Chapter 548: Dragon King's Three Pure Ones Avatar

"Father!" Old Master Hu let out a loud shout, his voice full of resentment.

Linghu Qingqing's hand-held Unextinguished Heart Lamp flickered, three fist-sized silver flames shot out, forming a triangle before him.

With a loud "Boom!"

Wu Tie didn't see clearly what had happened; only a shadow flashed before his eyes, and the silver flames from the three Unextinguished Heart Lamps exploded into countless tiny fireflies scattering across the sky. Linghu Qingqing, holding a nine-foot-tall, crystal-clear divine fetus like glazed glass, with thirty-six dragon-like great Dao patterns inside, retreated hastily.

As he retreated, Linghu Qingqing coughed up blood.

Ao Chi's strike shattered the silver flames spewed by the Unextinguished Heart Lamp, and directly caused Linghu Qingqing's viscera to...

How strong the Unextinguished Heart Lamp was in Grand Master Fang's hands, Wu Tie had seen with his own eyes. Although Linghu Qingqing had not yet fully refined the Unextinguished Heart Lamp, its defensive power would not be weak.

Ao Chi's strike was so mighty that Wu Tie's heart alarm blared; he silently retreated swiftly, distancing himself from Linghu Qingqing and Old Master Hu father and son.

Old Master Hu's body was blown apart by Ao Chi's punch, and this was caused by Linghu Qingqing using him as a shield. The expression on Old Master Hu's divine fetus was extremely strange and subtle. However, Linghu Qingqing, after all, considered father-son affection, brought his divine fetus away in retreat, and did not push it out as a shield.

So, Old Master Hu gritted his teeth and remained silent.

The thirty-six great Dao patterns within his body flickered with light, violent fluctuations of heavenly and earthly essence surged in the void, several mighty divine abilities and secret techniques were brewing. With his flesh destroyed, Old Master Hu could no longer engage in close combat; his divine fetus was fragile, so he could only cast spells.

Ao Chi stood silently at the prow, his gaze fixed on the silver lamp in Linghu Qingqing's hand.

"Unextinguished Heart Lamp? This treasure is the personal treasure of that reckless Grand Master Fang." Ao Chi muttered: "Grand Master Fang, eh, he still owes me two jars of good wine. So, his place of demise is not far from here?"

Suddenly, Ao Chi cocked his ear to listen.

Grand Master Fang had been captured alive by Linghu Qingqing and others, his mana and movement sealed, and was being suppressed deep in the ship's hold by a great formation. Who knows what tricks Grand Master Fang still had, who knows how Ao Chi sensed it; anyway, Ao Chi cocked his ear, as if hearing Grand Master Fang transmitting information.

"Grand Master Fang actually isn't dead?"

"No, he is dead, just like this king, dead…… but interesting, interesting, Grand Master Fang's severed palm, absorbing heavenly and earthly essence, gathering the spiritual marrow of the Zhou Tian, actually recondensed a body of his true self?"

"However, that severed palm has gained self-awareness; what is this?"

"Grand Master Fang, you fool, can't you even master your own palm properly?"

Ao Chi's golden pupils flashed with profound divine light as he stared fixedly at Linghu Qingqing, then suddenly grinned: "He says his Seven Treasures Ruyi was also taken? Hmm, that nameless Daoist did it, my old friend naturally did too."

Ao Chi laughed loudly: "Dragon race treasures, you are not the Dragon King himself, so don't blame this king."

Ao Chi's laughter thundered like rolling thunder, wave after wave of booming shook heaven and earth, shattered floating clouds, disturbed the void, made Wu Tie's vision darken, his five viscera churned with blood and qi, made Linghu Qingqing's steps falter, the light of Old Master Hu's divine fetus in his hand dimmed, and the few great power spells he had just prepared suddenly collapsed.

"Boom!"

