Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon, Future Opponents

That dragon roar was shrill and furious, as if it contained endless resentment and rage.

Xiao Cheng and the Leng sisters stopped in their tracks simultaneously, exchanged a glance, and saw surprise in each other's eyes.

This is... the roar of the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon! Leng Yaozhu was the first to recognize the owner of that dragon roar, and her expression shifted slightly. "Someone is attacking the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon?"

"The guardian of the Junior Spirit Ascension Platform?" Xiao Cheng also furrowed his brows. "Who is so bold? Everyone inside the Spirit Pagoda knows the situation regarding the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon, so nobody should dare to lay a hand on it."

"It must be outsiders!" Leng Yulai said. "Only outsiders wouldn't know the special nature of the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon."

The three exchanged a glance and then rushed together in the direction from which the dragon roar came.

The Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon was the guardian of the Junior Spirit Ascension Platform at the Spirit Pagoda headquarters.

Regarding the Spirit Ascension Platform, there was an open secret: all the Spirit Ascension Platforms were actually a single entity that had been divided into three tiers: junior, intermediate, and advanced. To isolate them and make it difficult for soul masters to pass from lower-tier Spirit Ascension Platforms into higher-tier ones, a force was required to monitor and guard them. Within the world of the Spirit Ascension Platform, the only things responsible for guarding were soul beasts—especially powerful soul beasts.

In the Junior Spirit Ascension Platform of the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, the original guardian was that thousand-year-old Dark Demon Scorpion Tiger that had targeted Xiao Cheng. But after that Dark Demon Scorpion Tiger was engulfed by Xiao Cheng's purple-gold mark and transformed into Xiao Cheng's power, the Spirit Pagoda had replaced it with a new guardian: a thousand-year-old Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon.

This Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon was also a genuinely existing Unyielding Soul Spirit. Although it was a sub-dragon species, it possessed extremely pure true dragon bloodline and was not far from the level of a true dragon. In terms of bloodline tier, it was even slightly stronger than the sea dragon raised at Xiao Cheng's home. With proper cultivation, its future evolution into a true dragon soul spirit was an absolute certainty.

Moreover, this Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon's primary attribute was fire with secondary light, but its bloodline had mutated, causing its relatively weak light attribute to thoroughly integrate into the fire attribute. This granted it the traits of burning soul power and annihilating evil.

Although it was not Ultimate Fire, in terms of might, it was already not far behind Ultimate Fire. In terms of combat prowess, this Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon was almost no weaker than a true dragon of the same cultivation level.

Precisely because of this Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon's preciousness, the Qiangu Family and the Leng Family had constantly vied for ownership of it. The Qiangu Family had set their sights on the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon's pure true dragon bloodline, while the Leng Family had taken a fancy to its special fire attribute. Both families were interested in the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon; although this bit of benefit was not enough to make the two families fall out completely, the matter had simply remained deadlocked like this.

And after the Dark Demon Scorpion Tiger was dealt with by Xiao Cheng, this Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon was just sitting around idle, so it had been assigned to the Junior Spirit Ascension Platform as the new guardian.

Because ownership had not yet been determined, Xiao Cheng, Leng Yaozhu, and Leng Yulai had never thought of laying a hand on this Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon. Yet now, outsiders had actually set their sights on it?

"Can we tolerate this?" Leng Yaozhu said through gritted teeth. "The Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon is a treasure of our Spirit Pagoda! If someone kills it and snatches the soul bone condensed from its remaining origin power, the loss will be immense!"

"Let's go take a look at the situation first," Xiao Cheng said in a deep voice. "If the other party's strength is too great, we'll observe first and not strike rashly."

The three accelerated their pace, speeding toward the direction from which the dragon roar emanated.

Passing through a dense patch of woods, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

In an open clearing, a fierce battle was underway.

In the center of the clearing, a crimson giant dragon about ten meters long was struggling desperately. Its body was covered in crimson scales, across which faint golden light rippled as if flames were burning within them. At the top of its head grew a pair of coral-like, branched dragon horns, and its eyes resembled two burning suns, emitting scorching radiance.

