Volume 3: Global Vanguard & The Advanced Pinnacle
Chapter 245
Awakening the Third Layer of the Primordial Dragon Pendant
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
The ground beneath Lin Feng’s feet shook violently, as if a prehistoric giant python was twisting frantically within the depths of the desert. The thousand-year-old granite cliffs of the Black Sand Canyon split open into massive fissures several fathoms wide, exposing the bubbling, crimson desert magma flowing beneath. Dirt, ash, and a pungent sulfur stench billowed into the sky, dyeing the gloomy Western Regions firmament in blood-red hues.
Over a hundred meters away, the towering, mobile volcano-like figure of the Blood Sand Flame Demon Emperor stood majestically amidst the sea of lava. The primordial beast’s height of over eighty meters completely blocked the line of sight ahead. Each of the dark crimson dragon scales on its rugged body radiated a soul-shattering, terrifying heat that caused the surrounding air to incessantly warp and vaporize.
Following the fierce domain clash that had lasted for half a quarter-hour, Lin Feng’s golden Dragon Flame Domain had managed to block the first wave of the Sand Demon Domain. However, the insurmountable chasm between an Advanced Mage and a true Archaic Monarch remained an unbridgeable abyss.
Beneath the giant beast’s feet, the malevolent fire had incinerated the entire ancient mausoleum. The shattered black stone coffin drifted amidst the boiling lava lake.
“ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!”
The wild, feral roar of the Blood Sand Flame Demon Emperor shrieked harshly, piercing the listeners’ eardrums. Its blood-red eyes, resembling two pools of crimson moons, locked unwaveringly onto Lin Feng’s diminutive figure. For an overlord that had once ruled the Western Regions wilderness since the prehistoric era, being blocked in its domain by a young human Advanced Mage using fire was an ultimate, unforgivable humiliation!
The violent killing intent accumulated over a millennium at the bottom of the ancient black stone coffin erupted like a breached dam.
Its two giant arms, covered in dense, spiked lava, suddenly raised high toward the sky. Thick, tree-root-like muscles convulsed violently, pulling dark veins on the rocky armor to swell like twisting wind pythons.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Thousands of tons of red sand and magma from the bottom of the abyss suddenly surged backward into the air, as if an irresistible gravitational force were tearing apart the natural order of the world. All the densest, most malevolent magic energy within a ten-mile radius spun wildly, converging upon the space right between the sharp lava horns atop the monster’s head.
A colossal black-and-red fire sphere began to take shape!
Initially, it was only the size of a carriage, but within the span of three breaths, the sphere expanded at a dizzying speed, swallowing all the surrounding dust and toxic fire to transform into an extinction sphere exceeding fifty meters in diameter!
This sphere was not purely made of fire; rather, it was the ultimate condensation of desert magma, the resentful blood-aura of countless living beings, and primordial destruction magic fire — the Blood Flame World-Extinction Shell!
The surface of the black-and-red sphere churned with intricate, blood-colored magic runes, radiating a demonic light that caused the surrounding space to fracture into pitch-black streaks like a shattered mirror. The gravitational pressure emitted by the sphere was so heavy that the entire ground within a half-mile radius instantly sank another dozen meters. Sand and rocks were pulverized into fine powder in an instant, then melted by temperatures reaching tens of thousands of degrees into a layer of glowing red liquid glass!
“Damn it... This is the full-power strike of an Archaic Monarch!”
Far away at the edge of the canyon, Lieutenant General Meng Zhan staggered and collapsed to his knees, his hand gripping a magic battle spear plunged deep into the cliffside to keep his balance. Blood churned violently in his chest, and a mouthful of fresh blood spilled from the corner of his lips. The oppressive might from the extinction sphere weighed heavily upon his soul, causing the Earth-system star orbits within his spiritual sea to shake violently as if on the verge of shattering.
Beside him, Ye Qingwan bit her lower lip until it bled. Her long hair was whipped wildly by the gale wind, and her field uniform was tattered from the magic shockwaves. She raised her jade magic staff, desperately trying to condense streams of Wind Tracks and Spiritual Shields, but the moment her magic touched the edge of the thermal wave of the sphere, the entire star-orbit structure instantly disintegrated into ashes.
