Please be my partner.

Mellen frowned: "You don't know either?"

The Black-Winged Serpent nodded and said, "The final order issued by the Council of Beasts was for all our clans to hide in their respective clan secret realms. The order was issued hastily and was somewhat vague, but there is no doubt that this order came from the highest level of the Council of Beasts."

"Actually, our Blackwing Serpent clan was divided at the time. Some people felt that the order was vague and unnecessary to obey, or that even if it was obeyed, we should find out the reason and specific information such as when we should hide."

"So, we split into two groups. I led most of the tribesmen into the secret realm as ordered, while a small number of tribesmen stayed outside to guard the area."

"but……"

At this point, the Black-Winged Serpent's tone turned bitter: "Not long after, those clansmen who remained outside died, all of them in an instant! We didn't even know what had happened."

“Some members of the tribe risked leaving the secret realm to investigate, but without exception, they all perished the moment they left the secret realm.”

The Black-Winged Serpent fell silent for a long time before continuing, "In the days that followed, we kept hoping that the Council of Beasts would issue new orders, but nothing came. Ten years, twenty years, thirty years... three hundred years... five hundred years... nothing at all!"

"Some tribesmen could not bear the loneliness in the secret realm and wanted to go out to explore the situation, but the result was still death."

"Gradually, all the clansmen died, leaving only me. Sometimes I even felt like I was going crazy. I wanted to get out of there no matter what, but I couldn't! I still had the hope of the Black Winged Serpent being reborn and multiplying on my shoulders. I couldn't just fall like this."

"So, I went through a cycle of hazy lucidity and numb slumber, not knowing how many years had passed or how much longer I could hold on, until I sensed that the secret realm had been opened and the outside world was filled with the breath of life."

Mellen suddenly realized that the Black-winged Serpent's earlier eagerness to leave the secret realm was not to attack the people from Baoshi Academy who had opened it, but simply because it was frustrated.

Perhaps, this black-winged serpent is truly half-mad, who knows?

According to the Black-Winged Serpent, it was unaware of the situation back then, and simply followed orders, thus muddling through and barely surviving until now.

Mellen frowned, feeling a bit of a headache. The only thing that could be confirmed now was that the Battle of the Skyfall was not a chaotic battle between the dominant races, and that the Council of Beasts had anticipated this. Although the order was issued hastily, it at least served as a warning.

The truth behind the end of the ancient era increasingly leans towards the possibility of a horrific natural disaster.

Perhaps sensing that it was a matter of life and death, the Black-Winged Serpent suddenly became clever and cautiously asked, "Lord Wolf, are you investigating the truth behind the catastrophe of that year?"

Mellen nodded and casually said, "That's right."

Blackwing Serpent hurriedly said, "My lord, I, Blackwing Serpent, am just an ordinary member of the Council of Beasts. I usually only carry out orders and have no way of knowing much about the truth. However, I know a few races that hold important positions in the Council of Beasts. If we can find them, we might be able to get the information you want."

Mellen's eyes lit up as he looked at the Black-Winged Serpent and said, "Not bad! You're quite good! You know about the secret realms of those races?!"

The Black-Winged Serpent respectfully replied, "Yes, sir. I know the exact locations of the secret realms of the Silver-Scaled Giant Demon, the Flame Serpent, and the Wind Demon Dragon. I personally entered their secret realms back then. In addition, I also know the approximate locations of some other powerful secret realms."

Mellen said with satisfaction, "Very good. From now on, you will stay by my side. I will also help you with your idea of ​​rebuilding your tribe."

The Black-Winged Serpent was overjoyed and said, "Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!! My name is Hei Teng."

Next, Mellen asked Hei Teng some more questions and discovered that the Black Winged Serpent clan did not actually coexist with humans. Although they did not reject their clan members signing contracts with humans, they did not actively accept humans either.

There were many similar groups in the Council of Beasts back then. It was their own choice, and the Council of Beasts would not interfere arbitrarily.

Mellen asked, "Hei Teng, after you reappear and rebuild the Blackwing Serpent Clan, will you still maintain the old traditions and not accept humans?"

