Chapter 303: Battle on the Soul Level, the Father God's Summons!

At this most critical moment, Baichuan's heart had instead become utterly calm.

Watching the sky-covering giant hand smash down with lightning speed, the muscles on his four claws bulged as he violently slammed downward,

and in the next instant, the energy throughout his entire body transformed into firewood, igniting the black-and-gold flame born from his sublimation.

This was a mysterious flame born from the fusion of the Dragon Breath flame capable of igniting souls, and the Golden Flame that could even set the air ablaze and turn it into fuel to burn all things — the two merged into one at the moment of his breakthrough!

Although its ability level was only LV4, it gathered the full power of two LV4 (limit) abilities, as well as every ounce of flame power he had accumulated from his days of weakness until now; its might had long since ceased to be as simple as it appeared on the surface!

Just as several low-level abilities had once combined to give his Dragon Roar an explosive force.

In an instant, the raging flames, as if receiving a tremendous boost, violently surged upward,

and the speed of their ascent faintly stirred a trace of a faint Dragon Roar within the void!

The void was ceaselessly warped by the searing heat, boundless radiance erupted and drove the darkness swiftly away, transforming the place into a realm of blazing light!

Within it, a flame dragon radiating an aura of vast majesty rose winding from the ground, so lifelike it seemed a living creature,

and it wound its long, massive flame-body around the sky-covering beast claw smashing down from above — at this sight—

it was as if a black-and-gold flame chain had coiled around and bound the two massive beast claws!

Yet this black-and-gold dragon-shaped flame was no mere ornament — it carried lethal force!

In the blink of an eye, immeasurable heat began to pour forth without cease, madly searing the beast claw shrouded in thick beast fur!

"Sizzle sizzle sizzle…"

A string of teeth-grinding searing sounds began to ring out unceasingly; great quantities of beast fur were burned into handful after handful of black powder, emitting wisps of choking stench.

"Roar!!"

A wretched beast roar rang out, shaking the yin-veins of this place until they swayed, as if heaven and earth themselves had been shaken; a pair of sky-covering beast claws were about to break free.

But at that very instant, the dragon-shaped flame exploded!

In a flash, flames surged forth from the dragon-shaped flame like ocean waves, clinging to the black-shadow giant beast like a bone-rotting ulcer that could not be shaken off, searing it without pause.

Vast amounts of black beast fur began to burn as fuel, continually turning into black powder that fell as the flames spread.

Within a few breaths, the black-shadow giant beast that had seemed to hold up heaven and earth was utterly transformed into a raging torch; boundless heat and endless radiance lit this place completely, as bright as day.

"Boom!!!"

Amid the heavy sound of collapse, a black-and-gold dragon-shaped flame flew out from the immeasurable sea of fire, fell toward the ground, and transformed into a flame dragon with fire wreathing its four claws.

The instant it landed, Baichuan uncontrollably went weak in his four claws and collapsed.

He had not felt this exhausted in a very long time; that previous eruption of flame had, in one stroke, unleashed every bit of heat he had accumulated over these years, all for the sake of burning that one heaven-supporting beast shadow.

The sudden emptiness brought on by that instant was precisely this weakness in his limbs.

Now there was not a single scrap of heat left within him — all of it had been drained by this newly born innate ability.

While catching his breath, Baichuan abruptly noticed that the surrounding environment had begun to change.

Fine ripples spread across the void, then shattered with a roar like a mirror; the black-shadow giant beast wreathed in raging flames also shattered and vanished.

What appeared before his eyes next was a space far smaller than before, and not far ahead of him a massive corpse lay quietly.

At this moment, that massive corpse looked exactly as it had when he had seen it before — only that its right foot was more than half gone, presenting a huge piercing wound, from which wisps of putrid stench ceaselessly drifted out, and within which one could faintly see hideous, wriggling fat white worms—

those were the marks left by a single spear strike from him during his escape back then.

"This is?"

But faced with this scene, Baichuan could not help but knit his brows; as the flames on his body died out and he returned to flesh and blood, he kept surveying his surroundings.

Where here was any raging sea of fire, where any sky-covering beast shadow, where any darkness.

There was only a white, boundless space forever fallen into deathly stillness, and a divine corpse in a state of half-death, half-slumber, long tormented by Star-Devouring Worms.

Could it be that everything he had seen before was an illusion?

No, it wasn't!

The thought had only just arisen when Baichuan shook his head and denied it; the hollow feeling within him now could not deceive — he had truly, truly unleashed all of his flame power earlier, and now had already begun once more to accumulate heat and channel it into the black-and-gold flame.

