"No matter how strong you were in life, now that you're dead, you've lost the right to be arrogant!"

"Ming Emperor—"

Following his soft invocation, an incredibly grand and majestic aura, as if from another time and space, suddenly descended upon the void.

A divine phantom slowly emerged from nothingness. It strode upon the river of time, quelling the boundless lightning with a wave of its hand. Its eyes, impassive yet filled with majesty, stared at the Ancient Dragon's remnant soul.

As its gaze fell, the remnant soul trembled and shuddered as if it had met its nemesis, its dragon eyes filling with terror.

"How is this possible? The Human Race is as insignificant as ants, how could you possibly wield the power of a god... Who in the world are you?"

"Prison Suppression!" Wang Xiu uttered softly, giving his response.

The divine figure behind him was immense and transcendently majestic. The Nine-Bend Yellow Springs coiled behind it like a ribbon as it gently raised a hand and waved.

RUMBLE!

The terrifying remnant soul of the Ancient Dragon instantly shattered, letting out an unwilling, anguished, and despairing roar.

It scattered into a sky full of shimmering motes.

As the Dragon Soul disintegrated, the Inverse Scale flickered and lost much of its luster, plummeting downward.

Wang Xiu snatched it from the air.

"Gasp..." He panted, the armor receding from his body. His face was somewhat pale, his forehead beaded with sweat.

Since obtaining the Ming Emperor Prison Suppression Scripture, this was the first time he had used its ultimate killing technique. The power was unparalleled, possessing the potential to suppress anything in the world, and it was especially effective against souls and their remnants.

However, the cost was also terrifying. That single strike had drained more than ninety percent of Wang Xiu's mana. For Wang Xiu, it was all or nothing. Once he decided to act, he would only use his most powerful methods to annihilate the opponent in a merciless, lightning-fast strike.

Fortunately, he had dealt with the Ancient Dragon's remnant soul. Otherwise, he would have been the one in danger!

…

With the dragon's remnant soul extinguished, the oppressive pressure in the air dropped sharply. Although some of it remained, it was no longer a burden for Wang Xiu.

"What a supremely spiritual and holy treasure!" Wang Xiu meditated on the spot for a good while. Once his condition had significantly improved, he began to inspect his loot.

The Dragon Scale felt smooth and warm to the touch, like the finest ancient jade. Its surface was engraved with countless ancient, constantly shifting patterns, giving it a vibrant spirituality.

He sat cross-legged and extended his Divine Soul, intending to refine this Inverse Scale and make it his own. But this was no ordinary item, and the process proved quite difficult. Fortunately, Wang Xiu had enough patience to wear it down.

An unknown amount of time passed.

HUM!

The scale, originally the size of a head, suddenly flashed with a faint light. It shrank to the size of a fingernail, twinkling with a soft, divine glow.

"I finally succeeded!" Wang Xiu let out a long sigh of relief, his expression one of joyous surprise. He toyed with the Inverse Scale, unable to put it down.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, Wang Xiu gasped in astonishment. He discovered a majestic and remarkably vast space hidden inside the Inverse Scale.

It's said that the ancient Divine Beasts all possessed innate potential, containing a Cave Heaven within their bodies. It seems this Ancient Dragon's Cave Heaven was hidden within its Inverse Scale!

If that was the case, could he use this Inverse Scale to collect the entire, massive dragon skeleton and take it all away?

Eager to try, Wang Xiu formed a hand seal, and with a mere thought, activated the scale.

HUM!

The Inverse Scale's brilliance surged, emitting a dense cloud of runes that spread out to envelop the entire Dragon Bone mountain range.

WHOOSH!

The gargantuan mountains of dragon bones vanished in an instant, as if they had never existed.

Did it work?

Thrilled, Wang Xiu probed the Inverse Scale with his Divine Sense and indeed found the massive dragon skeleton inside. These dragon bones contained a dense Life Essence. They could be used in medicine, offering miraculous healing properties, or for Artifact Refining. They were an excellent material for creating top-quality treasures, with nigh-infinite uses.

This was truly a magnificent treasure trove!

This trip was an incredible windfall!

RUMBLE!

The moment the dragon bones disappeared, the pocket dimension seemed to lose its support. It trembled violently, on the verge of collapse.

Wang Xiu's expression changed. He secured the Inverse Scale and flew back the way he came, covering a thousand miles in the blink of an eye.

…

「Meanwhile, above the seal.」

Qingzhou and Zhuge Changsheng had been fighting for seven days and seven nights. The two were locked in a stalemate, neither able to gain an advantage.

However, the horde of Fierce Beasts that had been lurking nearby had been all but wiped out, their bodies creating mountains of corpses and rivers of blood that dyed the entire landscape a ghastly brown. The thick stench of blood soared to the heavens, turning the area into an unrivaled land of slaughter.

Yet, a seemingly endless number of Fierce Beasts continued to rush in from afar. The cracks in the seal grew wider, and the Life Essence gushing from within became ever more potent, attracting them and driving them into a frenzy.

Just then, the world fell silent.

Qingzhou and Zhuge Changsheng, who were still locked in battle, also stopped and looked toward the ground. The rich Life Essence that had been pulsing out periodically seemed to have lost its source, and it began to dissipate into the air.

The Fierce Beasts all over the mountains and fields stood bewildered, their fighting spirit gone. They roared in confusion before gradually retreating.

"My opportunity… my opportunity is gone!" Qingzhou's eyes were bloodshot; he wanted to cry. If he had just settled down and focused on absorbing and refining that dense Life Essence these past few days, his strength would surely have risen to a new level.

But now, such a great opportunity had been wasted.

"Zhuge Changsheng!" he roared, glaring at the man. If it hadn't been for this meddler, none of this would have happened!

Zhuge Changsheng was also stunned. The mysterious aura of the Formation had completely vanished. His dream of using it to comprehend the great Dao of Formations was utterly shattered.

"Qingzhou!" He clenched his fair-skinned hands into fists, staring back at Qingzhou, itching with irritation.

"I'll kill you!" they both roared in unison. Runes erupted from their bodies as their auras flared, and they clashed once more.

Their true fury was unleashed. Their battle escalated, soaring higher and higher as they fought their way from south to north, obliterating countless mountain ranges along the way. The prodigies watching from below trembled in fear.

The scene was utter chaos.

No one noticed that back at the spot where the two had been fighting, the corpse of a Fierce Beast was pushed aside, revealing a crack in the ground.

Xiang Tiange and his group, who had guarded their post for seven days and nights only to get nothing for their efforts, crawled out. They were stunned by the sight of the mountains of corpses and sea of blood.

What… what happened here?

Xiang Tiange grabbed a genius who was frantically fleeing the battle's aftershocks. After asking what had happened, his group could only stare at each other in utter bewilderment.

"What? Zhuge Changsheng and Qingzhou, the Saint Heir, fought over an opportunity for seven days and nights?"

But what opportunity was up here? Wasn't the real prize underground? What could they have possibly been fighting over?

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