Chapter 1060: The Battle of the Divine Lord

"Is that the Snow Song Realm King?"

"Ah—she's like a fairy... Mmm!" A male Golden Crow Sect disciple muttered distractedly, then jolted and quickly covered his mouth.

The blazing waves of the Cremation Devil Sea surged sky-high, like an apocalypse descended upon the world. As Mu Xuanyin appeared, the ancient Flood Dragon's fiery scales bristled, and its aura turned violent, causing the surrounding thousand-li fire sea to explode furiously.

From within the boiling fire sea, the ancient Flood Dragon's roar of endless rage and hatred echoed: "It's you again, just as I expected! You despicable, greedy humans will surely face divine retribution one day!"

"Hmph, unfortunately, you won't live to see that day!" Mu Xuanyin's voice was cold and merciless. Blue light burst from her, and in an instant, the raging fire sea, previously stirred by the ancient Flood Dragon's fury, completely quieted. Even the towering waves of fire that had been churning high in the air froze in place. Then, an icy blue radiance radiated from beneath Mu Xuanyin's feet at an astonishing speed, engulfing the entire view almost instantly.

"Whoosh—"The three Flame God Sects, fixated on the profound formation's projection, instantly erupted in shouts of terror. Not only the young disciples, but even the elders of the three sects stared with bulging eyes, utterly aghast... The image within the profound formation, which had been a ceaselessly churning blood-red sea of fire, had transformed into a silent, deep blue sea of ice with just a lift of Mu Xuanyin's hand!

Even the eternally crimson sky now displayed a massive blue void. Yun Che's mouth also hung wide open... he nearly dropped his jaw in shock. This was a fiery hell, specifically the Cremation Devil Sea, where flame energy reached its absolute peak, not an ordinary ocean. Yet, it had been instantly frozen!

This was the terrifying power of a Divine Master; with a single move, the very world truly changed color. Even a ghost or god nearby would likely be shaken to their core.

The young disciples of the three Flame God Sects had naturally long heard of the Snow Song Realm King's might, but they had never imagined she would be powerful to such an extent. The Divine Master's power displayed in the projection was beyond anything they could ever dream of.

"Awooooh!!!!!"The ancient Flood Dragon, also frozen, let out a furious roar, and the icy fire sea immediately shattered, sending fiery fragments flying everywhere. "You despicable, greedy human, this venerable one will bury you here forever today!!"

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!It was as if thousands of volcanoes had erupted simultaneously from the bottom of the fire sea. Millions of fiery waves surged up, transforming into dancing fire dragons that roared towards Mu Xuanyin. The ancient Flood Dragon also soared into the air, its enormous tail, longer than its body, suddenly smashing down and sweeping out a ten-thousand-foot dragon flame.

"Clang!!"All the fire dragons approaching Mu Xuanyin, no matter how terrifyingly violent, froze a hundred zhang away from her. Facing the dragon tail descending from the sky, powerful enough to crush a continent, Mu Xuanyin did not evade. Instead, she nonchalantly extended her palm.

Although the ancient Flood Dragon possessed extremely terrifying power, its length, including its tail, was only thirty zhang. Among dragons, it could only be described as "petite," but compared to Mu Xuanyin, it was undoubtedly an enormous presence. The moment its tail slammed down, its shadow instantly enveloped Mu Xuanyin's entire body. Beneath the colossal dragon tail, Mu Xuanyin's raised, slender arm was like a fragile sapling trying to block a collapsing mountain.

But the instant they made contact, an earth-shattering roar erupted."Boom—""Awooooh!!"

Mu Xuanyin's body remained completely still, but the ancient Flood Dragon's massive tail suddenly recoiled, flinging its entire body backward out of the fiery hell. Accompanied by a deafening cry of pain, Mu Xuanyin's figure flickered. Using her "Broken Moon's Shadow" profound art, she instantly appeared in front of the ancient Flood Dragon, pressing her snow-white palm onto its dragon head. Beneath her cold, emotionless gaze, a blue light silently shimmered.

"Woooah!!!!!"The fire sea exploded as if maddened. The ancient Flood Dragon was blasted high into the air, soaring hundreds of li away with agonizing roars before finally falling back into the fiery hell.

"Good!!" Huo Rulie couldn't help but roar."In just a mere thousand years, the Snow Song Realm King's profound energy has improved so much. To suppress the ancient Flood Dragon so completely right from the start is unprecedented... truly terrifying," Yan Juehai said, deeply moved.

A hundred li distance was but an instant for a supreme Divine Master. Mu Xuanyin instantly closed in, and in her hand, an icy white sword had appeared.

