Chapter 565: Another Soulshard

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This time around, Zhang Lie finally saw the true form of the disaster-grade lifeform.

The ornate palace appeared once again within the shell, revealing just a single lifeform within. Rainbow mist covered its translucent body, which had the texture of jelly. It was without scales and without claws.

Clams developed strong defenses to protect against a weak, fragile interior. The disaster-grade clam's ability to manufacture illusions had misled Zhang Lie into thinking that it had lost that weakness upon its evolution into a disaster-grade lifeform.

After all, disaster-grade lifeforms didn't have obvious weaknesses, so Zhang Lie had naturally thought that the illusory clamshell dragon was the disaster-grade clam's true form. Only now did he uncover the truth.

In retrospect, this should have been obvious; the evolution to disaster-grade was a dramatic one, but not so dramatic that a clam would discard its shell completely.

This was another reason the disaster-grade clam had been continuously taking advantage of the sea of mists' unusual characteristics to avoid a head-on clash with Zhang Lie once and again.

Its ingrained instincts told it to pick on weaker lifeforms, killing them with its illusions. The somewhat stronger ones could be exhausted through these loops and killed once they had been exhausted; the ones that were far too strong would be sent out of the sea of mists on a ship. The spatial distortions that pervaded the sea of mists were the disaster-grade clam's best protection.

In some sense, this weak disaster-grade clam was even more annoying than the disaster-grade whirlpool tyrant that Zhang Lie had faced; in some sense, it was stronger than the entire sura race itself.

The clam refused to allow a direct confrontation, where it would be at an absolute disadvantage. Against Zhang Lie, whom it couldn't defeat, it simply ran away again and again.

The first time Zhang Lie showed up, it tried to run off by sacrificing its peak-grade counterpart. Only when Zhang Lie pierced the deception did it finally release its multicolored mist.

The second time, it tried to bewitch Zhang Lie by means of the mist once more.

The third time, the clam finally had no recourse but to fight.

The illusory clamshell dragon was the disaster-grade clam's ideal self. It wanted claws so sharp they could pierce the heavens, a body so agile and adroit it could soar through the sky. Potent offenses, a strong physical body, impressive speed, immunity to physical attacks—this was the clam's ideal.

The clam had been trying to sculpt a perfect body based on the power it had accumulated all these years, only to encounter the even stronger Zhang Lie.

The disaster-grade clam shook as it asked, "Just what do you want?!"

Zhang Lie was a little surprised. He knew that disaster-grade lifeforms were as intelligent as humans, but he had never seen one that could speak. Given the nature of its abilities, however, Zhang Lie was easily able to understand what was going on.

"You're speaking to me through an illusion, aren't you?"

This was an illusion that the clam wanted to show him, but it was no different from the clam speaking in reality.

The clam begged, "I won't do something like this in the future! Please forgive me."

"Ha! If I were weak, you wouldn't allow me to leave unscathed, would you?"

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

He had come here to kill disaster-grade lifeforms, and he had no intention of giving up his prey.

With a single slash of his sword, the clam was no more.

[You successfully killed a disaster-grade mistmeld clam and obtained its soulshard. By consuming the flesh of the disaster-grade mistmeld clam, you may receive one to ten peak gene fragments.]

Zhang Lie's eyes lit up. How lucky he had been recently! Upon activating its soulshard, his dragon's pupils turned into rings of multicolored light, enticing and mysterious, as though anyone who looked at him would immediately fall into a trance.

Multicolored mist wisped out of his body as he unsheathed his twin blades.

He had more or less grasped the utility of this soulshard, which gave him the ability to put others in a trance and to generate the clam's signature multicolored mist.

Zhang Lie sliced apart the clam's body to find a glowing jewel giving off radiant light. The mist within the jewel moved in a particularly pleasing pattern, and it was so beautiful Zhang Lie would swear it came from the very heavens. Just one glance left Zhang Lie somewhat bewildered, as though his mind was being sucked into the orb.

Nevertheless, Zhang Lie's willpower was sufficiently strong that he snapped out of his stupor within moments, but the encounter left him rattled. An ordinary person's mind would almost surely be trapped within the core with just a look.

He drew a long breath, kept the orb, and canceled his golden qilin transformation.

The fight against the disaster-grade clam wasn't the usual battle of strength that Zhang Lie had expected, but rather one of wills and willpower. If he had relaxed for even the barest of moments, he might have died.

Although he knew that all that lay before him were illusions, he had no choice. Without having killed the whirlpool tyrant and undergone the disaster-grade evolution, Zhang Lie estimated that he would have already died to the disaster-grade clam.

