223: Chapter 223 Has the dust settled?

Wang Zhuo's side was exceptionally smooth.

He once again killed a Gold-Tier Ferocious Beast and dodged the attack of another.

The Silver-Patterned Peacock shuttled through the Vicious Beast horde like lightning; every time the three-colored light of the Three Absolute Swords flashed, a Vicious Beast fell.

The energy laws from the self-destruction of the Space-Locking Chain were still in effect. Those locked Vicious Beasts had sluggish movements and slow reactions, like prey trapped in a quagmire, forced to watch helplessly as the sword light descended.

He was only one Gold-Tier Ferocious Beast away from filling the key's energy.

That Gold-Tier Ferocious Beast was an Earth-Splitting Bear. It was larger than the ones he had killed before, but at this moment, it was firmly pinned to the ground by black chains, its limbs unable to move as if nailed down. Its eyes were unfocused, pupils dilated, and there was still a residual smile from the illusion at the corners of its mouth, completely unaware that danger had arrived.

Wang Zhuo brandished the Three Absolute Swords once more.

Fire, lightning, and shadow—the three-colored light condensed, compressed, and fused at the sword's tip, forming a blinding three-colored sword beam.

The Silver-Patterned Peacock tucked its wings and dived from high altitude, the sword tip stabbing straight into the back of the Gold-Tier Ferocious Beast's head.

That was the weakest point in its entire defense; one strike would be fatal.

First place, he had it in the bag!

The corners of Wang Zhuo's mouth curled up.

Almost there, just this one strike left.

...

Meanwhile, on the small island in the center of the lake.

After Qin Ce placed his hand on the Pet Beast egg, he roared: "Give it to me now, contract!"

At this extremely dangerous moment, in front of the Dark Nether Flood Dragon, he directly initiated the Soul Talisman contract ritual.

His Mental Energy sank into his mind, and the Soul Talisman lit up deep within his consciousness.

In the Void Realm, that viscous, liquid-like energy began to flow, following the guidance of his Mental Energy, flowing from his mind to his Meridians, from his Meridians to his arm, from his arm to his finger, and probing into the eggshell.

The life within the egg sensed his presence.

It did not resist, did not repel; it even actively leaned toward him.

The contract runes flowed slowly between Qin Ce and the egg, etching themselves onto the surface of the eggshell bit by bit.

Roar!

Seeing Qin Ce bonding with its offspring right in front of it, the Dark Nether Flood Dragon's killing intent exploded instantly.

In its eyes, hatred condensed to the point where it could drip water.

The energy ball in its mouth was still there, the pitch-black ice energy was still compressing, but its emotions had spiraled out of control.

It no longer cared about the stability of the energy ball, no longer cared about the limits of its Meridians, no longer cared about the burning speed of its Origin.

It only wanted to completely erase the thing that stole its child before Qin Ce finished the contract.

Its Mental Energy eagerly accelerated by thirty percent, aiming to lock onto him before Qin Ce could bond with the Pet Beast.

However, at the very moment its emotions exploded to the extreme and its Mental Energy fluctuated violently, the energy ball in its mouth trembled violently.

That hair-thin energy gap, during the Dark Nether Flood Dragon's emotional explosion and unstable Mental Energy, created a massive energy vortex disturbance.

The stable energy structure became unstable, the unstable became chaotic, and the chaotic became collapsing.

Starting from that hair-thin missing spot, cracks spread across the entire energy ball.

Like a smashed mirror, cracks spread from the center outwards, becoming denser and deeper.

Fear finally appeared in the eyes of the Dark Nether Flood Dragon.

It wanted to spit out the energy ball, wanted to eject it, wanted to shake it off from its mouth.

But it was too late.

Boom—!!!

The energy ball exploded.

It was not an ordinary explosion, but a super attack condensed to near Bright Moon Level, detonating directly inside the Dark Nether Flood Dragon's mouth.

The power was ten times more terrifying than any previous attack.

The pitch-black shockwave spread outwards with the Dark Nether Flood Dragon's head as the center.

Where the shockwave passed, the lake water was evaporated, rocks were pulverized, and the air was torn apart.

The boulders on the small island were blown away like paper, and half of the island disappeared in the shockwave.

The Dark Nether Flood Dragon, which was already on the verge of death, was instantly torn to pieces by this explosion.

Its head disappeared first, then its neck, then its torso.

Dark black scales, dark blue blood, and shattered bones mixed together, pushed in all directions by the shockwave.

It didn't even have time to let out a scream.

