This slab of stone looked grayish-white, plain and unremarkable.
Its surface showed no flowing radiance at all, yet Logan could clearly sense an extremely familiar power emanating from it.
Moreover, as he looked at the slab, Logan felt as though he were peering into a corner of the world itself, able to perceive a heavy, oppressive pressure originating from an entire world.
Before he could make any move, the pitch-black spatial passage ahead suddenly twisted.
In the next instant, a streak of white light emerged within the passage.
The stone that Logan had spat out seemed to be drawn by the white light, and in the blink of an eye, it shot straight into the spatial passage.
In that instant, the white light—previously like a candle flickering in the wind—seemed to have found the correct direction. At an astonishing speed, it illuminated the entire spatial passage.
Logan instinctively opened his nictitating membrane, trying to reduce the stimulation from the light while also seeing clearly what was happening.
However, this white light was exceedingly strange. Even the nictitating membrane, which could block various forms of elemental energy, was unable to stop the white light from shining through.
A long-unfelt sharp pain came from his pupils. Logan could only retreat while closing his eyes.
When the white light dissipated and Logan sensed the change, he quickly opened his eyes, his body assuming a ready-for-battle stance.
But in the next moment, the entire dragon froze in place, completely indifferent to the sparks of geothermic magma splashing onto his body.
What was he seeing?!
A grayish-white slab, jade-like in appearance, was quietly suspended within the spatial passage. At the center of the slab was carved a simple cross-shaped star pattern, while the four corners bore leaf-like motifs.
The slab as a whole appeared to have no special characteristics, nor did it emit any excess energy fluctuations.
But Logan knew all too well the value of this slab!
The legendary Creation Plate of Arceus—the creator god of Pokémon mythology, the earliest Pokémon born before the universe itself existed!
A peerless treasure that contained all elemental powers of the Pokémon world!
And the stone fragment Logan had spat out was precisely a corner of this very plate!
No wonder he had felt as though he were facing an entire world when confronting that stone. Such a treasure—was it not the very manifestation of the Pokémon world's energy?
So the calling voice he had heard earlier in his mind had been the Creation Plate?
Logan's breathing suddenly grew heavier. His rapidly pounding heart and slightly trembling wings all testified to the excitement surging within him.
Before this slab, whether it was Terastal Transformation or Orichalcum Pulse, all of it paled into insignificance.
He had never imagined that the surprise would be this great.
Instinctively, he wanted to summon the interface to inspect the Creation Plate, to see whether this slab—possessing such supreme power—would be assimilated by the Monster Hunter world, and what kind of surprise it might bring him!
The interface that had always been able to open and close in accordance with Logan's will, however, now fell completely silent, and no matter how Logan called for it, it no longer appeared.
After getting no response, Logan seemed to realize something, and the look he directed at the Creation Plate also carried a hint of hesitation.
In the end, still unable to resist the temptation of this heaven-sent fortune, he slowly moved closer to the plate.
Just as he was about to touch the Creation Plate, a streak of flowing light suddenly appeared from the center of the cross-shaped star on the plate.
In the next second, it shot straight into his heart area at a speed of light so fast that even Logan could not react.
A familiar yet unfamiliar power rapidly poured into his heart, and along Logan's energy circuits, it instantly swept through his entire body.
When Logan instinctively tried to resist, within the Everstream beneath him, extremely pure bioenergy—nearly solidified into blue beams—curved around Logan's wings, pierced through the scales on his back, and likewise shot with pinpoint precision into his heart, converging with the Creation Plate's power.
Logan felt his body slip out of his control, as if it no longer belonged to him. The two energies did not repel each other; instead, they were buffered through the new Terastal energy within Logan, and then began to fuse together.
In the course of that process, an intense drowsiness flooded his mind.
Even though his mind kept shouting, Don't sleep! You can't sleep!
In the end, in only three seconds, Logan closed his eyes.
The terastal membrane spread on its own, wrapping him before he sank into the magma below, transforming him into a massive dragon-shaped terastal statue, half of it submerged into the Everstream.
Within the spatial passage, a faint, indistinct sound of relieved breathing came through, as though it was very satisfied with Logan's current state.
As the powers of the two worlds gathered within Logan, before long, a wisp of bioenergy carrying the Creation Plate's aura seeped out from the top of Logan's terastal statue. Using the Creation Plate as a bridge, it went deep into some unknown place within the spatial passage.
And likewise, after being fused and transformed by the bioenergy, bioenergy carrying the Creation Plate's aura was released from the bottom of the statue, following the Everstream down into far deeper layers of the world.
Logan was like a transfer station, continuously building for Them a stable and broad bridge in this convergence between world and world.
And at the center of the statue, Logan's sleeping true body was also rapidly undergoing metamorphosis within this convergence. The internal circulation of energy kept expanding and being perfected, and a new perpetual-motion energy engine was forming inside him at an unbelievable speed!
...
Time passed swiftly just like that.
Logan was still deep in slumber, and the exchange between the two worlds had yet to come to an end.
Meanwhile, in the Hoarfrost Reach, the expedition groups that had already completed the preliminary exploration of the outer perimeter were considering returning to the New World. Compared to the New World, where Elder Dragons were active, the Hoarfrost Reach was simply too desolate.
Just as they were carrying out handover work with Noah, who had already been acknowledged as the Hoarfrost Reach's Commander, a Palico scouting team that had gone out to explore suddenly brought back a piece of news.
According to Darren's account, a Nergigante—an unusual individual that closely resembled the special Nergigante that had once joined the Sunblaze Dragon and Kulve Taroth in the hunt against Xeno'jiiva—had emerged from the depths of the Hoarfrost Reach and was heading in the direction of the New World.
Upon receiving this news, Darren immediately could no longer sit still.
Seeing the fervor in his eyes, the now far more composed Noah decisively issued a mission to track and investigate that Nergigante. The expedition groups responded at once, each departing to prepare the necessary supplies.
...
The Nergigante was troubled—deeply troubled!
That Velkhana, though merely a stay-at-home country girl who had lived in the Hoarfrost Reach for years, was well aware of Nergigante's nature.
After understanding that, following the hunt of Shara Ishvalda, the unsatisfied Ruiner Nergigante would definitely set its sights on the weakest among them—herself—
She had therefore left Origin Isle in advance and returned to the Hoarfrost Reach, but instead of going back to her own nest, she plunged straight into the depths of the frozen wastes.
That area was barren and frigid due to the scarcity of Everstream tributaries, with snow flying year-round.
Once Velkhana entered it, she seemed to vanish completely. No matter how much Nergigante racked his brain, he could not find a single trace of her.
After searching for a long time, Nergigante was nearly turned into a frozen prickly pear by the extreme cold. With no results to show for it, he could only withdraw from the Hoarfrost Reach in frustration.
As it happened, although Nergigante possessed considerable strength, what nature needed from him at this moment was to propagate new ordinary offspring, rather than relying on superior power to wreak havoc across the New World—stirring up the Elder Dragons that, while active, nonetheless maintained the New World's balance, and thereby affecting its growth.
Thus, he was directly sent to the Guiding Lands.
Although Nergigante was unwilling at heart, his duty and identity destined him to obey the will of nature. Otherwise, what had once occurred in the Wildspire Waste would be repeated.
And so, the expedition groups that were tracking Nergigante's trail also arrived at this newly born land!
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