53: Chapter 53 Divine Retribution

That voice did not sound human.

It sounded more like a deity from the nine heavens, presiding over divine punishment.

Every word contained immense power, instantly stunning the land for a hundred miles around.

The Dark Gold Dragon Emperor, which was opening its massive maw, attempting to reclaim Li Zhengyang along with the energy within his body, suddenly froze.

A trace of astonishment appeared in those indifferent, golden vertical pupils.

It jerked its head up, looking toward the eastern horizon.

A sword of lightning struck down ferociously!

"Want to escape?"

In the face of this sword, speed held no meaning.

When it appeared, it had already arrived.

The Dark Gold Dragon Emperor did not even have time to let out a second roar.

It could only curl up its massive body that had just been pulled out, its dragon scales closing in an instant to form an absolute defense.

It poured all of its Emperor-level power into its defense.

Boom!

After a deafening sound.

A white light swallowed everything.

Inside the command center of Fortress No. 7, Commander Han Tieshan and all the combat staff stared fixedly at the giant screen, which had turned into a static blur.

Their hearts felt as if they were being gripped by an invisible hand, stopping their beat.

They could see nothing, and they could hear nothing.

But they could feel it.

Across a distance of over a hundred kilometers, the ground beneath their feet was trembling violently.

"This is... the might of a Martial Venerable!"

Even just a trace of the aftermath of their clash was enough to make a steel fortress tremble.

The white light lasted for a full ten seconds before slowly dissipating.

The scene at Black Wind Pass appeared once again on the satellite feed.

Everyone who saw this scene felt their minds go blank.

"It's gone."

The originally rugged wasteland had vanished.

In its place was a bottomless giant crater with a diameter exceeding five kilometers.

The soil at the edge of the crater had been melted by extreme heat and then cooled instantly, shimmering with an eerie luster.

And at the very center of the giant crater.

The massive body of the Dark Gold Dragon Emperor lay there miserably.

Over seventy percent of the dark gold dragon scales on its body had turned charred black, revealing the mangled flesh beneath.

Most striking of all was a huge gash, deep enough to see bone, that had almost split it in two.

Golden blood flowed slowly from the wound, staining the ground beneath it a dark gold.

It was not yet dead.

But the arrogance and majesty in its eyes were gone, leaving only endless fear.

It did not understand.

Why was the human before it so strong?

It could not even withstand a single move from the opponent!

"The land of Yanhuang shall not tolerate the insolence of vile beasts like you."

An indifferent voice echoed over the giant crater.

A middle-aged man in a black combat uniform, with a tall and upright figure, stood in the air with his hands behind his back, though no one knew when he had arrived.

He looked ordinary, exuding no earth-shattering aura.

But his eyes were incredibly firm, and fine sparks of electricity flashed within them.

The Dark Gold Dragon Emperor struggled to stand, but its physical condition did not allow it.

It was unwilling to accept this.

It had exhausted its origin, forcibly crossed an unstable spatial channel, and descended here, not to be killed by a single sword strike!

The middle-aged man was one of the four Great Martial Venerables of the Yanhuang Military, "Venerable Lei," Lei Qianjue.

He raised his right hand.

He simply made a grasping motion in the air toward the Dark Gold Dragon Emperor below.

"Annihilate."

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Around the massive body of the Dark Gold Dragon Emperor, the space began to collapse inward in layers, visible to the naked eye.

The Dark Gold Dragon Emperor let out the last miserable dragon roar of its life; that spiritual power, capable of tearing souls apart, could not even make the corner of Lei Qianjue's clothes move.

Under the disparity of absolute power, its indestructible dragon body was crushed bit by bit.

There was no explosion, no splashing blood.

A Dragon Emperor was thus silently and completely erased from this world.

After doing all this, the expression on Lei Qianjue's face did not change much.

His gaze moved slowly, landing on a spot at the edge of the giant crater.

There lay a body that was barely human in shape.

It was Li Zhengyang.

In the earth-shattering strike just now, he had been at the very edge of the explosion and shielded by the massive body of the Dragon Emperor, luckily avoiding being vaporized instantly.

However, that invisible suction force had been forcibly severed by Lei Qianjue's "Heavenly Punishment" sword strike.

At this moment, the energy supernova formed by the dragon meat within Li Zhengyang's body, having lost the external suction, became unstable once again.

His body was like an overinflated balloon, with cracks appearing on the surface of his skin.

He could explode at any moment.

Lei Qianjue flashed, appearing instantly beside Li Zhengyang.

He extended a finger and tapped lightly on the center of Li Zhengyang's brow.

A tyrannical force of lightning surged into Li Zhengyang's body.

But Li Zhengyang's reaction caused Lei Qianjue's brows to furrow slightly.

"Oh?"

He let out a soft exclamation.

He had intended to use his own power to temporarily seal the violent dragon essence within Li Zhengyang's body and save his life.

But as soon as his power entered, he discovered an interesting thing.

This little guy's body was a mad furnace, using his flesh and blood as the walls to burn the Emperor-level dragon meat!

"Interesting."

The corners of Lei Qianjue's mouth lifted slightly.

"Using a Martial King body to devour an Emperor-level origin, not only did he not explode and die immediately, but he actually formed a strange balance."

"Kid, you have more guts than the heavens."

He withdrew his finger.

He chose not to force a seal.

Because he realized that any intervention of external force could break this fragile balance, leading to the worst possible outcome.

He glanced at Li Zhengyang's charcoal-black face, and the outline of his mouth, which seemed to retain a trace of crazy laughter even in his coma.

"That old guy, Commander Han Tieshan, has actually found me a nice surprise."

Lei Qianjue made a single-handed grasping motion in the air.

Not far away, the dragon gall golden spear, which had been bent and deformed, let out a mournful cry and flew into his hand.

He looked at the spear shaft, then looked at Li Zhengyang.

"Oh well, since we've met, consider yourself lucky."

As the words fell, he grabbed Li Zhengyang's shoulder, his figure flickered, and he vanished from the spot instantly.

Leaving behind only a giant crater with a diameter of five kilometers, bottomless and deep.

...