The white lizard noticed it instantly.
His golden eyes narrowed slightly as violent silver-gold spiritual energy surged uncontrollably through Elder Han's shattered body.
Self-detonation.
The elder intended to destroy everything nearby in one final desperate act—even if it meant sacrificing himself in the process.
Cracks spread rapidly across his damaged Golden Core.
Spiritual essence spiraled violently out of control inside his meridians, growing more unstable with every passing second.
The surrounding heavens began to distort beneath the pressure.
Air twisted.
Clouds trembled.
The ruined battlefield groaned beneath the overwhelming fluctuations of spiritual energy.
A Golden Core cultivator's self-destruction was not something ordinary beings could survive.
Even another Golden Core expert would be forced to retreat.
But before the detonation could fully begin—
the white lizard looked directly into Elder Han's eyes.
And the world froze.
Not slowed.
Not restrained.
Stopped.
Completely.
The raging spiritual energy inside Elder Han's body halted mid-flow.
The cracked Golden Core froze in suspended instability.
Even the expanding spiritual aura surrounding him ceased moving entirely, as though time itself had been severed.
Elder Han's pupils contracted violently.
What—
Panic struck him harder than any attack he had suffered during the battle.
He couldn't move.
Not a finger.
Not a single strand of spiritual sense.
Not even the circulation of energy within his own body responded anymore.
Everything had become still.
Absolute stillness.
The only thing remaining active—
was his mind.
Chaotic thoughts exploded within the elder's consciousness.
Another innate ability?!
Impossible—
No paralysis art should be capable of suppressing a Golden Core cultivator so completely.
Not even peak Golden Core soul-locking techniques possessed this level of absolute control.
His breathing stopped.
Not by choice.
Frozen.
Even his heartbeat felt distant and unreachable.
And through that suffocating stillness—
the white lizard moved.
Calmly.
Silently.
A white blur crossed the shattered heavens.
Then—
he appeared directly before Elder Han.
Golden eyes stared quietly into the elder's own.
Emotionless.
Cold.
Observing him as though merely confirming the effectiveness of an ability.
Elder Han's instincts screamed endlessly within his mind.
Move.
MOVE—
But nothing obeyed.
Not his body.
Not his Qi.
Not even the self-detonation he had staked his final hope upon.
The white lizard tilted his head slightly.
Almost curious.
"…Alright," he murmured softly.
Then his tail moved.
A simple motion.
Elegant.
Effortless.
Yet at that instant—
Elder Han felt death descend upon him completely.
The white tail pierced forward faster than thought itself.
CRACK.
The sound was small.
Almost insignificant beneath the dying storm.
The tail pierced cleanly through Elder Han's skull.
Effortlessly.
The elder's thoughts stopped instantly.
The terror within his eyes froze permanently.
Silver-gold spiritual energy flickered weakly around his body one final time—
then collapsed entirely.
The heavens became silent.
For a brief moment—
even the colossal storm-serpents above ceased moving.
Elder Han's corpse remained suspended in the air, impaled through the head by the lizard's tail.
Motionless.
Dead.
Then slowly—
the body slid free.
And began to fall.
Downward.
Past drifting lightning.
Past burning clouds.
Past the shattered remains of the battlefield he had failed to escape.
Until—
BOOOOM.
The corpse struck the ruined earth below.
And did not move again.
High above the battlefield, the white lizard hovered silently within the darkened heavens.
Blue lightning crawled across his scales like living veins.
Countless storm-serpents coiled through the clouds around him like celestial guardians answering only to his will.
Far in the distance—
the surviving disciples continued fleeing toward their sect with everything they had.
Unaware that their elder had already fallen.
The lizard's golden gaze drifted calmly toward the horizon.
Then inwardly—
a quiet thought surfaced.
So this is the level of Golden Core sect elders.
The conclusion settled into his mind without satisfaction.
Without excitement.
Only understanding.
Weak.
The storm above began dispersing slowly afterward.
One serpent at a time dissolved back into drifting clouds and scattered strands of dark blue lightning.
The oceans of sapphire flame spread across the battlefield gradually dimmed as well.
Their terrifying heat receded through the fractured land until only scattered embers remained floating through the air like dying stars.
The crushing gravity softened.
The roaring heavens calmed.
Yet the devastation remained.
Collapsed mountains.
Burning forests.
Fractured earth stretching across kilometers of ruined terrain.
A landscape reshaped entirely by battle between Golden Core existences.
And at the center of it all—
the small white lizard remained suspended silently in the air.
Tiny beneath the heavens.
Yet now—
there was nothing left within the region capable of opposing him.
The final traces of destruction faded slowly across the ruined world.
The heavens no longer roared.
One by one, the colossal storm-serpents dissolved back into drifting clouds and fading strands of blue lightning.
