As Tara and Lady made their way to the den, she couldn't help but remark how much stronger she felt.
She was now reaching what she felt was the mid-stage in the Qi Gathering realm, and she knew the gulf and energy demands to advance each stage indicated an astronomical power difference between them.
Tara could only imagine how powerful the cultivation realm above the Qi Gathering would be.
With the EXP demands increasing, it felt unbelievably far away, yet she had barely explored the swamp, and Tara was sure there were ways to keep up her swift pace.
She figured there were strange and interesting things in the swamp, treasures, and more spiritual fruit to find and use to improve herself.
Thinking back to the altercation with the Devilfly swarm made her curious about them.
They seemed rather bizarre, with abilities that made no sense.
Tara couldn't help but want to ask Lady if the strange variants specialising in different elements they saw were normal.
'Lady… the Devilfly swarm, is it normal for them to be so different?' Tara asked.
Lady paused before replying, 'Now that you said that, it was unusual. Devilflies take on the properties of things they eat. For there to be that many variants like that, there must be a treasure of some sort making them evolve in such different directions.'
That was the answer Tara was looking for. She sensed an opportunity lurking at the Devilfly den and felt something valuable must be to create an Emberwing and other variants among the swarm.
However, she knew she did not have the strength to return, even with her recent advancement. She would eventually return to find whatever influenced the Emberwing and other variants to grow such abilities.
As they moved further, Lady became curious about her new appendage. Her tail now sported rather vicious-looking spikes and appeared stronger and thicker than before, with denser muscle likely to support the thick bone-like spikes, allowing her to swing her now far heavier tail like a weapon.
'It is to do with the way I grow stronger... I go through changes every time I advance.' Tara explained, unsure how to define the system.
The way the Progenitor of Evolutions defined the system shows it wasn't out of the ordinary for him, yet by his level of power, anything casually done by the immortal will be heaven-defying at the lower stages.
She supposed as she continued to grow, her 'trump card' would become more and more ordinary, but at the moment, she held a significant advantage over your typical Magical Beast who, going by Lady, has little to no hope of advancing past the limit of their species.
'You might bring great pride to our kind if you advance steadily. Don't let power corrupt your mind. Even Dragons have fallen due to the pursuit of more power. The origin of this swamp is a great example of that.' Lady explained, making her curious about the so-called Dragon whose influence on the swamp and its denizens remained even today.
When she first saw her species description from the system, it mentioned something about 'this species always lives near Dragons'; she sure did not hope an enormous dragon remained alive somewhere slumbering under the swamp.
'There is no way I could be that unlucky, right?' Tara said, chuckling to herself at the absurdity.
Tara pushed that crazy thought to the back of their mind as they continued back to the den, and as they were nearer, Lady detected something off.
'Something is strange. I think we have visitors. Likely not the Pikeake; otherwise, blood would have been spilt by now.' Lady stated as she observed her surroundings.
Then, Tara noticed the lack of Iron Salalanders around the territory's perimeters, indicating they had been called back for something.
Knowing something was wrong, Tara and Lady's leisurely pace quickly changed to hurried as they closed the remaining distance between the den.
Upon arriving, Tara saw most of the Iron Salamanders' herd eyeing the unwelcome visitors with hostility.
The Salamanders looked as numerous as she remembered against the Pikeake, and many of them exited the underwater cave systems where they made their homes in an attempt to intimidate the visitors.
'It's those damn big ass turtles.' Tara thought as she eyed the behemoth snapping turtles who had approached the den.
They appeared smaller than she remembered, likely because her size had substantially increased since the last time she saw them, but she would recognise those big turtles anywhere.
She recalled the last time she had seen them, when she had retreated in defeat, wary of the prospect of confronting them.
Now, though, she was far more powerful than in the past and had countless Iron Salamanders to support her.
Roaming her eyes over the turtles, she found around thirty, which seemed pitiful compared to the Iron Salamanders numbers.
However, the turtles were larger and stronger than the Iron Salamanders at a similar cultivation stage, and judging by this small group, the turtles' average cultivation was also higher.
Among the turtles was one far stronger and larger than the rest, making the enormous turtle she had seen previously look small.
At the head of the group of thirty turtles was a titan of a turtle. Its shell seemed ridiculously thick and armoured, appearing like an impregnable walking fortress.
Unlike the other turtles, who were a mixture of dark green and brown, this turtle was extremely dark grey, appearing like a giant boulder from a distance.
Utilising {Insight}, she saw the big ones' information.
[Species: Snapping-Turtrake Stone King
Cultivation: Qi Gathering 6]
Now, that was a more potent variant of the turtles. Just glancing at it, she could tell it was much more powerful than the other Qi Gathering 6 Snapping-Turtrakes.
Meeting this ginormous turtle was Claw, who was even more dwarfed compared to the thing than he was to the Sphyrna Pikeake.
Not many creatures could make even Claw appear small; from the magical beasts, she had seen only the Sphyrna Pikeake and Dracrocodile, and now the large turtle had similarly done so.
Lady and a few other turtles were also bigger than Claw, but not to the disparity between Claw and the Snapping-Turtrake Stone King.
