Perpetual Motion Machine

At that moment, Li Ziran's Spirit World had long since become a desert parched by drought. This wisp of soul was like timely rain; the instant it appeared, it was absorbed cleanly.

He had never felt so refreshed, as though countless delicate little hands were massaging his cranial nerves bit by bit.

What should have been running out of steam instead burst forth with new life.

A newly born force of spiritual power surged out along the wand and flowed into the Serpentine Magic Array he had constructed. The entire array began to rotate slowly.

With every rotation, a murky black ray spilled out, twisting and turning through the underground space.

The wand dipped lightly downward, and his spiritual power connected precisely with the ray. Like a muddleheaded bug, the ray seemed to find its target at once and burrowed into a Fire Elephant's body.

The Fire Elephant charging forward froze instantly, its massive body wrapped directly in a black membrane of light.

The same thing that had happened to Captain Cannon began to unfold. Its trunk collapsed, its long fur vanished, and its two signature tusks turned into dark gleams. Before everyone's eyes, a gigantic python took shape.

Yet unlike the giant elephant captain, this python could not transform itself back into a giant elephant. It only clumsily ** its body in place.

As though **.

This strange symptom lasted only a few seconds before it stopped moving entirely.

The python was still alive, but its soul had vanished.

Such bizarre behavior made everyone choke up, but in that very instant, a black bomb heavy with the smell of gunpowder tore through the air and blasted into the python.

Blood and flesh splattered everywhere!

The method was ruthless, but effective.

The stench, mixed with the acrid smell of gunpowder, instantly spread through the underground space. The creatures that had originally been afraid abandoned the fear in their hearts and surrounded Li Ziran once more.

Li Ziran saw clearly that the shell had come from Captain Cannon. By now, he had completely broken free of the Transformation Spell's control, his deep-set eyes staring straight at Li Ziran.

But their confrontation lasted only a few seconds before Li Ziran focused once more on spiritual control.

Transformation Spell!

Devouring Curse!

The giant elephants surrounding him transformed into giant snakes at a horrifying speed, then fell silent at an even more horrifying speed.

Li Ziran carefully sorted through his Spirit World, breaking down souls before injecting the resulting spiritual power into the external Serpentine Magic Array.

Never before had he been so meticulous, as though he were performing surgery.

Every procedure had long since taken shape in his mind, orderly and methodical.

Though danger lurked on every side, he was not the least bit nervous. Instead, he was exhilarated, as though the greed in his heart were urging him to devour with all his might.

The Serpentine Magic Array became increasingly stable, and more and more black currents split off. In the blink of an eye, it could complete a cycle from transformation to devouring.

Though he had only come into contact with the Serpentine Magic Array for a brief moment, Li Ziran felt as though he had studied this field for decades.

From every curve to every corner, extending all the way to each unique serpentine rune.

With an inexhaustible supply of spiritual power, he could endlessly deduce the array's techniques and meanings, even playing a few little tricks.

For example, tentatively pushing the array forward, or embedding another array within it.

At that moment, he was like a perpetual motion machine, freely sketching arrays, transforming, devouring.

No one knew how long this bizarre state lasted when, suddenly, the endless stream of spiritual power disappeared.

The immense array lost its supply of energy, began to shrink, and then crumbled apart like a landslide.

The abrupt change left Li Ziran somewhat unaccustomed to it. When he came to his senses and looked up, he found that the Fire Elephants that had been hunting him had vanished without a trace, replaced by swarms of snakes.

Some were as large as trucks, while others were as thin as firewood. These different kinds of snakes crowded together and entwined with one another, yet not a single one approached Li Ziran again.

Far beyond the snake swarms, Captain Cannon was staring at him. The greed and control in his eyes had completely disappeared, replaced by confusion and incomprehension.

He could not understand why his Slave-Catching Group had been reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye. A situation that should have been completely under his control had veered entirely away from its planned course.

Captain Cannon did not understand, and neither did Li Ziran. But he knew that the snake swarms filling this underground space were his handiwork, because not a single soul could be seen among them anymore.

Terrifying!

Li Ziran was terrified by what he had done.

Clearly, he had devoured every one of those souls just now. Though these creatures had not died, they had become idiots.

He suddenly looked toward Karen, who was smiling at him.

It was as though everything Li Ziran had done had been within his control.

Li Ziran was shocked, and afraid. He was shocked by the terrifying power of his devouring, and afraid that even after revealing so much, he still had not escaped Karen's control.

Leave!

Get as far away from this man as possible.

