According to the Fusion Method, the heart of a Fire Lizard is the simplest and easiest to fuse during the initial step.
The two lizard hearts tumbled in mid-air, surrounded by a faint halo of green and pale red light.
Xu Zimei clasped her hands together, and streams of Spiritual Energy surged out from her body.
The Fusion Stones nearby began to tremble, and as a series of "bang" sounds were heard, the stones shattered.
Colorless energies were released from within, merging together and enveloping the two lizard hearts.
As Xu Zimei used the Fusion Method, the hearts continued to tumble, seemingly struggling with spirits within, from which roars could be heard.
The two souls were forcibly merged together, with the power of the Fusion Stones interspersed within them.
At first, the resistance from the lizard hearts was strong, but under Xu Zimei’s suppression, it gradually weakened.
Finally, accompanied by a faint chirping sound, a flame inexplicably ignited on the entirety of the lizard hearts.
"Did it succeed?" Xu Zimei breathed a sigh of relief.
She eyed them carefully and saw that the lizard hearts had merged into one, turning a deep red color.
Inside, vein-like patterns densely interwove, with a faint flame burning on their surface.
Xu Zimei held the heart in her hands, feeling not scalding but merely warm.
Having succeeded on her first attempt, she was in a reasonably good mood.
The next step would be to find a millennium-aged Yellow Lizard and merge it with this Fire Lizard heart to create a Jade Lizard.
Xu Zimei returned to the canyon. The previously quiet passage was now swarming with Red Lizards.
Upon seeing Xu Zimei’s arrival, all Red Lizards knelt down and shouted, "We thank our benefactor, whose grace shall be immortal, never to be forgotten."
"Rise," Xu Zimei waved her hand, turning to Lu Yun and said, "Go find a Yellow Lizard."
After Lu Yun explained the situation to the locals, he nodded and set off again with Xu Zimei.
The Red Lizard clan waved goodbye, but they dared not celebrate too soon as the Black Dragon issue had not been resolved, and anything was possible.
Leaving the canyon where the Red Lizard clan lived, Lu Yun, looking at the map, said, "The Yellow Lizards like the cold and live in the snowy mountains to the north."
"Your small world is quite distinct with its seasons," Xu Zimei commented with a smile.
"Not exactly, that snowy mountain was specially created by the ancestors of the Yellow Lizards," Lu Yun explained.
"Before the Black Dragon came, our four clans still had some disputes, but later on, everyone was too preoccupied to bother fighting," Lu Yun added.
"Which protector guards the Yellow Lizard clan?" Xu Zimei inquired.
"The Black Tortoise," Lu Yun replied: "It is the oldest and strongest among the four protectors."
The two sat upon the Dark Heaven Tiger, embarking on another lengthy journey.
All night long, and as the pale dawn rose in the east, while the darkness of night had not yet completely faded, the two arrived at the habitat of the Black Tortoise.
It was a pond, spanning several hundred square meters.
Above it was a waterfall, its flow gentle and meandering, causing occasional ripples.
Inside the pond were jagged rocks, and the river water was crystal clear to the bottom.
"Continue," Xu Zimei commanded the Dark Heaven Tiger.
With a roar, the Dark Heaven Tiger sent out blasts of Spiritual Energy into the water, causing explosions and plumes of spray.
Yet the pond remained undisturbed.
After gently rippling for a while, it quieted down once again.
Despite the Dark Heaven Tiger’s repeated attacks, nearly destroying the whole pond, there was no sign of the turtle.
"How could this be?" Lu Yun said in confusion.
"Could it not be here?"
Xu Zimei smiled. He could clearly sense the pulse of life below, but since the other party did not want to come out, he was not keen on wasting time.
"Let’s go," the two sat on the Dark Heaven Tiger and safely passed the pond.
They followed the waterfall high above all the way towards the territory of the Yellow Lizard.
After the two completely left and tranquility returned, a turtle shell slowly emerged on the surface of the water.
With a "pop" sound, a small head poked out from the turtle shell.
"Damn it, you scared the hell out of me," the turtle said as it rolled over and mumbled.
"The aura of this Monster Beast is almost comparable to Lord Black Dragon. Thank goodness I, the old turtle, am ever so careful."
The old turtle gazed solemnly in the direction where Xu Zimei had disappeared, wondering who this outsider could be.
Something within felt foreboding; this small world was perhaps about to change.
It retracted into its shell and submerged again into the water, since everything in this small world was of no concern to it.
It merely symbolically guarded this passage; it didn’t involve itself in other matters.
After entering the territory where the Yellow Lizards resided, Xu Zimei could noticeably feel the temperature begin to drop.
The ground underfoot turned snow-white, and one could clearly see their breath when speaking.
The territory of the Yellow Lizards was not too large; among the four major lizards, their numbers were the smallest.
Straight ahead, they could see a snow mountain covered in a blanket of pure white snow.
Upon entering the Yellow Lizard’s territory, Xu Zimei felt the long-lost mist again.
The mist that could be absorbed by the Extraordinary Meridian Manual reappeared.
Xu Zimei looked up at the increasingly mysterious snow mountain and slowly walked towards it.
He hadn’t taken but a few steps when suddenly the surrounding snowstorm became furious.
Then they saw the snowstorm coalesce, and snowmen emerged one by one from the blizzard.
They were burly, pounding their chests, with faces both ludicrous and fearsome as they charged over.
Each step they took left a deep footprint, and a thunderous rumbling sound erupted.
"What is this?" Lu Yun said in alarm.
"This mist is interesting; it can even mutate the great snow," Xu Zimei said with interest.
In the Misty Forest, the mutation of flora was understandable, after all, they were living things.
But now, it seemed that even inanimate things could mutate.
Although these snowmen were numerous, their strength was too weak.
With just a few strikes of its claws, the Dark Heaven Tiger scattered and dissolved countless snowmen.
With the Dark Heaven Tiger leading the way, they quickly arrived in front of the snow mountain.
In front of the snow mountain was a stele buried under the swirling snow.
Lu Yun cleared the white snow from it, revealing a poem inscribed on it.
"Yellow clouds stretch a thousand miles stirring the wind’s color, white waves of Nine Paths flow down the snow mountain."
In front of the stele, a series of steps spread upwards, reaching the sky’s edge of the snow mountain.
Behind them, countless snowmen were still fearlessly charging forward, turning into nothing but snowflakes upon death.
"Let’s go up and have a look," Xu Zimei said.