“The reaction is not slow.”
The ice wyrm sneered coldly, opening its massive jaws and unleashing a beam of icy blue breath.
That breath was not flame, but the laws of extreme cold condensed to their utmost limit.
Wherever it passed, even light itself froze and twisted, forming a bizarre icy blue passage that reached Chen Ping in an instant.
“Indestructible Golden Body!”
Chen Ping did not dare to be careless. He fully mobilised his chaotic immortal power, covering his entire body with a layer of gleaming golden scales.
The little fire qilin also opened its mouth and spat out a pillar of golden flame, attempting to counter the breath.
“Hiss!”
The golden flame pillar collided with the icy blue breath, producing intense hissing sounds as vast clouds of white mist billowed up.
But the little fire qilin’s flames were clearly at a disadvantage. The golden pillar was steadily compressed and extinguished, while the icy blue breath pressed forward unstoppable, continuing toward Chen Ping.
“Boom!”
The chaotic shield collided with the breath, producing a muffled explosion.
Chen Ping felt an irresistible force surge through him. The shield instantly cracked all over, and his whole body was sent flying hundreds of zhang like being struck by an ancient divine mountain. He crashed heavily onto the ice surface, coughing up a large mouthful of blood mixed with tiny ice crystals.
The little fire qilin was also caught by the breath’s aftermath. It let out a miserable cry and tumbled away, many of its scales shattered, its golden flames nearly extinguished.
In just two moves, both Chen Ping and the little fire qilin were gravely injured.
The terror of a ninth-rank peak Heavenly Immortal was truly horrifying.
“Too weak.”
The ice wyrm shook its head, its eyes filled with disdain. “I thought I might stretch my limbs a little, but you are so pitifully inadequate. Very well, let us end this quickly.”
It slowly raised its enormous foreclaw, cold light glinting from the tips, and brought it down toward Chen Ping.
If this claw landed solidly, Chen Ping would likely be reduced to minced meat on the spot.
Outside the grand formation, the Red Cloud Demon Lord and Ling Shuang watched with eyes nearly splitting from rage, desperate to rush in and help, yet blocked by the formation. They could only watch in despair.
The palace master frowned slightly, as if about to speak, but in the end remained silent.
At this moment of life and death, a mad gleam flashed in Chen Ping’s eyes.
“I cannot die here… absolutely not!”
He bit the tip of his tongue fiercely, spraying a mouthful of essence blood onto the Dragon Slaying Sword. At the same time, his hands formed seals at blinding speed. The chaotic immortal power, chaotic fire lotus, and true dragon vital blood within him all began to burn and fuse frantically.
“With my essence blood, I call my true name! With my divine soul, I summon my true form!”
“Chaotic Dragon Transformation, Golden Dragon Form!”
Chen Ping roared furiously, his voice carrying an ancient and majestic cadence.
“Roar!!!”
A dragon chant far more ancient, far more majestic, far more soul-shaking than the ice wyrm’s roar suddenly erupted from within Chen Ping.
It was no illusion, no phantom.
It was a real, tangible roar from the depths of his bloodline, belonging to a primordial true dragon.
As the dragon chant rang out, dazzling golden light burst from Chen Ping’s body.
That golden light was pure, sacred, majestic, carrying an supreme pressure that lorded over all beasts.
Within the golden light, astonishing changes began to occur in Chen Ping’s body.
Dense golden dragon scales emerged across his skin.
His hands transformed into dragon claws, fingertips sharp as divine weapons.
On his forehead, two small yet infinitely majestic dragon horns slowly extended.
Behind him, a thick and powerful dragon tail lashed out, cracking the ice surface with each strike.
His eyes became pure golden vertical pupils, cold, majestic, regarding all with indifference.
A dragon aura far more ancient, far purer, far nobler than the ice wyrm’s surged from Chen Ping like a tide, instantly filling the entire depression.
Under this dragon aura, the ice wyrm’s previously overwhelming pressure melted away like ice meeting the blazing sun, rapidly retreating.
The massive claw the ice wyrm had brought down froze in mid-air.
In its enormous icy blue vertical pupils appeared unprecedented shock, horror, and… a trace of fear rooted deep in its bloodline.
“This… this is… true dragon pressure?!”
For the first time, the ice wyrm’s voice trembled. “Impossible! How can a human body possess such pure true dragon bloodline?! You… who exactly are you?!”
Chen Ping did not answer.
At this moment, he felt infinite power coursing through him, yet at the same time he bore enormous strain.
Chaotic Dragon Transformation was a forbidden technique whereby he used chaotic immortal power to simulate a true dragon form and ignite his true dragon vital blood. Its power was immense, but the burden on body and soul was equally great. He could not sustain it for long.
He had to end the fight quickly.
“Now, am I qualified to take the blood lotus?”
Chen Ping spoke, his voice like grinding metal, carrying the characteristic majesty and indifference of the dragon race.
The ice wyrm’s colossal body trembled slightly. The ferocity in its eyes had long been replaced by fear.
It possessed a trace of ice wyrm bloodline, already exceptional among draconic beasts, but faced with true, utterly pure true dragon pressure, that bloodline suppression was fatal.
It was like a vassal beholding the sovereign, a mouse encountering a cat. It was instinctive reverence etched into the bones.
“You… you…”
The ice wyrm tried to speak, but the words turned into low whimpers.
Its enormous body slowly lowered until it lay prostrate on the ice, bowing its proud head.
This was submission.
Outside the formation, the Red Cloud Demon Lord and Ling Shuang stared in stunned silence.
A flash of shock also passed through the palace master’s eyes as she murmured to herself, “Such pure true dragon pressure… Sword Star, just what is the background of this successor you chose?”
Seeing the ice wyrm submit, Chen Ping breathed a quiet sigh of relief, yet he dared not relax in the slightest.
Maintaining the Golden Dragon Form, he walked step by step toward the cold pool.
The ice wyrm lay prostrate, not daring to move, not even daring to raise its head to look at Chen Ping.
Reaching the edge of the cold pool, Chen Ping looked at the thousand-year Ice Soul Blood Lotus.
The bud had already half-opened, its crimson petals alluring and vivid, emitting a tempting fragrance.
He reached out and carefully uprooted the entire blood lotus, placing it into a prepared cold jade box and sealing it.
Throughout the process, the ice wyrm merely watched in silence, a trace of reluctance in its eyes, but far more reverence.
Having harvested the blood lotus, Chen Ping did not linger. He turned and walked toward the edge of the depression.
The little fire qilin limped after him, its gaze toward Chen Ping now filled with awe.
Only after Chen Ping had passed through the gap in the grand formation did the ice wyrm slowly raise its head. It stared in the direction Chen Ping had gone, complex emotions swirling in its massive vertical pupils.
