Chapter 1612: The Dragon-Taming Maiden (Part 2)
"As expected of a divine fruit, its mere aura lives up to the word 'divine,'" Zhuliu Venerable said. "If we can obtain it, there will be no more need to worry about the Young Master's future."
"The Lord personally stated that this Primordial Divine Fruit is likely close to full maturity. The divine power it contains may even exceed that of the three fruits our Zhou Tian Divine Realm has obtained in its history." Taiyin Venerable looked ahead, his gaze burning. "The Young Master's future is the future of our Zhou Tian. This time, we can only succeed, not fail."
"We have no reason to fail," Zhuliu Venerable said in a deep voice.
The Zhou Tian God Realm was not going to fight the Primordial Dragon Clan, so more people was definitely not better. They were the two most suitable individuals, with extraordinary spatial mastery. They had brought out the strongest spatial treasure of the Zhou Tian God Realm. Coupled with their knowledge of the Primordial Dragon Clan's territory, the Zhou Tian Divine Spirit's positioning of the aura, and the ancestors' experience in harvesting Primordial Divine Fruits...
Indeed, they had no reason to fail!
Suppressing their auras as much as possible, the two drew closer and closer to the Primordial Dragon Clan's territory. The divine aura of the Primordial Divine Fruit washing over their bodies and souls grew stronger and more incredible with each step.
"Alright, here." Taiyin Venerable stopped. "The divine aura of the Primordial Divine Fruit will greatly moisten the dragon bodies and souls. Their spiritual perception will be far sharper than usual because of it. We cannot get any closer."
"This distance is enough," Zhuliu Venerable said.
The two stood firm and pushed out their palms. Before them, a gray-white cauldron materialized.
This cauldron was named "Void Cauldron." Not only in the Zhou Tian God Realm, but across the entire Eastern Domain, it was the strongest spatial profound artifact. The ultra-large dimensional formation that connected the Zhou Tian God Realm to the edge of Chaos was built with this cauldron as its core carrier.
Both men pressed their hands onto the cauldron at the same time. After a moment of silence, a faint white glow slowly rose on the cauldron, gradually spreading out into a small spatial profound array.
The two Guardians gathered all their focus, operating the laws of space to their utmost limit while vigorously restraining any leaking aura. After a long while, the spatial profound array around the cauldron began to solidify. Though it appeared small and lacked a vast spatial aura, the Void Cauldron plus the spatial divine power of two Guardians meant this spatial profound array was far from ordinary.
"Good..." Taiyin Venerable opened his eyes and spoke in a low voice. "We have successfully completed orientation and positioning. Now, we must rely on fate. The Lord said that the deviation of the position given by the Zhou Tian Divine Spirit will not exceed twenty li at most. If fate favors us..."
"Even twenty li is enough," Zhuliu Venerable said.
"I will control the array. You go fetch the fruit! Remember... take only the target!"
Both their gazes became incomparably focused. With silent prayers in their hearts, they stepped forward simultaneously, entering the profound array, and then vanished from the spot along with the cauldron.
This was the space of the Tai Chu Divine Realm. How difficult it was to traverse, let alone a directional, fixed-distance traversal!
But under the power of the Void Cauldron and the two Guardians, it was accomplished perfectly!
The space shifted abruptly. It was still a gray-white world, but the sudden change in aura was like being thrown into a completely different world.
Endless dragon might crashed down, overwhelmingly heavy and ancient, as if from the distant primordial era.
Accompanying the dragon might was a divine aura so dense it seemed to come from a faraway divine realm.
And this aura was extremely close. It startled the two Guardians so much that their blood seemed to stop flowing for an instant.
A hundred zhang... only a bare hundred zhang!!
For a powerful Guardian, that distance was almost within arm's reach. It was the best possible scenario they could have hoped for!
Without time to get excited, without saying a single word, without even looking at their surroundings, Zhuliu Venerable's long-accumulated profound energy erupted violently without reserve. His entire form shot forward like a streak of light, charging straight toward the source of the aura.
Behind him, Taiyin Venerable also released his profound energy to sustain the spatial profound array beneath his feet.
At that very moment, a glimmer of red entered their pupils.
It was a blood-red fruit, no larger than a fingernail, yet radiating a starlike brilliance, illuminating the entire surrounding area in deep red.
