An image of "ten thousand dragons cut down" spread across the eastern half of the sky.
The intent of the blade carried the wails of ten thousand dragons!
It was like a hell littered with dragon bones and flooded with dragon blood.
In his prime, the Holy Dragon King had wielded the Dragon-Slaying Blade to govern the Divine Dragon Realm's prayers and punishments. He had truly slain more than a million dragons, including tens of thousands of God Rank giant dragons. Only then had he forged this Dragon-Slaying intent.
Using it on a Demigod Rank opponent now was like blasting a mosquito with a level-ten Soul Cannon shell.
Faced with that vision filling the eastern half of the sky, Qiangu Dongfeng and the Evil-Breaking Dragon Soul in his hand both froze. All four of their eyes went wide. This, this, this...
This couldn't be right!
The Holy Dragon King swept out a half-circle of purple crystal blade light. The tip pointed straight into the sky, then the edge slashed down before him.
It was an utterly textbook executioner's stance.
Di Guangming had practiced this very movement tens of millions of times.
The two attributes of ultimate light and ultimate holiness, which had fallen from the level of laws, burst forth with that swing!
In an instant, the mountains of corpses and seas of blood depicting "ten thousand dragons cut down" split apart down the middle, a straight platinum line slicing through them as though a crimson curtain had been cut open.
Transcendent God Technique—Dragon-Slaying Blade Art!
First Form: Vein-Severing!
What did Vein-Severing mean?
In this world, whether birds and beasts or mountains, rivers, and seas, all had the chance to evolve Dragon Clan bloodlines. All could become True Sub-Dragons.
Even the wisps of Vast Righteous Qi between heaven and earth had a chance to soar and ascend, becoming an Evil-Expelling Divine Dragon.
The first form of the Dragon-Slaying Blade Technique began from this very principle.
It severed the Dragon Clan bloodline of all living things and myriad phenomena in heaven and earth at its source, breaking every connection so that they could never again have the slightest association with the True Sub-Dragon Clan.
Although the Holy Dragon King had lost the aid of the Super Divine Artifact-grade Dragon-Slaying Blade, and no longer possessed the peak strength he'd held in the God King Realm, the Dragon-Slaying Blade Technique still had an absolute advantage against all Dragon Clans!
The Indomitable Staff Technique, evolved over ten thousand years from the Coiling Dragon Staff Martial Soul, had finally met its destined nemesis today!
Once the Holy Dragon King completed his executioner's stance, the new Dragon-Slaying Blade slid back into its sheath. His movements were practiced, as though he'd merely made an ordinary attack.
Yet the first form of the Dragon-Slaying Blade Art had already shot forth, transforming into a streak of platinum light that cleaved downward.
Qiangu Dongfeng's mind reeled. Beneath that blade-light, it felt as though his entire body would split in two. The Coiling Dragon Staff and all four Soul Spirits let out mournful cries.
But as a wily old fox, he knew that if he retreated now, his path as a Soul Master would end. The unyielding heart forged by his Indomitable Staff Technique would be shattered, and the Evil-Breaking Dragon Soul would no longer attach itself to his Martial Soul.
"Grah!" Qiangu Dongfeng gritted his teeth and continued the half-finished swing of Heaven-Shaking Earth-Quaking, trying to knock the platinum blade-light aside from the flank.
But ultimate light was too fast. It gave him not even enough time to blink before the blade had cut through the air and reached him.
"Clang!"
"Pfft—"
His nine Soul Rings dimmed under the light. The four Soul Spirits were engulfed by the blade-light, and the black-gold Coiling Dragon Staff let out a mournful cry beneath the platinum edge.
A spark flashed across his Four-Word Battle Armor, Heaven and Earth Coiling.
It all happened in half a second.
Half a second later, Qiangu Dongfeng plummeted from the sky, passing in front of the Spirit Pagoda's main entrance before crashing straight down from the eastern sky onto the ground west of the tower.
"Boom!"
The ground beneath everyone's feet gave a faint tremor. Countless fragments of Soul Tool paving stones burst from the spot where Qiangu Dongfeng had landed.
