Xie Zhaolin's gaze swept slowly across the cavern wall. She drew in a deep breath and forced down the chaotic thoughts churning in her chest.
"This isn't the time to be thinking about that," she reminded herself.
No matter if the effort was wasted or not, as long as there was even the slightest chance of obtaining the Rebirth Flower, she wouldn't give up. For that goal, she was ready to turn the entire Blackwater Abyss upside down.
As for the possibility of not being able to beat the giant lizard…
Her lips curved in a cold smile.
That wasn't a problem at all. If she really couldn't win, she'd just have Mo Yan blow himself up. Even if his cultivation was heavily suppressed right now, he'd still once been a Golden Core cultivator. The might of a Golden Core self-detonation wasn't something a mere giant lizard could endure.
Her eyes drifted unconsciously toward Mo Yan.
The demon slave stood silently at the side, head lowered. His body under the gray robe was noticeably thinner, and his face was pale as paper. Running back and forth between the abyss floor and the caves these past two weeks had wrung every bit of strength from him.
"What a pity," she thought to herself.
She really didn't want to do this unless absolutely necessary. After all, once she left this place, Mo Yan would still make a very useful Golden Core bodyguard. Losing him here would be a waste. But then her eyes turned cold again.
To her, he was nothing more than a consumable. A tool. A useful slave. It'd be a pity, but she wouldn't feel the slightest bit of pain. Perhaps sensing her stare, Mo Yan lifted his head. When he met her icy gaze, his entire body trembled.
As a contracted slave, he couldn't read his master's exact thoughts, but the chill in her mind pressed down on his heart and filled him with terror.
"M-Master…" His voice shook, but under her indifferent stare, he quickly fell silent.
Xie Zhaolin withdrew her gaze and no longer hesitated.
"Prepare to move." Her tone was sharp and void of warmth.
The five beast souls immediately stood ready. Mo Yan lowered his head, his hands trembling faintly under his robe, yet he didn't dare show even a hint of resistance.
"Shuang Ling, burn the eastern wall. Xue Xiao, seal the exit above. Dian Diao, prepare a thunderstorm. Bing Jing, freeze the ground. Teng She, you're on guard."
She turned to Mo Yan. "You'll be the main attacker." After a short pause, she added meaningfully, "If things change… you know what to do."
His throat bobbed. "Yes, Master," he answered hoarsely, voice scraping from his throat like sand.
She didn't say anything more. Forming hand seals, she commanded, "Go."
At her order, the five beast souls struck at once. Mo Yan also formed seals, releasing a surge of gray-black demonic mist that drilled into the cracks of the rock.
Boom!
The whole cavern shook violently as chunks of rock fell from the walls. Standing at a safe distance, Xie Zhaolin locked her divine sense on every corner of the cave.
Just as the cavern was about to collapse completely, the ground convulsed. The supposedly solid floor rippled like water as a suffocating aura burst upward. She didn't even need to give an order. The beast souls rushed back to her side, Mo Yan retreating just as fast, eyes wide with horror.
The cavern floor twisted madly. Then, from the depths, a massive shadow rose.
The long-missing giant lizard had returned.
But it looked completely different from before. Its lower body had fused with the ground, black scales etched with patterns like hardened soil, as if it had grown straight out of the earth. She quickly noticed that the beast's grievous wounds had mostly healed, gleaming with strange silver light, and its aura was far stronger than before.
"This… this isn't possible…" Mo Yan's voice trembled. "How could it…"
Xie Zhaolin's face darkened.
The giant lizard's condition was clearly unnatural. The fusion with the ground, the bizarre aura radiating from its body, all went beyond the category of an ordinary beast.
"Master…" Mo Yan suddenly looked horrified. "Don't tell me… it fused with the Rebirth Flower?"
Her heart jolted.
The guess was wild, but it perfectly explained what they were seeing.
She studied the creature carefully. The silver-lit wounds, the body anchored into the cavern floor, the aura that felt half-beast and half-plant… this was exactly what happened when a spirit plant fused with a beast.
Not to mention, the Rebirth Flower already had the power to rebuild flesh. If the lizard had merged with it, gaining that ability wasn't strange at all.
The beast souls growled lowly, their bodies tensed in defense.
The lizard slowly opened its eyes. Where they'd once been crimson, they now gleamed with eerie silver-red light. It locked onto them with a predator's stare and let out a guttural growl.
"ROAR!"
The earth-shattering bellow shook the entire cave.
The lizard ripped itself upward, dragging loose rock with it. At the same time, the ground shot up in jagged earthen spikes that fired straight at them.
Mo Yan rushed forward, throwing out three gray mist barriers that barely held back the first strike.
But the second wave came instantly. The lizard slammed the ground, hurling countless rocks from every direction.
Shuang Ling and Xue Xiao spread their power, weaving a shield overhead. Bing Jing braced his icy armor against the barrage. But the lizard's strength was leagues beyond before. One massive boulder shattered Bing Jing's armor and sent him flying.
Xie Zhaolin's eyes narrowed. The beast soul's pain stabbed at her mind, but she quickly regained her calm.
"Hold the line," she commanded coolly.
Shuang Ling and Xue Xiao repositioned immediately, reconstructing their defenses. Dian Diao darted through the storm of rocks as a bolt of lightning, while Teng She slithered to the side for a flank. Mo Yan fell back, muttering defensive incantations.
She observed everything with sharp precision, calculations spinning rapidly.
The lizard's power had soared after the fusion, but the fight was still within control. Through her divine sense, she relayed detailed instructions, targeting the weak spots Mo Yan had previously described. He obeyed instantly, conjuring dozens of demonic spikes that stabbed toward the silver-lit wounds.
At the same time, she gathered baleful qi at her fingertips, sending streaks of black light into the lizard's vital points.
But the fusion had changed everything. The so-called weak points now gleamed with protective silver, shrugging off most of the damage.
Shuang Ling's foxfire left only scorch marks. Xue Xiao's razor feathers bounced harmlessly away. Even Mo Yan's spikes only barely pierced its outer flesh.
Xie Zhaolin frowned slightly but didn't panic. With Mo Yan's Golden Core self-destruction as her trump card, she had every reason to stay calm. Then, in the midst of the chaos, she noticed something.
The giant lizard's four limbs were completely rooted into the ground. It couldn't move at all.