Around the fruit coiled a large group of grayish-white primordial dragons. They were immersed in the thick divine aura. Every time a Primordial Divine Fruit formed, it was a heavenly miracle for the Primordial Dragon Clan. Bathing in the divine aura of the Primordial Divine Fruit not only purified their dragon breath and dragon souls, but could even lead to a complete transformation.
But faced with Zhuliu Venerable, who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and was already lunging for the Primordial Divine Fruit in the first instant, they had no time to react... Before the first furious dragon roar could even sound, Zhuliu Venerable had already flashed through layers of dragon shadows, his hand reaching directly for the Primordial Divine Fruit.
Because they bathed in the divine aura of the fruit, there would naturally be no barrier around it. Zhuliu Venerable's hand grabbed toward the Primordial Divine Fruit without any obstruction... Once he obtained it, his aura, connected to the Void Cauldron, would allow him to instantly return to the dimensional array, and then he and Taiyin Venerable, who was maintaining the array, would flee far away.
Ten zhang... five zhang... three zhang... one zhang...
Just one thousandth of a moment before success, a dragon roar suddenly exploded in his ears and within his sea of consciousness.
As a Guardian of Zhou Tian, his breadth of experience and depth of understanding far surpassed that of ordinary profound practitioners. But the roar that rang out now was undoubtedly the most terrifying dragon roar he had ever heard in his life.
Under the roar, his vision went black, his forward-charging body crashed heavily down, and his hand, which was about to touch the Primordial Divine Fruit, grabbed nothing but air.
What was even more terrifying was that this dragon roar not only shattered his soul but also directly severed the aura connection between him and the Void Cauldron!
Behind him, Taiyin Venerable, who had thought everything was foolproof, turned pale with shock. He jerked his head up, and when his gaze met the shadow of a dragon that blotted out the sun, his pupils contracted as if pierced by needles. His voice trembled as he cried out: "The... the Primordial Dragon Emperor!"
The Primordial Dragon Emperor was the sovereign of the Primordial Dragon Clan, the strongest dragon in all of Tai Chu Divine Realm!
And the title "Emperor" conveyed a terrifying truth: its strength was comparable to a Divine Emperor of the divine realms!
Having entered the Primordial Dragon Clan's territory, there was naturally a possibility of encountering the Primordial Dragon Emperor. But Taiyin and Zhuliu, the two Guardians, had made thorough preparations, used the most powerful spatial means, and the position they teleported to was extremely close to the Primordial Divine Fruit... Even the Primordial Dragon Emperor, faced with their sudden, unforeseen appearance, could not have reacted so quickly.
But not only was it right beside the Primordial Divine Fruit, it had also, in this incredibly sudden and brief moment—shorter than a flash of light—unleashed such a terrifying soul-shattering dragon roar!
This scenario seemed as if it had long known they would arrive at this moment and had been waiting in ambush!
But how could such a thing exist!? The teleportation and ambush had been instantaneous. They had been extremely cautious earlier, staying far away, and had not been detected by any Primordial Dragon!
Zhuliu Venerable crashed to the ground, and at the same time, a storm of furious dragon roars erupted, shaking the space and the heavens violently. Countless powerful dragon breaths instantly locked onto the two men, especially Zhuliu Venerable, who was extremely close to the Primordial Divine Fruit.
"GO!!"
The soul-piercing shout snapped Zhuliu Venerable out of his momentary soul-shatter. Even though the Primordial Divine Fruit was within reach, he knew that the best—perhaps the only—opportunity had been completely lost. If he forced an attempt, not only would the chance of obtaining the fruit be minuscule, his life might be forfeit here!
Even though he was a Guardian of Zhou Tian!
With a low roar, Zhuliu Venerable shot upward, a fan glowing with a strange light appearing in his hand. As the fan opened, the dragon breaths pressing down on him were severed like tangible ropes. He had no intention of lingering. He rapidly gathered spatial force, intending to teleport to Taiyin's side.
But at that moment, a dragon might like the sky itself crashed down, sealing the surrounding space. Zhuliu Venerable only managed to traverse less than thirty zhang before he was forcibly stopped.
This space traversal did not come from a profound artifact, but from Zhuliu Venerable's own spatial power. Even a short-distance traversal in the space of the Tai Chu Divine Realm required an immense amount of energy.
