Chapter 623: Subduing the Dragon

Chapter 623: Subduing the Dragon

For Ying Zhoufan, discrimination against demon descendants had always been nothing more than a propagandistic slogan, a tool to elevate his own standing.

Yet he did not wholly believe in the tenets of such prejudice.

After all, if humans were to discriminate against the noble bloodline coursing through his veins, that would indeed be a grave offense, worthy of righteous fury.

But to discriminate against lowly rat demons or insect demons... that seemed perfectly normal to Ying Zhoufan, for he himself looked down upon such lesser creatures.

On the contrary, he found the wealthy and the powerful far more worthy of respect, especially in light of the theory of shared human-demon origins derived from years of archaeological research by demon descendants... humans had, after all, evolved from demons.

Though many humans refuted this theory of shared origins, Ying Zhoufan held it in high regard, and he, along with many of his demon-descended friends, were staunch supporters of the idea.

Thus, at this very moment, having sensed the formidable strength of Zhang Yu, the man was no longer scum in his eyes, but at the very least, a tournament-grade human.

And the proposal for a mutually beneficial cooperation that Ying Zhoufan put forth was, at least in part, born of genuine sincerity.

Ying Zhoufan mused to himself, "If I continue to battle him within Zhang Yu's grand formation, even if I manage to break through, I will likely suffer grievous wounds."

"But if we cooperate, I can surpass everyone else alongside Zhang Yu and rush to the finish line... by then, I will have long escaped his formation, and I can launch a surprise attack to settle who takes first and who takes second."

"If this fellow Zhang Yu refuses, then I shall simply have to fight to the bitter end."

At the same time, Ying Zhoufan's draconic body writhed, already bracing for a brutal clash against the grand formation.

Faced with Ying Zhoufan's proposal, Zhang Yu merely said in a placid tone, "Take my sword."

In the next instant, as Zhang Yu's sword fingers tapped lightly, hundreds and thousands of cold lights shot forth, descending like a meteor shower and hurtling straight toward Ying Zhoufan.

The colossal dragon in the water let out a thunderous roar, its sweeping body churning up monstrous waves, as if intent on turning the entire sea into a chaotic cauldron.

Zhang Yu, in turn, unleashed the Eternal Abyss strike, channeling the Seven Absolute Dharma Remnants he had amassed since the battle's onset to project a sphere of netherworld gravity, closing in on the giant dragon like a gravitational cage.

Ying Zhoufan's Demon-Summoning Banner waved back and forth, attempting to shield his spiritual realm signals amidst the billowing dust and smoke, colliding time and again with the sword realm Zhang Yu had opened, yet never managing to shake off the lock of the Taihao Moral Sword Intent.

As the two exchanged a flurry of lightning-fast blows, the temporary flying swords ultimately rained down upon Ying Zhoufan like a torrential storm.

In a flash, the collision of swords and dragon scales first sparked brilliant flashes underwater, and then, under the relentless assault of the blades, the scales gradually fractured, bursting into vast clouds of blood mist.

Roar!

Amidst the dragon's roar, Ying Zhoufan bellowed, "Zhang Yu! Do not dream of trampling the dignity of my demon descendants! I would rather die than surrender!"

Simultaneously, ripples of water carried Ying Zhoufan's voice into Zhang Yu's ears, "Isn't this enough? If we keep fighting, even if I am truly crippled, you will have wasted time, and neither of us will achieve a good result. Why bother?"

"Next, I will feign severe injury, you will capture me, and I will escort you to the finish line."

In response to Ying Zhoufan's telepathic persuasion, Zhang Yu simply roared, "Come!"

In the next moment, amidst the fierce struggle, Ying Zhoufan's body erupted in bursts of blood, his strength seemingly sapped all at once, yet he still put on a show of desperate, albeit futile, resistance.

Witnessing this, Zhang Yu thought to himself, "What a drama queen. Is he trying to highlight my strength by playing the part of a demon-descended hero resisting discrimination and oppression?"

"I shall grant your wish."

With that, blades fiercely plunged into Ying Zhoufan's draconic form, eliciting a miserable shriek from the dragon.

And just as the dragon's maw opened, a streak of firelight was spat forth by Zhang Yu—the Blazing Sun God shooting out and burrowing directly into Ying Zhoufan's body.

