Time seemed to slow to a crawl in the Serpent's Heart basin. The world, for the disciples of the Green Mountain Sect, contracted to a single, horrifying image: the slow, inexorable descent of the colossal black pincer. There was no explosive sound, no brilliant flash of spiritual energy. There was only a silent, profound wrongness, as if a piece of the void itself had been given form and was now coming to erase them from existence.
Jian Long's scream of terror was cut short as the pincer made contact. His golden, rhinoceros-spirit-infused aura, which had seemed so powerful moments before, simply vanished. It did not shatter; it was annihilated, consumed by the light-devouring energy that shimmered at the pincer's edge. His body, along with the four disciples closest to him, disappeared into that silent, crushing void. There was no blood, no gore, no sound of breaking bones. They were simply gone, their very existence erased from the world as the pincer closed with a soft, final click.
The psychic screech of the colossal beast echoed again in the minds of the survivors, a wave of pure, absolute dominance that shattered their will and froze the very Qi in their meridians. On the far side of the island, Zhao Wei and his two companions, who had been unleashing their diversionary attacks, fell to their knees, their faces ashen, their minds reeling from the psychic assault. They could only stare in mute, abject terror at the monster that had risen from the depths.
Su Ling, who had maintained a cautious distance from the main assault, was the only one who remained standing, though her face was pale, and a thin trickle of blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. Her Ice-Feathered Crane spirit shrieked, not in aggression, but in pure, instinctual fear, its form flickering as it struggled to maintain its existence in the face of such an overwhelming presence.
Li Yu, hidden in the shadows a hundred feet away, felt the psychic wave wash over him. It was a crushing, mental pressure, but the «Myriad Rivers Returning to the Sea Art» in his dantian spun lazily, its profound, sea-like nature acting as a buffer, a deep ocean that absorbed the terrifying ripple. He felt a sharp headache, but his mind remained clear.
While every other survivor was paralyzed by fear, Li Yu moved. He activated the «Rippling Shadow Step» to its absolute limit, becoming a ghost that skimmed across the water towards the central island. He plucked the Serpent's Breath Lotus, pacifying its guardian serpent with a glance from his manifested Koi spirit, and secured the mission's objective in his storage ring.
The colossal crab beast, having eliminated the most immediate threats, finished its meal, crushing the wyrm's head with a silent implosion of force. It then turned its cold, dead eyes towards the remaining disciples, its aura one of absolute, unchallenged dominance. It was not wounded; it was a king surveying its domain.
This was the moment. Li Yu knew he could not simply escape. He needed to create a diversion, a final, desperate act that would serve his true purpose.
He shot out from the island's shadow, his voice ringing across the basin with a desperate urgency that was utterly convincing. "RUN! Get out of the basin! I will buy you time!"
The surviving disciples stared at him as if he were a madman.
"My master gave me a life-saving treasure!" Li Yu roared, holding up the shimmering silver Void-Shift Talisman for all to see. "It can teleport me away, but I need a few seconds to activate it! I will draw its attention, and then I will escape! Go now! Tell my master what happened here!"
He didn't wait for a reply. He did the unthinkable. He charged, not away from the monster, but directly towards it, creating the perfect distraction.
His "heroic" act shattered the paralysis of the other disciples. The plan, while insane, was their only hope. Su Ling's eyes widened with a complex mixture of disbelief and a dawning, profound respect. "He's creating a diversion! Move!" she commanded, her voice cutting through their terror. She grabbed the two nearest disciples and began a desperate retreat. Zhao Wei, after a moment's hesitation, scrambled to follow, not wanting to be left behind.
Within moments, Li Yu was alone in the basin, facing the mountainous demonic beast. The monster, its simple, primal mind confused by the small creature charging towards it, paused its advance.
This was his only chance.
"Great one," Li Yu projected through his spiritual sense, his message imbued with a deep, ancient respect, not a plea for mercy. "Your power is absolute. This world is too small to contain you."
The Stygian Void-Crusher tilted its head, a flicker of what might have been curiosity in its cold, dead eyes. It was a juvenile, he could sense it, but its pride was as vast as the abyss it was born from.
