When Mingzang spoke, the foreign powerhouses were taken aback. They had long heard of the fierce internal strife within the Evil Dragon Clan.
But they never expected it to be this extreme—had the three supreme prodigies truly reached the point of a life-or-death struggle?
Only the members of the Evil Dragon Clan remained unfazed. This was simply their way of life.
In the Evil Dragon Clan, there was no right or wrong, no hierarchy—strength alone dictated authority. The one with the strongest fists spoke the truth.
If one was powerful enough, they could kill the patriarch outright and assume leadership without any opposition from the clan’s branches.
This was their brutal tradition—crude yet effective. Even the higher-ups of the clan deliberately fostered this survival-of-the-fittest environment within the Heavenly Domain Battlefield.
By letting the three supreme prodigies fight to the death, they ensured that the last one standing would be the strongest, the undisputed heir to the clan’s future leadership.
Even the current patriarch, for the sake of self-preservation, would gradually relinquish power to avoid provoking his potential successor and inviting disaster upon himself and his family.
This merciless system ensured that only the most elite survived, while the weak were ruthlessly eliminated.
Mingzang’s strength was only slightly inferior to Long Wu’s, but he knew that the Heavenly Domain Battlefield was his only chance to turn the tables.
If he couldn’t surpass Long Wu here, his fate was sealed—either submit or perish. There was no third option.
Mingzang was a man of great cunning. Upon entering the battlefield, he immediately slaughtered all the spies Long Wu had planted around him.
He moved only with a trusted inner circle, abandoning those he couldn’t fully rely on to their own fate.
Meanwhile, his family had long been paving the way for him, forging alliances with countless foreign dragon clans.
Unlike within the Evil Dragon Clan, these outsiders were relatively safer allies. The Evil Dragon Clan alone could not monopolize such a vast opportunity.
Thus, by sharing the spoils, they united these powerhouses to help Mingzang reach the legendary Emperor Flame Convergence Realm—a mutually beneficial arrangement for both him and the foreign dragon clans.
However, these outsiders were motivated solely by profit. If any of them could kill Long Chen, they would undoubtedly seize the Universe Cauldron and flee, rather than hand it over to Mingzang or share its power.
“Forget it,” Long Chen said, shaking his head. “I’d rather deal with Long Wu myself.”
The battles had ceased. Mingzang had awakened, and now, neither the Universe Cauldron in Long Chen’s possession nor the Imperial Dragon Divine Nest could be claimed by anyone else.
The foreign dragon powerhouses backed away, choosing to merely observe from a distance.
As they gazed upon the endless sea of corpses, many sighed inwardly. If they had known it would end like this, the deaths of so many powerful beings would have seemed utterly pointless.
“Long Chen,” Mingzang spoke, his gaze locked onto him. “I heard you defeated Long Wu and wiped out his entire faction.
“To be honest, when I first heard that, I was shocked. Even now, I find it hard to believe.
“I’d like to hear the truth from your own mouth. Surely, that’s not too much to ask?”
“What’s so unbelievable?” Long Chen yawned, his expression calm. “He got lucky last time and escaped. If he ran into me now, he wouldn’t get the chance again.”
The moment Long Chen spoke, the foreign dragon powerhouses were horrified.
Long Wu—one of the three supreme monsters of the Evil Dragon Clan—was the strongest among them. And Long Chen had defeated him?
“Damn it! If we had known he was this strong, we wouldn’t have thrown our lives away!” one of the foreign dragons snarled through gritted teeth.
He had lost an arm, half his body corroded by blood poison. The damage was severe, and healing would take years—years that would delay his cultivation and might even cause his Emperor Flame to flicker out, leading to a loss of power.
“Not necessarily,” another said, his voice laced with doubt. “Long Chen hasn’t lifted a finger this whole time. It was all that puppet and that strange barrier. His true strength might not be as terrifying as it seems.”
He remained convinced that if they could break the barrier, they could capture Long Chen. The only challenge was preventing him from escaping with the Universe Cauldron. But to him, Long Chen lacked the overwhelming aura of a true supreme expert, seeming more like a privileged upstart reliant on external forces.
Mingzang’s eyes narrowed slightly at Long Chen’s response. Then, his lips curled into a smirk.
“Interesting,” he chuckled. “So you really did defeat him. If I can make you submit, then the next time I see Long Wu, his face will be priceless. Hahaha!”
His laughter grew louder, as though he could already envision the moment of triumph.
Long Chen waited for him to finish before speaking in an indifferent tone: “You probably won’t see him again—because you might not make it out of here alive.”
Instead of angering Mingzang, Long Chen’s words only made him laugh harder.
“Good. I like a challenge. When I brand your soul with my slave mark, I hope you’ll still have that same rebellious spirit.”
“Buzz!”
As Mingzang spoke, flames erupted around him, his power surging like a violent tide, shaking the heavens and radiating in all directions.
From afar, the watching powerhouses felt a suffocating pressure on their souls, making the flow of their Emperor Flames sluggish.
“He just completed his Emperor Flame Convergence, yet his imperial might has already transformed. Our Emperor Flames are being suppressed.”
Shock painted their faces. Their flames were restrained, rendering them unqualified to challenge someone of his caliber. Before Mingzang, they could only bow in submission.
Their eyes filled with awe, envy, and deep-seated jealousy. After reaching Emperor Flame Convergence, one stood at the pinnacle of the Human Emperor Realm, looking down upon all other supreme cultivators.
It was a single step, yet a step as insurmountable as the heavens. They all knew that they would never reach this domain.
They lacked the talent, the resources, and the legions of stepping stones required. Even with their own opportunities, they were nothing compared to Mingzang.
“I just merged with my Emperor Flame, so my power isn’t quite under control yet,” Mingzang mused. “Try not to die too quickly, or I’ll be disappointed.”
The space around him rippled, ancient runes danced in the air, and he slowly raised his hand. Above Long Chen, the sky split apart, revealing an enormous, spectral palm.
“Heavens! He doesn’t even need hand seals—just a casual wave can mobilize the power of the heavens!”
“Suppress!”
Mingzang’s voice thundered as the giant hand clenched into a fist. With a deafening boom, the space around Long Chen—spanning tens of thousands of miles—was instantly enveloped by its crushing force.
Comments
Post a Comment