Chaos Two-Headed Dragon

Zhua Yun did not hesitate and followed close behind.

Though Long Zhanye felt somewhat uneasy, he gritted his teeth and followed as well.

The Cyclops habitat was indeed much quieter than it had been during the day.

Most adult Cyclopes had gone out to forage. Those remaining "at home" were mostly elderly, injured, or female Cyclopes caring for their young.

Looking out across the open basin, between the enormous nests and shelters,

shadowy figures still numbered in the thousands.

Yet many of them were tiny younglings still crying out for food, watched over by their mothers or other adult females.

The air was filled with a mixture of earth, vegetation, and the Cyclopes' distinctive body odor.

"Set off a few more Interference Grenades. Make the range wider and make sure the commotion in our area doesn't carry out."

Old Man Gu gestured to Long Zhanye.

Long Zhanye did as instructed and detonated another two Interference Grenades.

"Now we split up and move separately to improve efficiency."

Old Man Gu lowered his voice. "The three of us will search in different directions. Our targets are ones of suitable age that are alone or easy to handle."

"Don't act rashly when you find a target. Inform the others first and regroup."

"Remember, prioritize the sick and injured. Try not to provoke females with young, lest we cause unnecessary trouble..."

"Half an hour from now, whether we find anything or not, we regroup here!"

The three nodded, then silently melted into the shadows of this Soul Beast "village."

It was the dead of night.

The starlight was dim, and the moonlight was blocked by thick clouds, leaving visibility extremely poor.

None of them dared use any obvious lighting Soul Tools. They could only rely on their mental power to cautiously probe ahead, sensing the surrounding fluctuations of Soul Power.

Long Zhanye's Heavenly Eye Martial Soul had granted him certain peculiar abilities from birth.

As he moved through the darkness, the vertical eye on his forehead uncontrollably flashed intermittent, exceedingly blurry images—

A dilapidated shelter that would appear around the corner ahead, or at times the vague outline of a Cyclops turning over in the distance...

Those images vanished in a flash. He could not control them actively, and they were extremely indistinct.

Yet they truly gave him the strange sensation of "danger foresight" or a "brief glimpse into the future," helping him avoid several possible disturbances.

There were indeed quite a few Cyclopes in the habitat who met the criteria of "old, weak, sick, and injured."

Long Zhanye even sensed several female Cyclopes watching over their young whose cultivation had reached twenty to thirty thousand years.

They were perfectly suited to be his Second and Third Soul Rings.

However.

Seeing those innocent little Cyclopes nestled against their mothers, Long Zhanye ultimately suppressed the urge to strike.

He heeded Old Man Gu's warning, and he also followed the bottom line in his heart.

Hunting Soul Rings was the way Spirit Masters survived, but attacking mothers protecting their young or slaughtering younglings was not something he wished to do.

He preferred to seek out individuals who were clearly wounded, old, or alone without support.

Just as he searched patiently, a suppressed yet unmistakably excited low chuckle of "hehe" came from nearby.

Cyclopes possessed powerful vision and mental power, but their hearing was comparatively weak.

That faint laughter did not alert the dull elderly and weak individuals nearby.

Hearing it, Long Zhanye and Zhua Yun hurriedly followed the source of the sound over in silence.

There, they saw—

Old Man Gu squatting in the corner of an enormous, seemingly abandoned shelter, laboriously dragging out a rather large Soul Beast!

The Soul Beast was a full five meters long, its entire body covered in rough grayish-green skin like moss-covered stone.

It resembled a lizard enlarged countless times over, but was far more robust.

At the moment, it was covered in wounds and barely clinging to life. It could scarcely move, with only faint breaths escaping its nostrils.

"Hehe, who would have thought that we'd find such a 'treasure' for free in Cyclops territory!"

Old Man Gu's eyes gleamed as he whispered to the two who had arrived.

"This thing was probably caught by them but not yet eaten, or perhaps it was being kept as 'living food'?"

Zhua Yun and Long Zhanye moved closer to inspect it, both revealing puzzled expressions. This Soul Beast had a rather unusual appearance, and they had never seen one before.

Seeing their bewilderment, Old Man Gu smugly stroked his messy beard.

He spoke in a breathy whisper. "Never seen one before, have you? This is a Soul Beast far rarer than even a Cyclops—the Chaos Two-Headed Dragon!"

"Chaos Two-Headed Dragon?!" the two repeated quietly, examining it closely.

Sure enough.

At the front of that seemingly lizard-like body, closer inspection revealed the outlines of two heads!

One head was larger, ferocious and savage-looking, while the other was smaller and could easily be overlooked without close inspection.

The skin colors of the two heads differed slightly as well. The larger head was dark gray, while the smaller one carried a dark green hue.

"There probably aren't even a hundred of these things on the entire continent!" Old Man Gu said excitedly.

"Legend says that a trace of an exceedingly thin ancient Chaos bloodline flows within them. They share certain similarities with Cyclopes, but seem to be of a higher grade."

"Who would have thought that Cyclopes actually ate them?"

"Or perhaps this Chaos Two-Headed Dragon wandered in by mistake and was captured? Whatever. It works out in our favor!"

He sensed the Chaos Two-Headed Dragon's condition. "Its cultivation is around thirty-two thousand years!"

"It's perfect for your Second Soul Ring! Kid, hurry up. While it still has a breath left, finish it off and absorb the Soul Ring!"

"Then I'll handle the corpse and toss it back where it was."

Long Zhanye's spirits lifted at once.

He swiftly drew a short blade about twenty centimeters long, gleaming with a bluish-green metallic sheen, its edge flashing with cold light.

It was a level-four close-combat Soul Tool that Long Zhanye called the Azure Underworld Dagger.

It was also one of the rather sharp weapons left behind by his father.

He aimed at the vital points on the necks beneath the Chaos Two-Headed Dragon's two heads. His gaze sharpened, and his hand rose and fell!

Squelch!

Squelch!!

The sharp Azure Underworld Dagger easily pierced its relatively fragile scaled hide and sank deep inside.

As dark-red blood with an unusual gleam gushed out, the Chaos Two-Headed Dragon's body convulsed a few times before completely losing all signs of life.

Old Man Gu and Zhua Yun stood to Long Zhanye's left and right, guarding him.

Under the cover of darkness and with the Interference Grenades in effect, Long Zhanye swiftly sat cross-legged and began guiding the thirty-two-thousand-year Soul Ring.

Perhaps because the Chaos Two-Headed Dragon had already been heavily wounded and near death, its soul shock was weak.

Or perhaps the Heavenly Eye Martial Soul was especially compatible with the Chaos attribute. Though this Soul Ring was of a higher age, the absorption process was instead smoother than his first time.

Several hours later.

The sky began to lighten faintly, and Long Zhanye opened his eyes.

The silver radiance of his Heavenly Eye Martial Soul had become more solid, while his Soul Power surged once more, reaching level fifty-one!