It was precisely the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon!

However, at this moment the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon appeared extremely battered. There were multiple wounds on its body, and crimson dragon blood splashed onto the ground, emitting sizzling sounds. There were also several holes in its dragon wings, clearly having suffered heavy injuries.

What made it even more aggrieved was that when it wanted to fly up to put some distance between them, it discovered that it actually couldn't fly anymore!

Around the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon, seven figures were jointly attacking it.

None of these seven looked old; the oldest appeared to be only eleven or twelve, and the youngest might have just broken past eight or nine years of age. But their strength was astonishing, and their coordination was seamless, suppressing the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon completely.

Xiao Cheng narrowed his eyes, carefully observing the seven people.

Leading them was a boy holding an incandescent white spear. The boy was roughly eight or nine years old, with handsome features and star-like eyes, wielding a spear that emitted an incandescent white glow all over. The spear shaft rippled with faint light, appearing almost transparent. His cultivation was at the three-ring Soul Elder level, but the aura he emitted was far more powerful than that of an ordinary soul elder.

Every time his spear thrust out, it dragged along an intangible force field that locked down the space around the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon, rendering it unable to take flight. It was precisely this bizarre air-prohibition ability that had stripped the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon of its greatest advantage—its flight capability.

Air-prohibition ability... Xiao Cheng felt a stir in his heart. This person's martial soul should be the Heaven-Supporting Divine Spear, so his identity goes without saying.

Beside the spear-wielding boy stood another boy holding a milky-white spear. That spear was warm and lustrous like jade throughout, devoid of any sharp edge, yet it emitted a steady and heavy aura.

On the other side stood two sword-wielding boys. One of them held a clear, chilling longsword, the blade radiating a murderous aura, making his entire person resemble an unsheathed sword of sharp and unreserved edge. The other held a crystal-clear longsword, with a faint, flickering soft light rippling across the blade, emitting a gentle and profound aura.

Further back were two fire-attribute dragon martial soul soul masters. One of them had the Red Armored Dragon martial soul, covered entirely in crimson dragon scales, taking the powerhouse attack-and-defense route and frontally bearing the brunt of most of the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon's attacks. The other had the Blazing Fire Dragon martial soul, burning with scorching flames around his body, taking the powerhouse output route and continuously using flame attacks to wear down the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon.

Finally, there was a girl with a silver moon phantom hovering behind her back. The girl looked to be about eight or nine years old, with delicate features, and the silver moon phantom rotated slowly behind her, exuding a cool and mysterious aura.

Although he did not recognize these people's appearances, given this age, this strength, their presence in Shrek City, and these familiar martial soul traits... he had more or less guessed their identities.

Heaven-Supporting Divine Spear, Heaven-Surpassing Divine Spear, Heartless Sword, Sentimental Sword, Red Armored Dragon, Blazing Fire Dragon, Silver Moon.

These seven people should be Yun Ming the Limit Douluo, Guan Yue the Heaven-Surpassing Douluo, Cao Dezhi the Heartless Douluo, Zang Xin the Sentimental Douluo, Cai Yue'er the Silver Moon Douluo, Zhuo Shi the Red Dragon Douluo, and Feng Wuyu the Blazing Dragon Douluo—the future Shrek Seven Devils!

It's actually them... Xiao Cheng was also extremely astonished in his heart.

He hadn't expected to encounter the future Shrek Seven Devils here! Moreover, judging from their appearance, they seemed to be plotting against the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon!

"Xiao Cheng, do you know them?" Leng Yaozhu asked curiously upon seeing the change in Xiao Cheng's expression.

"I don't know them, but I know who they are," Xiao Cheng said in a deep voice. "If I'm not mistaken, they should be the top-tier disciples of this generation of Shrek Academy—the future Shrek Seven Devils."

