"Is this... the origin bloodline power of the Azure Dragon Sacred Beast? And an awakened one at that?"
Feeling this power coming from the Animal Companion Pact, Qi Ping was instantly shaken! This was absolutely not a power Qing He should have possessed on its own. Such pure bloodline power could only be achieved by Qing He's parents.
'The exclusive power of the Azure Dragon Sacred Beast... a Dragon Pearl... it even bypasses that law that slaughters all Mahayana Stage cultivators because it's pure origin power...'
'Did Qing He's parents know long ago that the rule to wipe out all Mahayana Stage beings and items in the Star-Sea World would appear?'
'And Qing He actually awakened the Sacred Power so quickly and sacrificed the Dragon Pearl left by its parents to me through its talent...'
Qi Ping's thoughts raced, and he immediately understood the cause and effect of this power. At this moment, he felt both relief and profound emotion. He hadn't expected Qing He's potential and comprehension to be so high—and more importantly, the temperament of the Azure Dragon Sacred Beast clan was the most fundamental factor in the strength of their bloodline.
Even more unexpected was that Qing He would sacrifice a holy object of the rank of a Dragon Pearl without hesitation. After all, Qing He hadn't been with him for very long, even if he had indeed treated it well. But a Dragon Pearl was something that even Mahayana Stage cultivators would go mad for!
Furthermore, Qi Ping realized that the "Immortal" who ground down all Mahayana Stage cultivators in the Star-Sea World was definitely not a coincidence. There was inevitably a deeper grudge behind it. This was likely something he would have to face in the future—perhaps even the reason for the appearance of his Druid Heritage Space.
But he didn't have much time to ponder these things. The most important task at hand was using this power to resolve the terrifying black dragon!
Once he understood the cause and effect, Qi Ping didn't overthink. He threw all his attention back into the life-and-death struggle!
Under the origin bloodline power of the Azure Dragon, Qi Ping's withered foundation rapidly recovered. His physical body, which had been forced back together countless times, healed at high speed! Even the scorch marks that had been unhealable began to recover. Those black demonic flames that Qi Ping couldn't suppress even with his full power began to gradually extinguish.
The power of the Azure Dragon Sacred Beast was frighteningly strong. This wasn't because Qi Ping's Universal Druid power was weak, but because this origin bloodline power was too pure and immense.
Furthermore, the healing effect was merely a side benefit. The true effect of such power lay in the transformation of the physical body and the awakening of talents. Otherwise, for healing alone, the Dragon Pearl wouldn't be rated as a holy medicine. Thus, under the influence of the pearl, Qi Ping's combat power soared!
Qi Ping was happy, but the dragon fighting him was not!
"F*ck!"
"The bloodline power of the Azure Dragon, and of this level! *!"
Seeing this, the black dragon directly started cursing! This was the first time since the start of the battle that Qi Ping understood the black dragon's words. Its mental state was understandable; it hadn't fought such a difficult battle in countless years. Its Divided Consciousness was nearly burned out.
More crucially, the stakes were too high. If it could obtain the Immortal Key and Sovereign power... and perhaps extract a sliver of Gilded Providence, one of the Four Great Mysteries, this trip would be incredibly profitable!
But if it lost, the demonic brats below would suffer heavy losses. That was fine; demon losses could be recovered with time by finding and devouring more worlds. It might even evolve some new demon species. But the loss of Divided Consciousness was immeasurable. At its stage, every resource of this level was extremely precious, and resources to birth Divided Consciousness were the rarest of all.
The battle, which had a high probability of victory, was now completely unbalanced. As a section of its tail was again smashed by the Mountain-River Seal, the black dragon finally began to show signs of defeat! Its injury recovery slowed, and its ferocity gradually declined.
In contrast, Qi Ping fought more fiercely as his wounds healed! More frightening was that a startling power was brewing within him. The dragon naturally knew that the power of a Dragon Pearl would birth a powerful talent in the human. If it were the main body, it wouldn't fear this, but it was down to a final thread of Divided Consciousness!
As Qi Ping's transformation neared completion, the black dragon grew increasingly violent. It felt too wronged. How could a tiny human possess such exaggerated opportunities and power? Sovereign power, Gilded Providence, and now the power of an Azure Dragon pearl—was there no end? If even one of these had been missing, it might not have lost!
With the end of the transformation, a life energy that made even the black dragon's heart skip a beat swept across the sky! Then, as an abyssal-green light enveloped it, it felt its life force being frantically drained. Simultaneously, the human's recovery and aura climbed even faster!
"Life Siphoning!" the black dragon gritted its teeth.
It naturally recognized this level of power. It had fought terrifying beings specialized in Life Siphoning before and had successfully slain them after a hard battle. But now was different. It was already nearing the end of its rope, struggling desperately against Qi Ping. How could it have any strength left to resist the power of Life Siphoning?
The black dragon's mind collapsed, and Qi Ping was elated. As the dragon judged, he had indeed awakened the Life Siphoning talent. But this wasn't just Life Siphoning! It was Life Siphoning + Life Restoration!
He could use the siphoned life force to restore another being. This talent possessed not only terrifying lethality but also ultra-strong healing capabilities, belonging to one of the power forms awakened after reaching an extremely high level in the Path of Wood. As one of the ultimate representatives of Wood power, it wasn't strange for the Azure Dragon Sacred Beast to awaken such power. The Sacred Beast of Life, representing restoration and protection, also possessed terrifying lethality!
"I don't care if you're a supreme existence or some ancient powerhouse from the demonic nest—die!"
At this moment, Qi Ping's killing intent was boiling! He had waited too long for this. He had never experienced a battle so pressured and desperate. His main body was forced into slumber, his consciousness nearly shattered, and the whole process was one of extreme pain and torture.
