Chapter 198: Black Dragon
me! Come out if you have the guts to fight me one-on-one!"Bang!His father's fury was also ignited."Get out of here immediately!" His father’s forehead veins bulged."I…," Huang Xujie tried to argue ba...Chapter 198: Black Dragon
In the pitch-black night, Zhao Kuo transformed into a black dragon and soared through the jade skies!
A bolt of lightning flashed through the clouds, instantly illuminating the black dragon in mid-air!
Hao Ren had never seen a real dragon before; the shock he felt was可想而知！
According to Su Han's explanation, as long as one passes the Dui level, they can transform into a dragon! The Spirit Focus Training cultivates the acupoints of the human body, while after passing the Kan level, the cultivation process opens up the acupoints of the dragon’s body!
"Third Brother!" Upon seeing this scene, Zhao Guang shouted towards the sky.
However, with all his remaining strength, Zhao Kuo had already soared into the high heavens!
Bam! Bam! Bam!
A bolt of lightning struck Zhao Kuo's black dragon body!
The eleventh heavenly strike!
An enormous amount of lightning hit Zhao Kuo’s dragon body, turning his entire black dragon form into a gleaming silver!
Zhao Kuo plummeted several hundred meters from the high heavens before he continued to rise again!
"Third Brother! Come back!" With all his might, Zhao Guang shouted once more. His voice was so powerful that it could be heard clearly within a radius of hundreds of miles.
But stubborn Zhao Kuo refused to return! He didn’t believe he couldn’t withstand this heavenly tribulation!
As his black dragon form approached the clouds, another bolt of lightning—the twelfth strike—came crashing down!
The blinding flash of lightning illuminated the sea and sky, turning everything bright and clear.
This powerful thunderbolt struck Zhao Kuo’s dragon waist, nearly severing him in half! In order to pass this heavenly tribulation, Zhao Kuo had transformed into his true form; he was doing all he could!
As he rolled through the sky and almost fell into the sea, Zhao Kuo's claws touched the water surface and he immediately rose up again!
Dark clouds gathered from all directions, signaling that the heavens were about to unleash their final few heavenly strikes!
"Third Brother." Concerned for Zhao Kuo’s safety, Zhao Guang wanted to rush forward but was held back by Zhao Hongyu.
Zhao Yanzi's eyes were full of tears. With one half of her fist in her mouth, she cried uncontrollably as she watched her uncle being struck repeatedly by the heavenly strikes.
Holding onto Zhao Yanzi’s other hand, Hao Ren was deeply moved.
Before Zhao Kuo even reached mid-air, the thirteenth strike, fully prepared, descended from the heavens!
The immense power caused the sea water outside of the sacrificial platform to boil!
Zhao Kuo flapped his wings and shook off rainwater, suddenly spitting out a blood-red bead from his mouth!
"Essence Core! Third Brother is fighting for his life!" Zhao Guang on the high altar shouted in alarm.
The Essence Core was also known as the Dragon’s Core; it was the lifeline of dragons. At the peak level of Gan, Zhao Kuo relied solely on a black iron trident to dominate humanity but hadn't refined an innate magical treasure; his ultimate reliance was his inner core!
The energy at the peak of the Dryan level is released in this dragon丹 (dragon丹 should remain untranslated as it's a term specific to the context).
In an instant, the sky and sea were filled with light, turning everything bright as day!
The thirteenth heavenly thunder aimed straight at Zhao Kuo's black dragon body.
The red bead stood firm in front.
Thunder and the dragon pearl were at a standoff. But everyone, including Hao Ren, knew that using one's life-attuned inner dan (inner core) to clash head-on would surely cause immense self-harm!
Bang!
The thirteenth heavenly thunder transformed into twinkling white light, dissipating without a trace. The originally dazzling red dragon pearl dimmed, revealing its true attribute—blue water element.
Almost immediately, the fourteenth heavenly thunder followed and struck Zhao Kuo's black dragon body!
