Instead of his three sons, Hong Ye heard peal after peal from the Heavenly Drum. Though he could not yet see the Heavenly Soldiers from where he stood, he no longer harbored any illusions.
Old tears streamed from the Flood Dragon's eyes. He knew his efforts had failed on the very brink of success, and he knew that neither his three sons nor he himself would survive!
As for fleeing, it was already too late, and there was no point.
At this moment, his previously hazy spiritual intuition abruptly became clear. Hong Ye could even feel his death drawing closer, little by little.
The Old Flood Dragon clutched the stubborn stone in his hand. His defiance, hatred, and helplessness only intensified as the drumbeats grew clearer.
Crack, crack, crack...
His dragon claws kept tightening, yet he could not crush the stubborn stone in his palm. Instead, its hardness brought him back to his senses. He lowered his dragon head and raised the stone before his eyes.
"If I can't have it, none of you will either..."
After that murmur, the Flood Dragon slowly rose into the sky, then wheeled high above in the spiraling posture of a Heavenly Dragon. Suddenly, he released his right claw.
Whoom-
An explosive roar erupted, its force tearing through the astral wind. The Old Flood Dragon hurled the stubborn stone that represented the Heavenly Battle Pill diagonally into the sky. In an instant, it vanished beyond the horizon.
"Hehehehehe... Hahahahahaha! Heavenly Battle Pill, may no one ever find you-Aooo-"
After laughing wildly in the sky, the Old Flood Dragon threw back his head and let out a ringing dragon cry.
That cry overwhelmed the roar of the storm and carried far into the distance.
Far away, the Dharma Clouds bearing the Heavenly Soldiers, Heavenly Generals,