Witnessing the group of Great Monster Elders, their killing intent surging like a tide, Lan An's eyes flickered with a cold, predatory light. A savage smirk played upon his lips as he took several measured steps forward.
Behind him, Wu San Niang, Ju Meiying, and Ju Aman braced themselves, assuming their combat stances...
AWOOO—!
The Dragon Power Cauldron within him spun with frantic speed. Two colossal phantoms, each hundreds of feet long, erupted from his body and coiled above his head. The True Dragon and the Inverse Dragon manifested in their full glory, exuding a peerless, overbearing majesty. As these two primordial auras swept across the battlefield, the Great Monster Elders broke into a cold sweat. Their expressions turned grim; it felt as though an ancient sovereign had descended to look down upon them.
"Curse it! Where did this brat obtain such draconic power?" Ju Yaotong and his elders were shaken to the core. Facing Lan An, they felt their very souls tremble.
"Do not be deterred! Though our strength is partially suppressed, we still possess more than enough power to slaughter them!" shouted one elder. He possessed a human body with the head of an eagle and a pair of feathered wings spanning his back—this was Elder Ying, the Fifth Elder of the Great Monster Clan, a Mid-stage Tenth Transformation expert.
"If we slay him, we might even seize the secrets of the legendary Dragons for ourselves!" Elder Ying, a seasoned veteran of the Manhuang Star, looked at Lan An with eyes full of avarice, his words rallying the wavering elders.
Sure enough, at the mention of the legendary Dragon secrets, the eyes of the Great Monster Elders turned bloodshot with greed. Such a prize was an irresistible temptation for any race, especially one like the Great Monster Clan which carried beastly lineage.
"You wish to slay me? Are you truly prepared for the cost?" Lan An threw his head back and laughed. His arms moved in a blur of afterimages as the violet-black phantom of the Inverse Dragon grew more vivid and corporeal by the second, its size expanding and its visage becoming ever more savage.
The Great Monster Elders assumed a defensive posture. Sensing the latent danger within this burgeoning aura, they intended to weather Lan An's initial strike before launching a devastating counter-offensive from which there would be no escape.
Behind Lan An, Wu San Niang and the others watched with bated breath, waiting for him to unleash his full might.
ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!
The Inverse Dragon howled. Lan An bellowed in unison:
"Dragon-Slaying Third—!"
Everyone expected a world-shaking palm strike directed at the enemy. However, Lan An's next action caught everyone—friend and foe alike—completely off guard.
Mid-incantation, Lan An spun around with decisive, grim resolve. He thrust both palms outward, not at the monsters, but at his own companions, his voice ringing with absolute confidence:
"Do not worry for me!"
The tyrannical Inverse Dragon Force roared forth. But instead of lethal intent, it carried an inexhaustible, repelling force...
BOOM!
Following its master's will, the force swept toward Wu San Niang and the siblings like a tidal wave.
"No!! You vile husband, you tricked me!?" Wu San Niang reacted the fastest, dozens of Jade Bones erupting from her body to anchor her to the earth. Ju Meiying and Ju Aman scrambled to grab onto anything solid.
Unfortunately, the sheer magnitude of the Inverse Dragon Force was beyond their calculation. Caught off guard by Lan An's "sneak attack," Man Kieu's Jade Bones couldn't hold for even a breath, and the two giants fared no better. All of them were blown backward.
"You fool! You're a total fool!"
The massive frames of Ju Aman and Ju Meiying, along with the curvaceous, mature figure of Wu San Niang, were propelled by the force directly into the heart of the Teleportation Array.
"Mengji, tell them they must trust me!" Lan An didn't have time to look at Wu San Niang's expression of mingled love and fury. He swiftly pulled a ring from his finger and threw it with precision at her; within it resided the soul of Dan Mengji.
"If anything happens to you... Qing Xuan and I will never forgive you in this life!" Dan Mengji's voice, trembling with emotion, drifted through the air before she fell into Wu San Niang's arms.