Another flash of illusion; Wu Tie and Linghu Qingqing couldn't see Ao Chi's move clearly; Linghu Qingqing's heavy armor 'buzzed' and blazed with dazzling light, a thick layer of glazed treasure light encircled his whole body, within the light faint cloud patterns flickered, and countless ancient winding runes appeared and disappeared, the aura emitted by the whole armor set was extremely formidable, obviously possessing tremendous defensive power.

But the armor's light flashed and then vanished instantly.

On Linghu Qingqing's chest, a clear three-inch-deep fist imprint was visible, even the lines on the knuckles were distinct.

Linghu Qingqing spat out a mouthful of blood, then his heavy armor emitted a piercing cracking sound, centered on that fist imprint, countless fine spider-web-like tiny cracks 'crack crack crack' spread outward in all directions, in the blink of an eye covering the entire heavy armor.

A mournful cry came from deep within the armor; Linghu Qingqing's obviously extraordinary armor set collapsed just like that.

Beneath the armor, Linghu Qingqing wore a set of black battle robes, densely inlaid with a layer of fine, shiny black dragon scales. However, at his chest position, large patches of dragon scales had already exploded into powder; a gust of wind turned this piece of battle robe into tiny black fragments scattering with the wind, revealing Linghu Qingqing's well-maintained, still fair chest.

A half-inch-deep fist imprint was inlaid on Linghu Qingqing's chest.

The ribs near the fist imprint were strangely twisted; obviously Ao Chi's punch not only shattered Linghu Qingqing's armor and battle robes, but also broke several of his ribs. It is unknown whether his fist force invaded Linghu Qingqing's five viscera, but judging from the color of the blood he spat out, his internal organs are certainly not unharmed.

"Unextinguished Heart Lamp, this king's." Ao Chi stretched out his hand and seized Linghu Qingqing's Unextinguished Heart Lamp.

Suddenly, large silver sparks splashed onto the Unextinguished Heart Lamp; Linghu Qingqing spat a mouthful of blood onto it, countless green-bean-sized sparks shot out, fast as lightning, striking Ao Chi's body.

Afterwards, dense explosion sounds came; countless thumb-sized silver fireballs continuously exploded on Linghu Qingqing's body and face, scorching heat surged, Ao Chi's body was enveloped by silver flames, silent silver flames surrounded him, madly scorching him.

"Hehe, the Unextinguished Heart Lamp is a defensive treasure, you use it to attack this king? Fool!"

Ao Chi sneered, letting the silver flames scorch his body, and snatched the Unextinguished Heart Lamp into his hand.

Linghu Qingqing let out a cry of mingled grief and indignation.

Behind Ao Chi, vast black water surged forward.

Just then, the four Linghu Elders who had been approaching the underground palace direction, plus Hu Tu and four brothers, finally caught up, slow or fast, and Hu Tu was the first to act; from the inner chamber of the jellyfish bottle, a towering, black tide mixed with boundless evil qi impurities surged out, accompanied by earth-shaking roars, rolling toward Ao Chi.

Ao Chi turned his head, glanced askance at the towering black wave, then furrowed his brow: "This treasure seems somewhat……"

Ao Chi inexplicably noticed that the jellyfish bottle in Hu Tu's hand had a somewhat mixed aura; although it was an innate object, it felt somewhat imitation, like copying a cat to draw a tiger. Hmm, somewhat fake, although its power is strong, its aura strong, its essence strong, but it carries a hint of pretense.

With a cold snort, Ao Chi punched forward, cleaving the sky-covering black tide.

"This king commands wind and rain, controls thunder and lightning, is the lord of the four seas; who gave you the gall to use water against this king?" Ao Chi's punch had just been swung when the boundless black tide suddenly stalled, the jellyfish bottle violently trembled, then the black tide rapidly compressed and collapsed, condensing into a fist-sized water droplet, which 'boomed' struck Hu Tu's chest.

Just one blow, Hu Tu's flesh body 'boomed' and exploded.

