C1970 Two Gifts!

"Uncle Ballo!"

With her sparkling eyes and radiant smile, Canli called out and dashed toward the agonizing Ferris. She cried out into the void between earth and sky, "Lord Tianqi, Elder Rebecca, please keep your distance from Ferris!"

Tianqi and Rebecca were perplexed.

Ferris was still ensnared by the Blade of Light, its luminous edge piercing through his gray robe, which had long been soaked with his blood.

What threat could a paralyzed Ferris pose?

"Everyone, stay put."

Ballo, upon seeing Chen Liangquan, Beru, and the ninth-level warriors of the Dawnbringers and Starborn, about to chase after Canli, commanded in a stern voice, "I've got this."

A nebula, shimmering like a splendid galaxy, materialized beneath Canli's feet as she sped away.

Canli's courage to approach Ferris stemmed from her knowledge of the profound friendship between their races, trusting that Ballo would surely offer her protection.

The nebula bolstered her resolve.

"Patriarch..."

Canli glanced back at Cardo from a distance, then the luminous Altar of Rebirth, hidden within her, burst forth like a crystal.

Her innate Altar of Rebirth, radiant as the midday sun, hovered over Ferris's head.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Illuminated by her dazzling Altar of Rebirth, Ferris, impaled by the blade of light, witnessed the souls of hundreds of alien beasts being set ablaze.

The peculiar and ancient souls of the alien beasts dissipated within Ferris's gray robe, like candles burning out.

Before long, the gray robe of the ancient Aberrant Soul turned to ash, leaving behind only a skeletal frame reeking of decay.

Ferris had no flesh at all!

Perched within the heart of his skeletal frame was a pitch-black goat, peering through the chest cavity's brittle bones at the female and male Aberrants with a chilling, sinister gaze.

Behind Rebecca, several ninth-level enchantresses and their male counterparts heard a scream that pierced the air.

Apart from Rebecca, the female and male Aberrant Souls began to bleed from every orifice, trembling and falling to their knees, clutching their heads in agony.

"The black goat!"

"The black goat of the Wasteland!"

The faces of Tianqi and Cardo turned pale.

"Oceanfolk fool, you're insufferably verbose. You should have met your end long ago."

The black goat's piercing voice rang out.

Somehow, it had managed to lodge a soul within Ferris's body, directing the actions of the three individuals from beneath the gray robe.

Pantley, who had just ceased her lamenting, was momentarily taken aback by the icy tone of the black goat.

"You certainly don't deserve the true immortality."

The black goat snorted contemptuously as its gaze fell upon Pantley. "Your existence is pointless. Only in death might you hold some value."

At that moment.

Harry, the Fire Lizard, who was being held by Cardo, began to sob while he peeled back the red scales on his belly.

He had been safeguarding a small jade box within his flesh, and now he was finally able to retrieve it.

With trembling hands, he lifted the jade box high to present it to Cardo of the Dawnbringers.

Cardo paused, taken aback.

"Honored leader of the Dawnbringers, second only to Bertain in strength, I offer this eternal gift on behalf of our king."

The black goat's tone took on a note of reverence. Its beast soul clung to Ferris's ribcage, scraping its crystalline hooves as it spoke: "Pantley is too frail to endure the everlasting power of our king. Lord Cardo, unlike Pantley, Ferris, and Harry, you are capable of embracing the true immortality."

"Much like the Ape of the Everlands."

Whoosh!

The jade box, carrying a single drop of enigmatic blood, soared from Harry's hands, coming to a halt before Cardo.

"This is the genuine Key of Eternity! Our king asks nothing of you, merely seeking the friendship of the Dawnbringers," the black goat said with a smile.

"Leader, pay no heed to these fiends from the Otherworld!" Canli exclaimed in alarm.

She suddenly realized that her revered leader was showing an unusual moment of indecision.

Cardo eyed the jade box. Her hand, not wielding the Light Scepter, clenched and then relaxed, clearly tempted to examine the box.

