Under the narrowed eyes of the Giant Demon Star and a crowd of Giant Demon Clan elders, the phantom of a True Dragon above Lan An's head suddenly shattered the void and descended, swiftly merging into his body. Endless True Dragon Power converged and condensed.
At the same moment, a vivid azure dragon tattoo coiled and writhed across Lan An's form like a living creature. The dragon's eyes flashed with an imposing, majestic aura. Layer upon layer of dragon scales then emerged, covering his skin and enveloping his entire body.
In the blink of an eye, an awe-inspiring suit of dragon armor took shape. The helmet bore the ferocious visage of a True Dragon, crowned with majestic dragon horns. Exquisite emerald-green scales gleamed under the sunlight, radiating an inviolable presence.
True Dragon Battle Form—a combat state of the Dragon Transformation Battle Art, exclusive to those of the Dragon Race. It condensed dragon scales into armor while preserving the human form, exuding overwhelming might and prestige.
Augmented by the True Dragon Battle Form, Lan An now resembled a grand general clad in dragon armor. The crimson Lan Hong Sword still rested on his back, his aura suppressed to its absolute limit, heavy and suffocating.
ROOOAR…
Lan An stood calmly in place. The Four Divine Beasts were locked in fierce combat beside him. Facing him now were the Giant Demon Star, the Giant Demon Eagle, and another mid-stage Tenth Revolution elder of the Giant Demon Clan known as the Giant Demon Elephant—a hulking figure with an elephant's head atop a human body…
Among them, the Giant Demon Star was a late-stage Tenth Revolution powerhouse, while both the Giant Demon Eagle and Giant Demon Elephant were at mid-stage Tenth Revolution…
The odds were stacked heavily against him…
"Playing at gods and ghosts!" Upon seeing Lan An in his True Dragon Battle Form, the Giant Demon Elephant barked warily. With a sudden exertion of his head, his trunk extended like an unbreakable iron chain, whipping toward Lan An's neck with ferocious speed.
WHOOSH…
The trunk appeared simple, yet it carried mountain-crushing, earth-shattering force. As it tore through the air, spatial layers shattered in its wake—unreserved mid-stage Tenth Revolution power unleashed in full.
THUD…
Within the dragon armor, Lan An's expression remained hidden. But as the massive coil hurtled toward him, he calmly extended one hand.
HUMM…
A dragon's roar echoed once more. His hand transformed into an enormous dragon claw, seizing the Giant Demon Elephant's trunk in a single, precise grip.
"Die!" A cold voice rang from behind the dragon mask. The dragon claw yanked hard…
"No—!" The Giant Demon Elephant, with his hundreds-of-meters-tall monstrous frame, was lifted like a toy. With one brutal pull from Lan An, his body collapsed to its knees. Tears streamed from his eyes in agony; he felt his trunk on the verge of being torn clean off.
"Stop him!" The Giant Demon Eagle's face darkened. He exploded with maximum speed—far surpassing even the Giant Demon Marquis—thanks to the pair of colossal wings propelling him through the wind with peerless grace.
In an instant, the Giant Demon Eagle appeared behind Lan An. In his hands materialized two razor-sharp scythe-blades, resembling the reapers of death, top-grade True Treasures.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The scythes hacked viciously at Lan An's head, clashing against the dragon scales in showers of sparks. The grating friction sent chills down the spine.
Unfortunately, the True Dragon Battle Form was forged from dragon scales—its defensive power was beyond description. The Giant Demon Eagle's incredulous expression at this moment said it all.
True Dragons were renowned for their overwhelming strength and near-indestructible defense granted by their scales. It was no surprise the Giant Demon Eagle's assassination attempt failed utterly.
"You think you can touch me?" Lan An turned his head. Another dragon claw brutally clamped toward the Giant Demon Eagle's throat, its might tearing the surrounding space to shreds.
"Hmph! You may not be able to hurt me, but dreaming that you can injure me? In your dreams!" The Giant Demon Eagle sneered confidently. His wings thundered once, and in a flash he evaded the True Dragon Claw.
But his smug expression quickly soured… because somehow, Lan An was already right on his heels. The speed the Giant Demon Eagle prided himself on meant nothing here.
Behind Lan An now raged the Eight Desolations Heaven-Sweeping Flames. Combined with the Speed Gate and Opening Gate activated within his body beneath the dragon armor, his velocity and agility had multiplied countless times.
The Giant Demon Eagle held no advantage in speed whatsoever…
"Cross Heaven Flame!" Emperor Flame roared forth, condensing into a blazing cross-shaped inferno that scorched space itself as it swept toward the Giant Demon Eagle…
"Wild Beast Fist!" A punch carrying the heaven-shaking roar of a beast smashed backward, clashing head-on with the charging Giant Demon Elephant.
"Hmph!" Both the Giant Demon Eagle and Giant Demon Elephant sneered coldly. Reaching Tenth Revolution cultivation, they were far from pushovers.
The Giant Demon Eagle circulated his full bodily power, flapping his wings to form a swirling vortex around himself, blocking the Cross Heaven Flame's advance.
