The Natural Empire of the Oceanic Dragon

Accompanied by the sound of devastating collision, Atilan, falling from mid-air, crashed through several trees as thick as a man's embrace before stopping.

Lying among the broken branches and debris, Atilan took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind. He finally felt like he had been released from a washing machine; he was about to be driven mad by the spinning.

But did the Oak Protector really have such strong abilities?

How could he be taken from Moonshadow Lake to the forest? What was that spell that had made everything go black and spin him around like a washing machine?

"Old Tree Head, come out and talk to me! Why do you say I've forgotten about you?"

On the trunk of a tree not far in front of Atilan, the old face of the Oak Protector slowly emerged, speaking in a muffled voice:

"You promised to help me temper my body with Lightning Breath and the Water of Life, but you haven't come to see me in half a year. Yet, during these six months, you haven't missed a single Emerald Acorn."

"You eat my things but do nothing in return. Do you think that's right?"

The Oak Protector's tone became increasingly unfriendly.

Atilan, however, didn't panic at all. He stared straight at the Oak Protector's old face and began to scold him, pointing his finger:

"Old Tree Head, I've just been a little busy these past six months and haven't had time for you. Did you have to drag me here in the middle of the night?"

"You're a treant, and you've lived for hundreds, even thousands of years. Are you really concerned about a mere six months? Are you sure you're not just deliberately messing with me?"

When you're in the wrong, don't let your eyes waver, and your tone must be firm. Once you show fear, you've lost the momentum.

The Oak Protector roared in anger, the leaves above his head rustling.

"You're busy! Your so-called busy is hosting picnics and dances at Moonshadow Lake, a sacred training ground that was hard to create?"

"What are you talking about! I organize the druids to Moonshadow Lake for team-building exercises! This is to improve the organization's cohesion and allow everyone to build a better home with greater enthusiasm!"

"Think about it carefully. Isn't everyone's training enthusiasm particularly high after each large banquet? Doesn't the natural network of the forest operate faster?"

"The natural magic operates faster! As the core processor of the natural network, tell me, haven't you benefited from it? Isn't this proof that I'm helping you become an Ancient Tree of Life?"

After saying that, the Oak Protector's face disappeared from the tree trunk.

"Wait, Old Tree Head, I haven't finished speaking! Actually, I was planning to go find you tomorrow, but I was interrupted by my master's… training."

"I was lying in Moonshadow Lake for three days! This banquet can only be considered a spare-time activity! I promised to help you become a Divine Tree on the level of a Ginseng Fruit Tree, and I didn't lie to you at all!"

"Come out! Where exactly is this place? How am I supposed to get back?"

During his conversation with the Oak Protector, Atilan was also observing the surrounding environment. This wasn't the Bearmen's forest; otherwise, the Oak Protector wouldn't have dropped him from the sky.

And allowed him to crash and injure so many flowers, plants, and trees.

"Awoo!"

The sudden sound aroused Atilan's vigilance.

"A wolf howl? And it's an attack command! These wolves aren't targeting me, are they?"

Atilan flapped his wings and flew into the sky. Soon, he saw the monsters that were howling.

A very strange creature, resembling a hyena and a wolf, emitting an evil black aura all over its body, emerged from the forest in droves, their scarlet eyes staring at Atilan, drooling.

They actually dared to hunt a dragon! Atilan had to admire their courage. Now, it was time to let these damned things know what real fear was!

These monsters tainted with an evil aura reminded him of gnolls.

Atilan immediately used the Summon Lightning spell, a series of silvery-white lightning bolts accurately hitting the magic wolves, but the Summon Lightning didn't kill them.

"What's going on?"

Atilan instantly realized that these were no ordinary wolves. The evil black aura surrounding their bodies not only helped them resist lightning attacks but also repaired their wounds.

In short, these magic wolves were very difficult to kill.

The black aura surrounding their bodies was very similar to demonic power. Atilan even suspected that it was a type of demonic power he had never seen before.

Moreover, after staying here for a longer time and using the Summon Lightning spell to mobilize the surrounding natural magic, Atilan discovered that he had actually been pulled into the Emerald Dream by the Oak Protector.