Li Yu focused his will, and the blood-red Koi spirit materialized fully behind him, blazing like a crimson sun. It radiated an aura not of aggression, but of a profound, transcendental nobility. The golden lines on its body shone like divine edicts, and the closed third eye on its forehead pulsed with a power that seemed to predate the world itself.
The Void-Crusher's instincts screamed at it. This was not a creature of this world. This was a being of a higher order, a wisp of a truly divine bloodline. The pure, vital Yang energy it radiated was not just food; it was a catalyst, a key that could unlock its own evolutionary potential at a rate a thousand times faster than cultivating in this barren swamp.
"Join me and we can grow stronger together" Li Yu's spiritual voice was a calm, steady negotiation.
He was not offering servitude. He was offering a partnership, a path to greater power.
The young, proud beast hesitated. To contract with a mere human was an insult beyond imagining.
As if sensing its thoughts the blood-red Koi swam forward, its form regal and unafraid, and stopped directly in front of the colossal beast's face. It looked into the Void-Crusher's cold, dead eyes, and the third, dormant eye on its forehead pulsed with a soft, golden light. It was not a show of force, but an offering of profound sincerity, contract with me.
The Stygian Void-Crusher, faced with an offer that appealed to both its instinct for power and its immense pride, finally made its choice. It let out a soundless, psychic rumble of agreement and extended a single, small, crystalline leg, tapping the Koi's forehead in a gesture of acceptance.
The moment the contract was forged—a unique, symbiotic bond between a spirit and a demonic beast—a cataclysmic change occurred within the Koi. The pact with this ancient, powerful creature was the final key, unlocking a heaven-defying ability that had lain dormant since its birth.
A swirling, vortex-like portal of crimson-gold light opened in the center of the Koi's body. It was a gateway into a small, nascent inner world, a pocket dimension filled with a misty, life-giving energy. It was the Koi's Sanctuary.
The Koi projected a final thought to its new ally: Enter. Rest. Grow.
The Stygian Void-Crusher, feeling the profound, nurturing energy of the sanctuary, willingly dissolved its massive form into a stream of pure, void-like energy. The river of darkness flowed into the portal and disappeared.
Li Yu collapsed to one knee, his body trembling, the backlash from the monumental effort staggering. He focused his consciousness inward. The Koi spirit swam serenely in his dantian, its third eye closed once more, but its entire being seemed more vibrant, more complete. And within the new, tiny sanctuary inside it, a miniature, sleeping, obsidian-colored crab rested peacefully, its colossal power sealed in a state of deep hibernation and growth.
He had done it. He had acquired the ultimate trump card.
He took a deep, shuddering breath and looked towards the edge of the mire where the others had fled. They had seen him charge the beast. They would assume he was either dead or had successfully escaped using his talisman. His story was now perfectly plausible.
His secret was safe. His mission was complete. And he now carried a hidden power that could shake the very foundations of the Green Mountain Sect.
As he knelt there, catching his breath, he extended his spiritual sense into the Koi's newly formed sanctuary. The space was small, no larger than a small room, filled with a swirling, crimson-gold mist of pure vitality. In the center, the miniature Stygian Void-Crusher rested, its form no bigger than his fist.
He reached out to it, not with a command, but with a question. What is your true strength?
The miniature crab did not stir, but a wave of pure, instinctual knowledge, a memory of its own power, flowed from it and into Li Yu's mind through the new bond. The information was not in words, but in a raw, undeniable feeling of immense, crushing power. It was an aura so vast and profound it made his own master's Qi seem like a flickering candle in a hurricane.
Li Yu's eyes went wide with shock, a cold sweat breaking out on his brow. The Stygian Void-Crusher was not a Rank 4 or 5 beast. It was a legendary Rank 9 Sovereign Beast, a creature whose power was equivalent to a human cultivator at the absolute peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
It should be stronger than his master. It should be stronger than any elder in the Green Mountain Sect that he was aware of
He had just sealed a creature capable of single-handedly annihilating his entire sect besides perhaps the sect leader into his own spirit. The weight of this secret was a thousand times heavier than any mountain. His trump card was not just a sharp sword; it was a world-ending calamity that he now had to keep hidden at all costs.