The Dragon

As soon as the words were spoken, a snake-headed turtle, towering like an iron tower with a body clad in blue armor and a mouth full of sharp teeth, burst out of the formation, ferocious in appearance

It was at the Nascent Soul stage.

Before the onlookers could catch their breath, a series of high-level spiritual beasts leaped out one after another from within the formation. One by one, they appeared, each with a massive body.

Generally, the larger the body of a spiritual beast, the higher its cultivation.

The spiritual beasts emerging from the formation were all at least at the Golden Core stage, without a single one below it.

A beast tide summoned by the Dragon King of the Soul Splitting stage was powerful enough to flatten any city.

The wilderness seemed narrow in front of this army of spiritual beasts.

The cultivators of the Zuo family might not have been weaker in cultivation, and they were even more adept at coordination, yet they involuntarily took a step back, intimidated by the sheer momentum.

“What do we do, City Lord?” one of them asked.

“What are you panicking about? Haven’t you dealt with a beast tide before?”

In the Four Continents, wherever there were spiritual mountains, there were spirit beasts. Places abundant with spirit beasts often faced beast tides due to various factors like anomalies, migrations, and wars. Older cultivators, having seen much, had participated in one or two defenses against such tides and had considerable experience in dealing with them.

The initial panic among the crowd was due to the overwhelming momentum of the high-level spirit beasts, as Zuo Shaode said – it was like facing thousands of troops.

It felt like standing in an endless black sea, insignificant, as these spiritual beasts rushed forth like a towering wave of blackness, pressing down upon them.

Panic spreads.

Zuo Shaode, as the leader, remained calm, which acted as an anchor for everyone else.

His voice was steady, betraying no hint of panic.

The others calmed down, realizing that indeed, they had dealt with beast tides before, and this one was just a bit more powerful in terms of the cultivation level of the beasts.

“If you’ve never faced a beast tide, consider this a learning experience,” said Zuo Shaode, taking out a complex-patterned, milky-white pill from his chest.

Zhong Michu detected a familiar scent and her expression darkened, her gaze on Zuo Shaode turning icy and sharp.

Zuo Shaode swallowed the pill and observed Zhong Mici’s reaction, smiling, “The Dragon race’s sense of smell is too sharp.”

Ice pillars rose from the ground, extending towards Zuo Shaode, growing taller the further they went.

Sharp as the fangs of a giant beast, the ice pillars rapidly approached Zuo Shaode. By the time they reached him, they were several meters tall, shooting straight up.

Zuo Shaode flew upwards, retreating into the air.

The ice pillars shattered into thousands of three-inch long ice spikes, shooting towards Zuo Shaode like a fierce rain.

Zhong Michu also soared, riding the wind upward.

As soon as she left the ground, the spirit beasts she had summoned seemed to receive a command, launching an attack on the Zuo family cultivators.

The two sides clashed, the roars of the spiritual beasts unceasing.

Zhong Michu just coldly watched Zuo Shaode.

The ice spikes attacked in full force, like thousands of arrows being shot simultaneously.

When they reached Zuo Shaode, a rift opened in the void before him, dark and unfathomable. A gust of wind emerged from the crack, sucking in all the ice spikes.

A similar rift appeared behind Zhong Michu, and countless ice spikes shot out from it, aiming straight at her.

Zhong Michu hands moved gracefully, and the attack of the ice spikes suddenly became gentle, obediently flying into her palm, piecing together to form a long sword of ice.

Zuo Shaode, with his dual spiritual roots, was rarer than many who possessed only a single root. One of his roots was a fire root, and the other, a mutated root capable of manipulating space. However, his mastery over this power was limited, thus restricting the range and extent of this unique ability.

Even so, he was still a powerful opponent.

Zhong Michu had investigated the battle at Xuan Miao Sect years ago. The rapid defeat of sect was primarily due to Ji Xiyan’s betrayal, but Zuo Shaode’s assistance played a significant role as well.

Zhong Michu’s investigation uncovered Zuo Shaode’s special talent for controlling space. She theorized that before the Zuo family’s attack, Zuo Shaode had stealthily made his way to Jingdu Mountain. By using his power over space, he managed to slip past the mountain’s defenses without being detected, waiting for the right moment to strike.

In collaboration with Ji Xiyan, their first move was to eliminate Elder Liuhe, capitalizing on the element of surprise.

Because of this, she had some understanding of Zuo Shaode’s abilities with this spiritual root.

Opening space took time for Zuo Shaode.

Slow.

If he used a spell and was given a gap, he could open space, and no matter how powerful the attack sent his way, he could redirect it back. To deal with him, one had to be quick.

