The spiritual energy was restored, and he became a mortal immortal in two days.

The Dragon King's vertical pupils trembled.

It never imagined that one day, its demon core would be caught by someone's bare hands, as easily as crushing a glass bead.

I never imagined that one day I would be like this, lying on the ground, unable to even lift my head.

I never imagined that one day...

He wanted to beg for mercy.

"senior......"

The Dragon King's voice was squeezed out from the depths of his throat, each word filled with intense humiliation and fear.

But at this moment, that humiliation is no longer important; what matters is survival.

As long as I can survive.

"Xiao Long knows he was wrong... he really knows he was wrong..."

The Dragon Lord's head was pressed to the ground, and it could only move its eyes with difficulty to look at the white-robed youth who held its demon core. "This little dragon is willing to serve you as my master, senior, and be your servant for eternity... as a spirit pet, as a mount, as long as you spare my life..."

It spoke incoherently, and its voice even sounded like it was about to cry.

The dignity of a half-step Nascent Soul cultivator?

The pride of the dragon race?

In the face of death, none of those things matter.

All it wanted was to survive.

Shen Luoxia knelt in the distance, trembling as she listened to the Dragon Lord's words.

What did she see? What did she hear?

Their Luoxia Sect had worshipped a divine beast for a hundred years, the Dragon Lord, who was half a Nascent Soul cultivator, and now he was actually... begging for mercy?

Like a stray dog ​​with its spine broken, it wags its tail and begs for mercy.

"Senior...please..."

The Dragon Lord's voice grew softer and softer, and in his molten gold vertical pupils, only desperate pleas remained.

Chen Xuan remained squatting in front of the dragon's head.

He held the dark golden demon core in his hand and tossed it gently, as if he were playing with an ordinary toy.

Then, he looked down into those pleading dragon eyes.

"To be a spirit pet?"

Chen Xuan asked softly.

"Yes! Yes! Little Dragon is willing to be a spirit pet!"

"Dragon Lord said quickly, his voice carrying a glimmer of hope."

"As a mount?"

"Yes! Yes! Little Dragon is willing to be your mount! Wherever Senior wants to go, Little Dragon will carry you there!"

Long Jun spoke faster and faster, as if afraid that if he spoke too slowly, the other party would change his mind.

Chen Xuan remained silent for a moment.

Then, he slowly stood up.

Those calm eyes looked down at the hundred-foot-long dragon on the ground, their gaze devoid of any emotion, only an almost indifferent scrutiny.

"Just you."

Chen Xuan spoke, his voice soft, yet it clearly echoed throughout the entire valley.

"Not worthy."

Once upon a time, countless spirit beasts wanted to become his spirit pets, even divine beasts like true dragons and qilin. But after his old phoenix friend's accident, he never thought about having a spirit pet again.

Three words.

Three light and airy words.

But like two heavy hammers, they struck the Dragon King's heart hard.

In that instant, the hope in Long Jun's eyes shattered completely, replaced by a deep-seated despair and madness.

"No...you can't..."

The Dragon King's voice trembled, "You can't kill me... I am a dragon... I have true dragon blood... If you kill me, the dragon race will not let you go..."

It spoke incoherently, as if making a final struggle.

Chen Xuan did not answer.

He simply raised his right hand.

It wasn't a clenched fist, nor a hand gesture; it was just a casual raising of the hand, and then...

A punch landed.

There were no fancy moves, no overwhelming spiritual power, and not even the suppressing array was used.

It's the simplest, most brutal, and most primitive punch.

The fist landed.

It smashed onto the dragon king's head.

"Click."

A clear sound of bone cracking.

And then...

"boom!!!"

The hundred-foot-long dragon body trembled violently.

It wasn't a struggle, it wasn't a convulsion, but a final, desperate tremor.

The light in those molten gold vertical pupils began to dissipate, and the dragon's mouth opened slightly, as if it wanted to let out a final roar, but no sound could be uttered.

Chen Xuan's fist slammed into the dragon's head, without retracting it.

one second.

two seconds.

three seconds.

Then, the Dragon King's dragon body began to disintegrate inch by inch.

It didn't explode or shatter; instead, it started from the head and gradually turned into ashes.

Like a stone carving eroded by time for millions of years, slowly dissipating in the wind.

The dark gold scales peeled away, revealing the dragon flesh beneath that had begun to rot.

The dragon's flesh turned into black ash, which drifted away in the wind.

The dragon bones shattered with a teeth-grinding sound, eventually turning into powder.

The entire process lasted ten breaths.

When the last dragon scale turned to ashes, the hundred-zhang-long black dragon had completely vanished from this world.

Only one dark golden demon core remained, lying quietly in Chen Xuan's palm.

The black ash scattered all over the ground proves that a dragon at the half-Nascent Soul stage once existed here.

Dead silence.

The Luoxia Mountains were deathly silent.

