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Chapter 541: Azure Dragon
🕑 Added 2024-12-09 14:00:15 +0000 UTCDonghai Longzi noticed Meng Tingfeng’s actions. He shrunk his Destruction Domain so that it only covered himself and Ye Chen. Generally, domain techniques had a goldilocks size. Too large, the power within would become too dispersed. Too small, the domain would leak energy from the edges because the compression exceeded the density.
And he condensed the domain far beyond its limit. The excess energy exploded from the Destruction Domain, forming a chaotic and destructive wind that buffeted those outside its immediate range.
Meng Tingfeng frowned. Although the destructive wind wasn’t exactly dangerous, venturing against it increased his consumption of his immortal qi of stars. In the void, where he couldn’t restore his qi, that was the most dangerous situation.
Even though he possessed the divine artifact Seven Star Sword, he was not exempt from this rule. Although the divine artifact was powerful, he could only activate its weakest abilities. If he could fully activate it, he could use it to restore his qi, but by then, he would not need to use it. Because only divinities could fight in the void without worrying about their energy consumption.
Still, that did not mean he was helpless. His red-robed incarnation flew forward and swung his sword. Followed by the black-robe incarnation, yellow-robed incarnation, green-robed incarnation, and finally, the white-robed incarnation.
The five slashes merged together to form a five-colored comet. It carried Meng Tingfeng and his five incarnations and pierced through the barrage of destructive winds. Along the way, Meng Tingfeng furrowed his brows. “This…is the concept of wind? Did the East Sea Dragon King master the Law of Wind?”
In fact, Donghai Longzi only mastered a part of the Law of Wind. While developing his Destruction Domain, he delved into the Concept of Erosion under the Law of Water, which was shared by the Law of Wind. It was through this connection that he comprehended part of the Law of Wind. He wasn’t like Tianyi, who could comprehend myriad laws as easily as eating and drinking.
Inside the Destruction Domain, Donghai Longzi attacked Ye Chen again. One was a true dragon with a body that eclipsed most dragon kings, while the other was a humanoid dragon. Both of them mastered the Law of Destruction and started fusing it with other laws.
It was a crushing battle. Donghia Longzi no longer used his dragon breath and appeared in front of Ye Chen. The sword monarch could do naught but defend against Donghai Longzi’s claws. Each claw shredded the azure scales protecting his body, leaving lacerations all over.
‘I can’t go on like this. Meng Tingfeng is doing his best, but even both of us are not this damn dragon’s opponent. I might even fall before he can reach me!’ Ye Chen thought. Despite the danger he was in, he was terrifyingly calm. The closer to death, the more calm you must be. Years of experience only reinforced this fact for him. He experienced many ups and downs, including almost losing everything in the expedition to the Broken Primordial World, but he still survived and prospered.
This crisis will be no different!
But the longer the battle went, the more despair Ye Chen experienced. The East Sea Dragon King was one major realm above him. The worldly law the dragon fused to his Law of Destruction was superior to the Law of Time he used.
Ye Chen had a powerful body, not inferior to the top dragon bloodlines. It was thanks to the drop of azure blood that he absorbed. He guessed it must have belonged to the original Azure Dragon. He utilized it to the maximum with the Dragon Emperor Fist. Against ordinary true dragons, he believed he could crush them in bodily strength alone, but the East Sea Dragon King had a body several levels higher than his. Not only that, but his physical size made it difficult to truly leave a fatal injury.
He could leave a wound a hundred meters long. For him, a wound that large might split his body in half, vertically, but for the East Sea Dragon King, it was just a slightly larger cut. How despairing was this?
Ye Chen felt like even fighting the Demon Emperor Redraco would not be as despairing.
‘No, I can’t remain like this. The longer this situation lasts, the weaker my position becomes. By the time the chance comes, it’ll be impossible for me to reverse it, or even survive. I’ll have to reveal my secret!’ Ye Chen’s eyes hardened as his eyes flashed with determination.
“Hm?” Donghai Longzi noticed the air around Ye Chen changing. Although nothing changed about the situation or the latter’s strength, it still raised his vigilance. He attacked even more fiercely, preparing to not give the latter a chance to counterattack and to kill him before Meng Tingfeng arrived.
An unwilling expression appeared on Ye Chen’s face under Donghai Longzi’s assault. ‘Finally unable to stand it?’
Donghai Longzi stilled when a new figure appeared within his Destruction Domain. The figure was not humanoid but serpentine. It had the antlers of a deer, the head of a crocodile, a demon’s eyes, the neck of a snake, a tortoise’s viscera, an eagle’s talons, the palm of a tiger, cow ears, azure carp scales.
“Azure Dragon?” Donghai Longzi muttered.
