Chapter 240: Strong Alliance

Swoosh!

A huge, green, shell-like creature suddenly materialized. It was a two-meter-tall, dark green mutated venomous insect, precisely Touba Hong’s long-hidden trump card: the Sacrificial Demonic Beast, the Eight-Clawed Insect Emperor!

“What?! He has a Sacrificial Demonic Beast too!”

Xu Yang and the Empress were completely stunned. In the previous battle, Touba Hong had almost secured victory within the sealing formation, yet he hadn’t summoned this venomous insect to assist in the attack. Its sudden release now completely countered the combat system Xu Yang had established.

As the huge shell blocked the Empress’s short blade, Touba Hong’s left hand, transformed from a fist into a sharp palm, plunged into Mu Qingtian’s right chest. Blood gushed out freely. Leveraging the Eight-Clawed Insect Emperor’s absorption ability, Mu Qingtian’s vital energy and blood, imbued with the power of the True Dragon Source, surged into Touba Hong’s body.

“Hahahaha! As expected of a vessel with a complete Dragon Source, this bloodline power is truly immense! If not for the fact that this True Dragon power clashes with the poison-attributed cultivation method within me, I wouldn’t have abandoned this True Dragon power to pursue the Taotie’s inner core! It’s not just my cultivation method; the Eight-Clawed Venomous Insect Emperor’s devouring instinct also requires the optimal nourishing effect of the Taotie’s inner core for enhancement. As they say, what suits you best is truly the best. Once I kill you all and dismantle this Dragon Source into several parts to give to my imperial brothers, who among the Three Thousand Dao States will be able to stop my Northern Jin from sweeping across the world? Hahahaha!”

After only absorbing a small amount of Mu Qingtian’s bloodline to restore his depleted spiritual energy and physical stamina, Touba Hong stopped. He then placed a hand on Mu Qingtian’s head and performed another sinister technique.

“Ancestor Asura, I am your grand-disciple Touba Hong. Quickly, awaken the human soul! Let us fight side by side and devastate all!”

“Damn it!”

Xu Yang’s Light of Annihilation had just shattered the powerful protective force of the Gate of Rashomon. Seeing what Touba Hong was doing to Mu Qingtian, his heart tightened. He swiftly transformed into a sharp ray of light and rushed over, unleashing a powerful finger beam towards Touba Hong’s back in an instant.

Unfortunately, he was a step too late.

Mu Qingtian’s pupils instantly turned a translucent, dark green. He forcefully pushed Touba Hong’s body away, helping him dodge Xu Yang’s attack, and simultaneously unleashed a palm strike with his backhand.

Boom!

Xu Yang’s finger beam once again clashed with the revived human soul of the Ghostly Asura. The powerful spiritual fluctuations caused a fierce gale to sweep across the entire ancient battlefield.

“This is troublesome now!”

Xu Yang knew he had ultimately failed to prevent the Ghostly Asura’s human soul from fully reviving, making victory even more difficult. More importantly, Mu Qingtian’s own soul power would likely become even weaker after this battle, and whether he could regain consciousness was an unknown.

Retreating back to the Taotie, Xu Yang placed a palm on its head. Brilliant golden Dao light helped it quickly recover its combat strength, and the restless mutated spiritual energy within its body gradually calmed down.

“Old fellow, I truly didn’t expect that after all this trouble, I’d be fighting alongside you.” Xu Yang chuckled softly, shaking his head as he teased the ancestral Taotie beside him.

“Your stamina is less than 20%, and even with multiple inheritances protecting you, it’s impossible to unleash your peak combat power again. What do you think, what are our chances of winning this two-on-two battle?”

Facing the Taotie’s question, Xu Yang smiled calmly: “One hundred percent.”

“Ah ha ha ha! You really are an interesting young man. I find myself liking your personality; it’s amusing!”

Neither man nor beast showed any sign of decline, as if they were still the absolute masters of this Dragon Slaying Battlefield, not intimidated in the slightest by the addition of a powerful combatant on the opposing side.

“Hmph, you two doomed fools are still so optimistic. Should I say you’re brazenly overconfident, or merely pathetic?” Touba Hong sneered with extreme malice. The technique he had just used on Mu Qingtian's body was the Art of Separate Bodies, Shared Souls, a highly bizarre soul-controlling secret art from the Rashomon lineage.

Simply put, Touba Hong used a portion of his own soul power to forcibly help the Ghostly Asura’s soul revive, essentially burning through the Ghostly Asura’s soul origin. If they failed to gain a greater advantage in this battle and were suppressed by Xu Yang again, the Ghostly Asura’s soul would likely completely collapse, never to awaken again.

“Ancestor, you hold off Xu Yang, no matter the cost! Leave the Taotie to me; as long as I can successfully wound it severely and extract its inner core, everything will be accomplished!”

The Ghostly Asura wasted no words. For him, every second of burning soul power was a great luxury, and he had to maximize his utility within this timeframe. Only by helping Touba Hong achieve his desires as quickly as possible could his own soul have a chance at permanent revival.

Whoosh!

The Ghostly Asura and Touba Hong both flew out simultaneously, their phantom-like extreme speed surpassing the Empress’s visual perception limit. Cultivators of the Nascent Soul realm simply could not track two peak experts at the Grand Completion of the Divine Infant realm. It is worth noting that although the Ghostly Asura had revived by burning his soul, due to the partial loss of his bloodline power and the overdraft of his soul origin, he could currently only maintain the Grand Completion of the Divine Infant realm at most, unable to break through to the Tribulation Transcending realm as before! The problem, however, was that while Xu Yang’s abilities were sufficient to cope, with only 10% of his stamina remaining, it was impossible for him to block both of them simultaneously. Even against the Ghostly Asura alone, it was uncertain how many rounds he could last.

“Bring it on! Even if it means fighting with everything I have, I must withstand their combined assault!”

Xu Yang and the Taotie also moved. The four peak experts clashed in battle. In this grand confrontation, the Empress felt no sense of grandeur, nor did she have the mind to observe and gain insight. Her only goal now was to find an opportunity to help Xu Yang alleviate some of the pressure. As for the people within the Taotie's domain, they were indirectly protected by the domain's power, at least spared from worrying about attacks from Touba Hong and his desperate companion.

Boom!

The four peak experts collided, triggering another round of earth-shattering spiritual shockwaves. The vast True Dragon Domain barrier of the Dragon Slaying Battlefield vibrated violently once more. This resilience was precisely why the True Dragon Divine Domain was so formidable; any other domain power, even on solid ground, would have been utterly destroyed by this force, let alone enduring the dual pressure of internal combat and endless external waves! No wonder the Dragon Race was considered god-like by all beings on the continent; their unparalleled pride was naturally built upon their formidable strength.

Four streaks of light continuously flashed and clashed. The Taotie practically hunkered down, roaring as it exchanged blows with Touba Hong. On Xu Yang’s side, since he and the Ghostly Asura were not the central focus of this battle’s outcome, they engaged in a relatively balanced offense and defense. To conserve stamina as much as possible, Xu Yang primarily relied on the power of divine artifacts to block the Ghostly Asura’s attacks.

“Now!”