The Final Trial
The beam of condensed fire and venom shot forward, not like a loose spray, but as a focused lance of annihilation. The air in its path rippled with heat haze, and the pungent, acidic stench promised a corrosion that could eat through soul-shielded steel.
Yao Xuan's mind, cleared and guarded by the Ancestral Dragon Stone Tablet, processed the attack with icy clarity. 'Direct evasion is predictable. It will have follow-up patterns. I must assert control.'
He did not leap aside. Instead, he planted his feet, and the golden scales along his body flared. He did not summon a wide shield. He focused the Ancestral Dragon Chaos Qi into a dense, rotating disc of nine-colored energy no larger than a buckler, held before his leading forearm.
BOOM-SSSS!
The fiery lance struck the disc. The sound was a hybrid of explosion and corrosive hiss. The primordial chaos energy devoured and destabilized the incoming attack, but the potency of the legendary soul beast's assault was immense. The disc shattered after a heartbeat, but it had done its job—it had diffused the concentrated beam into a wave of superheated air and scattered venom-mist.
Yao Xuan crossed his scaled arms before his face and charged through the dissipating attack. The residual heat washed over him, discomforting but not damaging. The wisps of venom-mist stung where they touched his scales, leaving faint, smoking marks that faded almost instantly as his draconic vitality flared. The Ancestral Dragon's resistance was holding.
The Ten-Headed Fiery Sun Serpent' blood-red eyes flickered with something akin to surprise. Its prey had not fled or been poisoned; it had weathered the strike and closed the distance.
Twenty meters became ten.
Then five.
Yao Xuan could feel the oppressive, dry heat radiating from the serpent's massive body, see the pulsating rhythm of the nine fiery tumors on its back. Its maw opened again, gathering another, closer-range burst.
He didn't give it the chance.
"Ancestral Dragon's Roar!"
At point-blank range, the focused sonic-spiritual blast was not for suppression, but for disruption. It slammed into the serpent's head, not to harm its formidable physique, but to jar its concentration, to interrupt the soul power cycle gathering in its throat.
The serpent's head jerked back. The gathering fire in its maw guttered and spat irregularly.
Seizing the micro-window of interruption, Yao Xuan committed. This was the heart of the beast's range. Retreat was not an option; domination was the only path.
"Ancestral Dragon Overlord Body!"
His second soul ring blazed. A wave of palpable, sovereign energy erupted from Yao Xuan, a tangible force that pressed down on the immediate area. The serpent's fiery aura dimmed further. The golden scales covering Yao Xuan thickened, their edges becoming sharper, and his entire frame seemed to gain an immovable, majestic density. His resistance to fire and poison spiked.
He lunged, not at the heavily armored head, but at the massive, scaled body. His right claw, now a terrifying instrument of golden destruction, aimed for a spot just below one of the pulsating fiery tumors—a potential weak point, a nexus of its power.
The Ten-Headed Fiery Sun Serpent reacted with speed belying its bulk. Its body coiled defensively, and its tail, a whip of muscle and scale, lashed out horizontally to crush Yao Xuan against the marble floor.
Yao Xuan saw the tail coming in his periphery. He couldn't fully dodge in mid-lunge. Instead, he twisted, taking the blow on his already-crossed, Overlord Body-enhanced forearms.
THWUMP!
The impact was colossal. It felt like being hit by a speeding fortification wall. Yao Xuan's charge was converted into a sideways skid, his boots screeching against the marble, sparks flying. Pain lanced up his arms, but the bones, reinforced by dragonforce and his soul skill, held. He absorbed the momentum, using it to spin himself around, staying on his feet and facing the serpent again, now from a different angle.
His arms throbbed, but a fierce light burned in his eyes. He had felt its strength. It was staggering, but not insurmountable. And it had been forced to defend.
'It respects the Overlord Body's aura. Good.'
The serpent, now fully recognizing the threat, let out another grating, infant-like cry, this one layered with fury. The nine tumors on its back blazed brighter, and the air around it began to distort with rising heat. It wasn't preparing a single attack. It was preparing to turn the entire arena into its infernal domain.
In the observation room, Leng Yaozhu was on the edge of her seat, her knuckles white. "He's engaging it in close combat! A Great Soul Master, trading blows with a legendary beast!"
Gu Yue stood perfectly still, but her eyes were volcanic. The analytical part recorded every data point—the efficiency of his energy use, the strategic application of his roar, the calculated risk of the Overlord Body. The part that was Na'er, and the part that was simply Gu Yue fearing for him, screamed silently. Her hand had risen slightly, as if she could reach into the screen and pull him back from the gathering inferno. 'You must not be reckless. You promised… you promised to always come back.' The duality within her was laid bare—the observer and the invested heart, both willing him to find a path to victory.
Back in the arena, Yao Xuan faced the heating air and the serpent's gathering fury. A wide-area attack was coming. He couldn't block it all. He needed to break its formation, or find its core.
The final, most desperate phase of the ninth trial had begun.