Word Count: 2,910 Words
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Even Zi Yan, standing right beside him, did not feel the slightest trace of pity for the Northern Dragon King.
Under normal circumstances, when a member of the dragon tribe died, their remains would be laid to rest in the Dragon Tomb. Their Monster Cores, treated like sacred relics, would be enshrined there. The energy those cores released could shelter tribesmen who entered the tomb and boost their strength.
But the Northern Dragon King was utterly unworthy of entering the Dragon Tomb!
"Refining Sky Ancient Formation!! The Purifying Lotus Demon Saint's Refining Sky Ancient Formation!! No! No!! Lord Dragon Emperor, spare me!"
The Northern Dragon King finally understood true fear only after seeing Xiao Yan display the Refining Sky Ancient Formation and realizing that he also possessed the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame. This was the complete Refining Sky Ancient Formation!
Yet no one present showed the slightest intention of answering his plea. Not a single face held even a trace of pity. No one was willing to speak on his behalf. For a war criminal like him, even death would have been a mercy.
And Xiao Yan had no intention of letting him die so easily.
The sky-blotting fire formations loomed like two incomparably enormous flaming discs, one above and one below, trapping Northern Dragon Island between them. How could the Dragon Transforming Demon Formation carved into the island possibly contend with the Refining Sky Ancient Formation?
More importantly, Xiao Yan possessed the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame itself. Fused with that Heavenly Flame, the Refining Sky Ancient Formation reached its most powerful and flawless state. Coupled with Xiao Yan's half-step Emperor State soul, the formation he controlled was not the slightest bit inferior to the one the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame itself had wielded back in the Demon Flame Space.
The Northern Dragon King struggled like a madman, driving the blood energy of the Dragon Transforming Demon Formation in a desperate attempt to breach the Refining Sky Ancient Formation.
"An ant trying to shake a tree."
Xiao Yan's expression remained cold. As far as he was concerned, the Northern Dragon King had brought this entirely upon himself. Had he not been so obsessed with the Dragon Emperor's throne, had he not gone so far as to unleash the Dragon Transforming Demon Formation, the three Dragon Kings could have been spared. With Zi Yan's temperament, if they had surrendered, she would have let them guard Dragon Island and atone for their crimes through meritorious service.
He wasted no further thought on it. Killing intent surged through his eyes. His hand seals changed, and the immense formations began to revolve with a deep, rolling rumble, like millstones grinding the world apart.
As the two formations slowly revolved, the energy throughout the entire region turned incomparably violent.
"Refining Sky Ancient Formation, refine the sky into slaves!"
Xiao Yan hovered in the air as endless milky-white flames erupted from his body and poured into the formation. Then he extended a single finger and pointed downward.
BOOM!
The void shook violently, and all of Northern Dragon Island trembled. A ring of milky-white light spread from the formation's outer edge toward its center at astonishing speed. Under countless horrified gazes, the ring converged into a pillar of milky-white light hundreds of feet wide, churning with destructive power.
Its target was the struggling Northern Dragon King at the center.
Even burning his essence blood and summoning the Ancestral Dragon's illusory shadow proved useless. The terrifying might of the Refining Sky Ancient Formation and the purifying force of the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame erased the Ancestral Dragon shadow in an instant.
Long ago, the Purifying Lotus Demon Saint had relied on this very technique to sweep the world without equal.
"AAAH! NO! I... I alone am the Dragon Emperor! AAAH!"
The white halo swept across the entirety of Northern Dragon Island. The Dragon Transforming Demon Formation engraved upon the island was instantly purified and wiped away, every last trace of blood mist forcibly refined by the Refining Sky Ancient Formation.
Before long, the Dragon Transforming Demon Formation had vanished completely, and the true face of Northern Dragon Island lay bare. Its former beauty was gone. What remained was only a barren, desolate island. The buildings atop it were broken and dilapidated, with not a trace left of the splendor that had once graced this corner of the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe's ancestral land.
The sight filled every warrior of Eastern Dragon Island with sorrow. Zi Yan slowly closed her eyes, and a single clear tear slid down her cheek.
The Dragon Emperor wept, mourning the souls of every fallen Ancient Void Dragon.
As the battle drew to a close, the dragon-transforming blood aura inside Zi Yan gradually dissipated. A little color returned to her face, but she still looked extremely weak. Then, under Xiao Yan's startled gaze, her body began to shrink. In only moments, she had reverted to her former little-girl appearance.
"I'm too weak," Zi Yan said with a bitter smile. "I can only return to the form that uses the least energy."
"Hehe, you're cuter like this." Xiao Yan smiled and rubbed her little head.
He beckoned with one hand, and a vivid crimson lotus and a holy white lotus flew over to hover before him. Inside the red lotus was a true Karmic Retribution Purgatory, and the first soul cast into that purgatory was the Northern Dragon King's. His soul would endure endless torment within the Red Lotus Karmic Flame for all eternity.