He could feel a powerful bloodline in the unknown dragon, one that equaled his own. It emanated the aura of a dragon lord, but its vertical pupils were extremely hostile.
“You have an Azure Dragon clone?” Even someone like Donghai Longzi couldn’t help but be surprised. The Azure Dragon was a divine beast, a lifeform that would automatically reach the Divine Realm at adulthood. How could Ye Chen have a clone of it?
As for why he didn’t think it was something else? He knew that it was impossible for other people to teleport in. Even Tianyi would have trouble and if he forced himself to appear, it wouldn’t have been so silent. The Azure Dragon appeared as if it was taken out of a beast tamer’s bag. Not to mention the azure scales on Ye Chen’s body couldn’t help but link them together.
Donghai Longzi didn’t think it was Ye Chen’s spiritual beast either. If it was, he wouldn’t have such eyes, not to mention that the possibility of a natural Azure Dragon appearing was infinitely small. If the new Four Divine Beasts could be born, the Demon Clan would have the highest knowledge about it.
Speaking of which, Donghai Longzi stared at the Azure Dragon again. Although it emanated a powerful bloodline suppression, it felt weird. Incomplete to be more accurate.
Still, Donghai Longzi’s movements only paused for a moment. His claws continued to strike at Ye Chen, while he lash his tail at the Azure Dragon. His tail slammed down, like a saber’s edge descending.
The Azure Dragon opened its maw and roared. The moment it roared, the surrounding flow of time slowed. Donghai Longzi felt his thoughts slow down, but it was still faster than his body, forming a dissociation effect. In an ironic twist, he felt what Demon Emperor Redraco felt when fighting his main body.
A powerful energy coalesced around the Azure Dragon’s claw. He raised it and slashed at Donghai Longzi whose body was still slowed down by time.
Donghai Longzi only saw a blur as the Azure Dragon approached. Donghai Longzi’s vertical pupils narrowed until it was only a line. For a single moment, the simmering energy in his body boiled, ready to explode at a moment’s notice. Just before erupting, the energy beneath the black dragon’s scales cooled, and the Azure Dragon’s attacks reached him.
Scales cracked, and skin split. The Azure Dragon’s claws had pierced him below the neck and slashed down his body, reaching past his legs. Donghai Longzi grunted and endured the pain. He had experienced far worse when he was still human and wandering the Huang Realm.
Before the Azure Dragon could reach all the way to his tail, his aura surged, and Donghai Longzi broke out of the time lock and counterattacked. The Azure Dragon used his body to withstand it. Although some scales cracked and blood flowed out, it was ultimately just a flesh wound.
“I never expected the Azure Dragon’s innate ability to have a temporal aspect. Emperor Redraco’s Azure Dragon’s Claw showed no signs of it. Was it because he’s not a true Azure Dragon or because he only used his innate ability when unleashing the Four Divine Beast’s combination ability?” Donghai Longzi asked.
Ye Chen didn’t answer. In truth, he didn’t know either. “You’re late.”
“Sorry,” Meng Tingfeng apologized upon regrouping with Ye Chen. He glanced at the Azure Dragon. “Your spiritual beast?”
He saw everything that had happened, so he naturally wouldn’t associate the new dragon with the Demon Clan.
“My clone.”
The Azure Dragon snorted. “Don’t keep calling me a clone. My name is Ye Long.”
‘His temper seems worse than Ye Chen’s,’ Meng Tingfeng thought.
“Are you done talking? It’s time to accept your death!” Donghai Longzi said and charged at the three.
“What’s the plan? I can explode with all my might and deal a critical blow, but I’m not sure I can guarantee a hit or injure him to the point of helplessness,” Meng Tingfeng said, communicating through his immortal sense.
“We only have two chances, and the margin will be slim,” Ye Chen replied, dodging an attack. “My clone already used his innate ability once. At most, he can only do it two more times. And because he already experienced the time slowing effects, it will be harder to hit him.”
“I said my name’s Ye Long, not clone!”
Ye Chen ignored him. “I also have a trump card. It should be around the same level as the power you can unleash with your Seven Star Sword. Maybe a little weaker.”
Meng Tingfeng raised an eyebrow. Although the situation was desperate, it was much better than before. And he felt a sense of calmness while his blood raged. He hadn’t experienced such a battle in a long time. A foe he was hopelessly outmatched against alone.
“It seems you have a lot of secrets. The more the better in this situation.”
“Shut up!” Ye Chen growled. “I didn’t want to reveal this before I became an emperor, and especially against the Dragon Clan.”
“Wait for my signal. This beast’s domain can interfere with our immortal senses. To be on the safe side, don’t communicate too much,” Ye Chen finished.
Meng Tingfeng glanced at Ye Long. He could see how the Demon Clan, the true dragons especially, would react upon learning of his clone. The Four Divine Beasts were the revered guardians of demons. For a human to possess a clone of one of them would be blasphemous, and they would kill him at all costs.
