The Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron
chapter-422

"Ghost Pagoda, appear!" shouted Hei Luo. He let out a low grunt, and a ball of black flames suddenly burned on his chest, forming an evil tattoo.

The tattoo surged with ghost energy. From within the energy, a green, ghostly claw silently poked out of his chest.

It left only an afterimage in the air as it struck at Zuo Li at a speed that could not be captured with the human eye!

Zuo Li manically infused spirit energy into his wand. The wand shone as bright as the noonday sun. All the ghost energy within a 100-zhang radius dissipated.

Clank—

Crack!

Even though the green ghost claw's size had been reduced a bit by the Buddha's halo, the claw was still able to forcefully tear apart the water veil and grab the wand. After a moment under the duress of the ghost claw, the wand broke.

Zuo Li drew a sharp breath. He tossed the broken wand and hastily placed a seal on his body. A layer of armor weaved together by seals covered the surface of his body.

Creak—

The ghost claw came into contact with the armor. But the claw was hardy. Although the claw was immediately laced with injuries from the impact, it was not entirely destroyed by the armor. It continued forward and struck Zuo Li, piercing through his chest!

Zuo Li's body shuddered once. His gaze went dark, and he crumpled forward and fell.

The hair stood up on Su Yu's neck. Against the power of the Black-Faced Asura, even Zuo Li, who had many powerful treasures on his side, suffered the same fate as the rest.

The full weight of the situation hit Su Yu. If could not show a more powerful ability against Hei Luo, he was really going to die here!

Xia Jingyu's expression was hidden, but a horrific power gathered around her. It looked like she was about to begin a powerful offensive.

A giant butterfly formed out of water materialized above her head, taking on exquisite, lifelike details.

Su Yu's gaze flickered. He conjured an azure clone behind him. With the strengthening of Sheng Ge's vital energy, the clone now had a more corporeal form. It was nearly indistinguishable from Su Yu's actual body, but it did not release any aura, much like a normal clone of spirit energy.

While Hei Luo was preoccupied with cutting down Zuo Li, Su Yu and Xia Jingyu attacked together. By the time he sensed the oncoming attacks, he only had enough time to withdraw his halberd to defend himself.

Su Yu and his clone pressed forward together. Clenching his fists, layers of frigid energy pulsed in his palm. The divine herb that had formed in his Dantian in his soul gleamed with a cold luster.

Boom—

A freezing fist struck the halberd violently. With a loud snap, a layer of frost formed on the halberd. Simultaneously, Hei Luo began to freeze. Surprise showed on his face as his body turned rigid.

"To cultivate ice-based techniques to such an extreme," said Hei Luo, "even before using the origin! How can that be…?"

Clenching his teeth, Hei Luo shattered the ice on his body with a grunt and activated its ghost energy to dispel the frost in his body. But at that moment, Xia Jingyu's water butterfly descended.

The water butterfly flapped its wings, and blood spurted from Hei Luo pores. From afar, it looked like multiple streaks of red lines shooting toward the butterfly. The butterfly devoured the blood, turning its wings red in the blink of an eye.

Hei Luo's heart shook as he attempted to forcefully suppress his blood, but the blood in his body was no longer under his control! 20 percent of his blood essence had already been sapped from his body.

"The peak of a water-based technique!" Hei Luo shouted. "Impossible!"

A wave of fatigue washed over him, and for the first time, the threat of death welled up in his heart. A fierce glow flashed in his eyes.

"You force me into this!" he said.

Crack—

Hei Luo exerted force in both its hands, breaking the halberd into two pieces. A pitch black scale fell from within the halberd.

"A scale of the Demonic Dragon!" exclaimed Sheng Ge. "You made a deal with the Demonic Dragon behind my back? You deserve death!"

Hei Luo ignored her. He shattered the scale, and thick, black fog spread into the surroundings. A minuscule dragon—small enough to fit in Hei Luo's palm—took form within the fog. It looked tiny and exquisite, but it emanated horrific energy! Its aura was nearly that of a Fairy Realm!

"You have finally used me," said the little dragon. "The deal is complete! One attack on your behalf—in exchange for 30 percent of your blood essence."

The tiny Demonic Dragon bit down on Hei Luo's wrist, absorbing its blood essence!

Sheng Ge frowned. "You two cannot contend against the power of the Demonic Dragon!" The two of them could stand up against a Half God by working together, giving Sheng Ge some hope, but the appearance of the Demonic Dragon made her despair. "Run! Escape!"

Yi Yu and Su Yu obeyed the orders, turning to attempt to escape, but the Black-Faced Asura shook his head.

"It's too late to escape!" said Hei Luo.

The demonic dragon had absorbed enough blood essence, and now it let out a low roar. Its voice was filled with a demonic essence. The water butterfly shattered instantly, freeing Hei Luo from his predicament.

The Demonic Dragon glowed with a black light. It arrived behind Xia Jingyu in an instant! Its black claws disregarded her defenses. They effortlessly pierced through her water veil and struck her back.

Puuu—

Xia Jingyu's eyes show open wide. Blood shot from her mouth, and she slumped forward, immediately knocked unconscious by the impact.

