The shattered battlefield gradually fell silent.
A cold wind drifted through the ruined landscape.
Mountains lay broken.
Forests had vanished.
Even the sky itself still bore lingering scars from the clash.
At the center of it all—
Lizarius's body lay motionless.
Broken.
Bloodied.
Still.
No spiritual fluctuations emerged from him.
No movement.
No resistance.
Nothing.
The five Nascent Soul cultivators watched in silence.
Waiting.
Observing.
Several breaths passed.
Then several more.
Nothing changed.
Finally, the black-robed Supreme Elder lowered his hand completely.
"The soul has been extinguished."
His voice was calm.
Certain.
A soul attack delivered by a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator was not something an early Golden Core beast should have been capable of surviving.
The female Supreme Elder continued studying the corpse.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"...Strange."
The Dao Unity female cultivator glanced toward her.
"What is?"
The woman remained silent for a moment before answering.
"Everything."
Her gaze remained fixed upon the fallen beast.
"A creature possessing multiple elemental affinities."
"A manifestation."
"Concealment capable of evading divine sense."
"A bloodline powerful enough to slaughter seven Core Formation cultivators."
"And intelligence rivaling experienced cultivators."
A brief pause followed.
"...Yet nobody came."
Silence descended.
Everyone understood exactly what she meant.
The black-robed elder folded his arms.
"You still believe someone was controlling it?"
"Perhaps."
The female Supreme Elder did not deny it.
"Or perhaps guiding it."
The elderly Supreme Elder slowly descended toward the ground.
His robes drifted gently around him.
"The possibility exists."
He stopped several hundred meters above the corpse.
His eyes carefully examined the motionless form.
"If someone truly stood behind it..."
His gaze swept across the devastated battlefield.
"...then they have remained hidden even after watching it die."
The Dao Unity male cultivator nodded slowly.
"Which leaves only two possibilities."
Everyone listened.
"Either there was nobody."
"Or..."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"...whoever stood behind it understood they could not contend against five Nascent Soul cultivators."
The wind drifted quietly through the silence.
No one immediately responded.
Because both explanations were reasonable.
Elder Mo stared at the corpse below.
The fear that had haunted him for days was slowly fading.
Yet somehow—
unease remained.
Because the beast had simply been too unusual.
Too intelligent.
Too calculating.
The female Supreme Elder slowly landed beside the enormous body.
Her gaze moved across the cracked scales.
The shattered horn.
The torn wings.
Then she spoke quietly.
"Regardless."
"It is finished."
The black-robed elder nodded.
"The corpse alone is an enormous harvest."
"Ancient bloodline essence."
"Golden Core remains."
"Multiple elemental affinities."
Even the Dao Unity cultivators showed faint interest.
Such materials were exceedingly valuable.
The elderly Supreme Elder stepped closer.
His gaze settled upon Lizarius's dim golden eyes.
Then—
for the briefest instant—
something felt wrong.
A sensation.
Tiny.
Almost imperceptible.
Like a ripple beneath perfectly still water.
His brows furrowed slightly.
"...Hm?"
The others looked toward him.
The old man remained silent.
Watching.
Waiting.
The battlefield fell quiet once more.
The wind swept across the motionless white scales.
Nothing moved.
Nothing changed.
Yet for some reason—
the cultivator could not look away.
Then—
light suddenly returned to the lizard's eyes.
Its pupils narrowed sharply.
The battlefield exploded back to life.
CRIMSON LIGHT erupted from Lizarius's body.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
A shockwave blasted outward, tearing apart the surrounding earth and forcing the nearby Nascent Soul cultivators to retreat instinctively.
The already shattered landscape collapsed even further.
Lightning surged across the heavens.
But this time—
it wasn't dark blue.
It was crimson.
Violent.
Savage.
Ancient.
CRAAAAACK!!!
Blood-red lightning coiled around Lizarius's body like living dragons.
His broken scales rapidly darkened.
The shattered horn regrew, now stained crimson.
His claws lengthened.
Blood-red veins spread beneath his scales as every muscle in his body tightened violently.
The aura pouring from him became wildly different.
Less controlled.
Less calculated.
Yet infinitely more dangerous.
The expressions of the five Nascent Soul cultivators changed instantly.
Because the beast—
was alive.
Not barely alive.
Not recovering.
Transforming.
The female Supreme Elder's eyes widened.
"...Impossible."
The black-robed elder's pupils contracted.
"The soul attack—"
"It should have destroyed it."
Yet before anyone could comprehend what had happened—
Lizarius moved.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The air detonated.
The white lizard vanished.
The heavens split apart behind him.
Too fast.
Far too fast.
