In King Kong Canyon!
Hawk's figure silently appeared at the edge of the underground passage's entrance, which was still emitting a yellowish-brown smoke into the canyon.
This yellowish-brown smoke did not seem to be actively released; rather, it resembled a natural overflow.
It was possible that when the Ivi Race came up from below, they didn't close the entrance again, which allowed Skull Crawlers to continuously climb out.
It's just that...
Why weren't Deviants coming up, but Skull Crawlers, which were far inferior in both appearance and ability?
Was it because they didn't want to, or couldn't?
Hawk leaned towards the second possibility.
Deviants didn't not want to climb up, but couldn't; as for why they couldn't, he would probably have to go down and investigate to find out.
With that thought.
Hawk didn't hesitate, taking a step forward, and instantly, his entire being vanished from the ground of King Kong Canyon.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Falling freely towards the bottom of the passage, completely subject to gravity, Hawk felt the constant whistling wind in his ears during the descent and looked up.
The entrance to King Kong Canyon had already shrunk to the size of a grain of rice.
Hawk looked down.
The passage, filled with yellowish-brown smoke, was still bottomless, and his gaze still couldn't penetrate the thick layer of smoke to see the true situation below.
The next second.
Hawk's Little Universe ignited, and instantly, his descent speed increased. At the same time, Phoenix Fire spread over his feet, ensuring that even if he encountered any danger, his kick, comparable to Leo's flying kick, could smash anything attempting to block him.
After an unknown amount of time.
His vision suddenly opened up, and a Lost World appeared before his eyes.
Boom!
Hawk's figure instantly braked, and the moment he forcibly stopped in mid-air, a sonic boom erupted beneath his feet, blasting a donut shape into the yellowish-brown cloud below.
The rumbling sonic boom echoed persistently throughout this Lost World.
Hawk looked up once more.
Before his eyes.
Thick, faintly phosphorescent moss covered the dome, and countless huge, sharp crystals hung down from the dome.
Thick yellowish-brown clouds permeated the entire sky. If one looked closely, they would find that the yellowish-brown clouds were spreading upwards through a passage in the dome.
As for beneath the dome...
Hawk looked down; huge, craggy mountain bodies floated eerily in the air, as if supported by an invisible force.
The surface of the mountains was also covered with moss similar to that on the dome, emitting a faint phosphorescence.
The mountains were connected by huge, translucent, crystal-like natural stone bridges or thick, glowing vines.
Below the mountains was cracked and separated ground. Through the fissures in the ground, one could see space below, but it was not an abyss, but rather rolling, surging, golden, hot energy, like magma, constantly flowing beneath every piece of ground.
On the land, forests, rivers—everything found outside was also present here.
And here, there were also creatures other than Skull Crawlers.
Accompanied by a sharp cry, a bizarre creature, one hundred and thirty meters long, like a red snake but also possessing a pair of red wings, suddenly unfurled its wings from a coiled mountain, opened its sharp mouth, and swooped towards Hawk, who had appeared in the sky.
Hawk came back to his senses, and with a thought, his figure also descended towards this strange creature, while Phoenix Fire once again enveloped his right leg.
"Phoenix Kick!"
"Bang!"
The strange creature's head was kicked to pieces by Hawk, splattering fiery red liquid, and its massive body rapidly plunged towards the ground.
But before the strange creature could fully hit the ground, a chorus of screams erupted.
Hawk looked in the direction of the sound.
Before his eyes.
A combination of an owl's head and bat's wings, equally enormous, strange flying creatures, shrieked as they arrived next to the winged snake's corpse, already beginning to fight over the ownership of this heaven-sent food in mid-air.
Hawk glanced at them, then withdrew his gaze, and followed his instincts, flying in a certain direction.
Soon.
He arrived in a canyon formed by two massive floating mountains.
The canyon was deep and covered in forest.
But here, there was no trace of any strange creatures' activities. Even the strange creatures with owl heads and bat wings that had just been trailing Hawk shrieked and flew away after seeing him enter this canyon.
All creatures have an instinct to stay away from danger.
Clearly.
This deep canyon represented a fear so profound for the strange creatures here that they dared not even approach it.
But...
Hawk felt no fear in this deep canyon.
His gaze fell upon a familiar-looking temple directly opposite, which seemed to have merged with the mountain.
