Chapter 26: Might

Ji Hanyan was truly enraged.

She and Gu Qingluo hadn’t interacted much in the past, and there was even a period of time when she had been jealous that Gu Qingluo had found such an outstanding man for herself.

Su Chen didn’t know that the ice queen Ji Hanyan had, for the briefest of moments, felt a tug at her heartstrings for him.

If it weren’t for the fact that Su Chen had never voluntarily sought her out, that he was always mired in his research, then Jiang Xishui might not have stood a chance.

This was why Ji Hanyan’s opinion of Gu Qingluo was extremely neutral.

However, she was enraged right now not because of her relationship with Gu Qingluo, but rather because of the way that Su Chen had chosen to handle the situation.

Ji Hanyan stared angrily at Su Chen, as if she wanted to kill him with her gaze alone. Frostpoint and Westminster tensed up and inched towards Su Chen, preparing to protect him.

Su Chen, however, didn’t mind. He watched the floating Gu Qingluo with a slight smile as he replied, “Qingluo will be happy to hear that you took such a stance on her behalf, but don’t worry — she’ll be fine.”

Ji Hanyan said in shock, “Were you able to stop the beast transformation of the bloodline?”

Su Chen nodded. “To be specific, I found a way to raise the purity limit of the human bloodline.”

When Jiang Xishui and Ji Hanyan heard this, they immediately grew immeasurably excited.

This was a big deal!

Su Chen was basically saying that every member of the a Bloodline Nobility Clan could raise their bloodline purity by another level. In other words, humanity’s strength had increased once again.

Su Chen had always pursued the bloodline-less cultivation techniques, but now, he had suddenly made a u-turn and increased the power of all bloodline wielders as well.

Actually, Su Chen’s intentions had never been to overthrow the Bloodline Nobility Clans. All he wanted to do was increase the strength of the entire human race.

His research of the bloodline-less cultivation techniques was not meant to tear down the bloodline system - only to free human cultivation from the chains of bloodlines. According to his view, humans would be able to cultivate even without bloodlines in the future, and bloodlines would only serve to further increase their combat strength, not as the very foundation of cultivating.

He was more than halfway done with his goal at this point. The bloodline-less cultivation techniques and Aspects formed a complete set of cultivation methods, and it was slowly taking shape.

Gu Qingluo was able to raise her bloodline purity to forty percent partly because this extra increase had come from her Aspect.

Using her own bloodline as an Aspect was particularly effective.

Bloodlines were tangible, while Aspects were more ethereal. Combining the two resulted in a twofold increase in effectiveness.

This allowed her to use the power of a bloodline with 40% purity while her actual bloodline purity was only at 20%.

And it was that extra 20% that allowed Gu Qingluo to control the advance of the Sea Beast Wave.

In theory, Gu Qingluo could achieve a pseudo-bloodline purity of around 60%.

But that would be too risky. Before Su Chen found a better way of resolving the issue, he wanted to wait before doing so.

The Shining Dragon was incredibly realistic now that Gu Qingluo was unleashing her bloodline at full force. The immense, majestic pressure it exuded caused the tens of thousands of Sea Beasts to howl with trepidation. They had completely lost their spirit and drive, as if they were in a large domain that was throwing them into complete chaos. With the four branches of the fleet attacking them simultaneously, the Sea Beasts were virtually being baptized with Origin Energy, causing the stench of blood to rise into the sky.

The Sovereign Beast was obviously enraged. It howled angrily and charged towards Gu Qingluo.

It was going to kill her.

“Commander Zhong, now’s your time to strike!” Su Chen said to Zhong Zhenjun.

Zhong Zhenjun was the strongest individual present. Given his Ultimate Emperor Realm cultivation base, handing the responsibility of taking on the Sovereign to him was very appropriate. Su Chen was also giving him an opportunity to demonstrate his abilities.

Of course, Sovereigns were the emperors amongst Demonic Emperors, and Zhong Zhenjun himself was not strong enough to handle the Sovereign alone. Westminster and Frostpoint glanced at each other before also flying into the air, and the four Oceanid generals followed closely behind.

These six individuals were all around the Thought Manifestation Realm in strength. Even though they and Zhong Zhenjun would still probably not be able to defeat the Sovereign, stopping it for some time was no issue.

When the Sovereign saw this, it roared and continued to charge forwards, building up massive waves around it. These waves were like walls of seawater and rushed towards Gu Qingluo, Zhong Zhenjun, and the others rapidly.

Even though the Sovereign possessed little to no intelligence, its combat instincts were still working. It quickly realized that letting them delay was not a good idea, which was why it immediately attacked with its full strength. These waves contained the full power of a Sovereign, each drop of water traveling with as much momentum as a steel ball. Their combined momentum bore down on the eight of them like a mountain, threatening to steamroll over them.

Zhong Zhenjun’s expression shifted slightly, but he knew that whether they won or lost this fight, protecting Gu Qingluo was the most important so that she could continue to unleash her aura. He gritted his teeth before sucking in a deep breath.

This breath was so long and forceful that a small vortex actually began to form around him.

Then, Zhong Zhenjun exhaled violently in front of him.

“ROAR!!!”

A majestic, surprisingly tangible shockwave of sound boomed in all directions as it collided violently with the walls of seawater.

The instant the blue walls of seawater slammed into the white shockwave, a brilliant flare of light shone everywhere. A Demonic King that was unlucky enough to swim by was obliterated by the sudden release of energy and completely disintegrated, not even leaving behind a skeleton. The violent, forceful nature of this clash was evident.

Zhong Zhenjun’s moniker, A Howl Shakes An Army, was put on full display.

However, facing off against a Sovereign was no easy feat. Zhong Zhenjun groaned with pain from the backlash and took a few steps backwards.