Even Nascent Soul perception struggled to lock onto his trajectory.
Then—
everyone realized where he was heading.
Elder Mo.
The only Core Formation cultivator present.
The weakest.
The slowest.
The easiest target.
"No!"
The female Supreme Elder vanished instantly.
Space distorted.
She appeared directly in Lizarius's path.
Her arm was already rising.
Spiritual power surged through her meridians.
Preparing to intercept.
Then—
their eyes met.
For a single instant.
Golden eyes.
Ancient.
Predatory.
Cold.
A strange force exploded from Lizarius's gaze.
The female elder froze.
Completely.
Her expression shifted from determination—
to disbelief.
Her body refused to move.
Her spiritual energy stalled.
Even the circulation of her Nascent Soul seemed to halt for the briefest moment.
Shock exploded through her mind.
*Paralysis?*
A Nascent Soul cultivator—
immobilized?
Even if only for an instant—
it was impossible.
Yet that instant was enough.
By the time she forced her spiritual energy back into motion—
Lizarius was already past her.
Like a bolt of crimson lightning.
She desperately attempted to summon her Soul Manifestation.
But she understood immediately.
Too late.
Because she had never been the target.
Elder Mo was.
Far behind her—
Elder Mo's eyes widened.
His thoughts barely had time to form.
*How—*
That was all.
Because Lizarius arrived.
BOOOOOOM!!!
A crimson flash crossed the battlefield.
Then silence.
For half a heartbeat—
nothing happened.
Elder Mo remained standing.
Frozen.
Confused.
Then—
his body split apart.
Blood erupted across the sky.
The entire middle section of his torso simply ceased to exist.
Golden Core.
Meridians.
Organs.
Everything.
Gone.
Consumed.
His expression remained frozen in disbelief.
Then the remains fell.
The faint crimson tracking talisman shattered alongside him.
CRACK.
It disintegrated into dust.
The final connection vanished forever.
Silence descended.
The Nascent Soul cultivators stared.
For a moment—
none of them moved.
Because Elder Mo had died so quickly that even they had failed to save him.
The sole survivor of the Azure Sky Sect's original expedition.
Gone.
Lizarius slowly came to a stop several hundred meters away.
Crimson lightning crackled endlessly around his body.
Blood dripped from his jaws.
He slowly licked it away.
Then lifted his head.
Golden eyes swept across the remaining five Nascent Soul cultivators.
Calm.
Cold.
Mocking.
As though asking a simple question.
*Now what?*
For the first time since arriving—
the expressions of the Nascent Soul cultivators changed completely.
The battlefield froze.
For a single heartbeat—
no one moved.
No one spoke.
The five Nascent Soul cultivators stared at the white lizard standing amidst the shattered earth.
And the lizard stared back.
Golden eyes glowing.
Blood still dripping from his maw.
Elder Mo's remains had already vanished.
Consumed.
Not even fragments remained.
The reality of what had just happened finally settled over everyone.
The female Supreme Elder's face darkened.
The paralysis had already faded.
Yet the shock remained.
Because she knew exactly how close she had come.
If she had truly been the target—
that single instant would have been enough to kill her.
The black-robed Supreme Elder's killing intent erupted outward.
"You dare—"
He never finished.
Because Lizarius moved first.
Again.
CRAAAAACK!!
Crimson lightning exploded across his body.
The black horn upon his head glowed blood-red.
The muscles beneath his scales tightened violently.
The air around him distorted.
Dragon Fury.
The newly fused bloodline surged through every inch of his body like a raging flood.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The ground beneath him collapsed.
His maw opened.
Wider.
Wider still.
Crimson-white lightning began gathering within.
Not ordinary lightning.
Not spiritual lightning.
Every ounce of remaining power.
Every drop of fury.
Every fragment of destruction.
Compressed.
Condensed.
Forced together.
The surrounding heavens darkened.
The remaining Nascent Soul cultivators immediately sensed danger.
Real danger.
The elderly Supreme Elder's eyes narrowed sharply.
"Defensive formation!"
Too late.
Lizarius fired.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
A colossal beam of crimson-white destruction erupted from his maw.
The world vanished beneath its radiance.
Mountains melted.
Clouds evaporated.
The heavens split apart as the beam tore forward, carrying enough force to annihilate everything in its path.
The female Supreme Elder's expression changed.
The male Dao Unity cultivator's pupils contracted.
Even the black-robed elder felt his heart tighten.
The elderly Supreme Elder reacted instantly.
His sleeve flickered.
A jade shield appeared.
Ancient.
Covered in countless runes.
The moment it emerged—
he thrust both hands forward.
Spiritual energy flooded into the artifact.
The other Nascent Soul cultivators immediately joined him.
