Lydia Quinn thought for a moment before saying, "If you want to destroy his body, you'll have to use an extreme method. But this extreme method—I've only ever heard my master mention it once, and I've never found anything that could actually do it."
"Oh? Let's hear it," Evan Yang asked curiously.
"Its strength is on par with an Immortal Sovereign, maybe even stronger than an ordinary one—especially if the head and body are reunited, then it'll be even more terrifying. But only the head has awareness; the body doesn't. The body only awakens under the head's control, just like the barrier we saw last time coming from the body," Lydia replied.
"No awareness, huh? If it's just sitting there, it's not a big deal." Evan Yang thought it over—since the head was already under control, the body shouldn't pose much threat anymore.
But Lydia shook her head. "Even if the body's useless now, there are plenty of other beasts that want to claim it. Over the years, countless savage beasts have tried to seize that body and make it their own. They've always been kept out, so they failed. But now that Drakehorn's head is sealed, the body's not as terrifying as before—in fact, it means it's easier to fuse with. To be precise, other beasts will have a much easier time getting it and merging with it, making it their own."
Evan Yang hadn't expected that a beast's body could actually be used by other beasts. This was eye-opening for him, so he asked suspiciously, "Then what should we do to completely put a stop to the body's threat?"
"The only way is to purge all the power from the body completely. But that's easier said than done. Plenty of people have tried to cut the body apart, but it's unbelievably tough—no one's managed to break it open," Lydia said.
"If toughness is the issue, I might be able to give it a try," Evan Yang thought aloud, planning to use one of his treasures.
"You have that kind of power?" Lydia asked curiously.
"I can't guarantee it, but I can at least try," Evan Yang said.
Lydia nodded, so she and Evan Yang took the head away. Evan worried that someone else might snatch it, so he simply tossed it into his inner space.
Their next destination was the Dragonhorn Mountain Range.
When they appeared at the Dragonhorn Mountain Range again, even more people had gathered there than before.
"They're all over there," Evan Yang said after spotting Iris Hayes and the other Immortal Sovereigns at their usual camp.
"Let's head over. They're guarding this place, so we should at least greet them," Lydia said.
Evan agreed. Soon, the two of them appeared outside the camp, naturally drawing a lot of attention. When people saw it was Evan Yang, they looked shocked—everyone knew he was the one who drove Drakehorn away last time.
"You've come?" Iris Hayes stepped out from the crowd.
"Yeah," Evan Yang replied.
"So what brings you here this time?" Iris Hayes asked curiously, wondering what Evan was doing here now.
"I'm here to destroy Drakehorn's body," Evan Yang said.
"Destroy Drakehorn's body? That's impossible. If Drakehorn charges in while you're trying to destroy it, we're doomed," Iris Hayes said, not believing it could be annihilated and also worried about the trouble if Drakehorn suddenly attacked.
But Evan Yang said, "Drakehorn's head has already been sealed by me, so there's nothing to worry about."
"What? Sealed by you?" Iris Hayes exclaimed, and everyone else was even more shocked. The idea that Evan sealed it alone seemed unbelievable.
"Yeah, so just let me go destroy its body," Evan Yang said.
"Alright, go ahead," Iris Hayes said after a moment of thought. Since the head was sealed, the body could be handled however they liked.
So, led by Iris Hayes, Evan Yang and Lydia Quinn arrived at the mountain range. Looking at it—actually Drakehorn's body—Evan muttered, "It's really huge."
"Of course. Back then, it took a lot of effort to seal his body here, and removing the head was the only way to keep him from breaking free," Iris Hayes said.
"I'm about to start destroying it. It might take a while, so I hope you'll understand," Evan Yang said.
"If you can destroy his body, we'd be more than happy." Iris Hayes welcomed the idea, though she had no clue how Evan planned to do it.
Evan nodded, then asked Iris Hayes and Lydia Quinn to step aside for now. Standing atop the mountain range, he prepared to use his own method to break it apart—but he didn't want anyone watching, so he set up a formation around the range to conceal his actions, making the inside appear as nothing but mist to outsiders.
When Iris Hayes and the others saw the mountain range suddenly shrouded in mist, they frowned.
"What exactly is he doing?" Iris Hayes asked Lydia Quinn, curious.
Lydia Quinn didn't know either, so she shook her head and said, "No idea."
Not just them—the others were also curious about what was happening inside the mountain range. But with Iris Hayes's orders, nobody dared approach; they could only wait outside.
But something strange happened—near the edge of the mountain range, the cries of savage beasts rang out. Lydia Quinn saw this and exclaimed, "This is bad! These beasts are coming for Drakehorn's body."
"Everyone, listen up! Keep all the beasts outside!" Iris Hayes shouted, immediately issuing orders.
A commotion followed. No one knew exactly what was happening, but they knew they had to follow orders, so everyone sprang into action. Meanwhile, inside the formation, Evan Yang sensed the situation outside—but he had no time to care. All he could do was focus on destroying the body as quickly as possible.
Evan Yang gripped a massive sword in his hands—the sword was forged from ten daggers fused together. Even now, it was hard for Evan to wield, but the results were impressive. He soon chopped off an entire mountain peak, which was actually part of Drakehorn's body.
As Evan tried to cut deeper, he noticed that power was gathering at the site of the destroyed mountain.
Curious, Evan Yang approached the spot where the power was gathering and found that it was the focal point of energy from the severed part of Drakehorn's body—eventually, it condensed into a gemstone-like orb.
Holding it in his hand, Evan Yang felt a surge of powerful energy. "If just a part of the body's power is this strong, the whole thing must be terrifying," he thought.
Curious, Evan Yang collected the orb and continued to chop away at the body. Over the course of several months, he destroyed the entire body, collecting more than a hundred orbs of various sizes.
Looking at the hundred-plus orbs, Evan Yang muttered, "Such immense power—if I absorbed it directly, would my strength skyrocket?"
Evan wondered if he could absorb the power in these orbs, but since Drakehorn was a savage beast, he worried that using them might drive him mad—so he didn't dare try. Still, a force within him began to stir.
It was the cloud—the one Evan Yang controlled.
"You want to absorb it?" Evan Yang asked, sensing the cloud's intention.
The cloud was a fierce thing itself, so this power suited it perfectly. Seeing that it wanted to absorb the energy, Evan Yang handed it one of the orbs to try. Sure enough, the cloud absorbed the power instantly and grew stronger.
Curious, Evan Yang gave it a few more. In this way, he gradually fed the cloud, making it stronger and stronger.
After all the orbs were absorbed, the cloud's strength was now equal to Evan Yang's own. Evan had once worried that if the cloud surpassed him, it might break free of his control.