Chapter 1855: The World-Shaking Azure Dragon
Roar——————
As Yun Che's heavy chant resounded, a dragon roar of extreme majesty and weight suddenly echoed between heaven and earth.
This dragon roar seemed to come from the boundless sky... the bottomless abyss... the endless ancient times.
It collapsed heaven and earth, scattered the powerful dragon profound aura of the five Withered Dragons and seven Dragon Gods, shattered the bright light within their dragon pupils... and nearly shattered their very souls.
Bang bang bang bang bang bang...
The dragon bodies that had been abruptly pouncing toward Yun Che slammed heavily to the ground like lifeless wooden posts. Just a moment ago, their aura had been immense and world-encompassing, but now it dispersed into nothing but chaotic, turbulent eddies.
And their formidable Dragon God souls trembled and shrank like larvae whose vital points had been crushed.
"...Urgh... ugh... ugh..."
Trembling moans, completely involuntary, leaked from between their chattering dragon fangs. That was not a sound they wanted to make, but rather a fearful wail originating from the depths of their souls.
They slowly, with unbearable difficulty, raised their heads... The world around them suddenly fell into a terrifying silence. In their magnified dragon pupils was reflected a sky-covering dragon shadow that made their souls flee in terror.
The Primordial Azure Dragon!
It materialized above Yun Che, floating within this tiny divine region.
No more light remained in the world. Within their perception, even heaven and earth ceased to exist. Their own dragon might, once so proud and peerless, now seemed pitifully insignificant... Their knees went weak, and every single hair on their bodies stood on end in trembling terror.
And the dragon souls that had shrunk into larvae convulsed and twitched as if on the verge of death.
"Ah... ah... aah..."
Their eyes stared blankly, and aside from the groans rising from the depths of their souls, they could produce no other sound.
Such were the Withered Dragons and Dragon Gods, and so too were the Dragon Lords and Master Dragons behind them...
Bang!
Pairs of dragon knees struck the ground—not a slow, deliberate kneel, but a heavy, earth-shattering crash.
As Dragon Lords and Master Dragons, not even other Realm Kings of the Divine Kings could make them kneel, except for the Dragon God and Dragon Emperor themselves. The very concept of kneeling was never imprinted in their bones.
But the submission and fear of their souls completely overwhelmed their will and consciousness, dragging their soft knees down into a heavy kneel from which there was no escape.
Bang!
Bang——
Following the Dragon God Realm, the Azure Dragons of the Azure Dragon Realm, the Chi Dragons of the Emperor Chi Realm, and the Hui Dragons of the Hui Dragon Realm also fell to their knees in large numbers, trembling with the same shock and fear, shivering with the same terror.
Only the Qilin and Wanxiang remained standing... but every single face was deathly pale, stained by extreme shock.
"Th-th-th-this this this is..." Fen Daoqi looked up at the enormous dragon shadow in the sky, barely forcing out two words after a long pause.
Chi Wuyue and Mu Xuanyin were also frozen in shock for a long time.
They knew about the Dragon God soul within Yun Che, and they knew that his dragon soul originated from the source soul of the ancient Dragon God.
They also knew how terrifying the shockwave was when he released his dragon soul... Back then in the Burial God Fire Prison of the Flame God Realm, when Yun Che's cultivation was only at the Divine Origin Realm, his released dragon soul had instantly shattered that Divine Lord-level Qiulong.
And outside the Blue Pole Star back then, the dark dragon soul that had briefly emerged had instantly dispersed the power of all the Divine Emperors and Divine Lords present.
But every time Yun Che released his dragon soul, it was only a fleeting manifestation of the dragon soul shadow, and it lasted an extremely short time. He could only sustain it forcibly for a short while before his soul would be exhausted and weak, even to the point of unconsciousness.
But the dragon shadow now appearing in the sky... No, that was not a shadow. It was a completely substantial form, a true Dragon God that had seemingly crossed the ancient ages to manifest in the present world!
"Primordial Dragon God's... Xuan Gang Phantom God!" Qianye Ying'er murmured softly, then suddenly turned her gaze to Shui Meiyin.
Before entering the Zhou Tian Divine Realm, Yun Che had said that their main purpose on this trip was to cultivate the soul, which was why he brought Shui Meiyin, who possessed a Stainless Divine Soul.
Since returning from the Northern Divine Region, Yun Che had never shown any fear toward the most powerful Dragon God Realm. On the contrary, he could hardly wait to do battle with them sooner... At the Nanming Divine Realm, when facing the Withered Dragon God Ashen, he had brutally killed him on the spot without any hesitation or scruple.
So it turned out that, aside from sacrificing divine sources to forcefully activate Divine Ashes, he also had such a deeply hidden trump card!
Back during the Profound God Convention in the Eastern Divine Region, Yun Che had used Xuan Gang as a carrier to unleash the Phoenix Phantom God, Ice Phoenix Phantom God, and Golden Crow Phantom God.
