The moment it saw the shadow of the Crystal Bear, the Terrorclaw Bear's charging momentum abruptly halted, and its ferocious aura suddenly weakened considerably.
Clearly, the Crystal Bear's sudden appearance was beyond the Terrorclaw Bear's comprehension.
"Woo—"
the Terrorclaw Bear whimpered, somewhat mournful and sorrowful.
"Roar!"
The Crystal Bear responded, and for a moment, Cheng Xiao seemed to have a hallucination; in the darkness, the Terrorclaw Bear seemed… to be crying?
"Attack!"
Cheng Xiao remained unmoved, waving his hand and ordering the fourteen soul beasts to attack the Terrorclaw Bear.
The Crystal Bear seemed somewhat reluctant, but unable to disobey Cheng Xiao's command, it struck with its paw. A layer of crystals instantly condensed on the Terrorclaw Bear's body, and the crystals began to climb upwards, but the climbing trend gradually slowed down under the resistance of soul power.
The Terrorclaw Bear cried out in despair, not understanding why the Crystal Bear had suddenly attacked it, but as the other soul beasts swarmed forward, the Terrorclaw Bear's ferocity was reignited, tearing the shadow soul beasts to shreds with each claw.
Even severely injured, the Terrorclaw Bear was still not an ordinary soul beast to be provoked.
Fortunately, the Terrorclaw Bear was already at its last gasp, its attack speed greatly reduced, and the Shadow Soul Beasts' regeneration speed was fast enough to fill the gap.
"Hmm?"
Cheng Xiao's gaze sharpened. He noticed that no matter how brutal and ferocious the Terrorclaw Bear was towards the other Shadow Soul Beasts, it had never attacked the Crystal Bear even once.
"Kill it!"
Cheng Xiao quickly gave the Crystal Bear the order.
Receiving the order, the Crystal Bear was reluctant, but could only obey its master's command, rushing forward and relentlessly biting the Terrorclaw Bear.
The Crystal Bear was the main attacker, while the other thirteen soul beasts continuously attacked the Terrorclaw Bear's old wounds. Several poisonous soul beasts even injected all their poison into the Terrorclaw Bear's body at once after each resurrection.
"Woo—"
The Terrorclaw Bear howled in agony, its last burst of power finally waning, and under the siege of fourteen soul beasts, it collapsed with a thud.
"Buzz!"
A purple spirit ring immediately appeared on his body.
Cheng Xiao's expression remained unchanged as he slowly stepped forward. The shadow spirit beasts all parted, prostrating themselves as if welcoming a king.
"Stand up!"
A low shout rang out, and the shadows continued to pulsate, as if something was about to be born from them.
"Roar!"
Shadow spirit beasts rose from the countless corpses torn apart by the Terrorclaw Bears, roaring angrily as if announcing their return.
However, the Terrorclaw Bears, which Cheng Xiao was most concerned about, remained completely still.
Cheng Xiao frowned; only two chances remained.
"Stand up!"
Cheng Xiao's tone became sterner, and several more shadow spirit beasts killed by the Terrorclaw Bears stood up. But the shadows of the Terrorclaw Bears seemed to bubble like boiling water, emitting strong resistance and ultimately rejecting Cheng Xiao's command.
Cheng Xiao's expression changed slightly; he hadn't expected the Terrorclaw Bears' resistance to be so fierce.
Only one chance remained!
Cheng Xiao opened his mouth, but didn't dare to utter the final command. Success or failure, this would be the last gamble.
Failure was the hardest for him to accept, because it would mean that he would not only lose the Shadow of the Terrorclaw Bear, but also dare not absorb its spirit ring!
After a brief silence, suddenly, the enormous size of the Crystal Bear came into view from the Terrorclaw Bear's lair, and a flicker of emotion immediately appeared in Cheng Xiao's eyes.
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"Are you going to protect it?" Cheng Xiao threatened viciously at the carcass of the Devilclaw Bear. "If you don't obey my orders, I'll let it get beaten up by others, and I'll find a Bean Bear for it to breed with! You don't want it to be bullied by other bears, do you?!"
