248: Transformation into a Dragon (Part 1)

Hei Jing covered his mouth and nose, backing away.

His sense of smell was extremely uncomfortable for a moment.

As the “fat” landed, it emitted a low moan, similar to a human voice.

He leaned in to look closer, and each drop reflected a distorted skull face.

Bai Xuan frowned slightly.

A single-handed chopping move dispersed some of the poisonous mist.

“Whoosh~”

A jade bracelet rolled out of the puddle.

The bracelet was carved with the Yin Jiao Clan totem, and fresh Demon blood still clung to a chip in it.

“This is…” Hei Jing squatted down, his fingertip about to touch it.

Bai Xuan suddenly swung his blade, splitting the bracelet in half, revealing the forbidden curse in its core at the break.

“It’s a cursed substitute puppet.”

Bai Xuan picked up half of the bracelet with the tip of his blade, the moonlight reflecting a cold sternness in his eyes.

“It’s refined with Soul Devouring Gu mixed with demonic power, and the heart blood in its core was taken no more than three days ago.”

He looked up towards the northeast of the altar.

The sound of a “corpse” being dragged on the ground faintly came from the poisonous mist there.

Bai Xuan murmured to himself, “Heh, they’re testing the formation with their own clansmen.”

Hei Jing swallowed, reminding Bai Xuan, “Brother Xuan, this bracelet… it’s Jiao Si’s.”

He recalled that two days ago, as a member of the Yin Jiao who remained at Yao Zui Cliff, Jiao Si was still practicing with his spear in front of him, and this very bracelet was visible from his cuff.

Bai Xuan picked up Jiao Si’s skull, which hadn’t been blasted into black mist, his thumb stroking the missing indentation on the forehead.

“The archives provided by the Secretary-General in a private message describe it: A forbidden art of the Yin Jiao Clan involves taking a piece of a clansman’s skull, grinding it into powder, and mixing it into the altar. This allows the clan’s barrier to backfire without harming the caster.”

He looked up at Hei Jing, his eyes as cold as ice shards.

“If His Majesty hadn’t ordered the suppression of progress, the barrier would have broken in five months. If someone had activated the formation then, our trusted subordinates would have been the first to be devoured.”

Hei Jing felt a sudden cold sweat break out on his back, and his fingers unconsciously tightened on the seam of his “suit pants”.

They had all the advantages of timing, location, and people, truly a flawless calculation.

The schemes and intrigues secretly stirring up trouble were truly impossible to guard against.

Fortunately, His Majesty was well aware of the Yin Jiao Clan’s capricious nature and deliberately held back the process to lure the “flood dragons” out.

Otherwise, a few months later, the first batch of Underworld Ghost Emissaries to enter the Demon Domain would have already become fish on the chopping block.

Even he and Brother Xuan, with all their immense abilities, would have found it difficult to escape the perilous situation of being defeated and perishing on the altar.

The sound of “creaking” bones came from a distance.

Jiao Rong leaned on his cane.

Breadcrumbs clung to his grizzled beard, and the cloudy whites of his eyes suddenly lit up when he saw the skull in Bai Xuan’s hand.

“Are you two Underworld Marshals… looking for this old man’s collection?”

He pulled out a piece of moldy osmanthus cake, revealing a Gu worm pupa between his fingers, “Want a taste? The newly brewed Gu worm saliva is very fragrant.”

Bai Xuan hid the skull behind him with a backhand, but a smile formed on his face. “Thank you for your trouble, Elder Rong. But this marshal remembers that according to the Yin Jiao Clan rules, those who kill their own clansmen…”

Talisman fire flickered at his fingertips, making the corners of his eyes curve slightly, “Are to be flayed, have their tendons pulled, their spiritual consciousness gouged out, and made into lamp oil?”

Jiao Rong’s hand trembled, and the cake fell to the ground, shattering.

Hei Jing took the opportunity to reach for his Underworld Marshal token, but then saw the communication talisman on Bai Xuan’s body vibrating wildly.

Ling Qi’s urgent voice transmission came through: “Bai Xuan, what exactly is happening on your side? A large number of Yin Flood Dragons are dying in the Netherworld…”

The voice abruptly stopped, and the communication broke.

Instantly, a barrier rose, cutting off contact between the outside world and Yao Zui Cliff.

