The Demonic Beast Crossing-Tribulation Poison Dragon

This poison dragon, though small in stature, appeared as if imbued with vibrant life, its exquisite detail truly breathtaking. Its dark golden scales were layered in intricate patterns, shimmering with an immortal luster as if forged from the most precious of metals, each scale glinting with a mysterious and profound radiance. Within its body, purple light pulsed like rhythmic veins, flowing like mysterious rivers and containing endless secrets.

A terrifying aura—pure, restrained, yet seemingly capable of destroying the heavens and the earth—permeated from the poison dragon, spreading outward like invisible ripples. The fluctuations of the poison laws it emitted were fierce and sharp, unexpectedly holding their own against the surging Corrosive God Poison Miasma within the Ancient River of Buried Gods, as if two peerless experts were locked in a standoff from afar, neither willing to yield.

"This is..." Xiao Yan widened his eyes, staring dumbfounded at the miraculous scene before him, the shock in his heart surging like a tidal wave.

"Using the origin of my Poison Pill as a guide, I gather the power of ten thousand poisons to temporarily manifest the 'Crossing-Tribulation Poison Dragon'!" Xiao Yi Xian's voice carried a trace of imperceptible weakness; clearly, condensing this dragon had consumed a vast amount of her energy. Her face was slightly pale, but her eyes remained resolute. "This dragon can temporarily isolate the erosion of the ancient river's miasma and use its poison power to resist a portion of the space-tearing force! But it cannot fully withstand the law fragments! You and I must use the protection of the dragon's body to rush across at top speed!"

"Understood!" Xiao Yan nodded heavily, his eyes filled with determination, as if he were already prepared to face any challenge.

"Get on!" Xiao Yi Xian gave a low shout and was the first to leap lightly onto the dragon's back. Xiao Yan followed closely behind, his hands gripping the reins formed from pure poison power on the dragon's back; the reins felt icy to the touch, yet possessed a resilient strength.

"Go!"

Xiao Yi Xian's thoughts stirred, as if she were in perfect communion with the poison dragon.

"ROAR--!!!"

The dark golden-purple Crossing-Tribulation Poison Dragon let out a silent yet soul-shaking roar, the sound like an ancient war song, filled with power and majesty. The dragon's body lashed out, and like a dark purple-gold streak cutting through the night sky, it charged defiantly into the surging, death-filled Ancient River of Buried Gods.

"HISSS, HISSS, HISSS--!!!"

The moment they entered the river, countless tiny space fragments, like piranhas smelling blood, frantically slashed toward the poison dragon. They glinted with cold light, carrying sharp edges as if they intended to tear the dragon to pieces. The twisting force brought by the law fragments made the scenery around the dragon instantly surreal; space warped, time became chaotic, and everything turned illusory and unreal.

"HUM!"

In an instant, the dark golden light on the surface of the Crossing-Tribulation Poison Dragon erupted like a scorching sun, dazzling and brilliant! A poison power barrier, condensed to the point of tangibility, instantly expanded like a massive transparent shield, tightly enveloping the dragon. Countless tiny space fragments, like sharp arrowheads, frantically sliced against the barrier, instantly erupting with dense, rain-like sparks and ear-piercing, shrill friction sounds, as if countless blades were scraping against each other. The barrier vibrated violently, its light flickering like a candle in the wind, on the verge of extinguishing at any moment. The dragon's speed also faltered due to the powerful impact, as if it had fallen into a quagmire.

"Hold on!" Light exploded from Xiao Yi Xian's purple eyes like a meteor streaking across the night sky, revealing incomparable firmness and resolve. She pushed her Poison Pill to the limit; the pill spun frantically within her body like a high-speed mysterious machine, continuously refining the even purer and more violent Corrosive God Poison Miasma absorbed from the ancient river, converting it into a constant stream of power to replenish the barrier's consumption.

Xiao Yan was not idle either; he knew the gravity of the situation. He pushed his soul power to the limit, and like invisible tentacles, it probed the dark space ahead. He struggled to perceive the relatively stable spatial nodes ahead, like a lighthouse searching for direction in the vast ocean, guiding the poison dragon forward and carefully avoiding the most violent turbulence zones of the law fragments.

Under the frantic assault of space fragments and poison miasma, the poison dragon was like a small boat in a raging storm, teetering on the brink. Every collision of a space fragment caused the barrier to flicker violently, like lightning in a tempest. Xiao Yi Xian's face grew a shade paler, and her forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, but she gritted her teeth and persisted. Xiao Yan's heart was in his throat, his eyes fixed ahead, not daring to slacken for even a second.

Just then!

"BOOM--!!!"