Fortunately, he had endured!
He held the Mountain-River Seal and smashed it frantically at the black dragon. With his crazed attacks, the dragon's scales exploded, and its flesh became a blurred mess, suppressed by the mountain-river power so that it couldn't heal! The dragon's blood dripped onto the ground, blasting out craters thousands of miles wide. The apocalyptic scene highlighted the miserable state of the black dragon's defeat—a stark contrast to its god-like posture when it first descended.
"The Demon Lord... is going to lose?"
"How is that possible?"
"That is a supreme master..."
Seeing the black dragon being pummeled by Qi Ping, its scales shattered and blood pouring, the demons of the entire Demon Realm were dumbfounded! This was a scene they never dared to imagine. Due to the influence of bloodline memories, they hadn't even considered the possibility of the black dragon's failure.
Yet, it was happening before their eyes. Any living being could see that the black dragon was at its wits' end; its death was only a matter of time.
But how could the Supreme Demon Lord lose? That was the Supreme Demon Lord! Although these Demon Realm beings had never known of its existence before, as demons, their awakened inheritance memories made them understand its power better than anyone. Killing them would take but a thought.
Especially the Void Refinement and Unity Stage demons; being of high rank and controlling the upper power of the Demon Realm, they knew just how strong this lord was. From that god-like pressure, they could tell it was a supreme powerhouse standing above all... yet such a powerhouse had lost!
Witnessing the miserable defeat of the black dragon caused the demons' convictions to collapse violently. Some even showed signs of their bloodlines crumbling!
In contrast to the demons' disbelief, the Star-Sea World side was ecstatic!
"The Star-Emperor is going to win!"
"The black dragon is being crushed!"
"The Star-Emperor is mighty!"
At this moment, excitement filled everyone's hearts. Some felt the urge to weep with joy. It had been too agonizing and hopeless! The dragon's god-like aura and Qi Ping's painful struggle—having just survived hellish battles themselves, they understood the hardship and pressure better than anyone.
Furthermore, Qi Ping's battle didn't just represent personal victory; it carried the fate and hope of the entire Star-Sea World. The previous battles were already so difficult, and now the even more horrific final slaughter was about to begin. If the Sovereign lost, what would happen next? What if they won their own matches but couldn't resist that god-like demon dragon?
If Qi Ping lost, the Star-Sea World might lose all hope. Families, homes, everything cherished—including themselves—might fall into the bottomless dark abyss!
Fortunately, Qi Ping was going to win! As he again smashed the black dragon's body apart, the emotions of every Star-Sea citizen were vented at this moment.
It was too hard... they finally saw the dawn of hope!
"Fight on!"
"Even the strongest of the Demon Realm is being beaten down!"
"The Star-Sea World can win!"
As the black dragon fell, everyone's fighting spirit soared once more. As long as they could win, nothing else mattered. The previous sacrifices would be worth it. The worst thing was fighting a battle without any meaning or hope.
Although they would choose to fight to the last drop of blood regardless, having hope versus having none felt different. As long as there was hope, sacrifice had value. The Sovereign would surely ensure their families received the best protection and resources!
However, on the other side of the battle, Qi Ping was unaware of the shifting emotions of the Star-Sea and Demon sides. Locked in a bitter struggle, he didn't dare to have a single moment of distraction. He wouldn't allow any factor that might affect victory to cause failure.
For his home and his future path of immortality, he could not lose! Thus, before the black dragon was completely dead, he wouldn't be distracted for a second!
Fortunately, after receiving Qing He's sacrifice, the scales of victory had tipped entirely in his favor! With Qi Ping's unrelenting output, half of the black dragon's body was completely blasted apart under the Mountain-River Seal's assault, leaving only its front legs. It could no longer recover in any form!
Flesh scattered, and the earth collapsed into a dead zone...
Soon, a corner of the black dragon's head was smashed, one eye exploded, and even one dragon horn disappeared entirely! Then its lower jaw was blasted apart, and its front legs were gone. Under Qi Ping's crazed slaughter, the black dragon was finally reduced to a half-ruined head.
At this point, the black dragon had completely lost any chance of a comeback! If it weren't for the protection of the Divided Consciousness power in its head, it would have been blasted apart already! But that was merely a matter of time.
"Human, you have won!"
After experiencing extreme rage and using every trick in its arsenal, the black dragon finally accepted the fact that its plans were ruined—a massive loss!
Qi Ping, facing the black dragon's first telepathic message, didn't react. He focused entirely on smashing it with the Mountain-River Seal. What was the point of talking? Killing it was the only truth. It would be even more troublesome to fall for some trick at the last second.
The black dragon, facing the silent Qi Ping who only knew how to keep hitting, wasn't surprised or angry. It had seen his fighting will.
But...
"Although I lost, it doesn't mean you won," the black dragon's voice suddenly rang out, eerily.
This made Qi Ping's heart skip a beat, but he showed no reaction. His movements didn't stop. The black dragon's voice remained unnervingly calm.
"I know this won't affect you, and I don't expect to turn the tables. Now I only want to ask you one question..."
"If you win, but become a general without an army—if every soldier who fought to the death for you dies—can you accept that result?"
"Once you are a Sovereign of none, by what right can you be a King? Jie jie jie!!!"
"My demon children, with my blood as the lead—go berserk! Slaughter every enemy before you!"
With the black dragon's final words, its entire head suddenly erupted in violent black flames! Then, it turned into countless streaks of black light and vanished without a trace.
The Great Black Dragon had officially fallen!
However, within the entire World-Domain Battlefield, every demon—from Qi Condensation to Unity Stage—simultaneously went berserk. Those vanished black flames were now slowly rising in the eyes of every single demon!