C894 Anaconda Dragon Devour!
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
From Flamehold, Emberhold, and Brilliant City, three arc lights shot towards the clouds. They paused momentarily in the void to discern their direction before converging on the borderlands where the Serpent Spine Mountains meet the Crimson Sun Empire.
A cultivator of the Unbound Realm, with keen observation, would recognize these arc lights as the Sages of the Ethereal Void Sect: Chong Xiao, Tianjing, and Xinshang.
Chong Xiao and Tianjing were stationed at Flamehold and Emberhold, respectively, while Xinshang, who had recently arrived, was in the distant Brilliant City.
Sage Xinshang, an early period Unbound Realm cultivator of the Ethereal Void Sect, was not to be underestimated, even when compared to Chong Xiao and Tianjing.
Lingxu was enraged by Qu Jing's death. Xinshang, being in the Unbound Realm and currently on the Aetherius Continent, was promptly tasked to head to the Crimson Sun Empire.
"Yu Yuan..."
With seven rings on his left arm, Sage Xinshang's face was etched with sorrow, as if he had been steeped in a lifetime of grief.
"Ah, Sect Master, why must I be the one to go to the Crimson Sun Empire? Yu Yuan has such close ties with the demons of Moonfall Sanctuary and the backing of Boulderdawn Sect's influential figures. You chose not to come yourself, instead sending me."
Xinshang grumbled to himself as he sped through the air. He could have traveled three times faster had he been willing to sacrifice some of his cultivation.
He could have arrived sooner than Chong Xiao and Tianjing if he had chosen to do so, but he refrained.
High above, the cautious Xinshang alternated his gaze between the Moonfall Sanctuary and the heavens, ever vigilant against the possibility that Yu Yuan was merely a decoy.
"If Zu Ann at Skyreach Peak were to peer through the Mirror of Fates right now, he'd surely notice the oddities within the Crimson Sun Empire," Xinshang lamented with a gloomy expression. "I just hope that at this moment, Zu Ann is not at Skyreach Peak, but elsewhere."
Crack! Crack!
As Yang Chuhe raced through the terrain, chunks of ice that had formed on his body were shed, shattering upon contact with the ground.
Each time the sect master of Midnightshields channeled the Water Magic, it was permeated by the Frost Queen's formidable ice power. The once misty spells were abruptly altered at their core, transforming into crystalline ice shards.
Water and ice, intertwined within the Way of Heaven, could seamlessly convert into one another.
The Frost Queen's mastery of ice power, representing the pinnacle of ice, indeed had the capability to suppress him at his very foundation.
His sophisticated spells were not only ineffective against the Frost Queen but were also turned against him.
The very spells he cast were twisted into weapons for his adversary, leaving Yang Chuhe so frustrated he felt like spitting blood.
"Enough, enough!"
Driven to desperation, Yang Chuhe could feel the cold seeping into his blood and had no choice but to make a dire decision.
Whoosh!
His Lunar Spirit detached from his corporeal body, finally free from the influence of the ice power.
Once the Lunar Spirit was released, his escape velocity increased exponentially.
Freed from the constraints of flesh and bone, the Lunar Spirit of the Midnightshields' sect master felt as though he could soar without limits, covering vast distances in an instant.
Crack!
But his corporeal body, left behind after the Lunar Spirit's departure, was mercilessly crushed by the Frost Queen's ice magic.
It froze solid, then burst with a violent crack.
In the moment of Yang Chuhe's corporeal demise, myriad wisps of water vapor began to fade from existence.
The water he had drawn from the three rivers of the Crimson Sun Empire, which he had refined within his acupoints and meridians, now returned to those rivers upon his death.
The Frost Queen, lacking the knowledge to collect this water, could only watch helplessly as it slipped away.
Yang Chuhe, having forsaken his physical form, had become an elusive spirited body beyond her reach.
She could only sense Yang Chuhe's presence growing more distant by the moment.
Suddenly, the Frost Queen sensed a disturbance and scanned her surroundings.
She noticed that the water, which had vanished with Yang Chuhe's death, seemed to be drawn by an unseen force into the River of Whispers, where it mysteriously disappeared.
The Frost Queen, with her spiritual wisdom not yet fully restored, was at a loss, sensing that something was amiss.
The cauldron spirit Yu Yiyi's command was swiftly relayed.
Without a moment's hesitation, the Frost Queen retraced her steps.
...
Elsewhere.
