Chapter 1056: Omen
"We can't let the Devouring Demon Dragon break into Yingsha City Base. I'll go stop it."
Chi Wansui stomped his foot on the ground, and with a booming sound, his body shot up over a hundred meters like a cannonball. By the time he landed, he was already outside the city. Along the way, some powerful savage birds tried to block him, but he smashed straight through them, reducing them to chunks of flesh that fell to the ground.
"Whoosh—"
The Devouring Demon Dragon coiled its body in midair, a dozen or so zhang above the ground, its flesh contracting to form a black-robed man. Around his body, wisps of black dragon-shaped mist shuttled back and forth, emitting a low, mournful sound. At this moment, the Devouring Demon Dragon was indistinguishable from a human; even a Saint would likely find it difficult to see through his true form.
The black-robed man stared down at Chi Wansui below and let out a laugh. "I've read the 'Half-Saint Ranking' compiled by Shengshu Cainü. You should be Chi Wansui, ranked ninth."
"The rankings on the 'Half-Saint Ranking' aren't necessarily entirely accurate," Chi Wansui said.
The aura around Chi Wansui was extremely fierce, his entire body radiating golden light as he slowly rose from the ground, standing at the same height as the black-robed man.
"The rankings on the 'Half-Saint Ranking' are indeed not very precise. But one thing is certain: you are no match for me," the black-robed man said.
Both the man and the dragon had unshakable wills, paying no heed to the 'Half-Saint Ranking' at all. The fluctuations of Saint Qi between them grew increasingly intense. Any living being that approached would face certain death.
"Boom."
The golden figure and the black figure rapidly intersected, colliding with each other. The bursts of force and energy they unleashed shook the very space, as if it were about to crack. The spatial structure of the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm was already quite fragile, barely able to withstand their power. At the very center of the battle, some extremely fine spatial fissures appeared. Those cracks were thinner than a single hair and would heal within an extremely short time, so ordinary cultivators couldn't detect them at all.
After dozens of exchanges, Chi Wansui ultimately failed to block the Devouring Demon Dragon's attack. He was sent flying backward, crashing into the city wall.
"Roar!"
The Devouring Demon Dragon immediately reverted to its true form, extending two massive dragon claws and pressing downward, slamming Chi Wansui directly into the ground. The dragon claws merely grazed the edge of the city wall, yet they caused the wall to shake slightly. Fortunately, the city-protecting grand formation was in place; otherwise, a large section of Yingsha City's wall would have collapsed.
Chi Wansui burst out from underground, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and then channeled Saint Qi into his Qilin Long Spear. Instantly, dense inscriptions emerged, forming a Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force as he attacked the Devouring Demon Dragon once more. With Chi Wansui's profound cultivation, using the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force once wouldn't deplete his Saint Qi; he could unleash it multiple times.
Even facing the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force, the Devouring Demon Dragon showed no fear. "So what if it's a Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifact? My dragon claws are stronger than any Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifact."
The Devouring Demon Dragon struck out with its claws, clashing head-on with the Qilin Long Spear. Not only did the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force fail to harm it, but the force it unleashed also suppressed Chi Wansui, forcing him to retreat step by step.
In the distance, Zhang Ruochen and the others had already broken through the encirclement of the savage beast horde and reached several hundred li away. The group didn't flee immediately; instead, they focused on the battle at Yingsha City. If the savage beasts truly breached Yingsha City and began a genocidal massacre, Zhang Ruochen still wanted to lend a hand rather than stand idly by.
Xiao Hei quickly set up a concealment formation, enveloping everyone within it. But Zhang Ruochen was still uneasy, worried that some keen-sensed savage beasts might see through the formation and discover their whereabouts. So, he took out the Buddhist beads given to him by Master Indra, channeled Saint Qi into them, and the beads immediately emitted a mysterious power that covered the entire group. That Buddhist bead could mask all auras and even evade the calculations of Spiritual Power Saints.
Huang Yanchen stood beside Zhang Ruochen and said, "Chi Wansui and Beigong Lan have finally made it to Yingsha City Base. With their combat power alone, they may not be able to break through the encirclement of the twelve savage beast clans, but holding Yingsha City shouldn't be too difficult."
Zhang Ruochen nodded in agreement with Huang Yanchen's view.
Xiao Hei bared its sharp teeth and said, "That Chi Wansui is really something else. With a human body, he can fight the Devouring Demon Dragon for this long. If this were the ancient times, someone like Chi Wansui would be a peerless human emperor."
On the surface, Xiao Hei seemed to be praising Chi Wansui, but the human cultivators present felt quite displeased, sensing it was belittling humanity.
"What's with those looks? This emperor is just stating facts. In the ancient times, the dragon race was the ruler of the Kunlun Realm, and the Devouring Demon Dragon clan was one of the three most powerful branches of the dragon race. The gap between your human emperors and the Devouring Demon Dragon at the same cultivation level was no small matter," Xiao Hei said.
