Chapter 62

The crowd turned in shock.

At some point, the unconscious Wuzhao had appeared behind the Yi King, his hand plunged into the king’s chest, extracting a blood-soaked spiritual core.

Within that core, a tiny golden dragon lay dormant.

Everyone’s eyes sharpened.

“A golden dragon?” Mu Jiu exclaimed, “How is Mu Guang’s golden dragon form here?”

“That’s not Mu Guang’s true body,” Fan Yue explained.

“A thousand years ago, Mu Guang used two dragon scales to establish the Spiritual-Sealing Formation. One became the dragon soul guarding the city gate, and the other turned into the core dragon body of the Formation.”

“As expected of the Palace master of Haoyue, your knowledge is indeed vast,” Mu Jiu said, giving him a thumbs-up.

The young man froze, frowning.

Somehow, he felt this knowledge wasn’t part of the memories of the so-called Palace Master of Haoyue.

But there was no time for such trivial concerns.

At the instant the Yi King’s core was removed, the dormant Yi souls in the blood pool let out a piercing wail, transforming once again into waves of black evil energy.

Outside the Yi city, the massive dragon shadow that had been gradually dissipating roared loudly and reformed.

“This is bad! The Slaying God dragon soul has been reawakened!”

Jinyao’s face turned pale.

In the stone palace, the Yi King, whose core had been extracted, spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.

“No!”

Hua Hong leaped forward, catching the fallen Yi king.

The Yi king’s crown slipped off, his face ashen.

He reached out weakly toward Hua Hong.

“Hong… Hong’er…”

Hua Hong stared blankly at the Yi King.

Blood gushed relentlessly from the Yi king’s mouth, a horrifying sight.

“Father… I was wrong… It was my fault that I harmed the Yi race. Don’t hate Yong’er. Live well…”

With all his remaining strength, the Yi king touched Hua Hong’s spiritual core, transferring a faint trace of soul light that vanished into her forehead.

As the soul light disappeared, the Yi King closed his eyes, lifeless.

Whatever Hua Hong saw within that soul light left her stunned.

She glanced at Hua Yong, who lay asleep not far away, then abruptly stood up.

With a wave of her hand, an iron staff returned to her grasp.

She looked toward the one holding the Yi king’s spiritual core, her eyes blood-red.

“Why?!”

“You shouldn’t have returned.”

Beside the blood pool, Wuzhao glanced coldly at the Yi king’s corpse, avoiding Hua Hong’s gaze.

“Was it you who secretly used evil arts to steal the souls of all the Yi people?” Bai Shuo suddenly asked.

Only when Wuzhao removed the Yi king’s core did Bai Shuo finally understand who had silently taken the souls of the entire Yi race and who had poisoned Hua Yong.

Wuzhao had the Yi king’s absolute trust.

Only he could have done it.

“Yes, it was me. I poisoned Hua Yong and took the Yi people souls,” Wuzhao said, expressionless.

“Why would you betray the Yi race?!” Hua Hong’s voice trembled.

“Why? Because they deserved it. The Yi King deserved it. Hua Yong deserved it. They caused your mother’s death. They must pay!”

Because of Queen Mei? Seeing the hatred in Wuzhao’s eyes, Bai Shuo froze.

Could it be that Wuzhao had feelings for the Yi Queen…?

“The people are innocent! For the sake of one person, would you drag an entire city to their grave?!” Hua Hong roared.

“Why not?!”

Wuzhao pointed to the wailing souls in the blood pool.

“For these pitiful wretches abandoned by the heavens, my foster father sacrificed all his spiritual energy for that heartless creature and caused your mother’s death! So what if the Mei family guarded this city for a thousand years? In the end, wasn’t it reduced to ruins?”

Wuzhao was the foster son of the old General Mei.

No wonder Hua Hong, upon returning to the Yi city, treated everyone coldly except for Wuzhao, to whom she showed remnants of her past affection.

“No, father didn’t—”

“Silence! He doesn’t deserve to be called your father!” Wuzhao interrupted angrily.

With the Yi King’s sword in hand, he leaped onto the blood pool.

Countless evil energies poured into the spiritual core, and the golden dragon within it was instantly corrupted, its eyes opening to reveal an empty, murderous gaze.

The instant the dragon’s eyes opened, its violent killing intent transformed into evil energy, surging toward Fan Yue and tightly binding the young man.

This was the Slaying God Dragon, forcibly awakened by evil energy.

Whoever possessed divine power would become its target.

The golden dragon’s intense killing intent seared through Fan Yue’s spiritual core like fire, leaving him in visible pain.

“Mumu!” Bai Shuo’s face changed as she rushed toward Fan Yue.

