Chapter 114: Sealed

Hearing this, the Old Dragon Lord extended his hand midair, still fixed on Li Musheng, his mocking smile deepening.

"Don't act rashly!"

Far away, Bu Chengyang's face changed instantly; he shouted urgently toward Li Musheng in a low, stern voice.

Li Musheng's expression was calm, his gaze looking down upon the white-haired old man before him.

He said nothing, only slowly opened his palm.

In an instant, the entire underground seemed gripped by an invisible giant hand; the surrounding air abruptly froze.

Far away, Bu Chengyang's eyes suddenly widened—he realized in shock that he could no longer sense any heavenly-earth true qi within the surrounding realm.

As if in that single moment, all heavenly-earth true qi within hundreds of zhang had been completely drained.

The entire underground space had instantly become a martial domain sealed off from heaven and earth.

Even if he exerted every ounce of strength, attempting to unleash his Heaven-and-Mortal Realm martial power and draw upon the surrounding heavenly-earth true qi, he could not do so at all.

"This…"

Bu Chengyang stared at the young figure ahead, his face filled with disbelief.

Meanwhile, the Old Dragon Lord, whose hand had been extended to demand the Dragon Pearl, froze mid-smirk.

His previously motionless eyes suddenly began spinning at an astonishing speed.

Then, on his face—paler than a corpse by countless degrees—a look of terror slowly emerged.

"I don't want the Dragon Pearl anymore—don't… kill me!"

At this moment, the Old Dragon Lord abruptly abandoned his previous halting speech and spoke in a frantic, terrified rush.

Yet Li Musheng remained expressionless, saying:

"You're ridiculous, old man. Even if you beg now, it's too late."

Hearing this, the Old Dragon Lord's aged face stiffened, then twisted into a ferocious snarl as he spoke rapidly:

"You want to kill me? Then let everyone here die with me!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, patches of glowing blue scales erupted across his pale, wrinkled skin.

Dense, metallic-like dragon scales covered his entire body in the blink of an eye.

Simultaneously, a terrifying aura, like that of a primordial beast, surged forth from him like a storm-tide.

From his hoarse, guttural throat came a deafening dragon roar, as if summoning some hidden force resonating beneath the earth.

Yet the entire underground space fell into an eerie silence.

Not a sound remained—not the earlier tremors of the ground, not the sprawling shadow rising from the underwater depths, not the countless turning gear mechanisms.

Seeing this, the Old Dragon Lord, now fully transformed into a scaled dragon-human form, froze. His face, twisted like a blue-faced demon, seemed unable to believe it.

He let out another dragon roar, louder than before.

But even so, the surroundings remained silent, unchanged—nothing happened.

"No… impossible… the Azure Dragon true qi… why isn't it responding!"

The Old Dragon Lord, wreathed in blue light, grew razor-sharp fangs like swords in his mouth; his breath stretched long as a whip cracking through air, twisting and roaring with each exhale.

Yet this did nothing to ease his shock.

He had intended to trigger the hidden underground mechanism to bury everyone alive—but not a single tremor stirred.

Yet he had clearly felt the underground mechanism respond moments ago!

At that moment, Li Musheng looked up at him.

Instantly, the Old Dragon Lord let out a terrified roar—his iron-hard blue scales suddenly turned scalding hot as molten lava.

His entire body was suddenly engulfed in a searing true yang flame; the blue dragon scales melted uniformly, flowing down his flesh and bone as molten blue liquid.

The unbearable burning agony drove him to resist, yet even though his martial true qi remained vast and terrifying, his powerful martial aura still coiled tightly around him.

But he was pinned in place by a weight as immense as a mountain—he could not move even a single finger.

"No…"

The Old Dragon Lord struggled to speak, screaming in agony.

Yet he could not stop it—after his blue scales melted, his skin and flesh followed, melting like wax.

Hair, eyes, nose, limbs, torso…

The Old Dragon Lord helplessly sensed his entire body vanishing, consumed by endless burning pain, yet he could do nothing.

Eventually, his entire form turned to a pool of boiling blood, dissolving into the cold underground river below, instantly diluted and vanished—leaving nothing behind.

Bu Chengyang, watching from afar, hovered motionless above the water's surface, stunned into silence.

The Old Dragon Lord, with his terrifying martial cultivation, had died in Li Musheng's hands without even managing to unleash the Azure Dragon Cangming Divine Art.

This was beyond his wildest expectations—and Li Musheng's technique of sealing heaven and earth was something he had never heard of, never seen.

Worse, the man had even severed the connection between the Old Dragon Lord and the Azure Dragon true qi beneath the underground seal.

Yet he was still grateful the man had done all this.

Otherwise, if the Old Dragon Lord had truly triggered the massive underground mechanism using the Azure Dragon true qi, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Meanwhile, after the Old Dragon Lord's death, Li Musheng did not even glance his way—as if eliminating him were a trivial matter.

Then, the surrounding heavenly-earth qi quietly returned to normal, and his gaze fell upon the stone pearl in his hand.

After a moment's thought, Li Musheng's figure vanished from his spot, and the next instant, he appeared beside Bu Chengyang.

Bu Chengyang, still reeling from shock at Li Musheng's display, suddenly snapped his head up.

Instinctively, he unleashed a towering, ruthless sword intent; the long sword bound in cloth on his back trembled violently.

The once-silent underground erupted with deafening sword chimes; hundreds of thousands of invisible sword qi seemed to stir in the air, their sharp, lethal intent all converging on the arriving Li Musheng.

Seeing this, Li Musheng paid no mind, merely waved his hand and said:

"Don't tense up—if you slip up, you'll end up like that old man just now."

Hearing this, Bu Chengyang scrutinized Li Musheng with wary eyes.

Seeing no intent to kill, and no hint of martial qi released, he finally exhaled slightly.

Yet he did not fully lower his guard.

Li Musheng's martial cultivation was unfathomable, and his movements were as elusive as a goat hanging its horns—leaving no trace. Even though he himself was a Tianren skilled in lethal swordcraft.

But unless he seized the moment to flee the instant before the other moved, he had no other chance of survival.

(End of Chapter)