Word Count: 3,042 Words
******
Xiao Yan stood like a towering giant of light. He opened with an Octane Blast of terrifying force, and a single right hook smashed into the Western Dragon King's face, sending dragon scales flying in all directions.
Xiao Yan pressed his advantage without mercy as his Vajra Glass Body erupted with full power. Having mastered the technique to its major level, he now commanded an entire arsenal of physical combat Dou Techniques. Each punch and kick flowed into a seamless combo. Fists, elbows, knees, and feet hammered down like a storm before he capped the onslaught with a devastating Yellow Spring Palm. The string of savage blows fell one after another like a rain of dragon-subduing palms, blasting the Western Dragon King at the forefront straight into the void.
Under the dual enhancement of his two Divine Grade Clan Marks, Xiao Yan's Spiritual Strength had reached the Perfected Heavenly State, and his cultivation now rivaled even the Northern Dragon King's. The Western Dragon King, a tier weaker than the Northern Dragon King to begin with, stood no chance against that relentless onslaught and was sent flying by a single combo.
Yet the three Dragon Kings hadn't earned their reputations for nothing. They too possessed bloodline Secret Techniques to enhance their physical might.
"Ancient Dragon Unleashed!"
The Southern Dragon King, now in his true form, let out a thunderous roar. Seizing the instant Xiao Yan unleashed his Yellow Spring Palm, he tore through the void. Dragon cries echoed without end as the ancient beast vaulted across the sky.
A resonant dragon roar rolled across the battlefield. The Southern Dragon King dove from above, and his massive claw slammed into Xiao Yan's back with a deafening boom. The sound of cracking bones rang out on impact. Despite the Vajra Glass Body and the Dragon Phoenix Ancient Armor, the Southern Dragon King was a late-stage 3-star Dou Saint Dragon King of the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe!
That single claw tore through the void, shredding the Dragon Phoenix Ancient Armor and the glazed surface of the Vajra Glass Body as though ripping a world apart. Three jets of blood sprayed into the air, revealing a back of torn flesh and mangled muscle.
The moment the Southern Dragon King's blow landed, the Northern Dragon King struck. He had been lurking like a venomous serpent, and now he slipped through the void in a flash, appearing directly before Xiao Yan with a venomous, ferocious grin twisting his draconic features.
His tail, wrapped in Spatial Strength, crashed into Xiao Yan's chest like a mountain weighing hundreds of millions of tons.
BOOM!
Blood splattered through the air. Xiao Yan coughed up a mouthful of crimson. The chest of his Vajra Glass Body caved inward, the glazed radiance and Dragon Phoenix Ancient Armor shattering like brittle glass, fragments scattering in all directions.
Yet even now, the corners of Xiao Yan's lips curved into a cold sneer. He raised his head sharply, eyes boring into the Northern Dragon King with savage ferocity.
"This is for you."
Flame God Seal!
In the very instant the Northern Dragon King sent him flying, Xiao Yan's right hand had lashed out in a backhand strike against the dragon's massive body. Hidden within his palm lay a Heavenly Flame seal, cycling endlessly, wheel upon wheel of ever-burning, never-ceasing flame.
The Northern Dragon King's dragon pupils contracted when he sensed that Xiao Yan had secretly held back a High Tian Class Dou Technique. With a resonant hum, he unleashed the Ancestral Dragon Strength of the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe, attempting to tear through space and escape.
"Jie Jie Jie, trying to run?"
Meow!
A cat's cry echoed through the void. Just as the purple Ancestral Dragon Strength began ripping space open, a mass of pitch-black flame shot forth, transforming into chains of dark fire that wrapped around the rift and slammed it shut.
The Northern Dragon King's heart lurched. He had barely begun gathering brute force to break through the spatial blockade when the Flame God Seal crashed into his body.
If the Angry Buddha Lotus Flame was a widespread explosion of fiery devastation, then the Flame God Seal was Xiao Yan's ultimate single-target Dou Technique!
BOOM! BOOM!!
A pillar of Heavenly Flame light blasted straight through the Northern Dragon King's enormous body under his horrified gaze. Xiao Yan's current cultivation was anything but weak. Even for the Northern Dragon King, taking a point-blank Flame God Seal could never end without grave injury.
