicking, Richard felt excited.
It seemed this would be a battle of endurance.
That was fine. He could test just how strong his defensive capabilities were against a far more powerful existence.
Whoosh!
Dragon wings appeared—black with golden veins.
Richard charged forward without hesitation. The flap of his wings generated tremendous thrust, pushing away the surrounding water—and the ink along with it.
It couldn’t touch him. He advanced effortlessly through the ink.
"Impressive..." the octopus praised, even as it sent hundreds of its thousands of tentacles toward him.
They were far too fast.
Richard responded by slashing his dagger continuously.
Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!
The tentacles were not as durable as the octopus’s chest. Richard cut through them with ease.
However, they regenerated extremely quickly.
Several tentacles managed to wrap around Richard’s legs, halting his movement, then bound his arms so he could no longer slash.
Once again, the difference in their power was laid bare.
"Boy, you made a mistake by underestimating my bloodline!" the octopus roared in its hoarse voice.
Richard saw hundreds of tentacles surrounding him, and the thousands of mouths on them opened—spewing ink that was now blood-red.
Richard knew it was truly ink, not blood.
However, the sensation it gave off was many times more threatening.
It felt as though it could annihilate him outright.