The Ice Empress snorted. The icicle in her hand shattered into powder, and she stepped aside, though her crystalline yellow eyes never left Electrolux.
Electrolux paid no heed to the two women's hostility.
He walked up beside the Eight Desolate Rock Lizard and lowered his head to study the dying giant lizard. The flecks of light in his golden pupils circled twice.
"Perfect."
He said,
"Over the past few days, I have worked out a preliminary framework for a soul spirit contract. All I have been lacking is a test subject."
Zhang Lan understood what he meant:
"You want to test it on this lizard?"
"Earth attribute, eighty-six thousand years old, soul power exhausted, poisoned and wounded, unable to resist."
Electrolux's tone was even,
"The conditions are suitable."
"Besides, in its current state, even if you kill it for its ring, the Soul Ring's quality will suffer."
"But with a soul spirit contract, its soul and soul power will be preserved in full and integrated into your Soul Ring. The quality will actually be higher than if you hunted it normally."
Zhang Lan glanced at the Eight Desolate Rock Lizard.
The giant lizard's slit pupils were still open. Its clouded gaze shifted between Zhang Lan and Electrolux, as though it had realized something, but it had no strength to move.
"It has to agree willingly."
Zhang Lan said.
"Of course."
Electrolux turned his head to glance at the Ice Empress,
"We need someone who can communicate with it."
"This lizard's cultivation is considerable, and it has developed intelligence, but it has not yet reached the point where it can speak human language."
The Ice Empress folded her arms, looking thoroughly reluctant, but ultimately took two steps forward and looked down at the giant lizard.
She extended her spiritual power and established a connection with the Eight Desolate Rock Lizard's consciousness.
The giant lizard's slit pupils widened slightly for an instant, and a low rumble rose from its throat.
After listening for a moment, the Ice Empress raised her head and said to Zhang Lan:
"It asks whether it can live if it signs the contract."
"It can."
Zhang Lan crouched down, meeting the Eight Desolate Rock Lizard's eyes,
"Once you sign, your soul will enter my Sea of Consciousness and continue to exist as a soul spirit."
"Your consciousness won't dissipate, and your cultivation will increase as I grow."
"The price is that you'll be bound to me from then on. If I die, you die. If I grow stronger, so do you."
The Ice Empress relayed his words.
The Eight Desolate Rock Lizard remained silent for a long time, then slowly blinked its slit pupils.
Another rumble rose from its throat, quieter than before.
"It says it doesn't want to die."
The Ice Empress straightened up,
"That snake bit it in a vital spot. It knows the poison can't be cured."
"Rather than rot here, it would rather go with you."
Zhang Lan nodded:
"Then let's begin."
Electrolux stepped forward.
The dark gold patterns on his gray-white robe suddenly lit up, spreading from the hem all the way to the collar. The intricate designs gave off a faint golden glow in the dusk.
He raised his right hand, tracing golden lines through the air with his fingertips.
Those lines hung above the rock bed, crossing, bending, and connecting until they gradually formed a complex magic array.
The magic array was about three feet in diameter and consisted of three concentric circles. Each ring was covered in densely packed runes, with straight lines connecting them and converging on a blank point at the center.
"Align its soul power core with the center."
Electrolux said.
Zhang Lan touched the tip of the Star of Eden's staff to the Eight Desolate Rock Lizard's forehead.
Using the staff's tip as a conduit, the gravitational field gently reached into the giant lizard's body and slowly drew its remaining soul power core out of its Dantian.
A fist-sized ball of earthen-yellow light rose from the crystals on the Eight Desolate Rock Lizard's back and hovered above the magic array.
Electrolux flicked a fingertip, and the innermost ring of the magic array began to rotate.
The runes lit up one after another. Golden light flowed along the connecting lines toward the center, enveloping the earthen-yellow ball of light.
Within the golden glow, the ball of light slowly contracted and changed shape, transforming from a rounded sphere into a flowing ribbon of earthen-yellow light before extending toward Zhang Lan's chest.
Zhang Lan did not resist.
The gravity source spun faster within his Dantian. The twin rings of ice and fire orbited it, while the Spirit Blade trembled faintly within his Sea of Consciousness.
The ribbon of earthen-yellow light passed through his chest and flowed into his Dantian, adding another orbit around the gravity source.
An earthen-yellow ring of light slowly formed at the outermost edge, circling in interwoven paths with the twin rings of ice and fire. Three differently colored rings revolved around the gravity source, like three rivers of different colors flowing into the same sea.
The Eight Desolate Rock Lizard's body slowly went limp on the rock bed.
The sheen on its scales faded little by little, and its limbs gradually stiffened. Yet its slit pupils remained open, only slowly closing at the very last moment.
As its eyes closed, a deep, weighty presence appeared in Zhang Lan's Sea of Consciousness. Earthen-yellow light shone in one corner of the mental space, condensing into a miniature phantom of the Eight Desolate Rock Lizard.
The phantom lay on the ground of the Sea of Consciousness, five tiny earthen-yellow crystals hovering above its armored back and slowly rotating.
Its presence was unlike either the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's liveliness or Electrolux's profundity. It was silent and steadfast, like a rock that had taken root.
At the same time, a deep yellow Soul Ring rose from beneath Zhang Lan's feet.
The entire Soul Ring was a dusky earthen yellow, deeper and darker than an ordinary ten-thousand-year Soul Ring, its light so concentrated it seemed solid.
Fine patterns slowly flowed across the Soul Ring's surface, resembling the strata of rock, yet also the veins of weathered sand.
It circled Zhang Lan once before finally settling at his side, its light complementing the icy blue of his first soul ring.
The Star of Eden's third Soul Ring.
Zhang Lan lowered his head to look at the earthen-yellow ring of light. An earth-attribute orbit had appeared in his Dantian, while the gravity source spun steadily at the center. The three orbits of ice, fire, and earth circled alongside one another, each moving independently without interference.
The Spirit Blade trembled softly within his Sea of Consciousness. Its icy-blue light dimmed for an instant, as though sensing the newly added Soul Ring.
Electrolux withdrew his fingers, and the magic array's golden light slowly dissipated. He looked down at the Eight Desolate Rock Lizard, which was no longer breathing, then turned his gaze toward Zhang Lan's Dantian.
"It worked."
He said, a barely perceptible trace of satisfaction in his voice,
"The first soul spirit contract. Crude though it is, the framework is viable."
"It can be refined on this foundation in the future."
The Ice Empress snorted beside him:
"You knew it was crude, and you still dared to test it on him."
Electrolux ignored her and turned to Zhang Lan:
"This lizard's soul is very firmly bound to your spiritual power. There is no rejection."
"Whenever you advance your Soul Rings in the future, it will benefit as well."
"Once it recovers, you can try having it fight in its soul spirit form."
Zhang Lan closed his eyes, sinking his consciousness into his Sea of Consciousness, and communicated with the miniature Eight Desolate Rock Lizard for a while.
Then he opened his eyes and nodded.
"It says thank you."
The Ice Empress pursed her lips and said nothing.
But when her gaze fell on the pitch-black Soul Ring beside Zhang Lan, the scrutiny in her eyes had softened somewhat.
"Since we're finished, let's go."
With that, Zhang Lan and the others left the Star Dou Great Forest.
Before you continue