The whole world seemed to freeze for a split second.
The rain continued to fall, yet its sound felt distant, as if everything had been separated from reality itself.
The white dragon prepared to charge toward Zhang Wen, who was submerged within the wave of ice almost instantly.
Its colossal body tore through the air, white scales flashing with reflected rainlight. Its claws lifted, ready to tear apart anything in its path.
The pressure of Peak Half Emperor erupted at full force, shattering the surrounding clouds.
The red dragon was instantly shocked.
"What is wrong with you, Long Suyao! Why did you attack him like that!"
The red dragon's roar echoed across the sky. Long Suyao roared back, her eyes crimson with fury.
"I'm certain this bastard is the one who took Ye Chen's younger brother. My instincts are telling me!"
The red dragon spoke coldly,
"You've lived for tens of thousands of years and you're still relying on something called instinct? Have you lost your mind? We don't even know who that man is or what background he has. I really don't understand why whenever it comes to Ye Chen you stop using your brain entirely. Did he feed you something to make you this obsessed…"
The spiritual energy around the white dragon began to churn violently with uncontrollable rage.
"If you don't know anything then just stay quiet. If you don't want to help, go back to the clan. I never needed to rely on you in the first place!"
Those words made the red dragon fall silent immediately. The energy around him rose slightly before Long Suyao seemed to realize she had said something she shouldn't. She clenched her teeth.
"I'm sorry… Long Yantian… I… I lost control for a moment."
But before the situation could ease,
the entire sky grew oppressively heavy.
An unseen pressure pressed down on everything until even the air stopped moving.
The purple-gold eagle instinctively flapped its wings and flew higher, sensing danger.
The three elderly men immediately retreated, clearly aware that this power was not directed at them.
BOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!
An invisible force crashed down from the heavens as if the sky itself had collapsed. The white dragon and the red dragon were slammed down to the ground in an instant.
The earth cracked in a wide radius. Rocks and soil shot upward like an explosive wave. Dust and debris surged like a tidal blast, and a massive crater formed immediately.
One of the elders from the Sword Mountain Sect stared at the source of the power in shock.
Standing atop the pile of ice from moments ago was the figure in white robes and a black mask, completely unharmed, without even a scratch.
In his right hand… he held a fully opened pitch-black umbrella.
The surface of the umbrella was engraved with exquisite golden cloud patterns, quietly radiating a mysterious power. The handle looked to be made from some ancient wood, carrying a faint aura of time itself.
One of the elderly men spoke in a faint voice, unable to believe what he was seeing.
"An Emperor weapon…?"
Another nodded with a tense expression.
"It should be, without a doubt."
The third elder let out a long sigh.
"In that case, the outcome is already decided. If those dragons didn't bring an Emperor weapon with them, their lives now depend entirely on that man in white."
Another added,
"They're only clan elders. There's no way they would carry something of that level."
But in the very next moment,
something changed.
The bodies of the red dragon and the white dragon began to glow. Vast power surged through them as if something within their bloodline had been awakened.
Bones shifted. Their forms shrank. Parts of their scales transformed into skin.
Within a few breaths, they became half-dragon, half-human forms.
Sharp horns crowned their heads, scales lined their arms, their eyes shone with light, and their power began to multiply.
"RAAAAAAA!"
Immense power burst from both of them, shaking the sky.
Zhang Wen merely watched calmly before increasing his pressure further.
Ugh!
Suddenly, both of them spat out blood at the same time.
The sound of dragon bones, far stronger than human bones by hundreds of times, began to crack with horrifying snaps as overwhelming pressure crushed down mercilessly upon them.
A portion of the power of the Heaven-Severing Umbrella was being released. It was Zhang Wen's Emperor weapon obtained from the system.
Their bodies began to twist unnaturally. Muscles tore. Bright red blood sprayed from every part of their bodies.
Fragments of bone pierced through their skin.
"AAAAAAAH!"
Their screams shook the heavens. The gap in power was far too clear.
Then a calm yet authoritative female voice rang out.
