Lu Chen rose to his feet and looked at the sky, stroking the Primal Chaos Greatsword. "The sky is so red. Just like when Qingfang Village was wiped out—an eerie, demonic red. I wonder how many demonic beasts will come this time."
"Little Lu..." Wind Dragon could not help speaking when he saw Lu Chen's sorrowful expression.
Lu Chen looked at Wind Dragon. "What is it?"
"Nothing. I just think you shouldn't remain buried in the past. I believe Seventh Ancestor could see that your talent was exceptional, but I don't know whether he ever told you that obsessions can affect one's cultivation."
"Your obsession is too deep. It will definitely give rise to inner demons in your future cultivation. You need to prepare yourself in advance. Your path of cultivation will never end in the Jianghai Region..."
"Roar..."
Wind Dragon had wanted to continue, but the shadows of demonic beasts had already appeared before Lu Chen.
There were ten second-level Breath Regulation Realm demonic beasts in all: Purple Fire Lizards, Violet-Gold Rats, Flame Shadow Panthers...
The demonic beasts charged over and directly surrounded Lu Chen, continuously letting out ferocious roars at him.
"Wind Dragon, it's time." Lu Chen picked up the greatsword and charged at the demonic beasts. Wind Dragon faded into an ethereal form and attached himself to the greatsword.
"Dragon Descends to the Sea!"
"Silver Serpent Emerging from its Lair!"
"Star Serpent Hidden in Clouds!"
"Azure Emperor Divine Tree!"
Without Nantian Wan'er's bloodline suppression, Lu Chen did not dare underestimate the pack before him and immediately unleashed his strongest attacks.
"Swish, swish, swish..."
"Thud, thud, thud..."
Silver light flashed. In one fluid, flowing sequence, Lu Chen sent all ten demonic beasts crashing to the ground.
"Roar..."
Just as Lu Chen killed the demonic beasts before him, five fourth-level Breath Regulation Realm demonic beasts appeared in the distance.
"Huff... huff. Fourth-level Breath Regulation Realm? They came so fast—are they not even leaving us a way to live?" Lu Chen panted heavily as he looked into the distance.
"Grandpa Xiu, how much longer do you need? The demonic beasts coming are getting stronger and stronger."
"One more hour. Hold on a little longer."
Nantian Xiu could sense the situation outside, but the ritual had already begun. It was impossible for him to stop it now.
"Alright. I'll do everything I can to protect the barrier."
"Roar..." The five demonic beasts had already reached Lu Chen.
"Let's go. I'm Lu Chen of Qingtian Workshop. I'm a clansman of the Heavenly Emperor." Lu Chen gripped his sword in both hands and charged at the demonic beasts.
"Let's go." Wind Dragon no longer attached himself to the greatsword. He directly manifested his enormous dragon body and attacked the demonic beasts on the left.
This was Lu Chen's first time facing five fourth-level Breath Regulation Realm demonic beasts head-on. He pushed the spiritual energy within him to its limit, gathering wind, lightning, water, and fire upon the Primal Chaos Greatsword in a single burst. Radiance streamed in all directions.
He slashed at the nearest demonic beast, cutting off a huge chunk of flesh.
"Azure Emperor Divine Tree: Binding Attack!"
The Azure Emperor Divine Tree extended its tendrils, burrowing through the torn flesh directly into the demonic beast's body and continuously draining its life essence.
One slash, two slashes, three slashes...
Ten minutes later, relying on the sharpness of the Primal Chaos Greatsword, Lu Chen finally brought down the demonic beast before him. Several wounds deep enough to expose bone had also been left on his body.
Lu Chen controlled the Azure Emperor Divine Tree to keep binding the remaining demonic beasts, then turned and rushed toward the beast Wind Dragon had restrained. Wielding the greatsword, he slaughtered it together with Wind Dragon.
One, two, three...
Half an hour passed, and Lu Chen killed every last demonic beast.
