Flame-Burst Spinosaurus

After the Flameburst Thorn Dragon appeared, Heavenly Treasure City's morale plummeted. Some had already lost the will to fight.

Water Beasts had no "sense of pain" and did not fear death, but ordinary people felt pain and feared death.

They feared that Heavenly Treasure City would be destroyed, that they would die in the beast tide, and that the battle between Primordial Unity Golden Immortals would leave them without even bones amid its aftershocks.

Seeing this, Red Cloud reached out with a massive hand. The heavens changed, dark clouds gathered, and a giant hand condensed from rain clouds stretched forth and seized the Flameburst Thorn Dragon directly.

Before everyone's eyes, Red Cloud and the Flameburst Thorn Dragon vanished from where they stood. Everyone froze for a moment, then erupted into cheers as their fighting spirit instantly surged.

Red Cloud did not fly far with the Flameburst Thorn Dragon. After only tens of thousands of li, the Flameburst Thorn Dragon tore free from his restraints and opened its mouth, releasing an Atomic Breath.

Unlike the myriad divine abilities of the cultivators of countless races, each blooming in its own splendor, Water Beasts possessed only one offensive skill: a beam of condensed Blazing Sun Power, similar to Godzilla's Atomic Breath.

Whether it was a lowly Golden-Finned Terror Shark or a high-ranking Flameburst Thorn Dragon, their methods of attack were the same. Only the power of those attacks differed.

This was an innate limitation of their race. Just like their inability to take human form, it was an inborn flaw.

"Literary Dao divine ability, Heavenly Flowers Cascading!"

Red Cloud gave a soft cry, channeling endless Heaven and Earth Righteous Energy into bloom after bloom of heavenly flowers that enveloped him.

The defensive aspect of Heavenly Flowers Cascading manifested. A golden curtain of light appeared around Red Cloud, and the Flameburst Thorn Dragon's beam struck it with a sizzling hiss.

Yet no matter how hard the Flameburst Thorn Dragon tried, it simply could not break through the defense of Heavenly Flowers Cascading.

Red Cloud hovered high in the sky, his robes snapping in the gale, yet his expression was calm to the point of indifference.

The clamor of Heavenly Treasure City's battlefield, ten thousand li away, had been left behind. Here, there was only raging wind, dark clouds, and the colossal beast before him, vast as a mountain range.

With its power unleashed at full force, the Flameburst Thorn Dragon's scales glowed a molten red-gold. The seven thorns on its dorsal fin radiated a blinding orange-yellow light, as though it carried seven volcanoes on its back, each on the verge of eruption.

The Flameburst Thorn Dragon's eyes narrowed into vertical slits, its golden pupils burning with flames of fury and vigilance intertwined.

"Are you the one who killed the Golden Flood Dragon?!"

This was the first time the Flameburst Thorn Dragon had spoken.

Its voice was deep and heavy, like the thunderous roar of magma churning in the depths of the earth's crust. Every syllable it uttered made the surrounding air tremble.

Red Cloud merely looked at it in silence, offering no answer to the Flameburst Thorn Dragon's question. Yet at this moment, that still silence was more oppressive than any words.

The Flameburst Thorn Dragon's pupils suddenly contracted.

Though Red Cloud had not answered, the Flameburst Thorn Dragon understood. Red Cloud was the one who had killed the Golden Flood Dragon.

The Flameburst Thorn Dragon and the Golden Flood Dragon had territories close to one another. They were both enemies and friends, jointly guarding the core region.

Water Beasts felt no pain and did not fear death, yet the Golden Flood Dragon's death still gave it the sorrow of a rabbit dying and a fox grieving. For the first time, it felt "fear" toward death.

"Roar—"

The Flameburst Thorn Dragon struck first. The light of its dorsal fin surged explosively, and all seven thorns shone to their utmost brilliance, staining the entire sky crimson.

In the next instant, the Flameburst Thorn Dragon opened its enormous jaws.

A Blazing Sun Beam condensed to near solidity erupted forth. More than a thousand zhang in diameter, it hurtled toward Red Cloud with a heaven-destroying, earth-annihilating momentum.