Blood Light flashed; Hu Tu's divine fetus fled from the exploded flesh, his panicked hands clutching the jellyfish bottle, he screamed shrilly, tracing a huge arc, and fled toward the vast army formation.

Ao Chi didn't even glance at the fleeing Hu Tu; he lowered his head to look at the Unextinguished Heart Lamp in his hand, his gaunt face showing a hint of satisfied smile.

"Excellent, although this treasure is of little use to this king, having it is better than none." Ao Chi held the Unextinguished Heart Lamp, coldly said: "Even if this king uses it as decoration, it's still better than falling into your hands…… I dislike the smell on you all."

'Ding ding ding ding', four successive piercing sounds rang out; the four Linghu Elders simultaneously controlled their divine weapons, upright and straight, striking Ao Chi.

Though the four heavenly dao divine weapons sprayed large sparks, Ao Chi's body suffered no harm; instead, a Linghu Elder's long sword was knocked into a small notch.

Linghu Qingqing had already retreated with Hu Tu's divine fetus several hundred zhang away; the immense army formation gathered boundless mana into visible tidal vortices, slowly rotating, pouring from his head into his body.

With the army formation's support, Linghu Qingqing's aura surged rapidly, his body uncontrollably swelled to over ten zhang tall, every pore on his body shooting out dazzling brilliance.

Although Ao Chi's earlier roar had injured countless soldiers in the fleet, there still remained a huge number of elite troops maintaining combat strength; their army formation's gathered mana remained formidable and terrifying.

Linghu Qingqing, bolstered by the army formation, not only saw his aura surge, but his confidence also grew rapidly.

"Ao Chi! We have come today to slay demons and seize your treasure."

Linghu Qingqing shouted loudly, a square, angular, extraordinarily thick seal burst from his brow, spewing myriad zhang of thunderlight, heavy and crushing toward Ao Chi's head.

The seal's length, width, and height are each over ten zhang; its body is densely covered with countless strange thunder patterns; just touching it gives rise to immense terrifying fear from the heart. This is an extremely powerful secret treasure; although it does not match the few national artifact-level heavy weapons Old Master Hu has been gathering these days, its power is also not trivial.

Ao Chi played with the Unextinguished Heart Lamp, too lazy to even glance at the thunder seal smashing down from above.

With a huge boom, the seal landed on Ao Chi's head.

Ao Chi's body remained motionless; only his imperial robes swayed a few times in the wind; the thunder seal, accompanied by its strange rumbling, rebounded upward several hundred zhang; Wu Tie, with sharp eyes, saw a half-round mark appear on the seal's underside.

Ao Chi's head is much harder than Linghu Qingqing's box-bottom killing weapon!

Linghu Qingqing stared at Ao Chi, dumbfounded. He suddenly came to his senses, pointing at Ao Chi and shouting angrily: "Even if you are in the God Manifest Realm, you shouldn't, you shouldn't have such a sturdy body… Your body, heaven and earth cannot tolerate… You, you, you are not…"

Ao Chi arrogantly lifted his head, gave Linghu Qingqing a sideways glance, and said coldly: "You have some insight, indeed. I am indeed Ao Chi, but Ao Chi is not merely me."

He let out a light sigh, Ao Chi said leisurely: "I am the avatar of Ao Chi, formed by One Qi Transforms into Three Purities with the aid of a Primordial Supreme Treasure. Ao Chi's One Qi Transforms into Three Purities—alas, now only I remain. I am now the sole Ao Chi… So, Ao Chi, that is me."

Ao Chi's words left Linghu Qingqing and the four Linghu Elders somewhat puzzled.

Wu Tie, however, heard everything clearly and distinctly.