Close combat.

After her duel with Zuo Taisui and reclaiming Xuan Miao Sect, her next target was Zuo Shaode. This had been her plan all along, but unforeseen changes had occurred.

Zuo Shaode also realized what Zhong Michu was planning. Instead of attacking her while she was forming the sword, he shot an arrow skyward.

The scorching spiritual arrow soared into the sky, with a flash of red light, clearing the clouds and revealing a clear blue sky. The sun blazed down fiercely, and the air became extremely dry.

Zuo Shaode knew that Zhong Michu was skilled in both magic and swordsmanship. The ground had been scorched to barren land by his previous arrow, and now the clouds were dispersed. Even as powerful as Zhong Michu was, without water in this area, her magic would be halved.

Zuo Shaode challenged her, “Dragon King, even though your cultivation is higher than mine, it doesn’t necessarily mean you can win.”

Zhong Michu coldly responded, “What about that pill?”

Zuo Shaode smiled, recalling that before Gu Fuyou self-destructed the Qilin Marrow, the Zuo family had taken and preserved some of it; his and Zuo Yuezhi’s ascent to the Soul Splitting stage relied on this. They had given part of the preserved Qilin Marrow to Du Pan for alchemy, resulting in the highly effective pill he was now taking.

At the Soul Splitting level, no pill could enhance their cultivation, but the one Du Pan refined with Qilin Marrow could amplify spiritual power and sharpen the senses for a long time without any side effects.

Feeling a surge of warmth and seemingly inexhaustible spiritual power, Zuo Shaode proudly stated, “As expected of the treasured Qilin Marrow.”

Noticing Zhong Michu’s growing frustration, he provocatively said, ” The Gu family’s girl really is dear to you. You protected her so fiercely back then, and even after seven hundred years, you, the Dragon King, are still angered on her behalf. Ha, she would be honored if she knew, watching from the heavens.”

Zhong Michu retorted, “If she’s watching from the heavens, she would wish nothing but eternal downfall for your Zuo family.”

As their eyes met, they immediately engaged in combat.

Zuo Shaode put away his bow and drew a curved blade, shaped like a full moon, to block Zhong Michu’s sword.

In an instant, a flurry of sword shadows and blade lights stirred up a whirlwind of dark wind.

Zuo Shaode aimed straight for Zhong Michu’s heart. The Dragon King’s fatal weakness was well-known among the Zuo family. His claim that Zhong Michu might not win wasn’t arrogance. Although she was a level higher in cultivation, his enhanced spiritual power from the pill and knowledge of her weakness turned his disadvantage into an advantage.

Attacking Zhong Michu’s weak point might not have been honorable, but it wasn’t despicable either. In a battle between Soul Splitting cultivators, it was a fight for survival, and any means to victory were justified.

The battle raged fiercely both in the sky and on the ground. At the mountain plateau, the Yixue Pavilion people and the slaves were heavily guarded by Xinghan and others, forming an impenetrable defense.

Yi’er, watching anxiously from below, felt as if days had passed when it had only been half a day. As dusk approached, she looked up at the sky and then off into the distance, her voice tinged with tears, “Why hasn’t Ah Man Mother come back yet?”

 Worried about Zhong Michu, she was also concerned for Gu Fuyou.

Suddenly, she saw a shadow plummeting from the sky out of the corner of her eye. She looked up, she gasped.

Zuo Shaode, with his blade, had made a direct slash at Zhong Michu, who was now on the ground. She blocked the saber with her left arm and right hand, but her palm, devoid of scales, was bleeding.

The ice sword she had wielded earlier had been shattered by Zuo Shaode, its fragments also wounding her unscaled ear.

As the battle intensified, Zuo Shaode’s eyes turned blood-red, and Zhong Michu’s pupils narrowed into slits.

Zuo Shaode growled, “You’ve lost!”

Suddenly, a black rift opened from Zhong Michu’s arm to her heart, and the cold edge of his curved blade thrust forward, aiming directly at her scaleless, vulnerable heart, a spot that bled upon contact.

Zuo Shaode was moments away from victory; a few more inches and the Dragon King would be at his mercy. His heart pounded with excitement, the problems that would follow after killing the Dragon King no longer a concern.

But Zhong Michu quickly turned, pressing her foot against Zuo Shaode’s stomach to prevent him from applying more pressure. She flung her injured hand, sending countless tiny blood-tinged ice needles, fine as cow hair, shooting towards him.

Zuo Shaode, unwilling to lose this opportunity, chose not to defend and went for a decisive strike, ready to succeed or die trying.

