The bone spike suddenly pierced into the bodies of the two unconscious beasts, and almost simultaneously, they emitted a low, painful groan.

  The sound was faint but carried their final struggles and unwillingness. At that moment, it was their last echo in this world.

  The two beasts' bodies rapidly contracted, as if all their life force was mercilessly drained by the bone spike. Their essence flowed like water, streaming into the spike at an astonishing speed.

  A bluish smoke slowly rose from the tip of the bone spike, spreading until the two beasts completely dissolved into nothingness, leaving not a trace behind.

  As Gregor the Serpent Man withdrew the bone spike, his face flushed deep red, as if he had just swallowed strong liquor. He could clearly feel that, as the spike pierced his body, the power he had been accumulating reached its limit, nearly bursting forth.

  He took a deep breath, widened his eyes, and shouted fiercely,"Break!"

  Though the roar was drowned out by the roar of the waterfall and didn't carry far, the surge of energy erupting within him was so intense it tore apart the falling curtain of water.

  At the mouth of the cave behind the waterfall, the Serpent Ancestor had somehow already moved to the edge, his body tense, eyes full of expectation and encouragement.

  In their era, there was no such thing as"natural awakening." They only cared about the amount of power within. Seeing Gregor's loud roar, the Serpent Ancestor knew his potential was extraordinary.

  "Push harder!" the Serpent Ancestor silently cheered him on, his whole body tensing as if trying to transfer strength through sheer will.

  Gregor did not disappoint. With that roar, a brand-new power slowly began to gestate within his body.

  Having experienced a body upgrade before, he knew what this meant. He concentrated, gathering all his internal strength, nurturing this newborn power meticulously like feeding a baby.

  He understood that only by renewing all the power inside himself into a stronger form could the upgrade be truly complete. This was an excruciating process.

  Two forces within him twisted and fought, one devouring and assimilating the other as they raced through his meridians.

  Gregor's skin felt as if thousands of tiny snakes were crawling beneath, darting wildly through his veins and muscles in a frantic surge.

  Before long, his skin reddened, as if about to burst open at any moment. Gritting his teeth, Gregor desperately guided and organized the chaotic energy.

  This was the crucial moment— any slight mistake could cause his energy to spiral out of control, shattering his body and ending his life.

  At this moment, it was also the best opportunity for the Serpent Ancestor to act. Draven had deliberately made Gregor carry the Serpent Ancestor with him, intending to use this living puppet, on the brink of breaking through to the leader level, as bait.

  If the Serpent Ancestor made any sudden moves, Gregor's true body could forcibly intervene through their contract and make him pay.

  However, the Serpent Ancestor did not act hastily. His eyes were full of approval. He understood that the contract penetrated the soul—it was far more than just switching bodies and breaking free.

  Moreover, he had already accepted the Serpent Man as an ally, hoping he would plead for help at critical moments, not cause trouble now.

  Time seemed to stand still. After an unknown length of time, Gregor suddenly emitted a muffled grunt as the power of his bloodline fully surged. That inexplicable clarity and insight flooded his mind, like a serpent engulfed in flames slowly opening his eyes.

  "Is it done?" The Serpent Ancestor bounced excitedly to his side, wagging his slender tail with uncontrollable joy shining in his eyes.

  A flicker of strangeness passed through Gregor's eyes. His gaze softened noticeably when he looked at the Serpent Ancestor. Clearly, in his and his true body's mind, the Serpent Ancestor had passed this trial.

  Stolen story; please report.

  As the power of the bloodline receded, Gregor nodded and revealed a satisfied smile. He stood up, the faint crackling of his skin sounding like tiny popcorn bursts.

  The Serpent Man stretched out his arms, twisted his limbs, and began to adapt to this newfound power. He felt every muscle and nerve readjusting, the strength flowing through his veins, waiting to erupt.

  "Now, let me see if your undead summoning is really as amazing as you said," Gregor said, staring down at the Serpent Ancestor coiled before him, a look of eager anticipation on his face.

  "Watch me!" the Serpent Ancestor responded confidently, slithering smoothly along the ground.

  The serpent body of the Serpent Ancestor, shrouded in magical power, swiftly slithered and twisted across the ground, gradually tracing out a complex and mysterious pattern.

  The design looked like it was composed of countless twisted ghosts, skeletons, and broken limbs—chaotic in shape yet strangely harmonious—ultimately forming a complete circular magic array.