In the final moment before they vanished, Ju Aman's teeth were gritted so hard they creaked. His honest eyes were bloodshot and brimming with tears. He hated his own weakness, knowing he was only able to be saved because he wasn't strong enough to resist Lan An's repelling palm. Ju Meiying bit her ruby lips until they bled; this man was risking everything, standing alone against a horde of elders, just to ensure her safety.
HUMMM—!
The massive array ignited. The group dissolved into points of light and vanished into the layers of space.
The sudden turn of events left Ju Yaotong and the Great Monster Elders dazed. They had assumed Lan An was preparing a devastating attack, only for him to suddenly turn on his own allies to cast them into the array.
"How noble... how moving... but soon, you will be nothing but a corpse!" Ju Yaotong's eyes were practically spitting fire as he glared at Lan An, his voice trembling with rage.
They had been played like fiddles. The "feinting to the east to strike the west" tactic, combined with Lan An's flawless acting, had left them no opening to intervene. To do this, Lan An had even deceived his own wife and master. For Ju Yaotong, who had brought such overwhelming force, to be outmaneuvered by a single human brat was a humiliation beyond bearing.
"Kill him! Half of you pin him down, the rest destroy the array!" Ju Yaotong commanded. If he couldn't have the prize, he would burn the bridge.
"You wish to break the path? Haha! Step over my body first!"
Lan An laughed toward the heavens. With the Lan Hong Sword on his back, the Eight Desolates Sky-Soaring Flame howling around him, the Golden Crow guarding his form, and the Fire Giant lending its strength, he stood like a God of War, flanked by his two dragon phantoms.
Choosing offense as his best defense, he activated the Gate of Speed. Lan An became a streak of lightning across the horizon, his two True Dragon Claws swiping down at the Great Monster formation.
"Hmph! Two of you handle him, the rest obliterate that array!" Ju Yaotong ordered.
"Leave it to us!" Elder Ying led another Tenth Transformation elder to intercept Lan An, meeting the dragon claws head-on.
BOOM!
Lan An and his two opponents were forced back dozens of paces in the air. The resulting shockwave leveled a portion of the ancient forest.
"Hold him there! Break the array! Let them perish in the void!" Ju Yaotong laughed maniacally.
"With pleasure, haha!" Elder Xi (Rhino) gave a savage grin. He and the remaining elders lunged toward the array, intending to collapse the spatial tunnel while Wu San Niang and the others were still inside.
ROAR! HOWL! CRY! BELLOW!
Suddenly, four tyrannical sounds shook the earth. Four colossal silhouettes manifested behind Lan An, coldly blocking the elders' path.
The Earth Bear, rugged and sturdy, appeared. Formed from the Spirit Earth Cauldron's True Earth, it was slightly weaker than the others but knew no fear.
The Wood Turtle, formed from the Sky-Devouring Wood, stood unyielding and silent like an ancient mountain forest.
The Gold Tiger, its golden body shimmering under the sun, was agile and savage. Condensed from the Slaying Star Gold, its killing intent was palpable, its claws sharp enough to slice through space.
The Fire Phoenix, condensed from the Emperor Fire, its body shimmering with various Heavenly Fires, possessed power beyond description—the strongest of the four at this moment.
The Four Spirit Soul Guard Technique had finally reached its full potential. The four silhouettes stood as an impenetrable wall before the array.
Ding! As the Host has activated the Four Spirit Soul Guard Technique with a power source surpassing its creator's requirements, the technique is temporarily ranked as Zenith Grade!
The System's notification confirmed Lan An's assessment. The Fire Phoenix alone, birthed from the Emperor Fire, was a power far beyond any ordinary True Grade technique.
"What in the world...?"
Witnessing these four entities, each larger than themselves, the Great Monster Elders were momentarily stumped. Was this an illusion? How could such powerful existences appear so suddenly? It seemed they were extensions of the brat's own power.
ROAR!
Lan An didn't care for their confusion. The Gold Tiger, the most battle-hungry of the four, lunged with its soul-shaking killing intent. Its fangs and claws were like divine blades as it targeted Elder Xi.
SCREECH!