Sun Dadi rolled up his sleeves and rubbed his hands together, itching to hit it.
Xiao Hei, as if oblivious to the hostile stares, continued, "In the ancient times, especially the early era, when heaven and earth first opened and chaos hadn't fully dissipated, a batch of beings born from heaven and earth emerged. They all had extremely powerful physiques. Some of them even surpassed Zhang Ruochen as he is now. Unfortunately, by the end of the ancient era, the rules of heaven and earth in the Kunlun Realm underwent a cataclysmic change. Many powerful beings couldn't reproduce and eventually went extinct."
"Some ancient beings used extraordinary methods to preserve their life seeds. Otherwise, we wouldn't see pure-blooded ancient relics today."
"The appearance of a pure-blooded ancient relic like the Devouring Demon Dragon is a huge challenge to humanity's dominant position."
Sun Dadi didn't rush to hit it and said, "Yet, the Devouring Demon Dragon you claim is invincible is only ranked third on the 'Half-Saint Ranking.' There's still someone who can suppress it."
Xiao Hei turned its chubby, furry head and looked at Sun Dadi as if he were an idiot. "The 'Half-Saint Ranking' only ranks them based on their current strength. The Devouring Demon Dragon clearly has room to grow and will likely top the list in the future."
Sun Dadi shook his head with a smile and said, "When it comes to room for growth, who can compare to Boss Gu? No matter how strong the Devouring Demon Dragon gets, it won't become number one on the 'Half-Saint Ranking.'"
This time, Xiao Hei fell silent and didn't refute Sun Dadi. After all, Zhang Ruochen was indeed an anomaly. Even in the ancient times, when chaos was still dividing, he would likely have grown into a regional overlord.
"Chi Wansui is about to lose," Huang Yanchen said.
Everyone immediately looked toward Yingsha City. They saw that Chi Wansui's armor had been battered and torn, his body covered in blood, and he was severely injured. In contrast, the Devouring Demon Dragon had only lost a single scale from Chi Wansui's attacks and wasn't hurt. The difference in their combat power was clear.
Of course, Chi Wansui was already quite formidable, having clashed with the Devouring Demon Dragon hundreds of times. It was worth noting that ordinary cultivators on the 'Half-Saint Outer Ranking' would find it difficult to even withstand a single blow from the Devouring Demon Dragon.
While Chi Wansui was battling the Devouring Demon Dragon, Beigong Lan led the human cultivators in driving the vast majority of savage beasts out of Yingsha City. Additionally, dozens of formation masters worked together to repair the breach in the city-protecting grand formation.
Chi Wansui didn't continue fighting the Devouring Demon Dragon and immediately fled back into Yingsha City. Then, the formation within the city activated, drawing the heaven and earth spiritual energy from thousands of li around into Yingsha City. Thick bolts of lightning descended from the sky.
"Boom, rumble!"
In less than half an hour, tens of thousands of savage beasts were struck dead by lightning, turning into a vast expanse of charred corpses. In the end, the beast kings of each clan had no choice but to lead their tribes' savage beasts back a hundred li.
The first major battle between the human cultivators and the twelve savage beast clans came to an end. Both sides suffered losses, and neither gained an advantage.
"At least we managed to hold Yingsha City. That's good—most human cultivators survived," said a high-ranking Half-Saint from the Murong family.
Murong Yue walked over to Zhang Ruochen, bowed slightly, and then asked, "Your Highness, can we leave this place now?"
Zhang Ruochen closed his eyes and muttered to himself, "Something's wrong, something's wrong. How can this be?"
"What's happening?" Sun Dadi asked.
Everyone tensed up, activating their sacred artifacts and adopting wary stances.
Just then, a buzzing sound came from deep underground, followed by violent shaking of the ground, creating a dizzying sensation of the world spinning.
An earthquake.
The tremors spread for tens of thousands of li and lasted for the time it takes to burn an incense stick before stopping. Both the human cultivators and the twelve savage beast clans—every living being—felt fear.
"The earth's plates are moving violently. Could the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm be on the verge of premature destruction?" Some human cultivators in Yingsha City speculated.
The tremors were also very noticeable within Yingsha City, causing many buildings to collapse. Fortunately, everyone there was a powerful cultivator, so there were no casualties.
Five hundred li from Yingsha City, a great fissure over a hundred meters wide appeared in the earth, stretching for a thousand li. From a distance, it was a breathtaking sight. From within the fissure, wisps of seven-colored light mist rose, shooting straight into the sky and merging with the clouds, turning the entire world into a dreamlike scene.
The seven-colored light mist carried a faint fragrance, spreading in all directions with the wind.
Xiao Hei stood upright on its hind legs, its round cat eyes wide open as it sniffed vigorously. It stared at the seven-colored light mist not far away and said, "White, cyan, blue, green, red, purple, black—seven colors. That's... that's the omen of a seventh-rank Saint Source Spirit Spring about to emerge." (To be continued.)