"What else did you expect?" Xu Zimo said. "A Fusion Heaven realm beast, nothing more than an ant, how else could it struggle?"
"But that was one of the Four Guardians," Green Yun still found it hard to believe.
Thousands of years of belief couldn't be overturned in an instant.
"That was supposed to be the strongest existence aside from the Black Dragon."
"That's only true for you," Xu Zimo replied. "If you ever get the chance to see the wider world beyond, you'll understand."
With the Black Wyvern's death, the turbulent river gradually calmed down.
"What about it?" Green Yun pointed at the Jiao's corpse.
"Leave it. It's useless," Xu Zimo answered.
The two of them rode the Darksky Tiger across the river and arrived on the opposite shore.
Though it was only separated by a river, the land here was clearly different from the Green Lizard plains.
The ground was red, and even the plants that grew were pale red.
Not far ahead, a canyon appeared in their field of view.
"Let's go. The Red Lizards live inside that canyon, though I don’t know if anything’s changed over the years," Green Yun said.
Xu Zimo nodded and stored away the Darksky Tiger. Stepping onto the red land, he walked forward.
"Can you tell me what you're looking for in our Lizard Race?" Green Yun asked after a moment of silence, finally gathering her courage. "I used to believe you entered here by mistake, but now it’s clear, you came here for a reason."
"What use do you think your Lizard Race has for me?" Xu Zimo asked with a smile.
"No idea," Green Yun shook her head.
"Ever heard of the Blood Lizard?" Xu Zimo asked again.
"You’re..." Green Yun was startled. After thinking for a while, she finally realized. "No wonder. You're talking about that legend."
"So you do know," Xu Zimo nodded.
"Well, for humans like you, I guess our Lizard Race does have some use," Green Yun said. "Actually, that’s a secret within our race. Ordinary lizards don’t know anything about it. But a thousand years ago, the Wrathful Lord came here with the same goal. That’s how I learned about it."
"He gave up later?" Xu Zimo asked.
"Not really. The problem was that his fusion method was incomplete, so he ultimately failed," Green Yun shook her head. "If he'd had a complete fusion technique and consumed the Blood Lizard Heart, he might’ve actually defeated the Black Dragon."
"Looks like you know quite a lot," Xu Zimo said with a grin.
"Our Lizard Race lives long. The longer you live, the more you learn," Green Yun replied. "Can I ask you for a favor?"
"Let me guess, you don’t want me to kill your fellow lizards?" Xu Zimo asked.
"No, just… can you spare the innocent ones? There are plenty of Black Dragon lackeys you can kill," Green Yun said.
"I'll consider it," Xu Zimo smiled.
As they spoke, they arrived at the canyon. The soil here was deep red.
No plants grew on the canyon walls, making it look like a desert wasteland, barren and exposed.
The canyon wasn’t very large, but it was noticeably hotter inside. Some footprints on the ground seemed to belong to Red Lizards.
Following the narrow path through the canyon, they walked another thirty or forty meters when a voice shouted, "Stop right there!"
Three black figures jumped down from the canyon walls above.
"Black Dragon Guards," Green Yun said quickly.
"Who are you?" the three looked at Green Yun and barked, "Why has a Green Lizard come here?"
Xu Zimo frowned slightly and couldn’t be bothered to speak. He waved his hand, and the three figures flew backward through the air.
With a loud crash, the three of them slammed hard into the canyon wall.
Due to the immense force, rubble fell from above, and the three men were embedded into the cliff.
"You..." one of them pointed at Xu Zimo. But before he could finish the sentence, he coughed up black blood and fell silent.
The noise drew others' attention. The canyon walls opened up with small earthen doors, and one red head after another cautiously peeked out.
These Red Lizards lived in dwellings that resembled cave homes, carved into the canyon walls. The doors were made from hardened red clay.
"Someone killed the Black Dragon Guards."
"What’s going on? Looks like there’s a Green Lizard here too. Why would one come to our territory?"
The Red Lizards whispered at first, but as more people joined, their voices grew louder and more chaotic.
"Everyone, don’t be afraid! We’re here to free you!" Green Yun shouted loudly.
"We killed the Black Dragon Guards, and the Black Wyvern from the black river is dead too! You're free now!"
Just then, a shout came from nearby.
"What’s all this noise? Tired of living?" A group of Red Lizards in red armor rushed over.
"Kill them! The lackeys are here," Green Yun said urgently.
The newly arrived Red Lizards were shocked by the scene before them.
"Black Dragon Guards, what happened?" their leader rushed forward and checked their condition, quickly discovering they were dead.
He turned around nervously and asked, "Who did this?"
"I did," Xu Zimo said calmly.
Several of the red-armored lizards drew their blades, glaring fiercely at him.
"What are you doing? That’s great!" the leader suddenly shouted at his men. He scolded, "This hero killed those scum, we should be celebrating! Are you trying to rebel?"
After berating his men, the Red Lizard leader turned to Xu Zimo with a fawning smile.
"My lord, you don’t know what it’s like. These Black Dragon Guards enslaved us daily. We had no choice but to obey them and do things we didn’t want to. I’ve long wanted to fight back but never had the chance."
"You understand the situation well. Not bad," Xu Zimo smiled. "Unfortunately, I’m strange that way, anyone I want to kill dies, friend or foe."
As he finished speaking, Xu Zimo raised his hand and slammed it down. A giant astral hand formed and crashed down.
With a thunderous boom, the ground exploded. A deep five-finger crater remained, and a pile of corpses.
Xu Zimo removed their hearts one by one and said to Green Yun, "This place is yours now. I’ll head out after I’m done."
As Xu Zimo left the canyon, all the Red Lizards jumped out of their cave homes, curiously surrounding Green Yun with questions.
...
Leaving the canyon behind, Xu Zimo found a relatively quiet place to begin fusing the Fire Lizard’s Heart.
He took out several fusion stones.