"Giant Elephant Fist!"
Meanwhile, with his trunk still gripped by Lan An, the Giant Demon Elephant channeled power into his arm and smashed downward against the Wild Beast Fist. Faint, furious elephant trumpets echoed.
BOOM! BOOM!
After two earth-shaking collisions, both the Giant Demon Eagle and Giant Demon Elephant were simultaneously forced back dozens of steps through the air. Their faces were filled with dread as they inwardly shuddered: "This fellow's cultivation isn't even that high, yet his strength is already this terrifying. If he takes another step forward, wouldn't he slaughter us like dogs?"
Lan An's current state was overwhelmingly powerful. He suppressed his foes while boosting his own attack power and defense manifold. The aftershocks of those clashes were horrifying, yet bolstered by the True Dragon Battle Form, he stood steady as a mountain—not even budging an inch.
On the other front, the Four Divine Beasts were barely managing to hold back the Giant Demon Rhino and the others before the grand formation. The outcome of this great battle now rested entirely on Lan An.
Pa! Pa! Pa!
"A junior to be feared… but if you oppose the Giant Demon Clan, the consequences are beyond your imagination!" The Giant Demon Star clapped his massive, fur-covered hands together, his expression thoughtful as he appraised Lan An.
He was growing more and more intrigued by the dragon-related secret on this young man…
"Second Elder, don't let the night grow long and bring forth schemes!" The Giant Demon Chief reminded him.
If not for the Giant Demon Star's desire to probe the depths of Lan An's power, the Giant Demon Eagle and Giant Demon Elephant wouldn't have been forced into such a sorry state without landing a decisive blow.
"As the Young Chief wishes!" The Giant Demon Star gave a faint, dismissive smile, showing no excessive concern.
As a late-stage Tenth Revolution Second Elder, he ranked among the absolute top figures even within the Giant Demon Clan. The Giant Demon Chief had no real authority to command him—he was merely lending a hand.
The Giant Demon Star laughed heartily. His pillar-like arms suddenly seized an ancient thousand-year-old tree in the forest, uprooting it with a single heave. Countless roots were torn violently from the earth, causing the ground to quake.
"Take my staff!" Battle intent blazing, the Giant Demon Star wielded the ancient tree like a weapon and smashed it straight toward Lan An's head without another word.
"Shatter Heaven!" Lan An showed no weakness. He drew the still Earth-grade Lan Hong Sword from his back and gripped it firmly. Rock Elephant Heavy Flame surged at full power into the blade. Without any hesitation, he unleashed the strongest move of the Heavy Flame Sword Art to meet the Giant Demon Star's assault head-on…
SLASH…
Though the Lan Hong Sword's grade was not yet supreme, its durability was unmatched by any treasure. Under the might of Shatter Heaven, the thousand-year-old tree in the Giant Demon Star's hand was pulverized into dust, smoke billowing everywhere.
"Die!" Tearing through the dust cloud, the Giant Demon Star appeared ferociously. One foot like a colossal mountain stomped down toward Lan An.
The disparity in size was overwhelming—one stomp felt like a human crushing an ant…
But this "ant" could summon a True Dragon…
True Dragon Ascends to the Heavens!
With a thunderous roar, the Lan Hong Sword returned to his back. Lan An formed seals with both hands, channeling True Dragon Power. The True Dragon phantom burst forth once more, baring fangs and claws as it charged straight upward to meet the descending stomp without the slightest fear…
BOOM…
The enormous foot crashed down onto the True Dragon phantom, and the two immediately entered a frenzied deadlock.
Under the Giant Demon Star's stomp, the True Dragon phantom could advance no further—yet the Giant Demon Star could not press down any more either.
Sensing a force that genuinely threatened him, the Giant Demon Star sneered coldly: "I'll hold him here. The rest of you—destroy the formation!"
He realized the key was to ruin the teleportation array and eliminate those inside. Once that happened, Lan An would fall into panic, his will to fight would waver, or he might even lose his composure. As an old monster of the Giant Demon Clan, the Giant Demon Star's calculation struck right at the heart of the matter.
"Understood!" With his order, the Giant Demon Eagle and Giant Demon Elephant surged forward as if injected with stimulants, leaping desperately toward the formation to smash it apart.
Lan An's expression shifted behind the mask. He struck out with a Void Dragon Palm into empty air, successfully blocking the Giant Demon Eagle's strike on the formation and forcing him back.
"Haha, and don't forget me!" The Giant Demon Elephant laughed triumphantly. His trunk—still bearing the claw marks from Lan An—refused to give up. He swung it viciously toward the grand formation…
BOOM…
No one expected it—a formless, traceless Thunder Lotus suddenly materialized right in front of the Giant Demon Elephant and detonated with a deafening explosion.
Thunder Lotus Without Shadow!
The shockwave scorched and tore the Giant Demon Elephant's flesh, but as a thick-skinned Tenth Revolution cultivator, he quickly recovered. The Thunder Lotus Without Shadow wasn't enough to seriously wound him.