However, the Sovereign appeared completely unfazed. It roared again, and the walls of seawater charged forwards yet again, rushing towards them.

Frostpoint and Westminster leapt forwards and struck simultaneously, causing the towering wall of seawater to slow down significantly.

However, the Sovereign howled yet again, and after a brief exchange of force, the wall of seawater continued to advance. The six Oceanids were unable to stop its advance.

Thankfully, Zhong Zhenjun had managed to recover, and he attacked at the same time. Only then were they able to barely stop its advance.

There was no point in using too many flashy techniques when dealing with a situation like this. They were purely competing in terms of cultivation realm and brute force.

All that mattered at this point was strength!

Sovereigns were incredibly strong, far more so than your average Demonic Emperor.

Zhong Zhenjun and the six Oceanids felt an immense amount of pressure on them, and that didn’t even include the few Demonic Emperors that had decided to head this way.

Jiang Xishui, Ji Hanyan, Li Chongshan, Shi Kaihuang, and the others also sprang into action.

Since Gu Qingluo alone was capable of disrupting the Sea Beast Wave, this battle was now going to be decided by the higher powers involved in the fight.

And in that regard, the Sovereign and the Demonic Emperors held the absolute advantage.

Ji Hanyan couldn’t resist crying out when she saw the unwinnable situation, “Su Chen, are you not going to call some people back to help us out?”

Su Chen shook his head. “Qingluo has a hard time sustaining this state. We must seize the opportunity to decimate the Sea Beast Wave, or at least heavily damage them. The Sovereign is not so important in comparison.”

“The problem is that we won’t be able to hold on much longer. If you have any tricks up your sleeve, you’d better use them now!” Jiang Xishui said apprehensively.

Su Chen smiled slightly. “I know. I’m just wondering which trump card I should use.”

Everyone almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

If you have a trump card to use, what are you waiting for?

Actually, Su Chen was not doing this on purpose. He just wanted to see how strong the Sovereign was and how strong Zhong Zhenjun and the others were.

Only in a battle of life-or-death would it be possible to observe their true strength and make a decision.

As he watched the Sovereign howl, unleashing boundless waves of Origin Energy and putting an immense amount of pressure on Zhong Zhenjun and the others, Su Chen finally said, “Qingluo, you can use that.”

“Right now?” Gu Qingluo was stunned. “It’s just a Sovereign. Don’t you have plenty of other ways of dealing with it?”

“I want to see what your limit is,” Su Chen replied.

When Gu Qingluo heard this, she understood and said with a slight smile, “Fine. If that’s the case then I won’t hold back.”

As she laughed, she pulled out an item from her Origin Ring and put it on.

Sky Armor!

As soon as she put this beautiful Divine Tool on her body, Gu Qingluo seemed to turn into a fairy. A holy aura that demanded to be worshipped began to emanate from her body.

At the same time, the Sea Beast Wave plunged even deeper into chaos. They were being beaten black and blue, and could only respond with a tenth of the force that they were being attacked with.

A few of the lower-layered Sea Beasts were even beginning to attack each other, and even Demonic Kings found it hard to even move, and Demonic Emperors felt their wills tremble.

Sky Armor had three main uses as a Divine Tool, and its third major use was for large-scale suppression.

The Shining Dragon Bloodline was very powerful, but so was the might of the Mother Goddess.

They emitted two distinct kinds of pressure. The Shining Dragon Bloodline was overbearing and tyrannical, while the Mother Goddess’s holiness was dignified and stately, so their interaction was not particularly favorable. Otherwise, the suppressive effects would have been even greater. Even so, the additional might of the Sky Armor further aggravated the Sea Beasts, weakening the attacks of even the Demonic Emperors.

Even so, this was not the end just yet.

A moment later, Gu Qingluo pulled out a vial of blood.

Gu Qingluo opened the vial and unwillingly extracted a few drops of blood before placing those droplets on her forehead, in between her eyebrows. Then, she placed her hand on her heart, and her aura surged as the Shining Dragon grew even brighter. A massive dragon head solidified, as if it had emerged from another realm, and howled ferociously, stunning everyone present.

Even that Sovereign shuddered, let alone the Demonic Emperors, and even Zhong Zhenjun felt an immense wave of pressure wash over him. He discovered to his surprise that there was no way for him to withstand this pressure!

This formless pressure was not merely affecting his heart - it was affecting his whole body! Zhong Zhenjun, Jiang Xishui, Li Chongshan, Frostpoint, and everyone else discovered that it was basically impossible for them to revolve their Origin Energy at all.

In that moment, everyone was paralyzed.

Thankfully, all Beasts below the Sovereign level were also paralyzed. Only the Sovereign continued to howl unwillingly.

However, in the face of this Shining Dragon head, it was as small as an it.

The Shining Dragon squinted its eyes for a moment before it suddenly opened its mouth.

Hu!

A powerful wave of flames spurted forth from its mouth.

These flames were incredibly real.

The flames of the Shining Dragon burned everything to ashes.

“ROAR!!!” The killer whale howled unwillingly, but it was unable to endure the blazing flames. Its skin began to rapidly turn to ash.

“Hurry up and attack!” Su Chen barked.

His voice cut through the fog muddling their thoughts. Everyone felt their minds clear, and the Origin Energy in their body once again returned to their control.

“What are we waiting for? Charge!” Someone - no one knew who - yelled, spurring on everyone else to let out a war cry as they charged at the Sovereign.

The dragon head had begun to fade after it spat out the white-hot flames. The physically present body became illusory once more, and Gu Qingluo’s face paled significantly.

She calmly pulled out a vial of medicine and drank it, quickly stabilizing her swaying body.