Volume 3: Global Vanguard & The Advanced Pinnacle
Chapter 246
Nine Dragons As One, Slaying the Early Monarch Beast!
The wind across the Tota Desert suddenly died away.
The atmosphere grew as thick and suffocating as if an invisible hand had gripped it by the throat. The golden radiance from the Primordial Dragon Temple phantom behind Lin Feng had not yet dissipated; instead, it transformed into invisible threads of order, plunging deep into every single magma vein of the Blood Sand Flame Demon Sovereign.
Thirty percent of its magical power had been instantly stripped away, striking a heavy blow directly at the arrogant soul of an ancient overlord!
“ROOOAR... OOOOH!”
The Blood Sand Flame Demon Sovereign threw back its head and unleashed a roar that tore eardrums apart. That sound no longer held the haughty, ferocious cruelty it possessed when it first shattered the seal; instead, it was filled with utter, bone-chilling terror. Its crimson eyes, as large as twin lakes of magma, twitched violently, and its pupils dilated in panic as they stared fixedly at the youthful figure hovering mid-air.
It smelled the scent of death!
The human before it clearly radiated only High-Level magic fluctuations, yet the divine dragon majesty and the composite energy surging across his body brought a sense of annihilation far surpassing a millennium of its life experience.
Run! It had to escape immediately!
The survival instinct of the ancient beast instantly crushed its bloodlust. The giant rock-armored limbs of the Flame Demon Sovereign buckled, and its lower body began to dissolve into torrential streams of liquid lava, frantically drilling deep into the shifting sands below.
HISSSSS!
The golden sand beneath the giant beast’s feet boiled, transforming into a colossal, bottomless pit of melting magma. It wanted to use the three-thousand-meter-deep desert terrain to make its escape! As long as it burrowed down to the subterranean magma layer at the base of the continent, even if a True Dragon were to be reincarnated, it would find it difficult to hunt down a dual Earth-Fire Monarch!
“This is bad! That damned beast is trying to burrow underground and run!”
More than a kilometer away, Meng Zhan stood atop the shattered defensive ramparts and roared at the top of his lungs, his face drained of color. As a seasoned frontier general, he understood better than anyone the catastrophic danger of letting an Ancient Monarch escape. Once it healed its wounds, the entire Western Frontier defense line would face the most horrific revenge-filled nightmare imaginable!
“Lin Feng! Absolutely do not let it burrow into the earth!” Meng Zhan bellowed, his hands gripping his battle spear so tightly that his knuckles bled.
Ye Qingwan bit down hard on her lower lip, her hands interlaced before her chest, her eyes refusing to leave the proud back in mid-air for even half a second.
Yet Lin Feng remained standing tall and unyielding between heaven and earth, the hem of his combat robes whipping violently in the gale. A trace of cold mockery curved the corners of his lips:
“Beneath my feet, do you really think you have a way out?”
He softly opened his lips, transmitting his voice via their telepathic link:
— Da Hei, lock it down for me!
“ROAR-WOOO-OOO!”
A muffled, deep wolf howl carrying the gloomy, chilling aura of the netherworld instantly echoed in response.
From beneath the shadow of a shattered boulder, the Nether-Prison Taotie Battle Wolf darted out like a pitch-black streak of lightning. Having absorbed the golden dragon qi from the third tier of the Primordial Dragon Pendant, the giant wolf’s body had not only fully recovered from its injuries, but the obsidian stone armor along its spine had also mutated, sprouting dragon scales shimmering with deep purple light, firmly reigning at the pinnacle of the Lord-class!
Swoosh!
The Battle Wolf’s fifteen-meter-long body tore through the air. Showing no fear toward the scorching sea of lava, its four claws—sheathed in black lightning and fire—stomped directly onto the rolling waves of magma.
