Eight Desolate Rock Lizard

The three ventured deep into the Star Dou Great Forest.

The farther they went, the thicker the trees grew and the denser their crowns became. Sunlight leaked through gaps in the foliage, scattering patches of dappled light across the ground.

The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and rotting leaves. Occasionally, a Soul Beast darted past in the distance, only to veer far away after a sweep of the Snow Empress's spiritual power.

Zhang Lan spread his gravitational perception to its fullest extent, searching for a suitable Soul Beast's aura within a radius of several hundred yards.

He had a clear target in mind:

The Star of Eden's third Soul Ring should ideally have an earth or darkness attribute, something related to gravity without overlapping it entirely, with an age between eighty and ninety thousand years.

A hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast was not beyond their reach, but nearly every Soul Beast over a hundred thousand years old in the Star Dou Great Forest had ties to those figures in the core region. Touching one would invite trouble.

A Soul Beast around eighty thousand years old would have sufficient cultivation without drawing too much attention.

They searched for three days.

On the evening of the third day, Zhang Lan stopped at the edge of a valley strewn with rocks.

The valley was small, flanked by heavily weathered rock walls. Loose stones littered the ground, while moss and ferns poked through the cracks, spreading in a thin layer.

Deep in the valley lay a relatively flat bed of rock. Its surface was darker than the surrounding stone, as though something had repeatedly ground across it.

His gravitational perception detected fluctuations of Soul Power in the valley.

Zhang Lan lowered his body and took a few steps into the valley, hugging the rock wall. The Ice Empress and Snow Empress followed behind him, their auras concealed without the slightest leakage.

After they rounded a jutting boulder, the scene at the bottom of the valley came into view.

An enormous, dark green python lay coiled on the rock bed. Its body was as thick as a water vat and at least a hundred feet long, with dark green patterns glowing faintly across its scales.

Its head reared high, its forked tongue flickering through the air with a hissing sound.

But its movements had already become noticeably sluggish. Scales had peeled away from several parts of its body, exposing grayish-white flesh beneath. That flesh was turning to sand, crumbling bit by bit at the wounds and drifting away.

Opposite the python, a massive lizard clung to the rock wall.

It was about seven meters long, with thick limbs and sharp, rock-gray claws sunk deep into cracks in the wall.

Dark gray, rocky scales covered its entire body, overlapping layer upon layer. Their edges were sharp as broken stone, their surfaces reflecting a dull sheen in the sunset.

Five distinct protrusions rose along its back, each enclosed by a ring of rocky armor, with an ocher crystal the size of a fist embedded in its center.

Those five crystals were slowly rising, hovering around the giant lizard's body. Murky yellow light flowed across the surface of each one.

All five crystals lit up at once.

Five ocher rays shot from the crystals, striking the python's head and body with pinpoint accuracy.

Where the rays struck, the dark green scales instantly turned grayish-white, then shattered and crumbled into sand, flaking off the python's body as fine powder.

The python let out a low hiss and lashed its tail, cracking the rock bed beneath it. But it no longer had the strength to charge forward.

An Eight Desolate Rock Lizard.

Zhang Lan's gravitational perception locked onto the giant lizard's aura: eighty-six thousand years.

It clung motionlessly to the rock wall, the five crystals slowly revolving at its sides as they fired ray after ray at a steady, unhurried pace.

It seemed to be waiting for the python to exhaust its last shred of strength.

The python lasted less than half an incense stick's time.

Its tail lashed against the rock bed one last time, sending fragments flying. But most of its force was gone, and the tail fell before it even reached the rock wall.

Rays from the five ocher crystals pierced the python's head simultaneously from five directions. Its dark green scales peeled away layer by layer, exposing the grayish-white skull beneath.

The python flicked its tongue one final time. Its hiss died in its throat, and its head slammed heavily onto the rock bed, never to move again.

The Eight Desolate Rock Lizard slowly climbed down from the rock wall.

Its movements were much slower than before, its limbs trembling slightly with every step.

The five crystals descended from the air into the armored recesses on its back. Most of their ocher light had dimmed, with only a trace of murky radiance clinging to life in their deepest recesses.

An extremely deep wound cut across its belly. Dark green venom was seeping into it, forming a dark green band of corrosion beneath its rock-gray scales.

The python had managed to bite it before dying after all.

The Eight Desolate Rock Lizard approached the python's corpse, lowered its head, and nudged the python's head with its snout, confirming that its prey was thoroughly dead.

Then its limbs buckled, and its entire body collapsed onto the rock bed. Its flank pressed against the ground as it breathed heavily and rapidly.

The poisoned wound was spreading deeper. Dark green lines radiated outward from the injury, crawling across its scales and seeping into its flesh.

Zhang Lan stepped out from behind the boulder.

With the Star of Eden in his hand, he silently expanded the Gravity Dome.

He did not rush closer, first sweeping his gravitational perception over the Eight Desolate Rock Lizard to assess its condition.

More than ninety percent of its eighty-six-thousand-year Soul Power had already been depleted, and the venom was still eating away at its vitality. At this rate, even if left alone, it would not survive another hour.

Perfect.

Zhang Lan took a few steps forward, ready to act.

An eerie blue light shone at the tip of the Star of Eden. A gravitational field condensed there, aimed at the Eight Desolate Rock Lizard's head.

He needed only one strike to end this Soul Beast's suffering and obtain his third Soul Ring.

Just then, a streak of gray light spilled out of his Sea of Consciousness.

The gray light gathered into a figure three feet in front of Zhang Lan.

He wore grayish-white robes and had pale golden hair, with flecks of light swirling deep within his golden eyes.

Electrolux stood with his hands behind his back, the dark gold patterns along his robe's hem gleaming faintly in the sunset.

His figure was much clearer than it had been in the Sea of Consciousness, like a partially corporeal man standing on the rock bed.

The Ice Empress reacted even faster than the Snow Empress.

With a flash of emerald light, she was already blocking Zhang Lan. A green ice spike condensed in her right palm, its tip aimed straight at Electrolux.

The Snow Empress stood on the other side, her long white dress stirring without wind. An ice sword silently formed in her hand, its edge held against the ground as cold air spread a thin layer of frost over the earth.

Two auras of Ultimate Ice bore down on Electrolux at once. The temperature of the surrounding air plummeted, and white frost coated the loose stones on the rock bed.

Electrolux tilted his head to glance at them, his golden eyes showing little change.

"Don't be nervous."

Zhang Lan raised a hand and rested it on the Ice Empress's arm.

"He's one of us."

The Ice Empress did not lower her hand. Her gaze swept over Electrolux twice, the green ice spike remaining perfectly still.

"A soul body? A spiritual body? What is he?"

"His name is Electrolux. He comes from another world."

Zhang Lan said,

"He's part of the God-Making Plan. You could consider him my senior."

The Ice Empress furrowed her brows and looked at Zhang Lan, as though seeking confirmation that his words were true.

Zhang Lan nodded.

The Ice Empress glanced at the Snow Empress again. The Snow Empress's gaze lingered on Electrolux for two breaths before the ice sword in her hand slowly dispersed. But the oppressive aura around her remained; she had not fully let down her guard.