Chapter 1056: Divine Lord Battle
"That's the Yinxue Realm King?"
"Ah, she looks just like a fairy... mmph!" A male disciple from the Golden Crow Sect blurted out absentmindedly, then his entire body jolted as he frantically covered his mouth.
Within the Burial God Fire Prison, waves of flame surged skyward like a doomsday calamity descending upon the world. As Mu Xuanyin appeared, the ancient flood dragon's entire body erupted with fiery scales, its aura turning fierce as the surrounding thousand-mile fire prison exploded wildly.
From within the raging sea of flames, the ancient flood dragon's roar echoed with endless fury and resentment: "So it's you again! You despicable, greedy humans... one day, you will surely face divine retribution!"
"Hmph, unfortunately, you won't live to see that day!"
Mu Xuanyin's cold, merciless words rang out as blue light erupted from her body. In an instant, the fire sea, which had been raging due to the ancient flood dragon's fury, fell completely silent. Even the towering waves of flame that had been leaping high froze midair. Then, a layer of ice blue radiated from beneath Mu Xuanyin's feet at astonishing speed, covering the entire field of vision in almost an instant.
Crack!
The Flame God disciples staring intently at the array projection suddenly burst into terrified shouts. Not only the younger disciples, but even the various elders of the three sects had their eyes bulging, utterly horrified... The image in the formation, which had been a churning sea of blood-red flames, had transformed into a silent, deep blue frozen sea with a mere wave of Mu Xuanyin's hand!
Even the eternally crimson sky now bore a massive blue void.
Yun Che's mouth was also wide open, almost dropping his jaw in shock. This was the Fire Prison, a place with extremely high flame energy—the Burial God Fire Prison—not an ordinary sea. And yet, it was frozen solid in an instant!
This was the terror of the Divine Lord realm. With a single move, it truly changed heaven and earth. Even if a ghost or god were present, their souls would tremble in fear.
The young disciples of the three Flame God Sects had long heard of the Yinxue Realm King's power, but they had never imagined it could be so overwhelming. The Divine Lord power displayed in the projection was a force they couldn't even fathom in their wildest dreams.
"ROOOOOAR!!!!!!"
The equally frozen ancient flood dragon let out a furious bellow, shattering the frozen fire prison and sending shards of flame flying everywhere: "Despicable, greedy human! I shall bury you here forever today!!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
It was as if thousands of volcanoes had erupted simultaneously at the bottom of the Fire Prison. Countless waves of flame surged upward, transforming into dancing fire dragons that roared toward Mu Xuanyin with earth-shaking thunder. The ancient flood dragon also soared into the air, its massive tail—longer than its entire body—smashing down violently, sweeping out a ten-thousand-zhang dragonflame.
Ding!!
All the fire dragons approaching Mu Xuanyin, no matter how terrifying and ferocious, came to a complete halt a hundred zhang away from her. Faced with the descending dragon tail, powerful enough to shatter an entire continent, Mu Xuanyin didn't even dodge. Instead, she casually extended her hand.
Although the ancient flood dragon possessed terrifying strength, its total length, including its tail, was only thirty zhang. Among dragons, it could be considered "small," but compared to a human like Mu Xuanyin, it was undoubtedly a massive existence. In the instant its tail descended, its shadow completely enveloped Mu Xuanyin. Beneath the enormous tail, her raised slender arm looked like a fragile twig trying to stop an avalanche.
But the moment they made contact, the sound was deafening.
BOOM!!
"ROOOAR!!"
Mu Xuanyin's body didn't move an inch, but the ancient flood dragon's massive tail rebounded violently, flipping its entire body over backward in the Fire Prison with a pained roar. Mu Xuanyin's figure flickered, using Moon-Breaking Shadow Flick to instantly appear before the ancient flood dragon. Her snow-white hand pressed against its dragon head. Beneath her cold, merciless gaze, a blue light silently flashed.
"GRROOOAAARRR!!!!!!"
The Fire Prison exploded wildly, hurling the ancient flood dragon high into the air. It let out a miserable cry as it was sent tumbling far away, flying hundreds of miles before crashing back into the Fire Prison.
"Excellent!" Huo Rulie couldn't help but let out a loud shout.
"In just a thousand years, the Yinxue Realm King's profound strength has advanced so much. To suppress the ancient flood dragon so thoroughly right from the start—this has never happened before... Truly terrifying." Yan Juehai's face showed profound emotion.
