Chapter 230: Bloodstained Temple

"Ayang..."

The Empress whispered his name, her voice barely audible, a tender address born from profound emotion deep within her heart.

Undoubtedly, Xu Yang had long since set up a powerful protective barrier for his sole companion, just in case.

An unprecedented sense of security flooded the Empress's heart. At this moment, she even forgot to guard against the terrifying assassin's next deadly move, wanting only to fix her gaze on the man who shielded her from harm.

In the next instant, Xu Yang was already standing in front of the Empress, his cold gaze fixed on Tuoba Hong.

"I think I've found the answer!"

Xu Yang stared into Tuoba Hong's eyes, noting the flickering, eerie green light in his pupils, and finally discovered the only way to break the magic array.

An overwhelmingly powerful Daoist aura instantly erupted!

Xu Yang's body radiated with dazzling colors. Simultaneously, the golden Dao Heart Whisk shot out, striking Tuoba Hong forcefully between the eyebrows.

Due to Xu Yang's overwhelming aura, Tuoba Hong's judgment was impaired throughout the process. By the time he instinctively tried to resist, it was already too late.

A fiery, burning sting in his eyes made Tuoba Hong shriek in agony. He stumbled backward, gasping for air, falling into a brief state of frenzy.

"Now!"

Xu Yang sent a soul transmission, and the Empress immediately unleashed her spiritual power, beginning to search for other hidden exits within the space.

Perhaps due to the pervasive environmental pressure, the Empress's potential fully erupted. Her powerful spiritual energy permeated nearly every wisp of space around them, as if countless eyes had suddenly opened on her, intent on completely seeing through the space.

"Found it! It's right above us. Break it!"

With a clear division of labor, Xu Yang worked from outside and the Empress from within. A cold sword light gathered above them, and with a thunderous crash, the mottled stone wall overhead cracked once more. The brilliant azure array pattern, dormant for over six thousand years, finally reappeared.

"So that's it! This is the true entrance to the Dragon-Slaying Battlefield!"

Seeing the sole flawed core of the array, Xu Yang immediately understood that this was where the true function of the Dao Heart Whisk would manifest.

"Open!"

Xu Yang roared. The Dao Heart Whisk seemed to come alive, soaring into the air and embedding itself into the core of the array above them.

Boom!

In an instant, an ancient and never-extinguished world-shattering power erupted!

Terrifying azure energy poured down from above. Each trembling ripple of light felt like the crushing force of waves at the deepest part of the ocean.

The Empress realized profoundly that without Xu Yang's protection, she would likely never have been able to find this place on her own, let alone search for the gluttonous beast...

How terrifying was this pressure? Fortunately, the intense aura of the Daoist sect's cultivation technique was mostly offset by Xu Yang.

Tuoba Hong, whose eyes were temporarily incapacitated beside them, was not so lucky. He was utterly pinned to the ground by this immense pressure, unable to move an inch.

And the magic array he had painstakingly arranged earlier became completely useless at this moment.

"Ascend!"

Xu Yang, protecting the Empress with his Dao power, ascended with her. Gathered by the endless Dao light, they flew out of the confined space, passed through the core of the array, and emerged from the underground cavern.

The next moment, Xu Yang and the Empress witnessed an incredible sight!

Before them lay an incredibly vast new space. Above, they could see the boundless blue of the deep sea, yet it was at least a thousand meters above the ground.

The ancient, blood-stained temple before them was the true layout of the Dragon-Slaying Battlefield.

On both sides lay countless chilling white bones, the remnants of innumerable Sky-Supporting Dao Sect and Ghost Shadow Asura predecessors who had fallen. Stepping into this scene again after so many years, it still appeared utterly tragic.

"Boy, be careful! There's a dragon's aura around this ancient temple!"

"Oh?"

The voice of the Guardian Dragon Soul suddenly resonated in Xu Yang's mind, making him even more serious.

"So, the Dragon-Slaying War six thousand years ago still failed to kill the true dragon?"

"Have you forgotten what the Sea Spirit General said? Mu Qingtian and the Ghost Shadow Asura King likely merged with the true dragon's physical body. This in itself is probably the greatest variable! If the power of the complete true dragon source was indeed inherited by those two, you will face the strongest opponent ever seen on this continent in this era, an unprecedented challenge!"

Xu Yang couldn't help but ask in return, "To what extent could their cultivation reach?"

"If they are truly still alive, they might have reached the Tribulation Transcendence Realm!"

"Hmph, I'd like to see just how much pressure the first Tribulation Transcendence Realm expert I've encountered since leaving seclusion can put on me!"

With a wave of his palm, the Dao Heart Whisk once again unleashed brilliant golden light. Xu Yang slowly ascended, casting an incredibly powerful spiritual pressure over the blood-stained temple from above.

"Whether it's the Sky-Supporting Dao Sect or the Ghost Shadow Asura, if you two are truly still alive, then today, let me experience your strength!"

Xu Yang waved his hand, and the golden light of the Dao Heart Whisk expanded to an unprecedented degree. The power unleashed as it flew out in an instant was enough to shake the entire underground palace!

Rumble!

A terrifying and unmatched power erupted. Xu Yang immediately positioned himself in front of the Empress, using his body to shield her from the destructive blast that nearly obliterated everything around them. To some extent, the power unleashed by this single strike could already rival the peak level of the Dao Harmonization Realm!

"Heavens... I finally understand why you remain so calm no matter what danger you face. Your strength is clearly far beyond what a mere Divine Infant Realm cultivator can compare to! Can you tell me, what is the true extent of your power?"

Boom!

As the whisk forcefully embedded itself into the center of the temple's protective aura, shattering the glow emanating from the temple, the entire ancient Dragon-Slaying Battlefield instantly fell silent, so quiet that only the Empress's tentative inquiry remained.

Looking at the back of the man before her, the Empress, for some reason, felt for the first time how truly unfamiliar he was...

After everything they had been through, Xu Yang finally, for the first time in front of the Empress, unleashed his true power—an unparalleled, earth-shattering force hidden within his mysterious body.

"All I can say is that the path of cultivation I, Xu Yang, follow is entirely different from everyone else's. You pursue breaking through realms, while I pursue the ultimate mastery of entering realms! My cultivation is completely different from that of others."

The Empress asked no further questions. She understood that Xu Yang sharing even this much was incredibly rare, and these secrets of his were likely unknown even to his goddess disciples.