Just as the Blood Sand Flame Demon Sovereign had sunk halfway down into the sand pit, the Battle Wolf leaped high into the air, its massive jaws lined with razor-sharp fangs snapping wide open to clamp down fiercely onto the giant beast’s massive hind knee joint!
CRUNCH!
Black-and-red magma blood splattered across the Battle Wolf’s fur, hissing with burning smoke. The intense heat of the lava scorched its flesh, yet the Taotie’s fangs remained deeply embedded in the thorny armor, grinding the ancient magical beast’s flesh to pulp!
“ROAR!”
The Blood Sand Flame Demon Sovereign furiously whipped its spike-covered tail against the Battle Wolf’s flank, producing a muffled explosion. The Battle Wolf’s ribs cracked with a crisp snap, but its jaws remained clamped down like iron nails!
At the same time, the darkness beneath the Battle Wolf’s belly ballooned frantically:
“Nether-Prison Binding — Myriad Shadow Soul-Locking Chains!”
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Hundreds of dark chains, as thick as ancient tree trunks and crackling with dark-purple lightning, roared upward from the black sand. In the blink of an eye, they wrapped tightly around the Blood Sand Flame Demon Sovereign’s hind legs, lower body, and tail, plunging deep into the surrounding desert bedrock and pulling taut to their absolute limit!
The entire web of dark chains vibrated violently under the monarch’s brutal strength. Fresh blood oozed from the corners of the Battle Wolf’s mouth, but its four claws remained locked into the earth, pouring its entire life force into pinning the colossal beast down.
Three seconds!
The Battle Wolf used its very flesh and soul to buy the most precious three seconds of stagnation on the battlefield!
High in the sky, Lin Feng witnessed the scene, and a towering killing intent erupted:
“That’s enough, Da Hei. Fall back!”
As the words fell, an energy fluctuation unlike anything ever seen in this world awakened from within the youth’s chest.
Inside Lin Feng’s boundless spiritual sea, his two most brilliant galaxy systems were churning at extreme speeds.
Three hundred and forty-three deep-purple Third-Tier Lightning star-nodes blazed with light!
Three hundred and forty-three fiery-crimson Third-Tier Fire star-nodes roared in unison!
A total of six hundred and eighty-six star-nodes belonging to the two Advanced Tier-3 magic elements, guided by his formidable divine soul, began to intertwine and connect through wondrous magical trajectories. All six elements of magical energy within Lin Feng’s body resonated in unison at their highest frequency!
And the supreme catalyst fusing all this violent power together... was the Dragon Power from the third tier of the Primordial Dragon Pendant!
“AWOOOO-OOO!”
A primordial dragon roar from the age of chaos tore through space. Nine colossal golden torrents of aura surged up into the blue sky, ripping apart the desert dark clouds across a hundred-mile radius to reveal nine gigantic lightning-fire vortexes.
“Primordial Dragon Flame...”
Lin Feng slowly raised his right fist. Swirling golden dragon patterns stood out in sharp relief across his arm, and zig-zagging wisps of dark-purple lightning tightly wrapped around his fingers.
“Nine Dragons World-Extinction Fist!”
BOOOOM!
The ninth cloud layer shattered!
Nine golden giant dragons covered in pitch-black Annihilation Lightning plunged downward from the nine vortexes! Each dragon was over three hundred meters long, their scales flashing brilliantly, their razor-sharp claws tearing the void apart, carrying a destructive might capable of leveling mountains and rivers.
Yet those nine giant dragons did not crash straight down into the ground.
Throwing back their heads, they let out a heaven-shaking roar before winding around and diving straight toward Lin Feng!
The nine dragon heads descended from the nine heavens, entering and merging into his shoulders, chest, back, and arm! The three most majestic giant dragons compressed all their Lightning-Fire magical energy and ancient Dragon Power directly into his right fist!
The space surrounding Lin Feng’s fist collapsed into tiny, pitch-black fissures. The light of the entire Western Frontier appeared to be sucked dry into that single fist-intent!