“Don’t come near!” the young man shouted in fear.

Sure enough, the golden dragon suddenly turned its gaze to Bai Shuo.

Countless streams of evil energy shot from its eyes, surging directly toward her.

The dragon’s majesty was overwhelming; how could Bai Shuo, a half-immortal, withstand it? Struck by the evil energy, she was sent flying through the air.

“Master!”

“Ah Shuo!”

Two cries of alarm echoed simultaneously in the hall.

Fan Yue tried to save Bai Shuo, but he was tightly bound by the evil energy.

With an angry roar, the young man swung the silver chain in his hand, slashing at the surrounding evil energy.

The chains trembled, and a few strands of the evil energy were severed.

The golden dragon was enraged, pouring even more killing intent onto Fan Yue, this time aiming directly at the center of his forehead.

Fan Yue coughed up blood, the silver chain slipping from his grasp and falling to the ground with a sorrowful clink.

Chong Zhao leaped forward, catching Bai Shuo as she fell mid-air.

At that moment, a dragon’s roar resounded from the sky, causing the palace to quake.

Everyone felt a massive force rushing toward the Yi King’s palace.

Beichen’s expression shifted.

“The dragon soul formed from the other dragon scale has been awakened!”

If the dragon soul merged with the golden dragon’s body, it would become a true god-slaying weapon!

The entire hall trembled as Fan Yue was scorched by the golden dragon’s killing intent.

Bai Shuo broke free from Chong Zhao’s arms and shouted toward Wuzhao.

“Wuzhao! If the dragon soul merges with the dragon’s body, everyone will die, including Hua Hong! She’s the only daughter of Queen Mei! The Yi King is already dead—what grievances can’t you let go of?”

The figure hovering above the blood pool paused, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes.

But in an instant, the hesitation vanished, replaced by deep-seated hatred.

“It’s not enough! One life is not enough!”

Wuzhao shouted madly, hurling the core into the blood pool.

It began to absorb the Yi souls within frantically.

The tiny golden dragon rapidly grew larger, its golden body slowly turning black.

Under the evil energy, Fan Yue’s forehead turned blood-red, and he collapsed to one knee.

The power of the dragon soul pierced his spiritual core like a sharp blade.

“Mumu!”

“Ah Shuo! The golden dragon’s aura is too strong! You can’t get close to it!”

Bai Shuo attempted to rush to Fan Yue, but Chong Zhao held her back.

“Words are useless now. Wuzhao’s mind has been overtaken by hatred and corrupted by the evil energy,” Beichen said grimly.

“We must stop the dragon soul from merging with the dragon’s body. If the golden dragon falls under the control of the evil energy, the entire wilderness will be destroyed!”

“Destroy the spiritual core! If we kill the golden dragon form within the spiritual core, the dragon soul will dissipate!”

Bai Shuo suddenly shouted, looking at the black dragon within the blood pool.

Long ago, Mu Guang split the dragon scale into two parts to safeguard the Yi with the Spiritual-Sealing Formation, likely fearing that the divine formation might one day be misused.

Above the blood pool, Wuzhao’s eyes were empty.

With a wave of his hand, the Yi King’s sword flew into the air above the pool, transforming into four blades that formed a protective sword formation around the golden dragon’s body.

“Kunlun Swordmasters, Piaomiao, attack now!”

Aside from Bai Shuo, Mu Jiu was the most cautious of his own life.

Fearing the dragon soul’s awakening, he immediately hurled his Wheel of Destruction, leading the charge.

Beichen and Chong Zhao followed suit, the three of them coordinating seamlessly to attack Wuzhao from three sides.

A cold gleam flashed in Wuzhao’s eyes.

With a single palm strike, the three of them, suppressed by the Spiritual-Sealing Formation, couldn’t even land a blow before being sent flying.

Hua Hong leaped into the air, using her staff to catch the three of them.

Rarely did the usually noisy fox show such valor.

In midair, Hua Hong even steadied Mu Jiu, planting a stream of spiritual energy into his chest as she did so.

Mu Jiu, already dizzy from the impact and his blood boiling, suddenly felt his spiritual core warm.

He turned his head to meet a pair of cold, piercing eyes.

His heart skipped a beat, but before he could express his thanks, Hua Hong had already leaped forward again, her iron staff striking toward Wuzhao in the blood pool.

This time, Hua Hong held nothing back.

At the instant the staff clashed with the long blade, flames erupted from the weapon.

The fiery energy was powerful enough to melt mountains and boil seas, shaking the entire hall.

Wuzhao’s blade was instantly split in two by the flames, and the iron staff drove into his chest, sending him flying and pinning him to a stone pillar.

