Chapter 197: Chapter 168: Molten Rock Pressure, Formidable Destructive Power
As the Dragon Wings formed, the fiery light flowing across Egg Pancake’s body was instantly absorbed into his scales, like water into a sponge.
The next moment, Han Ning, who was standing in the distance, felt a surging torrent of heat generate within his body.
His eyes flew open, the whites covered in a fine web of red veins.
The veins all over his body bulged, and his skin instantly flushed a deep wine-red.
SSS~
Wisps of smoke rose from his short hair.
"Huff... huff... huff... This is unbearable! It hurts so much!"
He clenched his fists, gasping for air. He felt his skin, organs, and bones expanding and contracting at an incredible rate, as if they were breathing.
Sweat poured from his pores as if it were free, only to be instantly evaporated by his rapidly rising body temperature.
His breathing grew faster and faster.
The oxygen in the air wasn’t enough to sustain him.
A feeling of suffocation welled up from within.
The strange sensation in his body only vanished when the light surrounding Egg Pancake finally receded.
Han Ning let out a long breath, pulled his phone from his waist pouch, and switched to the front-facing camera. He studied his reflection on the screen, quietly taking stock of how he felt.
He was a little taller.
His build was much more robust.
When he clenched his fist, his arm muscles bulged with streamlined definition.
His heart beat with vigor, pumping a torrent of blood to his limbs. Power surged endlessly from within him.
All his fatigue was gone.
His mind felt sharp and refreshed, as if he had boundless energy.
Even the distant sounds of magma churning and cracking, and of insects squirming in the tunnels, were exceptionally clear.
’This feeling...’
He picked up a piece of rubble and squeezed it in his hand.
CRACK!
The stone didn’t instantly crumble as he’d imagined.
Instead, a fine crack just spread across its surface.
He didn’t indulge in the satisfying feeling of his newfound strength for long. Han Ning turned his attention to Egg Pancake’s stats.
[
Race: Red Lotus Dragon Lizard
Gender: Male
Talent: C+
Level: Extraordinary II (125/5000)
Talent: Super Gravity, Red Lotus Fire
Acquired Soul Techniques: Molten Rock Pressure Level I (0/2500), Primordial Power Level I (0/2500), Red Lotus Breath Level I (0/2500)
Power: 212
Body: 213
Agility: 197
Spiritual Energy: 56
Dragon Type Affinity: 27
Giant Beast Affinity: 13
Elemental Affinity (Fire): 35
Earth: 26
]
Talent:
[Super Gravity]: When the Red Lotus Dragon Lizard has its feet on the ground, it can control the gravity of matter within a certain range.
[Red Lotus Fire]: The Red Lotus Dragon Lizard’s flames contain Dragon Power. When burning, the flames can easily penetrate an enemy’s flesh and armor, boil their Spiritual Energy, and strike straight to the bone marrow.
Soul Techniques:
[Molten Rock Pressure]: Manipulate Gravity, stripping nearby Earth and Fire Elements to form a core of super-dense rock at a target location. The core attracts objects within a certain radius and can be detonated at will.
[Primordial Power]: The Red Lotus Dragon Lizard taps into its Giant Beast bloodline to unleash immense power hidden within its body.
[Red Lotus Breath]: Spew liquid flames containing Dragon Power into a targeted area. The flames are highly adhesive and difficult to dispel.
’It actually has two Talents...’
Han Ning didn’t have time to examine them closely.
SKREEE-ROAR!!
He was interrupted by a high-pitched roar from Egg Pancake.
The cry was dragon-like but not quite a full-throated roar. It was rougher than Egg Pancake’s original voice, faintly carrying the powerful, intimidating presence of a Giant Beast’s roar.
Egg Pancake’s voice had transformed from a dopey lizard chirp into a more mature, deep, and resonant tone.
The light finally dissipated, revealing a behemoth over 30 meters long, its tail alone accounting for a third of its length. It appeared before their eyes.
It was a Dragon Type Soul Beast, its body entirely crimson and crisscrossed with dark, obsidian-like patterns. Its red scales resembled the finest Red Jade, reflecting a faint, beautiful sheen under the light that made them look sleek and smooth.
Moreover, threads of crimson flame flickered silently between its scales, suggesting a formidable defense that would be difficult to breach.
Its gem-black irises had turned crimson, and at their center were deep-yellow, slitted pupils.
Two sharp horns, spiraled with black and red patterns, grew from the sides of its head and curved backward.
The air around the tips of the horns shimmered slightly, as if distorted by floating shards of glass.
A ruff of black spikes, looking like a cross between bone spurs and stone shards, had appeared around its neck.
Even in the still air of the cave, this ruff of spikes slowly gathered the surrounding Earth Element.
On its back was a pair of large, membranous wings stretched over a skeletal frame.
Against Egg Pancake’s nearly 30-meter-long body, however, the wings looked slightly undersized.
Egg Pancake’s four limbs were thick and powerful, its well-defined muscles looking as if carved from marble—cold, hard, and imposing.
The five exceptionally sharp claws on his Dragon Palms were dug firmly into the ground, emitting a cold, threatening glint.
Its most striking feature was its tail.
It was a long, narrow tail, nearly 12 meters in length, thickest at the base and gradually tapering to a point.
A row of fine, serrated black bone spikes ran along the top of the tail, giving it a savage appearance.
Egg Pancake controlled the long tail with exceptional agility, sometimes coiling it up, other times stretching it out straight.
Roar?
Egg Pancake turned and immediately spotted Han Ning, who was also watching him intently.
