Xi Na's breathing was ragged, her body trembling slightly as she maintained her stance.
Glock'Nine, perched on her shoulder like a misty specter, whispered urgently, "Xi Na, we can't keep this up forever. These beasts… they're not normal."
Xi Na clenched her fists, her eyes darting between the creatures surrounding them.
She could feel it too—these weren't just beasts afflicted by demonic dao essence.
They were sothing else.
Stronger.
More refined.
As if cultivated and tempered by sothing sinister.
"We need a plan," Glock'Nine continued, his voice firm yet worried. "If we stay in this pit and fight blindly, we'll be drained before the next wave even arrives."
Xi Na gritted her teeth. "And what do you suggest? Running? There's nowhere to go."
Glock'Nine scoffed. "I'm saying we need to fight smart. Look at them. They're organized, almost like a hunting pack. That ans they have a leader. If we can take down the strongest one, the others might hesitate."
Xi Na scanned the beasts.
Glock'Nine was right.
There was a particularly massive one at the back, its crimson eyes glowing with an eerie intelligence.
It hadn't moved yet, rely watching.
Observing.
"That one," she said, pointing. "It's leading them. If we kill it, the others might scatter."
Glock'Nine nodded. "Then let's go."
But before they could act, another gate creaked open, and a new wave of beasts spilled into the pit.
Xi Na's heart sank.
More.
Again.
They were reaching their limit.
Glock'Nine, despite being a Quasi-Unique Class beast, had his limits too.
The fusion between them had taken a toll, and their strength was waning.
anwhile, unseen by either of them, Wei Long stood in the sea of consciousness, watching everything unfold.
His sharp, newly evolved senses locked onto the beasts with a hunger that made his very essence stir.
His mind buzzed with the knowledge of his new innate ability, his third innate ability—Bio-engineered Temporal Connections.
A smirk played on Wei Long's lips. "Interesting. So I can exist within my tad humans' consciousness, linking them all together… hiding among them, moving between them."
His original plan had been simple.
Ta Xi Na, use her to gather information, and discard her when she beca useless. But now, as he stood within her sea of consciousness, watching her struggle, sothing stirred within him.
An odd, unfamiliar feeling.
Pity?
No. That wasn't it.
Curiosity?
Maybe.
But there was sothing else.
Sothing he didn't fully understand.
He was still hungry.
The evolution had pushed him into a new state, and he had yet to satisfy this new hunger.
His eyes bore into the beasts outside, his body humming with a predatory thrill.
He could devour them all right now, rip through their flesh, and feel the surge of energy flood his being.
Yet, he waited.
"Maybe I should see what she does first."
Back in the pit, Xi Na readjusted her stance, exhaustion evident in her every movent.
Glock'Nine's misty form pulsed, ready to rge with her fully once again.
"Here they co!" Glock'Nine warned.
The first beast lunged, a hulking monstrosity with razor-sharp claws and a grotesquely elongated maw.
Xi Na twisted her body, barely dodging as its claws scraped the ground where she had stood a mont before.
She countered with a precise strike to its throat, her hand glowing with demonic essence.
The beast let out a strangled howl before collapsing.
Another one followed, faster than the last.
Glock'Nine screeched and rged further with her body, amplifying her strength just enough for her to react in ti.
She drove her foot into the beast's chest, sending it skidding back. But before she could recover, two more pounced.
She braced for impact—
Then, everything stopped.
A dark, oppressive presence filled the pit.
Xi Na gasped, her body freezing involuntarily as a weight settled on her very soul.
The beasts, which had been ravenous monts before, hesitated.
Their glowing red eyes flickered with sothing close to fear.
Then, a voice.
Smooth.
Amused.
nacing.
"It seems I need to step inside."
Xi Na's eyes widened.
She knew that voice.
Wei Long.
A shadow rippled through her consciousness, and suddenly, her body felt different.
A deep, primal force swelled within her, sothing ancient, sothing monstrous.
Her very essence trembled as if a slumbering god had just opened its eyes.
The beasts shrieked and backed away, their instincts screaming at them to run. But it was too late.
Xi Na let out a slow breath. Her lips curled into a smile.
"Let's have so fun."
Wei Long erged from Xi Na's back, his massive fra materializing like a dark specter from the depths of the void.
The mont his form fully took shape, a deafening silence engulfed the battlefield.
The demonic beasts that had been snarling, their fangs dripping with malice, suddenly halted.
Their instincts scread at them, warning them that sothing more terrifying than they had ever encountered had arrived.
Even Xi Na and Glock'Nine, who had been locked in a desperate struggle for survival, were montarily rendered speechless.
The first to break the silence was Glock'Nine.
His beady rooster-like eyes narrowed, and his misty form solidified further. He flapped his spectral wings before speaking.
"Wait… who the hell are you?" he demanded, his voice filled with skepticism and confusion.
Standing before them was a monstrous behemoth, far larger and more fearso than the Wei Long they once knew.
His body had undergone a complete transformation.
His previously formidable Tyrannosaurus Rex form was now sothing beyond prehistoric.
