The moment the gravity field fully descended—
Lizarius moved.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The shattered river valley exploded beneath him.
Thousands of tons of rock vaporized instantly as dark-blue lightning erupted across the heavens.
He did not wait.
Did not hesitate.
Did not allow the Nascent Soul cultivators even a single breath to coordinate.
Because he understood one thing with absolute clarity.
Against six Nascent Soul cultivators—
the longer the battle continued—
the worse his chances became.
So he attacked with everything he had.
The storm domain roared.
ROOOOOOOAR!!!
Dozens of lightning serpents descended simultaneously from the heavens.
At the same moment—
gigantic ice serpents surged upward from below.
Above.
Below.
Every direction.
The entire battlefield transformed into a cage of destruction.
The female Dao Unity cultivator narrowed her eyes.
"Trying to divide us."
The black-robed Supreme Elder snorted.
"Pointless."
Yet before he could finish speaking—
Lizarius was already there.
Not charging the weakest.
Not targeting Elder Mo.
Not pursuing the early-stage Nascent Souls.
Instead—
he appeared directly before the black-robed Supreme Elder.
Golden eyes blazing with cold, murderous intent.
For the first time—
the black-robed elder's expression shifted.
Because the beast had chosen him.
BOOOOOOM!!!
A lightning-covered claw descended.
Space cracked apart around it.
The black-robed elder immediately raised his palm.
"Heavenly Severing Art!"
Golden spiritual light erupted outward.
The collision detonated like a dying star.
CRAAAAAAAAASH!!!
The heavens shattered.
Shockwaves spread across hundreds of kilometers.
Mountains collapsed.
Forests flattened.
The black-robed elder remained motionless.
But—
his sleeve exploded apart.
His arm trembled faintly.
A thin cut appeared across one finger.
The battlefield suddenly fell silent.
Even the other Nascent Souls stared for a brief moment.
Because that was the first injury any of them had suffered.
Tiny.
Insignificant.
Yet undeniably real.
The black-robed elder slowly lowered his hand.
His gaze settled upon the blood gathered at his fingertip.
Then—
he smiled.
Not pleasantly.
Dangerously.
"You injured me."
Far above—
the storm darkened further.
Lizarius felt it immediately.
The elder was no longer treating him as prey.
Now—
he was treating him as an equal threat.
A dangerous realization.
But Lizarius had expected it from the beginning.
ROOOOOOOAR!!!
His manifestation descended.
The colossal draconic phantom swung both claws downward.
At the same moment—
every lightning serpent in the sky surged forward.
Every ice serpent followed.
The gravity field intensified further.
The entire battlefield descended into chaos.
Yet amidst that chaos—
the five Nascent Soul cultivators finally moved together.
The elderly Supreme Elder stepped forward.
A single finger pointed toward the heavens.
The world froze.
The storm itself slowed.
The lightning serpents stalled.
Even the fluctuations of gravity weakened.
A terrifying suppression descended upon the battlefield.
The female Supreme Elder moved next.
Countless silver lotus petals materialized around her.
Every petal radiated enough power to erase a Golden Core cultivator from existence.
The two Dao Unity cultivators joined as well.
One manipulated the atmosphere itself.
The other summoned a vast sea of spiritual light.
Five Nascent Souls.
Acting together.
For the first time.
And the moment their powers connected—
Lizarius's instincts exploded with warning.
Danger.
Extreme danger.
Far greater than the attack that had awakened him beneath the canyon.
His golden pupils narrowed sharply.
Because he finally understood.
Until now—
they had been testing him.
Measuring him.
Studying him.
Learning his abilities.
But now—
they intended to kill him.
---
The sky fractured beneath the sound of Lizarius's roar.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
A shockwave erupted from his maw, tearing through the layered battlefield pressure like a blade through silk.
Wind folded.
Space trembled.
Even the Nascent Soul suppression field wavered for a fraction of a second.
And within that fraction—
Lizarius moved.
No longer probing.
No longer measuring.
He chose violence.
The storm above responded instantly.
Dark clouds spiraled inward like a collapsing ocean.
Lightning roared across the heavens.
Ice serpents shattered into drifting fragments of frost.
Then—
his manifestation changed.
It stopped remaining separate.
It sank into him.
BOOOOOOM—
A vast storm-dragon manifestation erupted behind Lizarius.
No longer a distant phantom.
No longer a projection.
It became a living extension of his existence.
Lightning fused with wind.
Flame fused with storm pressure.
Gravity warped around its spine.
The colossal form compressed inward—
and merged.
Lizarius's golden eyes sharpened as the transformation completed.
His aura exploded outward.
Not as force—
but as authority.
The sky responded.
CRACK—CRACK—CRACK!!!
Lightning obeyed.
Wind bent.
Flames ignited without fuel.
Even the crushing pressure of the Nascent Soul cultivators faltered.