“Lin Feng! Fall back! Step aside!” Ye Qingwan screamed in despair, her hoarse voice swallowed by the roaring sea of fire. This strike gathered the millennium-long accumulated archaic magic energy of the giant beast, and it was absolutely not something any Advanced Mage could withstand with flesh or defensive magic!
Yet, Lin Feng could not retreat, nor did he have anywhere left to back away to!
Behind his back was the sole escape route leading toward West Town Ancient City. If this world-extinction sphere slammed down and detonated uncontrollably, its destructive shockwave would flatten the entire canyon, wipe out the border outpost, and claim the lives of the thirty thousand soldiers and civilians making their final stand at the pass.
“ROAAAAAAAAR!”
Beside Lin Feng, the Underworld Nether Wolf—having now evolved into the Taotie Black Wolf standing over twenty meters tall after breaking through to the Peak Lord realm—let out a roar that shook the night sky. Its obsidian-black, brocade-like fur stood on end, with intricate purple-black lightning arcs wrapping around the obsidian horn on its forehead. All four limbs of the giant wolf dug deeply into the collapsing ground. Even though a pressure weighing like a thousand mountains pressed down, causing the joints throughout its body to creak and blood to seep from between its claws, the loyal battle beast bared its fangs and flashed its claws, shielding half its body in front of its master, ready to use its flesh as a mortal barrier!
Lin Feng reached out his left hand and patted gently on the iron-hard lightning-scaled flank of the Black Wolf:
“Black Wolf, hold your ground. We haven’t lost yet.”
Lin Feng’s voice was low, cold, but imbued with a steel-forged determination tempered through hundreds of life-or-death bloody battles.
He raised his gaze upward.
Above his head, the colossal black-and-red Blood Flame World-Extinction Shell descended like a black-red sun!
The air was torn apart, producing piercing screeches akin to the wails of ten thousand spirits. The terrifying heat advanced, scorching away oxygen and making Lin Feng’s chest burn as if someone had poured molten lead into his trachea. The flesh on his arms began to flush red, and the magic energy within his Lightning Star Sea and Fire Star Sea was compressed to the point where even their spinning speed halted.
The gulf between Advanced and Monarch, at this moment, revealed itself in stark, breathtakingly cruel fashion.
Death?
A thought that flashed across was mercilessly pulverized by Lin Feng. He had crawled up from the abyss of ruined Border City, shattered every arrogant genius of the major clans, and even defeated the United States Empire to climb to the pinnacle of the world stage... He absolutely could not fall before a prehistoric beast in this barren wasteland!
The will to survive and indomitable battle intent surged within Lin Feng’s bloodstream like erupting magma. He clenched his teeth, his blood-drenched right hand gripping tightly onto the rough jade pendant pressed against his chest.
The Primordial Dragon Pendant!
From the very first day he awakened magic at Fenglan High School, this ancestral jade pendant had always silently accompanied him. The first layer accelerated meditation, the second collected residual souls and refined soul essences... But he always knew deep within this archaic guardian treasure were sealed earth-shaking powers that had yet to manifest!
At this moment, Lin Feng’s hand tightened around the Dragon Pendant. Fresh blood oozing from his torn palm soaked the carved dragon patterns coiling across the rough, dark gray stone surface.
Clang!
A crisp, melodious chime echoed straight within Lin Feng’s soul.
Sensing the fatal murderous intent pressing upon its master’s life, and resonating with his unyielding iron will that would never submit, the year-round ice-cold jade pendant suddenly blazed hot like a glowing coal!
The pulse of the Dragon Pendant began to throb, beat by beat... merging as one with the frantically pounding heartbeat within Lin Feng’s chest!
BOOM!
Inside the deep, sealed space of the pendant, tens of thousands of sand beast residual souls accumulated from the start of the battle, along with the complete magic energy essence of the four Giant Rock Sand Demons and the remnants of the Evil Sand Shaman he had just devoured, simultaneously ignited. The colossal soul energy surged like a roaring torrent, pouring directly toward an ancient golden giant stone gate tightly sealed in the deepest part of the pendant.
Upon that stone gate, the third seal bearing the Five-Clawed Divine Dragon totem began to sprout brilliant cracks!
“CRACK!”
