Chapter 452: The Legends of Blackscale Bluff
Marcus led the group across the open plains toward the Stone Carving Forest, but before they reached it, he guided their mounts to the right and headed toward a massive rocky mountain rising from the landscape.
His original destination had been the Magma Abyss beyond the Blue Mist Barrier. Unfortunately, both Talia and Professor Tina were still below level thirty, which meant they couldn’t pass through the barrier yet. Since forcing the issue wasn’t an option, Marcus decided to spend some time leveling nearby instead.
Their destination was Blackscale Bluff. The enormous cliff face dominated the surrounding region, its dark slopes visible from miles away.
Blackscale Bluff was famous for producing Blackscale Ore, a rare metal infused with Metal-element energy. The ore was exceptionally hard, making it difficult to process, but equipment forged from it offered remarkable defensive properties. Armor made from Blackscale Ore was notoriously heavy, yet its durability and protection made it highly sought after.
Centuries ago, the bluff had attracted a constant stream of prospectors and miners. At first, the yields were excellent, but as excavation continued, the stone became increasingly difficult to break apart while the amount of ore recovered steadily declined. Miners were forced to invest more labor for fewer results, and eventually the profits no longer justified the effort. One by one, the mining operations shut down until Blackscale Bluff was largely abandoned.
Then, fifteen hundred years ago, everything changed. According to historical records, a massive wave of dark energy swept across the region in a single night. Every living creature within three miles of Blackscale Bluff perished, and the entire mountain remained covered by dense Demonic Energy for more than ten days. When the dark mist finally dispersed, the area appeared peaceful once again.
That peace didn’t last long.
The animals living around the bluff, including boars, tigers, lions, and countless other creatures, had all undergone terrifying changes. Even some plants and corpses had been affected. Corrupted by the lingering Demonic Energy, they transformed into members of the Demon Clan. Over the centuries, Blackscale Bluff gradually became a gathering place for corrupted monsters, and as generations passed, those creatures grew stronger and stronger until even the weakest monsters in the area were level fifty or above.
What had truly happened there remained a mystery. No one knew the real answer, but that hadn’t stopped countless stories from spreading across the continent.
One legend claimed that a miner had accidentally uncovered the Ten-Thousand Demon Bone Umbrella, a lost relic of the Demon Clan. The treasure supposedly contained such an overwhelming amount of Demonic Energy that its awakening transformed the entire region.
Another story suggested that the Demon Clan had attempted to construct a large-scale portal at Blackscale Bluff. Their goal was supposedly to transport an army directly into Dragon Dynasty territory and launch a surprise invasion. Something went wrong during the process, causing vast amounts of dark energy to leak into the surroundings and corrupt everything nearby.
Of all the stories, however, the most famous one involved the Demon Lord himself. According to the tale, the Demon Lord used his Demon Treasure Mirror to discover that a ten-thousand-year Dark Gem was about to emerge beneath Blackscale Bluff. Hoping to forge a powerful set of armor for his mount, he personally traveled there aboard the Dark Violet Sky Dragon. Unfortunately for him, the gem was guarded by an ancient Divine Beast known as the Ten-Thousand-Year Blackscale Ink Serpent.
A battle erupted.
The clash between the Demon Lord and the ancient serpent was said to have shaken the entire region and flooded Blackscale Bluff with Demonic Energy. During that battle, the guardian Divine Beast of Dragon’s Peak Citadel, the Five-Clawed Divine Dragon, reportedly circled the skies above the city for hours. Yet despite its strength, it never entered the fight. At the time, Dragon’s Peak Citadel had only recently been established, and the divine dragon had not yet reached maturity. Faced with both the Demon Lord and a ferocious ancient serpent, it chose caution over confrontation.
The legends described the scene in vivid detail. They said that anyone standing atop the highest watchtower of Dragon’s Peak Citadel and peering through the darkness with a Five-Element Mirror could catch glimpses of the battle raging in the distance. The Demon Lord, clad in Dark Dragon Armor and wearing the Flame Mask of Rage, wielded the Nine-Dragon God-Slaying Blade as he rode across the heavens atop the Dark Violet Sky Dragon. Surrounded by endless Demonic Energy and dark flames, he fought the Blackscale Ink Serpent in a battle that seemed capable of tearing apart the sky itself.
Whether any of it was true was impossible to know. The final part of the legend claimed that, during its last moments, the Blackscale Ink Serpent managed to tear a jade pendant from the Demon Lord’s waist before dying. The pendant supposedly fell somewhere within Blackscale Bluff and continued releasing traces of Demonic Energy, which explained why the area remained corrupted even after fifteen centuries.
Following the route marked on Silas the Wanderer’s map, Marcus shared these stories with the women as they approached the distant mountain.
"The Ten-Thousand Demon Bone Umbrella and the Demon Lord’s jade pendant..." Amber rode up beside him. "Brother, which story do you think is real?"
Her eyes were fixed on the dark silhouette of Blackscale Bluff in the distance.
"Good question," Jade said immediately. "And if those treasures do exist, where would they be? Hidden somewhere underground? Locked behind a secret area? Or maybe dropped by some boss monster?"
That single question opened the floodgates. Soon everyone was throwing out theories.
"Do you think there’s any Blackscale Ore left after all this time?"
"If there is, Marcus could probably make some amazing armor from it."
"It’s been fifteen hundred years. Maybe a thousand-year Blackscale Gem has formed by now."
"I wonder if the skeleton of the Blackscale Ink Serpent is still there."
"Don’t leave any monsters alive. With your luck, you might actually find the umbrella or the pendant."
The group clearly had a lot of faith in him. Marcus couldn’t help laughing. If obtaining legendary treasures were that easy, Blackscale Bluff would have been picked clean centuries ago. For fifteen hundred years, adventurers, treasure hunters, scholars, and powerful experts had searched the area. Countless people had gone looking for the Ten-Thousand Demon Bone Umbrella and the Demon Lord’s lost pendant. Nobody had ever found either one.
Still, as Marcus looked at the women around him, a spark of confidence rose in his chest. His current strength wasn’t enough to accomplish the impossible. But his luck? That was another matter entirely. Maybe he really could stumble onto something everyone else had missed.
Amber looked at him with complete confidence. "If those treasures are still there," she declared, "my brother will be the one who finds them."
There wasn’t the slightest doubt in her voice.
Marcus smiled. With expectations like that, he had no choice but to give it his best shot.
"We’re here."
The group finally arrived at the foot of Blackscale Bluff. Marcus raised his head and looked upward. The stone surface was dark and weathered, giving the entire mountain a heavy, imposing presence. The bluff stretched for more than three miles, towering over the surrounding landscape like a gigantic wall of black stone.
And somewhere within that vast expanse of rock and corruption, fifteen hundred years of secrets remained buried.
