The Sky Azure Bull Python's Fury! The Plan to Hunt Humans!

Deep in the Core Area of Star Dou Great Forest, a lake lay shrouded in thick fog.

The surface was as calm as a mirror, reflecting the silhouettes of the towering ancient trees around it.

Every so often, a massive shadow glided slowly beneath the depths of the lake, stirring ripples that spread all the way to the shore.

The Sky Azure Bull Python had lived in this lake for tens of thousands of years. At its deepest point, the lake connected to the underground network of waterways beneath Star Dou Great Forest. Only it knew where those waterways led.

It rarely left the lake. Even when it did, it only moved briefly through the nearby woods and never ventured into the outer regions.

Its very existence was an invisible deterrent to the soul beasts of the Core Area of Star Dou Great Forest. All the high-level soul beasts that had lived for more than ten thousand years knew that the master of this lake was not someone they could approach lightly.

A gray figure came charging out of the depths of the forest, snapping several drooping vines along the way. Its hooves struck the damp soil with a rapid, muffled thudding.

It was a medium-sized Earth Dragon soul beast at the ten-thousand-year level. Usually, it patrolled the outskirts of the Core Area, sensed powerful human presences that intruded into the region, and reported them to the Sky Azure Bull Python.

When it reached the lakeshore, its steps faltered. Its forelegs collapsed onto the muddy bank as it let out a string of rapid, broken growls toward the lake, its voice filled with unmistakable fear and panic.

The surface of the lake rippled the instant its growls faded.

The ripples spread from the center toward the shore, moving faster and