Chapter 125: The Hundredth-Floor Reward, the Spirit of the Exotic Beast

The arena was thick with smoke. Scattered flames still flickered across the ground. Three Black-Scaled Dragon Lizards lay prone; the black scales on their bodies had shattered under the intense heat, leaving their flesh charred and blackened. Blood seeped slowly from their wounds. Two other Black-Scaled Dragon Lizards remained in relatively better condition. Although the high heat had reduced their scales to nothingness, exposing raw, crimson flesh, the formidable defensive power of those scales had absorbed the brunt of the attacks, allowing them to retain significant combat capability.

Xu Han frowned slightly. "These beasts are truly tough."

He gripped the Blade of Ice Blue and lunged toward the two remaining Black-Scaled Dragon Lizards.

"Shadow Flash!"

He instantly dissolved into a blur, appearing before one of the creatures. His blade easily pierced the body of a severely wounded lizard.

"Roar..."

The Black-Scaled Dragon Lizard let out a hoarse, low growl before falling dead. Xu Han immediately activated "Devour All." A pitch-black vortex engulfed the lizard’s claw.

A system notification chimed.

"Host has devoured a Rank 2 Black-Scaled Dragon Lizard for the first time. Gained 50 Strength and 50 Constitution."

"Host has acquired the skill: Darkness Descent."

Xu Han felt a surge of joy. He immediately opened his skill panel to check the new ability.

Darkness Descent (Lv. 1): Converges dark elements to shroud the surrounding area in total darkness, depriving opponents of their vision. Duration: 1 minute. Cooldown: 30 minutes.

"Scorching Sun" and "Darkness Descent" were polar opposites—one brought blinding light, the other, endless shadow. Both were incredibly useful. Darkness Descent was essentially an enhanced version of "Nightfall." Nightfall merely darkened the sky, which meant little to enemies with artificial light sources. But Darkness Descent forcibly summoned true darkness, stripping away the enemy's vision entirely. Unless the target possessed an ability like "Body of Darkness" to negate all negative statuses or "Eyes of True Sight" to pierce through shadows, they would be helpless. Without vision, they could only wait for death.

Closing the skill panel, he opened the Gourmet's Codex. It had reached 100/100.

Completed! It finally reached 100 entries! He could finally claim the mystery grand prize. Xu Han suppressed his excitement and tapped the icon. The counter updated to 100/150.

"Host has completed the Gourmet's Codex task. Rewarding system upgrade."

"System upgrading, please wait..."

Xu Han rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

***

A few seconds later, the system notification sounded again.

"System upgrade complete. New feature unlocked: Spirit of the Exotic Beast."

"When devouring an exotic beast, you will also absorb its soul. When the host uses a skill, the Spirit of the Exotic Beast will manifest to cast the skill on your behalf, doubling the skill's power."

Xu Han was stunned. It could summon the spirit of a beast to cast skills for him? And double the power?

He decided to test it. He raised his hand and activated "Bursting Fireball."

"ROAR!"

A deafening dragon’s roar erupted. He looked behind him, only to see a massive, fiery-red sub-dragon phantom emerging. Xu Han recognized it instantly—it was the Magma Sub-Dragon he had faced in the secret realm.

The Magma Sub-Dragon opened its maw, and a fireball nearly three meters in diameter condensed within. Xu Han watched, mesmerized. "Bursting Fireball" had been one of the Magma Sub-Dragon's own skills. As it cast the spell, the speed of condensation was far faster than his own, and the power was terrifying. The intense heat warped the surrounding air.

The Magma Sub-Dragon whipped its head, launching the fireball at the two remaining, dying Black-Scaled Dragon Lizards.

BOOM!

The fireball exploded. The sheer shockwave and searing flames swept across the area, instantly engulfing the two lizards. They wailed once before their health bars hit zero. As the fireball dissipated, the phantom of the Magma Sub-Dragon vanished.

The spectators in the arena stared in disbelief.

"What was that phantom?"

"It looked like a Magma Sub-Dragon. How can Xu Han summon something like that?"

"Can that Magma Sub-Dragon fight for him? Isn't that too heaven-defying?"

The crowd buzzed with speculation. Even Zheng Gang’s eyes widened in shock. He turned to Ye Die and asked urgently, "What new skill did this kid learn? What exactly is his class? Why does it feel like his strength grows every time he kills a beast?"

Ye Die shook her head. "I don't know."

Zheng Gang looked speechless. "Didn't you ask? How can you be so indifferent toward your own student?"

Ye Die replied calmly, "I'm not interested."

Zheng Gang rubbed his temples. He was utterly shocked by Ye Die's attitude. If Xu Han were his student, he would have squeezed every secret out of him. But since Xu Han was Ye Die’s disciple, he couldn't overstep his bounds without being disrespectful.

"I didn't expect the little guy to actually clear the second level," Ye Die noted.

"The school will have to compensate him for this," Zheng Gang agreed. It was true; such a severe incident could be classified as a teaching failure. If the Beijing Education Bureau investigated, the school would face harsh penalties.

"I'll go handle the cleanup," Zheng Gang said.

Ye Die nodded, her gaze fixed on the giant screen. Her expression grew solemn. She felt something was wrong. Could it really be this simple?

Xu Han looked toward the remaining two half-dead lizards, eager to try out all his skills. Suddenly, he noticed their eyes turning a blood-red hue. The temperature in the arena plummeted rapidly. Within a few breaths, it dropped to minus fifty degrees.

Xu Han frowned. Something was wrong. He had to finish this quickly to prevent any accidents. He drew his Blade of Ice Blue, but just as he prepared to strike, the two Black-Scaled Dragon Lizards roared to the sky and lunged at each other.

They began a frenzied, savage battle. Sharp dragon claws tore into each other, ripping away chunks of flesh. Blood splattered everywhere, freezing into crimson ice within moments. A thick, metallic scent of blood filled the arena.

The spectators gasped.

"Look! The two beasts have started killing each other!"

"What the hell? Why are they fighting? Do they think the other is a burden?"

"This is intense. It's my first time seeing beasts turn on each other."

Soon, one lizard succumbed to blood loss and collapsed with a heavy thud. The victor pounced on its companion's corpse, tearing into it ravenously, quickly reducing the body to a skeleton.

"ROAR!"

It threw its head back and let out a final, chilling roar. A blood-red, thirty-centimeter tentacle burst from its chest, writhing madly!