Chapter 676 1 versus 4
As Zi Yan dodged the three dragon breaths, she caught a glimpse of the three blazing beams of light whistling past her clothes before crashing into Huang Tian's crimson-gold wings.
Hearing the muffled sounds and Huang Tian's suppressed groans from afar, a strange glint flashed in her phoenix eyes. The sneak attack by these three fools had actually helped her deliver a vicious blow to her opponent.
However, in just a moment, that strange feeling was replaced by a bone-chilling cold.
Zi Yan's figure came to a steady stop in the void. Her hundred-foot-long Heavenly Phoenix Wings slowly folded, but the purple-gold flames at the tips of her wings burned even more fiercely with anger, almost setting the surrounding void ablaze.
She slowly turned around, her gaze like a sharp blade tempered with ice, piercing straight at the three dark purple dragon shadows still hovering in the void.
"Uniting with the ancient sworn enemy of the Taixu Dragon Clan, they launched a sneak attack on me, the newly appointed Dragon Emperor, from behind..." Zi Yan's voice wasn't loud, yet it carried the penetrating power of a dragon's might; each word struck the void like a heavy hammer.
"You have the blood of the Ancient Dragon of the Void flowing in your veins, and you bear the glory of the Ancient Dragon Clan's heritage. Yet now, to survive, you willingly become the henchmen of your enemies. Such behavior is not only shameless, but utterly a desecration of your bloodline!"
He slowly clenched his fists at his sides, his knuckles glowing with a purple-gold light as he exerted force. The Supreme Dragon-Phoenix bloodline surged more and more violently within him, causing even the surrounding energy turbulence to boil.
Zi Yan's phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, her killing intent as chilling as a winter blizzard: "As traitors to the Dragon Clan, you colluded with foreign enemies to plot against the Dragon Emperor. Your crimes are countless. Today, I, the Emperor, will cleanse the Dragon Clan of its filth and execute you three ungrateful wretches on the spot!"
Before she finished speaking, the purple-gold battle aura around her surged like a volcanic eruption. The phantom of a dragon and phoenix behind her appeared and disappeared in the battle aura. The overwhelming pressure that crushed everything pressed down on the three dragon kings, causing their huge dragon bodies to tremble slightly involuntarily.
Before she finished speaking, three streams of purple-gold light condensed at Zi Yan's fingertips. The light swirled in her palm and grew several feet, transforming into three long arrows of battle qi with dragon heads and phoenix wings. The arrowheads were intertwined with dragon might and battle qi, and even before they were shot, they caused fine cracks to appear in the void.
"Boo-boo-boo-"
The three sharp whistles almost formed a single line, and the long arrow, like a thunderclap traversing the void, rushed straight towards the three dragon kings with the power to tear apart the chaos.
Seeing this, the three dragon kings could only hastily cooperate to form a triple shield in front of the dragon's body, but the moment the purple-gold arrow touched it, it made a crisp sound as if it could not withstand the pressure.
"Crack!"
The shield shattered layer by layer like glass, and the long arrow, with its remaining force, slammed into the dragon scales, exploding into a sky full of purple-gold energy ripples.
The Western Dragon King cried out in pain as his massive dragon body was sent flying, several of his dark purple scales shattering, and blood instantly staining the void red.
The Southern Dragon King hurriedly swung his long tail to block, but the dragon's might on the arrow made his blood surge and his throat feel a metallic taste.
The Northern Dragon King was in the worst state; his left arm was grazed by an arrow, leaving a deep, bone-revealing wound that instantly burst open. The intense pain caused him to let out a mournful dragon roar.
In the blink of an eye, the three dragon kings were forced into a perilous situation.
They hurriedly tightened their formation, with the three dragon bodies connected end to end, and the strongest dragon scales facing outwards. However, Zi Yan's attacks came one after another like a storm. Sometimes she would condense arrows and fire them from a distance, and sometimes she would wave her hand and throw out purple-gold fist shadows. The fist shadows exploded in the void and transformed into thousands of dragon-shaped battle qi, which repeatedly washed over their defensive circle like a tide.
"Bang bang bang!"
The sounds of collisions were so dense they were almost continuous. The three dragon kings exerted all their strength to activate their battle qi, but they could only barely protect their vitals. With each block, they felt their bones groaning. The cracks on their dragon scales increased, and blood dripped continuously from the seams.
They no longer dared to harbor any of the cunning they had displayed during the sneak attack; they could only frantically dodge and weave through the void, their dragon eyes filled with fear and panic.
In just a few breaths, the three were already covered in wounds. Half of the Western Dragon King's whiskers had been singed off by the aftershocks of the battle, a piece of the Southern Dragon King's horn had been broken off, and the Northern Dragon King had even coughed up three mouthfuls of dragon blood, his aura weakening considerably. In such a miserable state, where was the former majesty of the Dragon Kings?
"Clan Chief Huangtian! Save us!" The Northern Dragon King could no longer hold on and roared in pain toward Huangtian, his dragon eyes filled with pleading.