But at that time, including her, no one knew what method Yun Che had used to actually execute the "Phantom God Art," which could only be used at the Divine Lord realm.
It was only after falling into demonhood together with Yun Che in the Northern Divine Region that she learned it was Yun Che's own creation, and the world's only "Xuan Gang Phantom God."
And now, he had actually succeeded in materializing the dragon shadow and dragon soul of the Primordial Azure Dragon through Xuan Gang.
He must have been able to do this when he left the Northern Divine Region, though it was extremely difficult. But it was already enough to become a massive killing move when facing the Dragon God Realm.
After all, the Primordial Azure Dragon was the ancestor of the ancestor of the ancestors of all dragons in the Dragon God Realm.
During the three years in the Zhou Tian Divine Realm, with the assistance of Shui Meiyin's Stainless Divine Soul, the dragon god manifested by Yun Che's Xuan Gang Phantom God had reached its peak in soul pressure.
And judging by Yun Che's calm and assured demeanor, completely without difficulty or strain, it was clear that he could control it quite easily and steadily, and should be able to maintain it for a considerable amount of time.
"Ah... urgh... you..." Long Bai's screams had completely stopped. He too was trembling in fear. Even the dragon spine that had just been fused was now crooked again, and he could not straighten it for a long time.
"Hmph!"
A light snort, yet it caused the dragon souls of all the Withered Dragons, Dragon Gods, Dragon Lords, Master Dragons, Azure Dragons, Chi Dragons, and Hui Dragons to tremble violently.
"Dragon Emperor? Dragon God?" Yun Che's brows lowered as he chanted, each word piercing the soul like a heavenly decree descending upon the world: "I am the Demon Lord of the Northern Divine Region, and also the reincarnated Dragon God! Before me, how dare you call yourselves Dragon Emperor? How dare you call yourselves Dragon God?!"
As his low chant echoed, he walked forward step by step. With each step closer, the dragon might and dragon soul pressed in one step further, crushing the hearts and souls of all the dragons, choking them to the point of death.
The five Withered Dragons and seven Dragon Gods stood frozen in place, their pupils losing all color.
They desperately tried to awaken their reason, forcibly telling themselves that none of this was real. But the spontaneous trembling of their souls and the autonomous collapse of their convictions could not be faked, nor could they be resisted by will.
After all, their most proud bloodlines and souls originated from the legacy of the Primordial Dragon God.
Even the name "Dragon God" came from their boundless reverence for the true Dragon God.
If their own Primordial Ancestor were to be reborn, he too would have to kneel prostrate.
Long Yi gritted his teeth, forcibly shifting his gaze away from the dragon shadow. He raised his withered arm, pointing at Yun Che, using almost all his willpower to barely squeeze out relatively clear words: "You..."
"I COMMAND YOU TO KNEEL!" Yun Che's eyes blazed as he let out a thunderous roar.
ROAR!!!!!!
The Azure Dragon roared in fury, and the ancient heavenly might that had been pressing down on all the dragons suddenly multiplied. It sent the dragon souls of the crowd into violent shock. Half of the kneeling dragon bodies directly fell onto all fours, their heads smashing into the ground, their souls completely shattered and lost.
Thud!
The faith of the five Withered Dragons and seven Dragon Gods, which they had forcibly sustained, shattered completely. The seven Dragon Gods all fell to their dragon knees... Moments later, one after another, the five Withered Dragons also knelt softly on the ground, their faces as pale as paper, their dragon pupils swelling and contracting as if about to burst.
The profound practitioners of the Northern Domain stood there dumbfounded, completely and utterly dumbfounded. The dark profound energy they had gathered with all their might moments ago had long since dissipated in their daze.
Just a moment ago, the Withered Dragons and Dragon Gods were shouting "must not be allowed to live" and "ten thousand deaths with no chance of life." Now, they were all kneeling before the Demon Lord of the Northern Domain.
This scene would surely be forever engraved in the history of the Divine Realm, until the end of heaven and earth.
This time, in their too-intense daze, they all firmly believed that their Demon Lord... must be the reincarnation of the ancient Demon Emperor.
Otherwise, how could he, with mere soul might, suppress a group of powerful Dragon Gods into kneeling and trembling?
Behind them, the Emperor Chi Dragon and Emperor Hui Dragon also fell prostrate on the ground amidst their soul collapse. Their will wanted them to stand, but their souls and dragon bodies, in extreme terror, only wanted to submit, not daring the slightest resistance.
Among the four dragon realms, only the Azure Dragon Emperor remained standing.
Among the dragon race, the Dragon God Realm was the strongest, but it was also the most suppressed by the dragon soul might.
The Qilin Emperor bore the crushing weight of a thousand mountains upon his body, but he was ultimately not of the dragon race, so he was not shocked to the point of soul collapse. He swept his gaze around and found that only the Azure Dragon Emperor remained upright, his dragon aura surging wildly to resist the supreme dragon might from the ancient Dragon God.
