Elder Han's gaze remained fixed upon the white lizard.
But slowly—
his eyes shifted downward.
Toward the talisman hanging beside the storage pouch.
The elder's pupils narrowed faintly.
Because he recognized it immediately.
Senior Disciple Liang's escape talisman.
And worse—
it was still active.
Not fully triggered.
But close.
The runic pathways across its surface still pulsed faintly with unstable spiritual light, indicating that the activation sequence had never been fully interrupted after Liang's death.
Elder Han's thoughts sharpened instantly.
Dangerous.
If a true battle erupted—
if the creature chose to activate the talisman—
then the situation could become unpredictable immediately.
A Golden Core demonic beast possessing an emergency sect teleportation artifact was not something he wished to deal with.
His spiritual sense carefully brushed against the talisman once more.
Still primed.
Still functional.
His expression hardened slightly afterward.
That thing must be destroyed first.
Across from him, the white lizard hovered silently amidst drifting dust and fractured air.
Golden eyes calm.
Watching everything.
It noticed the elder's gaze immediately.
Not merely where Elder Han was looking—
but why.
The talisman.
The elder considered it a threat.
Reasonable.
The lizard's thoughts moved quietly.
Once battle begins…
That talisman will become a problem.
He had no intention of using it.
But—
allowing Elder Han to destroy it carelessly during combat would be wasteful.
Its golden eyes narrowed faintly.
At the same time, another thought lingered calmly beneath the surface.
The elder's earlier attempt to force him into the open.
The spatial locking formation.
The indiscriminate environmental destruction.
Useful.
But ultimately insufficient.
If he had truly wished to remain hidden—
he could have.
The attack radius had been broad, but not unavoidable.
He could have simply retreated deeper into concealment.
Remained beyond detection range.
Continued hunting from afar.
But he had not.
Because now—
he wanted to see.
Golden Core against Golden Core.
Not prey slaughter.
Not assassination.
A true confrontation against another existence standing within the same realm.
The thought stirred quietly within him.
Curiosity.
Measurement.
His consciousness briefly turned inward.
What is his cultivation level?
A familiar cold response surfaced immediately within his mind.
[Target Analysis Complete.]
[Cultivation Detected: Mid Early-Stage Golden Core Realm.]
The lizard's golden eyes remained fixed on Elder Han.
Mid Early-Stage.
Higher than his own newly stabilized Golden Core realm.
Stable foundation.
Dense spiritual compression.
Experienced control.
The information settled silently within his thoughts.
Then—
Elder Han moved.
No warning.
No wasted words.
His figure vanished from where he stood.
BOOM—!
The air exploded behind him as Golden Core spiritual force launched his body forward instantly.
Fast.
Far faster than any Foundation Establishment cultivator could properly perceive.
The disciples saw only a streak of silver light crossing the shattered battlefield.
Elder Han's hand extended mid-motion.
Five golden runes ignited around his fingers simultaneously.
Not probing.
Not testing.
A killing technique.
The surrounding spiritual energy compressed violently toward his palm as he closed the distance with terrifying speed.
The lizard's pupils narrowed slightly.
Fast.
The elder appeared directly before him in the next instant.
"Severing Void Palm."
The strike descended.
Space itself distorted beneath the pressure.
A crescent-shaped shockwave split through the sky before physical contact was even made, carving apart clouds and rupturing the forest below.
And at the exact same moment—
the lizard disappeared.
Not retreat.
Not concealment.
Movement.
Its body twisted sideways through the air with unnatural precision as the palm strike narrowly missed its scales by mere inches.
BOOOOOOM—!
The attack continued past him and detonated against a distant mountainside.
Stone exploded outward.
An entire cliff face collapsed instantly beneath the impact.
The surviving disciples stared in horror.
Because even that casual missed strike alone possessed enough power to annihilate entire Foundation Establishment groups instantly.
Yet the white lizard had evaded it cleanly.
Midair.
At point-blank range.
Elder Han's eyes sharpened immediately.
No hesitation followed.
His other hand was already moving.
A second strike erupted horizontally toward the lizard's midsection.
Faster.
Closer.
The lizard's tail snapped downward.
CLANG—!
Palm and tail collided directly.
The sky cracked.
A violent shockwave erupted outward from the impact point, flattening the already ruined forest even further.
For the first time—
the lizard was forced backward several meters through the air.
Not injured.
But displaced.
Its golden eyes narrowed slightly afterward.
Strength confirmed.
Meanwhile, Elder Han's sleeves rippled violently from the counterforce.
His expression darkened faintly.
Because the physical strength behind that tail strike…
was monstrous.
Neither side spoke afterward.
The battlefield fell silent once more.
Two Golden Core existences hovered above the shattered forest.
One human.
One beast.
And both now understood something clearly.
This would not be a simple hunt.
Elder Han steadied himself in the air.
Silver-gold spiritual energy coiled around his arms like flowing molten metal, dense enough to distort the surrounding light.
Across from him, the white lizard hovered silently above the ruined forest.
Golden eyes calm.
Unreadable.
Below them, shattered trees still burned faintly with residual spiritual force from the earlier exchange. Dust drifted upward from fractured earth while the surviving disciples watched from behind the elder's barrier, barely daring to breathe.
Because both sides had now confirmed something terrifying.
Neither could kill the other quickly.
The silence stretched between them.
Heavy.
Measured.
Then Elder Han finally spoke.
"…What are you?"
His voice remained calm.
Controlled.
But no longer dismissive.
No longer the tone of a cultivator addressing prey.
The white lizard tilted his head slightly.
A small movement.
Almost thoughtful.
Then—for the first time—he spoke.
His voice was calm, quiet, and cold in a way that did not belong to either beast or human.
"…How strange that all ask the same questions."
The surviving disciples froze instantly.
Color drained from their faces.
Speech.
Perfectly clear human speech.
Not fragmented spiritual transmission. Not instinctive mimicry.
True language.
Elder Han's expression hardened further.
Yet inwardly, his thoughts sank.
As expected.
A Golden Core demonic beast that had survived heavenly tribulation would naturally possess intelligence comparable to cultivators.
Still—he had hoped otherwise.