A few weeks had passed since Jael's awakening and the interrogation of Ricard by envoys from the great dragon clans. Ever since that day, the Flame Clan had lived beneath a veil of silence and steel. Defense and attack formations around their territory were tripled, sigils blazing day and night.
Disciples exploring or training outside were recalled, patrols doubled, and even the youngest initiates whispered of the tension in the air. The elders spoke little, but everyone felt it—the world was holding its breath.
Within the inner compound, within an underground chamber, Jael trained nonstop and relentlessly. Ezekiel guided him through the fourth technique of the Flaming Dragon Method—Flaming Sonar. It was a long‑range art, unleashing waves of flame that burst outward in concentric pulses, scouring everything in their path.
His progress was raw and uneven but steady. Each attempt left his body trembling, his aura leaking dominance that pressed against the walls. Elijah corrected him with sharp words and sharper strikes, reminding him that mastery would take decades, but survival demanded he at least grasp the fundamentals now.
Jael endured, sweat dripping, veins glowing faintly with flame and frost.
Then one afternoon, as the clan carried out its daily routines, the alarm bells thundered. The grand formation flared crimson, sigils blazing across the sky. The ground shook as more than fifty powerful Sky Limit Realm cultivators and twenty half‑step Transcendent Realm experts of the Shadow Dragon race hammered against the defensive formations and overwhelmed the attacking formations.
But they were not alone. Five other dragon clans—those branded the unrighteous—their top experts, peak sages, and sky limit realm were with them waiting, each seeking to destroy the Verus Rex Sanguine before it could rise. Even figures from the Iron Cloud Clan were among them—Elder Ian himself, thirsting for vengeance after the humiliation Jalen had dealt him, now determined to erase Jael by association.
Within moments, the Flame Clan moved.
Sage Realm cultivators and some sky limit realm elders rushed to evacuate over five thousand family members and disciples below Sage Realm into the safety zone, a pocket realm created in case of emergencies like this.
Over forty Sky Limit Realm experts from the Flame Clan also surged into the skies along with the "old monsters" of the Flame Clan—twelve elders who had half‑stepped into the Transcendent Realm—gearing up for the incoming battle.
The invaders eventually breached the barrier, their shadow qi swallowing light itself.
Sky Limit Realm cultivators from both sides unleashed techniques that ripped through the Flame Clan's territory, their aftershocks collapsing towers and bridges.
Half‑step Transcendent Realm combatants clashed with fury, tearing sanctuaries apart and shaking the very atmosphere. Red and black flames roared like living dragons, shadows coiled like serpents, and black lightning split the skies in jagged rivers of light. The battlefield itself seemed alive, trembling beneath the weight of so many titans locked in combat.
The clash reverberated far beyond the battlefield. Mountains groaned as their peaks split, rivers boiled into veils of steam, and forests ignited in flames that refused to die. The air itself was poisoned, heavy with ash and qi residue—a suffocating reminder that the world was unraveling beneath the weight of dragon war.
Elemental storms spread unchecked—flame, shadow, dark lightning, black fire, and steel—raging across Virtian City and spilling into neighboring countries. Panic and hysteria consumed both cultivators and mortals alike. Millions perished—some without ever knowing the cause, others struck down while fleeing for safety.
Meanwhile, as destruction unfolded, Elijah sensed the danger and tried to get Jael out of the underground chamber before things turned worse. But Jael was stubborn, insistent on helping the clan fend off its enemies.
"We need to leave right now," Elijah said.
"But the clan—" Jael retorted.
"The clan fights because of you. If you fall, everything falls!" Elijah's voice was sharp, his aura pressing down like a mountain.
"But Master—" Jael ground his teeth, fists clenched.
"I know how you feel, but there is nothing you can do. Now let's go."
Elijah was about to seize Jael and force him out when he sensed something sinister. A claw of ice qi slashed toward Jael's chest. Elijah blocked, flame erupting from his palm and driving the attacker back a few steps.
A humanoid dragon, scales pale blue and rimed with frost, sneered. At the same time, another figure lunged from the shadows, thrusting a spear of frozen qi at Jael. Ricard arrived in a blaze of fire, intercepting the strike with a supreme‑grade flame sword spirit tool. The clash shook the chamber, cracking walls forged of Imperial gold steel—one of the rarest and strongest spirit metals in the cultivation world. Shards of ice and sparks of flame rained like meteors as Ricard forced his opponent back.
"Elder Rick. Elder Fenton," Ricard said coldly. "So the Obsidian Talon Clan has betrayed the righteous dragon races and joined the Shadow Dragon race and their lackeys."
"When you phrase it like that, it sounds as if we've done something wrong. But everything we've done is for the future of the dragon race." Rick's eyes gleamed with malice, frost curling from his breath. "We have endured millennia without a dragon king, and we have no need for one to lord over us as in the old days. That is why the boy must die."
"When you say 'we,' you mean the other righteous clans as well," Ricard pressed, his tone flat, almost factual.
"Not all, but most. After some persuasion, they have come to their senses. Those who resisted are in the same dire straits as your Flame Clan even now."
Richard's gaze sharpened. "So this is an orchestrated scheme."
Rick's lips curled into a thin smile. "Exactly."
"Enough talk. Let's kill the boy and end this once and for all." Fenton's aura flared, ice qi crystallizing the ground beneath his feet.
Ricard's grip tightened on his spirit tool. "Get the boy out of here, Elijah. I will deal with these two."
Elijah nodded, but as he moved to leave, two peak Sky Limit Realm experts from the Azure Scale Clan appeared, blocking his path. Their eyes burned with killing intent, bodies wreathed in azure lightning.