C978 Imperial Dragon
In the Absence Relic, at Elfview Town.
A strapping elder with shoulder-length brownish-yellow hair and a natural tiger stripe on his forehead arrived, with Zhao Yafu trailing behind him. She was close to tears, following stubbornly yet silently.
Near Elfview, two new towns had sprung up, inhabited by the Zhao and Zhan families.
As the burly elder approached, clanspeople from all three towns emerged to greet him.
At the entrance of Elfview, Yu Cann, along with Yu Lian, Yu Wei, Yu Lili, Yu Feifei, and others from the younger generation, including Zhao Dongsheng and Zhao Zhenghao of the Zhao family, and some members of the Zhan family, converged.
Xu Zixi, known as the Python Queen, wore a look of bitterness. Since Ann Wen had discarded a spider carcass on the mid-lake island, she had lost all communication with Yu Zhu.
She was aware, through the Demon Palace, that Yu Zhu was now harnessing the hidden bloodline essence within the spider, preparing for her next evolution.
Yu Zhu, akin to a human sage in deep meditation, was temporarily oblivious to the world's upheaval and would not join the fray.
Xu Zixi recognized the imposing elder with the tiger tattoo as the current leader of the Tiger Tribe, the most formidable before the White Divine Tiger ascended as the Demon God—a Ninth Level Great Demon.
His unexpected visit to Elfview Town was no mystery to her.
"Elder Huang," Xu Zixi greeted with deep respect.
The Tiger Tribe's patriarch, now in human form, narrowed his eyes, surveying the Yu family members who trembled before him.
Yu Cann and the rest of the Yu family were overwhelmed by a fierce demonic aura, as oppressive as mountains, nearly choking them.
The weaker members of the Yu family collapsed to the ground, gasping for air, their eyes filled with defeat.
With eyes ablaze, Yu Cann implored, "I beseech the Demon Palace to show mercy and grant the younger members of the Yu family a chance to survive!"
How could he be unaware of the Ninth Level Yellow Tiger from the Demon Palace's intentions when it arrived so abruptly in Elfview?
"I'm well aware that the Demon Palace intends to use the Yu family as leverage to coerce Yu Yuan into unlocking the array within the forbidden area," Yu Cann said, bowing his head with a grave tone. "I am prepared to comply with the Demon Palace and serve as a hostage."
"I'm also willing!"
"Let it be me instead!"
Yu Lili, Yu Feifei, and the rest of the Yu family members began to clamor.
Witnessing this unfolding, the Zhao and Zhan families could do nothing but heave sighs of resignation.
Zhao Yafu had become a direct disciple of the White Divine Tiger, and Zhan Tianxiang had received the favor of the Golden Elephant Ancient God. These two families were deeply intertwined with the Demon Palace. Initially, due to the ties between Yu Yuan and Yu Zhu, the three families were allies, all peripheral clans of the Demon Palace.
Yet, Yu Yuan emerged as an anomaly.
They wished to speak in his favor, but one look at Zhao Yafu's face told them any words would be futile.
As a disciple of the White Divine Tiger, Zhao Yafu had been under the care of the Sky Tiger clan's chief during recent campaigns in the outer domains.
If Zhao Yafu's influence was negligible, what weight would their words carry?
"By the orders of the Demon Palace, my divine powers were to be used to lift the entirety of Elfview Town into the skies above the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area. Yu Yuan would have been forced to witness the peril of his people and town, compelling him to dismantle the forbidden area's barrier," the burly elder grunted. "But I've just received some news."
"This news, now verified as truth, means that even if I were to slaughter all of the Yu family, it wouldn't sway his emotions in the slightest."
"If he is indeed the reincarnation of the Medicine God Hong Qi, why would he care about your fates?"
With those words, the old tiger transformed into a streak of dark yellow demonic light, soaring away from Elfview Town.
"The Medicine God Hong Qi reincarnated? Is Yu Yuan actually the Medicine God Hong Qi?!"
"The news, it's been confirmed?"
Yu Cann, the patriarch, along with every member of the Yu, Zhan, and Zhao families, Zhao Yafu, and the Python Queen, Xu Zixi, stood frozen in shock, as if struck by lightning.
...
Deep within the forbidden area.
Yu Yuan sat serenely on the silvery expanse, his legs crossed, with two gray-white stones resting on his knees.
One stone was the Dragon Slash Platform, the final resting place of the Frost Dragon, and the other, the Space-time Dragon.
Yu Yiyi, in her white dress and bare feet, stood behind him, her luminous eyes surveying the prostrate dragons scattered across the ground.
