The weather of Zhang Shicheng's Walking Flood Dragon Transformation was earth-shattering, causing fear among the ten top masters.
At the Eight Trigrams Furnace, Xie Xuan gazed at the Walking Flood Dragon Transformation, a serious look in his eyes: "What a terrifying momentum, what a terrifying fortune. At this moment, Zhang Shicheng's strength has already stepped into the tenth tier. Even if he hasn't completed the seven-day trial, he is not someone I can deal with."
Meanwhile, at the edge of the Celestial Pool, Prince Pingbian clasped his hands together, continuously praying to the Celestial Pool: "I hope the ancestor succeeds in the Dragon Transformation! I hope the ancestor succeeds in the Dragon Transformation!"
In the distant mountains, Zhang Chen felt the Northern Land Dragon Vein being stirred, and he couldn't help but feel overjoyed.
"The time has come!"
Feeling the fluctuating Earth Vein, Zhang Chen suddenly saw the moisture in the air condense into an ice sculpture mask, tightly wrapping his face. Then he directly performed the Earth Escape Technique, flickering forward to the Ascension Pool. While various powerful beings were embroiled in a melee, Zhang Chen already appeared below the Ascension Pool.
Zhang Chen had long ago performed sacrificial refining on the Ascension Pool. At this moment, as his palm reached out to touch it, the Ascension Pool instantly shrank, transforming into the size of a fist, taken by Zhang Chen into his hand.
"Stop fighting! He has stolen the treasure!" Suddenly, a voice from the martial world shouted urgently.
"Kid, leave the treasure!" At this moment, the sound of a long saber rushing through the wind was heard, and a familiar face appeared in front of Zhang Chen, saber in hand, slicing through the curtain of rain directly towards Zhang Chen's neck.
"Chai Chuanxin! No, it's that Qingqiu fox! I never expected this bastard to wade into muddy waters, but this fellow is too strange, I don't want any entanglement with him." Faced with the attack so close, Zhang Chen had no time for incantations or escape techniques. In the next moment, the earth rolled up, transforming into a solid stone wall, blocking Zhang Chen.
Chai Chuanxin was stunned by the stone wall before him, ready to perform Divine Techniques to pass through the wall. At that moment, Zhang Chen seized the opportunity for incantations, directly performing the Earth Escape Technique and slipping away without leaving a trace.
"Damn you, you stole the treasure right before me, Grandpa will not let this go unpunished! I've memorized your aura, never let me see you again." Seeing Zhang Chen escape, Chai Chuanxin's mentality exploded. While they were fighting life and death here, someone took advantage, hardly a reason not to be furious.
But Zhang Chen's Earth Escape Technique was invisible and traceless, and even if angry, Chai Chuanxin was powerless, unable to do anything about Zhang Chen.
Zhang Chen escaped the forest, revealing his form in a hidden corner, holding the Ascension Pool. After inspecting it for a while, he swallowed the Ascension Pool into the Ba Snake Space. The Ascension Pool's level was far superior to the Ba Snake Space, even the Great Success-level Ba Snake Space could not defeat the Ascension Pool.
Zhang Chen benefited greatly, returned delightedly to the cave, noticing Xie Xuan's tense expression as he looked towards the distant thunderous lake surface.
Zhang Chen also looked, seeing a massive entity several thousand meters long rolling on the lake surface, stirring the waves. Thunder flashed in the sky, constantly carving the huge dragon's body. At this time, Zhang Shicheng's body had taken on the semblance of a True Dragon.
"Have you finished your business?" Xie Xuan remarked upon hearing Zhang Chen's commotion, glancing back curiously.
"Just some small matters, finished easily," Zhang Chen replied.
Xie Xuan did not pursue the topic further, pointing to the massive dragon body: "Have you noticed there is something wrong with the dragon body?"
Zhang Chen certainly knew what was wrong. He saw between the scales of the dragon body, there seemed to be blood-red lines twisting, giving the entire Flood Dragon body a touch of eerie blood-red hue.
Zhang Chen certainly knew what those red lines were; they were the Bloodstain and Blood God Child hidden within the carp body by him, a fallback plan left in secret.
If the soul of Zhang Shicheng failed to be slaughtered, then the Blood God Child could devour the essence from his body while the Bloodstain could taint his True Spirit.
Of course, there was no need to inform Xie Xuan of all this, for people always need to keep some secrets from each other.
"Could it be that the bloodline is too powerful for the flesh to conceal, thus revealing the radiation of the bloodline?" Zhang Chen lied.
Xie Xuan shook his head: "Unlikely, I sense in those blood-red lines an extremely evil aura, that is not Zhang Shicheng's power. Zhang Shicheng's Walking Flood Dragon Transformation seems to have encountered an unexpected twist."
Zhang Chen glanced at Xie Xuan sideways, a look of surprise in his eyes: "I've really underestimated this old fellow."
These old fellows have cultivated to the Yang God realm, no longer inferior to the top cultivators in mythical novels, having grasped part of the principles of heaven and earth's operations, and possess some understanding of the mysteries. If you dare look down on them, you wouldn't even know how you died.
