Chapter 321, At Death’s Door
Translator: StarReader
Editor: Elitecoder
Huangpu Qingtian’s eyes showed fear for the first time. The dreadful aura of the thunderbird posed a definite and tangible threat to his life.
This hadn’t been brought about before, not even when Zhuo Fan was bashing him around. Because he had a fallback, the Dragon Vein Soul.
He was destined to rule, heaven’s gift on earth, with no man capable of defeating him. And yet…
“Run!”
You Yushan’s trio knew the tables had turned. The thunderbird was a very real danger to anything in existence. The Six Dragons and One Phoenix were no exception, ending up as nothing more than bone meal. That prediction had them running frantically for their lives.
Funnily enough, their grand boss was doing the same thing for the first time ever.
Not that it would do much good at this late an hour. They barely added a hundred meters between them when the thunderbird flapped its crackling wings and was upon Huangpu Qingtian.
Huangpu Qingtian was traumatized. Facing this world destroyer and its all powerful aura, all he could do was shout, “Transformation, Earth Dragon Claw!”
A flash of golden light shone and his entire right arm was enveloped in light among the dragon roars. It was at this instant that the thunderbird ran into him.
The berserk purple lightning pulverized anything it touched.
Boom!
The sky itself turned purple from the sheer magnitude of the blast. Purple lightning spread like wildfire catching the three slowpokes and sending them sprawling, heavily wounded.
The array holding Zhuo Fan prisoner began to shake for the first time. The 365 Profound Heaven experts spat blood at the same time, weakened.
Everyone was shocked at how the Six Dragons and One Phoenix, the peak of power in the Profound Heaven Stage, couldn’t even take on the after blast of the thunder bird. The Microcosmic Orbit Array, said to contain even a Radiant Stage expert, suffered under the tyrannical purple lightning. Every one of the 365 Profound Heaven experts controlling it were left with heavy wounds.
The power of the thunderbird was obvious.
They all watched the thick dust, eyes widened. Not even Regent Estate could contain the shock they felt.
Who could conceive it possible for Zhuo Fan to employ such power to annihilate everyone? What then of Huangpu Qingtian, who took the full blast?
Everyone watched the screen with bated breath.
Pff!
Zhuo Fan spurted blood and the lightning faded from his body. Focusing all the purple lightning into one blow and forcing a profound ranked martial art to go a rank higher had left him teetering on the edge of collapse.
His body was far too weak to handle an earth ranked martial art, or he’d have already trained in one. But to defeat Huangpu Qingtian, he threw caution to the wind and used every ounce of his strength. This left him on the brink of destruction.
Zhuo Fan was now weaker than your average Bone Tempering expert. Even after killing Huangpu Qingtian, he would still be in danger on Beast King Mountain.
Though he wasn’t of a mind to care. As long as Huangpu Qingtian was dead and done, nothing else mattered…
Narrowing his eyes, Zhuo Fan took a deep breath and moved, slowly, towards the cloud of dust. All that purple lightning did a number on his body, with no less than 20 wounds on his body deep enough to show the bone. His staggering walk was that of a demon from hell.
You Yushan’s trio were shaken to their core. They tried to get away, but any movement only aggravated their injuries. They were going nowhere fast.
They could only stare at the demon trudging towards them.
“Damn it! The three hundred people outside, release the damn array and come save us!” You Yushan shouted.
Yan Bangui and Lin Xuanfeng did the same, “Release the array already…”
The hellish image had them traumatized and horrified to the point of peeing themselves.
The viewers watched it all in heavy silence. At the end of it all, the Six Dragons and One Phoenix were mere men, fearing death and clinging to life. All that mettle they had was now gone.
All of Tianyu held the seven houses in reverence, practically worshiped them. But if there was one thing the Esoteric Debate showed, what Zhuo Fan’s fight showed, was that the grand disciples of these houses were nothing but disgraces.
The effect was immediate. The surviving clans had their opinion of the seven houses sharply diminished. While towards the Luo clan, they held no little amount of respect.
In this great battle, the Luo clan rose above the masses through their acts. Their steward even more so, fighting adversity without a hint of fear, his tall and imposing figure facing heaven itself. It got everyone’s blood pumping.
Everyone dreamt to be a hero at some point. Everyone yearned to fight back the authority breathing down on them. But none had the nerve to do it. Yet Zhuo Fan, a mere third rate clan steward, did it for them, fulfilling their wish, and brutalizing the seven houses’ experts.