That's right.
It was identical to the temple in the Ivi Race village, but compared to the one on Skull Island, this temple was already covered in that faintly phosphorescent moss. From a distance, it appeared to be perfectly integrated with the mountain behind it.
The moment Hawk took a step, he was already inside this temple, which had been abandoned for who knew how long.
The temple was brightly lit.
Strange crystals emitting white light were embedded in the beams and the tops of the walls, illuminating the entire temple as if it were daytime.
The first thing that caught his eye was the ten statues, carved from the same strange crystals, each with a different expression.
Ten giant, colossal statues stood in a row.
There were gentle-faced females, and tall males; there were also flamboyant males, and aloof females...
"The ten members of the Eternal?"
Hawk's gaze swept over the faces of the ten giant statues, thinking to himself, then fixed his attention on the murals on the walls on both sides of the temple.
If the temple murals in the Ivi Race village were the historical records of the Ivi Race after they arrived on Skull Island, then the murals on both sides of this temple were the origin of the Ivi Race.
When the last Deviant was eliminated, the solemn and sacred leader stood alone by the sea, while the nine members behind him walked in different directions.
The gentle-faced female and the tall male walked together, came to this Lost World, and finally settled down.
The first Ivi Race member was born.
They settled in this valley, and with the birth of dozens of second-generation Ivi Race members, this temple was also born.
After that...
The tall male flew away without a word.
The gentle female quickly chased after him, and from then on, neither the male nor the female ever returned.
That first Ivi Race male was elected as the patriarch, and as time evolved, the Ivi Race grew stronger. Clearly, inbreeding causing mutations seemed somewhat laughable in the face of the extraordinary.
And that original Ivi Race person became the High Priest.
Countless Ivi Race people lived in this canyon, their lives peaceful and harmonious. Extraordinary power and abilities were their confidence.
Then, a change occurred.
Deviants appeared, bringing a catastrophic disaster to the Ivi Race, who had never encountered any danger since their birth, and didn't even know what danger was.
As time passed, Deviants, who could evolve through combat and gain abilities by killing them, quickly gained the upper hand in this war.
Finally—
There was no finally.
The last mural ended abruptly after depicting an exposed passage on the dome of the Lost World.
Hawk also withdrew his gaze, focusing on a skeleton sitting on the steps below the ten giant statues, head bowed, holding a metal scepter.
According to the description on the wall murals, this skeleton should be that first Ivi Race person.
It's just that—
This skeleton did not seem to have been killed by a Deviant.
Hawk's gaze fell on the skeleton's chest, which was pierced through the ribs and appeared empty.
This skeleton's death seemed to have been caused by a powerful energy directly piercing his chest.
Hawk thought to himself.
The next second.
He looked towards the sides of the ten giant statues. Before his eyes, Skull Crawlers, one after another, silently crawled out from the shadows, their eyes fierce and teeth bared. Upon appearing, without any confrontation, they instantly leaped and pounced at him.
Hawk raised an eyebrow.
In an instant!
The sound of Hawk's fists.
The roars of Skull Crawlers.
And the sound of fists piercing flesh echoed continuously in the temple.
But the commotion came and went quickly.
As Hawk dealt with the last Skull Crawler, the temple once again returned to its silent stillness.
Immediately after—
Two angry sounds, accompanied by the rustling of chains, came from behind the statues.
Hawk ignored the Skull Crawlers, dead in various ways, at his feet and in front of him. With a flicker of his figure, he had already appeared behind the ten statues lined up in a row.
Before his eyes.
In front was a huge White light, and it was under the illumination of this light that the ten giant statues lined up in front appeared like White jade.
The roars came from behind this White light.
Hawk raised an eyebrow, looking at the White light in front of him, raising his right hand, touching the light. Ripples floated on the light, and his right hand seamlessly entered beyond the light.
It seemed there was another space beyond this light.
Hawk didn't hesitate, taking a step forward. His entire being instantly entered the White light, and then, with another step, the White light dissipated, and another enormous cave appeared in his vision. It originally looked like a paradise, meant to be filled with flowers and plants, but was now covered with various Skull Crawler skeletal remains and permeated with an indescribable smell, making it resemble hell.
Chains rustled.
Roars were incessant.
Hawk looked in the direction of the sound.
Before his eyes!
Deviants!
...
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