"AHHH!"
A miserable scream tore from the Northern Dragon King's throat. A massive bloody hole gaped in his body, blood gushing forth like a fountain. Dragon blood rained down upon Eastern Dragon Island, drenching the land in crimson as though a sudden blood rain had fallen. As the torrent splashed across the landscape, it resembled a frenzied ink painting gone mad. The space above Eastern Dragon Island became an Asura field of slaughter, the scarlet stain upon the mountain ranges so vivid it stung the eyes and shook the heart.
A furious roar shook the void as the Southern Dragon King burst from the broken space. His colossal body wrapped tightly around the Vajra Glass giant, dragon claws hooking in like steel talons and gouging deep into Xiao Yan's flesh.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The Southern Dragon King tightened his grip with terrifying force, nearly crushing Xiao Yan's body outright. Having unleashed several major Dou Techniques in succession, Xiao Yan's Dou Qi reserves had been severely depleted. For the moment, he had no way to break free from the grip of a late-stage 3-star Dou Saint Dragon King.
With a roar, the Southern Dragon King's bloody maw gaped wide and clamped down on the Vajra Glass Body's shoulder. The sheer force of his bite nearly tore Xiao Yan's entire shoulder clean off!
Excruciating pain bored into Xiao Yan's core, twisting his expression into something feral. He ground his teeth and spat out in a low growl:
"Angry Buddha Lotus Flame!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!
Eight different Heavenly Flames surged from his Acceptance Soul in an instant. With his Spiritual Strength temporarily raised to the Perfected Heavenly State, the speed at which he condensed the fire lotus was nearly instantaneous. An enormous flower of flame bloomed before him.
The Southern Dragon King's face turned ashen with terror at the sight of the lotus materializing right before his eyes.
You really mean to die together?!
"Explode!"
BOOM!
Xiao Yan didn't hesitate for a single heartbeat. He detonated the fire lotus directly in front of himself. In that instant, the entire void above Eastern Dragon Island erupted with endless torrents of Heavenly Flame light.
A deafening blast tore through the surrounding space. The fire lotus exploded with earth-shattering force, terrifying waves of flame sweeping across everything in sight.
"Not good!"
Yao Ming and the other elite Dou Saints fighting nearby blanched with horror.
"Run!"
Without wasting a moment, they turned and fled.
If Yellow Spring Divine Anger was a soul attack capable of targeting specific enemies while sparing allies, the Angry Buddha Lotus Flame was an indiscriminate explosion of devastation. Even Xiao Yan himself would be caught in its radius.
As the fire lotus spun, endless waves of heat laced with Heavenly Flames surged outward like a flash flood, like a heavenly waterfall torn open in the sky. The tide of flame rolled beyond all control, sweeping both Xiao Yan and the Southern Dragon King into its heart.
"Damn it, when this Xiao Yan goes crazy, he even blows himself up." Hei Qing abandoned his opponent and dove into the void, muttering his complaint from a safe distance.
A hoarse roar rang out as a 'black dragon,' burnt entirely to char, burst free from the firestorm.
The Southern Dragon King cut a truly miserable figure. His once lustrous purple dragon scales had been burnt to a crisp black, brittle as crackers. The scent of roasted meat hung heavy in the air. As he burst free of the sea of fire, charred scales dropped from his body in chunks while scalding dragon blood spattered through the void.
He stood in midair, face twisted with fury, eyes fierce yet heavy with unmistakable dread. If not for his Dragon King bloodline and late-stage 3-star Dou Saint cultivation, that fire lotus alone would have left him mortally wounded or dead on the spot.
The Northern Dragon King, of course, was in even worse shape. Blood dripped steadily from the corner of his mouth. A gaping hole marred his body, the mangled internal organs within faintly visible. A surge of purple light tried to knit the flesh back together, but a strand of Heavenly Flame power embedded in the wound blocked every attempt at healing, keeping the flesh raw and torn. His condition was utterly wretched.
All the Northern Dragon King could do was press down on the wound with brute physical strength while the Heavenly Flames continued to rage inside his body. For the time being, he had no way to force them out.
