Chapter 391: Divine Dragon Transformation
"Zhang Ruochen, do you think you alone can contend with the holy clans and great houses? A floating reed shaking a great tree — you overestimate yourself."
Xu Qing stood with his hands behind his back, his posture imposing, staring down at Zhang Ruochen below and letting out a cold snort.
Xu Qing, Zuo Fenggu, Shen Yuntong, and the heir of the Xi Holy Clan stood together on the fiftieth step of the sacred staircase. Each of them radiated blazing sacred light, their auras overwhelming, like four young kings.
Zhang Ruochen's expression remained unchanged. He stood up again, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and straightened his body. In an instant, all the energy within him converged into his Qi Sea.
"Sizzle, sizzle!"
The ten-thousandth drop of true essence condensed successfully.
Ten thousand drops of true essence floated within his Qi Sea, emitting a bluish-green radiance, colliding with one another in pairs.
The number of true essence drops gradually decreased.
The volume of each drop continuously expanded.
In the end, only two clusters of true essence remained in his Qi Sea. Each cluster was the size of a round bead, radiating boundless light, spinning toward each other as the distance between them steadily shrank.
"Boom!"
The two clusters of true essence collided and merged into a single liquid true essence ball the size of a pigeon egg.
The moment the true essence ball took shape, all the pores on Zhang Ruochen's body opened wide, frantically absorbing the spiritual energy from heaven and earth.
"Whoosh, whoosh!"
On the sacred staircase, strands of spiritual energy converged toward Zhang Ruochen, forming a massive vortex that forced the heirs of the four great clans to retreat repeatedly, afraid of being drawn into the whirlpool.
"What's happening? Is Zhang Ruochen actually trying to break through his cultivation realm right here on the sacred staircase?"
Xu Qing's expression hardened. "We can't let him break through. Attack together!"
With that, Xu Qing struck first, once again activating his Blazing Wings. His entire body was engulfed in flames, turning him into a massive golden fireball that crushed down toward Zhang Ruochen.
"Supreme Sacred Hand."
The heir of the Xi Holy Clan channeled her true qi, raising her left hand. Her arm was fully sanctified, every inch of her skin radiating a brilliance brighter than the blazing sun.
Within her body, sacred blood awakened. Although she had only cultivated a single sacred hand and not a complete sacred body, the power of that one hand was immense, capable of unleashing ten times her own strength.
With a single palm strike, the air roared with the sound of wind and thunder.
The palm force surged forward like a raging storm, crashing toward Zhang Ruochen.
"Overlord Sacred Fist Art."
Shen Yuntong, having inherited the legacy of the Overlord Saint, felt his blood boil. A crackling sound erupted from within his body as his frame swelled.
Moments later, he transformed into a five-meter-tall giant, twin streams of white vapor shooting from his nostrils.
His body surface bulged with muscles like steel cables. His fists were as large as washbasins, brimming with infinite power.
The blood of the Overlord Saint was awakening. Though he had not achieved a complete sacred body, he could be considered to possess a half-sacred physique.
Only Zuo Fenggu, still clad in his alchemist's robe, had yet to act. He stood to the side, observing, but was secretly gathering power, ready to unleash a spiritual attack and deliver a fatal blow to Zhang Ruochen at any moment.
Below the sacred staircase, the disciples were utterly stunned. The power displayed by the heirs of the sacred clans was overwhelming—each one seemed like a divine being descending to the mortal world.
"With their strength, any one of them is a dragon among men, yet they're joining forces against Zhang Ruochen. I'd say any of them alone could match him."
"What do you know? Zhang Ruochen is at a critical moment of breakthrough. If he succeeds, he'll enter a brand-new realm and step onto another level. Of course Xu Qing and the others can't let him succeed. Otherwise, even the three of them together might not be able to suppress him."
Only Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artists understood how difficult it was to break through a realm—every level was a checkpoint. Even the relatively easier mid and late Heavenly Extreme Realm required massive accumulation over time.
Just as Xu Qing's attack was about to land on Zhang Ruochen...
A dazzling burst of cyan true qi radiance erupted from Zhang Ruochen's body.
"Rumble!"
Zhang Ruochen extended both arms, his entire skeleton seeming to fuse into one. Two phantom images of true qi dragons materialized, and he struck out simultaneously.
Xu Qing also threw out both palms, but the moment his hands touched Zhang Ruochen, he felt an overwhelming force surge through his arms. His body uncontrollably flew backward.
When Xu Qing landed on the ground, he found both arms completely numb, his whole body weak, as if his soul had left his body.
No good.
Xu Qing quickly channeled true qi from his Qi Sea, sending it through his meridians to circulate throughout his body.
As the true qi nourished him, his body gradually regained sensation. A sharp pain spread through his limbs and bones. Clearly, that head-on clash had severely injured him.
"How... how did he suddenly become so powerful? Has he really broken through?"
Xu Qing's expression shifted as the pressure on him intensified.
If Zhang Ruochen had indeed broken through, could the four of them still handle him?
Zhang Ruochen had indeed stepped into the late Heavenly Extreme Realm. Before he could fully digest the newfound power from his breakthrough, Shen Yuntong and the heir of the Xi Holy Clan had already attacked.
The Xi Holy Clan heir's sacred hand moved as her fingers twisted, conjuring countless hand shadows in the air.
Each hand seemed to carry the earth-shattering power of a sacred force—both unpredictable and infinitely mighty.
"Whoosh!"
A heavenly eye appeared on Zhang Ruochen's forehead, precisely locking onto her real hand.
