The storm split apart as Tian Longwei's roar merged with that of the Poisonous Fire Dragon. Flames and poison swirled together, twisting into a cataclysm.
Then—his body began to fuse with the beast.
Longwei's frame shook violently as dragon qi seeped into every pore. Scales burst across his skin, glowing faintly red-black, their veins pulsing with toxic fire. His eyes blazed open—golden slits like twin suns, carrying both venomous malice and unyielding fury.
His right arm warped fully into draconic form, sheathed in thick scales, tipped with talons wreathed in fire. When he lifted his spear, it seemed not a weapon but the extension of the dragon's wrath itself. From his back unfurled two spectral wings of green-black flame, their sweep stirring hurricanes through the battlefield.
When Longwei spoke, his voice thundered with the resonance of a dragon's roar:
"Hei Feng Duanpo! Your death is here!"
The hydra hissed, its nine venomous maws snapping, but even its baleful aura shuddered before the fusion-born monstrosity.
Then the impossible happened—
A blade of black flame tore through the void.
Space itself fractured, cracks spiderwebbing through the heavens. From each rupture spilled molten lava, raining down like tears of the underworld. Hei Feng Duanpo's sneer faltered, his eyes wide.
"W-What… what is this?!"
From within the collapsing void emerged a sword—long, obsidian, and alive with black flame. Each pulse of its aura shattered space anew. This was no ordinary treasure. This was the Supreme Weapon.
Tian Longwei raised it, his draconic arm gripping the blade with unshakable resolve.
"Hei Feng Duanpo… this is the weapon you've been seeking. Why don't you taste its edge before you dare to claim it?"
Duanpo's face twisted in shock and fury.
"Impossible! That's… that's the true form of the weapon?! To burn your core, fuse with your beast, and then wield the Supreme Weapon—you're mad, Longwei! Mad!"
Yet madness could not disguise the power radiating from his foe.
Snarling, Duanpo released his own poison qi, the Nine-Headed Hydra coiling tight around him. Venom bled into the air until the storm itself grew sickly. With a guttural cry, he formed a poison barrier, a shifting dome of toxin and shadow to weather the incoming storm.
But Tian Longwei's eyes knew the truth. His core burned to embers. His flesh cracked beneath the strain of fusion. His life would not last.
He smiled. Bitter. Resolute.
"If I die… then you will fall with me."
With both hands gripping the black flame sword, Longwei unleashed his ultimate technique.
"Beast Domain: Dragonfire Abyss (龙炎深渊)!"
The world split.
The ground sundered, rivers of molten magma spilling forth, their currents thick with venom. The sky became a cauldron of poisonous fire, clouds glowing with toxic embers. Above, a colossal spectral Poisonous Fire Dragon coiled endlessly, its eyes locking onto Duanpo, its will drowning the battlefield.
Within this abyss, qi corroded. Stamina bled away. Even the soul screamed beneath the dragon's suffocating presence.
Hei Feng Duanpo staggered, his shield crumbling under the crushing pressure.
"No… no! This is… a domain?!"
Longwei roared, wings beating, flames converging into his blade. With a single world-rending slash, the black flame sword cleaved downward.
Space itself split. Lava cascaded through the cracks, firestorms roaring in its wake.
Duanpo screamed once, cut through body and soul. His shield shattered like glass, his hydra howled before dissolving into smoke. In the next heartbeat, Duanpo's body was torn asunder, crashing lifeless to the scorched ground.
The battlefield fell silent.
Tian Longwei hovered briefly, his form breaking apart. Scales peeled to ash. Flesh crumbled. His draconic wings dissolved into sparks of fire and venom.
With the last of his will, he whispered, sending a fragment of his sense into the black flame sword.
"Live on… my legacy."
The Supreme Weapon dropped, embedding itself into the ground. Around it, a rift tore open, spilling torrents of lava that buried sword, corpse, and battlefield alike.
When the flames subsided, nothing remained but ruin.
At the heart of it, deep beneath molten rock—lay the Supreme Weapon, its fire waiting for the one worthy to claim it.
And beside it, two storage rings glimmered faintly in the molten dark: one of Tian Longwei… and one of Hei Feng Duanpo.