Everyone paused, their gazes turning to Li Shifan and Zhang Deming. From the pockets of their clothes, a jade-like glow emanated.

Zhang Deming and Li Shifan were taken aback. They immediately took out the glowing objects from their pockets. Looking at them, they were none other than the Jade Command Tokens from passing the trial!

’So it’s true? Did this island appear because we brought these Command Tokens in with us?’

Zhang Deming stared at the Command Token, his thoughts racing.

The surrounding crowd looked at the Command Tokens in the two men’s hands, their own expressions flickering with thought.

Just then, a change in the center of the slime drew everyone’s attention.

In the center of the slime, a previously invisible jade-colored light suddenly intensified.

As the light grew richer, the once-calm slime began to bubble and even churn.

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, a huge sphere of light slowly emerged.

As the sphere rose, they saw it was at least two to three meters in diameter. Within it, a Jade Vine radiated a brilliant green light.

But as the sphere continued to rise, everyone gradually realized something was wrong.

After the sphere had risen enough to reveal half its form...

...a massive mouth slowly came into view, looking as if it were holding the sphere of light within it.

"That couldn’t be a dragon’s head, could it?"

As the enormous mouth slowly revealed itself, followed by the lower half of a head, someone cried out in shock.

Before the giant, orb-holding dragon head could fully emerge, several large, petal-like mouths began to sprout from the slime around it.

Zhang Deming and Li Shifan only caught a glimpse of a corner of these mouths, but it was enough to send a chill down their spines and snap them to their senses. They exchanged a look, terror in their eyes.

"Run!"

Zhang Deming shouted abruptly, stunning the other three people around them.

Hearing Zhang Deming, Li Shifan didn’t hesitate, turning to flee just as Zhang Deming did.

But the two had only gotten a short distance when the Jade Vine inside the giant sphere of light swayed gently.

The jade light from the vine instantly intensified, causing the entire sphere to tremble slightly.

"HISS..."

This change made some of the petal-mouthed creatures that had just emerged around the dragon’s head let out a shriek.

One by one, serpentine bodies like tentacles, each topped with a large, chrysanthemum-like mouth, burst from the slime. They opened their maws wide and roared at the sky.

In an instant, a dozen or so tentacle-like snake bodies were dancing in the air around the dragon’s head.

An aura that was incredibly powerful and heavy, yet tinged with madness and savagery, spread out.

’This aura?’

’The power of a Three Talents cultivator at the Peak of the Celestial Realm, maybe even on the verge of advancing to Four Symbols?’

’A cultivator of Tai Chi Ten Thousand Paths and Three Lives, with a Duality Dao Foundation Third Transition, at the Three Talents Heaven, Earth, and Human Three Realms.’

Everyone’s expression changed drastically. Many turned in unison, intending to flee.

But as the vine had swayed and the sphere had trembled, a massive Light Curtain, like an inverted dome, had slammed down and sealed the entire slime-covered area.

And everyone at the edge of the forest was trapped, without exception—including Zhang Deming and Li Shifan, who had retreated a few steps and were right at the boundary.

Blocked by the Light Curtain, Zhang Deming and Li Shifan didn’t hesitate. They unleashed their Spiritual Power and attacked the barrier.

The others, quickly realizing the situation, joined the assault.

But the Light Curtain was incredibly sturdy. Their attacks couldn’t even make it ripple, let alone break it.

This situation made everyone’s faces turn grim.

"Um, I think we should probably stop acting rashly," Fanx Dexian said suddenly.

Everyone paused and followed his gaze.

They saw that the giant head holding the orb had now completely risen from the surface. It was indeed a dragon’s head, a hornless one.

Its mouth was pointed skyward, holding the massive sphere of light. Its draconic eyes were shut tight, as if in a deep sleep.

Around the dragon’s head, no fewer than ten snake-like bodies had now emerged, each tipped with one of those chrysanthemum-like petal mouths.

Now, because of their attacks, these bodies seemed to have sensed the Spiritual Qi and were swaying toward them.