A crisp sound resembling the breaking of a giant god’s shackles echoed through Lin Feng’s mind!
ROAR!
A deep, archaic dragon roar carrying the absolute majesty of the lord of all creatures since the dawn of creation suddenly erupted!
That roar did not travel through the air; instead, it vibrated straight into the souls of all living beings present within a hundred-mile radius of the wilderness!
The entire Western Regions desert suddenly fell into a moment of absolute stillness. The howling wind, the tumbling rocks, the wild roars of the monster horde... everything fell silent as if strangled by an invisible hand of heaven and earth.
SWISH!
From amidst the gap of Lin Feng’s hand gripping the Dragon Pendant, a brilliant, ancient golden ray of light shot straight outward.
Initially, the beam was as thin as a thread, but within a tenth of a blink, it exploded into a colossal golden pillar of light that tore through the gloomy night sky!
WHOOSH!
The golden pillar of light pierced through the pitch-black clouds three thousand meters high in the firmament, illuminating the barren Western Regions desert brilliantly like midday. Red sand, magma, toxic smoke—all the filth and evil of the battlefield were pushed aside to both sides by this pure golden radiance!
PRIMORDIAL DRAGON PENDANT — OFFICIAL UNLOCK OF THE THIRD SEAL LAYER!
A hemispherical golden shockwave swept outward from Lin Feng’s chest in all directions. Wherever the shockwave reached, the cracking, sinking ground was instantly stabilized as firm as bedrock, and the boiling lava was neutralized into cold ash.
“ROOOOOOOAR?!”
The blood-red eyes of the Blood Sand Flame Demon Emperor suddenly widened in terror. The giant beast’s body of over eighty meters involuntarily took a step back, causing the ground beneath its feet to sway and tremble!
Within its ferocious, primordial bloodline, the deepest, most primal fear was awakened. This fear did not stem from magic or cultivation rank, but was deeply carved into its genetic code from the primeval era—fear before the SUPREME ONE of all mutant beasts!
Behind Lin Feng, the sea of golden light surged and condensed, its magnificent and majestic contours gradually taking shape.
It was a prehistoric Golden Ancient Dragon!
The Divine Dragon phantom was hundreds of zhang long, its entire body wrapped in golden dragon scales radiating brilliant radiance like indestructible diamonds. The dragon’s head was as majestic as a sacred mountain, its horns pointing straight to pierce the firmament, and its golden dragon whiskers drifting in the void. Its amber-gold dragon eyes opened wide, looking down upon the Blood Sand Flame Demon Emperor below like an emperor gazing down upon an insignificant ant daring to offend the imperial countenance!
BOOM!
The supreme Divine Dragon might descended upon the entire battlefield like a collapsing sky!
CRACK, CRACK, CRACK!
The unbreakable, solid lava rock armor on the Blood Sand Flame Demon Emperor’s body suddenly cracked into massive chunks under the compression of the Divine Dragon’s pressure, sending molten lava splashing in all directions.
The giant beast let out a stifled, agonizing roar, its massive limbs trembling violently, its spike-armored knees nearly buckling before the gaze of the Ancient Dragon!
The evil desert bloodline within its body was completely sealed off by the archaic dragon aura. The monster’s magic circulation speed instantly stagnated, and its overwhelmingly violent Monarch aura plummeted in a freefall!
Ten percent... nine percent... eight percent...
In the blink of an eye, the total magic power and pressure of the Blood Sand Flame Demon Emperor had been suppressed and reduced by a staggering thirty percent by the third sealed layer of the Dragon Pendant!
“W-What on earth is that?!”
A kilometer away, Lieutenant General Meng Zhan dropped his jaw, his bloodshot eyes locked onto the colossal Divine Dragon phantom reigning over Lin Feng’s head. The battle spear in his hand trembled violently:
“Prehistoric Divine Dragon... Could he be... the successor of the legendary Divine Dragon Temple of the Central Plains?!”
Ye Qingwan stood frozen in a daze beside him. She clutched her heavily heaving chest, her clear eyes filled with shock beyond description. She had seen Lin Feng fight countless times, had witnessed him shine on the world stage, but never... never had she felt such a majestic, archaic, and overwhelmingly dominant aura from the young man!
