Chapter 390: The Returning Dragon
Chapter 390: The Returning Dragon
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
...
Fang Zhengzhi had no idea if he was awake or not. All he remembered was that he had a very strange dream after being hit by Yan Xiu.
In this dream, he was in his pocket dimension.
However...
His pocket dimension was clearly different. This time, the fruits on the huge tree were adorned with patterns. The sea of white mist was also glistening.
Of course, the most attention-grabbing fruit on the tree was the purple one.
A queer, crystal-like glow could be seen from the fruit. It became brighter and brighter, so much so that his entire pocket dimension was stained purple.
The trees were now purple in color, the leaves and branches bathing in purple light. Even the vast ocean glistened purple.
As the purple became more and more intense...
Fang Zhengzhi felt a deep-seated rage grow. He felt like he was losing control of himself and his actions became more involuntary.
In the end...
When he opened his eyes again, he saw an ancient city.
This was a city made up of red rocks. From afar, it looked like a giant beast bathing in blood.
There were two words emblazoned in red atop the city walls.
Blood Shadow.
Fang Zhengzhi knew what the Blood Shadow City was. However, he had no idea why he would dream of such a place. After all, he had never been there before.
How could he dream of it if he had never been there?
Okay then...
That was not the most important point. The most important point was that he saw a sword.
This sword shot straight into the heavens and morphed into a humongous dragon. It roared, causing the ground to shake, as it enjoyed its freedom.
Then, it turned back and tunneled back into the ground in a show of force.
This was known as...
The Returning Dragon!
...
The purple dragon continued to circle in the sky before it finally morphed back into a ray of purple light which shot back down towards the middle-aged demon next to Wu Ji.
"Die!"
The purple dragon's roar sent chills down everyone's spine.
The middle-aged man stared at that purple light. He knew that this had come from Fang Zhengzhi, and he knew that Fang Zhengzhi was merely in the pinnacle Heavenly Reflection State.
For someone like that to attack...
He should not have felt threatened.
However, when he saw the purple light tunneling towards him, he felt an intense wave of fear. He did not know if it was because the light had enough power to destroy everything in its path...
Or because...
Of the aura it was exuding.
It had a lonely aura, almost as if it was alone at the very top. It felt as though this single attack could destroy an entire star.
The middle-aged man tightened his grip on his sword instinctively.
He did not know exactly how strong this attack was. However, he had a feeling that it was very powerful. It was so powerful that he wanted to escape.
However, could he dodge?
No!
He was the stronger individual.
This was the pride and arrogance that he had. After all, Yun Qingwu was behind him watching this fight.
His blade was already marked after his clash with Yan Xiu. However, he was not bothered by it.
The reason was simple.
He was in the Rebirth State. He was the more powerful one.
He raised his sword and the blade glowed purple. He charged forward like a bolt of lightning, straight towards the ray of purple coming towards him...
"Boom!"
An explosion rocked the entire area as the two rays of purple continued to clash and tear at each other. The roars of the purple dragon continued to resonate.
Then, silence. Complete, utter silence.
Only one sound could be heard, the cold crisp roar of the dragon. Other than that, there was no second sound to be heard.
Everyone was captivated by the battle.
The 50,000 strong Great Xia Dynasty army stopped fighting as they looked at the two rays of purple duking it out. All of the Southern Region soldiers also stopped fighting as they watched in awe.
The candidates were all holding their breath...
The demon elites were holding their breaths as well. They were all immensely powerful and could feel the energies contained within the two rays of purple.
The Dragon Protection Squad continued to hold onto their blades. They had been through rigorous and strict training, but even they could not resist looking at the two rays of purple.
Nangong Hao, Bai Xing, Wu Ji, Yun Qingwu, Xing Qingsui... there was no one on the battlefield who wasn't looking at the two rays of purple.
All of them only had one thought in their mind...
How does a pinnacle Heavenly Reflection State cultivator fight a Rebirth State cultivator? Furthermore, the duel seemed quite evenly matched.
"Kaboom..."
The roars faded but it was quickly replaced by thunder and a downpour. The raindrops were as large as beans and they brought with them a winter-like cold.
The rain pummeled the ground and sent mud flying all over the place. It began to wash away the blood on the ground, forming little streams all over the battlefield.
The battle ceased temporarily.
Both the Great Xia Dynasty army and the Southern Region army stood their ground, allowing the rain to slide off their armor.
It was cold...
But they didn't seem to be bothered.
All of the candidates were also under the brutal assault of the rain. Normally, they would find a nice restaurant to hide out, or a nice bar to have a drink. At the very least, they would use their abilities to shut out the rain.
But now...
Nothing like that happened.
All of the candidates stood rooted to the ground, the raindrops pummeling their faces and flowing down their necks.
"How did this happen?"
"How is that possible?"
"Am I dreaming?"
Whispers could be heard as candidates looked to one another. The roar of the dragon had all disappeared, and it was replaced with the calmness of the rain.
Then, the troops began to move.