Mu Jiu stared dumbfounded at Hua Hong, who seemed like a god of slaughter.

Good heavens, Wuzhao was at least a Supreme Lord. Just how powerful is this Yi King’s daughter?!

Only now did everyone realize that through all their life-and-death struggles, Hua Hong had never fought with her full strength.

“Burning Heaven Staff… You’re the Flame Demon Lord,” Beichen said, his expression shaken.

The Flame Demon Lord, one of the two infamous great demon under the Haoyue Palace, whose hundred-year reign of terror resounded across the Three Realms.

No one could have imagined that the Yi King’s daughter, Hua Hong, was actually the Flame Demon Lord of the Haoyue Palace!

“Flame Demon Lord? The number one demon lord? The one who killed across ten thousand miles with a single strike?”

Mu Jiu gulped hard.

The apex of demon power, a decisive strike… truly terrifying!

Hua Hong seemed not to hear him, her gaze fixed silently on Wuzhao, pinned to the stone pillar.

Deep in her eyes lay a sorrow no one could comprehend.

She had personally ended the last member of the Mei family.

Wuzhao, barely clinging to life on the stone pillar, seemed to regain a moment of clarity amidst his madness, perhaps moved by that sorrow.

He smiled gently at Hua Hong and extended a hand.

“Your Highness, don’t cry. I… I…”

He never finished his sentence.

The last glimmer in his eyes faded, his hand fell limply, and he closed his eyes forever.

No one knew what he wanted to say to Hua Hong.

Perhaps he didn’t need to say it—she already understood.

Everything he did, even unto death, was without regret.

“Quick, Big Iron Flower! Destroy the spiritual core!”

The hall fell silent after Wuzhao’s death, save for Bai Shuo, whose concern for Fan Yue left her no time to waste.

Hua Hong snapped back to reality and flew toward the blood pool.

Just as her staff was about to strike the spiritual core, a dragon’s roar echoed through the hall.

A massive dragon soul surged in, sweeping its tail toward Hua Hong.

The Burning Heaven Staff clashed head-on with the dragon soul.

The dragon’s mouth opened wide, biting the staff in two before the dragon soul flew toward the body in the blood pool.

With a swing of its tail, it swept Hua Hong aside.

Even the peak of demon lord power was no match for the power of a Dragon God.

As the tail approached, Hua Hong’s pupils shrank.

At that moment, a weak surge of demonic energy intercepted the dragon’s tail.

A fiery red tail swept up from the ground, quickly wrapping around Hua Hong’s waist and pulling her to safety.

Hua Hong glanced at the shattered Wheel of Destruction in mid-air but had no time to process what had happened before a teasing voice reached her ears.

“Flame Demon Lord, we’re even now!”

Turning her head, she saw the little fox blinking mischievously, grinning shamelessly as his fox tail brushed against her palm.

Goosebumps rose all over Hua Hong, and just as she was about to punch the idiot fox to death, Bai Shuo’s urgent shout interrupted her.

“No! The dragon soul and body have merged!”

At that moment, a deafening dragon’s roar shook the hall as a blinding golden light engulfed the area.

The ground quaked, and everyone was thrown into the air.

The Kunlun Iron Sword was summoned, shielding Hua Hong and Mu Jiu.

Chong Zhao held Bai Shuo tightly in his arms, shielding her as falling rubble struck his back.

He grunted in pain but didn’t budge an inch.

When the light faded and the shaking ceased, everyone looked up and froze in shock.

A towering black dragon had risen from the blood pool, its colossal form filling the hall.

Its overwhelming presence suppressed everyone, leaving them unable to stand.

This was the true power of the Dragon God.

Cold dread settled over their hearts.

Outside the Yi City, the dragon’s roar pierced the skies as dark energy condensed into a dragon’s shadow, breaking through the barrier and incinerating everything in its path.

Terrified immortals looked on as Jinyao leaped forward, transforming into his true Baize form.

(T/N:Bai Ze is a mythical creature from ancient Chinese legends. The History of Yuan Dynasty records that the Bai Ze beast has a tiger head, red hair, horns, and a dragon body. The Ming Ji Li records that the Bai Ze beast has a dragon head, green hair, horns, and four legs in a flying posture and is said to possess immense knowledge about all supernatural creatures and only appears to virtuous leaders, providing them with information on how to combat evil spirits and natural disasters.)

With a furious roar, he used his demigod body to block the rampaging dragon soul.

Inside the hall, the dragon’s bloodthirsty eyes fixed coldly on the kneeling young man, bloodied and barely conscious.

With a long roar, the black dragon raised a claw and brought it down toward Fan Yue.