Having his space traversal forcibly halted in such a domineering manner naturally caused a violent disorder in his spatial power. Zhuliu Venerable's entire body shook violently, and he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Before he could recover his breath, the Primordial Dragon Emperor descended from above, its dragon might shaking the world!
The surrounding primordial dragons did not approach but instead retreated.
When the Dragon Emperor acted, their interference would only be a desecration of the Dragon Emperor's might!
The might of a Dragon Emperor was terrifying. The moment it descended, Zhuliu Venerable clearly felt his internal organs twist violently... How could he not know the name "Primordial Dragon Emperor"? He had never imagined that the very first instant of his arrival would be met by the Primordial Dragon Emperor.
Even more unexpected was that they, who were supposed to catch the enemy off guard, were instead caught off guard themselves. That single dragon roar had thrown them from their assumed initiative into a passive position.
The Primordial Dragon Emperor's power was far beyond what the two of them could match combined. Falling into a passive position before it, even as Zhou Tian Guardians, they could be buried in the abyss of death.
A colossal dragon claw descended from the sky. Under its might, the earth split and the heavens shattered, and all things were annihilated. Only the Primordial Divine Fruit continued to shine quietly amidst the calamitous force, unharmed.
Boom!!
Zhuliu Venerable had no choice but to raise both hands to the sky, meeting the dragon might head-on. Under the earth-shattering explosion of energy, he barely managed to stop the dragon claw, but a torrent of blood sprayed from his mouth. He jerked his head up and roared hoarsely: "GO! Don't worry about me!!"
His connection to the Void Cauldron had been forcibly severed, his profound energy was in chaos from the clash, and he was surrounded by countless Primordial Dragons. The chance of escape was slim. Meanwhile, Taiyin Venerable in the profound array could flee at any moment. If he tried to save him forcibly, he might be dragged into this calamity as well.
"Zhuliu!" Taiyin Venerable also roared. After a moment's hesitation, he left the profound array and lunged forward, a giant handprint spreading in the air as he struck at the dragon claw.
The forces clashed violently once more. The Dragon Emperor's claw was barely knocked aside, and Zhuliu Venerable and Taiyin Venerable were sent flying in different directions.
Free from the Dragon Emperor's crushing grip, Zhuliu Venerable finally had a brief chance to catch his breath. He quickly focused his mind and gathered his power, activating the laws of space... But just as his thoughts began to coalesce, a terrifying shadow of a wolf appeared in his sea of consciousness, bringing with it a chill that instantly flooded his entire body.
He turned his head with difficulty, and saw a massive wolf shadow hovering above him, its thousand-zhang bloody maw wide open, revealing terrifying wolf fangs that flickered with an interweaving of azure-blue and dark light.
"Ce...lestial... Wolf..."
Only those two words flashed through his mind before his body was devoured by the wolf shadow.
Boom!!
Zhuliu Venerable was slammed heavily into the ground, the trail of blood in the air dragging on for over a dozen zhang. The moment his body touched the earth, the dragon claw descended again, pressing down on him without mercy.
The ground of the Primordial territory cracked and split in a terrifying manner, and a devastating spatial storm swept through the entire Primordial Dragon Clan's territory, a testament to the power of that claw.
The dragon claw lifted, revealing Zhuliu Venerable at the center of the broken earth, nearly half his bones broken, covered in blood. But as an Eighth-rank Divine Lord, he was not so easily defeated.
The scattered divine light in his pupils began to coalesce again... But at that moment, a small, colorful figure leaped down from atop the Primordial Dragon Emperor's head.
It seemed to be the silhouette of a young girl. A shimmering, colorful light flashed for an instant before being enveloped by a blinding, azure-blue divine radiance. A giant sword, a full zhang in length, crashed down, accompanied by a Celestial Wolf's roar that shook heaven and earth.
Its might and momentum were almost comparable to the Dragon Emperor's world-shaking roar!
"You... are..."
Only two words escaped Zhuliu Venerable's mouth before the azure-blue giant sword slammed into his chest, piercing straight through like rotten wood, mercilessly nailing the body of this Zhou Tian Guardian Divine Lord to the ruined land.
Boom!!
The next instant, the Divine Lord's body pierced by the sword violently exploded. But before the scattered flesh and blood could even fly away, they were directly annihilated in midair, turned into the finest dust in the world.