"The future Shrek Seven Devils?" Leng Yaozhu gasped. "Doesn't that make them our future opponents?!"

"That's right," Xiao Cheng nodded. "Look at the one holding the incandescent white spear; his martial soul is the Heaven-Supporting Divine Spear, and he possesses air-prohibition ability. The one holding the milky-white spear has the Heaven-Surpassing Divine Spear martial soul, and his spear intent is upright and steady. Those two holding swords: one wields the Heartless Sword, and the other the Sentimental Sword. That girl with the silver moon martial soul, and those two with dragon martial souls... they are all top-tier martial soul configurations."

"Do they want to kill the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon?" Leng Yulai asked with some tension.

"Looks like it," Xiao Cheng narrowed his eyes. "And they indeed have this capability."

The three hid in the woods, observing the battlefield from afar.

At this moment, the battle had entered a white-hot stage.

Xiao Cheng quickly calculated the comparison of combat strength between the two sides in his mind.

Yun Ming and Cao Dezhi were undoubtedly the core combat strengths among the seven. Yun Ming's Heaven-Supporting Divine Spear possessed the ability of air prohibition, which prevented the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon from leveraging its flight advantage, forcing it to fight the seven on the ground. Meanwhile, Cao Dezhi's Heartless Sword was responsible for frontal containment and output; his cultivation was the highest, already extremely close to the Soul Ancestor level, and he was the only one among the seven capable of briefly fighting the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon head-on.

Guan Yue and Zang Xin were responsible for support and control. Guan Yue's Heaven-Surpassing Divine Spear took the steady route, balancing offense and defense, capable of both frontal combat and protecting teammates. Zang Xin's Sentimental Sword excelled at control and interference, always managing to disrupt the rhythm of the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon's attacks at critical moments.

Zhuo Shi and Feng Wuyu were responsible for absorbing frontal damage and output. Zhuo Shi's Red Armored Dragon possessed extremely formidable defense, able to withstand most of the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon's attacks; Feng Wuyu's Blazing Fire Dragon continuously used its own mastery over flames to affect the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon's spewed fire and disrupt its control over flames.

Cai Yue'er stood at the rear, the silver moon phantom slowly rotating behind her and exuding a cool radiance. Although her cultivation was only at the Soul Grandmaster level, her silver moon martial soul seemed to possess a certain special ability capable of providing buffs to her teammates while simultaneously interfering with the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon's spirit.

The seven coordinated seamlessly, advancing and retreating in an orderly fashion, dragging the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon down and firmly suppressing it to a disadvantage.

"These guys... so strong!" Leng Yaozhu couldn't help exclaiming. "Especially the one using the Heaven-Supporting Divine Spear; his spear technique actually manages to suppress the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon!"

"Indeed, and his comprehension of spear intent is extremely profound. He is definitely the strongest spear-dao genius of this generation of Shrek Academy, truly extraordinary," Xiao Cheng said indifferently. "However, wanting to hunt the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon won't be that easy for them."

He paused, his gaze falling upon the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon: "Although the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon is suppressed, its foundation remains. If it truly unleashes a desperate counterattack, these seven will at least have to pay a considerable price."

"Then what should we do?" Leng Yulai asked. "Should we step in to stop them?"

"Let's observe the situation first," Xiao Cheng said. "If they truly have the ability to slay the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon, we can make a move later. If they are just putting up a front, we'll watch from the sidelines, and once both sides suffer, we can reap the fisherman's profit."

"Good idea!" Leng Yaozhu's eyes lit up. "Let them fight first, and we'll make our entrance at the end to harvest!"

Having reached an agreement, the three found a concealed position to watch the battle from afar.

On the battlefield, the fighting continued.

Wielding the Heaven-Supporting Divine Spear, Yun Ming took the lead and clashed with the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon. His spear technique was sharp and domineering, each strike carrying an indomitable momentum that forced the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon to divide its attention to cope with him.