The sword's blade was slender, no more than an inch wide at its broadest point, dull and lusterless, appearing as if sculpted from snow.

"Snow Princess Sword!" a Vermilion Bird elder whispered.

The Flood Dragon roared in fury, shaking heaven and earth. Its power and rage fully erupted, enveloping its entire body in towering flames. It frantically manipulated the fire of the hell, completely engulfing Mu Xuanyin's figure.

Mu Xuanyin lightly wielded the Snow Princess Sword in her hand, freezing and shattering all the overwhelming flames. The power of the Ice Phoenix, carrying the might to seal the world, mercilessly enveloped the ancient Flood Dragon.

Fire melted ice, ice froze fire. The fierce battle between the strongest beings of the Snow Song and Flame God Realms—one human, one dragon—finally began. As the powers of the two Divine Masters collided, the entire million-li Cremation Devil Sea dramatically changed.

Rumble... rumble...On the northern shore of the fire sea, fierce winds swirled and fiery waves exploded, causing the Flame God disciples to cry out in terror. If not for the various Flame God elders guarding the boundary and firmly sealing it with their power, they would undoubtedly have been swallowed by the raging waves.

The battlefield was a full seven thousand li away from their location... yet the force had somehow spread all the way here!This was a Divine Master-level battle... a brutal fight to the death. Even across the entire God Realm, very few profound practitioners would ever be fortunate enough to witness it firsthand. And were it not for the Vermilion Bird Sect's will projection, even if they knew about it, they certainly wouldn't be able to see it... because it would be utterly impossible to get close enough to see.

In the Vermilion Bird projection, the sky was sometimes crimson, sometimes icy blue. Each collision of power caused the battle to shift dozens of li, almost as if they were teleporting with every instant. Witnessing this mythical scene, Yun Che immediately recalled his own sparring sessions with his master, and his scalp tingled.

Clearly, when sparring with him, his master had not even used a ten-millionth of her power... otherwise, a million lives wouldn't have been enough for him to survive.

Although the power and battles at this level were far beyond his comprehension, he could clearly see that Mu Xuanyin held the advantage... a significant one. The ancient Flood Dragon was largely being suppressed. Any occasional counterattacks were easily neutralized by Mu Xuanyin.

Yet he also saw that despite dozens of heavy blows and ice explosions from Mu Xuanyin, the ancient Flood Dragon had not shed a single drop of blood from beginning to end.

This was the dragon's body, acknowledged as the strongest among all living beings!

"Something seems a bit off," Yan Juehai suddenly said.Yan Wancang turned his gaze slightly. "It seems Sect Master Yan has noticed it too."

Yun Che: "???"

Yan Juehai slowly nodded. "Its Dragon's Gate shows absolutely no signs of injury... it's too strange. If other parts were severely injured, recovering wouldn't be surprising. But that's the Dragon's Gate; how could it have recovered to such an extent in just a thousand years!"

Yun Che's gaze sharpened, fixed on the Vermilion Bird projection... As he concentrated, he quickly, in a particular instant, caught sight of a spot in the center of the ancient Flood Dragon's crimson underbelly that was noticeably darker than the surrounding area.

Was that the Flood Dragon's Dragon's Gate?!

"Huh?" Huo Poyun turned his head in surprise. "How can this be? Didn't they say it was impossible for it to fully recover in a thousand years?"

The injury to the Flood Dragon's Dragon's Gate a thousand years ago was a crucial factor in their anticipated success this time.But now, the Flood Dragon's Dragon's Gate... was completely healed, showing not the slightest sign of injury!

"This..." Huo Rulie was also deeply moved.

"It seems we miscalculated," Yan Juehai sighed. "An ordinary Flood Dragon, with an injured Dragon's Gate, indeed cannot recover in a thousand years. However, this Flood Dragon is no ordinary one; it was born from the Cremation Devil Sea. It can naturally draw upon the power of the Cremation Devil Sea to heal its Dragon's Gate at will. If that's the case, a full recovery within a thousand years is by no means impossible. We had completely overlooked this point."

This was indeed the only explanation.

The three Sect Masters' brows simultaneously furrowed, and the atmosphere grew somewhat oppressive. With the Flood Dragon's Dragon's Gate recovered, the possibility of successfully hunting it down plummeted. Yet, whether they could hunt it down was critical to Huo Poyun's breakthrough... and also to the future of the entire Flame God Realm!

The opportunity to cultivate for three thousand years within the Heaven Smiting Pearl was the first of its kind since ancient times, and very likely the last. If they missed it... there would be no future.