Just then, the mountain-like massive figure before him suddenly and rapidly exhaled a wave of rotting stench, and the previously faintly perceptible trace of life aura vanished completely, truly becoming a corpse—

this was unmistakably the loss of all signs of life!

Baichuan was briefly stunned, then a sudden realization dawned within him.

It seemed that what he had just faced was Canglan's soul — that is, its true original form — the Void Phantom Demon Ape,

and in fact his physical body had never moved since entering this space, yet his soul-consciousness had unknowingly already gone through a battle on the soul level.

And he had unknowingly employed a flame aimed at the soul level, and in one explosive burst had burned the other's soul utterly to ash,

and so Canglan's physical body had completely lost all signs of life.

"Squeal…!"

While he was pondering, the divine corpse before Baichuan once again erupted in violence — it was that the countless descendants of the Star-Devouring Worms parasitizing this place had lost the sustenance of their host body and gone berserk.

Dense yin-condensed into mottled qi-vein channels, spreading like a spider's web across the entire space; the white boundlessness was no more, as patches of thick shadow began to spread over it.

Endless fat white worms gathered into a mighty worm-sea, some surging forward like ten thousand galloping horses, some crashing in along the qi-vein channels—

at this moment, above and below, everywhere was countless fat white worms.

A terrifying aura came bearing howls laced with the force of Spirit Shock, as if to tear apart any creature that dared stand in their way.

"You're nothing but descendants bred from Star-Devouring Worms — I've already slain your king, your true source; should I still fear you?"

Seeing this, Baichuan's expression did not change; he shook his head and smiled, and the power of the Star-Devouring Worms within him erupted in an instant, releasing a wave of aura unique to the Star-Devouring Worms — and in a flash—

all the Star-Devouring Worms that were rampaging or about to rampage froze, and one after another lost all signs of life.

"Plop…"

"Plop…"

Like dumplings dropping into water, great numbers of worms that had been surging down from above along the yin-qi channels lost their life aura and fell to the ground.

"Then, it's time to obtain Canglan's true ability model."

……

Seven days later,

Near a few thatched houses arranged in an orderly yet scattered fashion, several women with hair pinned up stood in river water that reached past their knees, washing a household's worth of clothes, while not far off, small children in groups of two or three were playing and making noise.

But just then, ripples appeared out of thin air in the void nearby, and immediately afterward, a massive figure slowly emerged from within.

"Boom!"

A thick, scale-covered dragon claw slammed down onto the ground; atop its slender, serpentine body sat a majestic head crowned with a thick mane, and a pair of eyes gathered as if from flame shone bright and piercing — but what drew the eye most were the four claws, each wreathed in a mysterious fire of black and gold!

"Ah…"

"A dragon — the Dragon King Lord has manifested! The Dragon King Lord has manifested!!"

"Bless us, Dragon King Lord!"

The moment this mysterious creature appeared, the surrounding women and children let out a shriek, and one after another scrambled back onto dry land to kneel and bow before it.

The piercing shrieks from the village wives and children drew the attention of the village's young and strong men, who had been working the fields nearby, and they too hurried over.

In an instant, a swarm of figures kept rushing over.

Is this a village connected to Mingtu?

After glancing up at the bright Sun Chariot on the celestial barrier above — unseen for several days now — after dealing with the Sun Heavenly Lord, the Sun Chariot that had been left behind to give light to the earth was handed over by Baichuan to the Old Dragon Ao Qing to manage.

Only then did Baichuan lower his head, looking at the women kneeling in fear before him, and at the figures about to gather, as a thought flashed through his mind.

Then he took another step and vanished, leaving behind only a group of young men who had arrived too late.

After leaving that village he had inadvertently startled, Baichuan flew toward the western region.

Now it was time to summon his Juanzhu back — he had too many matters to handle at present, and needed them to share the burden.

Speeding all the way across the firmament, he would from time to time borrow the vast force-field of heaven and earth to completely conceal himself, appearing as if teleporting, crossing vast distances before reappearing.

In less than a day, Baichuan had reached the vicinity of the western region's boundary; in an instant, the authority of a Heavenly Lord level flickered with a faint glow, and rolling spiritual power spread outward, completely taking command of the entire stretch of heaven and earth.

After a few moments of sensing, Baichuan "saw" his four Juanzhu — the First Dragon, the Green Sea Dragon, the Black Dragon, and the Sky Dragon. The First Dragon was fast asleep, so he thought for a moment, turned his will into a claw, and gently poked it, before quietly transmitting a thought over.

