[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-roaring-dragon":3,"chapter-the-roaring-dragon-the-roaring-dragon-chapter-221":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Roaring Dragon",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2282077,4463,"Chapter 221: Am I Worthy?","the-roaring-dragon-chapter-221",221,"\u003Cp>Boom… boom… boom…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rolling thunder rumbled beneath Fire Phoenix Valley, yet the endless desert held only a scorching autumn wind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A team of over forty men moved under cover of night across the desolate plain, each clad in black cloaks that occasionally revealed black-blue skin densely inscribed with incantations, their movements synchronized, nearly silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the center of the formation was a palanquin, draped with a black sand canopy, carried by eight shadowy figures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Qizi leaned against the palanquin, his dim, aged eyes gazing at the familiar yet long-abandoned land, filled with nostalgia for past glory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he was born, Spirit Dew Valley was still a major southern sect, renowned even among the dark path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But good fortune didn’t last—after the Corpse Ancestor’s fall, the Poison and Charm sects were exiled to the south, and then Master Sikong began using the excuse of “suffering injustice without changing one’s heart, thus knowing the true gentleman” to purge demons and monsters across the south, seizing territory along the way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Qizi couldn’t understand it: the Corpse Ancestor bore that name because he had roots in the Witch Cult and could control puppets and endlessly reincarnate through corpses—but his master wasn’t from the Corpse Witch sect; he was Sikong Shitang, and Sikong Tianyuan was, in fact, the Corpse Ancestor’s junior brother!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You’ve shattered the world, so how dare you come to the south and claim to be upholding the righteous path by destroying the Corpse Witch sect?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in the cultivation world, strength speaks—and under pressure, Jiang Qizi was forced to flee to the Wailing Marsh’s mud pits, barely clinging to life. After years of arduous cultivation, all his accumulated assets were lost in the Jian’an upheaval.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then his disciple Taishu Dan, seeing his family’s decline, stole his last few puppets and remaining wealth…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now over a hundred years old, Jiang Qizi had nothing beside these walking corpses and a few unworthy disciples—if no change came, he would die in despair, and Spirit Dew Valley would vanish from the world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if he obtained the Divine Gift of Lingguang, he might advance further, perhaps even rise again; Fire Phoenix Valley still lay at his doorstep, almost within reach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For this reason, Jiang Qizi knew He Tianqi was no good, but he had to come—otherwise, he’d never get another chance in his life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet he hadn’t expected He Tianqi’s information to be true.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as they arrived, Fire Phoenix Valley stirred—an omen that the opportunity had been taken.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, distant aerial movements appeared; it seemed Xu Guanfu and Yan Lang had gone to intercept.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Jin should have a guardian with him—he wouldn’t die easily. Once the two sides finished fighting, he could step in and reap the benefits; not only might he claim the Divine Gift of Lingguang, but also gain many other opportunities—then vanish into the Ten Thousand Mountains, heh heh…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Qizi harbored these hopes, yet knew the journey was perilous, his gaze constantly scanning the desert for movement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But whether his fortune had turned—or faded—he didn’t know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Jiang Qizi led his team forward cautiously, a crack bathed in moonlight two li ahead suddenly revealed half a back of a skull!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The figure first glanced toward the direction Xu Guanfu and others had gone, then surveyed the surroundings, finally locking eyes on him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their gazes met.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The forty-plus team halted simultaneously, without command.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Qizi stroked his skull cane, gazing across at the head that had emerged, slightly puzzled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Jin, whose head had emerged from the crack, saw over forty hooded figures clustered on the desert—initially thinking it was a poison rat family coming to snatch the treasure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as the forty-plus suddenly halted without warning, his heart sank—he realized something was wrong:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This seemed to be a Corpse Witch!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Controlling over forty puppets at once? Without doubt, a top-tier ancient demon of the Corpse Witch sect, pure and unrepentant dark path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Corpse Witches rely on puppets and minor spirits—Perfect Order Sword and Yin-Yang Ruler are their perfect counters, and three against one…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So this unknown cultivator is delivering an extra reward…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bu Yuehua and Nangong Ye, already terrified, frowned when they saw outsiders blocking their path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, if they were intercepted here, and the two pursuing groups caught up, there’d be no chance to negotiate—only certain death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nangong Ye asked: “What do we do?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bu Yuehua gripped her slender waist saber: “Fight or flee.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Jin observed the enemy’s movements:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We’re too drained to run—if chased, we’re done. Focus all firepower on the old ghost in the palanquin—try to obliterate him in one strike.