The other two dragon kings also hurriedly turned their heads to look, their eyes filled with a hint of embarrassment that they found hard to express. Their previous sneak attack had not only failed to help, but had also injured Huang Tian. They were really not confident in asking for help now.
But in this life-or-death situation, who cares about saving face? They could only stare intently at the giant crimson-gold shadow, hoping it would come to their rescue.
Huang Tian had just regained his footing and was secretly annoyed, clutching his bleeding left wing. Seeing the three Dragon Kings being beaten so badly that they dared to ask him for help, his crimson-gold pupils suddenly surged with rage.
He already despised these traitors, and now seeing how utterly useless they were, he wished he could have Zi Yan tear them to pieces.
But then she thought, if these three died, no one would be able to restrain Zi Yan, and she would have even less chance of winning if she faced the enraged Dragon Emperor alone.
With a cold snort, Huang Tian finally flapped his wings, and his crimson-gold battle aura condensed once more, clearly intending to intervene in the battle.
Taking advantage of the moment when Zi Yan was throwing punches and unleashing a torrent of fighting spirit like a waterfall onto the three dragon kings' defensive circle, and her attention was completely drawn to the three disheveled dragon figures, Huang Tian quietly gathered all his fighting spirit into his wings.
The light at the edge of the crimson-gold wings suddenly dimmed, and a strange black flame carrying an aura of destruction rose from the feathers. As the black flame surged, it faintly revealed a suction force that devoured light.
His wings suddenly folded inward and then suddenly unfolded again. The black flame that contained half of his battle qi instantly separated from the wingtips and twisted in the void into a cross-shaped flame blade about ten feet long.
The space at the edge of the flaming blade sizzled and crackled, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound that broke the sound barrier, as it pierced straight into Zi Yan's back at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye!
He had been planning this attack for a long time, and the timing was extremely precise, precisely when he had calculated that Zi Yan was unable to deal with the three Dragon Kings in two separate situations.
At this moment, Zi Yan shattered the dark dragon shield that the Southern Dragon King had condensed with a punch. The force of her punch made the dragon's body tremble violently, and her purple-gold battle qi surged like waves. She seemed completely unaware of the deadly attack behind her.
Just as the black flame cross blade was about to reach her body, Zi Yan's figure seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, leaving a faint afterimage in the void.
She appeared out of thin air in an almost teleporting manner, traversing hundreds of feet in the blink of an eye. The black flame cross blade carrying the aura of destruction whistled past her previous position and finally crashed into a pile of shattered void debris, stirring up a rain of black fire.
Fortunately, Huang Tian had anticipated that Zi Yan might dodge the attack, so he deliberately adjusted the direction of the attack, which prevented the attack from affecting the three dragon kings.
"How is this possible?!" Huang Tian's wings faltered, his crimson-gold pupils filled with disbelief and confusion. He knew that Zi Yan was suppressing the three dragon kings with all her might. Even if she could sense the attack, she should have hastily dodged and been in a sorry state. But the spatial teleportation just now was so smooth and effortless, as if she already knew the trajectory of the Flame Blade, and even carried a sense of ease and composure.
He stared at Zi Yan, who had regained her footing several hundred feet away, and doubts arose in his mind. Could it be that his charging up had not escaped her perception from the very beginning?
Judging from her focused expression as she punched the Dragon King and pressed him step by step, she clearly put all her energy into the front line of battle. How could she have the spare energy to keep an eye on me?
The feeling that his every move was being seen through sent a chill down Huang Tian's spine. The slight sense of relief he had felt earlier because of the three Dragon Kings' arrival had been replaced by a much stronger sense of apprehension.
Zi Yan stood still several hundred feet away, watching the rain of fire explode from the black flame cross blade. A trace of lingering fear flashed in her phoenix eyes, but she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
While she was suppressing the three dragon kings with all her might, her attention was indeed mostly drawn to the battle in front of her. Although she was wary of Huang Tian's power-gathering movements, she did not expect the opponent to attack so swiftly and unpredictably.
The destructive aura contained in this black flame attack was obvious, clearly one of Huang Tian's trump cards. If it were to be hit head-on, even with the supreme dragon-phoenix bloodline and incredibly powerful physical body, it would likely suffer considerable damage.
However, her ability to dodge so easily was certainly not entirely due to luck.
At this moment, in a hidden energy fold in the void, Xiao Ling's figure was concealed. Although he did not directly participate in the battle, a faint silver light lingered between his brows, and he was spreading out his soul perception power, which he had cultivated to the extreme, without reservation.
Now, Xiao Ling's soul power has already reached the Great Talisman Sect realm. Every rustle of wind and the flow of energy on the entire battlefield, even the subtle fluctuations when the Phoenix Heaven Battle Qi is condensed, and the contraction trajectory of the three Dragon Kings' body muscles, are all reflected in his perception.
With Zi Yan completely unguarded around him, this vast, star-like perception flowed into her consciousness like a trickle.
Although not as clear and intuitive as Xiao Ling's personal perception, it was enough for Zi Yan to detect the danger in advance. The energy pulsation when the three dragon kings' dragon breaths condensed and the spatial burning sensation when the black flames of the Phoenix Sky Wings were gathering power could all turn into warning signals and enter her mind in the first instant.
