Jiuxiao Protects His Master!

Golden primal energy poured into it, coalescing into a bowstring, and with a flash of light in his right hand, a grim white bone appeared. Engraved upon the white bone were countless intricate, sinister blue patterns. As primal energy infused it, the entire bone seemed to ignite. Drawing the bow and nocking the arrow, Xuan Luo's motions flowed in one seamless sequence! The moment the bow and arrow appeared, an instinctive dread gripped Li Guanqi's heart. Xuan Luo loosed his fingers. With a sharp, piercing whistle through the air, the bone arrow shot straight toward Li Guanqi in midair. "Die!" At this moment, thunderbolts were already crashing down from above. The sword he had slashed toward the lightning could not be pulled back in defense, and suspended in midair, his body had no way to evade! Li Guanqi could even see the delighted gloating in Xuan Luo's eyes. Suddenly! A dragon's roar rang out, echoing across the firmament! "Roar!" Amid the furious dragon roar, Jiuxiao's figure suddenly manifested, shielding Li Guanqi. A radiant golden light flashed in the dragon's enraged eyes, and with a violent whip of its body, its tail smashed toward the bone arrow. Terrifying strength tore fine, pitch-black fissures across the sky. When Xuan Luo clearly made out the great dragon's form, he cried out in utter shock: "A true dragon! How could a true dragon exist in the lower realm?!" "So that's how it is... Mo Yanshan..." Boom! Crash! Pfft! The expected scene of Jiuxiao shattering the bone arrow never occurred. Instead, the uncanny bone arrow pierced right through Jiuxiao's scales, sinking more than halfway in! Roar! A howl of agony tore from Jiuxiao's jaws. Its serpentine body writhed, but no matter how it thrashed, it could not dislodge the bone arrow. Worse, the bone arrow was slowly rotating, boring deeper into Jiuxiao's flesh! Seeing this, Li Guanqi didn't hesitate. After hacking the descending thunderbolt to pieces with all his might, ignoring the stray lightning tearing through his skin and flesh, he flashed to Jiuxiao's side. Xuan Luo sneered. "If the God-Extinguishing Bone were so easily removed, I wouldn't have brought it along." Indeed, this bone arrow was a devastating weapon refined by the Dark Crow organization through specialized methods. Once it struck a target, it would bore through flesh and blood until it pierced the heart and annihilated their divine soul. Flashing beside Jiuxiao, Li Guanqi braced its massive body with one hand and clamped his right hand tightly around the God-Extinguishing Bone! Sizzle! Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle! An eerie power scorched his palm with an angry hiss. This uncanny energy was not fire; it was bone-chillingly cold and utterly bizarre. Jiuxiao naturally saw this and twisted its body, trying to pull away. It didn't want Li Guanqi to suffer harm on its account. Yet Li Guanqi barked, "Don't move!" Boom! Primal energy roared, and the Purple Dragon Thunder Flame instantly crept over his palm! By now, Li Guanqi's palm had been reduced to a mangled mess of blood and flesh, yet he did not let go. "Ahhh!" With a low roar, the vital blood within Li Guanqi surged like the bellow of dragons and elephants. Terrifying might erupted in an instant, and beneath the flare of flames, the eerie runes carved into the white bone were forcibly burned away! Veins bulged on Li Guanqi's neck. He let the heavenly tribulation lightning churn and brew overhead, poised to crash down at any moment, without taking even half a step back. As he strained, the melted flesh of his palm clung to the bone arrow. With every fraction of an inch it slipped, streaks of blood were left behind on the white bone. Bit by bit, the bone arrow was drawn out of Jiuxiao's body. Reflected in Jiuxiao's golden vertical pupils was Li Guanqi's figure; gradually, the great dragon's eyes grew moist. When it turned to glare at Xuan Luo, it made no attempt to conceal its murderous intent! Rumble! Six consecutive thunderbolts crashed violently onto Li Guanqi! Li Guanqi had no ability to fight back right now. The layers of thunder barriers he raised around himself shattered one after another like paper. Gritting his teeth, Li Guanqi endured bolt after bolt striking his body, his flesh splitting open and