Chapter 1384 : The Dragon Lord's Hidden Ascension
Even as Eldrin Chen stood guard over Gale Wind Valley, a subtle yet momentous shift was already unfolding deep within the heart of the Great Tribulation [a cataclysmic event of heavenly retribution and profound change].
Within the halls of the Western Abyss Dragon Palace, the First Prince of the Dragon Palace had already suffered repeated, grievous blows throughout the course of the Great Tribulation.
On this day, witnessing the waning power of the Mountain Guardian Grand Formation [a powerful defensive array], he could no longer remain idle. He sought out the Lord of the Western Abyss Dragon Palace and spoke. "Father, our defeat is now inevitable. The outer defenses are on the verge of collapse."
"Should we not break out now, while the grand formation still holds?"
The Lord of the Western Abyss Dragon Palace remained unperturbed. He drew a slow, deep breath, refining his condition to its absolute peak. Then, with a serene smile, he replied, "Patience, my son. Your father has a method to shatter our foes."
"Truly?"
Heartened by his father's unwavering confidence, the First Prince of the Dragon Palace brightened with hope and pressed eagerly, "What hidden card do you hold, Father? Why not deploy it swiftly?"
"All in good time."
The Lord of the Western Abyss Dragon Palace's smile turned faintly cold as he regarded his son. "Once I break through to the Heaven Immortal Realm [the realm of celestial immortals], those wretches outside will be nothing more than clay dogs and straw scarecrows."
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First Prince of the Dragon Palace's face lit up with ecstatic joy, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Father, are you truly confident in breaking through to the Heaven Immortal Realm [the realm of celestial immortals]?" "Indeed," he replied. "The accumulation of Great Tribulation [a grand, fate-altering calamity] has brought me to this point; only the final step remains."
The Lord of the Western Abyss Dragon Palace spoke calmly, then looked at the First Prince of the Dragon Palace and said, "However, I require one thing from you, my son, to have a greater certainty of success in my breakthrough."
Hearing this, the First Prince of the Dragon Palace felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding. He instinctively took a step back and said, "Whatever Father desires, this child will fetch it for you immediately."
"It is too late to leave now."
In that fleeting moment, the Lord of the Western Abyss Dragon Palace activated three mystical orbs, sending them crashing down to suppress his son. They were none other than his Lifebound Supreme Treasure [a treasure intimately connected to one's life force], the Triad Wonder Pearls. The First Prince of the Dragon Palace tried to flee for his life, but found myself unable to muster his Mana [the spiritual energy used for cultivation techniques]. He instantly realized myself had fallen victim to his father's scheme.
At this juncture of Life and Death [a critical moment between survival and oblivion], the First Prince of the Dragon Palace cried out in terror, "Father! I am your own flesh and blood! How can you be so heartless?"
With a thunderous impact, the Lord of the Western Abyss Dragon Palace commanded the Triad Wonder Pearls to pulverize his son into a bloody pulp. A cold sneer curled his lips as he declared, "This king has over thirty thousand sons. If one dies, I can simply sire more."
"Aiding your father in attaining the Dao is a worthy end to all my years of nurturing you."
As his words faded, the Lord of the Western Abyss Dragon Palace extracted a Dao Source [the condensed essence of one's cultivated path] that had reached the half-step Heaven Immortal Realm, along with three dazzling pieces of Fortune Dao Gold [a rare metal imbued with the power of destiny and fortune]. His gaze was icy as he spoke.
"A Dao Source that has cultivated the Great Unity Dao Fruit [the ultimate fruit of unification with the Dao], combined with three pieces of Fortune Dao Gold, is more than sufficient for This Sovereign to assault the Heaven Immortal Realm." "A pity that old wretch from the Celestial Prison Race fled before I was fully prepared."
"Otherwise, if I could obtain his Dao Source [the fundamental origin of one's cultivation path], I might have had a chance to condense a third Primordial Foundation [the foundational stage of a cultivator's spiritual core]."
As his words fell, Aethelred, Dragon King of the Western Abyss consumed the Dao Source, then refined the Incense Fire Celestial Silver [a rare celestial metal refined from sacred incense ashes], and began his assault on the Heaven Immortal Realm [the realm of a Heavenly Immortal].
Eldrin Chen guarded Gale Wind Valley for three hundred years. He did not wait for the Eight Tribulations Demon Immortal [a Demon Immortal who has survived eight heavenly tribulations] of the Dark Roc Lineage to emerge, but instead received earth-shattering news.
That Aethelred, Dragon King of the Western Abyss had slain his own son to seize the Dao Source, then refined the three Fortune Dao Gold [gold imbued with the Dao of Fortune] supported by the Demon Court. With boundless fortune and the Peerless Heaven-Opening Dao Source [a Dao Source artifact of supreme grade capable of cleaving the heavens], he charged against the Heaven Immortal Realm.
That Aethelred, Dragon King of the Western Abyss possessed an immensely profound foundation, originally having a four or five in ten chance of breaking through to the Heaven Immortal Realm. This all-or-nothing assault, taken from a position of desperation, truly allowed Aethelred, Dragon King of the Western Abyss to succeed in his breakthrough.
The moment Aethelred, Dragon King of the Western Abyss ascended to become a Heaven Immortal [a Heavenly Immortal], the situation on the battlefield was instantly and utterly reversed.
The five Half-Step Celestial Immortal [cultivators at the peak below the Heavenly Immortal realm] from the Human Race and the Divine Race engaged in an epochal duel against the newly ascended Heaven Immortal of the Demonic Tribe, just outside the Western Abyss Dragon Palace. The battle raged for three days and three nights, ending with the utter defeat of the Human and Divine races.