After a quick assessment, he suddenly transmitted a message to the Azure Dragon Emperor: "Kneel!"
As he sent the message, he himself took the lead to bend his knees, using his own will to kneel on both knees like those dragon clans, assuming a posture of submission.
Behind him, the various Qilin quickly followed his transmission, all kneeling and prostrating... Though it was a thousand times humiliating and unwilling, since even the Withered Dragons and Dragon Gods had bent their knees, their doing so was not so unacceptable.
The echoing sound pierced the ears. The Azure Dragon Emperor's brows sank, but he did not hesitate too long before finally kneeling to the ground.
Only a group of Divine Lords from the Wanxiang Divine Realm remained standing on the spot.
This "standing out from the crowd" should have been a picture for them to be proud of. But what surged in their hearts was instead a deep unease.
Yun Che's footsteps continued forward, step by step, as if stomping on everyone's hearts. He passed by the five Withered Dragons and then the seven Dragon Gods.
They still maintained their kneeling posture, their bodies twitching at different frequencies, but none of them made a move to stop him. Only vague, indistinct screams escaped their mouths.
To have suppressed such pinnacle existences of the current world to such an extent—if not seen with one's own eyes, no one would ever believe it... least of all themselves.
When Yun Che's footsteps stopped, he was standing in front of Long Bai.
Long Bai, the supreme being of this world, was kneeling weakly before him... He would rather kneel to a real beast as the Dragon Emperor, or die on the spot, than kneel to Yun Che unwillingly.
But his thoroughly terrified dragon soul left him no right to refuse or struggle, and even self-destruction was a luxury.
How utterly pathetic.
But his hatred for Yun Che was simply too deep, already buried into every atom of his marrow. Thus, even with boundless soul terror, it still could not completely suppress the bone-deep hatred within his dragon pupils.
"Now do you understand?" Yun Che lowered his brows and said lightly. "From the very beginning, crushing you has been as simple as crushing a grasshopper."
"But if I did it that way, you definitely wouldn't be convinced, nor would you look as ugly as you do now."
Yun Che smiled, but within that smile was a hint of deep-hidden gloom. After all, no matter how much he trampled and abused Long Bai, he could never awaken those eternal demon blood... nor could he ever get Shen Xi back.
Although, even now, he still did not truly understand why Shen Xi had willingly thrown herself into his arms back then, and there had been no promise of love between them. But any man who saw Shen Xi would surely dream of her for life. And between them...
"You..." Long Bai's lips moved and parted, barely squeezing out two extremely blurry words: "...die..."
"Heh," Yun Che sneered without a shred of pity. "You've been dreaming your entire life. Now that you've become a dog with a broken spine, you're still dreaming."
"Very regrettably, I won't die! Even if I do die in the future, it will absolutely not be by your hand! After all, you, the so-called Dragon Emperor, can't even kill me. Even if you kneel and lick my feet, I'd find it disgusting. And you..."
Yun Che's brows furrowed slightly, his voice dropping sharply: "Outside the Blue Pole Star, the palm strike you delivered that... nearly made me lose Xuanyin... I swore a venomous oath back then... that I would make you... before dying in agony... taste the ultimate humiliation, despair, and pain in this world!"
Mu Xuanyin: "..."
"You mad dog also killed Shen Xi. Today, you caused so many people who abandoned everything to follow me here... to never see with their own eyes the prosperity of the Northern Domain that they bought with their lives and demon blood!"
"So tell me... exactly how... should I let you die!?"
BANG!!
Yun Che suddenly kicked out. This kick was not heavy, but it sent Long Bai, who had almost no dragon aura left to protect himself, flying a dozen miles, breaking a patch of his dragon bones and dragon sinews.
Clearly, Yun Che was not yet willing to let him die... The pain and despair he had endured were not enough!
He raised both arms, his pupils filled with endless, pure darkness. The light between heaven and earth suddenly dimmed, and in an instant it became as cold and gloomy as a demon prison. For a moment, it seemed as if all the dark aura in the world was surging madly toward him.
In the Canglan Divine Region, demon winds danced wildly.
The nearly depleted dark profound energy rapidly grew and flowed swiftly within the profound meridians and bodies of the Northern Domain cultivators. Their tired or turbid eyes also bloomed with deeper and deeper demonic light. Even their wounds healed at an astonishing speed under the too-rapid flow of dark profound energy.
Demon blood boiled, calamity demons wreaked havoc on heaven!
And in contrast, the Western Domain Divine Lords, who were already in extreme terror, suddenly fell into a dark demon abyss of bone-chilling, soul-piercing cold.
"KILL!"
Yun Che's arm swung down, the demon command shaking souls: "Together with the demon blood and will of those departed kin, unleash your darkness and hatred to your heart's content... No matter how cruel the method, no matter how brutal the means... bury them all in a death hell of eternal reincarnation... NOT ONE LEFT ALIVE!"