Allowing the Blazing Sun God to drill into his belly, Ying Zhoufan let out a dragon's roar that seemed to mingle shock and fury.

Then, spurred by the repeated stimulation of sword blades and firelight, Ying Zhoufan put on another display of violent resistance, before finally being forcefully dragged before Zhang Yu.

Through the water ripples came Ying Zhoufan's gritted-teeth voice, "Satisfied now? Let's go take first place together."

Zhang Yu mused inwardly, "This demon is submitting so obediently; there must be a trick. Most likely, he intends to borrow my strength and only make his move right before the finish line."

Ying Zhoufan thought to himself, "Hmph, I shall let you hold the upper hand for now, helping me complete the full act of being discriminated against, brutally suppressed, and ultimately launching a desperate counterattack."

Zhang Yu thought, "Rush to the finish line together, and then..."

Ying Zhoufan thought, "Launch a surprise attack and snatch first place!"

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the seabed storm triggered by the fierce battle between Zhang Yu and Ying Zhoufan.

The figure of Mu Qiansi left a trail of afterimages as she sprinted relentlessly forward.

"Fine, fine, fine, you two can keep fighting until the end of time."

Mu Qiansi mused to herself, "I shall take my leave first."

But not long after, Mu Qiansi felt a commotion in the deep water; a colossal dragon shadow had already broken through the storm, surging past her position at an astonishing speed and vanishing in the blink of an eye.

"That is..."

Mu Qiansi frowned, recalling the scene she had just witnessed.

She saw Zhang Yu standing proudly atop the dragon's head, stepping on Ying Zhoufan's skull as they surged forward.

"Where is the backbone of you demon descendants? Subdued by a human just like that?"

Cursing under her breath, Mu Qiansi sprinted with all her might, yet she could only watch the figures of the dragon and the man continually widen the gap between them.

The violent currents, like countless giant hands, churned up spiraling sprays of water, propelling the man and the dragon under their command. Furthermore, the surging Heaven-Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power continued to activate, pulling the pair forward desperately like invisible ropes.

Almost every twist of the dragon's body brought about a violent burst of acceleration.

And the mere act of their sustained sprint stirred up seabed storms in their wake, churning the underwater realm into chaotic turbulence that even hindered Mu Qiansi's advance from behind.

Seeing that she could not close the distance no matter how hard she tried, Mu Qiansi had to admit in her heart, "The speed of this man and dragon working in tandem is far beyond my reach."

At the same time, while steering the giant dragon forward, Zhang Yu diverted a strand of his consciousness to sense the anomaly emanating from the Azure Water Golden Crystal Armor.

During their recent clash, the armor had come into contact with the blood splattered by Ying Zhoufan, and after absorbing a few drops, that faint thirst for blood seemed to have been slightly satiated.

Especially as the Remnant Ox Self-Sacrifice Mind Art and the Boundless Mind Inner Dharma Body continued to circulate in Zhang Yu's mind, they resonated profoundly with the blood-infused Azure Water Golden Crystal Armor.

Moments later, a segment of a cultivation technique was deciphered, floating into Zhang Yu's consciousness.

"The Demon Saint Myriad Transformations Divine Scripture... is this another dark art?"

"So the Azure Water Golden Crystal Armor requires dragon blood? No, that's not right. Ying Zhoufan possesses the bloodline of an eagle demon, so is it eagle blood? Or perhaps... demon blood?"

Perusing the fragmented contents of the Demon Saint Myriad Transformations Divine Scripture, Zhang Yu mused, "The technique information within the armor not only requires the resonance of the Remnant Ox Self-Sacrifice Mind Art and the Boundless Mind Inner Dharma Body, but must also be deciphered in conjunction with the demon clan's bloodline information."

"Or rather..."

Zhang Yu repeatedly reviewed the contents of the scripture, guessing in his heart, "Knowledge is inherently hidden within the demon clan's bloodline; the Azure Water Golden Crystal Armor is at most a mere translation, activated only by the demon bloodline and my two mind arts."

"To obtain the complete Demon Saint Myriad Transformations Divine Scripture, I am afraid I will need to use the armor to absorb the bloodlines of many more varieties of demon descendants."

