Cyclops Clan

"Cyclopes? Twin Cyclopes?" Long Zhanye froze.

He recalled what Old Man Gu had said earlier. So the "ten-thousand-year soul beasts missing an eye" were referring to them?!

He had heard of these soul beasts before and only knew that they lived in certain special regions deep within the Star Dou Great Forest.

Their spiritual power was extraordinarily strong, and they were exceedingly rare and dangerous. He had always thought they were a powerful type of spiritual soul beast.

"That's right." Old Man Gu confirmed, "Their attribute is precisely Chaos!"

"Or, more accurately, their attribute is 'unstable Chaos'!!"

"They do not possess a single fixed attribute. Instead, they spontaneously evolve different attributes according to their surroundings, their emotions, or even changes in the moon phases and stars!"

"They might possess the light attribute one moment and become darkness the next; they might be scorching fire during the day, then turn into frigid water at night..."

"Light and darkness gave rise to each other, water and fire intertwined. Within them, they coexisted and transformed in a peculiar, chaotic manner."

Old Man Gu's tone carried a trace of fanaticism. "Soul beasts like these are true 'oddities' among soul beasts, and naturally, they are also the best living specimens for researching the Chaos Attribute!"

"Their Soul Rings likely contain that kind of primordial, undifferentiated Chaos Power. For your Heavenly Eye Martial Soul, they are the best possible choice!"

Long Zhanye's heart surged as he listened. This knowledge completely overturned everything he had previously understood.

Only then did he understand the uniqueness of his Heavenly Eye Martial Soul.

At the same time, he understood why Old Man Gu had treated this matter so seriously, even personally bringing him here.

Old Man Gu led Zhua Yun and Long Zhanye deeper toward the southeastern part of the Star Dou Great Forest.

This direction gradually drew closer to the border of the Star Luo Empire and was part of the mixed region of the Star Dou Great Forest.

There were countless varieties of soul beasts here. Thousand-year soul beasts roamed about, while many ten-thousand-year soul beasts also appeared from time to time. Compared to the outer regions, the environment was more complex and perilous.

Old Man Gu walked ahead with his cane, his steps unsteady, yet his eyes occasionally swept across the surrounding terrain as though recalling something.

As they walked, he seemed to remember certain long-buried events.

Or perhaps to ease the tedium of the journey, he suddenly spoke and threw out a question.

"Whether Cyclopes or Twin Cyclopes."

"Their bloodline quality is actually not weak. They are born with mastery over the Chaos Attribute, and their spiritual power far exceeds that of soul beasts at the same level."

"But... do you know why the entire Cyclops clan has almost never produced a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?"

Long Zhanye shook his head blankly. His understanding of this clan was limited to what Old Man Gu had just told him.

Zhua Yun pondered for a moment before tentatively answering, "Teacher, is it because their 'unstable Chaos' attribute makes cultivation extraordinarily difficult?"

"Heh." Old Man Gu chuckled and shook his head. "Quite the opposite."

"Precisely because their attribute is Chaos, they are, in a sense, closer to the elemental power of heaven and earth. Cultivation is even easier for them than for many soul beasts with a single attribute."

"Oh? Then why..." Zhua Yun's curiosity had also been piqued.

Old Man Gu stopped walking, leaned on his cane, and looked into the depths of the forest. His voice lowered. "Because..."

"Deep within the Star Dou Great Forest lives an imperial Auspicious Beast."

"It is called—the Three-Eyed Golden Lion."

"The Three-Eyed Golden Lion?" Long Zhanye and Zhua Yun murmured in unison.

They had vaguely heard this name before. It seemed connected to such ethereal concepts as fortune and auspiciousness, but they knew very little about the specifics.

"That's right, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion." Old Man Gu confirmed.

"Though it is called an Auspicious Beast and bears the fortune of the continent, it is itself an extraordinarily powerful soul beast."

"Not only does it possess formidable spiritual power, it also possesses the two ultimate attributes, Ultimate Light and Ultimate Fire. With merely ten thousand years of cultivation, she can rival a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast!"

"And one of her favorite foods... is Cyclopes, especially Cyclops eyes and Brains."

This information sent a chill through both Long Zhanye and Zhua Yun. She fed on such a powerful soul beast clan?

Old Man Gu continued, "To ensure that this Auspicious Beast has a stable, abundant, and 'high-quality' food source."

"Those true rulers deep within the Star Dou Great Forest—those Fierce Beasts whose cultivation exceeds two hundred thousand years!"

"They joined forces to confine the entire Cyclops clan within a fixed, relatively isolated region."

"That place is tightly controlled by them."

He paused, his tone becoming somewhat grave. "More importantly, Cyclopes themselves possess intelligence far beyond that of soul beasts with the same cultivation!"

"Once they reach over sixty thousand years of cultivation, the Chaos Attribute within their bodies undergoes a certain qualitative transformation!"

"Their strength skyrockets. With sixty thousand years of cultivation, they can even directly contend against ordinary Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts!"

"To the Fierce Beasts that regard Cyclopes as a 'food reserve,' this is an absolutely intolerable threat."

"So," Old Man Gu's gaze swept over the two young men.

"Those Fierce Beasts established an unwritten rule: once an individual Cyclops exceeds fifty thousand years of cultivation, it will be closely watched!"

"And once there are signs of a breakthrough to sixty thousand years, without even waiting for it to reach that point, those powerful Fierce Beasts will personally strike and kill it! They will nip the threat in the bud!"

"This... is the greatest reason why the Cyclops clan can almost never produce a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast."

Old Man Gu's voice carried a trace of lament for the cruelty of the laws of the jungle.

"They are penned in and restricted. Their strongest individuals are periodically 'harvested,' and the upper limit of the entire clan was locked in place from the very beginning."

Long Zhanye and Zhua Yun listened with solemn hearts. So that was it!

A powerful bloodline, yet raised and restricted like "livestock" by even stronger beings. The cruelty of such a fate was truly lamentable.

"However," Old Man Gu abruptly changed the subject, "when I was young, I once followed the sect master before the previous one and accidentally entered that confined Cyclops territory."

"The scale... tsk, tsk, it was truly enormous. As far as the eye could see, they were packed together in countless numbers. There must have been tens of thousands!"

"Though the high-level individuals are strictly controlled, there are certainly quite a few Cyclopes around ten thousand years of cultivation."

"So finding a few suitable ten-thousand-year soul beasts will not be difficult for us."

His brows furrowed again. "The real difficulty lies in... how to approach them and lure a target out alone."

"The spiritual perception range of Cyclopes is extremely broad," Old Man Gu explained.

"Although they are confined to a certain area, they possess an extremely strong sense of territory, and their spiritual power network is beyond description."

"An ordinary Spirit Master, even a Titled Douluo, may be caught by their Spirit Detection dozens or even hundreds of miles away."

"Once they notice us, we may face the vigilance of the entire clan and even attract the attention of patrolling Fierce Beasts."

"If we wish to sneak in without a sound and precisely hunt one of them, it will be as difficult as ascending to heaven."

Hearing this, Long Zhanye could not help frowning. "Then... Elder Gu, what should we do to approach them without being discovered?"

At his words, Old Man Gu abruptly turned his head. His expression darkened as he gestured toward Long Zhanye with his cane.

His tone was reproachful. "What should we do? You foolish boy, why aren't you quickly taking it out?"

"Take it out? Take out what?" Long Zhanye was stunned by the question, his face blank.