Among the Divine Race, the Profound Heart Deity fell in battle. His Haoyan's Primordial Chaos True Body [a divine body forged from Primordial Chaos] was destroyed, and his Primordial Spirit [the spiritual core of a cultivator] only managed to escape by relying on a Void-attribute treasure. The newly ascended Silent Annihilation Thunder God also fled, grievously wounded.
Within the Human Race, the Divine Lord Ye Ruins was also severely wounded and forced to retreat in defeat. The Lord of the Flowing Fire Star Palace suffered heavy injuries as well, barely preserving his life by using a Void Spirit Treasure [a treasure of the Void attribute] to flee.
And in this very battle, Aethelred, Dragon King of the Western Abyss himself was also wounded, and not lightly.
After all, he was a newly advanced Heaven Immortal [an immortal who has ascended to the celestial realm], his foundation still unstable when he found himself besieged by five Half-Step Celestial Immortal [cultivators whose power approaches that of a true Celestial Immortal].
Among the five, Divine Lord Ye Ruins wielded the Taiyi Immortal Weapon [a supreme weapon of the primordial unity] known as the Primordial Unity Ruins of Heaven Sword, while Haoyan Divine Lord [a title for a powerful deity] and Profound Heart Deity also possessed Primordial Unity Ancient Talisman [ancient protective charms of immense power] bestowed upon them by the Western Qi Grotto-Heaven [a sacred realm of profound spiritual energy].
With such Celestial Immortal Level [power equivalent to a true Celestial Immortal] means at their disposal, they managed to inflict significant wounds upon the Lord of the Western Abyss Dragon Palace.
Yet, that was the extent of their success. A Heavenly Immortal Paragon [a pinnacle existence among Heaven Immortals] remains precisely that—a paragon. Even with five Half-Step Celestial Immortal besieging him with Taiyi Immortal Weapon and ancient talismans, their only path was eventual, ignominious retreat.
Facing five alone, the Lord of the Western Abyss Dragon Palace fought through the encirclement and forcefully slew one of their number, the Profound Heart Deity. The remaining four instantly understood the tide had turned irrevocably against them, scattering to the winds in the blink of an eye.
It is said that after the five Half-Step Celestial Immortal fled in defeat, the Lord of the Western Abyss Dragon Palace unleashed a great slaughter upon the human and deity races. Join our community of readers at audio–novel.com.
Within the Hundred Demons Archipelago [a chain of islands infested with myriad demonic tribes], he single-handedly slaughtered over one hundred Earth Immortal Progenitor [powerful ancestral figures of the Earth Immortal realm] and tens of thousands of Immortal [beings who have attained immortality] from the two races.
This carnage occurred despite many Earth Immortal Progenitor recognizing the peril and fleeing in all directions; otherwise, every last one of the three hundred human and deity Earth Immortal [immortals of the earthly realm] present might have been massacred.
And it did not end there. The Lord of the Western Abyss Dragon Palace issued the Myriad Demons Conscription Decree [an edict summoning all demonic tribes to war], rallying the Demonic Tribe [tribes and clans of demonic beings] of the Western Qi Divine Abyss Sea [a vast and spiritually rich sea region] to counterattack. His aim was to turn the tide against the human and deity races in the final millennium of the Great Tribulation [a cataclysmic era of conflict and destiny], to wash away the hatred of this battle in blood.
"Great chaos has descended,"
Eldrin Chen gazed at the intelligence report in his hand, his heart instantly overwhelmed by profound shock. He let out a sigh, finding this news difficult to reconcile within himself.
In that moment, he finally grasped the terrifying nature of the Heavenly Immortal Paragon [the pinnacle realm of cultivation, a step below true immortality]. A battle that had seemed nearly predetermined had been utterly reversed in such a manner.
All schemes, calculations, Deep-Seated Foundation [the profound and stable foundation of a cultivator's power], and grand momentum—before absolute power, they were nothing but a jest.
It was merely a single, newly ascended Heavenly Immortal Paragon. Yet, at the very instant of his breakthrough, everything was overturned. From that moment on, he would possess the authority to speak as an equal with the two great Grotto-Heaven [a blessed realm, a paradise for cultivation] of Western Qi and Divine Abyss.
As for figures like Divine Lord Ye Ruins, the Lord of the Flowing Fire Star Palace, Haoyan Deity, and the Silent Annihilation Thunder God, they were no longer on the same level. Unless they themselves stepped into the Heaven Immortal Realm [the realm of a Heavenly Immortal Paragon], they would be utterly vulnerable before him.
Yet, judging by the immense difficulty of this breakthrough achieved by the Lord of the Western Abyss Dragon Palace, how arduous must the path to the Heaven Immortal Realm truly be?
The uncertainty of one's own success was one thing, but the true terror lay in the dreadful External Tribulation [calamities and obstacles imposed by fate or rivals upon a cultivator]. The forerunners would never willingly allow others to share in what they claimed as their exclusive domain.
"Without attaining the Heaven Immortal realm, one remains but an ant."
Eldrin Chen sighed inwardly and immediately decided to abandon his vigil for the Eight Tribulations Demon Immortal [a demonic cultivator who has survived eight heavenly tribulations] of the Dark Roc [a race of powerful, shadowy roc demons] clan. He prepared to return to the Abyssal Sea Region as a precaution.
Yet, on that very day, the Void [a profound cultivation art related to spatial or emptiness principles] treasure within Gale Wind Valley stirred. A figure of dazzling brilliance, clutching the supreme treasure, emerged and hurriedly departed in the direction of the Leaf Ruins Divine Sea. Read, share, and discuss at audio-novel .c om.