Yu Yuan's hands pressed against the Dragon Slash Platforms, his presence ancient and shadowy.
"Assault the nine palaces born from the Heaven Palace Seal. The Profound Sky Sect shall balance their power."
He gazed at the Golden Giant Dragon, Frost Dragon, Lightning Dragon, and Fiery Dragon before him, his profound eyes like two enigmatic pools teeming with dragon shadows.
"Otherwise, the three Dragon Slash Platforms will breach the earth's deepest dragon vein."
Upon his declaration, the third Dragon Slash Platform, entombing the Golden Giant Dragon, trembled mightily.
Every Dragon Clan member on the ground felt their blood surge, instinctively sensing a terrifying aura that threatened to obliterate their entire lineage. Every elder and hatchling would perish in an instant.
With a mournful cry, Loong Jie's massive golden form transformed into a bolt of divine lightning, instantly entering the "Nine Heavenly Furnace" constructed by the nine palaces.
Following him, all the dragons who had been swayed by the Sword Sect and Primordial Yang Sect, granted secret clemency, defected on the spot, rushing toward the nine palaces.
"I always knew these filthy, repulsive vermin couldn't be trusted!"
Ren Yun of the Profound Sky Sect watched as a Lightning Dragon coiled around the palace beneath him, sparks flying from the crevices of its scales, infiltrating the structure. He clenched his teeth in a curse.
As the facade faded, the palace revealed its true form, a green stone surface etched with natural lightning marks, like clouds of thunder.
This palace was a wondrous inkstone, claimed from a lightning pool in a distant realm by the Profound Sky Sect, and forged into the Heaven Palace Seal.
The brontosaurus lay coiled within the palace, its lineage and draconic form uniquely suited to endure the relentless assault of lightning and thunder. It could even absorb and refine these forces, which is why it had chosen this location as its lair.
Ren Yun, tasked with defending the palace, watched as it shook and shifted position. He swore under his breath while forming mystic hand seals.
In Yu Yuan's Consciousness Little World, memories within the Yin God burst forth in succession.
Streams of faint soul thoughts surged into the two fragments in his grasp and the Dragon Slash Platform beneath him, coursing like electricity.
His mind seemed to drift across an ancient battlefield, witnessing the Dragon Gods of the Nagas being besieged and slaughtered by humans and demons. The Dragon Slash Platform was the stage for this bloodshed, and he could almost hear the dying wails of the Dragon Gods.
The platform was inundated with endless enigmatic runes that cascaded down, morphing into a fearsome curse. This curse was immeasurably more intricate than the incantations of the Ghoul Glyph Sect.
Perched atop the Dragon Vein, the Dragon Slash Platform not only governed the destiny of the entire Dragon Clan but if it were to continue its descent and shatter the vein below, the residual powers of the Dragon Gods, along with the Ninth and Eighth Level Old Dragons, would merge with the curse. Should this force erupt within the Dragon Vein...
The Dragon Clan would vanish from the vast expanse forever!
The Dragon Slash Platform was the ultimate weapon against the Nagas, a wondrous creation forged by the collective wisdom of the Divine Soul Sect, human champions, and even extraterrestrial races.
The Nagas had not been annihilated but merely suppressed, forbidden from manifesting Tenth Level Dragon Gods, all because the Divine King had once chosen not to pursue their total extinction.
Yet, the Dragon Slash Platform indeed harbored the might to obliterate the Dragon Clan!
Loong Jie and all the great dragons who had converged here could never have imagined that Yu Yiyi had once been a mere handmaiden overseeing the Dragon Slash Platform. Nor could they have fathomed the mysterious turn of events that now allowed Yu Yuan to subtly manipulate the platform.
With control over the Dragon Slash Platform, he could coerce all the dragons into submission.
With a whoosh, a demonic spear wreathed in black flames was hurled from the void by the Mighty Spirit King, targeting the center of Yu Yuan's forehead.
The Mighty Spirit King had discerned that Yu Yuan's command over the Dragon Slash Platform could subdue the Dragon Clan and incite turmoil among the Unrestrained Stage experts of the entire Profound Sky Sect. Without hesitation, he acted, intent on eliminating Yu Yuan.
Yet...
The demonic spear, ablaze with black flames, had been a mere ten meters from piercing Yu Yuan when suddenly, time and space convulsed in disarray. In a bizarre twist, the spear ended up impaling an Eighth Level wolf demon instead.
"Space-time Extraordinary Talent!"
...