Hei Teng paused for a moment, then smiled wryly and said, "Signing a contract with humans and coexisting with them will undoubtedly allow our people to grow faster. The Black Winged Serpent Clan has been rebuilt after its destruction, and it's time to make a change."

Chapter 751 The Secret Realm of the Flame Serpent Clan

Looking at the few bright spots marked on the projected map, Mellen nodded in satisfaction.

After excavating so many ruins, we've finally made some progress. Next, if we follow the clues to find the secret realms of those important members of the Council of Beasts, we should be able to obtain more information.

Upon closer inspection of the points of light, Mellen suddenly let out a soft exclamation, as the surrounding environment of one of them seemed somewhat familiar to him.

After a moment's recollection, it immediately dawned on them that this was the very site they had originally planned to visit: Ruins No. 9.

After leaving the Blackwing Serpent Secret Realm, Mellen briefly explained the situation inside to Song Fei. Song Fei immediately understood, adjusted the subsequent excavation work, and set Ruins No. 9 as the focus of the next stage.

Afterwards, Mellen introduced the Black-Winged Serpent, which had shrunk in size, and then said, "Black Vine intends to integrate into the current order system. If the Academy Alliance has no objections, I hope you can help it rebuild its race."

Song Fei was overjoyed and, without even consulting Tianyu, readily agreed, patting his chest.

Not to mention that the Blackwing Serpents are a monster race with god-level potential, such a race that wants to integrate into human order will be treated as honored guests wherever they go.

Moreover, the Black Teng Serpent holds an even more extraordinary significance for Baoshi Academy!

As a member of the Council of Beasts in ancient times, and an old monster that survived the war of the collapsing sky, it is practically a living fossil in the eyes of archaeologists.

Handing Hei Teng over to the Academy Alliance is a way of giving it a proper account.

Several days later, Mellen arrived in a completely new environment, a region that humans had never set foot in before. The air was filled with a scorching heat, and dozens of volcanoes stretched across the land, most of which were dormant, but a few seemed to be on the verge of erupting.

This place is inhabited by a monster race called the Fire Serpents. In fact, the Fire Serpents are not troublesome at all; at most, they are just a dominant race, and there are no gods among them.

However, there were simply too many fire serpents!

According to the exploration by Baoshi Academy, the number of fire serpents in the entire volcanic group is at least in the tens of millions.

More importantly, fire serpents possess earth and lava attributes, allowing them to move freely on the earth. Fire serpents of the commander level and above can even move briefly in underground lava. Combined with the earth veins in the volcanic cluster, they are virtually invincible.

Unfortunately, the fire serpent clan is extremely xenophobic, and any other life that enters their territory will be subjected to their relentless attacks.

This makes it very difficult for Baoshi Academy to complete the opening of the Ninth Secret Realm here.

According to the information obtained from Hei Teng, the Fire Serpent is an appendage of the Flame Serpent and is usually used to do odd jobs such as guarding the gate.

Mellen's primary goal in coming here is to communicate, and it would be best if no conflict occurred.

After all, Mellen opened the secret realm to obtain information from the Flame Serpent. If he beat up someone else's underling before even meeting them, it wouldn't sound good to outsiders.

Mellen's gaze swept across the ground beneath his feet, his eyes piercing through layers of obstacles. The first thing he saw was the dense mass of fire serpents slumbering within the earth. As he continued downwards, the closer he got to the lava, the stronger the slumbering fire serpents became.

Soon, Mellen found his target. He manipulated the power of heaven and earth to create a giant hand that reached directly towards the earth.

The power of heaven and earth, in an extremely precise ratio, directly penetrated the barrier of the ground and penetrated deep into the earth.

Sensing danger, a giant fire serpent that had been sleeping in the lava suddenly opened its eyes and let out a low roar. Instantly, the entire lava vein began to churn, and as the turmoil spread and spread, the active volcanoes that had previously shown signs of eruption began to emit large amounts of thick smoke, as if they were about to erupt at any moment.