The Oak Protector was a treant cultivated by the Bearmen. He couldn't possibly be colluding with demons. The only possibility was that these magic wolves were related to the Emerald Dream corruption that Old Rascal had mentioned to him before.

The magic wolves were originally natural spirits of the Emerald Dream that had been corrupted.

They were once wild souls summoned to the Emerald Dream after death. Their existence allowed the Emerald Dream to develop more vigorously. Now, they were being corrupted by demonic power.

Not only could they not provide assistance for the growth of the Emerald Dream, but they would also pollute the Emerald Dream, causing the verdant natural environment to gradually decay and breed more deformed monsters.

Atilan seemed to understand the Oak Protector's purpose in pulling him into the Emerald Dream.

His Lightning Breath had the effect of purifying evil power. The Oak Protector needed him to use the Ocean Dragon's talent to eliminate these pests polluting the Emerald Dream.

Atilan swooped down, and a Lightning Breath hit four or five magic wolves, indeed annihilating all the black aura surrounding their bodies and completely killing these magic wolves.

Looking at the magic wolves that didn't get up again, Atilan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Caw! Caw caw!"

Damn it! There were also crows! Atilan quickly spat out another breath, eliminating several more magic wolves. Swarms of red-eyed crows, entangled in dirty, rotten green gas, swooped towards him.

Atilan could only flap his wings and start running away, while also taking the opportunity to spit out the Lightning Breath that had finished charging towards the most concentrated area of crows. Compared to the magic wolves, the diseased crows' bodies were much weaker.

One Lightning Breath turned more than a dozen diseased crows into ashes.

"Awoo!"

The howl of a magic wolf came from the distance again. Obviously, more magic wolves were attracted by the commotion Atilan had caused and were rushing over here to hunt Atilan.

These weren't ordinary wolves from the material world. Magic Wolves could spew out a black miasma to contaminate any creature they touched, and they could even briefly fly to launch attacks.

Attilan wasn't running because he couldn't beat the Magic Wolves and Carrion Crows, but because Old Rascal had once told him that if he accidentally entered the Emerald Dream during his cultivation...

...and unfortunately encountered contaminated creatures in the Emerald Dream, he should never make physical contact with them, especially getting injured by them. Once contaminated, treatment would be very troublesome.

Because this was a contamination that could penetrate the spirit and soul, any problem involving the soul was difficult to solve, as Old Rascal knew from experience.

If the Emerald Dream was facing an invasion, this being a Druid's sanctuary, there should logically be soldiers fighting against the contaminated creatures. Looking at the surrounding environment, it didn't seem like an area that could be abandoned at will.

Attilan raised his head and let out a loud dragon roar, "Where the hell are the guards?! Hear my voice and come out to help, damn it!"

However, nothing happened. Besides the increasing number of Magic Wolves and Carrion Crows, there wasn't a single friendly unit. As the number of contaminated creatures increased, they began to form a contaminated aura.

This severely affected Attilan's ability to mobilize the surrounding natural magic. Dragons had a time interval between breathing dragon breath, but Attilan used Druid techniques to shorten the interval.

Without enough natural magic, the interval between Attilan's dragon breaths became longer and longer, and he was almost surrounded by Magic Wolves and Carrion Crows.

Fortunately, when heavens close all doors, they open a window. A blue lake appeared right in front of him, connected to a fairly wide river, giving Attilan a place to hide.

The lake contained a lot of natural magic and shouldn't have been contaminated yet.

He immediately plunged into the lake, planning to use the lake to fight a guerrilla war against the Magic Wolves and Carrion Crows.

The Magic Wolves surrounded the edge of the lake, and the Carrion Crows circled above the lake. After a long time without seeing Attilan emerge, they finally turned and left.

Damn it!

If the Oak Guard had told him in advance what kind of opponents he would be facing, he wouldn't have been in such a mess. With prior arrangements, he could have fully utilized the magic of the forest just now, and he might not have been unable to eliminate all these damn monsters.