At that very moment, the colossal fifty-meter-wide Blood Flame World-Extinction Shell had descended, less than ten fathoms away from Lin Feng’s head!
The fire sphere, carrying the power capable of destroying an entire city, hurtled downward with crushing momentum.
Yet, Lin Feng did not move at all.
He stood straight amidst the brilliant sea of golden light, his pitch-black field cloak fluttering fiercely in the storm winds. His gaze was cold and calm as he watched the destructive sphere descending right before his eyes.
“Disperse.”
Lin Feng parted his lips slightly, uttering a single word.
The voice was as light as a feather, yet carried the supreme rules of the Third Layer Dragon God!
SWISH!
From the body of the Golden Ancient Dragon behind his back, a brilliant golden light resembling a cascading waterfall poured downward, forming an octagonal prismatic barrier that completely enveloped Lin Feng and the Black Wolf within.
The aggressive Blood Flame World-Extinction Shell slammed fiercely into that golden prismatic barrier.
There was no deafening explosion as everyone imagined.
Nor was there any scene of collapsing heaven and earth or devastating shockwaves.
The exact moment the malevolent magic fire and black-red lava touched the surface of the Dragon God’s light barrier, the entire chaotic magic structure of the sphere was instantly pierced and purified by the golden light!
HISS, HISS, HISS...
Like a thousand-year iceberg thrown into an alchemical furnace, the giant fifty-meter fire sphere began to melt at a visible speed. Layer by layer of desert magma was peeled away, and every wisp of evil resentment was burned into nothingness.
In a mere five breaths, the full-power strike gathering a millennium of magic energy from an Archaic Monarch... was completely neutralized, dissolving into countless black-and-red embers drifting in the wind before fading into the void!
Heaven and earth returned to an eerie clarity.
On the cracked ground, Lin Feng slowly lifted his feet off the ground.
Supported by the pure golden dragon aura, his figure slowly levitated into mid-air, rising to eye level with the Blood Sand Flame Demon Emperor.
Around Lin Feng’s body, six magic vortexes representing the Six Elements began to spin at a dizzying speed.
Especially the Lightning Star Sea and Fire Star Sea within his spiritual sea!
Bathed and filled by the dragon aura from the third sealed layer, the flames of the Primordial Dragon Flame Soul-Seed burned more fiercely than ever before, with golden fire lotus blossoms blooming across his arms. Simultaneously, the purple-black Nirvanic Lightning Seed energy roared and churned, with thick arm-sized lightning bolts twisting tightly around Lin Feng’s body like ferocious thunder serpents.
Lin Feng’s eyes flashed with sharp lightning-fire divine radiance, piercing the gloomy night and locking straight into the bewildered, terrified eyes of the prehistoric beast!
Beneath his feet, the Underworld Nether Wolf raised its head and roared. Having absorbed a pure strand of dragon aura spilling from the third layer, all injuries on the giant wolf’s body healed instantly. The obsidian lightning along its spine flared with a powerful dark purple halo, its aura firmly reigning at the Peak Lord realm!
The Blood Sand Flame Demon Emperor stared at the figure levitating amidst the brilliant golden light, its entire body trembling in successive shudders.
Its magic power suppressed by thirty percent, its strongest extinction ultimate move neutralized like a child’s game... Utter terror began to grip the mind of the millennium-old desert overlord. It wanted to turn and flee, wanted to burrow back three thousand meters deep into the earth to escape this terrifying Dragon God pressure!
However, Lin Feng no longer gave it that chance.
He slowly raised his right hand.
All the Lightning-Fire magic energy in his spiritual sea furiously converged into his palm, combining with the boundless dragon power from the Primordial Dragon Pendant, creating a dazzling golden lightning-fire sphere resembling a true sun!
The corners of Lin Feng’s lips curled into a cold, blade-sharp arc:
“Archaic Monarch? Millennial taboo?”
His voice echoed across the skies of the Western Regions, deep and majestic like thunder in a clear blue sky:
“Daring to spread calamity across the lands of the Central Plains, today... I will use your very skull to consecrate the banner of the Dragon Pendant’s fame!”
The lightning-fire pressure erupted to its peak, and an earth-shattering Monarch-slaying battle... was about to begin!