Zhang Ruochen's right hand shot forward, grabbing the Xi Holy Clan heir's wrist, seizing her meridian, and yanking her forward.
The Xi Holy Clan heir's face changed as her body uncontrollably flew toward Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen gripped her wrist, his fingers nearly piercing into the flesh. He swung his arm in a wide arc, slamming her body hard against the staircase.
"Bang!"
The Xi Holy Clan heir's body collided violently with the staircase. The sound of breaking bones echoed from within, and a low, pained cry escaped her lips.
She lay on the ground, unable to move, trembling all over, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.
Zhang Ruochen released her hand, took a step forward, and met Shen Yuntong's charge.
At this moment, Shen Yuntong's body stood five meters tall, half-human, half-beast, with enormous bones and fists like iron hammers. Every punch seemed capable of splitting mountains and cracking the earth.
"Bang, bang!"
Dragon roars echoed from within Zhang Ruochen's body as he continuously struck out with palm techniques, clashing head-on with Shen Yuntong.
Shen Yuntong was naturally gifted with divine strength, and after inheriting the Overlord Saint's legacy, his power was even more terrifying.
At the same cultivation level, no one had ever been able to block a single punch from him.
Now, Zhang Ruochen, at a lower realm, completely overpowered him in strength, forcing him to retreat step by step.
Even Zhang Ruochen didn't notice that as he kept striking out with his palms, his hands had transformed into golden dragon claws, covered in scales.
Moreover, those golden dragon scales were spreading to his shoulders, head, chest, abdomen, and legs. In moments, Zhang Ruochen's entire body had transformed into a golden dragon over ten zhang long.
"Roar!"
A earth-shattering dragon cry rang out, and even the sacred staircase seemed to tremble.
Inside the sacred hall, the half-saints were all stunned. One of them shot to his feet, blurting out: "That's... the legendary Divine Dragon Transformation..."
Only a human martial artist who had refined a sacred-grade dragon pearl could possibly execute this ultimate technique.
Transforming a mortal body into a divine dragon's form.
"Attack together! We must suppress Zhang Ruochen!"
Xu Qing snapped out of his initial shock and charged at Zhang Ruochen again, unleashing his trump card technique. He threw eighty-one punches in succession, as if splitting into eighty-one figures, all striking simultaneously.
The Xi Holy Clan heir also flipped back to her feet, slamming her palm against the staircase. Her hand split open, splattering blood everywhere.
As she activated her technique, the blood on her hand ignited.
"Whoosh!"
White inscriptions emerged on her arm, fingers, and palm, like white threads surging from her arm and spreading across her entire body.
She was using a secret art that allowed her to channel the power of her sacred hand throughout her body, temporarily unleashing the strength of a sacred body.
In other words, she had become a pseudo-sacred body.
Shen Yuntong also had his own secret arts, which he now unleashed, charging at Zhang Ruochen.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen transform into a golden dragon, Zuo Fenggu, who had been standing to the side, finally made his move.
As a spiritual power master, he didn't attack Zhang Ruochen directly. Instead, he slowly raised an arm and pointed at Zhang Ruochen.
"Whoosh!"
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth trembled, instantly transforming into strands of flame that gathered into clusters of fire, suspended in the void.
Those flames, like countless lanterns, flickered like stars, converging to form a massive fire phoenix. It extended its two sharp claws and attacked the golden dragon that Zhang Ruochen had become.
From below the staircase, looking up, all that could be seen was a golden dragon and a fire phoenix locked in battle, accompanied by thunderous roars.
Meanwhile, the giant form of Shen Yuntong, wielding a massive axe condensed from true qi, was also hacking at the golden dragon.
The Xi Holy Clan heir hovered in the void, like a celestial maiden from the nine heavens, firing beams of light from her fingertips, striking the golden dragon's body.
Xu Qing's ultimate technique manifested as eighty-one figures, completely surrounding the golden dragon. Some figures threw punches, others struck with palms, and still others executed sword techniques.
The four experts each displayed their unique skills, locked in combat with the golden dragon.
"Bang, bang!"
The golden dragon continuously lashed out with its claws, flying in a circle through the void. The four heirs of the great clans all spat blood and were sent flying backward.
"Whoosh!"
The golden dragon let out a long roar, transformed into a streak of golden light, and landed back on the staircase, coalescing into a human figure.
Returning to human form.
Zhang Ruochen took a few deep breaths, staring at his own hands in shock. He had actually... executed the Divine Dragon Transformation. Even he found it unbelievable.
After all, the Divine Dragon Transformation was a ghost-level upper-rank martial technique.
Even if a martial artist had refined a dragon pearl, they still had to train in this technique to transform into a dragon.
Yet Zhang Ruochen had never practiced the Divine Dragon Transformation. In the heat of battle, he had directly transformed into a golden dragon and knocked all four heirs of the sacred clans to the ground.
What was going on?
"Earlier, when I was fighting the heir of the Shen Holy Clan, I used the 'Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm.' Could it be that this palm technique is connected to the Divine Dragon Transformation? That's why, while executing the palm technique, I unintentionally triggered some kind of power and transformed into a dragon?"
In fact, Zhang Ruochen's guess was not wrong. The Divine Dragon Transformation was a martial technique created by a saint who had derived it from the ninth palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, "Scales Born, Dragon Transformed."
Thus, the Divine Dragon Transformation and the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm share some common origins.
During battle, there was a very small probability that Zhang Ruochen could trigger the power of the Divine Dragon Transformation. As for how small that probability was, no one could say—perhaps one percent, perhaps one in a thousand, or even one in ten thousand.