"Young man, your bone age and soul age are only eighteen. There's no need to be so ruthless, is there? Those two are elders of the dragon clan. Why don't we let this matter pass and go our separate ways?"
Zhang Wen slowly turned around, the black umbrella still open above his head, the golden cloud patterns flowing like a miniature cosmos.
The gaze beneath his mask looked calmly toward the source of the voice, and he recognized it as Lin Taiji, an elder of the Jade Pool Holy Land.
When the three elders heard her say that the man in white before them was only eighteen years old, their expressions changed instantly. Their sharp gazes swept toward Zhang Wen as they released their spiritual sense to examine his bone age.
But the result was empty.
No matter how they tried to probe, it was as if some veil covered him completely, making it impossible to perceive anything at all.
One elder frowned deeply, suspicion clearly appearing in his eyes.
Zhang Wen observed everything calmly before speaking in a flat voice.
"If I hadn't survived that attack just now, you wouldn't be standing here asking me this, would you? I would already be dead. So what I did was simply to protect my own life."
Those words caused the atmosphere to fall silent for a moment.
One of the elders from the Sword Mountain Sect stepped forward.
"But your actions are far too excessive. Her attack just now might not even have been life threatening to you. Perhaps it wouldn't have been able to harm you at all."
Zhang Wen fell silent for a brief breath before his voice sounded again.
"And what makes you so certain I would be safe? Your experience? Your eyes? Or just empty words spoken lightly? Or is it simply because the outcome is already clear, so you can say whatever reasoning you like now?"
One elder narrowed his eyes.
"Hmph. What arrogant words."
Zhang Wen did not argue immediately. He simply stood beneath the black umbrella, the golden cloud patterns still flowing slowly, before speaking in a calm voice.
"I was just minding my own business. I didn't want trouble with anyone. I even set up a barrier to keep outsiders away. And you? You broke into my barrier to search for someone I don't even know. What, do you think I'm their father? Why would I know where they are?"
Those words froze several expressions, leaving them momentarily at a loss.
One elder flicked his sleeve.
"This conversation is a waste of time."
Zhang Wen let out a soft sigh as the aura around him slowly began to grow heavier.
"I never wanted trouble with anyone…"
Suddenly,
BOOM!!!
A straight right punch shot in from behind at supersonic speed.
The air exploded into shockwaves, but before the punch could touch Zhang Wen,
a faint black barrier appeared, reflecting the entire force back in an instant.
"AAAAAH!"
Long Yantian's scream rang out as his arm twisted grotesquely. Bones shattered into fragments, and the recoil blasted him back dozens of meters.
But before it even settled,
Long Suyao in her half-dragon form warped behind Zhang Wen instantly. Her icy claws gleamed, killing intent piercing through the air.
She thrust her claws toward the center of Zhang Wen's back.
But at the same moment, Zhang Wen closed the Heaven-Severing Umbrella and swung it.
BANG!!!
The umbrella slammed into Long Suyao's head with terrifying force, far stronger than Long Yantian's punch.
A crack of bone echoed.
Her head snapped violently to the side before her entire body was sent crashing to the ground like a meteor.
The earth shattered into a massive crater, dust and debris exploding outward.
Zhang Wen slowly rose into the air, calm and composed, his gaze beneath the mask looking down at Long Suyao without emotion.
He had no intention of creating more enemies.
So he did not immediately kill either of them. From what he knew, the dragon clan was extremely powerful and likely had many Great Emperors within it.
The three elders watched the brief clash with shaken hearts. If that strike had landed on their own heads instead of Long Suyao's, it certainly wouldn't have ended with just a twisted neck. They would have died instantly. Fortunately, Long Suyao was a dragon by birth, her body hundreds of times stronger than a human's.
Lin Taiji stared at Zhang Wen without blinking. With her vast combat experience, she could tell that the man in white had no intention of killing members of the dragon clan. From that strike alone, she could sense that if he truly wished it, with the power of an Emperor weapon, both of them would already be dead.