BTTH: From Genius to Invincible

Chapter 578: Dragon Emperor Zi Yan

Word Count: 3,023 Words

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In the span of a heartbeat, armies pressed up to the gates.

The void in every direction around Eastern Dragon Island had been sealed. Countless members of the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe from the Southern, Western, and Northern Dragon Islands stood suspended in mid-air, each displaying a different draconic form.

Only when all three Dragon Islands turned out in full force did Xiao Yan truly grasp just how cheap Dou Venerates were among the very top superpowers of the Dou Qi Continent. He also realized just how far the Yan Alliance still had to go.

The Ancient Void Dragons had been tearing at each other in civil war for thousands of years, suffering terrible losses. Even so, lumping the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe together with the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe and the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe and calling them the ’Three Great Magical Beast Tribes’ was nothing short of an insult to this terrifying race.

If the three Dragon Islands ever truly united, never mind dominating the Beast Region; even the Ancient Wasteland Region would likely be overturned by this one remaining super magical beast tribe.

Let alone Dou Venerates. When Xiao Yan swept his Spiritual Strength outward, he found that Half-Saint level experts alone numbered in the double digits.

He slowly rose to his feet. Zi Yan, who had been clinging to his back laughing and fooling around, instantly shed every trace of playfulness and hopped down behind him.

Xiao Yan stretched lazily. "I’ll help you deal with one of the Dragon Kings."

Eastern Dragon Island had recalled even those tribesmen who had originally been unwilling to participate in the civil war, yet the three Dragon Islands still occupied three-quarters of what had once been the complete Dragon Island. In both numbers and top-tier experts, they outstripped Eastern Dragon Island by a wide margin. Add the two outside reinforcements, and if not for the Dragon Emperor Zi Yan, there would have been no point in fighting this battle at all.

Zi Yan shook her head, her voice calm. "No need. This is a matter for our Ancient Void Dragon Tribe. You just need to help clean up those Dou Venerates."

Xiao Yan huffed at her stubbornness. "Hey, Senior Sister Zi Yan, you don’t still think we’re back at Jia Nan Academy, do you? I’m a 2-star Dou Saint."

Zi Yan’s lips quirked to one side, a glint of mockery flickering in her eyes. "I’m 4-star."

The moment the words left her lips, a deep hum rippled across the mountaintop. Purple light blossomed upward like a flawless amethyst, and a heaven-shaking Dragon Emperor’s might erupted in all directions. Within that purple radiance, Zi Yan’s form began to grow.

An aura so powerful it made even Xiao Yan’s heart lurch violently exploded outward.

Zi Yan had already reached the early stage of the 4-star Dou Saint realm!!

He had clawed his way up step by step, burning through countless resources just to reach the late stage of 2-star Dou Saint. When they parted, Zi Yan’s cultivation had still been lower than his own. Yet she had simply eaten a fruit, accepted an inheritance from the tribe... and she was already an early-stage 4-star Dou Saint?

Xiao Yan couldn’t resist summoning the Mysterious Yellow Flame. Is your fortune ability even working?!

Moments ago, Zi Yan had still been acting like a spoiled little girl. Now she gradually shed that appearance and revealed the true visage of the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe’s Dragon Emperor. She no longer wore an ornate gown. Instead, she was clad in battle armor formed from the Dragon Phoenix Ancient Armor, a purple long spear resting in her grip.

Purple light detonated. Zi Yan’s figure elongated in an instant, transforming into a tall, beautifully proportioned goddess of war. The armor, flowing with purple-gold radiance, hugged her form and offered full protection without hindering movement. Streamlined engravings accentuated every line of her body, lending every movement a blend of deadly grace and explosive speed.

Within that sea of purple radiance, the silhouette of a colossal eastern dragon coiled and loomed. Its length defied measure; most of its vast form lay hidden in the void itself. A pair of seven-colored phoenix wings spread magnificently from its back, reminiscent of the legendary Yinglong taking flight.

Zi Yan, unleashing her full power, wore an expression that was handsome and resolute, overflowing with unshakable confidence and determination. Her entire being exuded a peerless majesty and power that brooked no defiance, enough to make one’s heart tremble in awe.