"Could it be that old guy's Dragon Transformation has encountered a problem?" Xie Xuan mumbled in his heart, glancing at Zhang Chen. He always felt that the blood glow on Zhang Shicheng's dragon body was somewhat similar in origin to his own Blood Transformation Divine Saber.
Xie Xuan's diverted gaze was caught by Zhang Chen. The two looked at each other, their four eyes met, and Zhang Chen knew Xie Xuan had discerned something, so he honestly confessed without hiding: "I did indeed do some tricks on Zhang Shicheng's dragon body."
Back then, he had yet to cultivate the Blood Transformation Divine Saber, and even if he drew out Zhang Shicheng's soul, he feared he could not obliterate the essence. As long as the time came, Zhang Shicheng's soul would return to his body without any loss.
But that bloodstain and Blood God Child, rooted deep in the carp's bloodline, were meant to usurp Zhang Shicheng's creation, gradually hollowing Zhang Shicheng out.
However, now it was different; plans couldn't keep pace with changes. Zhang Chen's methods had improved at a rate far beyond his expectations, rendering many prepared methods seemingly unnecessary. But if the Blood God Child could devour a True Dragon's blood, his cultivation realm would greatly benefit, causing Zhang Chen no harm and being an unexpected joy.
Xie Xuan gave Zhang Chen a deep look, saying nothing more, but his apprehension towards Zhang Chen deepened.
When did Zhang Chen set a trap for Zhang Shicheng, yet Prince Pingbian's Mansion noticed nothing?
On the other side, Zhang Shicheng, who was in the midst of Dragon Transformation, realized something was amiss. Suddenly, his body was infiltrated by blood-red threads traversing through his veins, muscles, and flesh, devouring the essence within.
Although the power was very weak, the amount of essence blood it devoured was a drop in the ocean, but the opponent's constant devouring was unstoppable?
Moreover, that power had fused with his blood, making expulsion impossible, leaving him to watch helplessly.
"It's not right! It really shouldn't be this way! How could such a change occur?" Zhang Shicheng was flustered, cursing internally, struggling to employ Divine Techniques to expel that blood-red power. But alas, he was powerless against it, for it had completely merged with his flesh. Furthermore, he felt an extremely evil aura within that power, a presence that seemed capable of defiling all, making him dare not act rashly.
Moreover, with the Dragon Transformation underway, he could only focus all his efforts on Walking Flood Dragon and transforming into Dragon, with no time to tend to changes within his body.
At that moment, heaven and earth were turbulent; the rain in the sky poured heavily, raging endlessly, while lightning extended from the clouds, forming a gigantic net enveloping Zhang Shicheng.
Zhang Shicheng's dragon body struggled within the net, enduring the agonizing torture of bone scraping, his terrible cries echoing for hundreds of miles.
At this moment, suddenly a tall figure, dressed in a purple and crimson robe, appeared on the tumultuous lake.
That figure wore purple, carrying a long spear on the back. The spear flashed with a mysterious rhythm, causing the power of thunder and lightning in heaven and earth to become restless, its might tripling in an instant.
As soon as the figure appeared, it seemed the whole world fell into a moment of stagnation, except for the ceaseless collision of wind, rain, and lightning.
"What?" Zhang Chen was taken aback upon seeing the figure appear.
"That's the Chief Eunuch, Dugu Qiu! Zhang Shicheng's Walking Flood Dragon and Dragon Transformation made him unable to sit still. Once Zhang Shicheng completes the Dragon Transformation, the Northern Land might break free from the court's control, severing the Dragon Vein luck of the Great Victory Dynasty. How could Dugu Qiu allow such a thing to happen?" Xie Xuan remarked.
"A ninth-tier expert paired with a twelfth-tier Divine Artifact can still contend against Zhang Shicheng in the midst of Dragon Transformation," Zhang Chen said.
"Zhang Shicheng, why aren't you dead yet! It's been hundreds of years, and you're still causing trouble everywhere. Aren't you tired? Wouldn't it be better to just rest underground? It would save you and everyone else a lot of trouble. You, me, everyone would be better off. Why do you always stir up trouble?" Dugu Qiu's voice was filled with complaints, piercing through the lightning, heard clearly by all creatures within a hundred miles.
Zhang Shicheng ignored Dugu Qiu, continuing his Dragon Transformation, while the Prince on the shore was anxious: "Dugu Qiu, this is the Northern Land. What do you intend to do? You should retreat immediately! This is my ancestor, how can you, a mere servant, show disrespect?"
"Prince, you're mistaken. This is a mysterious demon seizing the luck and creation of the Northern Land, how could it be your ancestor? Your ancestor has long passed; do not let this demon confuse your mind. Let me slay this demon and restore your peace of mind," Dugu Qiu chuckled, his voice full of righteous indignation: "How could you be so muddled, recognizing a demon as your ancestor? You are a human, he is a fish; you're not even of the same species, how could he be your ancestor?"
"Dugu Qiu! Don't pretend not to understand what you clearly know. I command you to stop immediately, or don't blame me for not being polite," Prince Pingbian trembled with rage.
"Heh, Prince, please stay calm. Once I slay this demon, you'll see my loyalty," Dugu Qiu stepped on the water, bearing the Celestial Punishment, moving step by step towards Zhang Shicheng, his eyes filled with a swirling intent to kill.