Starting as pearl divers, they have endless jobs.

Chapter 177 Transformation into a Dragon on a Rainy Night

The golden sword light suddenly stopped in mid-air, revealing a figure dressed in white robes with white hair and beard.

It was Jian Jingchuan!
"Jian Jingchuan, you've finally come!"

Yuanlan's thunderous voice echoed between heaven and earth. Facing the menacing Jian Jingchuan, its voice showed no fear, but was filled with icy killing intent.

"Too bad you're too late!"

Before he finished speaking, the air around Yuanlan's enormous body suddenly began to distort.

Immediately afterwards, a massive number of runes hidden throughout the valley suddenly lit up!
These runes interlocked and instantly formed a massive array spanning tens of miles.

Mist, illusions, gravity, lightning... layer upon layer, a total of nine defensive arrays with different attributes, enveloped the entire valley.

This was a contingency plan that Yuanlan had prepared for hundreds of years, specifically to deal with the current situation.

"Hmph! You think a mere formation can stop me?"

Upon seeing this, Jian Jingchuan let out a disdainful snort, and then transformed into a sword energy storm that tore through the heavens and earth, crashing fiercely into the layers of formations!
boom!
The first layer of the maze was instantly torn open by the sword light, creating a huge gap, and the thick fog was swept away.

Immediately afterward, before the countless menacing ghostly figures in the second layer of the illusion array could even take shape, they were directly crushed into ashes by the domineering sword energy.

And so it goes, one layer, two layers...

Jian Jingchuan was unstoppable. He was now prepared to die, burning his last remaining life force without reservation, turning it into the ultimate destructive power!

Although Yuanlan's nine-layered linked array was exquisite, it still appeared somewhat fragile in the face of a self-destructive attack from a Core Formation cultivator.

In just a dozen breaths, the eight-fold formation was broken one after another!
"Yuanlan! Die!"

Jian Jingchuan's figure passed through the last layer of the thunder array and appeared in front of Yuan Lan. At the same time, a golden tiger made of pure sword intent roared and took shape behind him, with a world-destroying aura, and bit down hard on Yuan Lan's head!
"Roar!"

Yuanlan also let out an angry roar.

It opened its blood-red maw, and a torrent of pitch-black liquid, filled with an aura of corrosion and destruction, gushed forth from its mouth!

Boom! ! !

The golden sword-qi tiger and the black torrent of Xuan water collided violently in mid-air!
In that instant, the whole world seemed to lose its sound and color.

An indescribable, terrifying shockwave spread wildly in all directions from the point of impact!

The cliffs on both sides of the valley were sliced ​​off cleanly by the shockwave, as if they were made of tofu.

The dark clouds in the sky were blasted open, creating a huge hole.

Chen Ye, who was struggling and maneuvering amidst the shockwaves of the raging waves, was deeply shaken.

So this is a battle between Core Formation Realm cultivators? It's truly impressive.

Just then, the mysterious water and sword energy annihilated each other in mid-air, eventually dissipating completely.

Jian Jingchuan staggered back a few steps, his face even paler, but his eyes grew increasingly crazed.

On Yuanlan's massive body, a deep, bone-revealing wound was left by the domineering sword energy, and black dragon blood cascaded down like a waterfall.

"Hahaha! Yuanlan! Do you see that? Even if I only have half a life left, it's enough to stop you from ascending!" Jian Jingchuan laughed wildly and raised his sword again.

A hint of anxiety flashed in Yuanlan's huge eyes.

It was held back.

Jian Jingchuan, that madman, fought with a life-or-death mentality, making it impossible for the creature to escape.

The alignment of the seven stars in the sky is almost complete!
If this continues, it will miss this once-in-a-century opportunity!
Just as Yuanlan and Jian Jingchuan were locked in a fierce battle and reached a stalemate.

Boom!

Another loud bang came, not from the battle, but from the heavens above.

The hole in the clouds, blasted open by the terrifying energy, not only failed to heal but was instead torn even wider by an invisible force.