Lu Chen struggled to bandage himself. There was barely a patch of intact skin left on his body. Even with his incredibly strong recovery ability, blood still flowed all over the ground.
"Rest for a while. More demonic beasts might come over soon," Wind Dragon said to Lu Chen.
Lu Chen lay on the ground, greedily gulping in air.
"Glug, glug... glug, glug..."
At that moment, bubbles began rising from the lava pool beside Lu Chen. The bubbling grew larger and more violent.
"Boom..."
With a sudden deafening blast, the bubbles exploded and lava splashed everywhere. A powerful aura rose from beneath the lava.
Lu Chen hurriedly rolled up from the ground and stared at the lava pool.
"Who was it? Who was hunting my companions?"
"Whoosh!"
A twenty-zhang fire dragon surged out of the lava pool, its house-sized eyes sweeping over the surroundings.
The fire dragon lowered its head to look at Lu Chen, fury filling its serpentine eyes. "Human, a Qi Gathering Realm human. Was it you who hunted my companions?"
"Wind Dragon, what kind of monster is this? My body is being suppressed." Lu Chen tried to resist, only to find that the suppression had rendered him unable to move.
"Roar..." Seeing Lu Chen suppressed, Wind Dragon immediately transformed into his true form and stood in front of him.
"A Qi Descending Realm fire dragon. It has already grown dragon horns and passed the first stage of transforming into a dragon. With my current cultivation, I can only hold out for ten minutes. Run into the barrier."
"Purple Flame Fire Dragon, do you know who I am?" Wind Dragon roared at the fire dragon.
"Lord Wind Dragon, why are you protecting this human? He has already killed so many of our companions."
The fire dragon looked at Wind Dragon before it. As a subordinate of Flame Demon, it had lived in the Secret Realm for so long that it naturally knew Wind Dragon.
"No, you are not Lord Wind Dragon. Who are you... Lord Wind Dragon's aura would not be this weak. Who exactly are you people?"
"Roar..."
The fire dragon churned out of the lava pool, wrapped in endless lava as it charged at Wind Dragon.
"Fire dragon, wake up! Look at who he is."
The fire dragon had only developed intelligence in recent years and could not understand matters concerning the Azure Emperor. Wind Dragon wanted to persuade it to stop.
"Roar... You humans, don't even think of killing my kind again." The fire dragon ignored Wind Dragon's persuasion and tangled with him in battle.
Wind Dragon's cultivation had nearly dissipated before, and he was still cultivating anew. Naturally, he was no match for the Purple Flame Fire Dragon's attacks.
After several exchanges, Wind Dragon was defeated. His manifested body was scattered by the fire dragon's attack, and he weakly returned to the Primal Chaos Greatsword to recuperate.
"Roar... You hateful humans, what have you done to Lord Wind Dragon?"
The fire dragon stared at Lu Chen within the barrier, constantly flicking its forked tongue. "I'll kill every last one of you and avenge Lord Wind Dragon."
"Bang, bang, bang!"
The fire dragon began attacking the barrier. Watching its attacks, Lu Chen felt that with two entire major cultivation realms between them, his body could not summon even the slightest will to resist.
"Bang!" The Azure Emperor Divine Tree barrier Lu Chen had set outside shattered.
"Bang, bang!" The first layer of the barrier Nantian Xiu had set up broke apart.
"Grandpa Xiu, what should we do next? I can't deal with this demonic beast." Lu Chen looked at Nantian Xiu. Under such absolute suppression of strength, he did not know what to do for the moment.
"Send your spiritual energy into the barrier. Activate the final offensive and defensive formations and delay it for as long as possible. Once I finish repairing Wan'er's body, I'll take action and deal with this beast."
Nantian Xiu's words were undoubtedly a calming tonic for Lu Chen. He was not afraid of the fire dragon, but the natural aura pressure of the Cultivation World kept bearing down on him, leaving him unable to resist.
