The Evolution Compendium

As soon as the words were spoken, everyone simultaneously looked at Zhang Wei.

The latter was deathly pale and utterly drained of energy. Now, because of Chu Yi's words, he seemed somewhat dazed, his face a mask of disbelief.

"So, you're the traitor! I knew there was something wrong with you!"

Chen Heng was the first to jump out, emboldened by Chu Yi's presence behind him, and scolded Zhang Wei, "The City Defense Army will be here soon. Just wait for death!"

Zhao Yan snapped back to her senses. Almost without hesitation, she hid behind Chu Yi. Her almond eyes revealed a complex emotion as she shouted towards Zhang Wei, "Do you remember the wish we three made under the sycamore tree when we were six?"

At this moment, she felt Junior Brother Chu Yi had no reason to deceive her.

More importantly, when she had supported Zhang Wei earlier, she hadn't paid much attention in her haste. Thinking back carefully now, that sense of childhood connection had faded considerably.

Otherwise, after leaving the mine, she would have instinctively shown concern for Zhang Wei.

"I remember."

A bitter smile touched Zhang Wei's lips; he knew he needed evidence to prove his innocence.

"Your wish was for the three of us to stay safe and be friends for life. Ye Qing wished for a dragon-type Pet Beast, a Blue Silver Tyrannosaurus. And I wished to become a Legendary Beast Tamer."

Zhao Yan nodded. She asked a few more questions, and he answered them all correctly.

She looked at Chu Yi in confusion, then at the aggrieved Zhang Wei, hesitating.

Chu Yi calmly and slowly said, "Alright then, Senior Zhang Wei, can you explain why, after running for so long, you haven't sweated?"

"Sweat?"

Zhao Yan and Chen Heng were stunned. They quickly noticed that Zhang Wei had no sweat on his body; instead, the sunlight made his face appear deathly pale, like a corpse.

After intense exercise and prolonged physical exertion, how could a normal person not sweat even a little?

Chen Heng shivered.

Zhang Wei and Ye Qing had died long ago. The one who had been with them... could it really be a corpse that could move?

Upon further thought, it was terrifying!

"I-it's because of my constitution," Zhang Wei defended. "I've contracted a Cotton Guard. Not sweating easily is a characteristic from the Pet Beast. Yan Er knows this."

Zhao Yan shook her head, her expression complicated. "I didn't know you contracted this Pet Beast."

"Moreover, the Zhang Wei I knew never behaved like you do now. Although you hide it well, my intuition tells me you are not him."

Hearing this, Zhang Wei stumbled back a few steps, heartbroken and incredulous. "You really don't believe me? After more than a decade of companionship, you'd just abandon me like that?"

He pointed to Chu Yi, his voice laced with pain, "And him? A junior you've only met a few times—he's more worthy of your trust?"

Zhao Yan calmed down and shook her head. "I'm sorry."

"I understand now."

Zhang Wei cursed angrily, "Isn't it possible that this junior is the real culprit behind all of this? Ever since he appeared, this whole series of events began to unfold!"

"What Six-Tailed Fox, what Beast Taming Genius—it's all fake! Have you forgotten? In the academy, he never even contracted a Pet Beast! His reputation as an 'Outlier'—is there anyone in the entire academy who doesn't know?!"

"He's accusing me just to toy with us, for his own sick amusement!"

His forceful words made both Zhao Yan and Chen Heng's expressions change.

Yes, that's right! Chen Heng thought. He had been leading their group of three, diligently mining Earth Spirit Ore in the caves. Everything had been fine until this Junior Brother Chu Yi appeared. Only then did bizarre things like the Thousand-Handed Monster start happening. Chu Yi had even been 'eaten' by the mine and then suddenly reappeared. Could all of this be a hallucination as they were dying? Could it be that, in reality, they had all perished long ago at the hands of the Thousand-Faced Monster in the mine?

Though it was hard to believe, Zhang Wei's words indeed seemed to hold some truth.

"Fine, if that's how you want to play it."

Chu Yi sighed, a cold light flashing in his beautiful Star Eyes. "Then perish."

"Bika!"

Bika, who had been waiting eagerly, ignited layer upon layer of Crown Flame. Its six fox tails fanned out wildly, like frenzied dragons in flight, unleashing a power that seemed capable of tearing the heavens apart—a torrent of searing fire.

Its perfectly graceful body moved, raising a paw. Sharp claws, enveloped in Crown Flame, transformed its figure into a phantom that dragged a fiery blaze through the air, smashing fiercely onto Zhang Wei's head.

Quick! Too quick!

It was like the claw of a Giant Dragon descending. The resulting shockwave made the air explode, and the ground within tens of feet cracked, unable to withstand the force.

If that claw landed, Zhang Wei's head would explode like a watermelon smashed by a baseball bat!

However, the expected spray of blood didn't occur.

Under everyone's stunned gaze, Zhang Wei's head actually withstood the dragon-like force of the claw. Only his scalp tore, flaking away like pieces of shredded paper.

"He really is compromised!"

Chen Heng was aghast, trembling.

"'You ant, you've angered...'"

BOOM—

The second claw struck. Zhang Wei cried out in pain as he was blasted away, slamming into the mine wall like a cannonball and creating a human-shaped crater.

"Enough nonsense. Show me your true power."

Chu Yi stated coldly. He wanted to use this battle to hone Bika's power after its evolution, which would also help with its registration with the Federation.

COUGH, COUGH...

A battered figure crawled out of the crater. Zhang Wei's expression darkened, his gaze fixed on Chu Yi now held an inhuman greed, a predatory scrutiny.

"As you wish. I hope you don't regret this."

The human skin peeled off him like a discarded garment. There was nothing inside but a few traces of blood and some mangled pieces of flesh, gnawed clean.

Zhang Wei had been parasitized the moment he entered the mine. This consciousness had greedily devoured his internal organs, flesh, and bones, consuming him piece by piece—including his memories and Soul.

In other words, what had accompanied Zhao Yan and Chen Heng was merely Zhang Wei's human skin, with a sinister will operating underneath.

In the past, Beast Tamers who explored the mine were consumed in this manner: one would be replaced, fear would be instilled, and then they would be devoured one by one. Such "food" was the most delectable.

However, due to an agreement with the great hand of the Titan Race, most of this "food" was offered as a sacrifice in an Evil Gods ritual, intended to weaken the seal.

Therefore, it could only consume a small portion, often leaving it hungry and unsatisfied.

"You ignorant fools! Kneel! Tremble! Welcome the great Madness Mountain Range!"

Its consciousness merged into the mountain range. Its voice grew hoarse, eventually sounding more like a beast's guttural roar. The entire mine began to tremble, becoming chaotic and distorted, like a pool of writhing ink, reverting to some ancient, primordial state.

The mine was its true form!

Those Thousand-Handed Monsters were merely parasitic bacteria within its body, products of some special ecological derivation tied to the Evil Gods.

The entire formless mine began to exude a vile stench. Before everyone's terrified eyes, it transformed into an amorphous, protoplasmic mass—a swollen horror that pulsed with faint, ominous glimmers of light.

Tens of thousands of green-glowing, pus-like eyes, like bubbles forming on a summer pond, continuously materialized and burst across its surface. The sight was indescribably grotesque. Any intelligent being who witnessed it felt their sanity shatter as if it were one of those bursting bubbles. They became blindly, idiotically subservient, overcome by an irresistible urge to submit and offer their very being to the entity.