At that moment, the Blood Sand Flame Demon Sovereign had just violently snapped the final dark chains. But the instant it raised its gaze to the sky, all its ferocity abruptly froze.
It saw a sun of golden lightning and fire descending upon it!
“ROOOAR!”
In the split second of impending death, the Blood Sand Flame Demon Sovereign poured every ounce of its millennium-long life force into defense. All the magma from the deep abyss surged upward, wrapping around its chest and head to form a Black Rock Divine Armor over three meters thick, its surface deeply carved with ancient, indestructible lava runes!
Yet Lin Feng in mid-air had already moved.
Swoosh!
Space exploded! Lin Feng’s figure transformed into a golden shooting star mixed with the purple hues of Annihilation, trailing an energy tail thousands of feet long as it plunged straight down from a height of five hundred meters!
The five-hundred-meter distance vanished in a tenth of a blink!
“Die for me!”
A cold roar rang out directly above the Blood Sand Flame Demon Sovereign’s head.
Lin Feng’s fist, carrying the accumulated might of Nine Dragons As One, smashed ruthlessly into the exact center of the ancient beast’s chest!
CLANG!
A piercing sound like an ancient bronze bell reverberated across heaven and earth. The hearing of every single soldier stationed miles away instantly plunged into a blank, ringing silence.
Time seemed to freeze for a fraction of a second.
The youth’s small human fist rested squarely against the giant beast’s three-meter-thick Black Rock Divine Armor.
One-tenth of a second later...
CRACK!
From the point of impact of Lin Feng’s fist, the ancient lava runes on the surface of the rock armor exploded. Brilliant golden cracks began to spread at a dizzying speed, enveloping the beast’s entire chest like a spiderweb!
The proud, three-meter-thick armor of an Ancient Monarch... shattered like fragile glass!
“IMPOSSIBLE...!”
In the Blood Sand Flame Demon Sovereign’s massive eyes, golden light flooded its entire vision. It felt a surging, blistering torrent of power ten times hotter than magma violently charging straight into its internal organs!
BOOM!
Lin Feng’s fist shattered the stone armor, pulverized the thick layers of magma muscle, and plunged straight into the core of the Blood Sand Flame Demon Sovereign’s body!
His lightning-and-fire-wrapped hand grasped a blazing crystal as large as a room that was beating heavily—the Flame Demon’s Heart! The vital core of a Monarch!
A chilling gleam flashed across the corners of Lin Feng’s eyes. His five fingers suddenly tightened!
“Break!”
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
The Nine Dragons lightning and fire compressed within his fist-intent completely unleashed right inside the magic beast’s heart!
From within the giant, hundred-meter-tall body of the Blood Sand Flame Demon Sovereign, thousands of golden rays of light and dark-purple lightning pierced straight through its flesh, scattering in all directions. The giant beast threw its head back, its massive mouth gaping wide, but it could no longer emit any sound at all; only torrential floods of lightning-fire energy erupted from its eye sockets and maw!
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
A heaven-shaking explosion tore eardrums asunder!
The entire desert within a ten-mile radius shook violently. A colossal pillar of lightning and fire soared into the blue sky, sweeping away all the surrounding golden sand into flat wasteland.
The giant body of the Blood Sand Flame Demon Sovereign exploded from within!
Tons of heavy magma fragments scattered across the sky before raining down like a shower of deep-crimson meteorites. When the energy storm subsided, at the center remained only a crater three hundred meters in diameter and a towering pile of glowing magma ash dozens of meters high.
The Blood Sand Flame Demon Sovereign—the millennium desert overlord, the ancient taboo that had once driven entire kingdoms to ruin... had completely fallen!
The desert wind began to blow once more, carrying the distinct burnt scent of the battlefield.
The atmosphere across the entire Western Frontier defense line plunged into a deathly silence.