Even the still-rising, slumbering dragon head was drifting slightly in their direction.

Seeing this, everyone froze as if petrified, their movements ceasing in unison.

As they stopped moving, the dancing, tentacle-like snake bodies also came to a halt, continuing to circle the dragon’s head as it rose.

The group remained eerily silent, watching the sleeping dragon head ascend slowly.

"What the hell is this thing? It’s not some mutated Demon Dragon, is it!" Fanx Dexian exclaimed.

At his words, everyone looked at the snake bodies, realizing the creature didn’t seem to react to sound.

Dang Ruyu finally spoke up. "I’m not sure. There’s a whole hierarchy of draconic beasts, from serpents and pythons up to the Chi Dragon. A Three Talents-level Demon Dragon would have to be at least a Chi Dragon. For a Great Demon of that caliber, we’re not even an appetizer."

"Don’t be so pessimistic," Zhou Zhixin said. "This is a Blessed Land Grotto Heaven, after all. It might be a Spirit Beast."

"Look at it. Do you even believe what you’re saying?" Dang Ruyu retorted, gesturing at the dozen or so grotesque snake bodies around the dragon’s head.

His words once again plunged the surroundings into an eerie silence.

Dang Ruyu was really turning into a bit of a conversation killer.

"I don’t think it’s a dragon, or at least not a Chi Dragon," Zhang Deming said.

Because after the head had fully emerged, it didn’t stop rising.

Following the head was not a dragon’s body or a snake’s body, but a massive Armor Shell.

"A Dragon Turtle?" Li Shifan asked.

Zhang Deming stared at the huge Armor Shell. "Looks like a Dragon Turtle. A mutated one."

"Whether it’s a Chi Dragon, a mutant Dragon Turtle, or some other Dragon Species...

...if we don’t manage to escape before it fully wakes up, our fate probably won’t be a pleasant one," Fanx Dexian said.

Zhang Deming looked at the surrounding Light Curtain. "I don’t think this thing is asleep.

After all, the timing of this Light Curtain was a little too convenient, too perfect.

No matter how you look at it, it seems like it was created specifically to stop us from running."

"So what do you think it means? That this peak-level master wants to invite us for tea?" Fanx Dexian said sarcastically.

"Everyone, I don’t think it’s that simple," said Dang Ruyu.

He didn’t need to say it; everyone had already realized.

Because by now the Dragon Turtle had fully emerged—though calling it a Dragon Turtle might not be entirely accurate.

It did have a dragon’s head and a Turtle Shell, but where its four limbs and tail should have been, there were writhing snake bodies instead.

From the base of each limb sprouted three forked snake bodies, with a single one for a tail. The tip of each snake body was one of those chrysanthemum-like mouths.

The entire deformed body was covered in metallic spots that gleamed with a silvery-white luster.

Some of the snake bodies were coiled around the Turtle Shell, while others were tangled around the dragon’s neck, their great mouths gaping toward the sky as they swayed gently.

A violent aura rose from these serpentine bodies, while a refreshing, pure aura emanated from the dragon’s head and the orb in its mouth.

The two auras were entangled above its shell, locked in a struggle.

The violent aura was clearly stronger—not just by a little, but by a lot.

It was less of a struggle and more like the refreshing aura was just barely hanging on.

"It seems to be struggling?" Li Shifan said.

"It’s probably a fight for control of the body!" Dang Ruyu guessed.

"I just want to know if this thing trapped us here on purpose. And if so, why?" Fanx Dexian asked.

Hearing this, Zhang Deming’s eyes lit up. ’That’s right, how could I have forgotten to look at it from that angle?’

’Why did the island suddenly appear?’

’Why does it seem to be erupting so suddenly?’

’It’s been dormant for who knows how long, so why erupt now, of all times?’

’Why keep us here?’

Zhang Deming looked at the glowing Command Token in his hand and considered the current situation.

’There’s only one possibility. Originally, this being was fated to be slowly consumed. But our arrival—or rather, the arrival of these Command Tokens—has given it a chance.’