"Damn it, are they crazy? How could they use the 'Tidal Reversal'?" Shen Long, being part of the dragon clan, knew well the devastating power of such a technique. But more than that, he understood its dire consequences—after using it, the ancestral dragon’s foundation would be damaged, forbidding any further cultivation or martial arts for a millennium.
As he processed Tian Long's words, a pang of shame washed over him. They hadn’t come to rescue him after all; they believed he was already dead and had come to avenge him instead.
...
Indeed, Shen Long’s guess was correct. When Ao Qian relayed Shen Long’s situation back to the dragon clan, the three dragon ancestors initially intended to save him. However, just as they were about to set off, they all stopped in unison, their expressions growing dark.
"Are you both sensing this too?" Tian Long exchanged a serious look with the other two dragons, communicating telepathically.
"Yes... But how? Why can’t we feel even the faintest trace of Xuan Long’s aura? Even before he fully awakened, we could sense him on some level. But now, there’s nothing. Ao San’s message indicated danger, but could it be..." Di Long forced himself to remain calm, analyzing the situation.
"Could it be that our third brother has fallen?" Huang Long, shaken by Di Long's analysis, couldn’t hold back and shouted aloud.
Chaos erupted. The twenty young dragons who hadn’t yet left, along with the entourage of guards following the three dragon ancestors, turned deathly pale.
"Impossible! Xuan Long would never die! We parted ways less than a day ago. Who could have the power to kill a late-stage Da Luo expert in such a short time?" Shen Long’s followers were especially distraught, shaking their heads in disbelief.
Ao Kun, sobbing uncontrollably, rushed out of the hall.
"Ancestors, there must be some mistake. Xuan Long can’t have fallen," one of the Da Luo-level guards dared to ask.
"I don’t know if it’s a mistake, but that subtle connection we shared with Ao San... it’s gone. We can’t sense anything at all." Sometimes, when the mind clings to a particular thought, it becomes trapped, unable to escape the deadlock.
Ao Tian, who had been summoned by Ao Kun, faltered upon hearing this.
"But even if we can’t sense him, it doesn't necessarily mean anything," Ao Kun retorted. "Xuan Long's cultivation methods are the most profound and mysterious in our clan. He could’ve concealed himself for a reason, perhaps to protect a treasure."
The other dragons found this explanation reasonable. After all, the dragon clan was at a crucial period of growth, and no one would dare risk provoking them. And the notion that an ancestral dragon could fall was simply too far-fetched to entertain.
"Kun'er, show me the last place where you and Xuan Long parted ways," Ao Tian requested of his daughter, his mind racing as he recalled something.
Without hesitation, Ao Kun condensed the location into a map with her primordial spirit and handed it to her father.
Just as Ao Tian was about to cast a remote mirroring spell, Tian Long interjected, "Let me handle this."
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With a solemn expression, Tian Long grasped the coordinates in the void, drawing his hands together as if touching a mirror. With a shout of "Open!" the space where his hands moved began to shimmer, forming a translucent mirror. Slowly, a scene unfolded, and the assembled dragons gazed in awe at the display of power.
But their awe quickly turned to despair. The image revealed the chaotic battle in the Four Seas, where mighty beings clashed and many perished. With the connection to Xuan Long severed, a grim realization set in—their revered ancestor had likely fallen amidst the carnage.
In truth, Shen Long’s lack of combat prowess within the dragon clan had long been an open secret. Despite his mastery over numerous spells, few believed he could survive such a ferocious battle.
Seeing the chaotic scene, the dragon clan members concluded that Shen Long must have met his end.
"Summon every dragon of Taiyi Golden Immortal level and above, and return to the Dragon Palace at once. Any who delay shall be suppressed for ten thousand years," Tian Long commanded before leading Di Long and Huang Long into the secret chamber of the Ancestral Dragon Hall.
Inside the hall, Huang Long voiced his concern. "Brother, are you really going to use that technique?"
"Yes. Although Xiao San wasn’t with us for long after his awakening, he is still our kin, a dragon ancestor. There must be some who pay the price for his death," Tian Long said resolutely.
"Then let me do it. You still have to manage the affairs of the dragon clan..." Huang Long tried to dissuade him.
"I’ll handle it," Tian Long cut him off, his voice firm and unwavering as he looked Huang Long in the eye.
Sighing in resignation, Huang Long sank into his seat, the room falling into a heavy silence.
The next morning, waves of dragons arrived at the Dragon Palace. Tian Long led a contingent of the clan's most powerful members to the scene of Shen Long’s battle, while Huang Long led another group, consisting of dragon allies and powerful scaled beings, in a different direction. Meanwhile, Di Long remained behind to guard the Dragon Palace.
...
Thus, it was Tian Long who led the dragon clan’s charge and invoked the 'Tidal Reversal' technique mentioned by Huang Long.
Within this domain, the seas surged violently, turning from their depths to their peaks, as if the entire ocean had been inverted. Water continuously shifted between forms—vapor, liquid, solid—interspersed with flickers of flame, an icy fire that danced within the space. These chaotic elements intertwined, giving birth to a palpable sense of destruction.
Many of the heavily wounded combatants were torn apart by the space's overwhelming power before they could even react.
Witnessing the devastation, those still fighting abandoned their treasures and fled.
"Explode," Kun Peng, ruthless as ever, detonated his own domain, sacrificing his quasi-saint status and reverting to late-stage Da Luo just to escape the space. He spared not even a glance at the Chaos Cauldron, seemingly as indifferent to treasures as the Ice Emperor, and vanished in an instant.
"Damn, that's Kun Peng? Ruthless! No wonder he survived the Dragon-Han, the Witch-Demon, and the Investiture of the Gods calamities."
The Ice Emperor appeared the calmest of all, though a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth betrayed his struggle.
Most of the other powerful beings perished within the domain, and only a few managed to escape, gravely wounded, by sacrificing their treasures or suppressing their cultivation. Once free, they fled as quickly as possible.
Even the Chaos Cauldron wasn’t spared. Inside, Shen Long had been mimicking Pangu, swinging his axe four times, inflicting severe damage upon the cauldron’s very core. This was why its spirit had failed in the tribulation.
Once the space was confirmed to be devoid of life, Tian Long ceased the formation. But by then, cracks had begun to spread across the Chaos Cauldron, worsened by both internal and external damage.
With a sharp crack, a piece of the cauldron broke off.
More followed. Crack after crack sounded as the cauldron shattered into nine pieces, splitting along the very lines Shen Long had carved with his four axe swings, neatly dividing the chaos into nine parts.
Shen Long’s heart sank with each breaking sound. Had he really destroyed such a precious treasure?
Frustrated and furious, Shen Long emerged from the chaos.
At that moment, Tian Long, who had just disbanded the formation and was preparing to clear the battlefield, heard a dragon's roar.
"Roarrr!" Without hesitation, he flew toward the source of the sound.