A distance of a hundred miles was merely an instant to supreme powerhouses at the Divine Lord level. Mu Xuanyin closed in instantly, and in her hand, she now held an ice-white sword.
The blade was slender, no wider than an inch even at its thickest point. It was devoid of luster or radiance, resembling a heap of snow.
"The Snow Princess Sword!" murmured an elder of the Vermilion Bird Sect.
The flood dragon roared, shaking heaven and earth. Its power and fury erupted fully, enveloping its entire dragon body in towering flames. It frantically mobilized the flames of the Fire Prison, completely engulfing Mu Xuanyin's figure.
Mu Xuanyin gently danced the Snow Princess Sword in her hand, freezing and shattering all the surrounding flames. The Ice Phoenix's power, carrying the might to seal the world, descended mercilessly upon the ancient flood dragon.
Fire melted ice; ice sealed fire. The fierce battle between the two strongest beings of the Yinxue and Flame God Realms had finally begun. As the power of two Divine Lords collided, the sky and earth of the entire million-mile Burial God Fire Prison underwent a dramatic transformation.
Boom... boom...
On the northern shore of the Fire Prison, fierce winds howled and waves of flame exploded, causing the Flame God disciples to cry out in terror. If the various Flame God elders hadn't been stationed at the boundary, using their power to firmly seal it off, they would undoubtedly have been swallowed by the rampaging flames.
The battlefield was a full seven thousand miles away from their current position... yet its power was reaching even here!
A battle at the Divine Lord level... and a life-or-death struggle at that. Even in the entire God Realm, there were few cultivators fortunate enough to witness such a sight. If not for the will projection of the Vermilion Bird Sect, even if they knew of it, they absolutely couldn't have seen it... because it was impossible to get anywhere within visible range.
In the Vermilion Bird projection, the sky sometimes turned crimson, sometimes ice blue. With every collision of power, the battlefield shifted by dozens of miles, as if teleporting through space with each instant. Watching this mythical scene, Yun Che was reminded of his countless sparring sessions with his master, and his scalp went numb.
Clearly, when sparring with him, his master didn't even use a ten-millionth of her power... Otherwise, he'd have died a million deaths over.
Although this level of power and combat was far beyond his understanding, he could still clearly tell that Mu Xuanyin held the upper hand... by a very large margin indeed. The ancient flood dragon was essentially being beaten like a punching bag. The occasional counterattack was easily neutralized by Mu Xuanyin.
But he also noticed that despite being hit dozens of times by Mu Xuanyin's heavy blows and ice explosions... the ancient flood dragon hadn't shed a single drop of blood from start to finish.
This was the dragon body—acknowledged as the strongest among all living beings!
"Something doesn't seem right," Yan Juehai suddenly remarked.
Yan Wancang glanced sideways. "It seems Sect Master Yan has noticed it too."
"...?"
Yan Juehai nodded slowly. "Its dragon core shows absolutely no sign of injury... That's very strange. If other parts of the body were severely wounded, it would be no surprise that they've recovered. But that's the dragon core! In just a thousand years, how could it have recovered to such an extent?!"
Yun Che's gaze sharpened as he stared intently at the Vermilion projection... With his focus concentrated, he soon caught sight, at one particular moment, of a spot on the ancient flood dragon's crimson belly that was clearly darker in color than the surrounding area.
Was that the flood dragon's dragon core?!
"Huh?!" Huo Poyun turned his head in shock. "How is that possible? Wasn't it supposed to be impossible for it to fully recover in just a thousand years?"
A thousand years ago, the flood dragon's injured dragon core had been a crucial factor in their previous attempt to slay it.
But now... the flood dragon's dragon core was completely healed, showing no signs of injury whatsoever!
"This..." Huo Rulie was also greatly shaken.
"It seems we miscalculated," Yan Juehai sighed. "For an ordinary flood dragon, a wounded dragon core indeed cannot recover in a thousand years. But this is no ordinary flood dragon. It was born from the Burial God Fire Prison, so naturally, it can freely draw on the Fire Prison's power to heal its dragon core. If that's the case, full recovery within a thousand years is entirely possible. We overlooked this point all along."
This was the only explanation.
The brows of the three sect masters simultaneously furrowed, and the atmosphere grew somewhat oppressive. If the flood dragon's dragon core had recovered, the chances of successfully hunting it plummeted. And whether they could slay it was directly related to Huo Poyun's breakthrough... as well as the entire future of the Flame God Realm!