BOOOOOOM!!!
Five Nascent Soul auras poured into the defensive treasure simultaneously.
A massive golden barrier erupted into existence.
Just as the beam arrived.
CRAAAAAAAAASH!!!
Heaven and earth shook.
The barrier bent violently.
Runes shattered one after another.
The jade shield screamed beneath the strain.
Cracks spread across its surface.
One.
Ten.
Hundreds.
The elderly Supreme Elder's expression finally changed.
Because he could feel it.
The artifact—
was close to breaking.
The beam continued pushing forward relentlessly.
Like an enraged dragon attempting to devour the heavens themselves.
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
The barrier trembled.
The surrounding space collapsed.
Shockwaves erupted outward for hundreds of kilometers.
Mountains vanished.
Forests were uprooted.
Entire sections of land simply ceased to exist.
Then—
slowly—
the beam weakened.
Its brilliance faded.
The pressure diminished.
And finally—
silence returned.
The light gradually disappeared.
The golden barrier flickered weakly.
Then shattered into countless fragments.
The battlefield fell silent.
Only the crackling of residual crimson lightning echoed through the ruined heavens.
Far below—
the earth no longer resembled a battlefield.
A colossal abyss stretched across the landscape.
Miles wide.
So deep that darkness swallowed its bottom completely.
Mountains had vanished.
Forests had ceased to exist.
Even rivers that once crossed the region had been erased from the map.
The attack had carved a wound directly into the world itself.
High above—
the remaining Nascent Soul cultivators hovered motionless.
The elderly Supreme Elder stood at the front.
In his hands—
the defensive treasure trembled violently.
CRACK.
CRACK.
CRACK.
Thin fractures continued spreading across its surface.
The protective light surrounding the artifact flickered weakly.
One more strike—
and it would likely shatter completely.
The female Supreme Elder stared toward the abyss behind them.
For the first time since arriving—
genuine shock appeared in her eyes.
"...What destructive power..."
Even the Dao Unity cultivators had lost their composure.
The male cultivator lowered his gaze toward the ruined land below.
"...That attack..."
"...was approaching the limits of what a Golden Core cultivator should be capable of."
Nearby—
the black-robed Supreme Elder's face darkened.
Not because of the attack.
But because of what had happened moments earlier.
Elder Mo.
Dead.
Killed directly before them.
Consumed.
They had failed to stop it.
Failed to protect him.
And now—
the tracking talisman was gone as well.
Meanwhile—
far ahead—
Lizarius floated silently in the sky.
Crimson lightning danced endlessly across his body.
The claws extending from his forelimbs gleamed like sharpened crimson blades.
His aura had become far more violent.
Far more oppressive.
Dragon Fury.
Blood energy pulsed through every vein.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
Each heartbeat sent visible waves of crimson energy coursing through his form.
The female Supreme Elder finally recovered completely from the lingering effects of the paralysis.
Her expression remained grim.
"...That wasn't a resurrection."
The others looked toward her.
She continued quietly.
"...Its soul was struck."
"...but something protected it."
The elderly Supreme Elder narrowed his eyes.
The soul needle had landed.
Of that he was absolutely certain.
Yet the beast had survived.
Impossible.
Unless something had intercepted the attack entirely.
The black-robed elder's voice lowered.
"...Does it possess a treasure capable of protecting its soul?"
No one answered.
Because none of them knew.
But one fact had become undeniable.
The creature before them possessed far more secrets than anyone had imagined.
Far below—
crimson lightning erupted again.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
The sky shattered behind Lizarius.
His figure vanished instantly.
The expressions of the Nascent Soul cultivators changed.
Fast.
Too fast.
Even compared to before.
Dragon Fury had elevated everything.
Strength.
Speed.
Instinct.
Violence.
The female Supreme Elder reacted first.
Her Soul Manifestation erupted behind her instantly.
A gigantic silver lotus bloomed across the heavens.
The black-robed elder released his own manifestation simultaneously.
A colossal dark mountain rose behind him.
Ancient.
Immovable.
Oppressive.
The Dao Unity cultivators followed immediately.
Manifestations filled the heavens.
The pressure multiplied severalfold.
The world groaned beneath their combined presence.
And directly opposite them—
crimson lightning exploded outward.
A monstrous draconic silhouette slowly emerged behind Lizarius once more.
Larger than before.
More violent.
Its golden eyes now glowed crimson.
Storms gathered.
The earth trembled.
The abyss below widened further beneath the pressure alone.
Both sides stared at one another across the shattered heavens.
No words.
No negotiations.
Only killing intent.
Because everyone present understood.
The battle had entered an entirely different stage.
And this time—
someone truly was going to die.