Yet, her allegiance to the Origin Realm and the presence of numerous elite representatives from various races made her waver.

"Believe me, the Key of Eternity inside this box carries no hidden consequences. If you have doubts..."

The black goat fixed its gaze on Yu Yuan and spoke with a chilling tone, "You might want to ask him. Since this Yu Yuan is the spokesperson for the Primal Blood in this realm, he ought to know what's inside the box."

Cardo instinctively turned her attention to Yu Yuan.

After a moment of contemplation, Yu Yuan nodded earnestly, "It's likely the same power I used to grant Zhong Chichen and Loong Jie immortality. She's telling the truth. If you take this box and merge with the drop of blood it contains, you'll probably achieve eternal life."

"Moreover, judging by the current circumstances, there seem to be no adverse effects."

Cardo's eyes, glittering like jewels, shone with an unsettling brilliance. "Your king is quite magnanimous. What does he expect me to do in return?"

"You needn't do anything—that's the value of this gift. Should our king require your assistance with other matters in the future, he will present a new gift, one of even greater worth."

The black goat's expression hinted at a smile.

"Oh? A gift more precious than eternal life?" Cardo's curiosity was aroused.

The black goat nodded solemnly, "Indeed. To others, that gift may be worthless, but for you, it's the very thing you've spent a lifetime seeking."

Cardo's slight frame shuddered with anticipation.

She swiftly clasped the jade box in her hands and glared at the black goat.

In a flash, she transformed into a streak of light, traversing the space to materialize before Ferris.

Ferris, who had been wailing in agony, was now silent, his face twisted into a bizarre smile as if he had anticipated this turn of events.

"Chieftain!"

"Cardo!"

Canli and Ballo cried out.

"This doesn't concern you!"

Cardo's expression was frosty. As Canli and Ballo moved closer, she snapped irritably, "Stay out of this!"

With a flourish of her Light Scepter, the enchantresses' temporary extraterrestrial domain was cleaved in two.

Rebecca and the Aberrant Souls, both female and male, found themselves abruptly severed from the land beneath Cardo's feet.

"This no longer involves you either."

Cardo dismissed them with a wave of her hand.

Rebecca, the enchantress matriarch, along with the ninth-level Blood Warriors she had brought, watched in horror as they were cast adrift from the land.

At this juncture, the fate of Pantley of the Oceanfolk seemed inconsequential.

The light-based constraints on Harry and Ferris, imposed by Cardo's earlier disapproval, had vanished, restoring the two most powerful Otherkin to freedom.

Yet Pantley of the Oceanfolk remained utterly bewildered.

Yu Yuan's face grew increasingly somber as he was struck by an ominous premonition. He surmised what the black goat from the Wasteland was proposing to Cardo, and he believed the chances of success were high.

"You..."

Cardo inhaled deeply, her grip on the Light Scepter trembling involuntarily, "You, what do you know? The thing I've spent my life searching for, do you actually know what it is?"

"Indeed, I do."

The black goat appeared serene, no longer intimidated by the gathered crowd, and offered a smile. "Lord Cardo, you've spent a lifetime, tens of thousands of years, in search of it, to no avail. It's because it's not in your world that you've failed to find it."

"Without changing the status quo, you could search for tens of thousands more years, even a million, and despite eternal life, you'd still come up empty." The black goat boasted with a smug grin, "Because it has always been in our Wasteland!"

"The Light Spirit... it's actually in your realm?!"

Cardo's face, usually composed, now showed unprecedented excitement, her petite frame shaking intensely.

"Exactly."

The black goat's smile broadened. "In the Wasteland, there is no one like you. No one has even been deemed worthy of its favor. How fortunate we are that we didn't hurry here, but instead gathered various pieces of information, which led me to you."

"You are the one it most desires to meet."

"Lord Cardo, to truly vanquish Tan Xiaotian, you must gain its endorsement."

"Of course, if you can synchronize with it, you could ascend to the eleventh level, just like our king."

"Please consider this carefully."

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