“Mumu!”

Bai Shuo pushed Chong Zhao aside and ran toward Fan Yue without hesitation.

“Ah Shuo!” Chong Zhao’s face turned pale.

“Girl, are you insane? That’s a Dragon God!”

Mu Jiu shouted, but Bai Shuo didn’t seem to hear him.

She threw her storage bag, and countless paper figures flew out, screaming as they charged toward the dragon’s claw like moths to a flame.

A beam of immortal light shot from Bai Shuo’s hand as two turtle shells fragments collided with the evil energy around Fan Yue.

Amidst the chaotic explosion, Bai Shuo didn’t stop, diving toward the kneeling young man.

Chong Zhao reached for her but missed.

Watching Bai Shuo exhaust all her treasures, his heart, steadfast since he became immortal, shattered for a moment.

Within the swirling vortex of evil energy, the young man’s consciousness was fading.

He weakly raised his head, seeing a familiar face rushing toward him.

“Master, are you looking for the one you love?”

“No, Master is searching for his benefactor.”

“Then I’ll join you.”

“Join me in what?”

“Join you in finding him.”

The turtle shell fragments finally broke through the evil energy surrounding Fan Yue.

Bai Shuo seized the moment, breaking through the gap and reaching out.

She caught him.

The frail body fell into her arms, and tears welled up in Bai Shuo’s eyes.

She was terrified of death, but in that moment, she was more afraid of Mumu dying before her.

The paper figures continued to explode in the air, their ashes merging with the dragon’s claw.

Just as Bai Shuo embraced Fan Yue, the claw descended on them.

The young man used all his strength to shield Bai Shuo, his flesh and blood resisting the dragon’s claw.

Bai Shuo squeezed her eyes shut, trembling in fear.

Oh no, I’m really going to die!

The claw struck, but instead of the pain she expected, there was only a flash of light.

Bai Shuo opened her eyes in shock, meeting the bloodied gaze of her little disciple.

In those blood-soaked eyes was an emotion she couldn’t comprehend.

“Hey, you two! Help us out!”

A weak cry came from the side.

Bai Shuo turned to see Hua Hong, Chong Zhao, Beichen, and Mu Jiu standing in front of them, struggling to hold up the dragon’s claw mid-air.

True brothers, Bai Shuo thought, her heart swelling with gratitude.

The joy of narrowly escaping death made her completely forget the fleeting stir of emotion she had felt earlier.

With a single strike blocked, the black dragon in the blood pool let out an enraged roar, its massive body soaring into the air and charging at the group.

Though it had no intellect, its fury was palpable.

These ants in the hall had actually forced it to use its full strength.

As the dragon’s claws tore toward them, a burst of demonic light erupted from Chong Zhao, momentarily halting the dragon’s advance.

No one but Chong Zhao noticed the explosion of a blood-mist demonic flower within that light.

High above the Yi City, as the blood-mist flower burst, Fu Ling’s expression changed.

She dropped to one knee, her face pale.

Zhen Yu cast a cold, indifferent glance at her, his expression unperturbed.

In the hall, the dragon’s body loomed over them, and in the fleeting moment granted by the demonic light’s obstruction, Mu Jiu turned and shouted at Bai Shuo.

“Stupid girl, the corrupted dragon wants the gods! Where are the gods, huh?!”

Bai Shuo stared at her little disciple as Mu Jiu’s furious voice rang in her ears.

As the dragon’s claws descended, she hesitated no longer.

Drawing her sword, she slashed her palm and pressed her bleeding hand against the young man’s forehead.

The young man’s pupils contracted, and he struggled to pull away.

“Master… don’t…”

“Lord of the Haoyue Palace! Wake up!”

Bai Shuo’s voice trembled as she gripped the young man tightly, unable to meet his eyes.

In the instant her blood began to flow, the black dragon in midair faltered.

Its malevolent eyes, entirely consumed by evil energy, seemed to catch a faint glimmer of divine light, as though sensing a trace of special bloodline energy.

That was…

At the same time, the young man’s forehead absorbed the blood, and an intense red divine power erupted like flames within the hall.

A figure leapt forth from the blazing light, and the silver chains on the ground let out a jubilant hum as they flew into his hand.

In midair, the figure swung the chain toward the black dragon.

A majestic divine radiance slashed through the dragon’s body, and with a wail of agony, the dragon’s form shattered.

Countless strands of evil energy dispersed from its body, transforming into souls of the Yi people and ascending through the hall’s roof.

Bathed in divine light, the figure, clad in red robes, descended slowly.

He looked down at Bai Shuo with a faint smile playing at his lips.

“So, you always knew how to awaken my true self.”