The Fire Phoenix was not to be outdone. It spread its massive, flame-covered wings, sweeping across the sky in a display of supreme majesty. Meanwhile, Lan An commanded the Wood Turtle and Earth Bear to support the Gold Tiger, the three of them working in tandem to match the power of the Phoenix.
The battle raged across two fronts: Lan An against the two Tenth Transformation elders, and his Four Spirits holding off Elder Xi and the rest.
Elder Xi grew increasingly horrified as the fight progressed. He found that these four conjured beasts simply wouldn't die. Even when he used his clan's Zenith Grade technique to shatter the Wood Turtle and Earth Bear, they would instantly reform as Spirit Power surged from their respective cauldrons.
"Is this... the peak of a Spirit Cultivator's power?" The Great Monster Elders' faces were grim. To be held back by four artificial beasts was a disgrace. They tried to tear through space to bypass them, but the Fire Phoenix's Emperor Fire had scorched the very dimensions, making spatial travel impossible.
"Hold them! I will do it!"
Taking advantage of the chaos, one Ninth Transformation elder managed to slip past the Four Spirits, lunging toward the array to strike it down. The other elders doubled their efforts to keep the spirits occupied.
Just as the traitor was about to reach the array, a draconic hymn pierced the air.
"Hmph! Void Dragon Palm!"
Lan An shouted coldly. The Inverse Dragon erupted from his palm, diving into the void. It reappeared directly beside the Ninth Transformation elder.
BOOM!
The phantom slammed into the giant's massive frame. He was sent flying like a rag doll, coughing blood. He tumbled through the air several times before crashing to the ground, his internal organs shattered. Though not dead, he was no longer fit for combat. With the Void Dragon Palm, Lan An could strike across distances with lethal surprise.
"Tenth Transformations up front! Ninth Transformations support from the rear! Do not underestimate him!" Ju Yaotong barked, his lip twitching. Though a prodigy, his own cultivation had not yet reached the Ninth Transformation.
"Young Master, call for more reinforcements! We alone truly cannot take this monster down!" Elder Xi roared, a deep scratch now marking his arm where the Gold Tiger had struck.
"Dragon-Slaying—Savage Dragon Palm!"
The draconic hymn rang out again. Elder Ying and another Tenth Transformation elder were driven back by the strike. Elder Ying shouted, "Young Master, more people! And bring the Clan Treasures!"
Though Lan An didn't have the strength to kill them outright yet, they were equally powerless to finish him. Only by summoning more experts could they hope to crush him.
"This Young Master understands!" Ju Yaotong nodded, a talisman appearing in his hand. He crushed it without hesitation.
"Young Master, what is the emergency?!"
As the talisman shattered, a voice shook the heavens. Space cracked open, and a silhouette streaked across the sky like a falling star, manifesting as a terrifying presence that pierced the clouds.
"Second Elder, kill him for me!" Ju Yaotong pointed at Lan An with a cold sneer.
The newly arrived elder possessed a human body with the head of a gorilla. His frame was larger than a mountain, covered in pitch-black fur with a long beard. His muscles were like massive boulders, and dark veins throbbed across his skin. This was the Second Elder of the Great Monster Clan—Elder Tinh. Having recently broken through, his mere presence exerted a pressure as heavy as a mountain range.
"Dragon..." Elder Tinh sensed the overwhelming pressure from the True and Inverse Dragon phantoms coiling in the sky. He finally understood why a group of elders couldn't handle one human boy. Even he felt a trace of suppression.
Thanks to the Dragon Might and Matchless Under Heaven, Lan An held a massive advantage. Had Elder Yi possessed the latter, he wouldn't have been driven to the brink by the Great Han elders.
"Late-stage Tenth Transformation..." Lan An's expression became grave as he looked at Elder Tinh. His voice was low and dangerous. A Late-stage Tenth Transformation expert entering the fray changed everything. Thus far, he hadn't faced anyone of that caliber. And this wasn't even the full strength of the Great Monster Clan; they still had a Peak Tenth Transformation Leader who had not yet appeared.
Lan An knew he had to unleash every drop of his power, or the consequences would be dire.
"Dragon Transformation Battle Secret—True Dragon Battle Body!"