57: All the cards are out

The Alien Queen's condensed, pure, pseudo-transcendent pressure, originating from a higher life-level, slowly ground towards the Azure Scale Earth Dragon like an invisible millstone... The moment the two pressures collided, the Azure Scale Earth Dragon's seemingly wild, overbearing aura instantly met its fated nemesis, and within moments, it showed signs of being suppressed and 'purified'!

In the depths of its gigantic snake eyes, a shiver, originating from its life instinct, uncontrollably flashed!

“Hiss! (Kill!)”

Its last shred of reason was completely swallowed by rage and the obsession to protect its companion.

The Azure Scale Earth Dragon had now completely forgotten the vast difference in strength between them. It let out an earth-shshattering hiss, and its massive snake tail, like a collapsing mountain, tore through the air with immense force, fiercely lashing out at the Alien Queen!

At the same time, its gaping maw opened wide, and a torrent of thick, unyielding, emerald-glowing poisonous mist, like a breached poisonous river, also surged towards the Queen!

This poisonous mist not only contained potent venom but also carried strong corrosive and soul-numbing demonic power—it was its strongest innate skill!

To ensure this attack could effectively harm the Alien Queen, the Azure Scale Earth Dragon even desperately activated the magic crystal within its body, and soon, threads of demonic blood, burning with the fire of life, began to seep from the crevices of its deep green scales!

After a brief surge, its aura exuded a tragic, self-destructive madness!

Facing such a desperate move, the Alien Queen dared not be careless.

Just as the Azure Scale Earth Dragon's massive tail was about to touch her!

The Alien Queen moved!

It did not meet the powerful tail strike head-on; instead, the space around its body suddenly vibrated.

A strange spatial fluctuation surged from its body, and immediately after, its exoskeleton-covered body shifted a certain distance with a bizarre flexibility and posture, like a phantom, perfectly avoiding the direct impact of the snake's tail.

The terrifying snake tail slammed into the spot where the Queen had just stood. The ground, as if struck by a meteorite, instantly exploded into a deep crater more than ten meters in diameter, and the shockwave, carrying Gravel and soil, swept in all directions!

Almost simultaneously with its evasion, the Queen's long, powerful tail suddenly rose, and a dark electrical glow, capable of tearing space, appeared out of nowhere at its tip. It slashed through the air towards the surging torrent of venom!

“Rip!”

A subtle yet incredibly stable black-gold spatial rift instantly opened, from which countless dark-gold lightning bolts surged, forming a barrier filled with lightning power in front of the Queen!

The torrent of life-essence poisonous mist, capable of corroding steel and killing Gold-level powerhouses, was silently and completely swallowed by the lightning shield, like all rivers flowing into the sea, without a single trace crossing the barrier!

The Azure Scale Earth Dragon's vertical pupils instantly constricted!

The situation it least wanted had occurred! Its strongest innate skill had been so easily neutralized by the enemy!

Just as it experienced a momentary paralysis due to its attack missing and the poison mist being ineffective, the Alien Queen moved again!

Its body, covered in black exoskeleton, suddenly vanished from its original spot, instantly reappearing at the side of the Azure Scale Earth Dragon's gigantic snake head!

“Shadow Step”

This skill, inherited from a Gold-level Shadow Leopard, allowed its instantaneous burst speed to surpass the limits of visual perception!

When it appeared at the side of the Azure Scale Earth Dragon, a sharp claw, imbued with dark-gold lightning and shimmering with metallic luster, lightly extended as if piercing space, accurately striking half of the Azure Scale Earth Dragon's head!

Fast!

Ruthless!

Precise!

“Pfft!”

The sharp claw penetrated the tough eyeball without obstruction, and foul-smelling liquid and shattered lens instantly splattered!

The Azure Scale Earth Dragon let out an earth-shattering howl of pain, its massive head thrashing wildly, golden demonic blood mixed with foul-smelling liquid sprayed frantically all around.

The Queen, like a persistent parasite, landed a hit, then exerted force with its sharp claws, leveraging itself into the air. Its other chitin-covered foot, carrying immense power, stomped fiercely on the Azure Scale Earth Dragon's vital point, which was covered in thick scales!

“Crack!”

A bone-chilling sound of bone cracking echoed!

The Azure Scale Earth Dragon's massive body stiffened as if struck by lightning, its raised head slammed heavily to the ground by the immense force!

Its sturdy hind legs, which it relied on for support, went limp, and half of its body crashed down. Golden demonic blood, mixed with fragments of internal organs, spewed from its mouth, and its aura rapidly withered like a deflating balloon!

The forcibly enhanced power shattered like a bubble, and the excruciating pain and weakness from the backlash instantly overwhelmed it.

It struggled, burning its last flicker of life, trying to raise its head, to find and protect its companion with its remaining eye.

However, its vision was a blurry crimson and darkness.

Just then, a swift black shadow, like the god of death in the darkness, flashed out from the void in front of Lin Feng!

The second Facehugger!

It precisely seized the perfect moment when the Azure Scale Earth Dragon was severely injured, weak, mentally scattered, and its defenses were at their lowest point!

Like a well-trained shadow assassin, the moment the Azure Scale Earth Dragon instinctively opened its mouth due to extreme pain and suffocation, it pounced fiercely. Its eight segmented legs clamped tightly around the massive snake head, and its ovipositor, with deadly ruthlessness, plunged unimpeded into the depths of its throat!

“Ugh... Gulp...”

The Azure Scale Earth Dragon's massive body suddenly stiffened. In its remaining eye, the light of madness, ferocity, and despair, like fireflies losing their support in the dark night, gradually dimmed and finally extinguished, until it became a desolate gray.

Its last strength also completely dissipated, and its gigantic head slammed heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Only the Facehugger covering the snake's snout subtly wriggled, announcing the beginning of the parasitic process.

Two Gold-level magical beasts, despite using all their trump cards and desperately erupting with power approaching the transcendent, ultimately failed to overcome the huge chasm between Gold-level and pseudo-transcendent. Both were severely wounded by the Alien Queen and became hosts for the Facehuggers.

The five of them, including Lin Feng, descended from the giant rock. Zhang Zhen and the other three were not just shocked, but utterly stunned!

Their gazes towards Lin Feng held not only admiration but also unreserved fear in their eyes!

That was the look humans gave when they saw power they could not resist!

At this moment, Lin Feng felt the primordial crystal core in his abdomen greedily absorbing two streams of Gold-level peak energy, which were far purer and more vast than those of ordinary magical beasts.

The fifth pattern had completely formed, and the sixth pattern was becoming clearer and more solid at an accelerated pace. The seventh, eighth, and even the ninth patterns began to faintly appear!

Feeling refreshed!

Lin Feng's mood at this moment could only be described by these four words!

He walked over to the parasitized Eagle Claw Beastmaster and the Azure Scale Earth Dragon, which had revealed its true form, his gaze sweeping over them, now hosts to the Facehuggers.

“Barren World... Shapeshifting...”

He murmured softly, his eyes deep.

“This ‘Barren World’ is probably more than just an ordinary small world...”

Lin Feng looked up at the distant horizon of the wilderness, where a larger shadow seemed to loom in the twilight.

“Perhaps these two ‘Facehuggers’ will provide me with some useful information after they hatch.”