Donghua said nothing. He merely swept out his right arm.
The flowing-gold sleeve of the Pure Yang Daoist Robe draped over his body moved with this seemingly casual gesture. It was like a drifting cloud, yet also like a scar across the heavens, brushing through the void.
Ao Qiu's pupils contracted sharply. The attack looked graceful, yet it was faster than thought itself and carried an undeniable, majestic momentum!
His enormous dragon body had no time to dodge. He could only rely on the formidable physical body of the dragon race to take the blow head-on.
"Boom—!"
The flowing-gold sleeve brushed lightly against the ten-thousand-zhang dragon body.
The muffled sound was like a strike against an ancient divine iron.
In the next instant, the divine radiance protecting Ao Qiu shattered. The hard dragon scales where the sleeve had made contact instantly filled with spiderweb-like cracks. With a teeth-grating crackle, they broke apart one after another, revealing the bloodied flesh beneath.
An irresistible force surged forth, violently snapping his head to the side!
"Crack!"
One of the jagged dragon horns atop his head, a symbol of strength, actually broke in half. Trailing a streak of dim spiritual light, it fell downward!
"Gah—!"
Ao Qiu let out a furious roar mixed with pain and shock. His enormous dragon body staggered under the force, then tumbled down toward the place below from which he had emerged.
He struggled to raise his head. Excruciating pain came from the broken horn, while the scales cracked across his body made him look utterly battered.
The greed and disdain that had filled his dragon eyes were gone. Only terror and fury remained.
Donghua still stood quietly where he was. He slowly withdrew his arm, and the flowing-gold sleeve fell back into place, its divine radiance brilliant. It was as if he had merely waved away a speck of dust that had gotten in his way.
"Interesting."
Donghua hovered in the void, looking at Ao Qiu, whose scales were merely shattered and whose dragon horn was broken.
Although the Pure Yang Daoist Robe specialized in defense, as a High-grade Innate Spirit Treasure containing thirty-six innate restrictions, even a casual strike from it was in no way inferior to the might of a mid-grade Innate Spirit Treasure specialized in offense.
This crawling reptile before him possessed the magic power of the Great Luo Golden Immortal Realm, yet his cultivation was only at the Taiyi Realm. He had actually survived such a strike, suffering only flesh wounds and losing one horn. The formidable physical body of the dragon race truly lived up to its reputation.
"Quite the thick hide."
"My dragon horn! Die! Die, you ant!"
Looking at the broken dragon horn lying on the ground, its spiritual light completely gone, the rationality in Ao Qiu's dragon eyes was instantly swallowed by boundless ferocity and madness.
This was not merely an injury to his body. It was also the cruelest trampling of the dignity of his dragon race!
His ten-thousand-zhang dragon body suddenly coiled up. Surging baleful energy mixed with the magic power around him and erupted with a boom, transforming ten thousand li of the surrounding area into a gloomy Dragon Domain.
Blood streamed from the broken horn, adding further brutality and savagery to his appearance.
His enormous mouth opened wide, and a Natal Dragon Pearl, entirely murky yellow and wrapped in the illusory image of a massive mountain, was offered up!
The moment the dragon pearl appeared, it bloomed with billions of rays of light. The Earth Spirit Law, heavy as an ancient divine mountain, poured forth from within it. The surrounding space warped and collapsed under the pressure of this extreme force.
"Die, ant!"
Ao Qiu roared harshly. The murky-yellow dragon pearl carried an unmatched momentum capable of crushing the stars and suppressing the myriad worlds. It transformed into a streak of yellow light and instantly descended upon Donghua's head!
"Clang—!"
Just as the murky-yellow dragon pearl, containing immense force, was about to strike Donghua, a deep and melodious bell chime instantly froze the incoming dragon pearl and stilled this clamorous heaven and earth.
Above Donghua's head, a simple, ancient bell appeared from thin air. Its entire body was dark azure and surrounded by Dao patterns. It was none other than his companion spiritual treasure—Jingyang Bell!
Unlike the Pure Yang Daoist Robe, which contained only the Pure Yang Law, Jingyang Bell also held a trace of the Time Law.
If it faced a Great Luo Golden Immortal who likewise controlled laws and had transcended the river of spacetime, this trace of law might only manage to restrain them temporarily, making victory difficult to determine.
