Chapter 129: The Dust Settles

This time, it truly made him understand that he had been far too cautious.

Since he wanted to run, how could Baichuan let him have his way?

In an instant, he spread his wings and leapt into the air, ignoring the great army below that had already begun to crumble from lost morale, and flew straight toward the silver-armored man.

At the same time, Zhou Renyi, who was leading his trusted subordinates in a retreat through the army, suddenly sensed something was wrong.

Why did it seem the howling wind above the heavens was growing louder and louder, as if he wasn't fleeing but rather approaching a true dragon?

This doubt made him slowly raise his head to look behind and above, and that single glance turned his face deathly pale with fright.

Because at some unknown moment, that dragon had actually locked onto him and was pursuing him. Having no time to think about the reason, he shouted out loud: "Renqing, quick, quick, order the soldiers to block it, block that dragon for me!"

Facing his general's order, Renqing did not hesitate either, and began trying to issue commands to the subordinate generals around him.

Yet throughout the entire army, by this time morale had long since collapsed due to the commander-in-chief fleeing, combined with the terrifying power of the true dragon earlier.

Now, seeing the true dragon flying toward them, they fled in even greater chaos.

For a time, the entire battlefield was a mess beyond recognition, and even those panicked soldiers became obstacles blocking Zhou Renyi's escape.

Zhou Renyi watched the evil dragon about to strike, unable to flee, his whole body trembling with rage, his lips twitching constantly as if cursing something.

In despair, he completely released his restraints, no longer caring even about his trusted subordinates.

As a warrior of the Nine Limits, even if he wasn't skilled in speed, the horse beneath him was a Pseudo-Exotic Beast carefully bred by the imperial household — its speed was absolutely not to be underestimated.

So, he first shouted "Renqing," and as his most important deputy general, Renqing immediately understood.

The two simultaneously pressed their hands onto the horse's neck, and a layer of eerie flesh and blood began to flow.

Then the horses beneath them were seen, as if injected with stimulants, suddenly surging in speed and leaving a string of afterimages, leaping and charging wildly through the crowd.

In the briefest instant, the two broke away from the formation, pulling a great distance from the "true dragon."

And Ergou, who was at the very tail end of the army, now watched this once-magnificent army instantly crumble into disarray, with even that imposing great general beginning to flee.

For a moment he was somewhat stunned — was this their Great Zhou's army?

He stared blankly at the rampaging true dragon, unconsciously reaching for his chest, murmuring to himself: "A dragon from legend?"

Perhaps he was too lost in thought, so much so that he didn't even notice the soldiers guarding them had fled, until his father and second uncle pulled him along, and only then did he dazedly follow in the escape.

At this moment, the entire battlefield had fallen into chaos; anyone could see the outcome was already decided.

And Baichuan no longer paid attention to these scattered troops, because killing them all would take no small amount of time. Now free of any concerns, he fixed his gaze firmly on the man in silver armor.

This move made Zhou Renyi all the more desperate — no matter how he fled, that dragon seemed to have him locked in its sights.

Could it be that the dragon had held a grudge over his earlier words?

At this moment, his deputy general Renqing suddenly noticed something, and sharply turned his head to shout at him: "General, the armor, the armor!"

The words first stunned him, then he glanced at the surrounding crowd.

Only then did he realize that his attire was the most conspicuous and out of place on the entire battlefield — the armor that had once proclaimed his prestige had now become his death warrant!

Fortunately he noticed it in time. After discovering the problem, he couldn't help but let out a breath of relief and laughed heartily: "Hahaha, good eye, Renqing!

"I'll record a merit for you when we return."

Then, while fleeing on horseback, he stripped off that incomparably splendid armor, closed his eyes with a pang of heartache, and tossed it away.

This was armor he had paid a great price to forge!

Fortunately, as long as he survived, the problem wouldn't be a big deal.

Yet just as he breathed a sigh of relief, what he never expected was that the dragon was still watching him, and getting closer and closer.

In his anxiety, he hurriedly looked to Renqing again: "Renqing, quick! Quick, look and see if there's anything else obviously conspicuous about me that it's targeting!"