Far above—
the black-robed Supreme Elder narrowed his eyes.
"...He is stabilizing his domain."
The female Supreme Elder's expression turned grave.
"That is not a beast technique..."
A brief pause.
"...He's evolving in the middle of battle."
Below—
Lizarius slowly lifted his head.
His maw opened.
Deep within—
a collapsing sphere of destruction formed.
Lightning.
Compressed wind.
Burning crimson flame.
All spiraling together toward a single point.
The surrounding air began to disappear.
Space thinned.
Sound vanished.
Reality itself seemed to compress.
One of the Dao Unity cultivators finally spoke.
His voice was low.
"...That is dangerous."
The elderly Supreme Elder raised his hand once more.
"Stop him."
But it was already too late.
Lizarius locked onto them.
Five Nascent Souls.
One battlefield.
One target.
No retreat.
No hesitation.
His jaws tightened.
The sphere stabilized.
Then—
he fired.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
A storm-dragon beam erupted from his maw.
Not a simple attack—
but a collapsed catastrophe.
A core of pure lightning.
Edges formed from tearing wind.
Flames burning through reality itself.
It crossed the battlefield instantly.
The sky split apart.
And the five Nascent Soul cultivators moved simultaneously.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Lizarius's storm-dragon beam collided with the combined power of five Nascent Soul cultivators.
Space folded inward.
Light vanished.
Then—
an explosion that seemed to erase sound itself tore across the battlefield.
For a brief moment—
nothing existed except an endless white void expanding through the heavens.
When the light finally faded—
all five Nascent Soul cultivators remained standing.
Their robes fluttered slightly.
Their hair shifted in the wind.
But—
they were unharmed.
The male Dao Unity cultivator exhaled slowly.
His eyes narrowed.
"...That was dangerous."
His gaze remained fixed on the fading destruction.
"If I had faced that alone..."
He paused.
"...I cannot say I would have emerged uninjured."
The female cultivator beside him nodded faintly.
Her expression remained calm.
Yet noticeably sharper.
"And it is still standing."
Silence followed.
As the aftermath cleared—
the battlefield gradually revealed itself.
Below the shattered heavens—
stood a broken figure.
Lizarius.
Or what remained of him.
One horn had snapped clean off.
Dark blood dripped steadily from his maw onto the ruined earth.
His wings—
once vast enough to dominate the sky—
were now torn and riddled with holes.
They trembled beneath their own weight.
Cracks spread across his scales like fractures in ancient stone.
His breathing was heavy.
Deep.
Forced.
Yet—
he remained standing.
Still watching them.
Golden eyes dimmed—
but not extinguished.
Then—
he growled.
A low.
Raw.
Primal sound that shook the air itself.
CRACK—
His claws dug into the earth as though anchoring himself through nothing but sheer will.
BOOM!!!
Three massive earth serpents erupted from below.
They coiled around him protectively.
The remaining cultivators watched in silence.
Even the black-robed Supreme Elder's gaze had changed.
"...Even now..."
His voice lowered.
"...it still resists."
The elderly Supreme Elder stepped forward slowly.
Wind died around him.
Space itself seemed to grow heavier.
His eyes narrowed as he observed the wounded beast.
"What an astonishing creature."
A brief silence followed.
Then he spoke coldly.
"Even on the edge of death..."
"...you still refuse to fall."
He raised a hand.
This time—
no grand technique formed.
No storm.
No spectacle.
Only a single point of condensed spiritual pressure gathered above his fingertip.
A needle.
Black.
Silent.
Something that did not belong solely to the physical world.
A strike aimed not at flesh—
but at the soul itself.
Even Elder Mo trembled as he looked upward.
"That is..."
His face paled.
"...Soul Manifestation."
The world groaned.
Space itself struggled to support its existence.
The elderly Supreme Elder did not answer.
His gaze remained fixed on Lizarius.
"End it."
The needle vanished.
No motion.
No trajectory.
No warning.
It simply appeared.
Directly before Lizarius.
The earth serpents lunged instinctively to intercept it.
CRACK!!!
They shattered instantly.
Reduced to scattered spiritual fragments.
Lizarius's golden eyes widened.
Too fast.
Too absolute.
Too profound.
The needle surged forward—
straight into his consciousness.
A soundless impact echoed throughout reality.
And for a fraction of a moment—
Lizarius froze.
His pupils went blank.
The growl stopped.
His body stopped moving.
The remaining earth serpents collapsed into dust and shattered stone.
Then—
his body began to fall.
Slowly.
Helplessly.
The battlefield fell silent.
Even the wind ceased to move.
The black-robed Supreme Elder lowered his hand.
His expression remained cold.
"...It is over."
Lizarius's broken body collapsed toward the ruined earth below.
Motionless.
Unresponsive.
As though something deep within him—
something fundamental—
had finally been extinguished.