Blood light scattered, and mangled flesh and shattered bones fell from the sky. All of it was the essence of a Dragon Lord's true body. It wasn't filthy; instead, it flowed with an inexplicable brilliance.
Dead!
In an instant, intense shock emanated from the gazes of everyone watching the battlefield. The surrounding heaven and earth were dead silent; surprisingly, no one dared to circulate their divine sense.
As the initiator of all this, Patriarch Nether Whisper instead furrowed his brows. The heaven-obscuring giant hand slowly dispersed, transforming back into a vast, chaotic halo that hung behind his head. Then, he rubbed his fingers together, a hint of surprise surfacing in his eyes. "The feeling wasn't right. Something escaped."
"What kind of method is this?"
As his voice fell, the Light of Wisdom deep in Patriarch Nether Whisper's eyes immediately began to operate. He seemed to grasp a clue, yet it was too blurry to see clearly.
Under heaven, there weren't many things he couldn't understand. To snatch someone from his grasp without him knowing, the only possibility was a gap in stature.
"Rumble."
In the next second, heavy and powerful thunder sounded within the grotto-heaven. Where the sound rolled, dark clouds permeated, followed by a pattering light rain.
And amidst that pouring rain, a pitch-black dragon shadow shuttled through the dark clouds, carrying intense anger. The scattered flesh and blood rapidly gathered under the will of revival, transforming into billions of crimson rosy clouds that returned to the dragon body. Before long, the figure of the Cang River Dragon Lord once again coiled high in the firmament.
"Phew... I knew it wasn't over yet!"
"If the Cang River Dragon Lord were that easy to kill, where would the overseas demon race get the courage to invade the inland and fight the Dao Court for [Fortune]? We would have driven them into the sea long ago."
For a time, many Perfected Lords actually breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, no matter what, that was a Great Perfected Lord. Being crushed to death so easily by a single hand was too shocking; almost no one was willing to believe it.
However, only the Cang River Dragon Lord himself knew:
'I just... truly died!'
His dragon body was crushed to pieces. Originally, not even his soul would have been able to escape. But he cultivated the Ancestral Dragon Method; he was an Innate Dao God, and his life was already entrusted to the Immortal Nexus.
Therefore, even if his physical body shattered and his soul dissipated, as long as the Immortal Nexus itself wasn't destroyed, or his life entrusted within it wasn't forcibly extracted, he could revive with the Heavenly Lord's help. However, the most troublesome part was that this kind of revival still had considerably harsh restrictions.
'Just now, what happened?'
The Cang River Dragon Lord was incredibly shocked inwardly, yet he couldn't remember his exchange with Patriarch Nether Whisper at all. He only knew that he had died once.
It wasn't even just him.
At this moment, all the cultivators who had just watched the battle also invisibly lost the relevant memories. No one remembered how the Cang River Dragon Lord had died just now.
This was also the flaw of the revival.
Simply put, it was like erasing the [Cause] of death from history in exchange for the [Effect] of survival, thereby achieving a potent resurrection.
But by doing so, because there was no karma, the relevant memories naturally disappeared as well. There was nowhere to trace it, nor was it possible to trace it. Otherwise, once the [Cause] of death was retrieved, the corresponding [Effect] would reappear. In that case, he would inevitably drop dead on the spot!
'Run!'
Without any hesitation, the Cang River Dragon Lord turned and ran. A Great Perfected Lord who could kill him in a short period of time was not an Immortal Bridge realm cultivator, but wasn't far from it.
'Anyway, Big Brother has already found another path. Since this path is blocked, I'll just take another one. If this person dares to chase me, I'll just happen to rendezvous with Big Brother. Once the six Dragon Lords gather, we'll figure out a way to settle the score then. Now is not the time to fight recklessly. A wise man submits to circumstances...'
In an instant, the sound of thunder grew distant.
The Cang River Dragon Lord fled in panic like a rat, completely devoid of his previous overbearing dominance. He quickly escaped. Seeing this, Patriarch Nether Whisper didn't stop him, simply watching him leave.
"Senior, please be cautious."
