'The Son of Heaven's Cavalry'!
Cao Yun unleashed his most powerful and concentrated attack. Absolutely everything he had was focused on a single point. For an instant, Cao Yun even let go of his constraints on Dian Mo. It only lasted for an instant. But after witnessing the prowess of his opponent, he decided to risk it. Maybe it was the excitement or the Chamber of Heavenly Court who was pushing him to be a little bit reckless.
Thankfully, Dian Mo did not take advantage of it. He knew that his chances of getting out of it were slim. At best, he would have distracted Cao Yun. The problem was that if Cao Yun were to be killed, Dian Mo would surely die as well. He wasn't absolutely certain of it. But with the Drop of Wrath above him, he would probably be unable to leave his sea of consciousness. Besides, without Cao Yun putting a leash on this Drop of Wrath, it would devour and digest Dian Mo in no time. Even at that very moment, he could feel a subtle pull that was being stopped by Cao Yun.
For now, Dian Mo was analyzing the situation. And if he was correct, he would soon be able to make a deal that would improve his current situation beyond what Cao Yun could imagine. At that very moment, he was just like a fish on a cutting board. To be fair, Dian Mo had seen Cao Yun as a pig ready for slaughter whom he was just fattening a bit beforehand. As such, he did not find that the young demon had really wronged him much. The boy had just been better. Besides, the tables would soon turn for the better.
Anyway, Cao Yun even used 'Dragon's Heart' and his blood cultivation to condense a drop of blood that was spinning like crazy. As soon as the pale man realized where his opponent was, Cao Yun unleashed everything at once.
The full might of his martial arts were displayed for all to see. All around Cao Yun, a vibrant armor made of dragon scales fluttered. His spear turned into the horn of the mighty Azure Dragon. And it didn't stop there. Cao Yun's Spear Aura also got added to the mix. His spear and himself were now giants compared to the pale man. Cao Yun and his weapon looked like they were covered in the blood of billions of battle. All around them, there was an ominous aura that Cao Yun had picked up when he had slaughtered all those blood beasts. In fact, a tiny bit of both Evil Qi and Death Energy were also vibrating around him. Apart from the pale man, no one was able to feel it because it disappeared as fast as it had come. But right now, he felt as though he was facing the most dreadful killer he had ever met.
At last, the attack went toward him. He had barely enough time to put up his defense. All four of his wings exploded into many small scales made of various precious ores. Instead of scattering, they all went in front of him to form some kind of new complex shield. However, its form could not even be completed before the attack struck, but it still looked like the stylized head of a snake formed by the mosaic of ores.
When Cao Yun's attack struck, many scales were blown away instantly. A powerful gust of wind completed assaulted the shield. Many tiles from the Demon Palace also got unsealed and flew away into the void that was slowly consuming the roof.
No matter how much Cao Yun was pushing forward with all of his will and intent, his attack could not pierce through. In his sea of consciousness, there was now a giant storm. The Heart Star was encompassing the entire sky, making everything red. The ocean below had turned into blood. For a brief instant, Cao Yun's Wei Qi also took on a reddish tint. And his eyes were fully injected with crimson blood while his spear was vibrating under the effects of 'Dance of Slaughter' which he was circulating beside his 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars'.
Still, his attack could not penetrate the shield. It was damaged yes, but it remained firm between the two men. Then, Cao Yun heard it. From his 'Nine Chi Black Dragon Spear', there was a scream of frustration and pain. The scale of the Ebony Snake Dragon was full of indignation. Despite the suppression of the enemy's spear, it couldn't just stay quiet. The shaft of the spear was being put under a lot of strain, so much so that several cracking noises erupted from it. But it didn't want to abandon just yet. In fact, Cao Yun was able to feel its pride. Instead of submitting to its enemy, the 'Nine Chi Black Dragon Spear' wanted to take it down with it.