And within the white lotus lay the Northern Dragon King's physical body. A 6-star Dou Saint body, and not just any body, but that of a Dragon King of the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe. Even the Refining Sky Ancient Formation could not completely refine such a thing in a short time.
"This body really is tough." Xiao Yan studied the Northern Dragon King's body sealed within the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame and raised his brows with interest. This corpse was quite a valuable treasure.
Yun Yun and Nalan Yanran flew over shortly after. "Southern Dragon Island and Western Dragon Island have both been found," Yun Yun said softly. "Fortunately, the Dragon Transforming Demon Formation was never used on either of them. The inheritances on those islands are still intact, and the younger dragons are all unharmed. They were only imprisoned."
Xiao Yan and Zi Yan both let out quiet sighs of relief. At the very least, the other two Dragon Islands still retained fresh blood. Although the powerful experts had already been refined by the Northern Dragon King, once Zi Yan unified Dragon Island, the younger generation would have room to grow.
Eastern Dragon Island had won this war, but for Zi Yan, the price of victory was simply too great. As Dragon Emperor, she had to place her people first. Whether they hailed from Eastern Dragon Island or the other three, all of them were tribesmen of the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe.
"It is still a good beginning," Xiao Yan said after a brief silence. "With you, Dragon Emperor, leading a reunified Ancient Void Dragon Tribe, restoring the glory of the past isn't impossible."
He was only offering comfort, and he knew it. After so many years of internal strife followed by the rebellion of the three Dragon Kings, the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe was no longer what it had once been. Forget comparing it to its peak. In its current state, it was already far weaker than the Yan Alliance.
Still, he couldn't possibly shatter Zi Yan's confidence at a time like this, could he?
Zi Yan sighed softly. She understood the gap even more clearly than he did. At the height of its power, the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe had stood on equal footing with super factions like the Hun Clan and the Gu Clan. Now, however, most of the tribe's top experts were dead, the younger generation had yet to mature, and much of its inheritance lay in ruins. Relying on her alone, holding everything together would be immensely difficult. As for restoring the tribe to its former peak, that was a distant dream whose timeline no one could guess.
"Hehe, don't look so discouraged." Xiao Yan patted her head and laughed. "You possess the legendary Dragon Phoenix constitution. Given enough time, your achievements may well surpass those of every Dragon Emperor who came before you. When that day comes, restoring the tribe's former glory won't be an empty fantasy."
Zi Yan slowly raised her head and blinked her large eyes at him.
"What are you staring at me for?"
"Hehe..." A grin spread across Zi Yan's face. "How about my Ancient Void Dragon Tribe joins your Yan Alliance?"
!!!!??
The several elders nearby were instantly taken aback. The Ancient Void Dragon Tribe had always gone its own way and never allied with outside factions. Joining an alliance would mean accepting all kinds of rules and constraints.
Then they reconsidered. The Yan Alliance was now far stronger than the current Ancient Void Dragon Tribe. Resting beneath a large tree did make for cooler shade. And given the relationship between Xiao Yan and Zi Yan...
First Elder Zhu Huo exchanged glances with the other elders, the meaning in those looks plain enough:
If a marriage alliance could be arranged, that would not be bad at all.
"Cai Lin has always been the one handling the affairs of the Beast Region," Xiao Yan said, rubbing Zi Yan's little head. "I think the matter with the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe should be settled by now as well. Once you've finished dealing with the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe's affairs, go find Cai Lin."
"No matter what happens, if you're ever in trouble, I won't stand by and do nothing."
A flicker of emotion passed through Zi Yan's eyes. She threw her arms around him without warning and held on tight.
"Mm... nor will I."
Xiao Yan glanced across the ruined Northern Dragon Island, then turned to Yun Yun. "Yun Yun, contact the disciples of the Flower Sect. Have those who cultivate wood-attributed Dou Qi come help restore Dragon Island."
Yun Yun nodded. Many disciples of the Flower Sect cultivated wood-attributed Dou Qi, which made them especially suited for reviving the vitality of a ravaged land. Given how badly Northern Dragon Island had been devastated, restoring it to its original state would take quite some time.
"I think Little Fairy Doctor should also have a way to help."
Xiao Yan then turned to Nalan Yanran with a smile. "Nalan Yanran, head back to the Beast Region first and gather some intelligence on the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe."
Nalan Yanran shot him a helpless look. So she really was just an errand runner, after all. She had come along to help save people, and now that the rescue was over, she was being sent off again to gather intelligence.
So helping me break through to Dou Saint was basically just so I could run errands faster?
"I... I know!" she said in resignation. She had no way to argue back. If she didn't go, was Xiao Yan supposed to send her Master instead? In the end, it would still fall to her.
With the fall of the three Dragon Kings and the countless casualties on Northern Dragon Island, the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe finally cleared away every obstacle left by its years of internal strife. Under Zi Yan's authority as Dragon Emperor, not a single dissenting voice rose from any of the four Dragon Islands.