All the Spirit Masters felt their scalps go numb, especially the eight- and even nine-ring Soul Masters inside the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda.
Their mental projections, cast toward the sky, sent out wave after wave of shock.
Had their Pagoda Master just been defeated in one move?
He was a Demigod Rank powerhouse who, when giving his all, could even trade a couple of blows with a Quasi-God. And he'd just been chopped out of the sky with one slash?
Qiangu Dongfeng lay unconscious for two seconds before jolting awake from the haze.
Leaning on his lustreless Coiling Dragon Staff, he staggered up from the shallow pit of broken tiles and took stock of himself...
His Coiling Dragon Staff Martial Soul was damaged, the Evil-Breaking Dragon Soul had fallen silent, and all four Soul Spirits were asleep.
His Four-Word Battle Armor had suffered even worse damage. A bloody gash ran from his left collarbone to the outside of his right hip.
The ultimate holiness had entered his body through the wound, cleansing away more than half of his Limit Douluo Soul Power.
Leng Yaozhu led a group of Spirit Masters over from the main entrance.
Qiangu Dongfeng hurriedly dismissed his Martial Soul and Battle Armor, pulled his torn clothes together to cover the wound, then held up his right hand and bellowed to stop his approaching subordinates. "I'm fine!"
"Brother Guangming and I were just sparring as friends. We knew when to stop. Neither of us suffered so much as a minor injury."
At that moment, everyone looked up at the sky behind them.
The two enormous blue holes in the clouds had merged into a single vast opening.
The terrifying vision of countless giant dragons falling faded away.
The Holy Dragon King still looked like a golden-haired man in white. He drifted down through the air.
He had none of the overwhelming presence expected of a Quasi-God, yet he weighed heavily on everyone's hearts, like the center of heaven and earth.
At that moment, deep wariness and fear showed in Qiangu Dongfeng's eyes, along with a trace of pleading.
Di Guangming wasn't entirely unreasonable. He spoke coldly. "Your Martial Soul can't fly. Fighting me in the sky gives you no advantage."
Hearing that, Qiangu Dongfeng let out a huge sigh of relief. His dignity was intact.
He immediately laughed heartily. "Hahaha, it was just a friendly spar. If I lost by half a move, I had to own up to it, didn't I?"
"Here." He raised a jade box and offered it to the Holy Dragon King, who had just landed. Patting him on the shoulder, he said, "Brother Guangming, this Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng is my gift to welcome you as the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda's vice master. Please, don't refuse."
"Mm." The Holy Dragon King accepted the jade box without ceremony, turned, and flew back to the nineteenth floor.
Qiangu Dongfeng stood stiffly in the pit and let out a long breath.
Although he'd been badly injured, he'd managed to get a rough measure of the other man's strength: stronger than Yun Ming!
That was right. He trusted his first instinct.
This Holy Douluo was indeed stronger than the Sea God Pavilion Master.
Although Qiangu Dongfeng wasn't a Quasi-God, he wasn't so weak that Yun Ming could defeat him with one spear thrust.
And the mysterious Holy Douluo had stopped himself as soon as he'd struck. Otherwise, Qiangu Dongfeng would have suffered much worse injuries.
Still, from the other man's attitude, Qiangu Dongfeng could tell why he'd entered the world. He clearly didn't want to get involved in any disputes. He only wanted to stay with that purple-haired boy.
In short, he posed no threat to the Qiangu Family—for now.
Otherwise, Qiangu Dongfeng couldn't even imagine how they'd oppose this Quasi-God and the colossal power standing behind him.
"Looks like I need to go back and bring the old man up to speed. I should also have Big Brother look into his background."
"If he has a weakness, we can definitely use it to control him."
Having thought it through, Qiangu Dongfeng immediately used what little Soul Power he had left to chase after him to the nineteenth floor.
Just then,
Dragon Emperor Long Zijin finished the last spoonful of sweet soup, and the cracked, dry feeling on his skin vanished.
The Holy Dragon King returned through the wall and presented the jade box. "I report to Your Majesty: I have not failed you."
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