In the wake of Zulong's brutal attack, the four sea experts felt invigorated. The opposite was true for Zulin's subordinates. The sudden increase in pressure was unlike anything they'd felt before.
BOOM!
CRACK!
BOOM!
CRACK!
"Your majesty," the giant god Erfu asked nervously.
"The barrier holds firm," Zulin growled back. "Combine your powers, strengthen the formation and counterattack."
"But your majesty, we've been doing that since the beginning," Wei said.
"Silence you incompetent fool, go out there and fight," Zulin ordered. In truth he too was feeling heavily pressured.
Zulong was already strong, but the further enhancements brought about by the burning of one's nascent soul magnified his strength to ludicrous levels. But to do so was also a detriment to one's own health, it was one's own life force. There was a reason why the act of burning a nascent soul was considered a suicide gambit.
He was like a wild animal, not speaking nor communicating. He only acted to attack and attack and attack. His teeth appeared razor like, even more so then usual. His claws here extended like knives. His tail was like a baton and even his whiskers were like spears as they skewered forwards.
Zulong's entire body was like a living weapon. An incarnation of primal fury that was so unlike the regal creature he was supposed to be. It made wonder if the dragon had fully given in to rage.
"You majesty, he's gaining ground, we can't damage him more than he can damage us," the great snake Erfu warned.
Zulin clenched his teeth. He didn't want to admit it but Erfu was right. Zulong's crew was at an advantageous position. They skilfully kited his tracks and struck back hard.
They had mobility while he was stationary. He could only fire off attacks and withstand theirs. While powerful the Unlimited Karmic Slaying formation's core enhancement was stronger within than outside.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Zulong relentlessly bashed the formation heavily damaging its outer membrane. At this rate, it'll be torn apart and the formation may even collapse from the backlash.
Others such as Xuanwu blew frozen air before ramming his shell against them. Baihu would viciously attack with his metallic claws and bludgeon them with his steel tail. Even Colossal Shark used his razor sharp teeth to cut into the formation.
'Fuck, our strongest attacks can only be used on the inside,' Zulin contemplated his next move. He didn't want Zulong in for fear of being losing that battle. If anything the dragon had proven himself far more capable of such a feat than the qilin.
'A risk, everything is a risk. I took a risk for luck Qi. Seems I'll have to gamble again,' making up his mind, Zulin stood up straight. "Prepare yourselves," he sent orders to the minds of his men.
"Since you want in so much then why don't come in and have a look," Zulin roared, stomping his hoofs. His plan was simple, get the dragon in, trap him and besiege him from all sides thereby killing him.
It was risky but it could pay off big time. After all, Zulin was no stranger to risks, luck was on his side today.
Zulong had been charging forwards for another attack. His body was cloaked in electricity, water, and demonic winds. The very fabric of reality distorted, destroyed beneath Zulong's advance. His maddened look made the regal dragon appear like a maniac.
The impact of Zulong's attack never came. Zulin put his plan into motion and opened a hole for Zulong. Thankfully, Zulong had flown in close for the attack while others were either out of range or attacking from another side. Choosing this moment was the wisest move Zulin could make.
Zulong's momentum carried him forwards. His eyeballs rolled back as he passed from the exterior of the barrier to the interior thus entering the airspace above Grand Empyrean Palace.
For the dragon, in that small split second, the atmosphere changed drastically. It felt suffocating in here, difficult to formulate thoughts, difficult to command his muscles. His spirit was drowsy and his mind distracted itself with all sorts of compromising ideas.
For a brief moment, Zulong appeared unfocused much to Zulin's joy. He wasted no time in commanding the hole to shut. At the same time, he leapt up in a flurry of karmic fire. His antlers glowed with mysterious golden light, the righteous horns of good fortune.
"Heh," Zulong snorted. In a very short span of time, his pupils regained focus. The azure pearl he held in his fore claws glowed in soft light. The calming roar of the celestial dragon emanated within his mind.
All treacherous thoughts were purged from his mind. His body regained control and his mind became clear. Zulong's attention snapped to the closing hole. He had to hurry.
The dragon had worn a chain of beads across his broad neck. These weren't any ordinary beads, in fact, they were the Twenty Four Sea Calming Pearls. A mystical collection of pearls that made up a top grade Xiantian Spiritual Treasure.
His claw reached up for the string holding the beads. "Fly, become a new world," he commanded throwing them back towards the outside.
Zulin narrowed his eyes at Zulong's actions. 'What is he doing?' He thought in confusion.
POP!
Twenty four circular discs overlaying each other appeared through the barrier. A bridge formed through these discs connecting to the outside world, twenty four universes that bridged each other together yet remained separate entities at the same time.
Very quickly, these discs merged into one big universe. By the time Zulin realised what was happening, the change was complete.