As the ice needles pierced him, he felt a sharp pain and a spreading coldness, as if his blood was freezing.

Zuo Shaode frowned and grunted, quickly redirecting his spiritual power to counter the cold. But something unexpected happened.

His body, which should have been full of inexhaustible spiritual power, suddenly felt empty. His spiritual power had disappeared without a trace in an instant. He had felt his spiritual power waning earlier, but at the crucial moment, he was just one step away from defeating Zhong Michu and hadn’t given it much thought.

Caught off guard, Zuo Shaode lost focus. Zhong Michu swiftly counterattacked, her palm blossoming with a blood-colored ice flower that shot towards him.

He had to dodge this time but was already too weak.

Zuo Shaode retreated with his curved blade, still getting wounded in several places, blood gushing uncontrollably.

More than just bleeding, blood gushed from the wounds like a floodgate had opened, threatening to drain his body of blood.

Zuo Shaode barely managed to say, “You…” before bending over and vomiting a large pool of fresh blood. Blood began to seep from all over his body.

Through his blurred vision, he saw Zhong Michu’s figure and was suddenly reminded of a scene from seven hundred years ago. In the sky above Lihen Tian, several Zuo family cultivators had died, their bodies gushing blood like pierced sacks, turning the snowy white Zhuling platform crimson.

Mastering water to the extreme allowed one to control the blood within a human body.

If Zuo Shaode had been full of spiritual power, he wouldn’t have succumbed to Zhong Michu’s maneuver; she wouldn’t have been able to control the blood within his body.

But at that moment, he was completely drained of his spiritual power.

Zuo Shaode thought the loss of his power was another of Zhong Michu’s tactics. As he fell, he said intermittently, “Indeed, truly worthy of being the Dragon King…”

Zuo Shaode was defeated. The Zuo family cultivators in the mountains were shocked in disbelief. Initially having the upper hand in the beast tide, they now became distracted and started to retreat steadily.

As they attempted to withdraw, a wild wind surged from behind, made it nearly impossible for them to stand.

Looking back, they saw a green figure shooting through like an arrow released from a bow.

Wherever this figure passed, not only were the Zuo family cultivators hit hard, but even the spirit beasts were repelled, creating a bloody path straight to Zhong Michu.

Yi’er, seeing Zuo Shaode fall, ignored the restraint of Xinghan and wanted to rush over with Si Miao.

Halfway there, a gust of wind swept past her. Yi’er’s face brightened: “Ah Man Mother!”

Gu Fuyou flew straight to Zhong Michu, still hovering in the air. As Zhong Michu tried to stand, she swayed and fell forward.

Gu Fuyou caught her, holding her tight, her hands trembling with rage. Her dark green eyes reddened as she shouted fiercely, “I will skin him alive! I will skin him alive!”

Sensing someone approaching, Gu Fuyou held Zhong Michu even tighter, as if fearing she would be taken away, and turned sharply to glare at the intruder.

Yi’er was petrified by Gu Fuyou’s fierce gaze, frozen in place.

Si Miao, apparently unfazed, approached and said, “Let me check her wounds.”

Recognizing them, Gu Fuyou relaxed her grip on Zhong Michu, allowing Si Miao to tend to her injuries.

Gu Fuyou’s eyes still burned with anger. She drew her sword, Yinhen, and strode over to Zuo Shaode. Plunging the sword downward, she impaled his dantian.

But she was far from finished. She withdrew her sword and struck repeatedly, each strike faster and more merciless than the last.

Zuo Shaode’s body, already nearly drained of blood by Zhong Michu, barely bled. But for Gu Fuyou, this was not enough.

As the sword was about to strike down again, her wrist was suddenly grasped.

Zhong Michu spoke softly, “He’s already dead.”

Gu Fuyou turned to look at her, a cold smile on her lips, “So what if he’s dead? It’s not over yet.”

It wasn’t over.

Even in death, a body could still be desecrated.

Images of Gu Shuangqing’s body hanging from the city walls haunted her mind.

Hang it higher.

Even higher.

Gu Fuyou’s teeth were almost clenched to breaking as she thrust her sword down fiercely.

Zhong Michu no longer had the strength to hold her back. She didn’t have the sustaining power of the Qilin Marrow pills, her confrontation with Zuo Shaode had nearly depleted all her spiritual energy.

No matter how strong she was, she was exhausted.

Leaning against Gu Fuyou, she lost consciousness and slumped down.

Realizing that the person behind her had collapsed, Gu Fuyou was momentarily stunned, then quickly turned around to catch her.

Supporting Zhong Michu’s body, she urgently called out, “Si Miao!”