The Northern Dragon King's slaughter of his own kin had long since chilled the heart of every member of the tribe. No one mourned his death. As for the Western and Southern Dragon Kings, both had perished at the Northern Dragon King's own hands, which only deepened the hatred directed at him.
Driven by all these factors, the integration of the four Dragon Islands proceeded with unexpected smoothness. The four enormous islands drifting through the Nihility Space were drawn together once more with the combined effort of the tribe's remaining experts and the power of the Nihility Devouring Flame's Heaven Seed Flame.
Before long, the four islands had been reunited into one.
From that day forward, the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe could finally be considered truly unified. There would no longer be four great Dragon Islands. There would be only one: Dragon Island.
And there would be only one Dragon Emperor.
Zi Yan!
Not long afterward, the Yan Alliance's glorified errand runner, Nalan Yanran, sent back her report. Several days prior, Huang Tian had led a host of Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe experts in an assault on the Snake-People Tribe. Against all expectations, however, Huang Tian himself had been slain there.
The news sent shockwaves through the entire Beast Region. Few of the Heaven Demon Phoenix tribesmen who had joined the attack managed to escape. Those who did not fall to the Snake-People Tribe's own experts were hunted down by mysterious black-robed figures who appeared from seemingly nowhere.
Those black-robed men had apparently been muttering things like, "I want a pair of Yan Tianzun's bone wings too," before going completely berserk and chasing after every fleeing Heaven Demon Phoenix tribesman in sight.
Shortly after the failed assault and Huang Tian's death, the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe announced a change of leadership. The former Saintess, Feng Qing Er, assumed the position of Tribe Leader and declared the tribe a vassal of the Snake-People Tribe, surrendering all its former territory to Her Majesty the Queen.
From that moment on, the era of the Beast Region's three great magical beast tribes was truly consigned to history. The Yan Alliance's Snake-People Tribe had formally unified the Beast Region, and the number of supreme magical beast factions fell from three to two.
Of the once-legendary triumvirate, only the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe remained standing. The Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe and the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe had both declined beyond recognition, and the old trio was no more.
Yet before the shockwaves from these events had even begun to settle, another piece of earth-shaking news exploded across the Dou Qi Continent.
The Ancient Void Dragon Tribe had re-emerged!
The new Dragon Emperor, Zi Yan, had signed an alliance pact with the Yan Alliance. Together with the Snake-People Tribe, she would jointly govern the entire Beast Region and the surrounding void territories. In effect, the whole of the Beast Region had become part of the Yan Alliance's domain.
In one leap, the Yan Alliance rose to become the most enormous faction on the entire Dou Qi Continent, surpassing even the famed 'One Hall and One Tower.' It was, without question, the single strongest force on the continent. Bar none!
Xiao Yan, of course, had little interest in such administrative matters. His role was to devise strategies and carry them out. Managing conquered territory was not his forte, nor did he have the slightest inclination to learn imperial or administrative arts.
Besides, he was currently plotting something far more important.
It had nothing to do with refining the Northern Dragon King into a puppet. The truly important matter on his mind lay in the deepest reaches of the Void Lightning Pool.
The Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning!
Several years earlier, when Xiao Yan had entered the Void Lightning Pool, he had already discovered it. Even the Northern Dragon King, after refining all of Northern Dragon Island, would not have been a match for that thing. By Xiao Yan's estimation, its cultivation had likely reached the peak of the 6-star Dou Saint level. It lacked only the final step of spirit transformation to break through into the 7-star stage.
Its true battle strength was probably already on par with a 7-star Dou Saint.
Moreover, based on Xiao Yan's experience, that final transformation was all but certain to fail. Once it did, the Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning would scatter into ash and vanish from this world entirely.
That would be Xiao Yan's moment.
If he relied solely on the Flame Mantra to absorb energy from the world in the conventional way, breaking through the 5-star bottleneck and stepping into the 6-star Dou Saint level would take several years at the very least. Powerful as the Flame Mantra was, having already reached the God Class, the ambient energy drifting through the world was far too thin for his current needs. He required a place brimming with vast, concentrated power.
The energy contained within the Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning was perfect for that purpose.
"The pill recipe for the Lightning Calamity Pill, a Tier 9 Mysterious Pill, has already been obtained from the Pill Tower. The materials are ready too, and I've got all these Heavenly Lightning Beads to serve as Monster Cores." Xiao Yan surveyed the pile of materials laid out before him, and a slow smile spread across his face.
That was right. He intended to refine a Tier 9 Mysterious Pill! And that pill was precisely the Lightning Calamity Pill, a medicinal pill that used the Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning itself as its primary ingredient!
"Jie Jie Jie... the sooner the better. By my count, that Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning should be on the verge of gathering a spirit." The smile lingered on his lips. If he had to fight it head-on, he was not certain he could win.
But he did not need to fight it.
He only had to wait for it to destroy itself.