Wu Tie widened his eyes at Ao Chi, thinking: "This bastard is the avatar of the Primeval Dragon King Ao Chi, created with a Primordial Supreme Treasure using the supreme Grand Dao divine ability of One Qi Transforms into Three Purities?" Just like Wu Tie's avatars, the Yin-Yang Daoist and the Five Elements Daoist, which are also avatars severed with secret treasures!

Such a formidable body Ao Chi has—clearly the Primordial Supreme Treasure he relies on is extraordinary.

At least Wu Tie's avatars, the Yin-Yang Daoist and the Five Elements Daoist, have extraordinarily strong divine abilities and transformations, but the physical strength of the Yin-Yang Daoist and the Five Elements Daoist… whether it's the Yin-Yang Two Vessels or those five Five Elements secret treasures, none are the kind of secret treasure meant for head‑on clashes; the Yin-Yang Daoist and the Five Elements Daoist would not dare to try to withstand head‑on the Thunderbolt Seal's crushing strike from Linghu Qingqing, and Wu Tie likewise would not dare to try.

Ao Chi smirked, his golden‑flecked eyes locking onto Linghu Qingqing: "You lot, want to seize my treasures? Hehe, all my treasures were lost in the primeval age. Now, in my hand, aside from this Undying Heart Lamp, I only have the set of Primordial Supreme Treasures I entrusted to my avatar."

"You want them? Kill me, and they're yours… Otherwise, hehe."

Ao Chi flickered, and this time he suddenly appeared before Wu Tie.

"Brat, you've been sneaking around spying on me… How rude!"

Ao Chi threw a punch at Wu Tie's head.

The instant Ao Chi's body suddenly vanished, Wu Tie's heart clenched. He sensed a tremendous threat approaching. Acting purely on instinct, wind and thunder power condensed behind him into a pair of huge wings; then, with a flick of his body, he swished and, using the power of the military formation, instantaneously moved hundreds of li, fleeing from Old Master Hu's huge warship onto an inconspicuous warship.

Even though Wu Tie was fast, Ao Chi's speed was astonishingly greater.

His punch came in, slanting across Wu Tie's scalp; a thumb‑sized strip of flesh on Wu Tie's head vanished outright, revealing a dark skull, after which blood spurted from the wound.

Wu Tie's body shuddered involuntarily.

Ao Chi's strength was so formidable, his speed so great that Wu Tie couldn't react—this guy's power…

Wu Tie gritted his teeth, staring at Ao Chi in the distance.

This guy's strength has not weakened at all; he still maintains the peak combat power of the primordial era.

Venerable Dafang is a new body formed from a severed hand of the original body, and his strength is only a fraction of what it once was.

But Ao Chi… he still maintains his peak combat power.

Moreover, he is full of malice toward Linghu Qingqing and the others.

"Kill!" Linghu Qingqing shouted: "At any cost, besides him… the innate supreme treasure he spoke of shall belong to my Linghu clan!"

The massive formation began to move.

Blood mist surged, the Nine Dragon Head Army Spirit condensed again, and under the urging of countless soldiers, the Nine Dragon Head Army Spirit howled and fiercely lunged at Ao Chi.

Ao Chi snorted coldly, holding the Undying Heart Lamp, his body flickered and he returned to the underground palace.

He sat cross-legged above the coffin, holding the Undying Heart Lamp with both hands, as strands of dim light flowed from his hands into the lamp, beginning the sacrificial refinement of the Undying Heart Lamp.

A loud "Boom" sound came.

In the underground palace, hundreds of thousands of stone puppets simultaneously lifted their right feet, then stomped heavily on the ground.

Hundreds of thousands of peak Embryonic Treasury realm metal puppets rose into the air, trailing streams of light, howling as they charged at the formation under Linghu Qingqing's command.

Linghu Qingqing's eyes twitched violently; he exchanged a glance with the four Linghu Elders, then commanded the formation to charge at the hundreds of thousands of puppets.

The great battle erupted.

Wu Tie wiped the blood from his face, also mingling with the outlaws' formation, and began clashing with those puppets.