He subconsciously let out a happy cry.
But what emerged from his throat was a deep, mature draconic sound.
Startled by his own voice, Egg Pancake took a couple of unconscious steps on his four thick legs.
He then shook his head and concentrated for a moment.
And then—
CHIRP CHIRP~
Egg Pancake’s large, bright, and lively eyes curved into crescents as he trotted slowly toward Han Ning.
"Egg Pancake!" Han Ning’s face lit up with joy as he and Yin Yi ran toward him.
The human and his two Soul Beasts met midway.
Han Ning opened his arms and hugged Egg Pancake’s lowered head tightly.
"Egg Pancake, you’ve gotten bigger again!"
He pressed his cheek against Egg Pancake’s, rubbing it affectionately.
Egg Pancake was now over 30 meters long, and his face alone was much larger than Han Ning. He was a true behemoth, but in Han Ning’s eyes, he was still just a kid.
"Ling!!"
Yin Yi flew onto Egg Pancake’s back, sprawling comfortably and using a pair of her vines to tap curiously at his beautiful scales.
"CHIRP CHIRP!!"
After a moment of affection, Egg Pancake took a step back and, even in the cramped cave, struck his signature muscle-flexing pose!
"It’s too cramped in here. Let’s go outside and test your new abilities."
Han Ning glanced around. The tunnel they’d come through was now too small for Egg Pancake. He had no choice but to use his Spiritual Power to recall Egg Pancake into the Soul Beast Space.
WHOOSH~
This time, as he recalled Egg Pancake, Han Ning could clearly feel a significant drain on his Spiritual Power.
’As I thought,’ Han Ning mused. ’The larger the Soul Beast, the more Spiritual Power it takes to recall it to the Soul Beast Space.’
「A small hill in Flame Cliff Valley.」
After confirming there were no other Soul Beasts nearby, Han Ning faced an open area and said, "Egg Pancake, try using Molten Rock Pressure."
"CHIRP CHIRP~"
Egg Pancake scratched the ground with his claws, concentrated for a moment, then opened one of his giant claws, palm facing up.
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~
A hazy yellow point of light appeared in his palm. It was as if an invisible force had manifested, causing the surrounding air to ripple as tiny grains of sand and dust began to converge toward it.
Soon, the sand and dust enveloped the point of light, layer by layer, forming an irregular sphere several dozen centimeters in diameter.
Then, a ring of fiery light suddenly appeared on the sphere’s surface. Like a flame igniting from within molten rock, it instantly melted the entire sphere into a dark red mass.
Egg Pancake pushed his claw forward, and the sphere gently floated away from him.
With every foot it floated, debris from the ground—rocks, rubble, even blades of grass and fallen leaves from the sparse nearby plants—was pulled toward the sphere.
Even Han Ning and Yin Yi, standing several meters away, could feel a steadily growing pull from it.
The more matter the sphere attracted, the more strained Egg Pancake’s expression became...
The sphere grew larger and larger until it was a massive rock ball nearly 10 meters in diameter, and Egg Pancake’s body began to tremble from the effort.
Seeing that he was about to lose control, Han Ning shouted, "Detonate it!"
"Huuu~"
Egg Pancake let out a long breath and flicked his Dragon Claw through the air toward the massive sphere.
Without waiting to see the result, he immediately spun around, bolted in the opposite direction, and shielded Han Ning with his wings.
A thunderous BOOM echoed from over two hundred meters away.
A chaotic mess of multi-colored matter was blasted to smithereens, ignited by the molten core, and launched hundreds of meters into the air.
It was like a volcanic eruption. A dense shower of flaming debris shot out in all directions, spattering like a meteor shower of fire.
A translucent, ring-shaped shockwave of heat expanded toward them with incredible speed.
Riding the shockwave was a spray of gravel and debris of all sizes. Propelled by the blast, the projectiles moved as fast as sniper bullets, blanketing the area in every direction.
"Ling!!"
Seeing the danger, Yin Yi quickly moved to shield Han Ning, generating a frost-white Crystal Shield in front of them.
PING! PING! PING!
A barrage of debris pelted the Crystal Shield like machine-gun fire, leaving a series of shallow dents in its surface.
The onslaught lasted for over ten seconds as the fiery projectiles rained down from the sky in a scalding meteor shower.
Fortunately, the area was mostly barren rock; otherwise, it would have started a massive forest fire.
As for the few Puppet Insects that had been a step too slow to retreat... their bodies were now covered in small, deep scorch marks. It seemed they hadn’t retreated or defended in time and were caught in the area of effect of Egg Pancake’s Soul Technique.
Luckily, they had been far enough away to avoid complete destruction and were not seriously damaged.
Given that Egg Pancake’s Skill Level for this Soul Technique was only Level I, it was normal for things to get a little out of hand on his first try. Han Ning didn’t say anything, simply beckoning them over to the blast site.
A deep crater now marked the open, rocky ground.
The bottom of the crater was coated in a layer of fine gravel where crimson flames still burned, threatening to turn the surrounding rock into lava.
’Tsk... With this kind of power, taking down a few buildings would be easy. Is this the amplification that comes from high Talent?’
Han Ning mused to himself, running his fingers through the scorching gravel.
Without a doubt, now that he had evolved into a Red Lotus Dragon Lizard, the destructive power of Egg Pancake’s Soul Techniques had surpassed Yin Yi’s.
At the same time, it made him look forward to seeing what Yin Yi would become when it was her turn to evolve.