  Under the magical energy flowing through the Serpent Ancestor's body, the lines emitted a faint green glow, eerie and chilling, like flames burning in a graveyard at night.

  The entire stone cave was bathed in this ghastly green light, even Gregor's face was tinted with a pale and uncanny green hue.

  He couldn't help but squint his serpent eyes slightly, feeling uncomfortable, as if the light was stinging them. Time passed slowly, and the pattern of the magic array gradually became complete, its details increasingly clear.

  The Serpent Ancestor retracted his serpent body beside it, his body trembling slightly, obviously this engraving had consumed a great deal of his magical power. His voice was low and weary:"Use blood as the conduit and recite the incantation I have taught you!"

  Without hesitation, Gregor quickly opened his right hand, producing a cold, pale-white short dagger in his palm. His gaze was calm, and with a slight slash of his wrist, blood slowly dripped from the wound onto the gradually glowing magic array.

  Each drop of blood seemed to ignite the array's veins, activating those sinister runes.

  At the same time, Gregor's lips moved subtly, chanting an obscure and difficult incantation. His voice was low but filled with power. Accompanied by the chant, the magic array began to blaze with the same ghastly green flames.

  The flames flickered lightly, resembling a ghostly dance, slowly engulfing the pattern on the ground, spreading out and covering the entire array.

  Draven monitored everything from a distance through his secondary consciousness, clearly sensing the flame's pulsation frequency tightly synchronized with the rhythm of Gregor's chant.

  As the incantation grew louder, the flames surged higher, even crawling upward along the blood trail on Gregor's wrist, as if guided by the blood, crazily climbing upward.

  "Don't panic!" the Serpent Ancestor shouted anxiously, his voice tinged with urgency,"Keep chanting, don't stop!"

  His serpent eyes burned with a fanatical light, filled with a mad determination, as if the success of this ritual meant his life or death.

  Draven frowned as he watched this scene, a hint of worry rising in his heart. If this ritual went wrong, the consequences would be catastrophic.

  At that moment, the ghastly green flames, which had already risen to the cave's ceiling, suddenly erupted with a dazzling brilliance, like a massive firework bursting instantaneously.

  The flames surged against the cave's ceiling, then rapidly spread out, engulfing the entire stone cave in a dense green radiance. The air was filled with a heavy magical fluctuation that made one's heartbeat quicken.

  After the fiery burst, the magic of the array seemed to be completely drained, the source severed, and the flames dissipated from the high ceiling like fireworks fading, leaving only endless darkness behind.

  At the center of the array, a vague black shadow slowly emerged. The shadow gradually took shape, revealing a tall humanoid silhouette.

  Gregor's serpent pupils suddenly contracted sharply, his heartbeat accelerating. The shadow displayed a chilling outline—it was a monster clad in knight's armor.

  Its face was nothing but a skeletal frame, with hollow eye sockets burning two black flames. The tattered cloak fluttered slightly despite no wind, adding a sense of eerie menace and pressure.

  "Death Knight?" The Serpent Ancestor's voice was filled with excitement as he nimbly swam around the shadow, letting out a guttural laugh,"Not bad, but unfortunately, no steed."

  The so-called necromantic summoning was to call forth aid from another world.

  The summoned entity's strength depended not only on its own power but also involved an element of luck. Judging by this, Gregor's luck was fairly decent.

  The Serpent Ancestor once boasted that at the peak of his power, he had a necromantic dracolich as a mount.

  Gregor curiously asked why he no longer summoned it, and the Serpent Ancestor's expression immediately darkened, replying simply that now he was nothing more than a lingering soul; forcibly summoning would likely cause the array to backlash and trap him forever in the realm of the undead.

  The Death Knight was wrapped in battered knight armor, with mottled rust and cracks telling countless stories of war.

  Beneath the skeletal face, the black-flamed eyes were horrifying. He gripped a massive black greatsword, with a heavy iron chain wrapped around the hilt, extending all the way to his right arm, as if imprisoning some invisible force.

  Sensing the powerful energy radiating from the Death Knight, Gregor focused his mind. The black humanoid shadow suddenly transformed into a beam of light, swiftly shooting toward his left hand.

  The light pierced the wound on his wrist, and the injury began to blur and gradually heal.

  Then, a black tattoo appeared, intricate and powerful, almost exactly matching the outline of the Death Knight's greatsword—except it lacked the entwined chains.