Just as he had previously dodged the sneak attacks from behind by the three Dragon Kings, he had now dodged Huang Tian's deadly black flames in the same way.
This seemingly subtle sensory aid is actually the sharpest invisible blade on the battlefield. It allows Zi Yan to always avoid deadly attacks by the slightest margin and launch precise counterattacks the moment the enemy's defenses show a weakness, putting every bit of her fighting spirit to the blade.
This almost prophetic insight allowed her to remain adept in battles against multiple opponents. While the situations appeared perilous, every dodge and counterattack was perfectly timed, maximizing her combat efficiency.
Zi Yan turned her head to the side, her gaze seemingly sweeping across a certain spot in the void, a barely perceptible curve appearing at the corner of her lips. With Xiao Ling's "heavenly eyes" by her side, she felt an unparalleled sense of security and peace of mind.
As Huang Tian stared at Zi Yan's composed figure, his doubts gradually dissipated. To be able to handle his premeditated sneak attack so easily, she must have special sensory abilities.
Come to think of it, without some trump cards, no matter how young and inexperienced this new Dragon Emperor is, he could never have made such a basic mistake as being completely unprepared for himself.
"Hmph, so what if your senses are sharp? Let's see if you can escape in close combat with those meager skills!"
He snorted coldly, his crimson-gold wings flapped violently, and his thousand-foot-tall body swooped down like an arrow, simultaneously shouting at the three dragon kings:
"You three! Why aren't you following?! If you join forces to suppress this bastard of the Dragon Emperor today, your crime of rebellion can be forgiven!"
Before she could finish speaking, Huang Tian had already arrived in front of Zi Yan with an aura that could shatter mountains and split peaks.
The crimson-gold wings were like two spinning war saws, their sharp edges sweeping out with a force that could tear through the void. Each flap forced Zi Yan to concentrate and deal with it.
In an instant, the collision of fist and wing once again erupted in the void with a muffled roar. Purple-gold battle qi and crimson-gold flames intertwined in the void, and the energy turbulence was even more violent than before.
Upon seeing this, the three Dragon Kings felt as if they had found their pillar of support.
Despite the excruciating pain of his shattered scales, the Western Dragon King swung his tail at Zi Yan's flank. The Southern Dragon King unleashed a torrent of scorching dragon breath to wear Zi Yan down from a distance, while the Northern Dragon King gathered his remaining battle qi and laid down dark purple dragon-patterned restraints in the void, attempting to restrict her movements.
Three enormous dragon bodies surrounded Zi Yan in a triangular formation, forming a four-sided encirclement with Huang Tian, trapping her in the center.
In an instant, the void became a melting pot of chaos.
Huang Tian's giant wings flapped like a storm, each strike carrying the immense power of a holy elephant; the three dragon kings used their dragon bodies to harass, bind, and alternate between dragon breaths, which, though unable to harm Zi Yan's core, tightly restricted her escape space.
Zi Yan moved nimbly through the encirclement, her fists sometimes transforming into purple-gold dragon shadows to forcefully clashed with Huang Tian's wings, and sometimes gathering several battle qi attacks to repel the three dragon kings' attacks. The Supreme Dragon-Phoenix bloodline circulated rapidly within her body, pushing her power and speed to the extreme.
But two fists can't fight four hands in the end. Even with Xiao Ling's perception to help her, Zi Yan could only manage to fight four opponents without being at a disadvantage.
Huang Tian's black flames erupted from her wingtips from time to time, forcing her to focus on defense; the three dragon kings, on the other hand, clung to her like a persistent ailment, with the ear-piercing sound of their dragon scales rubbing together and countless attacks of all kinds.
In a moment of carelessness, Zi Yan's shoulder was accidentally struck by the Northern Dragon King's tail. Ripples immediately appeared on her purple-gold armor. Although it did not injure her flesh, it caused her blood and qi to surge slightly.
"Hahaha! Let's see how long you can last!" Huang Tian laughed wildly, his attacks becoming even more ferocious. "Surrender, and this clan leader might spare your corpse!"
Zi Yan's phoenix eyes narrowed, but instead of backing down, her purple-gold battle aura intensified.
"You think you can ambush and kill me? You're not qualified!"
She knew she couldn't show weakness at this moment. Xiao Ling's sensory signals kept flashing in her mind, reminding her of every danger that was approaching, enabling her to properly handle all kinds of emergencies.
However, this prolonged stalemate was not what Zi Yan wanted. She had to seize the fleeting opportunity and strike one link in the chain with lightning speed in order to break the deadlock that was surrounded from all sides.
Just as she keenly sensed an opportunity, Zi Yan let out a clear shout, her figure suddenly rising higher, dodging Huang Tian's sweeping wings and the encirclement of the three Dragon Kings. Her fists drew a mysterious arc in the void, and her purple-gold battle qi surged like a volcanic eruption, actually intending to directly confront the four-person attack! (End of this chapter)