Making up his mind, Zhang Yu resolved to spend money buying various demon-descended bloodlines as soon as this match concluded.

After all, he still had over a hundred spirit coins at his disposal, and if that proved insufficient... the advertising fees from the next match should be quite substantial.

Thinking of the advertising fees, Zhang Yu's fighting spirit ignited once more, "No matter how Brother Dao performs in the next stage, I must take first place in this underwater leg."

"Only by taking first place, further boosting my popularity, and elevating my immortal dao potential can I continue to close the gap between myself and Dao Qiankun and Kuang Tianqing, increasing my chances of seizing the championship."

With this thought, Zhang Yu gave a low shout, "Heave! Let us accelerate, Ying Zhoufan!"

Feeling the Heaven-Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power lash against him like a whip, driving him to accelerate once more, Ying Zhoufan cursed inwardly and continued to sprint forward.

The surrounding seabed scenery flashed by in a blur, and when Ying Zhoufan arrived at the next registration zone, he found a fish demon holding a black registration orb, waiting there long in advance.

Seeing this, Ying Zhoufan was startled inwardly, "So that's how it is."

Recalling the intelligence on Zhang Yu, he pondered, "This fellow used the breeding function of the Azure Water Golden Crystal Armor to cultivate a batch of demon beasts."

"Then dispatch the demonic beasts ahead to the subsequent registration zones, tasking them with seeking out the registration orbs on his behalf."

"In this manner, he would spare himself the tedious labor of hunting for the orbs."

"Wait, if he no longer needs to search for the orbs, what am I supposed to do?"

Just as these thoughts raced through Ying Zhoufan's mind, he watched another fish demon produce yet another black registration orb.

Zhang Yu said casually, "Aren't you going to hurry up and register?"

A jolt ran through Ying Zhoufan's heart. "Did this fellow specifically order the fish demons to find black orbs for me, just so he could continue borrowing my speed and have me focus wholly on accelerating forward?"

Ying Zhoufan mused inwardly, "Is this fellow not afraid that I might ultimately defeat him?"

Zhang Yu urged indifferently, "Will you hurry up or not?"

Sensing the sheer confidence lacing Zhang Yu's tone, Ying Zhoufan chuckled inwardly. "This fellow... is he truly so certain he has me completely in his grasp?"

Taking the black orb, Ying Zhoufan resolved in his heart, "Then let us settle this once and for all."

Having completed the registration with two black orbs, the man and the dragon surged forward with renewed acceleration, chasing hard for second place.

As for commanding the fish demons to hoard more black orbs, Zhang Yu could not be bothered with such trivialities; after all, removing the orbs from the registration zones was a foul, and so long as they remained within the boundaries, there was no way to prevent the other contestants from detecting them.

Not to mention that the black orbs within the zones were exceedingly plentiful, far outnumbering the eleven contestants, rendering the concealment of a mere few utterly pointless.

With the synchronized acceleration of man and dragon, coupled with the time saved from hunting for orbs in each subsequent zone, they gathered speed continuously, streaking forward like a flash of lightning, until they soon spotted a figure embodying the unity of sword and self.

It was none other than Yu Yunzhan of the Heavenly Sword Academy; this brilliant scholar had taken the relay orb from Bai Zhenzhen and had once piloted the Sky-Patrolling Flying Sword alongside Wen Wuya to support the entire team tournament.

At this moment, Yu Yunzhan was one with his blade, his very being transformed into a streak of sword intent that cleaved through the heavy ocean depths, racing relentlessly forward in a spray of shattered water.

Yet in the blink of an eye, Yu Yunzhan felt a colossal shadow eclipse him, gradually overtaking him at an utterly inconceivable velocity.

The ocean currents churned up by that massive form crashed over him like a tempest, threatening to swallow him whole and forcing him to slow his pace just to battle the turbulent wake.

"This is..." Yu Yunzhan watched the man and dragon receding into the distance, his heart trembling with silent shock. "Has Zhang Yu actually subdued Ying Zhoufan?"

The rankings shifted once more at that very moment, with Ying Zhoufan surging into second place and Zhang Yu close on his heels to claim third.

(End of Chapter)