The Spirit Pearl in Hand

The Earth Control Chouwa Beast's face changed dramatically, a glint of panic flashing in its eyes. It suddenly opened its mouth and bit down, trying to crush whatever was causing trouble inside its mouth.

At this moment, it realized too late that the trio before it had been luring it into a trap, slowly wearing it down while something else sneaked inside its body to locate the Earth Control Spirit Pearl.

It was infuriating. How could it have been so careless? It hadn't noticed anything entering its body, and the Spirit Pearl hidden in its teeth had been difficult to find. The thing must have been searching for a long time without its detection. Damned luck.

But it was too late for regrets. Now it had to patch things up and turn the tide, or it would lose the Earth Control Spirit Pearl and suffer a severe drop in power.

Bang!

The enormous stone teeth, formed from hardened earth, snapped together with a tremendous crash, as if an airplane had just crashed into the ground. The sound was thunderous.

Kent frowned, concerned about Bajie. Since Bajie, in his shadow state, couldn't handle the physical Black Dagger, only in his true form—a mass of black mist—could he interact with solid objects. This meant Bajie might get injured.

"Bajie, are you alright?" Kent contacted him mentally.

"I'm fine. I dodged it," Bajie responded. Though in shadow form, the Light Devouring Beast still had a certain level of intelligence and could communicate clearly with Kent through their bond.

Kent breathed a sigh of relief and quickly signaled for Wukong and Garfield to join in and keep the Earth Control Chouwa Beast distracted, preventing it from focusing entirely on Bajie.

The trio launched a series of fierce attacks, inflicting various wounds on the Earth Control Chouwa Beast. However, due to the presence of the Earth Vortex, the beast was barely affected, rapidly recovering.

Seeing this, Kent temporarily abandoned his focus on the Earth Control Chouwa Beast and turned his attention to the Earth Vortex.

The vortex had now expanded to half an acre, spinning wildly, with the surrounding earth power being drawn in, continuously feeding the vortex.

Kent wasn't sure how to deal with this vortex. After some thought, he decided to try overpowering it with sheer strength.

With this in mind, Wukong grew even larger and swung his 8,000-pound iron rod down on the edge of the vortex with immense force.

Bang!

However, the vortex only suffered minimal damage, quickly recovering as more earth power was absorbed. It was as if nothing had happened at all.

Kent was slightly stunned by the result. Given Wukong's natural godlike strength and the indestructible iron rod, he hadn't expected such a minimal effect.

"This is a tough opponent—defense to the extreme. No wonder no one's been able to break through it," Kent mused. But he wasn't too concerned. No matter how high its defense, without strong offense, it couldn't win. And the Earth Control Chouwa Beast still had a fatal weakness.

"Master, I'm going to use Piercing," Bajie's voice echoed in Kent's mind.

With the Earth Control Spirit Pearl exposed, the Earth Control Chouwa Beast had surrounded it with a thick layer of earth power and was continuously gnashing its teeth, making it difficult for Bajie to act.

Thus, Bajie decided to use Piercing.

"Go ahead," Kent responded.

Although Bajie's piercing ability wasn't destructive, it had unmatched penetration power. It had been capable of piercing through the steel plates of Ten Companies long ago, and after his level-up, Kent was confident that Bajie could breach the earth power's defenses and reach the Spirit Pearl.

Kent could feel that Bajie encountered many obstacles, but after some effort, he finally broke through the earth power's protection and reached the Earth Control Spirit Pearl. Bajie raised the Black Dagger and thrust it down with great force.

Plop!

A round orb was pulled out from its embedded position, and the Earth Control Chouwa Beast's eyes immediately turned bloodshot, its fury boiling over. The Earth Control Spirit Pearl fell out of its teeth, slipping out of its control, and the beast's Earth Control powers vanished in an instant.

While the beast could still use Earth Control, it was nowhere near as powerful as before, unable to exert even half its original strength.

The Earth Control Chouwa Beast snapped its jaws furiously, grinding its teeth in desperation, hoping to crush the thing still in its mouth.

But instead of crushing it, Bajie darted out between the beast's gnashing teeth, carrying with him a fist-sized, translucent orb glowing with a deep, earth-yellow hue—perfectly intact.

Shrouded in dense black mist, Bajie rushed toward Kent, who leaped forward to meet him. Within two breaths, the two collided, and Kent caught the Earth Control Spirit Pearl, holding it in his palm to inspect.

The Spirit Pearl had a cool, heavy feel to it. Despite its size—only about the size of a fist—it weighed nearly a thousand pounds, far too heavy for an ordinary person to lift.

"Tsk tsk, truly a rare treasure," Kent murmured.

Without even trying, he could feel an immense amount of earth power gathering around him, swirling in the air. Without a doubt, this was a top-tier item for earth attribute monsters and those who practiced earth-based combat techniques—worth an immense fortune.

"Roar!"

The Earth Control Chouwa Beast, now completely consumed by rage, let out a furious roar and lunged toward Kent with a terrifying expression.

However, Kent no longer saw the beast as a serious opponent. Now, looking at the Earth Vortex above the Earth Control Chouwa Beast, he noticed that its size had shrunk significantly—it was only a third of its original size. Although it could still provide a continuous supply of earth power, it was starting to fall short, and as the battle dragged on, the beast's internal earth power would be gradually exhausted.

Moreover, with the Earth Control Spirit Pearl nearby, it was actively absorbing the surrounding earth power, putting it into direct competition with the beast. No matter how hard the Earth Control Chouwa Beast tried, it couldn't win the battle for the power.

"Garfield, Wukong, don't hold back," Kent ordered.

Without the Earth Control Spirit Pearl, the Earth Control Chouwa Beast's power had dropped drastically, and Kent was no longer interested in fighting it. He believed that Garfield could probably defeat the beast alone, and with Wukong's support, it would be even quicker.

Kent leapt onto a tree branch nearly a hundred meters high, ignoring the battle below and focusing entirely on the Earth Control Spirit Pearl in his hand.

His eyes gleamed with gold as the system instantly scanned the treasure.

Ding! System Notification: This is a high-tier Earth Control Spirit Pearl, an exceptional earth-type treasure, classified as a mid-tier Saint-tier spirit item. Extremely rare and valuable.

Kent's smile widened. Just this Earth Control Spirit Pearl made the whole journey worthwhile. If sold, it would easily fetch at least one billion credit points.

Although the Earth Control Spirit Pearl was just a small tier above the 500-year-old Snow Mountain Ice Lotus, its value was vastly higher, and it was virtually impossible to buy.

The reason for the price difference was simple: the Earth Control Spirit Pearl was a spirit item that could be used continuously, while the Snow Mountain Ice Lotus was a medicinal herb, good only for one-time use, and its effects were nowhere near as powerful as the Spirit Pearl.

"If I practiced earth-based combat techniques, my progress would skyrocket, and my techniques would be far more powerful," Kent thought, fully confident in the Spirit Pearl's potential.