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

Looking across the open basin, between the enormous nests and shacks,

there were still several thousand shadowy figures.

However, many of them were small, helpless young being 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 nothing happening in our area gets out."

Old Man Gu gestured to Long Zhanye.

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

"Now we split up to improve efficiency."

Old Man Gu lowered his voice. "The three of us will search separately. Our targets are those with suitable cultivation ages, ones that are alone or easy to handle."

"Don't act rashly when you find a target. Notify the others first so we can regroup."

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

"An hour from now, whether we find anything or not, we meet back here!"

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

It was the dead of night.

The starlight was dim, and the moonlight was hidden behind thick clouds, leaving visibility extremely low.

None of them dared use any obvious lighting Soul Tools. They could only rely on their spiritual power as they cautiously explored ahead, sensing the Soul Power fluctuations around them.

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

As he moved through the darkness, the vertical eye on his forehead uncontrollably flickered now and then with extremely blurry images—

Sometimes it showed a dilapidated shack around the next corner; sometimes it showed the vague outline of a Cyclops turning over in the distance...

These images vanished in an instant. They were difficult to control and terribly unclear.

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

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

Long Zhanye even sensed several female Cyclopes caring for young whose cultivation had reached twenty or thirty thousand years.

They perfectly suited the requirements for his second and third Soul Rings.

However.

Seeing the ignorant young Cyclopes huddled beside their mothers, Long Zhanye ultimately suppressed his urge to act.

He followed 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 infants was not what he wanted.

He preferred to seek out individuals who were clearly wounded, aged, or alone and helpless.

Just as he was patiently searching, a restrained but unmistakably excited "hehe" laugh came from nearby.

Cyclopes had powerful vision and spiritual power, but their hearing was comparatively weak.

That faint laughter did not alert the dull, old, weak, and injured individuals nearby.

Hearing it, Long Zhanye and Zhua Yun hurriedly followed the sound without making a noise.

They saw—

Old Man Gu squatting in the corner of a huge, seemingly abandoned shack, struggling to drag out a rather large Spirit Beast!

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

It resembled a lizard magnified countless times, though it was far more robust.

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

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

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

"This thing was probably caught by them but not eaten in time, or maybe it was being kept as 'live rations,' right?"

Zhua Yun and Long Zhanye leaned closer to inspect it, both wearing puzzled expressions. This Spirit Beast looked quite peculiar, and they had never seen one before.

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

He said in a breathy voice, "Never seen one before, have you? This is a Spirit Beast even rarer than a Cyclops—the Chaos Two-Headed Dragon!"

"Chaos Two-Headed Dragon?!" The two repeated quietly as they examined it closely.

Sure enough.

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

One head was larger, fierce and savage, while the other was smaller and easily overlooked without careful scrutiny.

The skin colors of the two heads were also slightly different. The larger head was dark gray, while the smaller one had a dark green tint.

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

"Legend has it that a trace of an extremely thin ancient Chaos bloodline flows through their bodies. They have something in common with Cyclopes, but their level seems to be even higher."

"Who would've thought? Cyclopes actually eat them?"

"Or maybe a Chaos Two-Headed Dragon wandered in here by mistake and got captured? Whatever. It works out for us!"

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 and finish it while it still has breath left. Absorb the Soul Ring!"

"Then I'll take care of the corpse and throw it back where it was."

Long Zhanye's spirits rose at once.

He swiftly drew a dagger around twenty centimeters long, its entire body gleaming with a bluish-green metallic sheen and 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 of the Chaos Two-Headed Dragon's two heads. His gaze sharpened, and his blade fell!

Squelch!

Squelch!!

The sharp Azure Underworld Dagger easily pierced through the relatively fragile scales and sank deep inside.

As dark-red blood with a strange luster gushed forth, the Chaos Two-Headed Dragon's body twitched several 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 taking 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 severely wounded and near death, its spiritual backlash 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 went even more smoothly than the first time.

Several hours later.

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

The silver radiance of his Heavenly Eye Martial Soul had grown several degrees more solid. At the same time, his Soul Power rose once more, reaching Level 51!