Chapter 1549 (Raw 1531): Blood-Soaked Dragon Emperor
While it was clearly day, the world outside was in complete darkness.
When Xiao Chen walked out of the Azure Dragon Palace, he found that he was far from the battlefield in the Profound Domain. However, this place should not be the Tianwu Domain, either, as he had never been here before.
Xiao Chen looked at the sky. The demonic clouds overhead made the place dark and hid the sky and the sun.
Using his sharp senses, he looked in the direction of Kunlun Mountain. The sounds of the battle there were already faint.
He could only vaguely feel some auras. Even so, those still felt frightening. The battle taking place there would decide the fate of the Kunlun Realm.
Without a miracle, the fall of the Kunlun Realm was just a matter of time.
The Demonic God was practically immortal. Even after half its body was destroyed, it could still recover to a perfect state. The ordinary cultivators on Kunlun Mountain were also facing the Demon Race cultivators whose potentials were being overdrawn. This was a peak battle, different from an ordinary battle.
No matter which side won, they would immediately gather their allies and bring about a swift conclusion to this desperate battle.
Since Xiao Chen arrived in this world, he had never experienced such an intense battle before. Even his bloody Emperor's Road was not even a thousandth as intense as this battle.
One moment before, Xiao Chen's friends were still alive. Perhaps, they would die in the next second. Scenes of parting happened at every moment.
This battle would not have any winners. The Demons were just pitiful creatures that had been kidnapped by the Dark Church. From the moment they offered their souls to the Demonic God, they were fated never to betray it.
The Thunder Sovereign had turned into something neither human nor ghost. Clearly, this was not what he wanted. After ten thousand years of plotting, he still ended up a loser.
How pitiful, lamentable, but even more so, how hateful.
Now that Xiao Chen was no longer on the battlefield, his anxious heart managed to catch a rare moment of tranquility. During this time, he thought of many things.
The death of the Cyclic Astral Lord had come as a great shock to Xiao Chen. This was the man who once used the Oath Stone to pressure Xiao Chen, yet he died.
With the death of the person that Xiao Chen made the oath to, the oath no longer applied.
However, Xiao Chen did not feel relaxed at all. At this moment, when he looked at the distant Kunlun Mountain, many scenes flashed in his mind.
Many people used their lives to bet on Xiao Chen.
This time, Xiao Chen could only succeed; failure was not permissible.
He gently pushed off with his feet and soared into the air. Then, he looked around, searching for a suitable place.
After a while, Xiao Chen landed atop a mountain and sat down cross-legged.
It was not easy to break through to the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation's tenth layer—a level that brushed the limit of strength that this world's Heavenly Dao permitted.
Since the seventh layer, every breakthrough brought Xiao Chen experiences that were carved into his bones.
When he remembered them, aside from pain, only the word "danger" came to mind.
"Sky Dome Immortal Lord, if I die in the hands of your Cultivation Technique, don't laugh at me."
Before starting, Xiao Chen mocked himself, relaxing his mood.
Then, the smile on his face vanished as he turned serious. He inhaled a deep breath of air before closing his eyes.
Like something ordinary like eating or drinking, the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation started circulating in Xiao Chen's body very naturally. He had been practicing this Cultivation Technique every day and every night and was now extremely familiar with it. Even if he was unconscious, his body would automatically circulate it. He was simply too familiar with it.
The Veritable Essence Energy moved, flowing through Xiao Chen's meridians. The lightning-attributed Spiritual Energy in the world quickly gathered at his body.
After the Veritable Essence Energy circulated one major cycle, the area around Xiao Chen started flickering with crackling electric light.
Normally, one should stop here; it was enough already.
However, now, Xiao Chen was trying to break through, so he clearly could not stop. He calmed himself and opened up minor meridians. With every succeeding layer, the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation would flow through even more meridians.
The so-called breakthrough was the opening of new meridians, making the major cycle even longer.
This allowed one to absorb even more energy at an even faster pace.
This was originally a rather difficult process. However, Xiao Chen had two years of accumulations, so it was not difficult.
The difficult part was that when he opened the meridians needed for the tenth layer of the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation, a Lightning Tribulation would descend.
Only when Xiao Chen truly cleared the Lightning Tribulations would he be considered to have broken through to the tenth layer. Otherwise, it was pointless. Furthermore, he was trying to do something even more dangerous: to use the Lightning Tribulations' energy to stir up the scarlet dragon seal.
Time passed by the second. When Xiao Chen opened the last minor meridian, tribulation clouds appeared above him.
"Boom!"
Very straightforwardly, a purple lightning bolt tore through the sky and landed on Xiao Chen.
"It's starting."
Xiao Chen opened his eyes and silently endured the Lightning Tribulations as they lashed down continuously.
When the lightning bolts struck his body, he directed the energy of the Lightning Tribulation to smash into the scarlet dragon seal in his dantian.
