"I want to know what kind of transformation the complete Rites of the Star Gods can bring, what kind of power it represents—The Last Echo, for this I need your source, ’Soul of Origin’."
"You won’t hand it over to me calmly, will you? And there’s the depth of the Blazing Suspended Star Dragon, the Source of Dragon Blood, and the Dragon Crystal Memory Archive... Oh yes, you definitely have other purposes for coming to the Exotic Species Research Institute, like the total information archive and the ’Master Authority of the Labyrinth’... and that is within my ’Radiance of the Stars’."
[Radiance of the Stars is not necessary] The golden soul wanted to retort, but the cyan soul interrupted, "Then what about the Body of Light? You need at least one of them to achieve your goal, right? And now, both of these are inside me."
"You definitely want to kill me, just as I want to kill you."
The cyan soul and the golden soul both stopped in their tracks.
They stared at each other in silence, revealing different smiles in unison.
"I want to kill you for my desire, and you will kill me for yours. Echo, you’re mistaken, this isn’t a battle, it’s a murder. I want to crush you for my dreams, and so do you."
Having said this, Ian and Mahdi, wanting to ascend to the soul Above the Sky, showed an extremely cold smile: "And what you should do is stop me, my victim."
[Ridiculous madman, I actually tried to deceive a fanatic like you, it was indeed my mistake]
The Last Echo, the ancient soul, a being of data, shook its head, laughing in anger at Ian’s straightforward desire: [A madman consumed by curiosity... You want to know the truth? If you really knew, you would never have the idea of ’staying on Terra’!]
[Besides, those truths are utterly meaningless, knowing them only brings despair, understanding only brings pain, do you think our original selves gave up for nothing? It’s precisely because they knew the truth, they understood that everything in this universe is meaningless!]
[But I know, all things eventually meet their end. Meaningless is meaningless, but as long as one can exist and persist as much as possible, there will always be a miraculous opportunity for reversal... That’s why I must leave Terra, leave this ’cradle destined for destruction’!]
Ian suddenly shouted, the emotions in his voice erupted at this moment, with gritted teeth and burning anger enough to set cities aflame, like someone who has finally found someone who speaks plainly after countless riddles: [Tell me what this ’cradle destined for destruction’ truly represents—Echo, make it clear, and I’ll give you a swift death!]
—What kind of person is this, someone who can say something must be insane? Although I intend to do the same, how can he say it out loud?
The Last Echo thought so but, having lost its patience, it wasn’t planning to waste any more words.
[Whatever you plan to do, madman]
The Echo said: [But now, whatever you want to know, you must defeat me first]
Buzz—At that moment, the golden soul suddenly expanded and transformed, instantly becoming a Dark Gold Colossus Dragon—strong, majestic, taller and more robust than any dark gold dragon seen before, nearly thirty meters high.
This was a ’full-grown True Dragon, nearly a hundred meters tall, looking from afar like a small mountain, about the same size as the Qing Steel Dragon Ian once saw in the True Dragon memory...
This is the Qing Steel Dragon.
However, this Qing Steel Dragon’s body became stronger, its scales more solid, its wings had tremendous thrust... this seemed more like another powerful dragon modified from the body of the Qing Steel Dragon.
Just like... the ’Dark Gold Colossus Dragon’ on the Spirit Disaster Path!
Though there were some differences, perhaps that’s because Echo had absorbed the bloodlines of all the present Sublimators, undergoing a refinement.
"...The body of the Qing Steel Dragon is in the Labyrinth?"
Ian frowned, a possibility suddenly came to his mind: "Wait, the last battle between the Qing Steel Dragon and the Icefog Dragon... the Exotic Species Research Institute has remained undiscovered for so many years, there must be a Guardian behind it... could it be that this Guardian..."
[You still have the mind to think more?]
In ’imagination’, Echo, who had transformed into its perfect form, really found it laughable and unbelievable this time: [This is a soul battle between you and me, determination is our weapon, and you dare get distracted?]
Echo took a deep breath, a vast amount of Aether began to gather—this process was smooth, without a hint of the disharmony of reality control.
As Echo said, in the Soul Space, imagination and determination are the true weapons, while the strength of the soul serves as ammunition. In this space, Echo could freely transform into the ’strongest’ form it could achieve with the Body of the Dark Gold Gigantic Dragon.
In this form, Echo had the confidence to defeat any enemy.
In the next moment, there was a breath.
Instantly, an ultra-gravity wave advancing at lightspeed shot towards Ian, who stood there as if still contemplating—there were no shockwaves, no spillage of high temperature and pressure, because all the power had been focused into that one already darkened ’lightspeed’.
And what greeted it was a hand.
Ian raised his head, facing the beam larger than his entire body, without flinching or dodging.