Meanwhile, the wave of explosive energy swept across the surroundings.

Qin Ce, who was close at hand, bore the brunt of it.

The shockwave surged toward him, faster than his eyes could blink, faster than his consciousness could react.

He could only watch helplessly as that pitch-black wall of death pressed down on him.

At this critical moment, the tattoo on Qin Ce's chest lit up violently.

Qingluan flew out without being summoned.

The silver-blue figure appeared so tiny and fragile in front of the pitch-black shockwave, but it did not hesitate.

It spread its wings, tightly shielding Qin Ce and the egg under its wings.

Ice and dark energy followed, slamming into Qingluan's body.

Crack, crack, crack—dense bone-breaking sounds exploded inside Qingluan like popping beans.

Its wings twisted, snapped, and shattered under the energy impact.

Silver-blue feathers danced in the sky like autumn leaves, each feather stained with dark red blood.

Its body was trembling, convulsing, swaying wildly on the verge of collapse.

But it did not let go, did not retreat, did not shrink back.

It held onto Qin Ce tightly, using its own body to block that lethal energy.

Qingluan only blocked it for an instant.

That instant was too short, too short to even complete a single breath.

But it used that instant to reduce the intensity of the energy impact by a little.

Then, Qingluan was torn apart by the energy.

Silver-blue feathers fluttered in the air, and dark red blood evaporated in the shockwave.

Its body turned into countless fragments, mixed with the remains of the Dark Nether Flood Dragon, and was pushed in all directions by the shockwave.

It left nothing behind; no complete corpse, no complete feathers, not even a single complete bone.

Only silver-blue fragments, shattered into powder and stained red by blood, drifted down from the sky like a silent rain.

It used its own life to block that blow for Qin Ce.

After tearing Qingluan apart, the energy wave continued forward, slamming fiercely into Qin Ce and the Pet Beast egg.

The Pet Beast contract that Qin Ce had just initiated was almost interrupted by the impact.

His Mental Energy vibrated violently, the Soul Talisman flickered unsteadily, and the contract runes on the egg flickered a few times, almost dissipating.

Then, at this moment, a mouthful of blood sprayed out from Qin Ce's throat.

The dark red blood splattered onto the eggshell, flowed down along the texture of the eggshell, and seeped into those deep blue runes.

The contract, which had been almost interrupted, was completed instantly after the blood sprayed on it.

The runes on the eggshell lit up violently, the deep blue light turned into gold, and the golden light permeated from the surface of the eggshell inward, merging with the life inside the egg.

Qin Ce could feel that the aura of the young beast had changed.

It was no longer an ordinary Dark Nether Flood Dragon cub; at the moment the contract was completed, it underwent some kind of indescribable transformation.

At the same time, two notifications rang in Qin Ce's mind.

The first was a System notification.

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for being the first to complete the God-level Ruins key energy accumulation!]

[Reward is being distributed...]

[Reward content: Random God-level Talent × 1]

[Drawing...]

[Draw complete!]

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining the God-level Talent: Nine Nether Soul Return!]

Before Qin Ce could digest this information, the second notification followed—not a System notification, but feedback from the Soul Contract.

The God-level Talent "Nine Nether Soul Return" he had just obtained did not stay in Qin Ce's body, but flowed directly along the channel of the contract into the Pet Beast egg that had just finished bonding.

It merged with the young beast inside the egg, like water merging with water, like fire merging with fire, without a trace of rejection or hesitation.

The golden light on the eggshell became brighter and more intense. The life aura inside the egg climbed crazily, rushing up from Low Grade Sun. Medium Grade Sun, High Grade Sun, Peak Sun—and then, it broke through the limit of the Sun.

Transcendent.

The eggshell shattered.

It didn't crack from the outside in, but exploded from the inside out.

A jet-black young beast broke out of the shell, its body length no more than a foot, covered in fine scales with a faint golden light on the edges.

Its eyes were golden, not dark blue, not dark red, but pure gold, like two lit lamps.

Its name was no longer Dark Nether Flood Dragon, but had become...

Xuanli.

Low Grade Transcendent.

A large amount of information was poured into Qin Ce's mind, but the energy impact did not give him time to process it.

The ice and dark energy wave erupted from behind.

Qingluan was already shattered; no one was left to block for him.

The energy wave slammed fiercely into Qin Ce and Xuanli, crushing their vitality together.

Qin Ce's body rolled a few times in the air, landed on the ground, rolled a few more times, and lay prone in the rubble.