In the center of the ancient river ahead, a terrifying giant wave composed of pure spatial turbulence rose without warning. The wave was like a mountain peak towering into the clouds, surging forward with an overwhelming, heaven-toppling momentum. Within the giant wave was a law fragment the size of a millstone, its edges burning with Chaos Demon Flame. The fragment was like a burning meteorite, radiating a terrifying aura that destroyed everything in its path; wherever it passed, space crumbled inch by inch, revealing dark, empty voids like wounds in the world.

"No! We can't dodge it!" Xiao Yan's pupils contracted to the size of needle points, his exclamation filled with panic and unease. The terrifying crisis pressed down on him like an invisible mountain, leaving him unable to breathe.

"Full defense!" Xiao Yi Xian shouted sharply, her voice like the clashing of metal, filled with unquestionable resolve. The Crossing-Tribulation Poison Dragon seemed to understand her command, coiling its body to tightly protect the two of them in the center, its posture like an indestructible fortress. The dark golden-purple poison barrier instantly condensed to its limit, its flowing light seemingly containing endless mysterious power.

"BOOM--!!!"

In an instant, the spatial giant wave, carrying the law fragment burning with raging demon flames, slammed into the coiled barrier of the poison dragon like a frenzied ancient beast. The force of the impact was like the first thunderclap at the dawn of creation, shaking the entire space.

An indescribable, terrifying collision! It was as if two stars had violently collided in the universe, erupting with world-destroying power.

"CRACK--!!!"

A shrill, shattering sound rang out suddenly, like a death knell tolling in their ears. The Crossing-Tribulation Poison Dragon's once-indestructible barrier, under the impact of the fragment containing spatial laws and Chaos Demon Flame, became like fragile glass, instantly covered in spiderweb-like cracks. Those cracks spread like the tentacles of a demon, covering the entire barrier in the blink of an eye, on the verge of complete collapse.

"PUH--!" Xiao Yi Xian was struck as if by a heavy blow; her delicate body shuddered violently, and a mouthful of blood containing seven-colored specks sprayed from her mouth, tracing a tragic arc in the air. The Poison Pill within her body trembled violently, its light instantly dimming like a star about to go out. The power maintaining the poison dragon receded rapidly, like an unstoppable ebbing tide.

The spatial turbulence and Corrosive God Poison Miasma outside the barrier, like sharks smelling blood, instantly turned frantic, surging through the cracks on the verge of shattering like a tidal wave. The terrifying aura was like a demon from hell, intent on swallowing them both whole.

"Xiao Yi Xian!" Xiao Yan's eyes were wide enough to split, staring like copper bells, filled with horror and worry. He watched helplessly as the terrifying spatial turbulence and poison miasma were about to engulf them, yet he was powerless to act, the despair in his heart surging like a tide.

At the critical moment, life and death hung by a thread!

"ROAR--!!!"

A majestic, unyielding dragon roar that seemed to pierce the soul did not come from the clamor outside, but erupted from the deepest part of Xiao Yan's soul! Like a bolt of lightning cutting through the darkness, it instantly illuminated the abyss of despair. On the index finger of his left hand, the ancient and mysterious black ring, stimulated by the extreme crisis of life and death, erupted once more with a brilliant Chaos dark-gold light, as if an ancient divine object had been awakened. That light seemed to contain the chaotic power from the dawn of creation, mysterious and profound.

A dark golden halo, though not vast or grand, carried a supreme protective will and spread out instantly like a babbling brook. It was gentle yet incredibly resilient, like the toughest membrane, quietly covering the inner side of the poison dragon's barrier, which was on the verge of total collapse, adding a final glimmer of hope to the teetering shield.

"HISSS--!!!"

The incoming spatial turbulence and Corrosive God Poison Miasma slammed into the dark golden halo like a surging, evil wave. The collision was like that of demons and angels, erupting with a shrill, dissolving sound, like red-hot iron plunging into ten-thousand-year-old black ice—sharp and mournful. The dark golden halo vibrated violently, its light flickering as if it might extinguish at any moment, yet it stood like an unyielding warrior, holding its ground. The spatial turbulence and Corrosive God Poison Miasma were held back by this seemingly fragile halo; though it could not fully purify them, it bought the two of them a breath of time, precious as the last grain of sand in an hourglass.

"GO!!!" Xiao Yan's gaze was like a torch, flames of resolve burning in his eyes. He seized this one-in-ten-thousandth-of-a-second opportunity, burning the Dou Qi within his body regardless of the cost. The Dou Qi rolled and surged within him like a raging fire. At the same time, his soul power poured into the poison dragon's reins like a bursting dam. Xiao Yi Xian also endured the excruciating pain of the backlash—a pain like ten thousand arrows piercing her heart—but she gritted her teeth, squeezing out the last of the Poison Pill's power, as if to sacrifice her very being in this final sprint.