The scarlet dragon seal, which was the size of half his palm, felt like it was a vast and boundless sea with the energy of the Lightning Tribulations as drops of dew. As this energy struck it, it did not move at all.
Xiao Chen was in no rush. According to his experience, the Lightning Tribulations would slowly intensify.
This matter could not be rushed. Using the energy of the Lightning Tribulation was extremely risky. Previously, Xiao Chen would do his best to block the energy of the Lightning Tribulation outside his body. This time, however, he was doing his best to absorb them into his body.
If he was careless, he would lose control of the Lightning Tribulation's energy, which would then explode in his body. Barring the unexpected, he would end up exploding on the spot, his body completely ripped apart, not leaving anything behind when he died.
"Boom!"
After about seven minutes, a divine dragon treasure palace formed by lightning descended. Its immense might and pressure immediately pulverized the mountain that Xiao Chen sat on.
"Rumble…" Before the lightning bolt even arrived, the tall mountain was already destroyed.
Xiao Chen felt very nervous. When the lightning bolt landed, sparks flew off his skin. His numbed body, which was already in incredible pain, felt like it would crumble.
He pulled through by sheer willpower, directing the energy of the Lightning Tribulation through his meridians.
"Rumble…" The energy of the Lightning Tribulation was like an unruly wild horse galloping very quickly. It took a lot of effort for Xiao Chen to control it.
"Bang!"
This time, the scarlet dragon seal, which had not reacted so far, finally shook for a moment.
It was just a moment, not even a second. If Xiao Chen had not been watching closely, he would have thought that he saw wrong.
The thing that Xiao Chen never noticed was that the instant the scarlet dragon seal shook, countless scarlet particles came out of the dragon seal and merged into his blood vessels, helping his physical body recover.
His bloodline vaguely became stronger.
Xiao Chen laughed loudly towards the sky and said, "You deceitful heavens, again!"
Ten thousand bolts of lightning flashed and gathered, turning into a ferocious, venomous lightning snake trying to bite him.
Before the first wave was over, another wave came. Xiao Chen was like a small boat in the sea, bobbing up and down in a sea of berserk Lightning Tribulations.
The time that the scarlet dragon seal shook increased with each tribulation. The various signs indicated that the scarlet dragon seal could be truly stirred up.
Suddenly, the storm-like lightning stopped.
The entire place turned quiet. Was the Lightning Tribulation over? No! The tribulation clouds were merely brewing up an even more ferocious Lightning Tribulation—which was also the last set of Lightning Tribulations.
The tip of a sword suddenly came out of the clouds, which gave off a sound akin to ten thousand horses galloping.
"The Lightning Tribulations turning into a weapon!"
The sight of the Lightning Tribulations turning into a weapon gave the impression that he had committed a major offense and was being executed by the Heavenly Dao. It also shocked him to his senses; he had forgotten this.
Oh no! Even if I can withstand this Lightning Tribulation weapon, I have no way of drawing it into my body.
Sharpness. Aside from berserk energy, this Lightning Tribulation weapon also had a sharp edge.
"Whoosh!"
The Lightning Tribulation weapon arrived instantly, so fast that Xiao Chen could not react.
The tip of the sword entered Xiao Chen's head without drawing any blood.
I'm fine?
However, in the next second, Xiao Chen's expression changed radically. This Lightning Tribulation was here for his physical body. It completely ignored his defenses and wanted to explode inside his body.
As the Lightning Tribulation weapon entered his body, it continuously shrank.
Electric light shone throughout his body, turning it transparent. His internal organs, flesh, blood, bones, and marrow were all visible.
This condensation of the lightning-attributed energy would allow the energy of the Lightning Tribulation to compress over and over again without pause—until it exploded and vaporized Xiao Chen instantly.
In reality, it was not yet time for this breakthrough.
If not for the scarlet dragon seal quietly and slowly strengthening Xiao Chen's bloodline, with his current physical body, there was no way for him to last until now.
Given his physical body, enduring up to this point should have been impossible. There were only twelve layers to the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation. The dangers of the last three layers far surpassed his expectations.
Xiao Chen watched wide-eyed as that Lightning Tribulation weapon compressed in his body, unable to do anything.
The Lightning Tribulation weapon condensed into a small dot. Its light was already as resplendent and dazzling as the sun. There was no earth-shattering boom.
Amid silence, the final Lightning Tribulation exploded.
Before Xiao Chen had any time to think, his flesh, blood, bones, and marrow all vaporized on the spot.
Only a coiling Azure Dragon image was left, tightly wrapped around the scarlet dragon seal.
"Whoosh!"
It seemed like something awoke in the scarlet dragon seal. Then, the Azure Dragon image opened its eyes.
They were a pair of cold scarlet eyes, proud and aloof, looking down on the entire world.
"Interesting. This barren land actually produced an inheritor that dares to show me his temper. The secrets in his body are also plentiful. You shall be the one!"