His combat uniform was torn to shreds, revealing skin covered in lacerations, from which dark red blood gushed out, seeping into the gravel and soil.

His eyes were still open, but his pupils were already dilated.

His fingers were still slightly curled, the cold touch of the eggshell still lingering on his fingertips.

His lips were slightly parted, as if he had something to say, but no sound came out.

Xuanli landed not far from him, its small body curled up in the pile of rubble, its scales covered in dust and blood, its golden eyes half-closed, the light in its pupils dimming bit by bit.

On the battlefield, it was quiet.

The Dark Nether Flood Dragon was dead.

The small island was gone.

Qingluan was shattered.

Qin Ce had no vital signs.

Xuanli also had no vital signs.

The lake surface was still churning, the water mist was still permeating, but those roars, those explosions, those roars of energy counter-clashes, all stopped.

Tianlu crawled out of the rubble.

It dragged an injured hind leg, limped to Qin Ce's side, and nudged Qin Ce's face with its head.

Qin Ce did not respond.

It nudged again, the nine-colored light on its antlers flashing weakly, like a lamp about to go out, trying hard to light up, then dimming again.

It lay down, curled up beside Qin Ce's neck, burying its small head in the crook of his shoulder.

Its body was trembling, not because of the cold, but because of fear.

It didn't know if Qin Ce could still wake up, it didn't know where Sister Qingluan had gone, it didn't know what it should do.

It just lay there, curled up in a ball, like a young beast abandoned in the wilderness.

Xuanli was curled up in the rubble, the golden light on its scales had completely disappeared, and those golden eyes were also completely closed.

The Soul Contract between it and Qin Ce was still there, but it was as weak as a thread that could break at any moment.

The wind blew from the northwest, rolling up the mist and dust, covering the mess bit by bit.

On the other side.

Wang Zhuo's Three Absolute Swords move, when it slashed towards the last Gold-Tier Ferocious Beast, happened to be the exact moment the sound of the energy ball explosion in the Dark Nether Flood Dragon's mouth rang out.

That explosion was too loud; even across dozens of miles, it still made the air tremble.

The Silver-Patterned Peacock was startled by the explosion, its wings trembling violently.

This tremor caused the sword tip in Wang Zhuo's hand, which was originally straight, to shake slightly.

But this tremor did not make Wang Zhuo miss.

The Silver-Patterned Peacock only had its wings tremble; its body did not deviate, and the sword tip did not deviate.

The three-colored sword beam of the Three Absolute Swords still accurately stabbed into the back of the Earth-Splitting Bear's head.

The Earth-Splitting Bear's body stiffened suddenly, then collapsed with a boom.

At the bottom of the rhombic crystal in Wang Zhuo's hand, the golden liquid flashed violently, and then—it was full.

It didn't rise from ninety-five percent to one hundred percent, but jumped directly from ninety-eight percent to one hundred percent.

The energy of the last Gold-Tier Ferocious Beast had just filled the last gap.

Wang Zhuo hovered in the air, looking down at the rhombic crystal in his hand.

The golden liquid filled the entire interior of the crystal, no longer just flowing at the bottom, but filling every corner, dyeing the entire crystal into a brilliant gold.

The light shone out from inside the crystal, illuminating his face, illuminating the wounds and blood stains on his body, illuminating the uncontrollable arc at the corners of his mouth.

At this moment, looking at the God-level Ruins key filled with energy, Wang Zhuo burst into hearty laughter.

"Hahaha—!"

The laughter echoed in the mist, exploded on the wilderness, passed through the smoke and the smell of blood, and traveled very, very far.

Most of his team members were still alive, although everyone was injured, more than half were still alive.

His key was full; he was the first.

When the ruins opened, he would be the first person to enter.

Opportunities, treasures, Legacies, they were all his.

Qin Ce?

A lowly Silver Rank commoner, how dare he compete with him?

Wang Zhuo's laughter lasted for a long time.

Then, the laughter stopped abruptly.

He stared at the crystal in his hand, his pupils slowly, bit by bit, contracting.

The golden liquid was full, the light was shining from inside the crystal, and all signs indicated that the key's energy was fully charged.

But—

At the very bottom of the crystal, there was a tiny line of text, almost invisible.

That line of text was not engraved, but condensed from energy, flickering in the golden light.

Wang Zhuo squinted his eyes and leaned in to look.

"Completion order: Second."

Second?

Not first!

Then who was first?

Wang Zhuo turned his head abruptly and looked to the north!

Qin Ce!!!