Although he was no expert in weapons, Cao Yun knew that in theory his weapon was not supposed to have any form of awareness. Only a Spirit weapon could have that. Apparently though, his martial art had awaken the remnant of the Ebony Snake Dragon's soul nonetheless. Both Cao Yun and the scale of the Ebony Snake Dragon had understood that the 'Nine Chi Black Dragon Spear' was about to become useless very soon. After all, Cao Yun had even taken other spears in his spatial ring. He was aware of the damages already suffered by his weapon when he had been inside the Yellow Death World. Since then, it had only gotten worse.
But even if it was the last thing it did, the Ebony Snake Dragon wanted to take his revenge on the spear that had humiliated him.
As the scale was resonating with Cao Yun's martial art, he suddenly got an image in mind. He saw the Azure Dragon distinctly. His body was made of seven shining stars and each one of his scales was an undiscovered galaxy with billions of stars. The main seven stars were shining so much that they eclipsed everything else. The Azure Dragon was large beyond imagination and could encompass an entire universe. But right now, he was just as big as a star system. And he was coiled around several planets that he had taken into his claws. In front of his gigantic head, there was a world as big as the Piaolu planet. The Azure Dragon opened his mouth and screamed. Although there was nothing to spread the sound, it still resounded. The atmosphere of the planet caught on fire and the surface began to crack.
Finally, the Azure Dragon tensed his body and launched himself toward the dying planet. It exploded into fine dust. With his momentum, the Azure Dragon even took several planets with him. Some were moved so fast that they burned away. Others were sent out of the star system.
A phrase had now appeared in Cao Yun's mind, 'Cracking the World'. This was the last move he had yet to master, the first variation of the Winnowing Basket Star. However, it had not fully come from him or his own understanding. He could feel that the seven stars in his sea of consciousness had answered the call of the Ebony Snake Dragon. Now that he had this move in mind, Cao Yun realized that his spear would never survive it, it was just too brutal.
The moment he thought about that though, he heard the plea of the Ebony Snake Dragon. Once again, the spear was not conscious per se, but it was reacting. In a sense, it was like a plant reacting to the stimuli around it. It was like the Life Boiling Cradle pill. A Spirit rank pill had awareness although it lacked consciousness. In the same way, the scale of the Ebony Snake Dragon seemed to imitate the pride of its owner. But it had no personal thought. If Cao Yun did not heed its call, it would not be angry or anything. However, Cao Yun would not feel well about it.
On the other hand, the idea of losing his spear was not comforting either. However, he felt like he had no choice. In the future, this spear would not be able to resist his techniques. In fact, even if it had been in a perfect condition, Cao Yun was not sure it could perform 'Cracking the World' without suffering intensely.
Maybe it was time to send his spear away with panache.
Although it was risky, Cao Yun even decided to open his Bai Hui. His Qi melted away the 'Ashen Feather Seal''s ashes he had used to block it. If he died in this fight, it wouldn't matter whether his Bai Hui was protected or not. Once again, it was a problem he would have to deal with later. Hopefully, Xiao Xuefeng would be able to help him. But the more damage he would do, the more complicated it would be to heal.
The moment Cao Yun sent Qi in his Bai Hui, he felt a familair feeling. It was not coming from his body but from the Drop of Wrath. It seemed to be trying to convey a message to him. However, he couldn't understand it. The only thing he could make out was the feeling of green vegetation around him. Then, his Bai Hui got rid of all the ashes.
Now that his Five Prodigious Gates were fully open, Cao Yun's Qi Manifestation became much more refined. He was entirely covered with an armor made of dragon scales.
After activating 'Cracking the World', the armor exploded. All the scales scattered backward. The fabric of reality was broken as though it were glass when the scales of the armor raced through it. Behind Cao Yun was now a hole in the glass that used to be space. Looking into the broken glass, there were seven shining dots. Right behind Cao Yun's back, there was an entire universe and those seven stars were exactly the same stars he had formed inside his sea of consciousness.
At the same time, the image of the Azure Dragon appeared clearly in the sky of his sea of consciousness. Each star was a part of its body and it was calmly flying in the sky, full of arrogance and disdain for the world.