The power was equivalent to ten times that of the first heavenly thunder. Hao Ren secretly calculated and felt cold sweat in his palms.
Judging from Zhao Kuo’s appearance, he seemed unable to withstand it anymore, but he stubbornly refused to give up!
Had they returned to the altar, with ten thousand cultivators’ strength plus the power of this heaven and earth grand array, maybe they could勉強 (struggle) defend against the final few waves of heavenly tribulation, preserving his life.
Thinking about it, Hao Ren suddenly realized that Zhao Kuo was attempting a one-off gamble—success means survival; failure means death! If he had dragon army soldiers take over for him to withstand the attack, there might be additional casualties. He wanted to preserve the strength of the East Sea as much as possible!
The fourteenth heavenly thunder seemed like countless lightning strikes combined, simultaneously exploding and charging towards Zhao Kuo in the sky.
In the high heavens, Zhao Kuo had already become too weak to resist. Although he revealed his true form, before the eightfold power of this heaven thunder, he was merely an earth dragon not yet reaching the realm of heavenly dragons!
Crack!
The fourteenth lightning bolt exploded around Zhao Kuo’s dragon body. In the dark night sky, with Zhao Kuo’s black dragon form, Hao Ren couldn’t see his injuries clearly but could imagine that he must be covered in wounds.
"You damned heavens! You old heavens! I, Zhao Kuo, have never killed a living soul; merely competing for strength and brawling over words. Do you punish me like this!"
Despite being on the brink of falling yet still soaring in the sky, Zhao Kuo roared with a powerful voice.
Pitter-patter!
The fifteenth heavenly thunder seemed to respond to Zhao Kuo’s provocation and directly struck his black dragon head!
Zhao Kuo stored the dragon pearl inside him, using whatever remaining mana to form a light barrier in front.
However, before this eightfold power of heaven thunder, any five-element spells were like paper barriers. They penetrated without resistance!
Zhao Kuo could only brace himself with his body.
This lightning bolt swiftly struck him from the sky, causing him to roll and plummet into the sea with a bang, creating mountainous waves!
"Third brother!" Zhao Kuang shouted. The elders standing by the altar were dumbfounded.
Zhao Yanzi was in tears, her legs weak and unable to stand steadily. If not for Hao Ren’s support, she would have collapsed on the ground already!
Wow!
Zhao Kuo, in his dragon form made of flesh and blood, rose up from the sea surface once again!
"I don’t accept this! I don't accept this!" He shouted loudly as he rushed towards Gao Yan.
Crack!
The sixteenth heavenly thunder struck in response!
Its power was four times more intense than before!
If this heavenly thunder hit Zhao Kuo, it would be hard for him to survive even if he didn’t die.
Zhao Kuo, who had already been hit by the previous sixteenth heavenly thunder in a row, showed no fear and stood up bravely!
Bang! The lightning collided with Zhao Kuo’s dragon body. He was knocked back hundreds of meters and fell directly into the sea from mid-air without even getting close to the clouds.
On the high platform, Zhao Hongyu furrowed her brows as she stared blankly. Given this situation, Zhao Kuo's current heavenly tribulation looked extremely ominous.
"I don’t accept this!" With his entire dragon body shaking, Zhao Kuo leaped out of the sea once again!
“Zhao Kuo will definitely punch a hole in this heaven!” he shouted as he rushed towards the high clouds above!
“Third Brother!” At this point, Zhao Guang no longer cared about his own danger. He knew that with just two more thunders, there was no way for him to pass through.
With a whoosh, he transformed into a white dragon and flew towards the sky!
"Zhao Guang!" Zhao Hongyu shouted out, but she couldn’t stop Zhao Guang.
The white dragon, which had a similar size to Zhao Kuo’s black dragon, directly blocked the rampaging black dragon in midair!
At this moment, the seventeenth heavenly thunder arrived in response!
Zhao Guang, who stood up front, was immediately knocked back several hundred meters.
"Father!" Zhao Yanzi screamed. Hao Ren held her tightly as his heart went wild.
