Radiant Flame Dragon's Sacrifice

Boom!!!

The first round of bombardment struck the Radiant Flame Dragon head-on.

Explosions rang out one after another where the beams crossed. Powerful shockwaves kicked up clouds of dust, and the crystallized dead trees around them were all snapped apart by the aftermath.

But before the dust had dispersed, a pair of damaged dragon wings extended from within it.

The Radiant Flame Dragon suddenly beat its wings. Golden and purple rays intertwined as they shot from the edges of its wing bones, pierced through the dust, and struck the Soul Guidance Array with unerring precision.

Crack!

The two outermost Soul Guidance Cannons exploded on the spot. Metal fragments scattered in every direction, only to be corroded into black ash by the purple energy before they could hit the ground.

Then beam after beam swept across the battlefield.

The remaining Soul Guidance Cannons exploded as well. Flames continuously blossomed beneath the dark purple sky, and the attack formation Jing Hongchen had set up quickly lost more than half its power.

With the Soul Guidance Cannons no longer suppressing it, the Radiant Flame Dragon lowered its head. Its enormous dragon claw came crashing down, and before it even touched the shield, terrifying pressure had already descended first.

The air was forcibly crushed apart.

A piercing screech reached their ears. Countless silver lines appeared across the shield, flashing rapidly as a crack formed within seconds.

Then came a second crack.

A third.

Cracks began to spread across the Soul Guidance Shield.

"Master."

Karna appeared behind Xu Tianming. He raised his hand, and the Golden Spear was already in his grasp.

"Do you need me to act?"

"No."

Xu Tianming raised a hand to stop him. Karna did not ask further. No matter what decision Xu Tianming made, he would carry it out. Thus, the Son of the Sun, who possessed the combat power of a Limit Douluo, put away his weapon and quietly stood behind Xu Tianming.

Boom!

The Radiant Flame Dragon's massive claw finally came down.

A huge dent appeared in the silver Soul Guidance Shield. Cracks rapidly spread across its entire surface, and the shield shattered with a bang. As it dissolved amid a sky full of light particles, Xu Tianming did not retreat. The dragon claw was only a few meters above his head.

Just as he was about to be crushed into pulp, the Golden Dragon King's Divine Core within Xu Tianming suddenly awakened.

Boom~

Golden power erupted from his chest.

Xu Tianming's right arm changed first. Dense little dragon scales quickly surfaced across his skin. His fingers lengthened, his knuckles enlarged, and in the blink of an eye, they became a dragon claw covered in golden scales.

The golden scales spread upward along his arm.

Every dragon scale on his neck, face, and shoulders emitted a dazzling golden radiance, while crimson flames burned within the gaps between them.

Bulges rose from both sides of Xu Tianming's forehead as golden dragon horns burst through his skin, their tips pointing toward the sky. His short golden hair was lifted by divine power. Xu Tianming had now completely transformed into a little dragon-man.

Immediately afterward, dragon might far surpassing that of the Radiant Flame Dragon radiated from Xu Tianming's body.

As golden ripples spread outward, an incomparably domineering bloodline pressure surged in all directions. The dragon might released by the Radiant Flame Dragon could not hold out for long before it was forcibly suppressed by the golden divine might.

Crack.

The enormous dragon claw hanging over Xu Tianming's head abruptly stopped. Its scales collided in midair with a dull sound. The Radiant Flame Dragon remained in its pouncing posture, its claw several meters above Xu Tianming's head, yet it could no longer press down even an inch.

Clear terror appeared for the first time in its golden vertical pupil, the one not yet covered by Star Crystal. It was terror born from its bloodline.

It did not know why the human child before it could release such horrifying dragon might, nor did it know why it instinctively wanted to submit whenever it encountered him.

Xu Tianming raised his head. His red eyes had become vertical pupils, golden-red flames burning within them. The dragon horns on his forehead also radiated a sacred yet domineering glow.

"Kneel."

His voice was not loud, yet it sounded like a command from the deepest layer of dragon bloodlines.

The Radiant Flame Dragon's body trembled continuously as it tried to resist. Its limbs kept straining, the ground beneath its claws gradually cracking apart. Dark purple Star Crystal rapidly spread, trying to support its massive body.

But all struggle was futile. Before the Golden Dragon Divine Might, a mere sub-dragon bloodline was no longer qualified to resist.

Boom!!!

The Radiant Flame Dragon's forelimbs slammed down with a thunderous crash.

Its enormous body then prostrated itself on the ground. Its wings pressed against the earth, its dragon head lowered, and even its golden vertical pupil, not yet completely crystallized, did not dare meet Xu Tianming's gaze.

It had truly knelt. Only the sound of its heavy dragon breaths remained in the air, along with the faint sound of Star Crystal slowly growing across the ground.

Xu Tianming shook his dragon-claw-like right hand. The brilliant golden scales clung tightly to his arm as power flowed through them, giving him an intense sense of control.

This Radiant Flame Dragon had not only endured the Soul Guidance Cannons' barrage, but had also destroyed the Soul Guidance Formation Jing Hongchen set up in a very short time.

In terms of destructive power, it had already reached the level of a Titled Douluo.

When Xu Tianming approached it, divine flames burned in his golden vertical pupils. His scale-covered right hand pressed directly onto the Radiant Flame Dragon's lowered head.

Scales and Star Crystal scraped against each other, producing a shrill noise.

"Tell me."

Xu Tianming's voice was soft, but carried immense authority.

"What happened to you."

The Radiant Flame Dragon could not speak. Its cultivation was nearly one hundred thousand years, and it had already gained intelligence, but it had never crossed that threshold. Under the suppression of the Golden Dragon King's divine might, the Rift Realm's corrosion within its body was forcibly suppressed for a moment.

A moment of clarity appeared in its intact golden vertical pupil. A mental fluctuation crashed directly into Xu Tianming's mind.

Images continuously surged before his eyes.

Inside a black cave, the Radiant Flame Dragon had been resting. When space was torn apart, it was forcibly dragged into this Rift Realm. Then, a fist-sized dark purple crystal core floated before it.

The crystal core contained energy so immense that even a dragon found it hard to breathe. It instinctively swallowed it, hoping to break through the one-hundred-thousand-year barrier.

But what it swallowed was not an opportunity, but poison.

The crystal core took root in its abdomen. Rift Realm energy seeped through its bloodline, bones, and nerves with devastating force. In a short time, it changed from a top-tier sub-dragon with the Golden Dragon Bloodline into the half-dragon, half-crystal monster it was now.

Xu Tianming withdrew his hand, and his expression became extremely strange.

"That crystal core... was the Rift Realm Core?"

He muttered to himself.

If that was true, then the target Jing Hongchen and Shangguan Weier had been searching for from the beginning was wrong.

They had followed the area where their Soul Tools detected the strongest energy, believing it to be the Rift Realm Lord. But in truth, after the Rift Realm Core had been swallowed by the Radiant Flame Dragon, it fused with it. That was why the Radiant Flame Dragon was the Rift Realm Lord, yet could not be considered one entirely.

At its core, it was still a soul beast, a soul beast slowly being assimilated by the Rift Realm Core. That was why the Soul Tools had failed, and why Jing Hongchen and Shangguan Weier had chosen the wrong target.