Jiao Rong’s withered fingers gripped his cane tightly, his knuckles turning almost transparently white. “Hahahaha…”

“You forced me to do this. Why did you bring Jiao Xiao back? Why did I have to show my true colors so quickly?”

He tore open the upper part of his clothing, revealing circles of Soul Offering Gu coiling around his abdomen.

“It was clearly a heaven-sent opportunity! Spiritual Energy Revival, transforming into a dragon and ascending, joining the ranks of the gods.”

“Such an opportunity, that idiot actually refused!”

“We agreed on a double act plan—she would be the glamorous clan leader, and I would prepare everything in the shadows. Sacrificing some old, weak, and disabled Yin Flood Dragons is merely insignificant leverage.”

A crazy light flashed in Jiao Rong’s eyes, and he waved his hand.

The runes around the altar immediately lit up.

Countless phantom chains drilled out from underground, “Then, by sacrificing the pure soul power of the Underworld Ghost Emissaries, and using the clan’s thousand-year barrier as a guide, this old man will surely break through the shackles and transform into a dragon.”

“Dream on.”

Hei Jing sneered, his suit jacket lifted by spiritual energy, revealing his muscular physique.

“Even if you miraculously transform into a dragon, in this vast world, before the Underworld that controls life and death, you’re nothing but a clown.”

“A clown? Hahahaha!”

Jiao Rong laughed, tears and snot streaming down his face, and his demonic energy surged.

“What if I’m an ant? As long as I can enter the divine sequence, I’ll have the qualification to contend with heaven and earth.”

He rose into the air, and a giant phantom of a Roaming Divine Dragon appeared behind him, blotting out the sky.

“Once this old man slays the Underworld Ghost Emissaries, I will escape into the Demon Domain. I will seal off the passage to the Mercury Plane. Even if the Underworld Empress herself arrives, what can she do to me?”

“Boom—”

Dark clouds gathered overhead, accompanied by lightning and thunder.

Semi-divine pressure spread from Jiao Rong, and wherever it reached, flowers withered and rocks crumbled.

Hei Jing looked at the expanding phantom of the “Roaming Divine Dragon” in the air.

His scalp tingled, the hairs on his body almost stood on end, and a bitter taste filled his mouth.

His Underworld Marshal token was scorching hot, like a red-hot branding iron pressed against his skin.

He frantically spammed his internal thoughts, feeling like a chuunibyou.

“This is f***ing hard mode, isn’t it?”

“A semi-divine realm BOSS just appears? Who’s going to fix this unreasonable power system?”

Demonic wind carried poisonous mist past his ears, and in a daze, it felt somewhat like the “party wipe warning” sound effect in a game dungeon.

But what was before Hei Jing was not the virtual data of a game he played.

The surging demonic power around Jiao Rong truly suppressed Black and White Impermanence, making them gasp for breath.

The bluestone ground turned to dust under the semi-divine pressure, and dark red slurry seeped from the altar’s cracks.

It was exactly like the world-destroying special effects at the beginning of a “BOSS battle” in a game.

“Brother Xuan…” Hei Jing called out.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bai Xuan’s hand gripping the blade was pale, and the cuff of his shirt glowed an eerie faint red in the demonic light.

“Beast, he’s using his entire clan as sacrifices.”

Bai Xuan’s voice was like an ice-dipped blade, and the blade trembled slightly.

This was the first time Hei Jing had seen Bai Xuan, who was always calm and composed during missions, display such unfamiliar emotions.

Hei Jing suddenly remembered the Yin Jiao Clan archives he had organized last week.

Among the names labeled as “old, weak, sick, and disabled”.

The youngest hatchling was only three months old, still clutching a pacifier in its archive photo.

“Swish—” The runes around the altar lit up.

Hei Jing finally realized the trump card in his storage ring—three Soul Suppressing Nails condensed with Netherworld energy.

They were supposed to play a crucial role in breaking the formation a few months later.

But at this moment, they were utterly suppressed by Jiao Rong’s semi-divine pressure, not even giving him a chance to ‘take them out’.

He wanted to curse.

He glanced over and saw the Soul Offering Gu wriggling in Jiao Rong’s abdomen suddenly split into thousands of larvae.

Each larva held a Soul Crystal in its mouth.