The opportunity to enter the Zhou Tian Pearl for three thousand years of cultivation was the first of its kind since ancient times, and likely the last. If missed... there would be no future.
"However, there's no need to be pessimistic," Yan Wancang said slowly after a brief silence. "As you've seen, the Yinxue Realm King's strength has increased by more than ten percent compared to a thousand years ago! The ancient flood dragon is clearly giving its all, yet it's being completely suppressed by the Yinxue Realm King. This has never happened before."
"A thousand years ago, we also faced an ancient flood dragon with an undamaged dragon core. If not for an unexpected incident and its rapid retreat after completing its scale-shedding, we might have succeeded. This time... with the Yinxue Realm King's current power, there's no reason for her to fail. Perhaps... within ten hours..."
"No! It should be even shorter!" Yan Juehai also smiled. "In terms of sheer power reserves, humans simply cannot compare to dragons. In previous battles, after several hours, the Yinxue Realm King's consumption far exceeded the flood dragon's, causing her to gradually weaken. But with her profound strength advancing to this level, perhaps... the flood dragon won't even last until the later stages. Not only does the chance of success greatly increase, but the time needed will also be significantly shortened."
"Well said!" Huo Rulie nodded emphatically, his previously dimmed expression once again filled with deep hope.
At the same level, a dragon was an absolutely invincible existence. Killing a dragon was more than ten times harder than killing a human at the same level.
With a dragon's incredibly powerful body and vitality—especially a Divine Lord level dragon—unless one had absolute crushing power, even with the overwhelming advantage Mu Xuanyin was displaying, actually hunting it would still take considerable time.
The flood dragon's scale-shedding period was only twelve hours. During those twelve hours, it couldn't remain submerged in the Burial God Fire Prison for long, or the flames would burn it from within, potentially killing it. Once the twelve hours passed and scale-shedding was complete, it could escape safely.
But as Yan Juehai had said, in terms of profound power reserves, a dragon far surpassed a human. Although this ancient flood dragon's power intensity was inferior to Mu Xuanyin's, in terms of sheer volume, it definitely exceeded hers—quite possibly by a large margin. Thus, if the flood dragon wasn't severely wounded within six hours, the chances of killing it would steadily decrease... because by then, Mu Xuanyin's consumption would likely exceed seventy percent, while the flood dragon might not even have used half.
The words of the three sect masters allowed Yun Che to breathe a sigh of relief, at least calming his heart somewhat.
All three of them said his master's power far exceeded that of a thousand years ago and was now completely suppressing the ancient flood dragon. That couldn't be wrong.
Whether or not she ultimately succeeded, at least his master wouldn't be in any danger.
The churning of the Fire Prison never ceased for a moment. Even beneath their feet, they could clearly feel the constant tremors. All eyes were fixed on the Vermilion projection, not daring to look away for even an instant. Scenes like this were something they might only witness once in their entire lives.
Half an hour passed. The fierce battle in the Fire Prison showed no signs of easing; instead, it grew increasingly intense. Mu Xuanyin's gaze remained as icy cold as ever, her snow-white robes spotless. The ancient flood dragon, however, was now covered in sword wounds, stained with dragon blood, and nearly thirty percent of its scales had been broken.
The faces of Yan Wancang, Yan Juehai, and Huo Rulie were now filled with growing joy, their hands clenched with immense excitement. Although these were still only light injuries for the ancient flood dragon... a thousand years ago, it had taken Mu Xuanyin a full hour to inflict this level of damage.
This time, it had taken less than half an hour!!
The blow of the flood dragon's dragon core healing had now completely disappeared. The flood dragon's numerous wounds had already made them clearly see the hope of a successful hunt.
In the past, their feelings toward Mu Xuanyin's power had been dominated by fear and resentment. Now, all they felt was gratitude.
"Brother Yun, your master is truly..." Huo Poyun swallowed hard. "Truly too powerful. This time, she will definitely, definitely succeed."
"Heh." Yun Che smiled, then suddenly said, "Brother Poyun... and three sect masters, this junior seems to be... having some difficulty holding on. I may need to step away for a moment."
"Oh?"
Yun Che's words made the three sect masters turn their heads simultaneously. They had been intently focused on the Vermilion projection and only now noticed that Yun Che's face was as red as fire, and his entire body was drenched in sweat.
Only then did they remember that Yun Che was a disciple of the Yinxue Realm, and his cultivation was only at the Divine Origin realm. It would be very difficult for him to endure the Fire Prison's aura here for long.