Still, Lan An's layered, relentless techniques filled the Giant Demon Clan with dread. If this person were allowed to grow, the Giant Demon Clan would face calamity.
"Pointless resistance!" Seizing the moment Lan An was occupied blocking the Giant Demon Eagle and Elephant, the Giant Demon Star laughed wildly and threw a heaven-shaking punch, sending Lan An flying.
No choice—Lan An was not a god. Facing so many alone, even with the heaven-defying True Dragon Battle Form, he was far from invincible.
SCRAPE… SCRAPE…
His dragon-scale-clad legs skidded across the sky. Nirvana Spirit Water circulated through the gaps in the scales, miraculously restoring the True Dragon Battle Form's defensive power that had been worn down in battle.
"Elders! Use everything you've got—don't let them teleport away!" The Giant Demon Chief roared, seeing the teleportation grand formation accelerating. The process had clearly entered its critical phase.
Lan An understood this too. He unleashed everything he had. Reverse Dragons coiled through the heavens as he unleashed palm after palm:
Grasp Dragon Palm, Mad Dragon Palm, Void Dragon Palm…
Layer upon layer of palm shadows blanketed the battlefield like an tireless war machine, an inexhaustible monster. Continuous dragon roars echoed without end; endless Reverse Dragon phantoms rampaged ferociously across the sky.
There was no denying it—Lan An's desperate onslaught was somewhat effective. The swarm of Giant Demon Clan elders was forced to focus entirely on defending, leaving no time to target the formation.
Even the Giant Demon Star found it difficult to gain much advantage once Lan An activated True Dragon Battle Form. Though in their direct clashes the Giant Demon Star usually sent Lan An flying, the dragon scales' defense was simply too formidable—true meaningful damage remained elusive.
Within his dantian, the Dragon Force Cauldron began to tremble. Lan An's relentless use of various dragon techniques was starting to outpace its ability to supply power…
Where did the True Dragon Power come from? Thanks to the forbidden cultivation method of Gathering Cauldrons, the Dragon Force Cauldron could absorb heaven-and-earth spiritual energy and convert it into True Dragon Power for Lan An's use.
But the power and quality of True Dragon Power were far too high—one strand required ten thousand strands of external spiritual energy to form. Moreover, spiritual energy on Manhuang Star was already pitifully thin and depleted. Not to mention the Four Divine Beasts' Guardian Soul Technique also demanded massive spiritual power to sustain.
The Dragon Force Cauldron and the other great cauldrons had nearly stripped the heavens and earth bare of spiritual energy, yet it still wasn't enough to meet Lan An's terrifying consumption at this moment.
Like Old Yi before him, he was beginning to face a severe shortage of power.
After all, fighting across realms—especially one against many—always came at a steep price…
"It's not that I'm slow to absorb—it's that there's simply not enough spiritual energy in the heavens and earth to feed on!" Lan An cursed inwardly. Ultimately, the cauldrons operated by endlessly devouring heaven-and-earth spiritual energy, but on Manhuang Star it was so scarce it was laughable. For the first time, it truly hindered him.
"Fortunately, Qing Xuan prepared for me!" Lan An thought. He abruptly took out several bottles of pills rich in dense spiritual energy and held them in hand.
Then, under the bulging eyes of the Giant Demon Clan crowd, Lan An tilted his head back and gulped the pills down like rice. In moments, dozens of high-grade Spirit-Replenishing Pills flooded into his body.
These were premium Spirit-Replenishing Pills that Shui Qingxuan had given him for emergencies—now they finally saw use.
HUM HUM HUM…
The great cauldrons, as if stimulated, returned to peak performance. They frantically devoured the pills, allowing Lan An to continue the fight.
But he knew—this battle could not drag on. Once the pills ran out, the disadvantage would be catastrophic.
"When they return safely, I'll go all out one last time!" Lan An drew a deep breath, resolved to hold the line until Wu San Niang and the others completed the teleportation.
With resolve came action. He unleashed the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms like a madman. Emperor Flame and Tribulation Lightning filled the sky. Terrifying phantoms shattered and reformed endlessly… The great battle had already turned ten thousand li into ruins, drawing countless cultivators from across Manhuang Star to watch in shock.
They were utterly speechless at the scene.
No one could have imagined a single person on this world could be so terrifying—standing alone against an entire group of Giant Demon Clan elders while their race stood at the height of its power.
The battle seemed far from over, but at that moment, an abrupt twist occurred…
Despite all his calculations, Lan An had overlooked one fatal variable…
Not just Lan An—even the onlookers and the Giant Demon Clan never expected this…
The Giant Demon Marquis—the early-stage Tenth Revolution elder who had been gravely wounded and left dying on the ground by Lan An and Wu San Niang earlier—suddenly regained a sliver of strength. Ignoring everything, he charged desperately toward the still-teleporting formation…
"NO…" Amid Lan An's furious roar and the Giant Demon Chief's delighted laughter…
The Giant Demon Marquis poured every last ounce of strength into a secret art of the Giant Demon Clan and smashed down viciously onto the formation…
CRACK…