The man couldn't move.
Not his hands.
Not his legs.
Even the trembling of his soul no longer felt like it belonged to him.
In front of him—
Lizarius stood silently, pale scales reflecting a faint light that did not seem to come from any sun.
The creature's golden eyes remained fixed on him.
Unblinking.
Patient.
Measuring.
Then—
silence stretched across the ruined forest.
Within that silence, Lizarius's thoughts drifted calmly, untouched by urgency.
*I expected more to come after allowing those ones to escape.*
*It took longer than anticipated… but as expected, they eventually came.*
The man's pupils quivered violently.
Even now, he still couldn't understand how his comrades had died.
There had been no technique he could sense.
No surge of spiritual fluctuation.
No warning.
Only death.
Clean.
Effortless.
Lizarius continued observing him without the slightest outward change.
*But this is not what I expected.*
*Four Foundation Establishment cultivators… only early stage.*
His gaze lowered slightly toward the trembling human.
*They kept their distance.*
*No killing intent strong enough to justify immediate engagement.*
A brief pause crossed his thoughts.
*Scouts.*
The conclusion settled naturally within his mind.
*Sent to gather information.*
*Sent to locate me.*
The cultivator finally forced his voice out through his dry throat.
"I… I… we were just—"
Lizarius tilted his head slightly.
The man stopped instantly.
Not because he chose to.
Because his body refused to continue.
Silence returned once more.
The white lizard's tail shifted lazily behind him, slow and idle, as though the situation carried no real importance.
*So the sect has already begun reacting.*
*Or perhaps someone within it has.*
His golden eyes narrowed faintly.
Not with anger.
With mild interest.
Then he finally looked at the remaining human properly for the first time.
The man felt it immediately.
Like being stripped bare beneath an endless sky.
Every thought.
Every intention.
Every lie he considered speaking dissolved before it could even form.
Lizarius spoke softly.
"…You are not important."
The words carried no force.
Yet the cultivator felt them like a sentence that had already been executed.
A faint silence followed.
Then Lizarius continued, almost casually, as though speaking more to himself than to the man before him.
"…But your presence confirms something."
His gaze shifted toward the distant forest beyond the shattered battlefield.
Toward the direction the scouts had arrived from.
*They are organizing.*
*They are searching.*
The conclusion formed without urgency.
Almost like simple observation rather than concern.
Then—
the cultivator finally felt it.
A pressure.
Not spiritual energy.
Not aura.
Something deeper.
Something older.
Like reality itself had suddenly noticed he was still alive… and sought to correct the mistake.
His knees buckled instantly.
But before he could collapse—
he froze again.
Suspended.
Not physically lifted.
Simply denied the right to fall.
Lizarius looked back at him calmly.
"…Tell me."
A small pause followed.
"Who sent you?"
The man's mouth opened.
This time, fear no longer prevented him from speaking.
Only inevitability remained.
And as the ruined forest stood silent around them—
his answer finally began to form.
The disciple's lips trembled violently.
For several long seconds—
he said nothing.
The shattered forest remained unnaturally still.
No wind stirred the broken branches.
No insects dared to chirp.
Nothing moved.
Only the pale white creature standing before him.
Then slowly—
very slowly—
the man forced words out through his shaking throat.
"…If…"
His voice cracked badly.
"…If I tell you…"
A pause.
"…will you let me go?"
Silence answered him.
One second passed.
Then another.
Then—
something changed.
The world itself seemed to darken.
The disciple's pupils shrank violently.
An overwhelming killing intent erupted from Lizarius without warning.
Not spiritual pressure.
Not cultivation aura.
Killing intent.
Pure.
Absolute.
The disciple instantly felt as though he had been thrown naked into an endless frozen abyss filled with countless unseen predators staring directly at him.
His breathing stopped.
Not metaphorically.
Stopped.
His lungs refused to move.
His heart nearly froze inside his chest.
Cold sweat exploded across his body while every instinct within him screamed the same thing:
*Death.*
The surrounding trees groaned violently.
Cracks spread across the shattered earth beneath his feet.