Su Yu was shocked that a casual strike could have such horrifying results, but there was no time to wonder at this, for the Demonic Dragon had already turned around to look at him. It glowed with black light again!

Su Yu's gaze sharpened. Activating his Short Distance Wings, he instantly phased 1,000 zhang away.

Rumble—

Just as he was phasing, the Demonic Dragon appeared where he had been standing. Its claws flashed, and a black slit had formed in midair from the attack! A tear in space! This was an attack only capable by a Fairy Realm!

Su Yu's hair stood on end.

The demonic dragon let out a cold laugh. Turning once again, it looked at Su Yu with an unfeeling stare. Its black pupils made Su Yu feel like he had been entombed in ice.

Clenching his teeth, Su Yu glanced at the Xia Jingyu who lay unconscious. He lifted his hand. All the spirit energy within a 100-mile radius moved, gathering above Su Yu's head as it formed a giant word: "Lin!"

The killing intent of an entire army was harbored within that one word.

Hei Luo turned deadly serious. "That is… A legendary-level technique!"

The Demonic Dragon froze. Its black pupils showed a hint of surprise.

Sheng Ge, trapped within the thunder dragon, seemed to be looking at a stranger. "To think that you also possess a legendary-level technique, incredible!"

"Lin!" growled Su Yu.

The word rumbled as it struck down. Both the Demonic Dragon and the Black-Faced Asura were enveloped within it.

The word exploded. The powerful sound wave produced gale-force winds. The surrounding clouds swirled. A 1,000-zhang wide vortex blasted into the ground, forming a deep pit. The destructive power shattered everything it touched.

Moments later, when the dust finally settled, Hei Luo's black face had turned green. His arms were up in defense, blocking his chest, but his flesh was bloody. Some of the injuries were deep enough to reveal bone. Even the Demonic Dragon struggled to maintain its shape. Its black light seemed to have dulled.

"To injure me to this extent," Hei Luo snarled. His level-headed nature was long gone. Now, he was furious. His hatred was unparalleled as he roared, "Lad, I will tear you apart!"

"Hehe!" chuckled the small Demonic Dragon. "A legendary-level technique. For someone to know a legendary-level technique in a land as barren as the Void World is unexpected, indeed. If it wasn't still at its beginning level, even I might need to be cautious of you!"

Su Yu's face dropped. The word "Lin" was incredibly close to the level of Half God, but it was unable to deal fatal damage.

But his eyes shone with a cold glow. The Demonic Dragon twitched in surprise as a dangerous aura suddenly descended. An azure figure had appeared behind it.

Without warning, Su Yu's clone grabbed the demonic dragon in its palms! An alarming azure flame welled from his hands, burning the Demonic Dragon.

"Ah! Lad! You dare—!" roared the Demonic Dragon, struggling with all its might to free itself from the clone's grip.

Flames had the ability to suppress demonic qualities, and the black aura of the dragon was in disarray. It was being severely burned!

Su Yu did not relent. Now was his chance.

"Thousand Thunder Finger!"

He called down three lightning rings from the sky and latched them onto the Demonic Dragon. The lightning rings steadily contracted, shrinking in size until they turned into three finger-sized rings tightly gripping the dragon's body like shackles.

The powerful lightning caused the dragon to roar in pain, its black aura spilling out into the surroundings. Finally, with a roar, it dissipated and fell, transforming back into a black scale.

An azure hand picked up the scale, then turned into an afterimage as it returned to Su Yu's side.

The scene had only lasted for a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. The seemingly omnipotent Demonic Dragon had been suppressed.

Of course, a large part of Su Yu's success was due to the ability to neutralize the demonic energy. If Su Yu had been facing a true Half God, escape would have been his only option.

Hei Luo breathed heavily, his eyes wide. Half a joss stick's time was about to be over.

Meanwhile, Lei Mo finally succeeded in controlling the Cosmos Thunder Sword. An alarming sword aura charged into the sky.

"Haha! Heavenly Ghost! I am the ultimate winner!" Lei Mo cried, letting out a maniacal laugh and placing a hand on the Cosmos Thunder Sword.

Hei Luo heaved a sigh of release. He was injured, and 30 percent of his blood essence had been absorbed by the Demonic Dragon. Coupled with the 20 percent devoured by Xia Jingyu's water butterfly, he was severely weakened. It was clear that he could not win at this point even against a Human King. If this continued, it was possible that he would be killed by a human.

Sheng Ge's eyes shone with conflicting emotions. She clenched her teeth and looked at Su Yu. "Come here!"

Su Yu flew over expressionlessly and stood before the thunder dragon.

"Now that it has come to this, we can only make our final gambit," she said. "It's lucky that you have the Evil Ghost bloodline, but…" Sheng Ge seethed with the injustice of it all, but seeing as how the Thunder Sword had been completed, she could only accept her fate. "I'm going to hand you the Hundred Ghosts Secret Scroll. With this scroll, you can temporarily take my cultivation level. It will allow you to reach the Fairy Realm!"

Cultivation levels can be borrowed? thought Su Yu. Even the Fairy Realm?

Su Yu did his best to hide the many thoughts and ideas flowing through his mind.