"However, there's no need to be pessimistic because of this," Yan Wancang said slowly after a brief silence. "As you've seen, the Snow Song Realm King's strength has increased by more than ten percent compared to a thousand years ago! The ancient Flood Dragon is clearly using its full power, yet it's being completely suppressed by the Snow Song Realm King, which has never happened before."

"A thousand years ago, she also faced an ancient Flood Dragon whose Dragon's Gate was undamaged. If not for an unexpected incident, coupled with its swift escape after completing its molting, it's highly probable she would have succeeded. This time... with the Snow Song Realm King's current strength, there's no reason she would fail. Perhaps... in less than ten hours..."

"No! It should be even shorter!" Yan Juehai also smiled. "In terms of profound energy reserves, humans simply cannot compare to dragons. In previous battles, after several hours, the Snow Song Realm King's consumption far exceeded the Flood Dragon's, leading her to gradually weaken. But now, with the Snow Song Realm King's profound energy refined to this extent, perhaps... the Flood Dragon won't be able to last until the later stages. Not only has the chance of success greatly increased, but the time required will also be significantly shortened."

"Well said!" Huo Rulie nodded heavily, his previously downcast expression instantly filling with deep hope once more.

Among beings of the same cultivation level, dragons were absolutely invincible. Killing a dragon was more than ten times harder than killing a human of the same level.

And given a dragon's immensely powerful body and life force—especially a Divine Master-level dragon—unless there was an absolute crushing difference in strength, even with the significant advantage Mu Xuanyin displayed, it would still take a considerable amount of time to actually hunt it down.

Furthermore, the Flood Dragon's molting period lasted only twelve hours. During these twelve hours, it could not remain submerged in the Cremation Devil Sea for too long, or it would be consumed by the inner flames, leading to a severe injury or even death. But once the molting was complete after twelve hours, it could safely escape.

However, as Yan Juehai had stated, in terms of profound energy reserves, dragons far surpassed humans. Although this ancient Flood Dragon's power intensity was inferior to Mu Xuanyin's, its reserves were definitely superior... perhaps even vastly superior. Therefore, if it was not severely injured after more than six hours, the possibility of hunting it down would steadily decrease—because by then, Mu Xuanyin's energy consumption would surely exceed seventy percent, while the ancient Flood Dragon might not even have used half of its own.

The words of the three Sect Masters made Yun Che secretly sigh in relief, feeling much more at ease.

Since all three of them stated that his master's profound energy was far superior to a thousand years ago and had completely suppressed the ancient Flood Dragon, it must be true.

Regardless of whether they ultimately succeeded, at least his master wouldn't be in any danger.

The churning of the fire sea showed no signs of stopping, and even beneath their feet, they could clearly feel tremors. All eyes were fixed firmly on the Vermilion Bird projection, not daring to stray for even an instant. Such a spectacle was likely a once-in-a-lifetime sight for them.

Less than half an hour passed, and the fierce battle within the fiery hell not only did not ease but intensified. Mu Xuanyin's eyes remained as icy as before, her snow-white robes spotless. The ancient Flood Dragon, however, was covered in sword wounds, its dragon blood staining its body, and nearly thirty percent of its scales were broken.

Yan Wancang, Yan Juehai, and Huo Rulie's faces were increasingly alight with joy, and their hands were clenched in extreme excitement. Although these were still considered minor injuries for the ancient Flood Dragon... a thousand years ago, it had taken Mu Xuanyin a full hour to inflict this level of damage.

This time, it took less than half an hour!

The initial shock from the recovery of the Flood Dragon's Dragon's Gate injury had now completely vanished. The ancient Flood Dragon's numerous wounds made them clearly see the hope of a successful hunt.

In the past, their deepest feelings about Mu Xuanyin's power were awe and resentment, but now, only gratitude remained.

"Brother Yun, your master truly is..." Huo Poyun swallowed hard. "She's truly too strong. This time, success is absolutely certain."

"Heh heh." Yun Che smiled, then suddenly said, "Brother Poyun... and esteemed Sect Masters, this junior seems to be... struggling a bit. I might need to step away for a moment."

"Oh?"

Yun Che's words made the three Sect Masters turn their heads simultaneously. Their previous focus had been entirely on the Vermilion Bird projection, and only now did they notice that Yun Che's face was flushed red like fire, and he was drenched in sweat.

They then remembered that Yun Che was a disciple of the Snow Song Realm, and his cultivation was only at the Divine Origin Realm, making it impossible for him to endure the fiery hell's aura for long.