All of the soldiers of the Great Xia Dynasty raised their spears, their expressions filled with excitement.
The expressions of the 100,000 Southern Region army froze. They still could not rid themselves of the shock and awe from what they just witnessed.
Xing Qingsui's expression was complicated. However, there were traces of surprise, almost as if he saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
Nangong Hao gripped his blade tightly. However, this imposing stance was not because of his opponent.
It had come from his heart.
"Fang Zhengzhi!" Bai Xing rarely called out someone else's name when in battle. However, this time, he yelled it out.
His tone was icy beyond belief.
...
Fang Zhengzhi thought that he was in a dream. He thought that the pocket dimension he saw was just a dream, and the purple stain was a dream as well.
Furthermore, his visit to the Blood Shadow City confirmed in his mind that he was in a dream.
Because he was in a dream, he did not feel much emotions except for the growing killing intent.
But now...
He felt as though the dream was becoming a reality.
He seemed to have returned to the battlefield. He saw Yan Xiu in front of him, his body glowing red.
Other than Yan Xiu, he saw two middle-aged men staring at him. One of them was holding a blade stained with blood.
Of course, everything that he saw was through a purple lens. Even though he could tell that it was fresh red blood, he saw it as purple.
The faces of the two middle-aged men were also purple.
Fang Zhengzhi wanted to ask what was going on. Were they fighting?
However, when he saw Yan Xiu spit out a mouthful of blood whilst enveloped by a red glow, he did not ask any questions. He was consumed by a rage and a thirst to kill.
Yan Xiu was injured?
Fang Zhengzhi thought that he was in a dream. However, he never expected Yan Xiu to be beaten to this state even in a dream.
He placed his hand on yan Xiu's shoulders.
He did not speak. He knew that he was transferring some of his killing intent into Yan Xiu's heart and he knew that Yan Xiu knew exactly what he meant.
Of course, that was the truth as well.
Yan Xiu closed his eyes and sat down.
Fang Zhengzhi turned to look at the two middle-aged men once again. To be precise, he turned on the middle-aged men who had blood on his sword.
"Die!" Fang Zhengzhi did not think too much.
After all...
This was just a dream.
Then, he leapt into action. He did not think too much as too what technique he wanted to use. He only had one technique in his heart, the one he just witnessed.
The technique that had split the Blood Shadow City into two. The one that still left its mark till this day.
The purple dragon shot to the sky.
It charged towards the heavens and morphed into a twisting ray of purple light.
Fang Zhengzhi thought that this was definitely a dream. He never expected that he would be able to use this technique. This technique's power was indescribable.
The torrential rain started at that moment.
Raindrops splattered on his face, causing a cooling effect. However, the purple showed no signs of dissipating. In fact, it intensified.
The world was completely purple. Even the rain was purple.
Was this a dream?
A purple dream?
...
"Clang!" The middle-aged man's sword dropped to the ground. By this time, it was no longer a sword. It was a hilt with no blade.
As a Rebirth State cultivator...
His sword would not be destroyed even if it had been cracked. He would be able to use Dao to keep the blade intact.
But the fact was that his sword had broke, smashed to smithereens.
There was only one possible explanation. His Rebirth State Dao was insufficient to protect his sword.
The middle-aged man's gaze was lost as he looked on exasperatedly. He did not know what just happened, but he knew that the facts could not be changed.
"Young Master!" The middle-aged man turned to look at Yun Qingwu, who was still on top the cliff.
Yun Qingwu's white dress was initially dancing in the torrential rain. However, as her dress collected more and more raindrops, it became too heavy for the wind to lift.
Her veil was drenched and stuck to her face. Even though one still couldn't see her face, her exquisite features were obvious.
The middle-aged man wanted to say something to Yun Qingwu.
However, he realized that Yun Qingwu was not looking at him. Instead, she was looking at the youth in front of him.
He suddenly understood what was happening. He could tell what Yun Qingwu was thinking. This feeling originated from the expression beneath the veil.
He saw that Yun Qingwu was smiling.
That's right...
Smiling.
The middle-aged man did not know why she was so joyous, but he had a feeling that her joy had something to do with this youth.
Was it because the youth wasn't dead?
Or was it because...
Was the youth very powerful?
The middle-aged man no longer looked at Yun Qingwu. He turned to look at Fang Zhengzhi. He felt like he had to do something.
"Can you tell me the name of the technique you just used?" The middle-aged man stared at Fang Zhengzhi's eyes, which were completely stained purple.
"Name?" Fang Zhengzhi had no idea why the people in his dreams would ask such strange questions. Since they were characters in his dream, they should know what he did.
He didn't feel like responding.
However, when he heard the middle-aged man's question, the technique flashed in his mind and he felt an urge to say its name.
Maybe...
It was a memory.
Maybe this memory wanted to let him know that it existed.
Regardless of the reason, Fang Zhengzhi answered the question in a simple and straightforward manner.
"This technique is known as... The Returning Dragon!"