Suo Huan's figure quietly appeared behind Patriarch Nether Whisper, whispering, "This dragon is fierce and vicious. If we don't make him stay, I'm afraid there will be endless trouble later."
Hearing this, Patriarch Nether Whisper shook his head, his expression strange:
"No matter, he is heading towards the area Fellow Daoist Ye is responsible for guarding."
"He probably won't be coming back."
Speaking of this, he shook his head again and sighed: "It would have been better if he let me capture him. At least it would have been easier. After all, I'm not good at fighting..."
"Fellow Daoist Ye is different."
The heavenly wind lifted the rosy clouds, and he transformed, riding the clouds.
Relying on the profound wonder of the [Star River Immortal], the Cang River Dragon Lord sprinted wildly within the grotto-heaven. Following the bloodline connection between the Dragon Lords, he rapidly approached the Old Dragon Lord.
Before long, the scene of another palace entered his sight.
As the distance closed, the perception from the [Water Element] immediately brought enlightenment to the Cang River Dragon Lord: 'Big Brother is summoning us to our positions...'
Why was this so?
Could it be that Bu Tianque had caught up to him? Or did he encounter an opponent here that required them to join forces to handle? The Cang River Dragon Lord's heart grew increasingly heavy.
Despite this, he wasn't afraid. He immediately circulated his profound wonder, responding to the Old Dragon Lord's call. Beside him, Dragon Lord Yu Zhao and the Huai River Dragon Lord also sensed it simultaneously. The three Dragon Lords instantly transformed into three streaks of light, piercing through layers of palaces, and finally landing on a jade platform.
"Big Brother!"
In his line of sight, the Old Dragon Lord's figure stood before the jade platform. At this moment, he had already manifested his original true form, his stature and aura unfurling within heaven and earth.
"...Amplify me."
A slightly sharp voice transmitted over. The three Dragon Lords didn't dare to resist and immediately merged their auras with the Old Dragon Lord's. The profound wonders of three Dao Fruits subsequently surfaced.
Then, the Cang River Dragon Lord saw clearly the scene on the jade platform.
In an instant, his gaze nearly froze.
On the vast jade platform, boundless water vapor filled the sky, circulating around heaven and connecting end to end. Together, they clustered around a towering dragon corpse that had crashed to the ground.
Dragon Lord Qu Jian.
The sprawling dragon body had been decapitated. The mountain-like dragon head vividly displayed fear as it simply leaned against its own corpse.
But he wasn't dead.
Yes, despite his head being separated from his body and all his profound wonder lost, Dragon Lord Qu Jian was simply not dead. Because he wasn't dead, he had no way to revive.
He couldn't even commit suicide.
Because right now, the only thing on his entire body that could move was his head. This bizarre scene made the Cang River Dragon Lord feel a bone-piercing chill.
'Crap, it seems I came to the wrong place.'
'There's an even fiercer one here!'
Immediately after, looking past the half-dead corpse of his own brother, the Cang River Dragon Lord finally saw a figure, appearing incredibly tiny before the dragon corpse.
Yet it was this tiny figure that made the Cang River Dragon Lord's pupils contract sharply. For a time, he actually couldn't move his eyes away from the longsword in the person's hand. He saw that the sword's hilt was engraved with the celestial patterns of the Heavenly Dipper; its grip bound in five-colored shark silk to channel lightning; its scabbard sheathed in Black Tortoise hide, bearing an ancient diagram; and from its tassel hung the fruit of Taiyi's Verdant Celestial Herb.
The sword was named [Non-Killing].
And above the figure's head, a piece of magnificent radiance gathered, transforming into densely packed Dao script and Dragon Script and Phoenix Seal, circling around the figure:
[Divine Throne of the Black Tortoise, Protector of the Sacred and Overseer of Fate].
"Is Fellow Daoist ready?"
Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon held the longsword upside down, looking calmly at the Old Dragon Lord. Seeing this, the Old Dragon Lord also took a deep breath and slowly gave his answer:
"Bring it on."
As his voice fell, Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon nodded slightly and said, "Then, as we said before, Fellow Daoist will take one sword strike from me. If you lose your life, all the Dragon Lords shall perish!"