What made the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon even more aggrieved was that Yun Ming's Heaven-Supporting Divine Spear possessed the air-prohibition ability. Whenever it tried to spread its wings and fly up to use aerial advantage for attacks, the tip of Yun Ming's spear would emit an intangible force that firmly bound it to the ground, preventing it from taking flight.

"Roar—!!!" The Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon emitted an angry roar, spewing a scorching stream of fire from its dragon maw that swept toward Yun Ming!

Yun Ming neither dodged nor evaded; white light blazed brightly on the Heaven-Supporting Divine Spear, and with a single thrust, he actually split that stream of fire right down the middle!

The flames swept past both sides of his body, burning the vegetation on the ground to ashes without injuring him in the least!

The angle, force, and timing of Yun Ming's strike were all grasped to absolute perfection. This showed that his understanding of spear technique had reached a remarkably high realm.

Simultaneously, Cao Dezhi struck from the flank, the Heartless Sword carrying a chilling sword light straight at the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon's ribs!

The Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon lashed its tail in a hurry, attempting to force Cao Dezhi back, but Cao Dezhi's figure flashed like a phantom, avoiding the sweep of the dragon tail before stabbing his sword directly into the gap between the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon's scales!

"Sizzle—!"

With a soft sound, the Heartless Sword pierced into the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon's body, drawing a streak of crimson dragon blood!

The Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon let out a painful roar, its dragon claw carrying immense force as it slammed down directly at Cao Dezhi's head!

Unflustered, Cao Dezhi pulled out his longsword and retreated rapidly, dodging that claw.

At that moment, Guan Yue's Heaven-Surpassing Divine Spear arrived. His spear technique was steady and heavy, thrusting out like a massive mountain pressing down upon the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon, forcing it to retreat.

Zang Xin provided support from the side, light rippling across the Sentimental Sword as waves of gentle sword Qi wrapped around the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon like a spiderweb, frequently triggering emotion-type soul skills to control its state.

Zhuo Shi and Feng Wuyu seized the chance to launch fierce assaults; the powers of the Red Armored Dragon and Blazing Fire Dragon erupted simultaneously, slamming into the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon and eliciting wave after wave of painful roars from it.

Cai Yue'er stood at the rear, the silver moon phantom rotating slowly behind her and emitting a cool radiance. That light enshrouded the seven, enhancing both their speed and strength while simultaneously interfering with the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon's spirit, driving it into a state of restless agitation.

The Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon suddenly let out a deafening roar, the flames on its body surging violently! Its body seemed to catch fire, transforming into a huge fireball that slammed fiercely toward the seven!

"Careful!" Yun Ming's expression shifted, and he hurriedly held his spear horizontally to block!

"Boom—!!!"

With a loud crash, the fireball collided with the Heaven-Supporting Divine Spear, bursting forth with blinding light!

Yun Ming was sent flying back by the shockwave, tumbling several times in midair before barely stabilizing his figure. A trace of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, clearly having sustained some minor injuries.

The other six were also knocked back repeatedly by the shockwave, their formation experiencing a brief moment of chaos.

"Good opportunity!" A sharp glint flashed in Cao Dezhi's eyes, light blazing brilliantly on the Heartless Sword as he thrust straight at the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon's vital spot!

However, the Burning Sun Heavenly Dragon suddenly opened its mouth, spewing a condensed-to-the-extreme flame ray straight at Cao Dezhi!

Cao Dezhi's expression shifted, and he hurriedly retracted his sword to block—

"Clang—!!!"

With a deafening sound, Cao Dezhi was knocked back several steps, his sword-wielding hand trembling slightly.

"This beast... is going all out!" Zhuo Shi gritted his teeth.

"Captain, we can't hold back anymore!" Yun Ming took a deep breath, white light surging brilliantly on the Heaven-Supporting Divine Spear. "Everyone, let's unleash our full strength together!"

"Alright!" the other six replied in unison.

"Stop, continue skirmishing, there are other people around." At that moment, as if sensing something, Cao Dezhi abruptly called a halt to the others.