"Woof woof—" The Crystal Bear seemed to understand Cheng Xiao's words, whimpering mournfully, its eyes pitiful.
"Stand up!"
Cheng Xiao roared one last time, his heart pounding in his chest. He stared intently at the Devilclaw Bear's carcass.
The shadow tumbled, hesitating for a moment, but those moments felt incredibly long and agonizing to Cheng Xiao. Finally, under Cheng Xiao's tense gaze, the shadow darted into the Devilclaw Bear's carcass. Immediately afterward, a huge black bear paw emerged from the corpse, pressing down on the ground, and a Shadow Devilclaw Bear crawled out.
"Huff..."
Cheng Xiao's tense muscles suddenly relaxed, as if he were suffocating from lack of oxygen, letting out a deep breath. Immediately, an indescribable joy surged into his heart.
Success!
He looked up at the Devilclaw Bear, about to unleash its power to see its strength after transforming into a shadow, but the scene before him made his lips twitch involuntarily.
The Devilclaw Bear trotted over to the Crystal Bear, and the two bears began to fawn over each other.
"Did he find a simp bear?" Cheng Xiao rubbed his forehead, finding it absurd.
After a moment of silence, Cheng Xiao lost interest. Looking at the already dawning sky, he waved for the shadows to be on alert.
He couldn't delay any longer; he had to finish everything and leave before those guys could react!
Sitting cross-legged, Cheng Xiao adjusted his breathing and began absorbing the spirit ring.
Under Cheng Xiao's guidance, a slightly dim purple spirit ring landed on him.
Absorbing the spirit ring was quite painful, seemingly pushing Cheng Xiao to his limit. Time ticked by, and fine beads of sweat appeared on Cheng Xiao's forehead.
A pain even more intense than the Crystal Bear's left metacarpal bone spread throughout his body.
"Ugh..."
Cheng Xiao gritted his teeth, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. The torment of the pain began to dazzle him.
"Buzz..."
Just as the pain reached its peak, suddenly, Cheng Xiao's left hand transformed into a transparent crystal, and a sharp, transparent bone claw emerged—the left palm bone of the Crystal Bear!
The instant the left palm bone appeared, Cheng Xiao felt a release, the pain vanished, and a vast amount of energy began to gather towards his left hand. The transparent bone claw erupted with a powerful golden light.
The sun rose, and a beam of sunlight dappled through the gaps in the leaves. The dappled light gradually shifted, and just as it was about to reach Cheng Xiao's left hand, the golden light abruptly receded.
"It's done!"
Cheng Xiao opened his eyes and looked at his left hand. He saw that his left palm bone had undergone a tremendous change. Compared to before, the transparent bone claw was much larger, the bones more grotesque, and the blade-like bone fingers were even longer, radiating a chilling, terrifying light.
"Huh?"
Cheng Xiao was surprised to find strange gilded patterns on the palm bone. The patterns resembled cloud shapes, covering the entire crystal palm bone. The sharpest point of the fingertip was an opaque dark gold, giving the impression of being far harder than metal or stone.
"Hiss..."
Cheng Xiao casually waved his hand, and the air immediately groaned. The finger bone sliced through the stone, instantly splitting it into several pieces. Even the carcass of the Devil Claw Bear in front of him couldn't withstand the destructive power of the palm bone; its fur, stronger than metal, was instantly torn apart, revealing the stark white bone.
"Such powerful attack!"
Seeing the wounds caused by the crystal bear palm bone, Cheng Xiao's pupils contracted, and he couldn't help but be somewhat moved.
I slept too late last night, not falling asleep until after 4 a.m., and then got up early today.
I really can't stay awake any longer. I'll just update one chapter for now. Tomorrow is the weekend, and I'll update 6000 words to make up for today's update. I hope everyone will understand and let me catch up on some sleep.
I'm so tired, I feel like my heart is about to stop beating o(╥﹏╥)o
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