Now that he understood what to do next, Lu Chen went to the barrier, pressed both hands against it, and continuously poured spiritual energy into it.
Lu Chen's Heavenly Pool Qi Sea was already several times larger than an ordinary person's. In addition, his spiritual energy had already liquefied, so his reserves were no weaker than those of a fifth-level Breath Regulation Realm cultivator.
As an endless stream of spiritual energy flowed in, the offensive and defensive formations gradually activated.
The offensive formation fused with the wind, lightning, water, fire, and other elements Lu Chen had sent in, raising its power to the great completion of the Breath Regulation Realm. For a time, the fire dragon was at a loss, and its attacks slowed.
After all, the fire dragon was a Qi Descending Realm demonic beast. It suddenly opened its jaws and spewed blazing purple flames across the formation.
"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle..."
The purple flames carried snake venom and continuously corroded the barrier.
"Sizzle, sizzle... boom!"
Ten minutes later, the final barrier shattered with a resounding crash.
Looking at the shattered barrier, Lu Chen knew that he could no longer avoid this. Behind him were Nantian Wan'er and Nantian Xiu, who were in the midst of healing. If he moved aside, the two of them would certainly be unable to evade it.
Lu Chen forcibly stirred the blood within his body and summoned the Primal Chaos Greatsword. Raising his head to face the Purple Flame Fire Dragon, he said, "Come... Even if I die here, I will not take a single step back."
"Roar... A mere Qi Gathering Realm human dares provoke me?" The fire dragon opened its massive jaws, intending to swallow Lu Chen in one bite.
Lu Chen controlled the Azure Emperor Divine Tree to bind the fire dragon's head, then flashed onto its back and brought his sword down in a savage chop.
"Bang!"
The Primal Chaos Greatsword struck as though it had hit a slab of steel. A tremendous clang rang through the blade, numbing Lu Chen's hands and sending the greatsword flying from his grip.
"Roar..."
With a massive roar, the fire dragon spewed flames from its jaws and burned the Azure Emperor Divine Tree to ashes, then turned to stare at Lu Chen.
"Human, you dared to hurt me. I'll kill you. Roar..." The fire dragon swept its tail at Lu Chen and sent him flying.
Lu Chen crashed down beside Nantian Xiu and spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Humans, you should not have come here. You should not have hunted demonic beasts. This is Sixth Ancestor's Secret Realm, not a place you should have entered."
The fire dragon flicked its tongue and advanced step by step toward the three of them.
Watching the fire dragon draw ever closer, Lu Chen struggled to his feet and picked up the greatsword. "Grandpa Xiu, how much time is left?"
"Ten more minutes. Sigh, young man, this has nothing to do with you. Leave quickly. On your own, you can still use your Movement Technique to escape." Nantian Xiu could not bear to see Lu Chen implicated because of him.
"Grandpa Xiu, didn't you say we were family? Didn't you say Wan'er and I should be filial to you together? You've treated me so well and even taught me swordsmanship. I already see you as family. How could I run away by myself?"
The last ray of sunlight in the sky fell upon Lu Chen's face, leaving behind a proud, unyielding silhouette.
Lu Chen raised the greatsword above his head with both hands. A breath within the Primal Chaos Greatsword drew him into chanting an incantation.
"Heaven and earth without limits, primal chaos splits open the heavens. Lord of all things, one born a king."
A profound, obscure aura slowly formed upon the greatsword, carrying a sense of guardianship as it coiled continuously around Lu Chen.
"Nantian Dragon Slaying Sword, go!" A dark azure dragon surged toward the fire dragon.
Seeing Lu Chen at that moment, Nantian Xiu was utterly shocked. "Sword Intent! I spent my entire life condensing Sword Intent, yet Lu Chen comprehended it in an instant."
Though the fire dragon had begun transforming into a dragon, it was still a serpent of the earth in the end, and its seven-inch vital point remained its weakness. The dark azure dragon struck the fire dragon at that point, directly shredding its flesh to pieces.
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