"Ahhh!!!"
A crimson beam of light, as thick as a bowl, shot out from the massive jaws of the Blood Erosion Dragon Lizard. One of the inner court disciples, clearly at the end of his strength, failed to dodge in time, and the beam pierced through his abdomen. The excruciating pain made him let out a blood-curdling scream.
But it wasn't over. A layer of blood-red light quickly spread from the wound, and in the blink of an eye, it covered the disciple's entire body. Under the terrifying glow, his flesh and bones started to dissolve in a grotesque manner.
There was no time to mourn their fallen comrade. Everyone's eyes were fixed intently on the Blood Erosion Dragon Lizard before them. Including Zhang Lexuan, only six people remained on the field. All of them were on the brink of their limits, and any carelessness could lead to the next death.
The Blood Erosion Dragon Lizard wasn't in great shape either. While the humans before it were weak individually, their coordinated attacks had caused it a lot of trouble.
If it were at its peak, it wouldn't have been afraid, but these cunning humans kept targeting its injured abdomen and eyes, making the wounds even worse and threatening its life.
Aside from its tail, the beast now also had a massive circular wound on its neck, inflicted by Zhang Lexuan's second use of her sixth spirit ability.
The attack had been aimed at its head, but the unexpected burst of strength from the Blood Erosion Dragon Lizard, triggered by its survival instinct, surprised everyone. Not only did it dodge the fatal blow at the last second, but it also killed a Soul Sage in the process.
Zhang Lexuan took a deep breath, forcefully circulating the last bit of spirit power within her body. To use her sixth spirit ability one more time, she had already deactivated her martial soul avatar. But the Blood Erosion Dragon Lizard, now fully on guard, wouldn't give her another chance to land a hit.
Everyone was on their last legs, and coordinating to restrain the Blood Erosion Dragon Lizard was now nearly impossible. If they couldn't find an opening, all six of them were likely doomed.
Thinking this, even Zhang Lexuan felt a hint of despair. If this had been a typical 100,000-year soul beast, it would have fled by now, sensing its life was in danger. This was why hunting a 100,000-year soul beast usually required a Super Douluo. While an ordinary Titled Douluo could defeat such a beast, preventing it from escaping was nearly impossible.
But they had encountered a bloodthirsty Blood Erosion Dragon Lizard. Its low intelligence, forged through countless killings, made it even more dangerous. Once it entered a berserk state, it lost all reason, relying solely on its savage battle instincts and never considering retreat.
In such a situation, hitting it would only be possible if someone acted as bait to create an opening.
Zhang Lexuan bit her lip, her fists clenched so tightly her arms trembled. Yet she couldn't bring herself to make the decision.
At that moment, a gentle mental wave connected to her mind, startling her. Before she could react, she felt the world around her become crystal clear.
The injured Blood Erosion Dragon Lizard in front of her, her teammates behind her, exhausted of spirit power, the trees snapped in half — everything around her turned into processed information and flooded into her mind. And among this data was the boy who had bid her farewell just this morning and was now using his ability to assist her.
"Run towards me and lure it over."
The simple message appeared in her mind, but Zhang Lexuan hesitated. Though Huo Yuhao's skill was useful, it didn't mean he could deal with the Blood Erosion Dragon Lizard.
Even though she had seen the purple spirit ring beneath his feet through her mental detection, it was still just a single ring. He wouldn't be able to withstand even the shockwaves from the fight, let alone battle the Blood Erosion Dragon Lizard.
Huo Yuhao had helped her, so she couldn't bring danger to him. With his mental detection assisting her, the accuracy of her sixth spirit ability would be significantly enhanced, giving her a decent chance to bet everything on one attack.
Sensing her thoughts, another message quickly appeared in her mind. This time, it was just three simple words.
"Trust me."
Those three words stunned Zhang Lexuan. After a brief pause, she gritted her teeth, spun around, and accelerated to her maximum speed, turning into a blur as she sprinted toward Huo Yuhao.
The Blood Erosion Dragon Lizard hadn't expected this sudden move. It froze for half a second before letting out a violent roar, completely ignoring the remaining five people as it charged after Zhang Lexuan.
In its berserk state, it still had the instinct to dodge attacks, but it was driven by pure hatred for Zhang Lexuan, who had hurt it twice with her sixth spirit ability.
The distance of nearly a thousand meters was nothing for Zhang Lexuan, but in terms of speed, how could she possibly outpace the Blood Erosion Dragon Lizard?
In an instant, she felt the terrifying presence rapidly closing in behind her. Ahead of her was a small mound about two meters high. As she approached it, Huo Yuhao's voice once again echoed in her mind.
"Jump over it."
Without hesitation, Zhang Lexuan leaped high, her eyes finally catching sight of Huo Yuhao standing calmly a short distance away.
As soon as Zhang Lexuan lured the Blood Erosion Dragon Lizard into range, Huo Yuhao's body lit up with a dark blue glow, and a brilliant golden light erupted from his forehead.
From within that divine and majestic light, a golden vertical eye slowly opened.
"Fate — Judgment!"
The brief words left Huo Yuhao's lips, and with them, a strange light spread from the center of his forehead, quickly enveloping both Zhang Lexuan and the Blood Erosion Dragon Lizard.
Under the light, the world seemed to be covered with a shimmering, dreamlike filter, and even the air appeared slightly distorted. Zhang Lexuan felt a momentary daze, then saw golden light floating from her body. Behind her, a golden phantom, resembling her in every way, began to take shape.
The Blood Erosion Dragon Lizard also emitted light, but instead of gold, it was an eerie, deathly white. The light gathered behind it, forming the shape of its skull, which looked chilling and grotesque.
After casting the technique, Huo Yuhao let out a muffled groan, and the vertical eye on his forehead quietly closed. However, his eyes remained bright as he immediately turned and ran, using his mental detection to observe the changes behind him.
When Zhang Lexuan cleared the mound, the Blood Erosion Dragon Lizard, confident in its size, made no attempt to avoid it and charged straight into the pile.
With a loud crash, the dirt and stones exploded, and buried within the mound, something flew out — a series of interconnected core formations, set up in advance by Huo Yuhao.
While Huo Yuhao could only create up to third-tier soul tools, which couldn't harm a 100,000-year soul beast, a single one might not be effective, but dozens?
Borrowing a method from a past-life comrade, he had extracted the core formations from dozens of soul tools and linked them together, forming an explosive soul tool bomb with hundreds of times the power.
Under the light of Fate's Judgment, the Blood Erosion Dragon Lizard's luck was at its worst. The series of explosive devices just so happened to land right on the massive wound in its abdomen.
(End of Chapter)