He suddenly took a step forward. The snake swarms instinctively retreated, and he broke into a desperate run. In moments, he had reached the underground space's exit. He wanted to turn back and look at Karen once more, but that sinister smile suddenly flashed through his mind.

He shuddered violently. Why care about all that? Once he left this underground space, he would be free.

He pushed open the door and stepped through. His figure disappeared completely.

Karen practically watched Li Ziran disappear. From beginning to end, the smile on his face never changed.

Only after Li Ziran had completely vanished did he slowly let the smile fade and mutter, "Transformation Spell, Devouring Curse... Heh heh, you finally brought me a surprise."

After saying that, he suddenly turned around and looked at the utterly stunned Captain Cannon.

Looking at the Fire Elephant dozens of times larger than himself, his eyes filled with mockery. "Well, Cannon, now you can willingly become my slave, can't you? Your petty cleverness should come to an end."

The Fire Elephant captain snapped out of his daze and glared hatefully at the tiny figure before him. "It was you? This was all your scheme! You knew I would never submit?"

"No, no, no. It was merely a premonition. Your ambition was too great—you wanted to control everything—but your vision was too shallow to see through the essence of things." Karen laughed loudly. "You were simply too careless. You thought I wanted to use him to transplant a dragon heart, didn't you?"

"How did you know?" His secret being exposed so suddenly left Captain Cannon utterly astonished. "How did you know there was a dragon?"

"Is that even a secret? Did you really think a few Medusas would lure me here? My Lineage has observed this mud dragon for fifty years. Would we let others get the benefit? Think about it. Who told you about the dragon?"

"The necromancer?" Captain Cannon suddenly came to his senses and asked in shock, "He was one of your people too?"

"Unfortunately, understanding it now is far too late. Your usefulness is nearly at an end." Karen seemed somewhat impatient as he barked, "I will give you one last chance. Kneel and become my slave. Once this is done, I will give you a suitable position."

"A slave? Heh heh, make me a slave?" The giant elephant captain sneered. "You want a dignified Captain Cannon to become a slave? Ridiculous. Karen, you are not a Witch Doctor, nor do you know witchcraft. You cannot transplant the heart at all. Just wait—the Wasteland will soon turn that dragon into a pile of yellow earth. What I cannot obtain, no one can obtain."

Karen did not get angry. Instead, he sighed, as though lamenting the man's ignorance.

"Ah, sometimes I truly have to admire how short-sighted some people are. If they cannot do something themselves, they always assume others cannot do it either." He lightly pointed a finger forward, and a black ray surged out. Beneath his feet, a vast Serpentine Magic Array rapidly took shape.

Countless black rays suddenly surged within the array and flew out following Karen's finger.

In an instant, Captain Cannon's entire body was wrapped in a black membrane.

"Impossible, how could you..."

Captain Cannon cried out. He was incomparably familiar with this scene—more precisely, it had just happened.

This was clearly the Transformation Spell. He would never forget it. "You are a Witch Doctor too? Impossible. I never sensed your witchcraft at all."

Karen did not give him an answer, nor could he possibly know the answer. Amid the vast black light, Captain Cannon constantly shifted between the forms of a giant snake and a giant elephant, trying to break free of the Transformation Spell through his own power as before.

Unfortunately, this time he had miscalculated.

Karen was not a half-baked Li Ziran.

The more fiercely he struggled, the denser the black light on his body became. In the end, he was completely devoured by the black light and, amid an unwilling roar, transformed into a black giant python.

The instant it was born, Karen crooked a finger, and a massive soul floated out from its body.

Karen inhaled through his nose, drawing it in like smoke. He gently closed his eyes, as though savoring it.

Only after a quarter of an hour did he open his eyes. A storm seemed to rage within his pupils, yet his entire person became increasingly calm.

Looking at the giant python before him, now bereft of its soul, he brushed a finger across his body. A bright silver scalpel appeared in his hand. His body suddenly leaned forward, and the scalpel carved a bloody line straight along the python's lower abdomen. At the end of that bloody line, a crimson heart fell out.

Thump! Thump!

It was still beating vigorously.

Karen stepped forward and crushed the heart beneath his foot. Looking at his reflection in the scalpel, he smiled faintly. "Not bad technique."

He slowly turned around and said to the air not far away, "All right, the swamp will not last much longer. Cast the net and close it. Hogg, I'll have to trouble you to make a trip and bring that little loach back. Remember, he still has a little use."

A ripple bloomed through the air, and the figure of Hogg, the fire mage, slowly emerged.