A ray of bright and mysterious starlight pierced through the thick clouds, shining straight down like a miracle, and enveloping Yuanlan's enormous body.

Chen Ye suddenly looked up.

In the vast night sky, seven stars that were previously only faintly visible now burst forth with unprecedented brilliance, and... they formed a perfect straight line!

The seven stars aligned perfectly!
"Now!" Yuan Lan's urgent and resolute roar exploded in Chen Ye's mind!

The next second, it made a move that Jian Jingchuan never expected.

It completely abandoned its defense, allowing Jian Jingchuan's sword, powerful enough to split mountains and cleave seas, to slash fiercely into its back!

puff!

Dragon blood splattered, huge scales were ripped off, and the wound was unfathomably deep, almost severing its spine.

But Yuanlan seemed to feel no pain. With the impact of the sword and the pull of the starlight, his huge body suddenly leaped upwards and rushed towards the brilliant starry river above the clouds!

It's trying to ascend to heaven by force!

"Trying to escape? Not so easy!" Jian Jingchuan was not about to let Yuan Lan escape so easily, so he prepared to burn his divine soul and launch a pursuit that would result in mutual destruction.

"Chen Ye!" Yuan Lan's urging voice exploded in Chen Ye's mind like a thunderclap.

In Chen Ye's eyes, everything in the world seemed to slow down.

The madman Jian Jingchuan, the black dragon soaring into the sky, the splattering dragon blood, the torrential rain...

Everything became the background in his eyes.

All he could see was Yuanlan's thick, mountain-like dragon tail, still connected to the earth.

And at the base of the dragon's tail, there was a gray line of calamity that was clearer and brighter than ever before!

That is the shackle of Yuanlan's bloodline, the bottleneck of its nearly thousand years of cultivation, and the root cause of its inability to transform into a dragon!
Yuanlan is right, now is the time!
Chen Ye stomped his foot and soared into the sky. His speed was so great that he left a faint afterimage in the rain, and then he headed straight for the dragon's tail.

At this moment, Chen Ye poured all his cultivation insights and willpower accumulated over the years into this single strike without reservation!

"Break it...!"

A seemingly ordinary, even somewhat dim, blade flashed through the rain.

There was no earth-shattering momentum, nor dazzling brilliance.

It merely grazed the thick dragon's tail, and the line of calamity that represented the shackles of destiny.

Then, cut it off!
The next second, a roar filled with endless pain, yet mixed with a trace of relief and ecstasy, burst forth from Yuanlan's mouth above the clouds!
The sound was no longer dull and angry, but became high-pitched and clear, with a texture that could pierce through gold and split rocks, as if it would completely tear this world apart!
The severed lower half of the dragon's tail, after losing its connection with the main body, quickly petrified and disintegrated, turning into dust that re-integrated into the southern wilderness where it had been rooted for nearly a thousand years.

At this moment, Yuanlan's enormous body, which soared into the sky, was completely enveloped by the bright starlight!

Endless starlight surged wildly into its body.

A series of teeth-grinding tearing sounds rang out.

On Yuanlan's massive body, the millstone-sized black scales were cracking and peeling off in large patches, revealing fresher and tougher new flesh underneath.

Black dragon blood, mixed with foul-smelling impurities, poured down from the sky like a torrential rain, but was quickly purified and evaporated by the dazzling starlight.

This is a process of breaking free from the cocoon and being reborn!

Painful, yet full of hope!

Yuanlan's body writhed and twisted violently in the starlight, each struggle making its body more refined and its aura purer.

Its originally ferocious dragon head gradually became majestic under the baptism of starlight, and the two horns on its head became more and more rugged, shimmering with a jade-like luster.

The four claws under its belly became even thicker and more powerful, each claw blade like a divine weapon, gleaming with a terrifying cold light.

The most striking change comes from its tail.