Upon hearing the roar of the giant fire serpent, all the surrounding fire serpents awoke from their slumber, and in an instant, ten thousand serpents hissed.

Just then, a giant hand formed from the power of heaven and earth grabbed the enormous fire serpent, and no matter how much it struggled, it was to no avail. It was simply dragged out of the ground.

As the giant fire serpent was lifted high into the sky, it was as if a hornet's nest had been stirred up. One after another, fire serpents emerged from the earth, raised their bodies, and stared at Mellen with eerie eyes.

This giant fire serpent is a monstrous overlord, and its power is easily within Melen's grasp.

Mellen looked at the giant fire serpent that was struggling and writhing, staring at him with a cold gaze, and laughed, "Don't worry, I'm not here to cause trouble. I've come to pay a visit to your superior race... the Flame Serpent."

"If you have a way to make contact, please help spread the word. Just say that the 'Wolf Lord' has come to visit, and they will understand."

Upon hearing Mellen's words, the giant fire serpent paused for a moment, then let out an even more furious roar.

Mellen wasn't a boy who had miraculously survived and still had a lightning bolt scar on his head, so naturally he couldn't understand snake language. However, with his mental and spiritual strength, he could directly interpret the emotional information of the giant fire serpent.

To Mellen's surprise, the giant fire serpent didn't recognize the Flame Serpent and even thought Mellen was playing a trick on it, which made it even angrier.

After thinking for a moment, the giant fire serpent headed deeper into the volcano. Soon, he found the most powerful aura among the fire serpents. Although its strength had not yet broken through the level of the overlord, its size was no less than that of a typical god-level monster. It was obviously an old fellow who had lived for many years.

Mellen used the same method to pull it out of a volcano, an act that seemed to thoroughly enrage the fire serpent clan. One by one, fire serpents with the ability to fly soared into the sky and launched an attack on Mellen.

Mellen snorted coldly, and a wide-ranging soul shock was released, causing all the fire snakes to stiffen and then fall to the ground like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

Mellen looked at the ancient fire serpent he had caught; compared to it, the previous giant fire serpent seemed like a small creature.

This old fire serpent has two protrusions on its head, and its scales are constantly shimmering with a deep red color, giving the impression that it is about to evolve into another form.

Sensing the subtle strength of Mellen, the Fire Serpent of the Year did not lose its temper and acted very pragmatically.

"Do you know about the Flame Serpent?" asked Murren.

The Fire Serpent looked somewhat bewildered, indicating that it did not know.

After talking with the Fire Serpent for a while, Mellen finally got a general idea of ​​what had happened.

Before the Battle of the Sky Collapse, the Flame Serpents retreated to their clan's secret realm. During this period, perhaps only a small number of Fire Serpents followed the Flame Serpents into the secret realm, while a large number of Fire Serpents remained outside.

Although the Battle of the Sky was a catastrophe of mass extinction, some lucky survivors did manage to adapt to the new environment.

The fire serpent tribe in this volcanic cluster is such an example.

After a long period of elimination and evolution, the Fire Serpent Clan may have long forgotten that they are vassals of the Flame Serpent Clan, and are simply content to live in the volcanic field, which serves as the environment for their survival and reproduction.

Although these are just Mellen's speculations, they are probably quite accurate.

Having realized this, Mellen abandoned any intention of communicating with the fire serpents. He first used forceful methods to intimidate the fire serpent horde, then erected a protective shield to cover the target area, clearing a safe environment for them.

Only after all this was done was a spatial passage opened.

Song Fei and the professional team from Baoshi Academy crossed the space passage and immediately began their busy work.

They took out pre-made templates and began assembling and fixing them, and a huge mechanical device was taking shape at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Looking at the protective shield and the numerous fiery serpents lurking outside it, Song Fei asked, "What's this?"

Mellen shook his head and said, "The fire serpent clan here has long since lost all connection with the flame serpents; they can be considered a completely new clan."

Song Fei exclaimed, "The power of time is enough to change everything."

Half a day later, the mechanical assembly was completed, and all the debugging was finished.

"Space parameters set up..."

"Energy multiplier is normal, initiating the injection of mixed energy flow..."