Every single frontier mage, weather-beaten hunter, and high-ranking military officer stood rooted to the spot, staring blankly at the smoking pile of ashes in the distance.
Not a single person dared to speak.
A young mage, clearly possessing only High-Level cultivation... yet with the power of a single fist, had smashed through the three-meter defense of an Ancient Monarch, crushed the Flame Demon’s Heart, and slain the giant beast right before everyone’s eyes!
Slaying a Monarch across realms!
This was a feat that only existed in ancient legends! Ever since the modern magical civilization was established, no Advanced mage had ever single-handedly slain a true Monarch!
Clang!
The battle spear in Lieutenant-General Meng Zhan’s hand slipped to the ground, striking the stone slab. Hot tears involuntarily spilled from his aged, wrinkled eyes:
“We won... He... he really killed the Flame Demon Sovereign!”
“The Western Frontier... is saved!”
Meng Zhan’s trembling, muttered words instantly detonated the entire battlefield!
“Long live! Master Lin Feng, long live!”
“A miracle! This is the miracle of our Divine Land!”
“The Monarch is dead!”
Thousands of soldiers broke out in cheers and sobs of deliverance, shaking a corner of the Western Frontier.
Ye Qingwan stood upon the observation platform, her hands tightly clutching her chest. She watched as, amidst the swirling dust and smoke within the magma crater, a straight figure slowly walked out. A radiant smile bloomed upon her lips as emotional tears gently traced down her cheeks. Her young man had once again created a miracle that shocked the entire magical world!
Meanwhile, at the center of the magma crater.
Lin Feng slowly retracted his fist. The golden flames and dark-purple lightning subsided. The Lightning and Fire magic energy in his spiritual sea was more than half depleted, but his demeanor remained radiant, his aura as sharp as a supreme divine sword just tempered through a sea of blood.
The Battle Wolf, Da Hei, limped over to his side, rubbing its massive head against its master’s leg and emitting satisfied grunts. Lin Feng smiled, reaching out to pat its stone armor and infusing its body with gentle life force and dragon qi to soothe its wounds.
Suddenly, Lin Feng’s chest trembled slightly.
The Primordial Dragon Pendant emitted a warm glow. From the giant pile of ashes belonging to the Blood Sand Flame Demon Sovereign, a pure deep-red energy gathered, transforming into a basketball-sized Monarch-grade Star Core that floated toward Lin Feng.
A Early Monarch-grade Flame Demon Star Core!
This was a priceless treasure containing the complete earth-fire magic essence accumulated by a Monarch over a millennium!
Not only that, a dark-green remnant soul carrying the miniature silhouette of the Blood Sand Flame Demon Sovereign, struggling weakly in mid-air, was caught by an invisible suction force from the Dragon Pendant, being pulled directly into the space within the jade pendant to be refined into a complete, flawless top-grade Monarch Star Soul!
A true Monarch Star Soul! Enough to fortify one of Lin Feng’s magic systems to an unimaginable realm!
Yet, just as Lin Feng collected the Flame Demon Star Core, the smile on his lips abruptly froze.
He suddenly whipped around, his sharp gaze staring intently deep into the magma ash of the giant beast.
At the deepest point at the bottom of the sinkhole, where his fist had just torn open a millennium of magma strata, lay not the ordinary desert sand and rock he expected.
HISSSSS...
Wisps of pitch-black smoke carrying a suffocating, rotting aura of death began to rise from a deep fissure. Beneath the cooling ashes, an ancient stone gate covered in bizarre bloody runes slowly revealed itself.
Carved upon that stone gate was a terrifyingly familiar floral symbol—the Black Holy Emblem of the Black Vatican, alongside an evil Abyss aura that was slowly stirring and awakening!
Lin Feng narrowed his eyes, his hand resting upon the Primordial Dragon Pendant tightening:
“The Blood Sand Flame Demon Sovereign... was never awakened naturally. Was it merely a guard dog deliberately let out by someone to cover this up?”