165: Chapter 165 The Five Elders' Actions, The Sixth Main Pet: The Earth-Splitting Demon Mastiff!

In the Chaos Labyrinth hall, light and shadow swirled.

The illusory figure of the ancient sage Morpheus hovered in the air; its voice seemed to come from a distant sea of stars, carrying a certain echo of Karma.

"Favored one of fate, you have proven your strength and intellect. Now, two paths lie before you, leading to different ends and bringing different Karma."

Two curtains of light composed of pure energy unfolded before Lu Chen, clearly listing the options:

[Choice: Redemption or Destruction]

[Option A: Destroy the Labyrinth Core]

Mission Objective: The Labyrinth Core is also the Cage Core. Destroying it can release the Ancient City Guardian Spirit imprisoned here.

The Guardian Spirit may be grateful and bestow a blessing, or it may be filled with monstrous resentment due to long-term imprisonment, losing control and going on a rampage, causing parts of the ancient city to collapse and the mission environment to change drastically.

Mission Difficulty: Dealing with the counterattack of the potentially out-of-control Guardian Spirit, as well as the all-out pursuit by The Ferryman, who will inevitably be enraged by this action.

Mission Reward: "Guardian Spirit's Blessing" (unknown effect, could be extremely powerful, or could bring a curse), unlocks the eighth ring.

[Option B: Steal the Key]

Mission Objective: Infiltrate The Ferryman's lair, steal the "Chaos Key", and head directly to the altar where the Chaos Invading Monster is located.

Mission Difficulty: The risk of infiltration is extremely high; you must face the elite Abyss Guards under The Ferryman's command, as well as unknown traps within the lair.

Mission Reward: "Chaos Key" (Mission Item), unlocks the eighth ring.

Lu Chen hesitated almost not at all; his style had always been to strike directly at the heart!

"I choose B!"

A trace of imperceptible fluctuation seemed to flash across Morpheus's face. It didn't say much, just extended a finger made of light and tapped gently toward Lu Chen.

A glimmer of light merged into Lu Chen's body.

[Ding! Obtained mission item: [Key Resonance Stone]!]

[Effect: Can roughly sense the direction and distance of the "Chaos Key".]

"The Ferryman's lair is located on the east side of the ancient city, in the [Lair of Dormancy] where the shadows are deepest. Proceed with caution; The Ferryman is more cunning and powerful than it appears."

Morpheus's voice slowly dissipated, along with its figure, which gradually faded away.

Lu Chen gripped the resonance stone in his hand and could feel a vague directional guide coming from the east.

"The Lair of Dormancy, huh..."

Lu Chen recalled his other beast pets, summoned the Calamity Flame Spirit Skeleton King as a mount, and sped toward the east along the complex passages of the labyrinth.

With the guidance of the resonance stone and the insight of the Eye of the Ringed Heavens, Lu Chen avoided countless hidden killing intents, his efficiency far exceeding that of Guru Du's unreliable guidance.

The closer he got to the Lair of Dormancy, the thicker and heavier the Abyss Devilish Qi in the air became, and the more elite Abyss Guards there were patrolling.

These guards came in all shapes and sizes; some were like bone-armored Devil Rhinos, others were multi-eyed, multi-armed demonic soldiers wielding halberds. All were at Peak Rank 6, with fierce Auras. Their patrol routes crisscrossed between squads, leaving almost no blind spots.

However, under Lu Chen's absolute strength, these so-called elite guards were simply not worth mentioning.

He tore through them all the way, pushing forward by force!

Finally, they arrived before a massive, hideous gate constructed from the ribs of some creature.

Inside the gate was the core area of the Lair of Dormancy; the resonance stone's sensation reached its Peak at this moment!

"The key is inside."

Lu Chen kicked open the biological rib gate!

Inside was a vast, hollow lair. In the center of the lair was a constantly writhing flesh platform, and hovering above the platform was a key that constantly changed shape, emitting a Chaos halo—the Chaos Key!

However, beneath the platform crawled a gargantuan Abyss Demon Dog BOSS, with three hideous heads, its body covered in dark scales and dripping with corrosive slime!

Its six eyes opened simultaneously, flashing with violent, fierce light, staring fixedly at the intruder!

[Name: Abyss Three-Headed Split Demon Dog · Kukan · Lord BOSS]

[Rank: Rank 6 LV180]

[Talent: Split Regeneration (When injured, there is a very high probability of splitting into a slightly weaker [Clone]; Clones are infinite)]

"Roar!!!"

The three heads let out a deafening roar simultaneously, and a foul-smelling hurricane rushed toward him!

Its massive body suddenly reared up, pouncing toward Lu Chen with a destructive Aura!

"Split Regeneration? Then I'll just one-shot you and see how you split!"

Lu Chen sneered, the god-slaying spear appearing in his hand instantly. Brilliant light flowed along the dark red spear shaft; he wouldn't give this Demon Dog any chance to utilize its traits!

[Forbidden Spell · Holy Spear: Oath of the End]!

Boom!

A holy spear beam, condensed to the extreme and seemingly capable of judging all evil in the world, illuminated the entire lair instantly like the dawn light tearing through the darkness!