This 'Cracking the World' move was very different from 'The Son of Heaven's Cavalry'. Instead of being a penetrating stab, it was a devastating blow performed with the butt of the spear. The point of this attack was not to focus the strength on a tiny point, but to spread the impact far in order to break even the deepest fortification. Thus, Cao Yun changed his stance as well as his grip. While his opponent was still on the defense, he struck again.
This time, Cao Yun had opened all his Five Prodigious Gates. Due to that, his Qi Manifestation reached the highest level it could. From behind him, the seven stars leapt forward. And they formed the shape of the Azure Dragon. Its body was made of the void of space with the seven stars on it giving life to the noble beast. It was as though the dragon had broken through the looking glass that was reality.
Its image followed Cao Yun's attack. When 'Nine Chi Black Dragon Spear' collided with the shield in front of it, the massive body of the Azure Dragon did the same. At that moment, everything crumbled. Cao Yun's spear exploded into tiny fragments. The pale man's shield was so thoroughly destroyed that each scale forming it had also been destroyed. Even the image of the Azure Dragon had exploded. But from this gigantic catastrophe, all the fragments from both Cao Yun's spear, the pale man's shield and the stars forming the Azure Dragon as well as the fragments of glass that had been behind Cao Yun, all of them flew toward Cao Yun's enemy. It was as though a meteor shower was targeting him.
Surprised by the intensity of the attack, he was blown away. The blow was so violent, he was sent across the Demon Palace and let go of his bloody spear. Before he finally stopped, he went through several pillars. At the end, he had almost destroyed the wall he was now stuck into. However, he was still alive. Under the shock, he had lost consciousness for an instant and his body was covered in blood and dirt. But he was still alive. On the other hand, the Demon Palace had already been under a lot of stress with the void slowly consuming its roof. And without Dian Mo's presence to keep it together, it had become way too weak. This shock was enough for the wall to start to collapse.
Behind the wall, the absolute void started to spread as well. The pale man had no time to realize what was going on. He was already being consumed by the void. Not even his spatial ring could resist.
Due to the commotion, everyone looked at the scene. Cao Yun was standing in the middle of rubles. Before him, there was a long path of destruction that culminated with a hole in the Demon Palace from which the void was invading.
In front of him, Cao Yun saw some pieces from his spear. Most importantly, he saw a small part of the scale from the Ebony Snake Dragon used to forge his spear. But he also saw the weapon of his enemy. Without any hesitation, he retrieved both the scale fragment and the bloody spear. When he took it, he heard Dian Mo's voice.
"'Tainted Heavenly Pillar'. This spear was forged by a servant of Demon God Da Mo. According to your ranking system, it should be a 2-star Heaven weapon. But without a bloodline powerful enough to activate it, it's barely a 4-star Human one. From what I heard, this weapon was forged with Burning Soul Fire. It's said that hundreds of souls have to be burned away as fuel to start this fire. Then, it was quenched in the blood of several beasts. One of which was a real Devouring Storm Dragon. Even at the peak of our civilization, this wasn't the kind of demonic beast you could find easily. I don't think more than three of them ever appeared. This was a 3-pearl Immortal Beast."
Dian Mo spoke without thinking. Even he was admiring this spear. But Cao Yun who had it in hand was beyond amazed. However, this momentary lapse in Dian Mo's attitude revealed way more than he had wanted. Cao Yun now knew he was able to see outside his sea of consciousness. At the very moment he had spoken, Dian Mo also realized that. He blamed his talkativeness on his long seclusion. But he would have to watch out for it in the future. Because he counted on having a future, and a very bright one.
Cao Yun had barely enough time to enjoy his victory and his spoils. His Bai Hui began to pulsate. From it, an infernal pain spread to his entire Upper Dantian. It almost split his skull in two. If he had not fully energized his Upper Dantian, he might even have fainted or died because of this pain. His Bai Hui had been damaged and he had still pushed it beyond its limits. Now, it was completely torn apart. At that moment, he clearly saw a picture sent by his Drop of Wrath. And he got an idea...
Another man was in a difficult position. Mo Zi could see that the Demon Palace was about to completely collapse on itself. He had to do something about it soon.