Even the surrounding spiritual energy became unstable, trembling as though reality itself rejected the monstrous emotion pouring from the small white creature.
Lizarius still hadn't moved.
Hadn't raised his voice.
Yet the disciple suddenly understood something with horrifying clarity.
This thing…
had never once viewed him as alive.
Not truly.
From the very beginning—
his existence had held less meaning than dust beneath its claws.
The golden eyes staring into him remained calm.
Emotionless.
And somehow—
that made it infinitely worse.
Then Lizarius finally spoke.
Softly.
"…You misunderstand."
The disciple trembled uncontrollably.
The killing intent crushing him became even heavier.
His vision blurred.
Blood slowly leaked from the corners of his mouth.
Lizarius tilted his head slightly.
"I was already planning to let you live."
The disciple's mind froze.
Then—
the white lizard's eyes narrowed faintly.
"But now…"
A brief pause followed.
"…I am reconsidering."
The disciple's soul nearly collapsed.
"No—!"
His voice came out broken and desperate.
"I'll talk!"
"I'll tell you everything!"
The killing intent lingered for one final horrifying second—
long enough for the disciple to truly understand how close death had just come.
Then suddenly—
it vanished.
Completely.
The disciple nearly collapsed where he stood, coughing violently while dragging desperate breaths back into his lungs.
His entire body shook uncontrollably.
Lizarius simply watched him quietly.
Calm once more.
As though nothing had happened at all.
"…Then speak."
The disciple collapsed onto one knee, coughing harshly while forcing air back into his burning lungs.
Sweat soaked through his robes.
Blood dripped slowly from the corner of his mouth.
Across from him—
Lizarius remained perfectly still.
Watching.
Waiting.
The disciple swallowed hard before speaking shakily.
"…I-I'm from the Azure Sky Sect…"
The words spilled out hurriedly now.
Fear had stripped away all hesitation.
"About two months ago…"
"…a sect mission was suddenly issued."
Lizarius remained silent.
The disciple hurriedly continued.
"Anyone capable of finding information regarding a white-scaled beast able to hide from spiritual perception within the Azure Root Forest…"
His throat tightened.
"…would receive one thousand contribution points."
The ruined forest fell silent once more.
Only the distant crackling of settling debris echoed faintly in the background.
Lizarius's golden eyes narrowed slightly.
*Azure Root Forest.*
So that was the human name for this region.
The disciple quickly continued before the silence became unbearable again.
"At first… most people believed it was merely some unusual spirit beast."
"But then rumors regarding Elder Han's death began spreading."
His voice trembled harder afterward.
"And after that…"
"…the sect started taking the matter seriously."
Lizarius remained motionless.
The disciple forced himself to continue speaking.
"Several groups of disciples have already entered the forest during the past month."
"To search."
"To confirm sightings."
"To locate your… location…"
His voice nearly failed at the end.
Because now that he stood here—
he finally understood something.
This was not a hunt.
It was a catastrophe waiting to happen.
Lizarius's tail shifted slowly behind him.
Almost thoughtfully.
*One thousand contribution points.*
Cultivators truly were easy to motivate.
Then again—
for humans like them—
resources likely determined everything.
The disciple hurriedly added,
"We weren't here to attack you!"
"We were only ordered to observe from a distance!"
"To report back if we discovered anything unusual!"
A faint pause followed.
Then carefully—
very carefully—
he added:
"The sect still doesn't fully understand what you are…"
Silence.
Lizarius stared at him quietly.
Then inwardly—
his thoughts moved calmly.
*So the death of that Golden Core cultivator truly attracted attention.*
Expected.
Though mildly inconvenient.
His pale eyes drifted briefly across the destroyed forest surrounding them.
Then returned to the trembling disciple.
*Interesting.*
*The humans still believe I am merely some unusual spirit beast.*
That misunderstanding…
might prove useful later.
The disciple slowly shifted one trembling hand behind his sleeve.
Carefully.
Secretly.
Spiritual energy quietly flowed into the escape talisman hidden between his fingers.