The Blood Moon's clone coalesced into a blood-red canopy that hovered in the air above the Dragon Attendant's head.
The green giant dragon, born from the Dragon Attendant's neck tattoo and a drop of lifeblood, let out a ferocious roar as it lunged at the blood-red canopy. It brandished its razor-sharp claws, tearing at the light curtain.
The once ethereal green dragon, now infused with a drop of lifeblood, had acquired a portion of the green dragon's might.
In contrast, the Dragon Attendant appeared gaunt and skeletal, as if the green dragon had siphoned away his very essence, leaving him on the brink of collapse.
Yet, his visage was twisted with an unhealthy fervor as he muttered incantations in the ancient dragon language.
"See the tragic fate of the evil dragon that serves Dragon Lake!" Wen Xin, clutching her Dragon Head Staff, stood protectively in front of Wen Lu, her face etched with concern. "This Dragon Attendant was merely fostered by the dragon's breath and blood. Lacking the necessary talent, he couldn't withstand the Dragon Soul's power and was only nurtured by the dragon's breath and blood."
"But when it mattered most, the evil dragon he served unhesitatingly used the dragon's breath and blood to forge a draconic form, devouring his lifeblood, soul, and spiritual energy to empower itself."
"No matter the outcome, his death is certain. What has been stripped from his body is irretrievable."
"…"
Wen Lu listened, shivering inwardly.
As a Dragon Whisperer, like Zhao Yafu, she was a cut above the ordinary Dragon Attendants. Her body harbored a Dragon Soul, and when the time was right, she would be taken to Dragon Lake to lead the Dragon Attendants and undergo a deeper 'fusion' with the eighth-level green dragon.
This 'fusion' meant becoming a devotee of the eighth-level green dragon, serving it for life. Her soul, body, lifeblood, and all that she was would wholly belong to the green dragon.
The green dragon would naturally revel in all she possessed and strive to enhance her strength, realm, and physique as much as possible.
Then, she would join the green dragon in combat, destined to become the dragon's weapon at a pivotal moment.
Just like now.
Crack!
The bones of the Dragon Attendant shattered one by one, his soul twisting into a mass intertwined with blood, merging with the green dragon.
The green dragon continued to fend off the assault from Blood Moon, aided by him, but this ephemeral green dragon was doomed to fade away.
The Dragon Attendant faced an early demise.
"Yu, Yu Yuan!"
Wen Xin suddenly realized something, her face turning pale as she urgently said, "That green dragon must be close by! Only then could it harness the power harvested from the Dragon Attendant's body to create such a formidable false green dragon!"
"He must be in the vicinity," added Wen Lu.
Yu Yuan was taken aback.
He was not well-versed in the brutal sorcery of Dragon Lake, only having a vague understanding.
But the Wen family had deep ties to Dragon Lake. Wen Lu, having been a Dragon Whisperer in her youth, would surely know more about its secrets.
"An eighth-level green dragon is nearby..."
He mulled it over, his gaze drifting toward the Serpent Spine Mountains, "Could it be that the green dragon is in the Serpent Spine Mountains? Is Mr. Yan seeking his demise there?"
Following this train of thought, he pondered deeper and his brow furrowed sharply, "Is it because of my mother's awakening?!"
His parents had connections with Dragon Lake before their misfortune struck. It turned out his father had been held captive by Dragon Lake.
Now that his mother's spirit had returned, she must have truly awakened.
Could it be that Dragon Lake had received the news and thus headed to the Serpent Spine Mountains?
Crackle!
Yu Yuan's joints popped as the Altar of Rebirth within his vitality's little world burst forth with a tumultuous roar.
"My turn!"
In a swift motion, he bypassed Blood Moon and took the place of the recently deceased Dragon Attendant.
The forming green dragon above him snarled, its fangs and claws on display, as if using the Dragon Attendant's remains to forge a draconic avatar.
"Strangle!"
Streams of crimson blood light, imbued with the essence of life, burst forth from Yu Yuan's uplifted arm, resembling fiery red anacondas as they ferociously attacked the green dragon taking shape.
Within him, the Altar of Rebirth—forged by the Sunsorrow of the Abyssal Leviathan—now displayed a voracious, bloodthirsty hunger. Strands of blood-red light, serpentine as anacondas, burrowed into the green dragon, consuming its flesh.
It was as if the anacondas were devouring a dragon!
Roar! Roar!
The green dragon's anguished roars reverberated painfully in the ears of all who heard, yet before it could fully materialize, it was utterly consumed.