At the wound where Chen Ye had severed it, flesh and blood were writhing and growing wildly at a speed visible to the naked eye, and a brand new, explosive, and more perfect dragon tail was rapidly taking shape!
At the same time, its aura is undergoing a tremendous transformation!
The coldness and turbidity of the dragon are rapidly receding, replaced by a sacred and majestic aura that reigns supreme!
It is transforming into a dragon!
This scene was clearly witnessed by the villagers of Kawa Village in the distance. The pillar of starlight that pierced the heavens and the earth, the enormous figure that rolled and transformed in the starlight, the terrifying pressure that made them tremble from the depths of their souls...

All of this was like a miracle, deeply imprinted in their minds.

"Mountain God...Mountain God has appeared!"

Someone was the first to react and shouted.

Immediately afterwards, all the villagers of Kawazhai, including the old clan chief, knelt down in unison and bowed repeatedly towards the back of the mountain in the most devout manner.

They didn't know what was happening, but they could sense that their mountain god was undergoing a great transformation!

Meanwhile, in the great mountains of the southern wilderness, those powerful demons who usually reigned supreme were now all prostrate on the ground, burying their heads deep in the soil, trembling, unable to muster even the slightest thought of resistance.

Some of the evil spirits hiding in the shadows didn't even have time to scream before they were directly purified and completely vanished under this overwhelming divine power.

At this moment, the entire Southern Wilderness welcomed its true master!

"No... Impossible! This is impossible!"

In mid-air, Jian Jingchuan, who was preparing to unleash his final attack by burning his divine soul, was stunned when he saw this scene.

For the first time, bewilderment and despair appeared on his face, which was contorted with madness.

why?
Why did Yuanlan, after being severely injured by himself and taking a sword strike filled with killing intent, not only not perish but also break through the final restraints with his own power?

How dare it? How could it possibly?!

And that kid...

Jian Jingchuan's gaze fell on the figure standing below, holding a knife.

Although that strike seemed ordinary and didn't even cause much energy fluctuation, Jian Jingchuan could sense that it contained a law power that he couldn't understand and that even made his heart tremble!

It was that one strike that severed the last ties between Yuanlan and this mortal land, helping it complete this final transformation!

"So that's how it is... Haha... Hahahaha!"

Jian Jingchuan seemed to have figured something out, and suddenly burst into maniacal laughter, filled with endless self-mockery and sorrow.

He schemed his whole life, only to end up becoming the stepping stone for the other party to become a dragon!

How ironic! How pathetic!
"Roar--!!!!!"

Just then, a dragon roar, louder than ever before and filled with supreme majesty, resounded throughout the heavens!
The dark clouds in the sky were completely dispersed by the dragon's roar, and the pillar of starlight that pierced through heaven and earth slowly dissipated.

A true dragon, its body covered in jet-black scales, majestic and powerful, and over a hundred feet long, coiled in the heavens. Its golden dragon eyes, as bright as the sun, coldly surveyed the entire world below!
At that moment, the whole world seemed to stand still.

That supreme pressure, originating from the deepest part of one's bloodline, swept across the mountainous area within a hundred miles like an invisible tide.

Under this oppressive force, Jian Jingchuan felt his very soul trembling.

He could clearly sense that although the other party's realm was still at the Great Perfection of the Core Formation stage and had not truly entered the Nascent Soul stage, the power contained in that body and the control over the laws of heaven and earth had far exceeded the scope of the Core Formation stage.

True dragon bloodline, terrifying beyond belief!
"Jian Jingchuan."

Yuan Lan's voice was no longer the thunderous roar of before, but became clear and loud, each word seemingly carrying the power of heaven and earth, resounding directly in Jian Jingchuan's soul.

"I should thank you. If it weren't for the power of your sword, I would have had to go through a lot more trouble to break free from these last shackles."

There was no mockery or ridicule in the voice, only a condescending indifference, a cold statement of facts.

But this indifference made Jian Jingchuan feel more embarrassed than any humiliation.

He felt like a clown, performing with self-righteousness, only to end up as a minor supporting character in someone else's script.