"Akas data is normal, continue to increase energy output..."

"..."

Strange fluctuations emanated from the launch port above the machine, and a faint spatial rift would occasionally appear above it.

While reviewing the various data that had been compiled, Song Fei said, "If the Flame Serpent Clan still lives in the secret realm, they might encounter a situation similar to that of Ruins No. 7. In that case, I would appreciate Mr. Mellen's help."

Mellen nodded slightly.

Gradually, as spatial frequencies were locked in, the hidden entrance to the secret realm was slowly opened.

However, neither Mellen nor Song Fei showed any joy on their faces; on the contrary, they looked rather grim.

Because there was no movement whatsoever in this secret realm.

"You wait here," said Mellen. "I'll go in and take a look."

Song Fei opened his mouth, wanting to say that they had advanced mechanical explorers capable of handling this simple yet dangerous work, but considering Mellen's abilities, he swallowed his words.

Upon entering the secret realm of the Flame Serpent Clan, Melen's only feeling was... deathly silence.

There is no life, including animals and plants.

All life has withered away; even the bones have turned to dust.

After observing silently for a while, Mellen began to explore the secret place. Although he found nothing, he did discover the reason why the place had become like this.

This secret place is out of place.

The so-called secret realm is not a space that can exist independently; it is a space that must rely on the regular world to exist and needs to constantly draw nourishment from the world.

The original secret realm of the Flame Serpent Clan was located on the spatial plane corresponding to the volcanic cluster. It could not only absorb the energy of the world normally, but also continuously guide the energy of the volcanic cluster for its own use, to support the Flame Serpent Clan living in it.

In fact, the reason why the Flame Serpent Clan made the Fire Serpent Clan their vassal was because they valued the latter's talent in the fields of earth and lava. Another role of the Fire Serpent Clan was to help the Flame Serpent Clan manage the underground lava veins of the volcanic cluster and continuously expand the area of ​​the volcanic cluster.

Unfortunately, perhaps something went wrong during the Battle of the Sky, causing the Flame Serpent Clan's secret realm to become separated from the main world. Without the world's nourishment, it was like a plant lacking sunlight; its energy diminished with each use until it was completely exhausted.

Perhaps the Flame Serpent Clan did not perish as a result. After all, even if the secret realm was separated from the main world, the Flame Serpent Clan could forcibly return to the main world and seek a glimmer of hope for survival amidst the cataclysm.

But in any case, they can no longer be found now.

However, Mellen was not discouraged. For him, the Flame Serpent Clan's secret realm was just the most recent one, not the last. He still had more than a dozen secret realm coordinates, and he was sure he could find one alive.

Mellen reopened the virtual map, this time focusing his attention on the location of the Stormterror.

In any world, any life form that can be called a dragon generally has a high minimum standard, and the Stormterror is no exception.

As a dragon-type creature, the Stormterror Dragon had more than a dozen god-level members at its peak, making it a formidable force even among ordinary members of the Council of Beasts.

It is worth mentioning that, according to Mellen's understanding, the Council of Beasts in the Beast Universe is quite despicable. The three superior divine beast races suppress other races, preventing them from reaching the level of ancestral gods.

Of course, "ancestral god level" here refers to the level of the clan.

In other words, each member of the three superior divine beast clans—the Heavenly Dragon, the Black Phoenix, and the Nether Tiger—has the innate potential to become an Ancestral God, with the Ancestral God level being their upper limit.

Meanwhile, the lower-level divine beast groups such as wolves, cats, and snakes are only divine-level groups, with the upper limit being divine.

However, despite the limitations, the universe of beasts also has rules of evolution and mutation. Although evolution is difficult and the probability of success is low, it is still a way out for an individual.

Take the wolf clan as an example. During the era of the Council of Ten Thousand Beasts, the wolf lord had tens of thousands of god-level powerhouses under his command, but when it came to the ancestral god level, only a handful remained.

Furthermore, these few ancestral gods were unable to give birth to offspring to form ancestral god-level races.

Because the highest god has already locked up this possibility at the level of rules!