C1448 The Serious Old Dragon

With a loud splash, Yu Yuan, wielding the Baneblade, plunged into the deep sea below after receiving the response from the Everlands. Countless evil spirits, mingling with the dark blue waters, surged toward him in an onslaught.

Yu Yuan let out a sneer, slashing carelessly with the Baneblade. Thick, blood-red arcs of light sliced through the oncoming horde, annihilating the evil spirits and ghosts in an instant. Puff! Puff! The malevolent ghosts collided with Yu Yuan's Solar Spirit Body, attempting to penetrate his flesh. They were like flies smashing into a furnace of blood flames, bursting into smoke and dissipating in the water.

The dark blue seawater was rich with shadow energy, which seemed capable of sustaining the souls and ghosts. Yu Yuan uttered a light "hmm" upon discovering that the shadow energy in this region, concealed by the Spectre Binding Scroll, was astonishingly dense. It bore a resemblance to the Land of Terror and was exceedingly conducive to the activities of ghosts and spirits.

The major distinction, however, was that the dense shadow energy here was impure. Ghosts and evil spirits that absorbed and refined this energy into their spirited bodies were fated to become violent and lack spiritual wisdom, easily manipulated and controlled by others... which was precisely what the Bloodbrawlers' puppeteers desired.

Upon his descent, Yu Yuan's heart was momentarily besieged by malevolent and distracting thoughts. Thankfully, he quickly regained his composure.

"Come forth!" he commanded.

As more vicious ghosts lunged at him, Yu Yuan flicked the Baneblade, summoning seven sizable Bloodwraiths. These Bloodwraiths, coalescing into seven massive blood-colored specters, encircled him, relentlessly striking down the ghosts.

Yu Yuan noticed, however, that the Bloodwraiths, born from the Baneblade's previous owners' backlashes, were also influenced by the Spectre Binding Scroll in this peculiar sea. It seemed as though they were being watched by someone in hiding, intent on enslaving the Bloodwraiths.

As the Bloodwraiths fought off the evil spirits, they were tormented by endless malevolent thoughts and subtly corroded by the concealed adversary. Yu Yuan carefully probed the situation and realized that the hidden evil would not impact the seven Bloodwraiths for some time.

This was because the Baneblade, Bloodhell, was not Razses' Soul Locking Diagram and did not originate from the Bloodbrawlers. Consequently, the Bloodbrawlers' dark magic and artifacts had a limited effect on the Baneblade.

Whoosh!

With a single thought, myriad tiny blood-colored sparks burst forth from the Baneblade, clashing with the evil spirits manipulated by the Spectre Binding Scroll in the dark blue sea. If the Crucible of Evil were present, merging with the Bloodwraiths within the Baneblade would be simpler, he thought involuntarily.

Howl!

At that moment, the ancient patriarch of the Nagas unveiled his serpentine dragon form. Not even the most corrupted shadow energy waters could inflict the slightest damage upon him. His golden scales, emitting a faint glow, were lethal to any ghosts that dared approach. As he undulated his massive body through the water, he inadvertently obliterated thousands of ghosts and evil spirits, compelling the more formidable ones to steer clear of him.

In Loong Jie's golden dragon eyes, there was a hint of confusion, as if he were quietly attuned to something elusive. Yu Yuan observed that near Loong Jie's sinuous form, there were specks of golden light, a psionic power inherently twisted by the rules.

Loong Jie appeared to be using his divine theurgy to alter the deep sea, coercing the Spectre Binding Scroll to conform to his will. He was not constrained in the slightest; his lingering presence here was actually a ploy to seize the Spectre Binding Scroll and unearth the hidden members of the Bloodbrawlers.

"Yu Yuan!"

Upon detecting his scent, Loong Jie's dragon form, stretching over ten thousand meters, lashed out with its tail. A deluge of golden brilliance and lightning, the essence of his bloodline, purified a small expanse of the deep sea in an instant, annihilating all the evil spirits and ghosts.

A divine and ancient dragon's breath, originating from the dawn of time, resonated briefly with the Everlands. The entire world seemed to echo his call at that moment, channeling the deep sea's colossal force from afar to suppress the Spectre Binding Scroll and its clandestine wielder.