The oceans of sapphire fire dimmed next.
Their terrifying radiance receded across the shattered battlefield until only faint embers remained dancing through the air.
Silence returned gradually.
Heavy.
Absolute.
The white lizard descended slowly from the darkened sky.
Not hurried.
Not triumphant.
Simply calm.
His small body drifted downward through lingering smoke and falling ash while the last traces of spiritual lightning crawled quietly across his scales before fading away entirely.
Below him—
Elder Han's corpse lay half-buried within the massive crater.
Broken stone surrounded the fallen cultivator like the remains of a collapsed mountain.
The elder's eyes remained open.
Frozen.
Still carrying the terror of his final moments.
The Cloud-Piercing Spirit Spear had vanished completely.
Only scattered fragments of spiritual metal remained embedded throughout the ruined battlefield, their light fading rapidly without their master's spiritual energy sustaining them.
The white lizard hovered only inches above the corpse.
Golden eyes observing silently.
The battlefield stretched endlessly around them.
Collapsed ridges.
Rivers of molten earth glowing faintly through fractured land.
Shattered forests reduced to blackened ruin.
All of it quiet now.
The aftermath of a battle between Golden Core existences.
And at its center—
a tiny white creature stared down at the corpse of a sect elder.
For several long moments, nothing moved.
The silence lingered heavily over the devastated battlefield.
Smoke drifted slowly through shattered mountains.
Molten cracks pulsed faintly beneath broken earth.
And within that ruined wasteland—
the white lizard remained hovering silently above the crater.
Wind moved through the broken terrain, carrying ash and the faint scent of scorched spiritual residue.
The world had gone quiet in a way that felt unnatural after such overwhelming destruction.
As though reality itself were still recovering from the battle.
Golden eyes lowered toward Elder Han's corpse once more.
Still.
Empty.
His gaze lingered there for several seconds longer than necessary, as though confirming something only he could perceive.
Then—
his body shifted.
Bone and scale subtly realigned as his form expanded.
Not explosively.
Not violently.
Smoothly.
Like water returning to its natural shape.
The small hovering creature stretched outward into a more defined serpentine beast.
White scales regained their layered depth and sharp brilliance.
Claws lengthened slowly.
The pressure in the air returned once more in a muted, controlled form.
Not the catastrophic force from earlier.
Just presence.
Real.
Grounded.
He descended fully onto the ruined earth.
One step.
Then another.
Stone cracked softly beneath each movement as he stopped beside the fallen elder.
Elder Han's face remained locked in that final expression.
Rage.
Disbelief.
Terror.
All frozen together permanently.
The lizard stared down at him silently.
Then—
without hesitation—
his jaws opened wide.
CRRRK—!
Sharp teeth tore directly into flesh.
Blood splattered across shattered stone as chunks of meat disappeared between his jaws.
The sound of tearing flesh echoed quietly across the battlefield.
Wet.
Heavy.
Efficient.
The lizard fed calmly.
Unhurried.
Golden Core cultivator flesh contained immense spiritual vitality far beyond ordinary cultivators.
Dense.
Refined.
Every mouthful carried concentrated life essence and purified spiritual energy accumulated across centuries of cultivation.
As he consumed the corpse, faint silver-gold spiritual particles leaked from the flesh before flowing directly into his body.
The lizard's golden eyes narrowed slightly.
Interesting.
This is the first Golden Core cultivator I've consumed.
His jaws tore away another section of flesh effortlessly.
Bone cracked loudly beneath his bite.
Blood soaked deeper into the ruined earth beneath the corpse.
The lizard swallowed calmly while another thought surfaced inwardly.
I wonder how many points I'll gain.
The feeding continued beneath the darkened heavens.
Minutes passed quietly.
The battlefield remained silent except for the sound of tearing flesh and breaking bone.
Gradually—
Elder Han's corpse disappeared completely.
Arms.
Torso.
Organs.
Bone.
Everything was consumed.
Only torn fragments of scorched robes remained scattered across blood-soaked stone.
Then—
the familiar voice echoed within his mind.
[Gained 13,540 Evolution Points.]
The lizard paused briefly.
Golden eyes flickered once.
Then inwardly—
a calm thought surfaced.
Exactly as expected.
Not higher.
Not lower.
Accurate.
His tail swept lightly across the ruined ground afterward while he slowly licked the remaining blood from his maw.
The metallic taste of Golden Core essence still lingered faintly on his tongue.
Around him—
the battlefield stood as silent proof of what had occurred there.
A sect elder had fallen.
Consumed completely.
Erased without even leaving behind a corpse.
And far away—
the surviving disciples still fled desperately toward their sect.
Unaware that not even Elder Han's remains existed anymore.