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nangong Ye had entered the top tier; if she wielded the Perfect Order Sword to activate the Execution Array with doubled thunder arts, the Corpse Witch would face a living Yanwang —no chance to fight back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing her master, she already knew Xie Jin held the true Perfect Order Sword—it could be used immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though doing so would let Xie Jin, even if blind, recognize her identity—yet her life was nearly over…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the distant team silently and orderly spread out, Nangong Ye gritted her teeth and drew the Perfect Order Sword from Xie Jin’s waist:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Attack!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bu Yuehua said nothing more, leaping into the air, her dress swirling mid-flight:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whoosh~\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A pale green toxic mist spread from all sides, like a typhoon’s eye expanding at breakneck speed!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the ground, top-tier cultivators could harness heaven’s power; the Witch Cult’s four realms were called “Spirit Descent”—meaning the ancestral master possessed the body—greatly enhancing spiritual power and the range of controlling heaven’s forces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Bu Yuehua moved, Xie Jin felt the entire surrounding Tiandi  darken for an instant; the pale green mist unfurled like a colossal curtain, instantly covering the land, vast enough to make one feel trapped in a sea of fog.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the next instant, the three understood what “a minor witch facing a great one” truly meant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Qizi, uncertain of the intruder’s identity, had merely tested with pressure—but when he saw a top-tier poison witch leap out, his heart sank. He flew upward, smashing through the sand canopy, dragging a black mist dragon behind him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then black corpse smoke surged across the earth like a tidal wave, turning everything it passed into absolute darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The corpse smoke was fiercely corrosive, and within it surged a thousand ghostly shadows—like countless corpses swept forward by the tide—each carrying heart-shaking wails:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ahh—!!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The forty-plus puppets, each wielding weapons, merged into the black mist, advancing silently, their spiritual interference making it impossible to distinguish reality from illusion!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Any ordinary opponent facing such a sky-obscuring spectacle could never break through the mist sea to find the true body hidden within.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Jiang Qizi hadn’t expected a poison witch from the Charm sect to be allied with a Daoist sect—and to carry not just one, but multiple immortal artifacts!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sssss—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the black and green mists met, a vast heavenly might descended upon the desert; azure-white lightning flashed above the mist sea, and in that instant, the chaotic ghostly shadows all recoiled outward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Qizi looked up—he saw a black-robed heavenly maiden suspended above the mist sea, holding a fully emerald-green magic sword, brilliant lightning radiating from its blade, faintly revealing the golden characters “Perfect Order.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vast heavenly power gathered along the blade, condensing to its peak; merely watching the faintly trembling edge, one could feel the terrifying power capable of slaying immortals and slaying Buddhas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it wasn’t over—his mist sea, meant to corrode cultivators’ bodies, now inexplicably formed a circular void several zhang wide. A white-robed man stood at its center, gripping a cold iron heavy mace, his left hand holding the Forbidden Yin Ruler, repelling the surrounding mist, moving like a white wolf of the desert charging full speed, smashing aside puppets rushing toward him, heading straight for Jiang Qizi’s hiding place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another woman, swift as a flying shuttle, wielded a slender waist saber; black flying blades whirled around her like chaotic butterflies, using an eerie, ghostly movement to bypass the puppets and follow the white-robed man straight toward him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>???\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Qizi, though an old man of wide experience, instantly recognized the two immortal artifacts of the Alchemy Sect—the Yin-Yang Ruler and the Perfect Order Sword.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Along with the forced lock-on of the Qixia Old Demon…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In short, the exact same array that the Alchemy Sect used against the Corpse Ancestor was now being used against him!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But did he deserve such treatment?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Qizi had none of the Corpse Ancestor’s half-demon physique or reincarnation arts; under the dual sealing of the Perfect Order Sword and Yin-Yang Ruler, and with low-quality puppets, his only recourse was spiritual incantations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And even that was locked onto by Xie Jin—he couldn’t hide his true body, and the Execution Array now pointed directly at his forehead!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Qizi glanced at their formation and knew his end had come. He commanded his puppets to intercept, his body turning into a black ghostly shadow, darting through the mist, trying to evade the thunder attacks and retreat to his Wailing Marsh stronghold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the next instant!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Boom—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Jin unleashed a full-power slash; the wind swept across the land like an immortal’s sword cleaving the mist sea, leaving a hundred-zhang-long trench, briefly exposing the darting ghostly shadows within.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crack—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lightning tore through the sky, illuminating the entire mist sea!