At the same time, the western region.

Julong Guodu — this was a nation belonging to all manner of non-human extraordinary beings, located to the south of the entire western lands. It sprawled across the entire south like some vast beast baring its claws and fangs.

The supreme rulers of this entire nation were four great dragons of differing attributes, each capable of single-handedly contending with the gods —

The first was a flame dragon crowned with a magnificent crown, its entire body clad in an indestructible layer of crimson crystal armor, calling itself the First Dragon. The world called it the Great Sage, the Flame Sovereign; its greatest feat was once burning a god to ash with its own searing flames.

The second was a thunder dragon, its entire body shrouded in endless lightning, wielding the swift and terrible might of heaven, calling itself the Sky Dragon. The world honored it as the Thunder Sovereign; its greatest feat was battling and devouring a god who commanded the power of lightning, using that very same power.

The third was the venom dragon that occupied the entire swamp woodland, calling itself the Green Sea Dragon…

The fourth…

But on this day, the First Dragon, who had been fast asleep in the magnificent palace at the very top of all Julong Guodu, suddenly jolted awake. Its dragon body trembled slightly, and it slowly opened a pair of burning dragon eyes.

Its gaze was full of bewilderment, yet carried a trace of pleasant surprise.

"I seem to have felt Father God's presence?"

It propped up its powerful dragon body from the magma that radiated thick heat, its long neck involuntarily lifting as it looked around, causing drops of magma to fall from the fiery, crystalline crown atop its head.

All these years, it and its three siblings had been struggling in this world for so long, having weathered countless crises; and it was precisely because of these countless battles that it had been able to completely transform the strongest form Father God had given it into its normal state.

It tilted its head, looked around the still-empty, cold palace, and could not help but raise a claw in some puzzlement to scratch at its dragon face, muttering: "Strange, was it an illusion? Or could it be that, hehe, I'm already missing Father God so much I'm hallucinating?"

Speaking to the end, it shyly rubbed its claws together, left the magma pool, and paced back and forth, murmuring to the empty air: "Father God, how are things on your end? Do you need A Shi to come help you…"

"A Shi has built up a great force here, waiting for your call at any moment…"

"Mm, no, that's not right, ptooey, ptooey — Father God is so strong, how could he possibly have any crisis that needs me?"

"Sigh, so conflicted…"

As it went on muttering, it also left the palace, came to the highest point of the kingdom, and lay down somewhat melancholy, gazing down at the thriving non-human kingdom below, listlessly tapping a claw.

But just then, another gentle touch appeared, carrying with it a message.

"Father God! It really, really is Father God's summons?!!"

In an instant, the bored First Dragon leapt straight up. Feeling the familiar presence engraved deep in its memory, its dragon eyes instantly went wide and round, filled with joy, while its long dragon tail behind it unconsciously began to wag, like a little dog.

"Huff——"

"Huff——"

Thick white breaths radiating heavy heat spouted uncontrollably from the First Dragon's nostrils, but the First Dragon, whose heart now burned with passion, no longer cared about such a small breach of decorum.

Unable to calm its agitated mood, it forcibly steadied its trembling dragon body, and without waiting impatiently, it drove its spiritual power to touch the information within that thought, and began to carefully and thoroughly read the message within.

"Ao, roar——!!"

A few breaths later, having finished reading, the First Dragon's heart was full of joy; unable to suppress its surging emotions any longer, it raised its head and let out a long howl.

Rolling dragon roars, laden with intense emotion, spread far from the highest point of this kingdom, startling the drifting white clouds in the high sky and dyeing them a celebratory, fiery crimson.

The resounding dragon roar pierced the heavens, causing the citizens below to involuntarily look up; among them, the kingdom's ministers were especially baffled and confused, wondering why the Flame Sovereign — His Majesty the First Dragon — who was usually so full of dignity, was so agitated today.

Among them, an old lizard-like figure leaning on a cane below heard this, and tremblingly raised his nearly toothless head to call out: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, mind your dignity…"

A few breaths later, from the highest points of several other splendid palaces, a resounding dragon roar also rang out far away, the emotions within each identical to the former, as if answering one another in turn.

At this moment, all the subjects of Julong Guodu were bewildered; none of them knew why their Majesties were so delighted today — could it be that today was some great day of celebration?

But the puzzlement of these subjects would receive no answer from their Majesties; perhaps their Majesties were already so agitated they had cast it from their minds.

A few breaths later, from within several palaces, a dragon each spread its Dragon Wings wide as if to blot out the sky, and flew out, gathering toward the central palace.

……

(End of chapter)