"Hahaha..." Jian Jingchuan laughed bitterly, then straightened his hunched back. The last trace of fear and resentment in his eyes disappeared, replaced by utter madness and determination.

"Yuanlan! Don't be so smug!"

He pointed at the true dragon in the heavens and roared hoarsely, "So what if you've transformed into a dragon? Even if I, Jian Jingchuan, die today, I will still tear a piece of flesh from your body!"

He has lost everything: his son is dead, his business is ruined, and he has no hope of immortality. Now even his last act of revenge has become a joke.

Therefore, death was no longer frightening to him.

Since that's the case, let's shine our brightest in the last moment of our lives!
"Oh?" Yuanlan lowered its massive dragon head slightly, a hint of human-like amusement flashing in its golden dragon eyes. "With your crippled body and your dwindling lifespan?"

"enough!"

Jian Jingchuan roared, and his entire body burst into flames!

This time, he burned not only his life force, but also his soul, his foundation, and everything he had!
He poured all his cultivation and insights accumulated over hundreds of years, his endless resentment towards the injustice of the Heavenly Dao, and his overwhelming jealousy towards Yuanlan into this suicidal attack without reservation!
A dazzling golden light burst forth from his body, enveloping his entire being, and finally transforming into a golden giant sword that was a hundred feet long and as solid as a physical object!

This sword has no complicated runes or fancy special effects; it only possesses the purest and most extreme sharpness and destruction!

The sword intent soared to the sky, and even the surrounding space couldn't withstand this power, causing fine black cracks to appear.

"Yuanlan! Die!!!"

After a resolute roar, the golden giant sword slashed through the sky, ignoring the distance in space, and instantly appeared in front of Yuanlan, fiercely stabbing towards its Achilles' heel!

This sword strike was the pinnacle of Jian Jingchuan's life!

It is the swan song that embodies all his truths about swordsmanship!

However, even when faced with this earth-shattering sword strike, Yuan Lan's golden dragon eyes remained completely unmoved.

It didn't even flinch, but slowly raised its dragon claw, covered in dark scales and gleaming with metallic luster.

Then he slammed his hand down on the golden greatsword.

There was no earth-shattering roar, nor any cataclysmic energy collision.

The golden giant sword, which embodied Jian Jingchuan's lifelong cultivation, shattered silently like a popped soap bubble the moment it touched the dragon's claw, turning into countless golden specks of light that dissipated in the wind.

Seeing this, Chen Ye fell silent.

He knew that Yuanlan would be very strong after transforming into a dragon, but he didn't expect him to be this strong!
Jian Jingchuan's final, all-consuming strike was far more powerful than the limits of the Core Formation Realm, yet it failed to even cause a ripple in front of Yuan Lan.

Is this the power of a true dragon? It's truly heaven-defying!

As the golden greatsword shattered, a phantom remnant soul emerged from the light.

It was Jian Jingchuan.

He stared blankly at the enormous dragon claw so close to him, his eyes filled with confusion and incomprehension.

Why did this happen...?

He muttered to himself, seemingly unable to accept this cruel reality.

Because his final, all-or-nothing attack failed to even damage a single scale of the opponent.

"Because you are ignorant of your own limitations." Just then, Yuanlan's voice rang out, and then the huge dragon claw gently clenched.

"Do not--!"

Jian Jingchuan's remnant soul let out a scream of unwillingness, and was then completely crushed into nothingness by that invisible force.

Jian Jingchuan, a powerful and influential figure, the master of Tianjian Manor, and a Core Formation cultivator who has held sway in Qingzhou for hundreds of years.

Thus, both body and soul perished.

With Jian Jingchuan's complete demise, the valley, which had been turned upside down by the violent energy, finally returned to peace.

A ray of moonlight pierced through the clouds and shone down on the earth, bringing a touch of warmth to the ravaged valley.

At the same time, Yuanlan, which was perched high in the sky, let out a long dragon roar. Its enormous body slowly spiraled and finally transformed into a beam of light, which descended from the sky.

(End of this chapter)