"Dark Spirit Guard!"
Facing Xiao Yan's relentless assault, Long Nixian gritted his teeth and rapidly shifted his hand seals. His peak lower Earth Sovereign-grade spiritual energy surged, while the blood-colored halo in his hand expanded and quickly formed into a massive crimson sphere that enveloped him entirely.
Clearly, even he sensed the danger behind Xiao Yan's multi-layered assault and was now tapping into the power of his sacred artifact to erect the strongest defense available in his current form. However, just as his defensive sphere stabilized, a hazy lotus bloomed around it—Xiao Yan's Demonic Lotus Array.
Yet this wasn't the same Earth-grade spiritual array he had created back in the Dou Qi Continent. Through persistent effort and refinement, Xiao Yan had elevated it to the level of a true grandmaster-grade spiritual array. In terms of raw power, it was no weaker than the Five Saints Demon-Sealing Array, and it now played a pivotal role in this full-force spiritual trap.
"Ancient Universe Array—Reverse!"
As the Demonic Lotus Array cocooned Long Nixian's defense, a tangible array manifested in midair. A thin, grayish-white beam of light, no wider than a thumb, projected from the center of this array and fell onto the crimson defense sphere below.
The Ancient Universe Array was created by the Symbol Ancestor. Although the Symbol Ancestor was merely a Sovereign-grade expert, and his arrays typically capped at human-grade, this particular formation was paired with a sacred artifact array disk—one of the divine items born of heaven and earth. After being enhanced by the Divine Smithing Stone, the array disk had also become a sacred artifact.
Alone, the Ancient Universe Array would hardly affect someone in the Great Thousand World. But with the sacred artifact-level array disk amplifying it, its power soared, reaching grandmaster-tier. At this level, it was capable of threatening even Earth Sovereign-grade cultivators.
The corrosive power of the Demonic Lotus Array, paired with the disintegration force of the reversed Ancient Universe Array, rapidly broke down Long Nixian's energy barrier. A barrage of tens of thousands of spiritual beams followed like a storm of meteors, hammering the shield relentlessly. Though formed by a peak lower Earth Sovereign's full strength, the shield soon showed signs of crumbling, its shattering seemingly inevitable.
And that was merely the first wave.
Xiao Yan, eyes narrowed and calm, didn't pause. He pushed the spiritual arrays further, activating all of them to their limit. Had anyone else witnessed this scene, they'd have been struck dumb—for even with array support, it was nearly impossible for a peak ninth-grade Sovereign to push an Earth Sovereign to such extremes.
As he controlled the siege, Xiao Yan silently gave thanks. If his Sovereign Sea hadn't evolved into the Creation Green Lotus, granting him spiritual energy reserves no weaker than an Earth Sovereign, this feat would have been impossible. Without that, he would never have managed to deploy so many high-grade arrays at once.
"Roar!"
Faced with the encircling arrays, Long Nixian's eyes turned bloodshot. He poured his spiritual energy into his defenses with all his might, but his body was fracturing rapidly. The cracks spreading across his form signaled he had reached his limit. Even pushing his energy to the brink couldn't stop the protective shield from breaking—it was riddled with fissures and wouldn't last long.
As his barrier teetered on the edge of collapse, Long Nixian's expression twisted. His seals changed once more, and his entire body suddenly exploded into a mist of blood, expanding outward like a crimson storm. Xiao Yan's senses immediately picked up on a faint, hidden fluctuation darting toward the stone coffin nearby.
Xiao Yan struck out to intercept it, but the fluctuation was even faster—slipping past the spiritual web he'd laid and diving straight into the stone coffin. The moment the energy entered, the spiritual patterns etched on the coffin dimmed entirely. A fearsome pressure, like the awakening of an ancient dragon, slowly began to rise from within.
"Tch. What a pain."
Xiao Yan's brows furrowed. The self-destruction of a lower Earth Sovereign had released enough energy to completely shatter the seal left behind by the Dragon God, a seal that had already been on the verge of collapse. Still, Xiao Yan estimated that this brute-force method would come at a price. If it were truly effective, Long Nixian would have used it at the start. That he hadn't indicated this route came with a heavy cost.
"You really have pushed me too far, boy."
As the stone coffin creaked open, Long Nixian's form emerged slowly. His expression was dark with fury. For a once Heaven Sovereign-grade being to be forced into this situation by someone who hadn't even stepped into the Earth Sovereign realm—it was a humiliation of the highest order!
Originally, his plan had been to devour the flesh and blood of everyone present. That way, not only could he break the seal, but he could restore his full Heaven Sovereign-grade power. Now, due to Xiao Yan's interference, he had no choice but to forcefully break out—his strength had only been restored to the peak of the Earth Sovereign level, far from his intended outcome.
"As repayment, I'll snap every bone in your body—one inch at a time!"
A vicious grin split Long Nixian's face. Silver light began to radiate from him as dragon scales burst forth, covering his entire form. His arms became sharp dragon claws, and a tail and a pair of wings extended from his back. At a glance, he resembled a terrifying, upright dragon beast.
"Is that his divine beast form?"
Xiao Yan's pupils shrank. He could sense Long Nixian's power climbing rapidly again. This increase clearly wasn't just a product of a typical secret technique. If it wasn't his divine beast form, then it had to be a super divine ability. Either way, it spelled danger.
In this form, Long Nixian hadn't fully returned to the Heaven Sovereign-grade, but he had undeniably reached the half-step Heaven Sovereign level. That put him far above even Long Fan, whom Xiao Yan had previously faced. Even among Earth Sovereigns, few could contend with such a force—let alone Xiao Yan, who had yet to break through.
There was no doubt: Long Nixian now hated Xiao Yan to his core. He had activated this state specifically to end Xiao Yan as quickly as possible, then move on to kill the others before word of this incident could spread. For Long Nixian, if news of his treachery reached the outside world, only one fate awaited him: complete annihilation.
(End of Chapter)
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