The Western Dragon King crawled back from the depths of the void, shocked to find himself the least injured of the three. Though Xiao Yan's Yellow Spring Palm had driven him deep into space, that technique hadn't yet reached perfection. How could its power possibly compare to the Angry Buddha Lotus Flame or the Flame God Seal?
The flames of the Angry Buddha Lotus Flame slowly receded. As the Heavenly Flames dissipated, they revealed Xiao Yan standing in their midst.
Even Yao Ming and the others could clearly sense that Xiao Yan's aura was no longer as overwhelming as before. His Dou Qi had been heavily depleted. A grotesque bite wound gaped on his shoulder, three deep claw marks exposed bone on his back, and his chest was caved inward.
Despite all this, the light in his eyes remained bright, and the corner of his blood-stained lips still curved in a confident smile.
The fire lotus had engulfed him as well, but after refining twelve different Heavenly Flames, Xiao Yan's fire resistance surpassed even the Yan Clan's Clan Head. Heavenly Flames entering his body posed no threat whatsoever, allowing him to minimize the self-inflicted damage to a bare fraction of its potential.
"Is he really fighting one against three?"
High above Eastern Dragon Island, Xiao Yan stood alone, blocking all three Dragon Kings by himself, having even heavily injured both the Northern and Southern Dragon Kings. The elite Dou Saints of the Southern, Western, and Northern Dragon Islands turned pale with shock, their cries ringing with disbelief.
"How is that possible? He's just at the late stage of 2-star Dou Saint, yet he actually held off all three Dragon Kings! Even a Divine Grade Dou God Bloodline shouldn't be that outrageous!"
The Ancestral Dragon was the progenitor of the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe. If one used Dou God Bloodlines as a measure, the Dragon King bloodline was equivalent to a Grade 9 Dou God Bloodline in strength. Although it still fell short of the Divine Grade bloodlines possessed by Xun Er and Xiao Yan, it was not something ordinary Dou God Bloodlines could compare to. The gap should not have been this vast.
"This is insane. Why do I feel like Xiao Yan's strength is no weaker than Dragon Emperor Zi Yan's?" First Elder Qing Shan could hardly believe his own eyes. He stared slack-jawed, unable to suppress his cry of shock.
Skipping ranks at the Dou Saint level was unbelievably difficult. Xiao Yan had relied on his Divine Grade bloodlines to force his strength up to the 3-star Dou Saint level, but this was still a one-against-three fight!
"Two Dragon Emperors... Eastern Dragon Island has two Dragon Emperors..."
The Northern Dragon King, strongest of the three, swept his gaze across every battlefield. The morale of the warriors from the Southern, Western, and Northern Dragon Islands had sunk to rock bottom.
First, Zi Yan's Dragon Emperor might had crushed their spirits. Then Xiao Yan had appeared out of nowhere, not only persuading the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe to defect but fighting one against three to hold the Dragon Kings in place. With them thus entangled, Zi Yan had been free to lurk in the void, quietly preparing her ultimate move.
Some warriors had already stopped fighting.
In truth, Xiao Yan was only managing to contend at this level by trading heavy injuries for time. The three Dragon Kings had yet to fully unleash their Ancestral Dragon Strength. If the battle continued on this path, Xiao Yan alone would find victory extremely difficult.
But now Zi Yan had stepped out. With her added to the equation, the three Dragon Kings' chances of victory grew very slim.
As for the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe, Feng Huang had slipped away long ago while Xiao Yan was entangled with the three Dragon Kings, abandoning the Rank 8 tribesmen who had followed her without a backward glance.
When immortals clashed, how could even a slightly stronger mortal dare to interfere?
"We must kill this man. Otherwise... even without a Dragon Emperor, we might not be able to withstand Eastern Dragon Island as it stands now!" The Northern Dragon King's expression turned dark as ink. In his heart, he had already placed Xiao Yan on equal footing with Zi Yan.
This bastard is too monstrous! Just what sort of demons and freaks does the Xiao Clan produce?!
The other two Dragon Kings nodded grimly. If things continued like this, their three Dragon Islands would absolutely be broken apart one by one.
"This won't do. Let's summon the Ancestral Dragon Holy Statue!" the Northern Dragon King commanded in a deep voice.