The spear beam pierced the core of Kukan's middle head with absolute precision, and without losing momentum, the terrifying energy erupted crazily inside its body!

The hideous expressions on Kukan's other two heads froze instantly, transforming into extreme fear and disbelief!

Its Split Regeneration trait didn't even have time to trigger before its entire massive body exploded from within like a lit powder keg!

Bang!

A rain of blood and shattered flesh splattered everywhere; the powerful Demon Dog had actually been one-shotted by Lu Chen's spear!

[Ding! Successfully killed Abyss Three-Headed Split Demon Dog · Kukan! EXP +...]

One-shot! A true one-shot! In the face of absolute strength, any fancy traits are futile!

Lu Chen was considering which beast pet should devour the Demon Dog BOSS corpse.

At this moment. There was a disturbance in the beast pen space.

The beast pets that had been left in Xihai City and Yunlan City all returned to the beast pen space to revive.

Only one beast pet, exceptionally spirited, covered in thick crystal armor, and with earth veins wrapped around its limbs, remained with low health but alive, recovering its state within 3 seconds in the beast pen space.

[Name: Earth-Covering Mastiff]

[Grade: A]

Lu Chen was taken aback: "When did I contract an A-grade beast pet?"

Lu Chen summoned it out and upon asking learned that it was originally an F-grade mutt, but because it had guarded the Invading Monster secret realm and devoured many Invading Monsters, it had evolved twice.

Looking at Kukan's remains, which contained pure Abyss and earth energy, its eyes revealed an extremely eager light, and it wagged its tail excitedly at Lu Chen.

"You want to devour it?"

Lu Chen chuckled. The Earth-Covering Mastiff nodded vigorously, emitting whimpering sounds of begging.

Lu Chen's heart stirred. This Kukan was a combination of Earth and Abyss types; for the Earth-Covering Mastiff, which followed the earth path, it was indeed a great tonic!

"Go ahead!"

Having received permission, the Earth-Covering Mastiff let out a happy, low growl and pounced forward. A strong earthy-yellow light radiated from its body as it began to frantically absorb and devour the energy essence remaining from Kukan.

Its body changed again at a rate visible to the naked eye; its frame became more robust, its crystal armor became thicker and sturdier, and a bump even faintly protruded from its forehead, as if a single horn were about to grow. The Aura radiating from its body climbed sharply.

[Ding, your beast pet "Earth-Covering Mastiff" has devoured "Abyss Three-Headed Split Demon Dog · Kukan", Evolution Points are at maximum! Evolution conditions met!]

[Ding, evolution complete, Earth-Covering Mastiff has evolved into SS-grade Earth-Splitting Demon Mastiff, Awakening SS-grade talent Earth-Splitting Clone; when attacked, it can split into earth-type Clones, with no limit on quantity!]

"Good!" A look of joy flashed in Lu Chen's eyes. He hadn't expected such an unexpected harvest from this advancement mission! This mutt, oh no, Earth-Splitting Demon Mastiff, has huge potential. Just by devouring one Demon Dog BOSS, it evolved again. This is even faster than Great Green and the others; it can be cultivated as my sixth main pet!

"What happened over in Yunlan City?" Lu Chen asked.

"Reporting to Master, many powerful enemies suddenly appeared in Yunlan City. They are capturing and hunting everything related to you. They claim to be from the Five Elders Association!"

Lu Chen's gaze instantly turned cold: "It's people from the Five Elders Association?"

Lu Chen was not surprised by this. Elder Jin had been killed; it would be strange if the Five Elders Association didn't go crazy with revenge.

"Lao Tie should be fine; outsiders don't know about our relationship. Bai Hui is from the Hunter Organization, so they shouldn't give her a hard time either."

Lu Chen made a quick judgment and felt slightly relieved. The top priority was to complete the advancement as soon as possible and promote to Rank 7! Only if his own strength was strong enough could he deal with all crises!

He reached out and grabbed the hovering [Chaos Key].

[Ding! Obtained mission item "Chaos Key" (1/1)!]

[Seventh Ring Mission: Choice: Steal the Key (Completed)!]

[Eighth Ring Mission has been unlocked!]

[Mission Name: Altar Ritual]

[Mission Objective: Carry the "Chaos Key" to the Chaos Altar in the deepest part of the Abyss Demon City, interrupt the sacrificial ritual that The Ferryman is conducting, and prevent it from offering other NPCs as sacrifices to the Chaos Demon King.]

[Mission Difficulty: Once the ritual begins, it will continuously generate a large number of Chaos Invading Monsters. You must defeat The Ferryman, who will have its strength boosted to Quasi-World Lord Rank (Pseudo-Rank 7) under the ritual's enhancement!]

[Mission Reward: "Broken Chaos Chain" (Mission Item), unlocks the ninth ring!]

"Quasi-World Lord Rank? Pseudo-Rank 7? Nothing but a bunch of rabble!"

Lu Chen weighed the key in his hand, a cold and excited arc hooking at the corner of his mouth.

"Just right, I'll use you to test the strength of my new main pet!"

He put away the key, and with the Earth-Splitting Demon Mastiff, whose Aura had changed drastically, he turned and strode toward the direction of the heart-palpitating Chaos Altar in the deepest part of the ancient city, as guided by the resonance stone!