Chapter 103: Slaying the Demon Eye Monster, the Demon Eye Crystal

*Boom!*

The searing beam of light fired by the Evil Eye grazed Zhang Ran, striking the wasteland ten meters away. It exploded with a deafening roar, sending sparks and flames scattering in all directions.

Where the searing beam struck, a shallow crater about a meter wide yawned in the earth. The soil within had been blown away, the wild grass utterly incinerated, and the ground scorched to a charred black. A ring of lingering flames licked the edges of the crater.

As the Evil Eye’s sole offensive ability, the Searing Beam packed a devastating punch. With temperatures exceeding a thousand degrees Celsius, a direct hit was enough to instantly kill Level 2 mutated beasts and most Level 3s. Even a Level 4 creature would suffer severe injuries if caught in its blast.

Fortunately, the Searing Beam was not a homing ability. Despite the close range, Zhang Ran easily evaded the blast, guided by his body's swift reflexes and the warning prompts from his system chip.

Dodging the brunt of the beam, Zhang Ran lunged forward, closing the distance to the Evil Eye. He swung Army Breaker once more, the blade tracing a cold, shimmering arc through the air as he slashed furiously at the monster.

At this moment, the stark contrast between the Combat Domain and the Spell Domain became apparent. At long range, Spell Domain users held a decisive advantage, possessing the initiative to strike and wear down their enemies from afar with powerful magic.

In the clash between Zhang Ran and the Evil Eye, for instance, when they were separated by hundreds of meters, Zhang Ran had no way to retaliate. He could only passively endure the beast's magical onslaught.

Had it not been for the Evil Eye's frail physical constitution and Zhang Ran's superb marksmanship, he might never have closed the gap. He would have been immobilized by the monster's Mental Shock before being finished off by a Searing Beam.

In close combat, however, the tables turned entirely in favor of the Combat Domain.

Typically, spell-based abilities required a cast time, leaving spellcasters with no opportunity to unleash them once an opponent got within arm's reach. Thus, for a Spell Domain evolver, being cornered by a Combat Domain counterpart—even one a level lower—was incredibly perilous.

Facing the incoming edge of Army Breaker, the Evil Eye—having just depleted its mental energy on the Searing Beam—could not muster enough focus to manifest another energy shield. It could only watch in terror as Army Breaker cut through the air with a howling wind, slicing viciously toward its body.

With a wet squelch, the edge of Army Breaker sheared straight through the Evil Eye's defenses. Zhang Ran drove the blade forward in a violent horizontal sweep, easily slicing through the white, fleshy mass of its massive eye before cleaving the entire creature in two.

Cleaved at the waist, the Evil Eye's bisected carcass collapsed weakly onto the ground, twitching feebly. A mixture of white, pulpy fluid and dark red blood oozed from the wound. The pink, fleshy stalks behind its eyeball gave a few final spasms before falling still. It was dead.

Upon the Evil Eye's death, a cool stream of evolutionary energy surged from its carcass, crossing the distance to merge into Zhang Ran's body.

Unlike slaying combat-oriented mutated beasts, defeating a mental-type mutated creature yielded evolutionary energy that primarily enhanced the mind rather than physical attributes like strength, constitution, and agility.

As the cool energy permeated his system, it split into two streams. The smaller stream rushed to his head, reinforcing his brain cells and mental fortitude, while the larger portion circulated through his body before settling into his spine, condensing into the embryonic form of his second Evolution Point.

*[Level 4 Evil Eye slain. Evolutionary energy absorbed. Evolution Point condensation +13.21%. Current progress: 14.43% (13).]*

*[Level 4 Evil Eye slain. Mental power significantly enhanced by evolutionary energy. Strength +0.01, Constitution +0.01, Agility +0.001, Spirit +0.021.]*

As the energy was fully absorbed, the system chip's notifications chimed in his ear. Taking this moment of respite, Zhang Ran deactivated his Blood Boil state.

After a brief rest, Zhang Ran's mind had mostly recovered from the effects of the Mental Shock. His consciousness cleared, and control over his body returned to normal. However, angry red welts and small blisters still dotted his arms.

These welts were the lingering effects of the Evil Eye's Curse. Even though the monster was dead, Zhang Ran lacked any skills to dispel or heal curses. He could only rely on his robust constitution to endure the affliction and wait for it to fade naturally.

Furthermore, the battle had drained nearly thirty percent of his stamina. Combined with the weakening effect of the curse, he felt a wave of fatigue wash over him.

Right then, the pool of stored blood qi in his heart rapidly dissolved, converting into vital energy. It flowed out of his heart and surged through his limbs, swiftly replenishing his depleted stamina.

This blood qi held vital energy equivalent to twenty percent of his total stamina—the maximum capacity of his Blood Plunder ability. As the energy dispersed, his fatigue vanished, and his strength quickly returned.

With a thought, the Blood Thorn that had pierced the Evil Eye flew out from the creature's mangled remains and returned to him.

Although the Evil Eye was a Level 4 mutated beast, its physical constitution was incredibly weak, meaning its vital blood was sparse—hardly matching that of a strong Level 1 beast. Consequently, the Blood Thorn had harvested very little vital energy.

As his stamina recovered, Zhang Ran raised the heavy sword Army Breaker and thoroughly dissected the Evil Eye's carcass.

Without its structural form, the Evil Eye was now nothing more than a heap of red and white pulp. Zhang Ran used the tip of Army Breaker to rummage through the mess.

"An Evil Eye crystal! Excellent!"

Before long, he unearthed a fist-sized blue crystal from the pulp. It was smooth to the touch, shimmering with a beautiful, lustrous sheen. A look of pleasant surprise crossed his face.

Mental-type mutated creatures like the Evil Eye lacked robust physical vitality; instead, their mental power was concentrated within a psychic crystal, often referred to as a mental core.

Of course, not all mental-type beasts formed these crystals. For instance, Zhang Ran had found no such crystal inside the werewolf priest he had slain previously.

These psychic crystals were reservoirs of pure energy. Unlike the brain cores of zombies, they were free of viruses and contamination. They could be directly absorbed by the human body to yield evolutionary energy and permanently boost one's mental attributes, making them highly valuable resources.