Facing his commander's urging, Renqing had no choice but to carefully observe him for a moment, and hesitantly said, "Could it be the great red cape behind the general?"

The moment the words fell, Zhou Renyi's large hand immediately ripped it off and flung it away, and the great red cape drifted off with the wind.

Yet what he never expected was that the evil dragon was still watching him.

This aura of death hung right behind him, and the feeling of it drawing ever closer.

Even a person with the firmest will would eventually break down after long enough, let alone an imperial nobleman raised in comfort.

For a moment, he gazed in despair at the heavens, and the regret in his heart flooded over him like a tide, completely drowning him.

Seeing this scene, Renqing beside him watched the general who had fallen into despair, his expression shifting again and again, his large hand unconsciously tightening on the reins, as if about to make some difficult choice.

Yet at this moment, Baichuan was also somewhat speechless — although in terms of power, there was no longer anyone who could withstand him.

But at the same time, because of that earlier evolution, his body size had once again shot up, causing his Flight speed to drop again and again.

So even now, he couldn't catch up to the two fleeing ahead. This was also why he hadn't dodged when they used the iron chains to restrain him earlier — because speed was his hard weakness.

His speed on the ground was fast, but if he landed now, the current terrain would likely create even greater obstacles.

There were simply too many people.

This was not a good approach — if only he could get within two kilometers of them, he was confident he could kill them with a shockwave.

It seemed he could only try to trick them into stopping.

Thinking of this, Baichuan began continuously emitting special sound waves from his mouth, trying to sweep over them and transmit information.

A minute later, after countless attempts by Baichuan, one sound wave finally swept over the two ahead.

In an instant, Zhou Renyi, who had been in despair, suddenly froze, then his eyes widened in utter shock, the muscles on his face trembling, as if he couldn't quite believe it.

A Strange Beast… no, that true dragon actually possessed intelligence, and could communicate?!

After the shock, the information transmitted by the true dragon at this moment also made him hesitate, and he couldn't help but raise his head to look at his deputy general Renqing, as if seeking his opinion.

Yet Renqing was also hesitating at this moment — he had already made his decision, but this sudden turn of events left him uncertain as well.

But with this hesitation, their speed involuntarily slowed down.

Baichuan seized the opportunity, instantly beginning a dive, using his massive weight to crash down like a falling object.

In an instant, he returned to the ground once more, causing the earth to shake violently.

The shockwave was so widespread that it affected the two fleeing ahead, directly making their horses stumble.

Baichuan had long since used this chance to close within two kilometres of them. In an instant the flood serpent's jaws gaped wide, and a massive volume of air was suddenly gulped down, producing a tremendous roaring sound.

Such an exaggerated disturbance naturally jolted the two hesitant men back to their senses, and they looked back—only to spot the true dragon gathering its power.

They were hardly fools, and grasped it in an instant. Zhou Renyi's face in particular shifted again and again, and he jabbed a finger straight at the evil dragon and burst out cursing.

"How can such a cunning evil dragon exist in this world?!"

But it was already too late.

Beneath the dragon's roar, all beings are equal!

When the annihilation-laden ripples swept past—

Everything settled into dust, leaving only a scene of utter devastation.

The two men stared blankly as they toppled sideways along with their horses. It was only because they were not exactly weak that their corpses remained more or less intact beneath the dragon's roar.

But those intact corpses, within mere seconds, were crushed into a pulp by a single claw of the flood serpent that arrived behind them.

Baichuan made no attempt to take the two alive, even though they knew a great deal of information that might have been of considerable help to him.

But they fled far too quickly—he had no confidence he could hold them.

At the same time, he had no need of any secrets.

After this battle, he finally understood exactly where he stood: before absolute strength, everything else was empty.

All secrets, once the dust had settled, would naturally open themselves to him.

He raised his dragon head and gazed into the distance—

In the direction of Tiandu.

His enormous wings unfurled once more, and then amid the searing heat he leapt skyward, flying off into the distance…

As for the rebel army's straggling remnants, who once again arrived late to the scene—let's not mention them.

(End of Chapter)