Attilan couldn't be sure if there were contaminated creatures in the water. Since he planned to use this place as a base to fight against the monsters, Attilan had to start making arrangements as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, this was the Emerald Dream. The water element and natural magic crystals he condensed in the outside world weren't brought in with him. He had to condense the crystals needed to set up a magic array as soon as possible.

Just as he condensed the six basic crystals, a dark swordfish appeared in Attilan's perception along the river.

With the help of the magic array to maintain the stability of the natural energy in the lake, he didn't have to worry about encountering the predicament of not being able to use energy before.

Eliminating all these swordfish wasn't a problem either!

Attilan confidently pounced towards the swarming swordfish, first breathing dragon breath towards the most densely packed area of swordfish, and then using magic to roll up waves to disperse the densely packed swordfish rushing up.

How many swordfish he eliminated at once wasn't important. What was important was not to be contaminated by the demonic power carried by the swordfish. Anyway, before the crystals shattered, he could fully mobilize the water elements of the lake to fight against the swordfish.

Why should he let the danger get close to him?

If the Oak Guard was retaliating against him, then he wasn't a natural guardian who had received a mission. His primary goal was to save his own life, and the second was to protect the environment.

The correct Druid concept was to protect oneself first, and then protect the environment.

Because after the environment was destroyed, the Druids could restore it. If the Druids were gone, the time to cultivate an excellent Druid would be longer than restoring a forest.

It was too abnormal. Since the Emerald Dream was a Druid's sanctuary, then the strength of the guards should exceed the contaminated creatures. He was fighting to the death here, how could there not be a Druid or natural spirit coming to support him?

Unless this wasn't an area controlled by the Druids, but a heavily polluted area strongly affected by demons. This could also explain why his mobilization of the local natural magic to cast spells had such a poor effect on the contaminated creatures.

Damn it, how could Old Tree Head throw him into this kind of place?

This wasn't the simple and honest style of Old Tree Head. It felt more like Bearman!

He had just finished two training sessions and handed over the newly built cultivation sanctuary of Moonshadow Lake to him for management. As a result, he held a party at Moonshadow Lake as soon as he recovered from his injuries.

You say how could Bearman not be angry? Attilan felt that it was normal to want to teach him a lesson.

But it shouldn't be to throw him into the dangerous area of the Emerald Dream, right?

Compared to the Emerald Dream, Attilan still hoped that Bearman would beat him up again, which would not only relieve the master's disappointment but also increase his strength.

After a difficult fight against the swordfish for three battles, the swordfish seemed to have regained some sanity. After realizing that Attilan wasn't easy to deal with, they slowly retreated like a tide.

Attilan was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

But he was very clear that the departure of the swordfish was only temporary. This kind of creature couldn't allow Attilan to stay in their territory. Leaving was just to gather more companions to launch an attack.

Next time, it would be impossible for Attilan to repel the swordfish so easily.

Taking advantage of the gap in the contaminated creatures' attack, he had to strengthen the energy crystals that served as the core of the array as soon as possible, so that the magic array could last longer at one time.

Attilan returned to the magic array and saw that the crystals he had condensed in just two hours had already cracked. It took an hour to repair the cracks in the crystals.

It took another two hours to strengthen the crystals, allowing the crystals to last from one hour to two hours!

At the same time, he also prepared a set of spare crystals, but this set of crystals could only last for one hour. If he couldn't solve all the swordfish in three hours...

No! Two and a half hours.

Attilan had to prepare to run away in advance, detonating the magic array to cover his retreat. This was the best way.

The situation in the second round was even worse than Attilan wanted. The number of swordfish was more than ten times that of the first round. Attilan's scalp tingled. With so many monsters, he wanted to run away now.

He still decided to persevere for an hour. If there was still no support, he would directly detonate the spare crystals and use the first set of magic arrays to wash away all the swordfish.

An hour passed, and Attilan sighed. He quickly detonated the crystals, setting off a monstrous wave to wash away all the swordfish.

As a result, as soon as he landed, he saw the Carrion Crows hidden in the forest pouncing on him.

"Damn it, the Carrion Crows are still chasing me!"