"..."
Chen Shu pouted and muttered, "Then why were you so confident just now..."
Just then, another clone of the Soul Dragon Emperor appeared before them.
Liu Feng's Ice Bird let out a clear cry, and frost surged from its mouth, covering everything and freezing it.
The Soul Dragon Emperor indeed had no strength left to fight.
"Where do you think the next one is?"
Liu Feng stroked his chin. He had run into the second one purely by luck.
"Wait, let me see..."
Chen Shu said slowly, activating the search function of his title, [King Butcher].
A red arrow appeared before his eyes, pointing deep into the desert.
"To the right!"
"Really?"
Liu Feng raised an eyebrow, not expecting Chen Shu to be so certain.
However, he didn't doubt it and headed directly in the direction Chen Shu indicated.
At this moment, the Soul Dragon Emperor was still unaware that the body possessing its core power had been marked by Chen Shu...
...
Two hours later, deep within the [Lost Desert],
A violent roar erupted. All fierce beasts within a ten-kilometer radius were gone, clearly indicating a fierce battle had broken out.
Following the roar, a voice filled with intense venom echoed:
"You two damned souls! Don't push me!"
The Soul Dragon Emperor's body was dim, but the rage burning in its blood-red eyes was about to make it explode.
It had never imagined that these two could actually find the body where it had deposited its core power.
To think that it could stumble upon it with a mere one in thirty chance?
"Old Liu, this one is a bit different from the previous two..."
Chen Shu stroked his chin, immediately noticing the difference.
"It seems so. Could we have found something good?"
Liu Feng raised an eyebrow, a glint of excitement in his eyes.
The most crucial part was that this creature was still defenseless, only able to passively endure attacks.
"Could [King Butcher] have directly locked onto its true form?"
Chen Shu harbored a nascent suspicion. He had only intended to randomly lock onto a clone.
The two chatted leisurely, but their contracted spirits did not stop their assault. Each blow was more ruthless and insidious than the last.
The Soul Dragon Emperor could only passively endure, its body becoming even dimmer.
"Do you truly intend to hunt me to extinction?!"
Suppressing its resentment and fury, the Soul Dragon Emperor looked at Liu Feng and said,
"If you spare me, I can bestow upon you one-fifth of my soul power, and our grudges will be settled!"
Its words were directed at Liu Feng. As for Chen Shu, any reconciliation was impossible.
Now, at the brink of death, it could only attempt to sow discord between them to seek a path to survival.
"Hmm..."
Liu Feng stroked his chin, a hint of contemplation in his eyes, and simultaneously had his contracted spirit cease its attack.
"Is what you say true? Our grudges will be settled?"
"My word is eternally valid! And if humanity is truly breached, you can join my ranks!"
A flicker of hope appeared in the Soul Dragon Emperor's eyes, but it had not lost its reason, maintaining its clarity and caution.
"But you need to stop him! And I need to leave first!"
It pointed at Chen Shu and said, "My origin power will be left at a location ten kilometers away! You can come and retrieve it yourself."
"You are not qualified to negotiate terms with me!"
Liu Feng's expression was cold as he said, "Give me the soul power first! I will naturally let you leave."
"Absolutely impossible!"
The Soul Dragon Emperor immediately retorted. Having experienced past events, it no longer trusted humans at all.
"Stubborn!"
Liu Feng smiled faintly and said,
"Then die. Kill you, and all the soul power will be mine anyway!"
With that, his five contracted spirits attacked in unison again, unleashing various skills and relentlessly bombarding the Soul Dragon Emperor.
"No way, with your intelligence, you still expect to use a divide-and-conquer tactic?"
Chen Shu raised an eyebrow, his eyes filled with mockery.
If the Soul Dragon Emperor had actually agreed, it would have learned the harshness of the world in an instant.
"Chen Shu!"
The Soul Dragon Emperor let out a furious roar, its rage soaring.
Chen Shu maintained his roguish demeanor and said,
"I'm starting to doubt if that spray attack that day also blew your brain out?"
"!!!"
Upon hearing this, the Soul Dragon Emperor's fury surged once more, its very soul trembling, as if on the verge of ascending to heaven.
This fellow's mouth was truly venomous!
It spoke with extreme coldness, "Chen Shu... I've noted this down!"
With that, its body pulsed with terrifying soul power, then erupted with a blinding flash of light.
"Trying to escape?!"
Liu Feng's expression shifted, and he quickly commanded his contracted spirits to unleash skills to intercept.
But after the light faded, the Soul Dragon Emperor had vanished, leaving behind only a large mass of core power at the original spot.
"What the heck, it really got away?"
Chen Shu's expression was shocked, and he said,
"Then why was it lingering here? Was it deliberately trying to be insulted? What kind of masochistic tendency is this?"
"..."
Liu Feng shook his head and said, "It came at a price."
He pointed to the soul power on the ground, which was incredibly immense, at least ten times that of the other clones.
In fact, the Soul Dragon Emperor had indeed performed a 'golden cicada shedding its shell'.
However, the shell it left behind was half of its core power. Even so, it had at least managed to preserve some of its strength.
"Not a loss... I haven't lost anything..."
In another direction, a Soul Dragon Emperor muttered to itself, having transferred half of its core power to another body.
At this moment, it kept comforting itself, only managing to force itself to believe it wasn't a loss...
...
Half a day passed in a flash,
"Only found two. What a pity..."
Qin Tian and the others sat on their contracted spirits, conversing with each other.
Having lost track of the Soul Dragon Emperor, they had naturally ended their pursuit and returned to their agreed-upon meeting point.
"Me too. What a shame, but at least there was some gain."
Wang Ce shook his head, and in his hand appeared two clusters of the soul's origin power.
The four of them exchanged notes on their respective harvests, having collectively slain six Soul Dragon Emperor clones.
"But compared to its immense soul power, this seems to be just scraps..."
Qin Tian frowned, realizing that the Soul Dragon Emperor had likely not suffered significant losses, and its core power had still escaped.
Hunting such a being with King-level strength felt a bit too difficult.
"It's already quite good."
Wang Ce smiled. This was essentially fleecing a Beast Emperor. If not for the special circumstances, they wouldn't have had this opportunity.
"Why haven't Old Liu and the others returned yet? Could they have gotten into a big fight?"
Chen Qinghai looked towards the desert, where sandstorms raged, a hint of worry in his eyes.
Wang Ce stated with great certainty, "Don't worry. That Soul Dragon Emperor has no fighting strength left."
"What if they were ambushed?"
Chen Qinghai was still somewhat uneasy. Chen Shu was currently a crucial figure, his importance not inferior to a Rank 3 King.
"Ambushed?"
Qin Tian shook his head and chuckled, "Old Chen, that's Liu Feng plus Chen Shu..."
The crowd was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter. It seemed that was indeed the case.
If it were understandable that their combat power was inferior to the enemy, but to say they were ambushed would be pure fantasy.
"The world's cunning has ten pecks; these two combined account for eleven pecks..."
"And what about the remaining peck..."
"Stolen from heaven itself."
"..."