Shen Luoxia knelt on the ground, her pupils unfocused, her lips slightly parted, but she could not utter a sound.

"No...no..."

Shen Luoxia finally came to his senses. He shook his head violently, as if refusing to accept this reality. "Impossible...this is impossible..."

But the reality is right in front of us.

The Dragon King is dead.

Their greatest asset, the world's strongest fighting force, has died just like that.

At that moment, Chen Xuan slowly turned around.

He looked at the surviving cultivators of the Falling Clouds Sect amidst the ruins, his gaze calm and undisturbed. Finally, his gaze settled on Shen Luoxia.

"Now."

Chen Xuan spoke, his voice very soft, yet it sent a shiver down everyone's spine.

"It's your turn."

Shen Luoxia suddenly raised her head.

He saw Chen Xuan's eyes—calm, indifferent, devoid of any killing intent, yet more terrifying than any killing intent.

"Senior! Senior, spare my life!"

Shen Luoxia practically crawled forward a few steps, her forehead slamming heavily against the ground with a dull thud. "This junior knows she was wrong! She truly knows she was wrong!"

"Please, senior, spare my life!"

"I am willing to serve you as my master, I am willing to offer up all the treasures of the Falling Clouds Sect, I am willing to..."

"I don't need it."

Chen Xuan interrupted him.

Shen Luoxia was stunned.

He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but then he saw Chen Xuan slowly raise his right hand.

That hand just killed the Dragon Lord with a single punch.

And now, it gently grasps the sky.

"Boom!"

The entire Luoxia Mountain Range trembled once again.

The great formation that had suppressed the Dragon Lord began to slowly rise under Chen Xuan's grasp.

It did not dissipate or disintegrate, but rather reformed, transforming into a terrifying killing array covering the entire mountain range.

The illusory images of mountains and rivers reappear.

The earth's spiritual energy surged forth.

But this time, what flowed within the great formation was no longer suppressive power, but rather—

Murderous intent.

Pure, cold, and undisguised killing intent.

"No!!!"

Shen Luoxia let out a desperate roar.

She saw it.

Under the cover of the great formation, the entire Luoxia Mountain Range was sealed off.

The sky was obscured by the illusory shadows of mountains and rivers, and the ground was imprisoned by the spiritual energy of the earth's veins, so they couldn't even escape.

"Senior! Please! Please spare my life!"

An elder knelt on the ground, kowtowing frantically, his forehead already a bloody mess.

"I'm willing to be your slave! I'm willing to offer my soul! Please, senior, spare my life!"

Another elder wept bitterly, his voice hoarse.

"I'm still young! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"

A young disciple slumped to the ground, his crotch already soaked.

Wailing, begging for mercy, weeping.

The entire ruin was filled with sounds of despair.

But Chen Xuan's eyes remained calm.

He looked at the cultivators kneeling and begging for mercy, at the disciples weeping bitterly, and at Shen Luoxia's eyes filled with resentment and fear.

Then, he slowly began to speak:

"You imprisoned my friend and took his life."

"You have awakened the dragon to kill me."

"Beg for mercy now?"

Chen Xuan shook his head.

"It's too late."

Moreover, debts from past lives still exist in this life.

There's no such thing as debts being wiped out by death. As long as they are reincarnated, the killing will continue!

The moment the words fell.

He clenched his right hand and pressed it down sharply.

"boom!!!"

The world changed color.

The massive formation covering the entire mountain range, carrying the weight of the entire Luoxia Mountain Range, pressed down heavily.

It was not suppression.

It was a crushing defeat.

"No!!!"

Shen Luoxia let out a final roar, frantically burning his golden core in an attempt to break free.

However, in the face of that great formation, the power of a Golden Core cultivator was as insignificant as an ant.

The illusory images of mountains and rivers fall.

The earth's spiritual energy swept over it.

When everything calmed down.

The Luoxia Sect is gone.

It wasn't that the mountain gate was destroyed, or that the buildings collapsed; it was that they completely disappeared.

The entire mountain range was flattened by that great formation, reducing it by tens of feet.

All the buildings, all the monks, all the lives were reduced to dust under that pressure.

All that remained was a flat, barren piece of land.

And there was a lingering, unpleasant smell of blood in the air.

Chen Xuan stood in the center of that flat land, his white robes still clean and spotless.

He slowly released his right hand.

The great formation slowly dissipated.

The illusory images of mountains and rivers disappear, and the spiritual energy of the earth's veins returns.

Everything returned to calm.

Only the ashes scattered on the ground and the strong smell of blood in the air proved that a sect once existed here.

And now, it's gone.

Ye Li and the others stared at the massive, sky-covering phantom array, their expressions blank, their mouths agape in silent disbelief.

It turns out that Chen Xuan is not only a sword cultivator, but also an array cultivator, and his cultivation in the latter is even more terrifying.