The two sides duked it out. Even three against one, the East Sea Dragon King suppressed the three of them firmly.
“Now!” Ye Chen shouted using his immortal sense.
Ye Long activated his innate ability, Azure Dragon’s Claw, once more.
As the three of them suspected, the East Sea Dragon King showed much more resistance. Knowing he only had one chance, Meng Tingfeng exploded with all his power. His five Luminary Incarnations reverted to starlight and emanated the aura of the five elements. They converged onto his Seven Star Sword, lighting up five of the seven stars. He raised his sword above his head with both hands, enormous power emanating from the divine artifact.
The dragon king didn’t sit and wait for the sword monarch to slash. His claws shot forward, intent on stopping and injuring him, but at the critical moment, Ye Long appeared in front of him and slashed his own claws forward. The two entered a statement, but the dragon king prevailed in the end, blasting the Azure Dragon clone back.
However, that brief moment was enough.
“Take this!” Meng Tingfeng roared as he brought his sword down.
At that moment, a black aura surged around the East Sea Dragon King. He hadn’t broken free of the Azure Dragon’s Claw, but his speed dramatically sped up. He shifted, moving out of the way of Meng Tingfeng’s attack.
‘Oh no,’ Meng Tingfeng thought.
“Not on my watch!” Ye Chen shouted as he appeared behind the dragon king. His black sword had disappeared, and in its place was a crude saber. The blade resembled some sort of claw fastened onto a handle. It emanated the same aura as the Azure Dragon clone, only far more powerful and with a divine presence.
To Ye Chen’s surprise, the East Sea Dragon King didn’t retreat. He continued flying toward him with no intent on blocking or dodging. He planned to exchange injuries.
Ye Chen’s eyes glared. The claw saber flashed forward with the might of destruction and time. It sliced into the East Sea Dragon King’s neck, but the latter still showed no signs of changing his mind. The dragon’s claws flashed forward, piercing toward Ye Chen’s torso.
Behind him, Meng Tingfeng’s attack landed. Five colors of starlight exploded, exuding an intense heat greater than a nova, one that engulfed the East Sea Dragon King.
When the nova died down, the East Sea Dragon King’s strength had plummeted. The claw saber was still embedded in his neck. Blood flowed endlessly like a river from the wound.
Ye Chen wasn’t much better. In fact, he was in an even worse state. He had lost his right hand, and his torso had three holes that reached from his chest to his back. Like the dragon king, blood flowed endlessly from his wounds.
Meng Tingfeng and Ye Long were the most uninjured, but before they could do anything else, they felt the energy of the Destruction Domain rumble. The Destruction Domain detonated, with all four of them still inside. The surge of power obscured the field.
When the dust died down, only the East Sea Dragon King was alive. Ye Chen had died, and his clone had died by extension. Meng Tingfeng had disappeared to who knows where.
***
Tianyi saw what happened with Donghai Longzi. After checking his inner universe, he gave his clone a thumbs up.
“Stop!”
He ignored the contemporary Azure Dragon and teleported away, he had an authentic corpse of the Azure Dragon to collect. When he reappeared, he had appeared near his clone. With a wave of his hand, he stored the Azure Dragon clone’s corpse and Ye Chen. Next, he attacked Donghai Longzi.
It was a show of course, but in those brief blows, Tianyi had dislodged the claw saber and claimed it as well. Furthermore, he increased Donghai Longzi’s injuries. To the onlookers, it looked like he was about to kill the East Sea Dragon King, were it not for the arrival of Demon Emperor Redraco.
“Hurry and retreat to Crystal Palace. Use all the treasures and heal yourself as quickly as possible,” Demon Emperor Redraco said.
Donghai Longzi suggested the two teaming up against Tianyi, but was rejected. Finally, he was persuaded and left, leaving Demon Emperor Redraco alone against Tianyi.
“If you had him stay, you could have lived longer,” Tianyi said.
Demon Emperor Redraco snorted. He didn’t waste anymore words and attacked Tianyi. The two clashed again and again. Hours passed, but while Tianyi only had about five percent more cracks on his body, Demon Emperor Redraco was panting and running low on qi. Even if he could absorb the spiritual qi in the realm artifact, he could not convert the spiritual qi into demon qi fast enough.
He planned to retreat, having one of the demon patriarchs hold Tianyi back while he recuperated in a safe place. All he needed was a chance.
Suddenly, he saw Tianyi looking into the distance and a smirk appearing on the latter’s face. Not missing this chance, Demon Emperor Redraco attacked and successfully struck his foe. While Tianyi was knocked away, he glanced in the same direction. His eyes widened in disbelief.
“Impossible!”