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nangong Ye raised her hand and thrust forward; the Perfect Order Sword, wrapped in azure-white lightning, transformed into a brilliant thunder dragon, racing along the cleaved earth toward the fleeing old ghost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Terrifying heavenly might pressed from behind; Jiang Qizi strained every ounce of strength to dodge—but the Perfect Order Sword, guided by Nangong Ye, arced through the air in a zigzag, striking his form in a flash of lightning and thunder, unleashing a deafening boom:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Boom—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Qizi’s shoulder exploded into fragments under the lightning; his remaining torso stiffened mid-air, then tumbled toward the desert below.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bu Yuehua followed the lightning, her left hand dragging a thin blade glow, her crimson eyes fixed on the old ghost’s eyes, delivering a full-force slash toward his neck!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clang—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Qizi, ruthless even in utter disadvantage, barely parried the killing blow with his bone cane; facing the spiritual shock from the fox eyes, he opened his mouth and roared:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ahh—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sound was like a demon’s shriek!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bu Yuehua was violently suppressed, her spirit momentarily dazed, losing balance mid-air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Xie Jin had already charged full speed below, unleashing a Black Dragon Strike like an eagle diving from the heavens, creating a black-green whirlwind in the mist, striking Jiang Qizi’s left foot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Boom—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bu Yuehua snapped back to awareness instantly, dragging her blade in a swift arc overhead, chasing Jiang Qizi’s back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, the Perfect Order Sword, dragging trails of lightning, struck again toward his torso.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Boom boom boom—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath the night sky, lightning and blade light converged!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thunderous impacts came like rain; after just one assault, blood and flesh rained down from the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ancient, dying Jiang Qizi might have held his ground if left alone—but faced with this utterly unreasonable ambush, he had no chance to counter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After only two rounds of assault, his body was shattered and ruined; his cloudy old eyes glowed with the ferocity of a dying beast, determined to take one down before death, his right arm gushed black blood that stained his cane, then gathered his last strength to hurl it toward the first-tier insect chasing him:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Die!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hum—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bone cane struck the earth, piercing a hole through the mist sea!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Jin stood directly ahead of the hole, his figure tiny as an ant; sensing danger, he instantly dodged at full speed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bu Yuehua knew the power of this dying counterattack; even as she struck, she had already exploded forward, positioning herself before the bone spear and delivering a horizontal slash mid-air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Boom—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath her blade, the black bone spear shattered into pieces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the spiritual soul impact nearly shattered Bu Yuehua’s three souls and seven poises, sending her crashing from the sky to the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, the Zhenglun Sword, dragging streaks of lightning, pierced Jiang Qizi’s chest and reduced his remaining half-body to fragments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Jin saw this and leapt into the air, catching her falling form, and shouted loudly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Go!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, he darted forward in a furious assault, snatching up two objects that had fallen from the raining debris.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nangong Ye soared through the misty sea above, seized Xie Jin’s shoulder, and activated the Ten-Thousand-Li Divine Travel Spell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whoosh—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In just a few flashes, the three figures vanished at the horizon of the wasteland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>………\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ssshhhh—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blood and flesh turned to ash rained down; the crosswind quickly scattered the uncontrolled black-green mist sea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dozens of black-robed puppets lay sprawled on the ground; a golden armor emerged from the mist, its crimson hair streaming in the wind as it gazed toward the trio’s departing direction, its expression one of quiet approval.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, she had originally intended to secretly aid them, but now it was clear this youth was stronger than Mei Conggao Laomo—on the mountain’s peak, he would surely claim his place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Last time, Mei Conggao Laomo, relying on fortune, crushed her from start to finish; but this time, someone with divine aid stood on her side—if she faced that brute again…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hmph…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the three vanish into the distant horizon, the golden-armored woman did not return to the collapsing spiritual aura below; instead, she shot straight into the clouds, slicing northward from the cloud peaks—and vanished in an instant…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",2270,"2026-06-20T01:38:12.833Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","2fa640425f582394c578dde2750fd4f885a041adf726d80480488120772e955b","the-roaring-dragon-chapter-222","the-roaring-dragon-chapter-220",252,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-roaring-dragon-cover.jpg"]