Tara, who was beginning to feel her size had been increasing a lot lately, once again felt relatively small suddenly.
The Stone King made her feel like a hatchling all over again. It seemed she had better get used to this feeling, as magical beasts appeared capable of even more monstrous sizes that would likely eclipse even the most enormous creatures on Earth if the giant insects and bear-sized Salamanders were anything to go by.
Lady and Tara's presence seemed to disrupt the current proceedings as the giant Stone King regarded them.
The titanic turtle-crushing presence fixated on them as its grey-stone-like eyes stared at them. Then Tara noticed a large gemstone with a silvery, granite-like consistency that rested upon its thick head.
Its features seemed even more Drake-like than the other turtles, with what looked like a cross between the stereotypical draconic features described in folklore on Earth conjoined with snapping turtles.
Tara felt the titanic turtle's presence the moment it made eye contact.
It seemed it wanted to enter a discussion like the Frog Queen, making it the second magical beast outside the Iron Salamanders she would interact with.
Seeing no reason to decline, Lady told her to accept as the turtle's booming, commanding voice entered her mind.
'We have come here because we believe you no longer have the strength to hold your spiritual tree! We believe it is our right to stake our claim! Our ways indicate the strongest get the spoils, and you are weak.' The Stone King said thunderously, leaving no room for negotiating.
Tara felt intimidated by the turtle's titanic presence, as if a weight were pressing down on her.
On the other hand, Lady remained unperturbed as she replied, 'What do you want? Don't think you can strong-arm me, Lapidus; just because we are at our weakest does not mean you can stroll here and make demands in our territory.'
Lapidus, the Stone King, seemed furious that Lady openly defied him in such a way—or seemed to be—until his entire demeanour abruptly changed as he softened. His eyes took a more crafty, intelligent gleam as he regarded Lady.
'Seriously, even the big giant turtle is a schemer? You're meant to be magical beasts, not politicians.' Tara thought to herself as the titanic turtle eerily resembled the Frog Queen as he uttered the following words.
'Ah. You were always the smartest and fiercest one among you bunch. I hoped you would be among the most recent victims of our mighty Beast King, but alas, we can't get all the luck. It seemed the negotiations would not be as straightforward as I wanted them to be.' Lapidus said in a bored, relaxed tone.
Lady did not seem bothered by the off-handed comment as she replied, 'You wouldn't be here in such a way if you didn't want something that involved us keeping the tree. Now state what you want, and don't bother with all the nonsense you're trying to pull.'
Lapidus seemed amused by the much smaller Salamander talking to him like this as he said, 'I always enjoy our conversations. You're the only one with the… attitude to talk up to me like that, and it never gets old. This amusement is why I've never bothered the thought of crushing that head of yours.'
That comment seemed to get a reaction out of the Salamanders, though it was not Lady who had yet to move a muscle despite the blatant threat; on the other hand, Claw was not so calm as he began hissing furiously at the gigantic turtle.
This reaction from Claw set off a change reaction in the surrounding herd of Iron Salamanders, whose hostile and bloodthirsty intent towards the turtles thickened even further as the atmosphere suddenly changed.
Lady remained as calm as ice as she replied, 'And what of it? Do you think you can remain unscathed? We all know you lack the numbers to hold two spiritual trees; we are weakened, but so what? You do not have the numbers to come here and make demands, and you do not have the power to hold two spiritual trees without provoking a response from others who will do exactly as you have done. So, as I mentioned before, STATE your terms, and then I will mention mine.'
Lapidus stared at Lady for the first time with shock, and with what Tara identified as somewhat respect, he said, 'Ah, if only you were born a Turtrake, you would've been the perfect Queen to rule by my side; alas, a deep shame. Fine. We will enter a collaboration, and you remain owners of the spiritual tree in name, yet we want a tribute having a portion of all the fruits grown. In return, we will offer protection.'
Lady seemed amused by the proposition as she said, 'Nice plan. Don't have the numbers to rule over another spiritual tree, so have us do the work for you? We are a bit understrength to have the spiritual tree in our possession. Still, you would never be able to guard two of these trees at once, so you decided to use our weakened stance to enter a collaboration where none of the others would pick a fight with the both of us; that brings you only benefits since we will remain nurturing the tree and all you need to do is offer 'protection' when you know full well no other magical beast would intrude here apart from the Pikeake, who if they do so, you can pretend like this so-called collaboration never existed.'
Lapidus once again seemed more amused than offended that his plan was seen through as he said, 'That's right. And may I ask where the problem is?'
Lady stared at him with serious intent as she said, 'The Sphyrna Pikeake is about to advance to Qi Gathering 7. Do you feel relaxed discussing sharing our spiritual tree now? You believe the status quo will remain the same when that monster advances?'
For the first time in the conversation, Lapidus radiated intense fear as he reacted to Lady's comments.
'You are sure? It has been eating powerful magical beasts like that for years but has shown no sign of advancing... Is it really…' Lapidus seemed utterly different to the stoic, crafty turtle she had seen previously.
At that moment, she knew Lady had the turtle where she wanted him.
At this point, Tara had heard enough of the turtle shenanigans; finally, it was time for Lady to make her point.