ROAR—!!

"Greetings, Dragon Emperor!!"

Every last member of the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe on Eastern Dragon Island dropped to their knees and prostrated toward that pillar of purple light piercing the sky. Even the First Elder and Second Elder, true Dou Saints in their own right, bowed a full ninety degrees toward Zi Yan.

From a distance, the scene carried a faint hint of comedy. Xiao Yan stood right beside Zi Yan, and with ten thousand dragons kneeling as one, anyone squinting from afar might well have thought they were bowing to him, too.

Zi Yan’s Dragon Emperor might erupted without restraint. The warriors of the three Dragon Islands, who moments ago had still been baring their fangs and brandishing their claws, all suddenly resembled Feng Qing Er. Their faces turned chalk-white, and their bodies shook uncontrollably.

Forget resistance. If not for the three Dragon Kings standing before them to shield against the brunt of the pressure, the warriors of the Southern, Western, and Northern Dragon Islands would not have been able to stop their knees from buckling beneath them.

The sheer force of Zi Yan’s 4-star Dou Saint aura and the weight of her genuine Dragon Emperor’s might had even the three Dragon Kings gritting their teeth. That suppression welled up from the depths of their bloodlines; that pressure swelled from their very core.

Magical beasts valued bloodline rank above all else. Having completed every inheritance and ascended as Dragon Emperor, Zi Yan’s bloodline rank eclipsed that of these Dragon Kings by an unknown number of tiers.

Nor were only the warriors of the three Dragon Islands affected. The Three Phoenix Saints of the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe also felt a tremor ripple through their bloodlines. Zi Yan’s body carried a portion of the Ancient Heaven Phoenix’s power as well.

Roar, Roar, Roar!!

The Southern, Western, and Northern Dragon Kings erupted with their bloodline strength simultaneously. The Southern and Western Dragon Kings were both late-stage 3-star Dou Saints, while the most powerful of the three, the Northern Dragon King, stood only a hair’s breadth from the 4-star Dou Saint level. Their three bloodlines intertwined and surged together, barely managing to hold against Zi Yan’s Dragon Emperor might.

Only when that oppressive wave was blocked did the warriors of the three Dragon Islands finally snap back to awareness. Their breathing came in ragged gasps. They had nearly been crushed to the point of suffocation!

"T-This... this is far more terrifying than the combined might of the three Dragon Kings!"

"Could this actually be a real Dragon Emperor, not a fake?!"

The three Dragon Kings’ expressions sank in unison. Only when they stood face to face with the Dragon Emperor’s might did they truly understand: Zi Yan’s bloodline strength surpassed that of every Dragon Emperor who had come before. At equal cultivation, not even the Old Dragon Emperor’s bloodline had been this overwhelmingly powerful!

Had Zi Yan not completed the inheritance so recently, her strength given no time to fully bloom, her power would likely have climbed even higher!

The three Dragon Kings exchanged glances. A shadow passed through their eyes. They had already drawn the bowstring; there was no turning back now. If they lost this battle, their souls would scatter, their very existence reduced to dust on the wind.

The Northern Dragon King, standing at their head, threw back his head and bellowed. "Warriors of the three Dragon Islands! Eastern Dragon Island has dragged some evil demon from who-knows-where and used wicked arts to pass it off as bearing the Dragon Emperor’s bloodline! The only Dragon Emperor we serve is the Old Dragon Emperor, Zhu Kun!"

"Brave warriors of the Dragon Islands, we must defend everything belonging to the Dragon Islands with our lives! Eastern Dragon Island has dared commit such monstrous treason! They must be put to death!"

"Brave Dragon Warriors, we stand for loyalty and righteousness!!"

"Kill!!"

The Northern Dragon King’s roar had barely faded when the warriors of the three Dragon Islands erupted as one. Bloodline strength flared across their bodies like wildfire. Their eyes burned scarlet as they roared in frenzy, as though brainwashed.

Even Xiao Yan was left gaping for a moment. This ability to invert black and white... even I, the Tenth Tianzun of the Hall of Souls, have to bow in defeat!