Because of his [Ninesoul Dragonblade—Third Form: Separating Earth and Sky], all the mist in the sea of mists had dissipated in its entirety, and the clams that had been responsible were both dead. No longer would the sea of mists be dangerous territory. The sun shone radiantly down on the sea, which glittered with golden light.

The water was a crystal-clear blue, just like the clear sky, without even a single cloud in sight. Zhang Lie stared at the sky with joy, having missed the sun amidst the dreary, perennial mists.

"Don't leave, Dad!" a tremulous voice called out.

Zhang Lie turned back to see Zhu trying to grab ahold of Sheng's body, which was gradually fading into transparency.

As Zhang Lie expelled all the mist from the sea of mists, he simultaneously stripped the sea of its mysterious strength. No longer could Sheng maintain his body.

He reached out and rubbed his daughter's head. "Don't cry. I'm very glad I was able to see you again, even after my death. It has truly been a blessing. Don't you think it best for my soul to go free, rather than to be trapped within the mists for eternity, too?"

Zahng Lie was a little upset, not because of Sheng's disappearance, but rather because he still hadn't gained a full understanding of the mysterious power that pervaded the sea of mists. In the future, he would have to slowly explore that power using the disaster-grade clam's soulshard.

"Alright, I'm going to go meet your mother now. I wonder how she'll lecture me? To be honest, I'm kind of looking forward to it..."

Sheng smiled as he hugged his daughter one last time, whispering in her ear, "Take good care of yourself, and be mindful of the men around you. This fellow you're traveling with might be strong, but you can't just hand your body over like that, you hear?"

Zhu lowered her head, blushing.

Sheng turned to Zhang Lie. "Can I leave my daughter in your care?"

Zhang Lie nodded. "Don't worry. She won't have to worry about anything within the sura realm."

Zhu's face turned redder.

Sheng smiled blissfully as his body vanished for good.

Back within Renhuang, preparations for war were underway. After all, the alien races had gathered there not to play soccer, but rather to mount a cohesive defense against the sura.

When they heard that the sura were finally attacking with an army a hundred million strong, none of the races backed down. They had gotten to know each other after some time, catalyzed by the soccer craze that had caught Renhuang by storm, and had at least a basic understanding of each other's struggles.

They mobilized rapidly and were ready to fend off the sura army in no time.

Although there were still conflicts that broke out between races, they would be able to fight side by side without a problem.

Of course, the members of Team Zenith would take part as well. Their intention was to work together with the elites of the four prime races.

Despite the fact that their opponents numbered a hundred million, the fighters of Renhuang were confident of their success. They had the Yeluo poison, after all, and numbers weren't an impediment to them.

Renhuang had long since prepared for a major confrontation against the sura, and they had whole warehouses of the Yeluo poison prepared.

Sun Mengmeng walked on stage to address the crowd. "We might all come from different backgrounds and different races, but now we have a common identity—we are those who oppose the sura, the citizens of Renhuang! Let us destroy this tyrannical race and restore peace to this realm!"

The alien races gathered around the stage began to cheer.

Sun Mengmeng wasn't as good an orator as Zhang Lie, but it was hardly a problem for her to whip up the spirits of the audience.

Her speech was short but direct, and it got directly to the heart of the matter. The alien fighters' morale hadn't been low to begin with; if Zhang Lie had been here, he might have gotten them worked up to such a frenzy that they would charge out of the city immediately.

Sun Mengmeng continued seriously, "We of Renhuang have faced the sura many times by now. Each time, we were considered the underdog, but each time, we overcame the sura! How did we succeed?

"We had the strength, and we had the Yeluo poison! A hundred million sura does sound like a daunting number, ?but look all around you—it's not as though we're lacking in fighters, either! Just like the last time and all the times before, Renhuang will win against the sura!"

Sun Mengmeng raised her arm into the air. The members of Team Zenith followed suit, as did the rest of the crowd. Subsequently, the members of Team Zenith led the fighters out of Renhuang in preparation for their confrontation against the sura.

Meanwhile, Zhang Lie left the sea of mists, found a quiet spot, and took out the disaster-grade clam's core.

Multicolored light revolved within the core, causing all else to fade and lose their luster. It was smaller than the whirlpool tyrant's, but it seemed to boast a mysterious power.

This was the genetic core of a disaster-grade lifeform, the source of all their energy—their heart. Just a single glimpse was enough to unravel Zhang Lie's rationality, let alone that of a common man.

Zhang Lie cut his palm with his sword, then dripped blood onto the core. The moment it touched the core, the blood was quickly absorbed into its interior. It sucked up more and more of Zhang Lie's blood until it turned blood-red.

Zhang Lie had to reopen the wound five times before the transformation was complete. Then, he closed his eyes and began pouring concentrated, black genetic energy from his body into the core. It took him an entire hour before he felt the core start to soften, before the mysterious light began to fade away...