"ROAR--!" The Crossing-Tribulation Poison Dragon let out a mournful, weeping roar, the sound seemingly carrying endless pain and unwillingness. Borrowing the brief but crucial obstruction of the dark golden halo, it struggled and lunged, like an arrow shot from a bow, charging with resolve and fearlessness, narrowly escaping the spatial giant wave and law fragments that were closing in like the jaws of a giant beast. That thrilling moment was like the tightest note on the string of fate; the slightest carelessness would have meant death.

"BOOM!!!"

In an instant, the spatial giant wave and the law fragments collided behind them like two stars crashing, erupting into a world-destroying energy storm. The storm, like a frenzied giant beast, wantonly swallowed everything in its vicinity; space was torn into hideous fissures, and the power of the laws intertwined like tangled hemp, emitting shrill hisses.

The Crossing-Tribulation Poison Dragon carried the two of them like a burnt-out meteor, dragging a dim yet stubborn tail flame, and finally charged out of the most violent core area of the Ancient River of Buried Gods. Like an exhausted champion, covered in wounds, it slammed into the incredibly hard, dark-red crystal-covered ground at the foot of the Demon Peak of Bones on the opposite shore. The sound of the impact was like the painful groan of the earth.

"THUD! THUD!"

The two rolled off the back of the dying poison dragon, hitting the ground heavily and kicking up a cloud of dust. The Crossing-Tribulation Poison Dragon let out an unwilling whine, the sound seemingly filled with attachment and longing for this world, before transforming into a sky full of dark purple-gold light spots, like a brilliant yet tragic firework, dissipating into the air filled with the scent of demon flames.

Xiao Yan struggled to crawl up, his bones feeling as if they had been dismantled and reassembled; pain surged like a tide, making it hard for him to even stand. Blood spilled from his mouth and nose, and his soul felt as if it were being pierced by ten thousand silver needles at once, the pain unbearable. Xiao Yi Xian was even worse off, her face as pale as paper, like a scroll drained of all color, her aura withered to the extreme. Blood containing seven-colored specks continuously spilled from the corner of her mouth—the blood was like the passing of her life force. Forcibly condensing the Crossing-Tribulation Poison Dragon and suffering the backlash of the law fragments had damaged her origin, and her life-fire was flickering on the verge of extinction.

However, the scales of fate had ultimately tilted slightly in their favor—they had succeeded! In the life-or-death Ancient River of Buried Gods, they were like champions rowing against the current, breaking through layers of deathly shackles and successfully arriving at the Demon Peak of Bones!

Xiao Yan slowly raised his head, his gaze piercing through the swirling demon mist to look at the terrifying mountain peak that inspired awe. It was piled high with countless giant skeletons, like a jigsaw puzzle of ancient beast remains, towering into the dark-red demon clouds and radiating endless malevolence and demon flame aura, like a giant gate leading to hell. At this moment, the throbbing of the ring on his left hand was like the urgent beating of a drum, pointing clearly toward the peak, as if guiding him to explore the unknown treasure.

The third Bronze Immortal Palace fragment was right there on the peak!

However, just as a trace of excitement at having survived the ordeal rose in his heart, like a glimmer of dawn in the darkness—

"Heh heh heh... what a moving and spectacular performance!"

A hoarse, dry voice, like withered bones rubbing together in the darkness, filled with thick mockery and greed, sounded without warning from above their heads, like a cold bolt of lightning cutting through the brief silence.

Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian looked up abruptly, their eyes filled with vigilance and caution.

There, under the dark-red sky where demon flames rolled, a withered, hunched figure floated silently like a ghost. He was shrouded in a wide black robe, as if he were a mass of darkness devouring the light, merging with the surrounding demon flames. He leaned on a twisted Skull Bone Staff, the staff appearing like a curse from hell, with pale green soul fire flickering silently at its tip like two points of ghostly green fire. Those two points of soul fire pierced through the hood, locking onto the two withered figures below like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, as if intending to devour their very souls.

It was none other than one of the Nether Duo of the Soul Hall, who had been heavily injured by Xiao Zhan and had fled in a sorry state—You Lao! He had unexpectedly followed them like a lurking viper, waiting at the foot of this Demon Peak of Bones for his prey to arrive.

"Two little bugs, obediently hand over the Bronze Fragments you carry, along with that Woe Poison Body's origin Poison Pill... This Seat might... allow you to die a quick death!" You Lao's voice was like the cold wind of the Nine Netherworlds, carrying bone-chilling killing intent as it echoed at the foot of the demon peak, making the surrounding air seem to freeze.