His legs, already powerful before, were now even thicker, corded with pure muscle, each step he took cracking the ground beneath him.
His arms, once already big in proportion, had expanded far more massively, now resembling the deadly talons of an apex predator, each claw sharp enough to slice through steel.
His body was now twice as large as before, radiating a dominating presence that sent a shiver down even the bravest beast's spine.
Wei Long narrowed his glowing golden eyes and sneered. "Heh, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Glock'Nine's eyes twitched as he took a step back, suddenly wary. "You… What the hell happened to you?"
Wei Long smirked, deciding to ss with him. "Oh, it's a long story." He lifted his claw and stretched lazily.
"You see, after I left, I stumbled upon a hidden ancient ruin buried beneath a cursed volcano. There, I encountered a dying primordial beast, an entity so powerful that even ntioning its na would make your soul tremble.
"It saw my potential and, with its final breath, passed on its legacy to . Through grueling trials, I devoured celestial flas, bathed in the blood of dragons, and overca ten thousand years of tribulations condensed into re monts!
"Now, I have ascended beyond the limits of my forr self, reborn into the pinnacle of evolution itself!"
His voice bood with authority, and he even infused a hint of qi to create a slight trembling effect in the air, making it seem like divine energy rippled around him.
He stood there, proud, as if expecting admiration and awe.
Glock'Nine, however, was dead silent for a full second before snorting. "Bullshit."
Wei Long blinked. "What?"
"I said bullshit! You're still the sa stinking Wei Long! You just evolved! What hidden ruins? What primordial beast? Cut the crap!" Glock'Nine flapped his spectral wings aggressively, his eyes glaring.
Wei Long sighed dramatically and shrugged. "Tsk. Can't even have so fun." Then, with a lazy grin, he continued, "Fine, fine. I just broke through into the Awakening Qi Realm."
Silence.
Glock'Nine's beak twitched. His misty form flickered as if he had just heard the most absurd thing in the world. "You… you just… BROKE THROUGH? Just like that?!"
Wei Long tilted his head. "Yeah?"
Glock'Nine felt his non-existent feathers ruffle.
He had been stuck at the peak of his current stage for what felt like an eternity, clawing at the next stage with all his might, only for Wei Long to just… break through? Like it was an afternoon snack?
"This is ridiculous," Glock'Nine muttered. "Do you even know how hard it is for a beast to reach Awakening Qi Realm? The resources, the cultivation techniques, the enlightennt one needs—"
Wei Long waved him off. "Co on, you've got a trainer now. You'll get there soon."
Glock'Nine's eyes twitched harder. "I'M NOT JEALOUS!"
Wei Long chuckled, thoroughly amused. "Right, right. Of course you're not."
"SHUT UP!" Glock'Nine flapped his wings aggressively, causing a gust of wind to blow up dirt and debris. "And wait a damn second—didn't you say you t the righteous sect brat first? That Zou Fang guy? How the hell did you end up here?"
Wei Long shot a glance at Xi Na, whose fingers twitched nervously. A smirk ford on his face as he finally answered, "Simple. I hopped from Zou Fang's sea of consciousness to Xi Na's."
Glock'Nine froze. His spectral form flickered violently as his beady eyes widened. "WHAT?! You can do that?!"
Wei Long picked at his ear lazily. "Mmhm."
"Then why the hell didn't you use that back when we got separated?!"
Wei Long sighed. "I couldn't take Red'Ribbon with in that state. Get it?"
Glock'Nine was about to argue, but then he paused, thinking. "…Oh."
Wei Long's smirk deepened. "Oh?"
Glock'Nine hesitated before puffing up his chest. "Whatever! Not like I care!"
Wei Long's eyes glowed mischievously. "Ooooh? Do you miss Red'Ribbon?"
Glock'Nine's form violently flickered. "LIKE HELL I DO!"
Wei Long snickered. "That's not what it sounds like."
Glock'Nine turned red—if his misty form could even blush. "I SWEAR TO THE HEAVENS, I WILL PECK YOU TO DEATH!"
Wei Long took a step back, laughing harder. "Relax, relax! You're so easy to ss with."
"DAMN YOU, WEI LONG!" Glock'Nine flapped his wings so hard that he nearly sent himself flying backward. "YOU THINK YOU'RE SO COOL NOW, HUH?! JUST BECAUSE YOU GOT BIGGER DOESN'T AN YOU CAN ACT ALL HIGH AND MIGHTY!"
Wei Long continued to laugh, enjoying every second of Glock'Nine's rage. "This is the most entertainnt I've had in a while."
Suddenly, a loud grumbling sound echoed through the battlefield.
Silence once again.
Wei Long blinked.
Glock'Nine smirked. "What was that?"
Wei Long's stomach rumbled again, louder this ti.
A slow, predatory grin spread across his face as he turned to the surrounding beasts. His golden eyes glowed with hunger.
Glock'Nine's smirk faded as he took a cautious step back. "Uh… Wei Long?"
Wei Long cracked his claws. "Looks like it's dinner ti."
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