With a single speech, the Northern Dragon King had smeared Zi Yan, the orthodox Dragon Emperor, as a false heretic.

After all, the Old Dragon Emperor truly had vanished. On the surface, pledging loyalty to the Old Dragon Emperor was not wrong. But Zhu Li and the others heard every word of this shameless twisting of truth, and the fury that seized them was so intense they could barely contain themselves.

"Northern Dragon King! You... you are blatantly twisting right and wrong! Lord Dragon Emperor is Lord Old Dragon Emperor’s own child, the orthodox successor to the Dragon Emperor’s throne!" Zhu Li was so furious he looked ready to explode, but his voice clearly could not reach the hearts of the warriors from the three Dragon Islands.

Thousands of years had passed. The Ancient Void Dragons below Rank 8 from that era had likely all died of old age. Most of those present now were Ancient Void Dragons born after the split, brainwashed early on by the three Dragon Kings. In their minds, the only rulers they recognized were the three Dragon Kings, not the Dragon Emperor of Eastern Dragon Island.

The First Elder’s expression darkened. His gaze fell on several old men standing behind the three Dragon Kings, and his voice turned ice-cold. "Xuan Mo, Lie Shan, Zhu Mu! You lot once followed Lord Old Dragon Emperor as his old guard. Are you truly going to betray your ancestors and forget your roots as well?!"

"Can you really not tell whether the current Lord Dragon Emperor carries the true Dragon Emperor bloodline?"

Every one of the people he called out were white-haired old men whose strength had reached the true Dou Saint realm, old monsters who had lived untold thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of years. Some had indeed been powerful experts in the Old Dragon Emperor’s own retinue.

Those elite experts of the older generation couldn’t help but let their gazes flicker and slide away. The younger Ancient Void Dragons might be brainwashed, but having lived as long as they had, how could these elders not see it? Zi Yan was the Old Dragon Emperor’s child, the true and orthodox Dragon Emperor.

Their evasive looks and guilty silence told the Eastern Dragon Island Elders everything they needed to know.

They had all betrayed the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe!

Rage flared in every pair of eyes on Eastern Dragon Island. Aura poured from their bodies in thick waves as their presence surged skyward. This battle could no longer be avoided! Before they could unify the Dragon Islands, they would first have to cut down the traitors!

Abandon illusions. Prepare for war!

Standing within the pillar of purple light, Zi Yan cast only a single glance at the three Dragon Islands before turning to look deeply at Xiao Yan. In those crystalline eyes burned a warmth and affection that needed no words.

The very next instant, she bent her knees. The air boomed. A single jump stamped the void so hard it shattered in layers beneath her feet, and Zi Yan became a streak of purple light shooting straight toward the three Dragon Kings. A dragon’s roar tore through the sky as her long spear swept out, sending a ribbon of purple crashing toward the three Dragon Kings.

Zi Yan had never liked talking. She was the sort who preferred throwing punches over wasting breath.

Zi Yan’s direct assault left the three Dragon Kings no room for complacency. They unleashed their Beast Techniques in unison, and two titanic forces collided, shattering sky and earth. Eastern Dragon Island heaved under the impact; the entire island seemed to sway.

Zi Yan alone stood at the very front, blocking the three Dragon Kings and the Three Phoenix Saints alike. Her figure was peerlessly magnificent, long hair billowing, like a war goddess descended from the heavens!

The long spear in her hands gleamed dark-red, washed in purple-gold light. A bead of blood-colored radiance flickered on its tip. That tiny glimmer alone made even the three Dragon Kings feel their hearts seize, as though the spearpoint might pierce their throats at any moment. A primal fear rose unbidden in their chests.

For beings like the three Dragon Kings, who had weathered every storm the world could offer across ten thousand years, very few things could instill genuine fear.

Yet Zi Yan stood at the very vanguard, a lone figure holding back thousands of foes. That sight sowed dread in more than just the three Dragon Kings. Even the powerful experts of the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe behind them felt a chill lance up their spines in that instant, as if a cold blade had been pressed against their necks.

