Reaching an Agreement, Cyclops King

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion clearly hesitated.

She rubbed her shriveled belly, her little eyes darting as she quickly came up with a plan.

"I know where a powerful Mental Attribute soul beast lives. I'll take you there."

She gave in just like that? Hadn't she just said she wouldn't tell me anything?

Zi Yao was surprised.

"But there are conditions."

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion continued, "You must give me the soul beast's remains."

"No problem. I only need the soul ring."

Zi Yao nodded.

"Then fine. I'll lead the way."

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion struggled in the Ice Empress's hand, signaling for her to release the back of her neck.

The Ice Empress did as she asked. In any case, if anything went wrong, she could catch her again in time.

Following her directions, the group arrived at the foot of a mountain. A massive cave had been dug into the mountainside, its entrance more than ten meters in both height and width. It was difficult to imagine what kind of creature could live there.

Before long, Zi Yao got his answer. Enormous Cyclopes moved in and out of the cave. Adult Cyclopes could grow over ten meters tall; they were true giants.

"A Cyclops nest? Ordinary Cyclopes won't meet my needs." Zi Yao raised a brow.

"Ignorant human. Every Cyclops nest may produce a Cyclops King. Its talent far surpasses that of ordinary giants. Those with exceptional talent can be considered outstanding even among top-tier soul beasts."

"I've been to this nest before. The Cyclops King has yet to reach the Ten-Thousand-Year level, and its mutation grants it Strength and Mental System attributes. It falls within the range of soul rings you can choose from."

"But let's make this clear beforehand. You get the soul ring, and I get the body."

As the Three-Eyed Golden Lion spoke, drool trickled from the corner of her mouth. She casually wiped it away with a paw.

Most of the time, she only ate the brains of Light Attribute soul beasts.

But Cyclopes were an exception. The brains of these soul beasts were an enormous tonic for most soul beasts, which was why no hundred-thousand-year Cyclops had ever appeared.

Cyclops Kings were even rarer. She had coveted this one for years, but its Spiritual Power was far too strong. Every time she approached, it would flee ahead of time.

"I think you just want to eat it..."

Zi Yao was speechless. Then he asked curiously, "Why not just have Scarlet King catch soul beasts for you? Why insist on doing it yourself?"

"It's the Beast God's rule. He says soul beasts respect my status and won't fight back, so I should repay that respect by personally hunting them."

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion sighed.

Zi Yao was a little surprised.

By the sound of it, Di Tian truly had the bearing of a Beast God.

Of course, it was more likely that he feared the Three-Eyed Golden Lion would be too gluttonous and eat entire already-rare soul beast species into extinction.

"What do you think, Xiao Yao? Shall we go inside and take a look?"

The Ice Empress turned to ask him.

Zi Yao thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Whatever happens, let's go in and have a look first."

The man and two beasts headed toward the cave entrance together.

The Cyclops nest was enormous, having nearly hollowed out the entire base of the mountain. Their bodies were already massive, after all. Directly above the nest stood a huge pitch-black stone stele.

Seeing outsiders enter, the hulking creatures rose to prepare for battle.

But the Ice Empress no longer needed to suppress her Beast aura. Mere Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts had no way to resist the oppressive presence of a Four Hundred Thousand Years Beast.

One Cyclops among them was particularly unusual. It stood a head taller than the others, and the pupil in its single eye was Dark Gold.

"This is the Cyclops King?"

Zi Yao looked at the soul beast. That golden pupil seemed to possess a magical, wondrous power.

"That's right."

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion licked her lips.

To her, these Cyclopes were all prey and food. Naturally, she did not regard them as her own kind.

Zi Yao walked up to the Cyclops King and signaled to the Ice Empress. "Ice Sister, release this soul beast. I want to test its Talent Ability."

"Fine. Be careful."

The Ice Empress cautioned him.

Soul beasts were unlike Human Soul Masters. Their strength was not determined solely by age; bloodline was the boundary between ordinary soul beasts and top-tier soul beasts.

This Cyclops King clearly possessed a powerful bloodline.

The moment its restraints were released, the Cyclops King sprang to its feet without hesitation and gathered power into a punch aimed at Zi Yao.

Of the three targets present, one was an Auspicious Beast, one was a Beast, and he was the only Human Soul Master who looked easy to bully.

Yet this Cyclops King, only a little over eight thousand years old, had already grown more than ten meters tall. Its arms alone were several meters long, packed with solid muscle.

The punch came down with tremendous force. Zi Yao did not dare take it head-on, using the power of lightning to flash aside. At the same time, he activated the third stage of Blood Burning.

"Roar!!"

The Cyclops King roared furiously, and even the mountain began to shake.

Yet despite its massive body, it could not catch Zi Yao's shadow at all. Streak after streak of lightning flashed past, leaving afterimages behind.

Zi Yao did not take the initiative to attack either.

Instead, he quietly waited for the Cyclops King to use its Talent Ability.

Suddenly,

Golden light burst from the Cyclops King's single eye. The ground struck by the light came alive and seized Zi Yao's feet.

An earth-element control ability?

But this Cyclops King shouldn't have an earth attribute.

Zi Yao analyzed it calmly. When he tried to break free, he found that the previously mindless earth seemed to have come alive, gripping him tightly like countless hands.

After activating the sixth stage of Blood Burning, he broke free from the encircling mud.

But the Cyclops King shone its golden light upon the nearby stone stele once more. Under the golden radiance, the stele transformed into a stone man and punched at Zi Yao.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion watched from the side with glee at his misfortune.

She had craved this Cyclops King for who knew how many years, and she had experienced its methods herself. Otherwise, she would not have failed to catch it all this time.

Zi Yao dodged the punch with a backflip, pulling out the Blue Silver Overlord Spear in midair.

With a backhand thrust, he pierced through the stone man's chest. Rubble burst apart, but the stone man was completely unaffected. The shattered stones quickly gathered back together.

Seeing this,

Zi Yao was delighted rather than alarmed. He spun past the stone man and charged straight at the Cyclops King.

After leaving a wound on the Cyclops King, the golden light in its eye visibly dimmed, and the stone man's movements slowed as well.

"Ice Sister, that's enough. I roughly understand its ability now."

Zi Yao's tone held a hint of delight.

At his words, the Ice Empress continued suppressing the creature with her Beast aura.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion was somewhat dumbfounded. It had taken her quite a while to figure out this Talent Ability back then. Tilting her head, she asked, "You really know?"

"If I'm not mistaken, this fellow's Spiritual Power can invade inanimate objects, or living creatures with weak Spiritual Power—such as earth, metal, and trees."

Zi Yao looked at the stone man.

Without the Cyclops King's continued control, the stone man turned into a pile of loose rocks and scattered across the ground.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion opened her mouth, then finally shrank her neck and said nothing in frustration.

"Then do you want to absorb this soul beast's soul ring?" the Ice Empress asked.

"Yes, it'll be this one. I'm very curious what this soul beast's Talent Ability will become after I absorb it."

Zi Yao was eager to try.

This ability seemed to be a mental ability, but in truth, it was also connected to life.

In his previous life, he had heard of a hypothetical life-form called silicon-based life, though he had never seen one in either his previous life or Douluo Continent.

Although this ability did not grant true life to stone or earth, it was still a rare skill that linked the Mental System with life.