But at this moment, it was just right for dealing with a dragon at the Taiyi Realm that possessed nothing but brute force!
Donghua's figure flashed, and he was already before the dragon pearl. With a thought, the murky-yellow pearl fell into his palm.
His divine sense seeped into the pearl like flowing water, penetrating the dragon qi disguising its surface and reaching its inner core. It was an Innate Spirit Treasure formed naturally, yet the mark of the dragon race had been forcibly imprinted upon it, obscuring its origin.
A brilliant light flashed through Donghua's eyes before finally becoming a look of understanding and astonishment.
As expected of a method created by the Ancestral Dragon, a Hunyuan Golden Immortal—he had actually used a spiritual treasure as its foundation and refined it into a Natal Dragon Pearl! Wonderful, truly wonderful!"
Every member of the dragon race could nurture a Natal Dragon Pearl. Its uses were extraordinary, and it was often used as a trump card.
This dragon before him was truly fortunate. He had actually refined an Innate Spirit Treasure into his dragon pearl.
With a wave of his hand, Donghua purified the dragon pearl directly, revealing the treasure's true form.
"Ah—!"
Ao Qiu let out a heart-rending howl. The dragon pearl was closely connected to his soul, and Donghua had forcibly severed that connection. It was no different from forcibly cutting away a piece of his Divine Soul!
Pain drowned out every thought. The arrogance that had filled his eyes vanished completely, leaving only the most primal fear.
His enormous dragon body twisted violently. Without the slightest hesitation, he plunged straight into the earth and fled toward the depths of the earth veins without looking back!
For someone like him, possessing a single Innate Spirit Treasure could be called a fortuitous opportunity.
But if one possessed two at the same time, then unless one was a mighty figure with astonishing Supernatural Abilities, powerful enough to awe all directions, there had to be an untouchable master standing behind them.
Spiritual treasures could be found again, but one's life was unique. Ao Qiu desperately burrowed downward.
Donghua's right hand clenched in the air, and he gently grabbed at the earth below.
The hard rock layers of the earth veins were as nothing beneath his palm. The ten-thousand-zhang dragon body that had already fled into them was forcibly yanked out by an invisible force!
Ao Qiu felt the space around him solidify. In the next moment, the world spun, and he was already hurled into midair.
He hurriedly curled up his dragon body. Not a trace of his former arrogance remained. He lowered his dragon head, his voice trembling.
"Senior, please forgive me! This little dragon was insolent and failed to recognize Mount Tai! I beg Senior to spare my life!"
"Entangled in karma and ignorant of the workings of Heaven, you were destined to suffer this tribulation." Donghua's gaze was as calm as water.
"Since you formed the cause, you should bear the effect."
Donghua held two fingers together like a sword and lightly pointed at the space between Ao Qiu's brows.
A streak of Pure Yang Immortal Light flashed. Ao Qiu's dragon eyes instantly dimmed. Before he could react, his Divine Soul and true spirit were completely erased.
Donghua did not damage his dragon body. After all, it belonged to a dragon at the peak of the Taiyi Realm. With a little refinement, it should yield a Houtian Spirit Treasure.
Mysterious Yellow Qi circulated in Donghua's palm, and the treasure that Ao Qiu had mistakenly refined as his dragon pearl finally revealed its true form—the Earth Spirit Pearl.
This treasure contained thirty-five innate restrictions. It was a genuine High-grade Innate Spirit Treasure.
More importantly, this treasure did not exist in isolation. It was one of a set of Innate Spirit Pearls.
If he could gather the corresponding metal, wood, water, and fire spirit pearls, he could set up the Lesser Five Elements Innate Grand Formation.
Although this formation could not compare to the Innate Five Elements Grand Formation, established with the Innate Five Directions Banners as its foundation and capable of seizing Heaven and Earth's blessings, it was still one of the Primordial Wilderness's top trapping and killing formations.
Once the five spirit pearls formed the formation, even a powerhouse at the level of a Hunyuan Golden Immortal would find it difficult to escape after becoming trapped within.
Most importantly, compared with the elusive Innate Five Directions Banners, each of which had its own host, the hope of gathering the five elemental spirit pearls was undoubtedly much greater.
Donghua swept up the hovering Earth Spirit Pearl with his sleeve. His gaze remained as still as an ancient well before finally settling on the true goal of this journey—the Innate Spirit Root swaying quietly in the distance.
Before you continue