This was the Water Beasts' only method of attack, but precisely because it was their only one, it had been honed to the extreme.

"It is useless. With attacks as monotonous and impoverished as yours, you cannot break my defense."

Red Cloud neither dodged nor evaded. His voice was not loud, yet it echoed clearly between heaven and earth.

His divine ability, Heavenly Flowers Cascading, had never ceased. Endless Heaven and Earth Righteous Energy gathered from all directions, condensing into heavenly flowers around him.

Layer upon layer, the heavenly flowers enveloped Red Cloud entirely, forming a golden curtain of light.

The Blazing Sun Beam slammed into the curtain.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—

A piercing burning sound rang out. Dazzling radiance burst from where the beam collided with the curtain, as though a sun were being born there.

The Flameburst Thorn Dragon continuously increased its output. The Blazing Sun Power within its body poured forth madly as it tried to pierce the curtain, yet the golden curtain did not budge in the slightest.

Under the beam's assault, the heavenly flowers continuously dissolved, then continuously bloomed anew—endless, cyclical, and unceasing.

Red Cloud stood within the curtain, his expression still calm. Even the corners of his robes did not stir.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

The Flameburst Thorn Dragon let out a furious roar of disbelief.

"What Heavenly Flowers Cascading? How could it possibly block my Blazing Sun Beam? I refuse to believe it!"

The Flameburst Thorn Dragon roared, abruptly cutting off its breath attack. Its massive body charged at Red Cloud with speed utterly at odds with its size, arriving almost in an instant.

Suddenly, the seven thorns on its dorsal fin flashed simultaneously. Seven slightly thinner beams shot toward Red Cloud from different angles, while its enormous claw, covered in magma-like scales, crashed down as well.

This was a tactic Water Beasts rarely used.

Their battle instincts told them that breath attacks were enough to deal with most enemies, but today, the Flameburst Thorn Dragon instinctively felt that its breath was no longer enough.

"Literary Dao divine ability, Stroke of Divine Inspiration!"

Red Cloud raised his right hand and lightly traced the air with his index finger. The heavenly flowers formed from Heaven and Earth Righteous Energy gathered into a white ribbon that spiraled and danced around him.

The seven beams struck the ribbon and were deflected by a gentle yet irresistible force.

The beams shot toward a distant uninhabited island.

Rumble—

The island was instantly shaved flat. Lava surged from the fractured mountains, turning the entire land into a sea of fire.

At the same time, the Flameburst Thorn Dragon's enormous claw arrived above Red Cloud's head. Red Cloud looked up at it.

With just that glance, the ribbon suddenly tightened, winding around the Flameburst Thorn Dragon's massive claw like a white dragon.

Heaven and Earth Righteous Energy transformed into invisible chains, firmly locking that claw—which could have destroyed an entire city—in midair. It hung only three chi above Red Cloud's head, yet could no longer descend even the slightest bit.

The Flameburst Thorn Dragon struggled with all its might. Golden scales across its body flared open, and beneath every scale surged terrifying Blazing Sun Power, erupting with the force of a blazing sun.

"Ah, die for me!!"

The Flameburst Thorn Dragon unleashed an earth-shaking roar. Its other massive claw also slammed down, its tail swept sideways, and the thorns on its dorsal fin frantically fired beams.

For a moment, heaven and earth seemed to collapse, and sun and moon lost their light.

Faced with the Flameburst Thorn Dragon's attacks, Red Cloud remained standing where he was. He did not retreat a single step, as immovable as a stubborn rock.

Around Red Cloud, heavenly flowers bloomed, withered, and bloomed again, repeating without end, eternally renewing themselves like the cycles of the Heavenly Dao—indestructible and unshakable.

"You... who exactly are you?"

At the sight, fear appeared in the Flameburst Thorn Dragon's golden pupils for the first time.

"Who am I? My name is Red Cloud!"

Red Cloud spoke, lightly flicking his sleeve. The heavenly-flower ribbon abruptly tightened, binding the Flameburst Thorn Dragon fast.

Then the Flameburst Thorn Dragon's entire arm twisted with a creaking crunch. Fine cracks actually appeared across its golden scales, which were said to withstand attacks from ten thousand arts.