Back when the old Dragon Emperor still lived, the three of them had been the Three Kings under his banner, just as the Gu Clan had their Three Gu Immortals and the Hun Clan their Four Demon Saints. The Ancient Void Dragon Tribe had its own equivalents.
The other two Dragon Kings had never imagined that, after fighting each other for so many years, there would come a day when they would truly join hands.
A resonant hum filled the air. In that instant, endless purple radiance erupted from all three Dragon Kings. The boundless divine light shot skyward as a tremendous, incomparable dragon might exploded outward, the three Dragon Kings' bloodline strength erupting without the slightest reservation.
High above, the void shattered. A draconic pressure rivaling Zi Yan's swept down from the sky.
ROAR!
The Dragon Kings' powers linked head to tail, forming a single, unbreakable ring. From within that circuit of energy, a dragon far more massive than any of the three slowly emerged from the endless void, as if crawling out from the very end of time.
"That's the Ancestral Dragon Holy Statue!"
"The three Dragon Kings actually joined forces to summon the Ancestral Dragon Holy Statue!!"
Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed slightly, his expression growing extremely grave. He might appear fierce and high-spirited, but only he knew how heavily injured he truly was. Not even the Three Thousand Burning Flame or the Yin-Yang Twin Flame could quickly mend wounds this severe.
Magical beasts were different from humans. Countless ancient secrets slumbered within their bloodlines. Their cultivation was, at its core, the refinement of that bloodline, step by step drawing closer to their forebears.
Faced with that Ancestral Dragon Holy Statue that seemed to have crossed the river of time itself, every detail so vividly real, Xiao Yan could only grit his teeth and prepare to stake his life once more.
He formed a hand seal. Vast Spiritual Strength poured out as the towering three-faced Asura giant statue materialized. His Perfected Heavenly State Spiritual Strength burned away in great gouts.
YAAA!!
After devouring Xiao Yan's enormous Spiritual Strength, the three-faced Asura instantly awakened. Six eyes snapped open. Three mouths roared in unison! The evil Asura fixed its gaze on the Ancestral Dragon's shadow, three heads and six arms looming like some ancient ghost god.
Just as Xiao Yan steeled himself to go for broke, the Ancestral Dragon Holy Statue in the sky suddenly shuddered. Its enormous dragon eyes slowly turned, focusing on a patch of void ahead.
"Return!"
A cold shout rang out from before the Ancestral Dragon Holy Statue. A petite, lovely silhouette stood in its path. At that single word, the massive statue actually began to blur and fade, as if it truly were withdrawing back into the depths from which it had come!
There in the void stood Zi Yan, holding a golden longsword that seemed almost liquid, its surface flowing with molten radiance. A world-ending aura of destruction quietly spread outward from it. That destructive power surpassed even the might of the Ancestral Dragon Holy Statue the three Dragon Kings had struggled together to summon!
Having forced the Ancestral Dragon Holy Statue to retreat with a single command, Zi Yan first looked toward Xiao Yan. The sight of him covered in blood, his body riddled with wounds, ignited a terrifying fury in her eyes. Her gaze turned cold and murderous as it swept toward the three Dragon Kings in the distance.
"This Emperor will consign you to Dragon Prison for eternity!!"
The Dragon Emperor's wrath swept across the entire Dragon Island. That terrible anger was something even the void could not bear. The island itself trembled. Every living creature upon it shook in terror, dropping to their knees and begging the Dragon Emperor to quell her rage.
All the dragonfolk of Eastern Dragon Island bowed their heads to the ground, not daring to look directly at the enraged Dragon Emperor. Even the subjects of the other three Dragon Islands, despite the protection of their own Dragon Kings, trembled as well. Many were already kneeling in mid-air, throwing down their weapons in surrender.
This fear, born from the deepest depths of their bloodlines, could not be erased or resisted, not even after thousands of years of conditioning.
One fury from the Dragon Emperor, and a million lives would drown in blood!
"That's the Dragon Slaying Sword?! You can actually summon the Dragon Slaying Sword!!"
The three Dragon Kings stared at the golden longsword in Zi Yan's hand with utter shock, fear driving them to stumble backward again and again.