Zulong arched his neck back and twirled around Zulong, careful to avoid any flames. Touching any karmic fire was severely detrimental to his health after all. Looking back, he smirked in satisfaction.
"Those I messaged, join me inside," Zulong called out while twisting his tail around to slap Zulin.
"A new universe existing between the inside and outside world," Zulin's horselike features grimaced. He did not need to tilt his head to dodge Zulong's strike. "Do you think my formation so weak?"
As Xuanwu, Baihu, Qinglong, and a dozen others entered following Zulong's command, the elder dragon shook his head.
As if on cue, the new universe dimmed. It cracked in all places like a broken piece of glass. In the next instant, it disappeared, separating into twenty four pearls flying in different directions. It couldn't even last five seconds.
"Your luck is extraordinary, for a universe to destabilise and collapse so quickly," Zulong snorted. "Can you do anything without luck?"
Zulin did not deign to retort. He got to work throwing all sorts of distracting illusions at the four sea experts who made it through. "Attack, we hold the advantage in here, kill them," he commanded.
"Yes your majesty!"
"I don't think so," Zulong opened his gaping maw and unleashed a roar. His dragon's roar erupted in a deafening cry that threatened to burst the eardrums of those too close to him.
Zulin's subordinates felt their hearts wavering. They felt their doubts rise and fear grow. Their knees felt weak and a heavy desire to kneel was present in their hearts.
On the flip side, Zulong's subordinates felt great. Their spirits ignited in a burning desire for revenge. Their will to fight grew tremendously like a pool of oil being lit on fire.
It was a sudden drastic change. The abilities of Zulin within the formation allowed for him to infect his opponents with negative karma, distract them with dark thoughts, make them careless. At the same time, Zulong's roar invigorated their spirits to fight and dampened Zulin's magic.
The flow of karmic luck was reluctant to move forwards and urged themselves to turn away. Zulong's roar may not have worked on the insane amounts that were escaping from him earlier but it could work on a much smaller scale.
The celestial command went against the flow of destiny. Outnumbered but not outgunned, Zulin ordered his men to attack. He was simply put, furious. Anger at Zulong, anger at himself.
The minds of Chaos Immortals were extremely quick. It didn't take long for him to work out what happened in hindsight whilst he clashed against his fellow sovereign.
He'd underestimated the dragon's intelligence. Zulong's rage was not faked, his maniac assault carried his true feelings on the matter. But for one to also remain rational enough in that state astounded the qilin.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
But it did happen, Zulong planned around his own outburst. The effects of the Unlimited Karmic Slaying formation infected his mind and triggered his own defences. He returned to a sound state of mind and immediately acted to bring his personnel in.
Then stage two began. For every one of Zulin's ilk, two of Zulong besieged them along with the support of a third who'd come and go. The dragon's roar cleared them of any ill effects and at the same time caused the hearts of their opponents to waver.
But another powerful force was inside as well. Three of the four symbols were present, they manifested their stars bringing forth endless divine power. The stellar light of the stars enveloped their comrades further giving them a boost.
With the interior forces distracted, Yinglong led the outside forces. His expansive feathered wings stretched outwards like an angel from the bible. They flapped with such force that twin hurricanes made up of divine winds drilled into barrier outside.
The battles within had led to the lowering of concentration on the battle outside. Where before Yinglong's attacks would've been shrugged off, they now dented the barrier, threatening the formation severely.
"Push on!" Yinglong roared, his yellow scales glistened as he flew into the air. "I bring the rain," he chanted and danced. The responsive created massive storm clouds from beneath his wings.
They were not as furious as Zulong's thunderstorm but they possessed a terrifying inevitable quality of their own. An ominous storm that was always on the horizon drifting forwards ever so slightly. An ever present storm.
Trillions upon trillions of droplets of rainwater fell like a hail of arrows. They were both heavy, sharp and corrosive at the same time. A corrosive attack that ate away at the solid surface of the Unlimited Karmic Slaying formation.
The assault outside the barrier also disturbed those within. Kaimingshou who fought the ferocious Baihu retreated, just narrowly dodging and furious strike that destroyed the pavement.
With another leap, the white tiger shrugged off a hurricane of fire. His iron like teeth bit into Kaimingshou's throat. Behind him, a swordfish cut into the deity's side while Baihu tore out one of Kaimingshou's eight throats.
'This is bad,' the nine headed tiger urgently ran away. "Erfu, Wei, lord Shi…," he called out. "Help me!" He cried out. It was chaos, Zulin's men were collapsing.
"Things are not good," Erfu slithered away from Calamity Snail. He spat back hitting the mollusc in the face before retreating. "Friends, much as I hate to say this but we are unable to match them."
"ARGH!" All of a sudden, one of Zulin's Chaos Immortals toppled over. His chest was blown apart as the combined assault of three Great Principle experts allowed Colossal Shark to rip him apart.