"You needn't worry about me. Who am I, Loong Jie? In the vast Everlands, aside from the exalted Primordial Spirits and Dark Deities, who could possibly slay me? Even they would find me an insurmountable challenge!" boasted the old lecherous dragon, notorious for his debauchery and for siring numerous half-blood offspring throughout the Everlands and the extraterrestrial Star River. At this moment, his overwhelming presence commanded Yu Yuan's respect.

He suddenly understood why those supreme beings who had been covertly observing from above were unfazed.

Only the true pinnacle of existence seemed to grasp the full extent of Loong Jie's terror. They remembered that this lecherous dragon was once the most fearsome fiend within the Sword Prison beyond our world.

He was a notch more dreadful than Zhongli Dapan, Green Willow, or Xi Quan.

In today's world, many who sit in the highest echelons are younger and less experienced than this old dragon, whose legend they've known since childhood.

They were well aware that there was only one reason Loong Jie hadn't ascended to Dragon God status.

The Dragon Slaying Stage was suppressing the fate of the Nagas!

The laws of Heaven simply wouldn't permit it!

Should Loong Jie have achieved Dragon God stature, few among the supreme beings of the Everlands would stand a chance against him.

"Come out, you cowards of the Bloodbrawlers, and pay your respects to your elder, Loong Jie!"

With a shake of his head and a flick of his tail, Loong Jie moved through the dark blue sea, tainted with impure shadow energy and besieged by distractions and malevolent thoughts. Yet, with each ripple of golden light, he purified all the impurities within his draconic form.

Was there even a hint of him being ensnared?

"I had assumed that the Terra Fiends lurking deep underground would surface to confront me. Ha, to think they'd underestimate me! Do they truly believe that with our clan's destiny suppressed, none of us can fight?"

"Have they forgotten? Forgotten the times when our Naga race reigned supreme over the Everlands, and the Terra Fiend ancestors were subjugated by us?"

Loong Jie's taunts echoed as his golden, mountainous dragon form glided through the depths. No ghost or evil spirit could endure his presence; they were reduced to dust at a mere touch.

A screeching sound emerged, as if an invisible, intangible canvas could not bear the sweep of Loong Jie's draconic might and was on the verge of tearing apart.

The deep sea, once defiled by the Spectre Binding Scroll, was swiftly cleansed by Loong Jie's tumultuous upheaval.

Yu Yuan surveyed his surroundings and noticed that the evil spirits, covertly bred by the Bloodbrawlers, were attempting to scatter in every direction. But just as they neared escape, they vanished into thin air.

He immediately realized that he and Loong Jie were trapped within the Spectre Binding Scroll!

The Spectre Binding Scroll enveloped the vast ocean, polluting the waters with shadow energy and unleashing ghosts to ensnare Loong Jie.

Yet, it seemed the Bloodbrawlers had underestimated Loong Jie's combat prowess.

They hadn't anticipated that the infamous old dragon, notorious for his debauchery across the Star River, would exhibit such astonishing strength once he got serious.

Moreover, in the Everlands, the old dragon's blood appeared to subtly command the very rules of existence!

Even the supreme primordial spirits and Dark Deities of the Everlands struggled to resonate with the Primordial Rules of this realm, only managing to influence the Way of Heaven's rules slightly with their profound understanding.

"Yu Yuan, your return... it has made me stronger," Loong Jie murmured.

Upon hearing this, Yu Yuan had an epiphany. His return with the Dragon Slaying Stage, and the presence of the young Titan Spinosaurus, had shattered the prison that held the Nagas in check, allowing the most ancient and powerful beings of the Everlands to slowly regain their domineering strength.

Already at the pinnacle of the ninth level, on the cusp of ascending to Dragon God status, his power had surged even further, becoming incomprehensibly formidable.

"You're here to gauge Loong Jie's stance, aren't you? To see whether he has colluded with the Bloodbrawlers and the Terra Fiend, whether we're caught in their joint snare?" Yu Yuan abruptly looked up, gazing at the clear sea where two clouds drifted far apart.

"Who's watching?" Loong Jie bellowed.

"What do you think?" Yu Yuan replied with a smile.

Loong Jie fell silent, likely having realized something. He understood that his musings were about the highest powers of the Everlands.

"Loong Jie, you are a profound disappointment. With dragon blood as noble as yours, you've stooped to being manipulated by humans. You've sullied your golden dragon lineage! Your departed ancestors would be shamed by your actions."

A chilling, somber female voice echoed from the seabed beneath Loong Jie.

A multicolored shell lay there.

...