The Asura Great Emperor had once been young himself. In his youth, before his cultivation had fully matured, his sect had gifted him treasures like the Emperor's Aegis Talisman for protection.
He was no stranger to using such items, but every time he did, he found the burden almost unbearable. During activation, the strain on his physical body was enormously taxing.
Every use of the Emperor's Aegis Talisman had been a walk between life and death—teetering on the brink of his body's collapse.
So when he saw
The Asura Great Emperor raised his arm. Those purple rings from before—the Asura Life-and-Death Rings—began to spin once more, rotating at blinding speed around the Asura Great Emperor's body, as though the stars themselves were wheeling across the sky, dazzling to behold.
The torrent of ten thousand swords crashed ceaselessly against the outer edge of those purple rings, but the high-speed rotating defense deflected every strike, reducing each to dust.
Jiang Chen watched this scene without surprise.
He had never expected the torrent of ten thousand swords to slay the Asura Great Emperor. After all, the gap between them was plain for all to see.
Before the sword technique had run its course, Jiang Chen's Divine Demon Golden Body surged once more. From within the golden radiance, a powerful current of energy shot forth, rapidly condensing in midair to form the shape of an enormous firebird.
The Vermilion Bird!
"That's—the divine bird Vermilion Bird!?" The spectators below erupted with excitement upon seeing this colossal dharma image, blotting out the sky like a towering inferno.
"Yes, it definitely is!"
"Young Master Zhen is heaven-defying! He once manifested the True Dragon dharma image, and now the Vermilion Bird. Does he really possess so many terrifying dharma images and Divine Abilities?"
Over on Peacock Sacred Mountain, everyone was equally astonished.
They had all known that Young Master Zhen was powerful—a peerless genius. But when Jiang Chen truly unleashed his abilities, they realized they had underestimated him after all.
This sky-obscuring Vermilion Bird dharma image, vast enough to swallow mountains and rivers, let out a heaven-rending, earth-splitting cry and lunged toward the Asura Great Emperor.
The Asura Great Emperor clearly hadn't expected this onslaught of consecutive attacks. All along, he had been the aggressor while Jiang Chen held the defense. Now, with the enemy suddenly pressing the offensive in rapid succession, even the Asura Great Emperor was momentarily caught off guard. But he was, after all, a Great Emperor who had been renowned for ages.
Though the Vermilion Bird dharma image was fierce, it was ultimately not enough to pose a lethal threat to him.
In a flash of thought, the Asura Great Emperor not only held his ground but surged upward into the sky. Raising his blade with both hands, he roared and cleaved a devastating slash straight at the Vermilion Bird dharma image.
BOOM!
This was the Asura Great Emperor's most powerful strike, and it slammed into the Vermilion Bird dharma image, cleaving it clean in two. The violent shockwave scattered in all directions, plumes of dispersed energy cascading outward like a furnace overturned. Fortunately, the arena was far enough above the ground below, or many bystanders would have been caught in the crossfire.
"Kid Zhen, bring out everything you've got!" The Asura Great Emperor cackled with savage glee. Having slashed through the Vermilion Bird dharma image with a single blow, his confidence swelled.
He leaped skyward once more, his blade sweeping toward Jiang Chen in a devastating arc.
Jiang Chen spread his arms wide. The next instant, winds churned and clouds roiled before him as a powerful current surged upward. A True Dragon dharma image soared into the sky, its claws and fangs gnashing as it raked toward the Asura Great Emperor.
The Asura Great Emperor snorted coldly: "Bring it on!"
His arm rose, and another brutal slash cleaved through the True Dragon dharma image.
The True Dragon dharma image carried an imposing aura, but this strike was even more devastating. In a single slash, it tore the dharma image clean in half.
Just as the Asura Great Emperor was about to press forward and close the distance, a sudden premonition of danger flared in his heart. In the span of a heartbeat, he swept his demon blade horizontally, shielding his vitals.
CLANG!
Sparks exploded, primal energy scattering wildly.
A claw had materialized from the void, latching onto his demon blade in a shower of brilliant sparks. The next instant, a True Dragon soared into the sky.
It was none other than
Had the Asura Great Emperor shown even a moment's carelessness, that claw would have landed—and even he would have been wounded.
Long Xiaoxuan's attack having failed, it did not linger. It soared skyward and vanished once more into the clouds and mist. Dragons ride the clouds; tigers stir the winds.
The True Dragon clan's ability to conceal itself was one of their innate gifts.
The Asura Great Emperor narrowed his eyes, blade at the ready, his divine sense fully extended to sense every shift in the surrounding air currents. He was not particularly concerned with Jiang Chen's attacks, but the True Dragon clan was a different matter entirely.
The True Dragon clan's combat power had already reached the peak of the Sovereign realm. In a head-on confrontation, the Asura Great Emperor feared nothing. But a sneak attack from the shadows? That was another thing entirely.
"Kid Zhen, so you've even summoned your contracted beast? It seems you're running out of tricks. Did you really think an immature True Dragon could stand in this emperor's way?"
The Asura Great Emperor let out a cold laugh, his blade blazing with light once more as it streaked toward Jiang Chen in a trail of radiance. He was now willing to risk a strike from Long Xiaoxuan if it meant cutting down Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen smiled faintly. His figure flickered like lightning, vanishing from where he had stood.