That was not the reflection of an ordinary ore.
It was a dreamlike and magnificent radiance, as though an entire starry sky had been miniaturized, frozen, and embedded within the rock itself!
Deep blue, profound violet, misty silver-white.
Several colors blended and flowed together in perfect harmony, appearing and disappearing as they pulsed slowly like a living entity.
The light was not dazzling, yet it carried a strange attraction, as though it could draw a person's very soul into it.
An indescribable energy fluctuation, a pure and majestic fusion of spatial and spiritual power was faintly emanating from that direction, resonating with the dragon pattern on Larvitar's chest!
"Illusion Star Glazed Crystal!"
Lin Xia's voice carried a trace of excitement he could no longer suppress.
After more than half a month of arduous travel, venturing deep into the dangerous core region of the Silent Nether Mountains, and relying on Larvitar's ore-sensing talent which had been strengthened to the extreme by divine dragon bone and ancient dragon blood, they had finally located this legendary treasure!
However, just as Lin Xia and Zhu Zhuqing's spirits lifted, a cold, violent, and murderous aura overflowing with greed suddenly surged toward them like an icy tide from the shadows of the forest behind them!
And just as the leopard claws, gleaming with dark luster and sharp enough to tear through steel, were about to strike Lin Xia's back.
"Hah!"
A low yet incomparably calm shout exploded beside Zhu Zhuqing's ears like thunder!
She did not even manage to see Lin Xia's movements before the Soul Power around him erupted like an awakening volcano!
First Soul Skill, Sand Strom!
A yellow-brown Soul Ring lit up instantly as surging earth-element energy exploded outward from Lin Xia like an invisible shockwave!
In an instant, within a radius of dozens of meters, dust, gravel, and dead leaves on the ground were violently swept upward by an invisible giant hand, transforming into a murky barrier of dust that instantly spread between Lin Xia and the Shadow Leopard.
This dust cloud was not merely concealment it carried powerful interference properties, instantly weakening the Shadow Leopard's deadly lock onto its prey and causing a nearly imperceptible delay and deviation in its attack trajectory!
Second Soul Skill—Sand Power: Surround!
Immediately afterward, the second purple Soul Ring blazed brilliantly!
The dust cloud raised by Sand Strom did not scatter. Instead, under Lin Xia's exquisite control of Soul Power, it rapidly spun and condensed like a living entity!
Fine grains of sand instantly gathered into a heavy, solid, rapidly rotating wall of sand, forming an inverted hemispherical force field that firmly protected Lin Xia and the nearby Zhu Zhuqing within!
The high-speed friction and rotation of the sand produced an ear-piercing screech, and its defensive power far exceeded what an ordinary Soul Grandmaster could imagine!
"Move!"
Lin Xia's shout was short and forceful.
The instant the sand barrier formed, the Shadow Leopard's claws slammed into it!
Screeeech—!
A piercing tearing sound rang out!
The rapidly spinning sand barrier trembled violently as yellow-brown light flickered frantically. Countless grains of sand were instantly pulverized into dust under the terrifying Soul Power contained within the claws!
Yet this seemingly thin layer acted like the toughest buffer imaginable, forcibly blocking ninety-nine percent of the Shadow Leopard's long-prepared fatal strike!
The remaining shockwave passed through the barrier. Lin Xia's body swayed slightly as his blood and qi churned violently, but his eyes remained as cold as iron.
Using the impact force, his left hand shot out like lightning and grabbed the icy wrist of Zhu Zhuqing, who had already been stunned motionless beside him!
Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Xia pushed off the ground and hurled himself sideways while dragging Zhu Zhuqing along!
Thud!
The two of them rolled awkwardly several meters away into a patch of bushes.
Zhu Zhuqing was left dizzy and disoriented, covered in dirt and broken grass, but fortunately, the deadly leopard claws crashed into the ground exactly where she had been standing moments earlier, blasting a deep crater as soil and rocks exploded everywhere!
"LARVITAR—!!!!!!!!!!"
Almost at the exact moment Lin Xia activated his Soul Skills, an unprecedented shriek filled with fury, shock, and overwhelming killing intent tore through the air like the death cry of the Nine Nether Hells!
It was Larvitar!
The little fellow had been napping on Lin Xia's shoulder moments earlier, enjoying the rare warmth of the sunlight and Lin Xia's familiar presence.
The attack had come far too suddenly—even its sharp senses had reacted half a beat too slowly.
Only when the Shadow Leopard's claws nearly tore into its master's back did Larvitar fully awaken from the bone-chilling killing intent!
What had it just seen?
A lowly insect actually dared attack the one master it had acknowledged, the one it was willing to protect with its very life, right before its eyes?!
Unforgivable!
Worthy of death!
It deserved to be ground into dust!
Boundless fury instantly ignited the savage nature hidden within Larvitar's ancient dragon bloodline!
Its crimson eyes transformed into twin molten blood moons, blazing with rage so intense it seemed ready to erupt outward!
The dark red magma-like armor covering its small body burst with dazzling radiance. The dark golden dragon pattern and crimson-gold phoenix pattern on its chest came alive, flowing with terrifying energy!
Without holding anything back.
Larvitar directly unleashed the most fundamental power of a Pokémon, using itself as the medium to stack, amplify, and qualitatively transform the two Soul Skills Lin Xia had bestowed upon it!
RUMBLE—!!!
Centered around Larvitar's tiny body, an earth-yellow energy storm hundreds—no, thousands of times more violent than the dust clouds Lin Xia had previously created erupted forth like an ancient beast awakened in wrath!
This was no longer a simple dust cloud or defensive barrier!
The earth wailed in agony!
Within a hundred-meter radius, the ground was violently overturned as though plowed apart by an invisible colossal force. Massive rocks buried deep underground were torn apart and pulverized by the terrifying energy!
Countless masses of dirt, sand, shattered stone, and broken trees were dragged high into the sky by the horrifying suction force!
The violent air currents shrieked like the cries of ghosts and demons!
The lingering energy from Lin Xia's Sand Surge and Power of Sand, which had not yet fully dissipated, instantly found a true core and was drawn into, devoured by, and fused with this newly born and vastly greater storm!
WHOOOOOO—!!!!!
In barely a single breath, a colossal super sandstorm formed, connecting heaven and earth itself!
Its diameter reached a terrifying six hundred meters, completely engulfing the surrounding dense forest!
Heaven and earth lost their color.
Sun and sky vanished from sight.
As far as the eye could see, there remained only a world of frenzied yellow-brown destruction!
This was not a Soul Skill.
This was a natural disaster.
A walking apocalypse!
Within the sandstorm, the raging winds were as sharp as blades!
Visibility instantly dropped to less than a meter!
Sharp grains of sand spun at bullet-like speeds, slicing through everything in their path. Ordinary trees were stripped apart and shredded with ease, while rocks were blasted full of countless pits and craters!
The air was filled with the heavy scent of earth and destruction.
Even more terrifying, this sandstorm seemed to possess a strange annihilating property of its own.
It did not merely block vision, every sound was swallowed by the roaring wind and sand, and even scent particles themselves were completely scattered and erased by the violent currents!
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