The hungry shark gave a bloody smirk of nothing but teeth towards the four remaining immortals.
On Zulong's side, Zuling actually met the elder dragon blow for blow. Zulong had not burned his essence soul. As such he relied on nothing but his mastery of magic and martial skill to battle. In doing so, he rivalled even Zulin who was empowered by the fortune of his formation.
SWOOSH!
Zulong's tail strike missed its mark, the dragon abruptly flew up to avoid a pillar of karmic fire. He circled back and unleashed a claw strike breaking a storehouse.
Zulin leapt away avoiding more and more of Zulong's rapid attacks. His horns lit up and shot beams of concentrated fire to which Zulong arced his body around gracefully dodging.
Both opponents gritted their teeth in both nervousness and frustration. If things went on any longer, Zulin will truly be forced to exhaust his luck Qi to either fight back or run away.
Zulong threw out the Dragon Pearl. It was wreathed in myriad lights and formed into the glaring image of the celestial dragon.
In retaliation, Zulin retrieved an antique looking chessboard that struck the pearl. They were like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. Zulong commanded his pearl back to his claw and leapt forwards to smash the board himself.
The two impacted while Zulin charged the board adding his own momentum to the strike. The duo clashed resulting in a shockwave that destabilised the world within the barrier. An act that was counterproductive to Zulin.
"Attack, attack from all sides, destroy this formation," Zulong ordered. The dragon brought both claws down at Zulin narrowly missing. Another strike broke the ground, another broke a pillar, another store a statue apart.
Zulogn rampaged after Zuling systematically destroying Grand Empyrean Palace in the process.
"You, stop this now," Zulin yelled. The qilin flew into the air kicking Zulong back with his hoofs. The dragon was momentarily stunned but quickly recovered and went back on the offensive.
"I'll give back your luck Qi, cease this madness at once," Zulin urged. Of course, he didn't specify how much luck he was going to give back.
His words fell on deaf ears. Zulong truly had no desire to talk aside from sharing his own opinions on the matter. "The only thing I want from you is your head," he growled in response. Luck he can claim, Zulin's life was more important.
"Arg, don't take things too far," Zulin dodged a strike that destroyed his favourite collection of statues. He stomped the ground kicking up a dust storm that blinded Zulong before kicking the dragon.
The force has his strike forced the dragon to skirt back, ripping up the ground with his claws. Zulong opened his mouth and shot out a blast of electricity. Zulin answered with his own breath of fire.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
CLANG!
The outside barrier shimmered. Its cracked shell shattered like glass. Piece disintegrated into wind as Yinglong tore down the barrier from the outside.
Zulin was still caught in a tussle with Zulong when another of his men perished. With the fall of a third Chaos Immortal, the three symbols struck at the formation from the inside.
Zulin was unable to concentrate as the Unlimited Karmic Slaying formation collapsed around. He was simply too preoccupied with Zulong. At the same time, he could feel himself weakening drastically.
It was an utter disaster. Chaos Immortals were supposed to be apex existences. Yet in a brutal brawl against each other, they were being killed left and right.
Zulong was now both faster and stronger, his foundation was simply better. Zulin had to continuously exhaust his stockpile of karmic luck to bridge the difference. In this manner he continued to avoid further strikes. But his repeated flame attacks were also avoided and his kicks did nothing. His spells were countered and now his biggest advantage was gone.
The environment shimmered, it changed back to the way it was. All unique defensive qualities quickly faded with the collapse of the formation. Buildings became more fragile and suddenly, the peak they fought on shook dangerously.
'Have to get away, have to get away!' Zulin turned tail to run. He whipped out a wave of karmic fire before running in the direction of his main hall. 'Have to collect my children. You'll pay for this dragon,' he promised in his mind.
"Don't let him escape, besiege him," Zulong cried out standing atop a wave of water. It washed over the karmic fire battling against the cosmic force while simultaneously flooding the mountain.
Yinglong and others heeded Zulong's command. He flew in with several others forcing Zulin to leap back. The qilin was forced to do so again when Qinglong and Xuanwu charged in on a cloud of ice.
The qilin sprayed out columns of karmic fire and then flew up. Then he was abruptly halted. Turning his gaze down, Zulin met Zulong eye for eye, his claw clutching the qilin's tail.
"You," Zulin snarled as Zulong threw the qilin back down with all his strength. Hongjun's words from earlier, "Miracles can only happen within the realm of possibility" echoed in his mind.
The qilin slammed into his own palace into his mountain. Avalanches of rock and soil tabled down as the foundations of the mountain were broken. The entire mountain range could feel Zulin's fall and collapsed upon his impact.
Minutes later, the entire mountain range where the qilin once called home, collapsed into rubble.