It had gone beyond mere fighting oppression as he went against providence itself, against the heaven made king, Huangpu Qingtian and his kingly symbol, Dragon Vein Soul.
Not even a destined king was infallible, dead just the same before the third rate clan’s Zhuo Fan.
Everyone turned to the weakened Zhuo Fan with eyes filled with respect. Even the vassals of other houses had their views changed.
Leng Wuchang noticed and clenched his beard, even pulled a hair. But he was too engrossed in his scowl to notice.
Fang Qiubai sported a big smile.
[By defeating Huangpu Qingtian, Zhuo Fan had cut the seven houses’ prestige in one fell swoop. His Majesty would be ecstatic at the news.]
The emperor had planned for Zhuo Fan to cut down the Regent Estate’s momentum. But the man had gone leagues beyond his duty. Zhuo Fan had passed his mission with flying colors. Regent Estate’s very reputation was severely affected. It was a great help for when they had to quell the seven houses.
Fang Qiubai smiled and nodded.
[Having the Dragon Vein Soul doesn’t mean a thing. Huangpu Qingtian was still dragged through the mud before everyone. He won’t have the gall to be cocky now…]
“I forbid it!”
Fang Qiubai’s bright smile faded. While Leng Wuchang and the rest of the Regent Estate watched their vassals tense up, as a cold voice came from within the dust cloud.
Rumble!
Zhuo Fan couldn’t fight the shudder. His face darkened as he looked ahead in stunned silence.
You Yushan’s trio looked as well, with tears of joy welling in their eyes.
[Eldest young master… lives!]
[This can’t be!]
Fang Qiubai was aghast. [He suffered the brunt of all that raw power no Radiant Stage expert could take. How the hell…]
The dust scattered and revealed a bloody and panting Huangpu Qingtian with his entire right arm turned into a dragon claw, like a true monster.
It was this claw that ruined Zhuo Fan’s mighty blow.
“Transformation!”
Fang Qiubai and Zhuo Fan cried at the same time and color drained from their faces.
The act implied changing one’s soul and body. Special cultivation methods could turn one into a merciless beast when trained to perfection. And Huangpu Qingtian who had the Dragon Vein Soul would ultimately turn into a dragon.
Huangpu Qingtian only had a claw, but it was a true dragon claw, an earth dragon’s claw. Tough beyond imagination, leaps above even a 6th grade spiritual weapon.
“How? To reach transformation he had to have trained Nine Dragons Diamond Body to perfection, but he’s still in the first level. How did he do it?” Fang Qiubai was incredulous, “Not even Tianyu’s founding emperor could do it!”
Leng Wuchang sighed, seeing Huangpu Qingtian safe and smiled at Fang Qiubai, “Ha-ha-ha, it’s a simple matter of talent.”
Fang Qiubai was overwhelmed.
[Has Huangpu Qingtian’s talent reached such a monstrous level that he could transform before training Nine Dragons Diamond Body to completion?]
That made him the most dangerous being in existence. When he finished Nine Dragons Diamond Body, not even Gu Santong could face him.
[It will mark the day when the Regent Estate will become the ruling family…]
Leng Wuchang easily gleaned into his thought process, looking at the National Elemental Stone with a smile, “The true winner has finally been decided…”
Whoosh!
Huangpu Qingtian sprung at Zhuo Fan, clawing at him.
Zhuo Fan panicked. Try as he might, he was too weak to even dodge.
But he was still defiant, gnashing his teeth and gathering the last vestige of power, “Wraith Style’s second move, Ghostly Dragon Claw!”
Roar!
A dragon roar began but was cut off. Huangpu Qingtian’s own claw had a firm grip on the enemy’s claw.
“Not a chance!”
Zhuo Fan’s last act scared him. Huangpu Qingtian no longer looked at Zhuo Fan with the usual haughty attitude, instead he looked at him with fear.
Zhuo Fan was the first to ever shake him so much. So for the first time, he went all out. He felt Zhuo Fan was at his weakest moment, on his deathbed.
But against Zhuo Fan he would never feel safe until the very last breath left his body.
Ah!
Huangpu Qingtian wailed and ripped Zhuo Fan’s right arm clean off. Blood spurted like a fountain and Luo Yunchang cried in fear.
Zhuo Fan’s eyes bulged out and his features twisted. But he pushed through the pain and pierced at Huangpu Qingtian with his wings, despite how hopeless it was…