The spear tip flickered with bloody light, and still their throats tightened. Still their breath caught. Still their legs felt weak.

"Betraying the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe... today, in the name of the Dragon Emperor, I will enforce tribal law!" Zi Yan’s voice carried supreme authority as it rang out in a deep, resonant shout.

The moment the words left her lips, every warrior of Eastern Dragon Island bellowed and surged forward in attack. They were fewer in number, yet under the Dragon Emperor’s lead, their morale soared. The opposing side, by contrast, labored under Zi Yan’s dragon might; even their combat power would dip.

War burst out just like that. The three Dragon Islands and Eastern Dragon Island crashed together in a seething mass. The Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe joined the fray as well, though their members mostly lurked at the edges, fishing in troubled waters and stirring up as much chaos as they could. For the Three Phoenix Saints, chaos itself was the greatest benefit.

Across the entire battlefield, only two forces remained still.

Xiao Yan.

And the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe!

At that moment, Yao Ming and several Half-Saint Elders of the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe felt their entire bodies go cold. Their scalps prickled so hard they went numb.

Why is Xiao Yan here?!

"T-Tribe Leader... what should we do?!" the Second Elder stammered, teeth chattering.

Aside from the higher-ups of the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe and Eastern Dragon Island, ninety-nine percent of the beings present would have simply assumed Xiao Yan was nothing more than the Dragon Emperor’s pampered plaything. Given the intimate scene just now, wasn’t it perfectly normal for a Dragon Emperor to have a favored man at her side?

Yao Ming and the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe, however, would never think that way.

Because they had witnessed firsthand what Xiao Yan could do!

A year and a half ago, Yao Ming had barely recovered to the early stage of 2-star Dou Saint when Xiao Yan, a mere 1-star Dou Saint, had pressed him to the ground and beaten him senseless.

He had now fully restored his strength, even advancing to the late stage of 2-star Dou Saint. Yet he could sense that Xiao Yan was far more powerful now than he had been back then!

Xiao Yan was using his Spiritual Strength to mask his aura, but the innate intuition of a magical beast told Yao Ming with absolute certainty: even at late-stage 2-star Dou Saint, if Xiao Yan chose to fight him, he would fall even faster than before!

"Motherfucker! So the one backing the Yan Alliance was the new Dragon Emperor of the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe all along!" Yao Ming was ready to curse the heavens themselves. If you’d said that earlier, I never would have come!

Xiao Yan’s Spiritual Strength swept lightly across the battlefield before shifting toward Yao Ming’s position. His eyes narrowed into crescents, and he lifted a hand with a smile, waving as if greeting an old acquaintance.

That genial wave chilled Yao Ming from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet. There was not a shred of genuine amusement in Xiao Yan’s eyes.

"Tribe Leader Yao Ming, what brings your people here?" Xiao Yan’s voice slipped into his mind through spiritual transmission.

"W-We..." Yao Ming swallowed hard. "There’s a massive reserve of Ancient Heaven Serpent essence blood left behind on Northern Dragon Island. Northern Dragon Island promised us that as long as we helped them defeat Eastern Dragon Island, they would hand over that Ancient Heaven Serpent essence blood preserved from ancient times... so..."

The Ancient Void Dragon Tribe and the Ancient Heaven Serpents had been mortal enemies in antiquity. It was nothing strange for the Dragon Islands to hold ’spoils of war.’

Xiao Yan chuckled. "Tribe Leader Yao Ming, if the new Dragon Emperor unifies the Dragon Islands, I, Xiao Yan, can promise you on the Dragon Emperor’s behalf that Northern Dragon Island’s pledge will still be honored. You will receive that Ancient Heaven Serpent essence blood all the same."

"Moreover, that one-third of the Yellow Springs Mountain Range currently occupied by the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe? I can give that to you as well, so your Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe can continue living freely."

"My Yan Alliance can even establish friendship with your Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe and set up formal, friendly diplomatic relations."

!!!?

"Grandmaster Xiao Yan, you mean..."

"Help Eastern Dragon Island deal with the three Dragon Islands."