“Dragon King!” Everyone shouted with alarm, yet no one dared to leave their posts and fly out of the platform.
The heavenly thunder, after being delayed by Zhao Guang, still struck the black dragon’s body!
Zhao Guang fell a hundred meters then flew back up into the sky to catch the falling Zhao Kuo straight from above.
"Open the heaven and earth formation!" Zhao Guang shouted loudly. He approached the formation in his white dragon form, transformed back into human form, supported Zhao Kuo who had also reverted to human form, and entered the platform.
Hao Ren noticed that blood was spurting from Zhao Guang’s shoulder; he clearly sustained severe injuries while rescuing Zhao Kuo!
But ignoring his own injuries, he immediately stood up again. "Use all your strength to block this heavenly tribulation!"
"Yes!" All the elders and soldiers responded in unison!
The sky was filled with flickering thunderclouds, heralding the final heavenly tribulation. This one would be the most formidable and vicious!
Zhao Kuo's condition clearly indicated that he wouldn't succeed in passing this trial. However, if they could hold off this last heavenly tribulation, there was still a chance to save his life!
*Boom!*
This thunderbolt wasn't just ordinary lightning; it was like a massive light cannon!
The dozens of multi-colored defensive shields above the altar were all activated but seemed like mere sheets of paper as they were shattered by this heavenly bolt!
Fourfold power! Even the first bolt, with its twofold might, could kill an ordinary cultivator!
Zhao Guang clutched his chest and spat blood while giving orders. "Zi, Yin, Chen, Wu, Shen, You, defend against the first wave! Jia, Bing, Wu, Geng, Ren, five elders assist!"
"Yes!" The soldiers and elders who received the commands responded loudly.
The heavenly bolt reached the core defensive array above the altar. The five elders and six generals, along with the Wangkan guardsmen, stood firm at their positions and poured all their mana into the defense!
The entire white jade altar glowed intensely as its tremendous power was activated, proving that this piece of white jade was a high-grade spirit stone in its natural form.
The core defensive array had five layers. The outermost layer gradually couldn't withstand the pressure and became distorted before breaking!
*Snap!* Like an eggshell cracking, the defensive array also made a sharp sound!
The five purple-robed elders and six generals, along with their sixty guardsmen, were all blown backward!
"Hold steady against the second wave!" Zhao Guang's face was pale as he continued to command while clutching his chest.
Generals from the Zi, Mao, Si, Wei, Ji, and You directions moved forward half a step. The five purple-robed elders in Bi, Ding, Ji, Xin, and Gui also released all their spiritual energy!
Their efforts only held up for six seconds before the second layer of defense shattered.
A bolt with quadruple power seemed invincible!
Once this bolt struck down, no one could escape; everyone would be seriously injured. Those with weaker cultivation might even die on the spot!
This was why Zhao Kuo had never returned to the altar when he saw how formidable this heavenly tribulation was.
He knew that they couldn't withstand it! The Nine Heavens' Eighteen Thunderbolts were beyond what the altar could defend against. Rather than be killed by the heavenly tribulation, he didn't want to drag others in Donghai down with him!
"Everyone, go all out!" Zhao Guang knew that any strategy was futile before absolute power and issued a general mobilization order.
Over ten thousand soldiers and elders in purple robes stood at their positions. Other elders also lined up to output mana from the altar's slots.
Zhao Guang and Zhao Hongyu both squatted down, ready to fight this heavenly tribulation!
Huo Ren didn't retreat either. Despite his weak power, he knelt halfway and placed his hand in the mana slot!
The thunderbolt *Boom!* shattered another layer of core defensive array as cracks appeared on the surface of the altar.
At this moment, all the intricate patterns inside the altar hummed as blinding white light illuminated the entire sky!
The bolt with quadruple power *Boom!* broke through the second-to-last layer of core defense.Hao Ren's villa by the seaside.Xie Yujia remained silent in the car and took out Grandmother’s letter, carefully reading it over again. The calligraphy of “Scattered Gentleman Feng” was more beautiful...