His heartbeat thundered violently inside his chest.
*Just a little more…*
*Activate it and run—*
Then, with a shaking voice, he forced himself to ask,
"…S-so…"
"…will you let me go now that I've already—"
His words stopped instantly.
A blur flashed through the air.
For a single fleeting moment—
something black swept across the disciple's neck.
Then—
his head separated cleanly from his body.
Blood exploded outward.
The severed head spun twice through the air before crashing wetly across the shattered ground.
The body remained standing for half a breath longer.
Then collapsed heavily onto its knees before falling face-first into the dirt.
Silence returned immediately.
Lizarius slowly lowered his tail.
The black spike-like scales extending from its tip glistened faintly with fresh blood.
The white lizard stared quietly at the headless corpse.
Then calmly spoke.
"…I already reconsidered."
A brief pause followed.
"…Perhaps you should have spoken sooner."
The spatial talisman slipped uselessly from the disciple's severed hand.
Lizarius glanced at it briefly.
Then casually moved forward.
He lowered his head.
Bit down.
And began eating.
Bones cracked loudly within the silent forest.
Blood slowly spread through shattered roots and broken stone while the white lizard consumed the corpse piece by piece without the slightest hurry.
Before long—
nothing remained.
No flesh.
No bones.
Only torn bloodstained robes, scattered weapons, damaged talismans, and abandoned storage pouches remained across the ruined battlefield.
A cold mechanical voice echoed quietly within his mind.
**[Evolution Points Gained: 12,676]**
Lizarius slowly licked the remaining blood from his maw.
His golden eyes drifted calmly across the battlefield.
Then he moved.
Using spiritual energy—
the scattered storage pouches, flying swords, talismans, and spirit tools all floated upward from the shattered ground.
The white lizard opened his maw slightly.
Everything disappeared inside.
Then—
his body gradually faded.
Transparent.
Invisible.
Moments later—
deep within the concealed cave—
space rippled faintly.
Lizarius reappeared soundlessly.
The crimson-veined blood tree still stood silently within the cavern, faint red light pulsing through its bark like flowing veins beneath flesh.
Nearby—
the fox spirit remained seated in silent cultivation.
Completely motionless.
Lizarius floated inward calmly before opening his mouth.
Clatter.
Storage pouches, swords, talismans, and spirit tools spilled across the cave floor.
The white lizard glanced downward briefly.
Several talismans smoked faintly.
His saliva had partially damaged the paper inscriptions.
Lizarius stared at them silently for a moment.
Then simply looked away.
Unimportant.
His body gradually shrank afterward.
Returning to its usual compact form.
He floated quietly toward a distant corner of the cave near the fox spirit.
Various items had already been arranged there in neat piles.
Storage pouches.
Spirit tools.
Weapons.
Spoils gathered from cultivators he had killed over time.
Lizarius moved through the collection calmly before eventually stopping beside a jade-green storage ring.
The ring once belonging to the Golden Core cultivator he had killed months earlier.
He stared at it thoughtfully.
*The soul imprint has mostly faded.*
Not completely.
But enough.
The black spike-like scales at the tip of his tail slowly retracted inward, revealing smooth pale scales beneath them.
Lizarius carefully slid the storage ring onto the exposed tip of his tail.
It fit.
Barely.
There was enough room only because of his reduced size.
A moment later—
the black scales emerged once more.
Locking tightly around the ring so it could no longer slide free.
Lizarius stared at it briefly.
Then infused a thin strand of spiritual energy into the storage ring.
Instantly—
the scattered items nearby vanished one after another into the storage space.
The newly acquired pouches followed shortly afterward.
Before long—
the cave floor became clean once more.
Lizarius slowly glanced down at the ring wrapped securely around his tail.
Then inwardly thought with calm satisfaction:
*Convenient.*
*Now I can carry things more easily.*
A brief pause followed.
*Though I should remove it before returning to my true form.*
*Otherwise… it would likely shatter.*
The white lizard's tail shifted lazily behind him.
Then silence once more returned to the underground cave.