blood splattering everywhere! He couldn't let go. The instant he released his grip, the bone would burrow desperately deeper into Jiuxiao. Under six consecutive lightning bolts, Li Guanqi's body shook like a sieve. Veins stood out across his forehead, and his torn, mangled flesh was charred black all over. Yet for some unknown reason, Jiuxiao failed to draw the heavenly tribulation's notice, so the skyful of lightning fell entirely upon Li Guanqi. Pop! The bone was wrenched free. Li Guanqi's body swayed... and darkness abruptly overtook his vision. Enduring six heavenly thunderbolts head-on, even his formidable physical body could no longer withstand the toll. Jiuxiao took a deep, lingering look at Xuan Luo in the distance, yet it chose not to hunt him down at this moment. With a flash of its body, it caught Li Guanqi as he fell from midair. In the distance, Xuan Luo narrowed his eyes, a sharp glint flickering within them. "A terrifying fellow... to actually yank out a God-Extinguishing Bone arrow with his bare hands!" "It seems... he's the first." "However, in his current state, I'm afraid this heavenly tribulation... will be impossible to survive." Sure enough! Inside the unconscious Li Guanqi, the transformation of his Nascent Soul ground to a halt. His divine soul, which had still been merging, trembled violently at this moment, showing faint signs of dissipating. Within his dantian, the radiance of his Nascent Soul dimmed further and further. If Li Guanqi could not wake up, everything would ultimately be in vain... He would perish beneath this Soul Formation Realm heavenly tribulation! Across the firmament, the thunderclouds churned incessantly, brewing an even more devastating strike. Jiuxiao looked back at the unconscious Li Guanqi on its back, letting out low, rumbling roars in an attempt to wake him. Seeing no response from Li Guanqi, Jiuxiao raised its head toward the churning thunderclouds, its gaze gradually turning resolute! This scene naturally did not escape Xuan Luo's notice, and shock seized his heart. "Don't tell me that true dragon intends to... carry that guy through the tribulation?!" "To bear double the heavenly tribulation's might with its own flesh, just to help him complete the Nascent Soul's transformation?" At this thought, Xuan Luo, standing in midair, did not hesitate for an instant. Once again, he drew his bow and nocked an arrow! The white bone bow was bent to full draw. Xuan Luo nocked his last God-Extinguishing Bone arrow onto the string and aimed straight at Li Guanqi! Sensing this sinister aura, Jiuxiao immediately wheeled around to face Xuan Luo, concealing Li Guanqi behind its body. Slowly rearing upright, raging fury blazing in its draconic eyes, it roared savagely at Xuan Luo! Xuan Luo sneered. With the power behind this strike, it would be enough to pierce right through the true dragon's body. Hum! Whew! Enshrouded in a sharp golden light, the arrow ripped through the sky as it flew, slicing open the canopy like shears and leaving behind a long, pitch-black fissure! A cold light flashed in Jiuxiao's eyes. Thousands of lightning bolts gathered around its dragon claw as it slammed down violently toward the incoming arrow! Bang! Boom! Crack, crack, crack! The instant the arrow struck the dragon claw, it shattered inch by inch! The dragon claw snapped shut, crushing the imposing arrow to dust. Xuan Luo's pupils contracted to pinpricks, sheer terror seizing his mind! His throat bobbed as he muttered under his breath, "Is this the physique of a true dragon...?" "No! I must send this news back to the organization!" "A fifth-rank true dragon is enough to make those Earth-rank fellows take action!" Yet immediately afterward, he realized that the surrounding space had been sealed tight; no jade slip transmission could pass through. Rumble! As the thunderclouds churned, they seemed to sense Jiuxiao's intention, and the thick bolts of lightning grew far more violent. Facing the lightning plunging from the firmament, Jiuxiao soared upward into the sky! Just as Xuan Luo had predicted, the heavenly tribulation's power had more than doubled! Yet the roaring silhouette surged upward without the slightest hesitation! Lightning exploded. The scales across Jiuxiao's body were blasted away, countless purple scales raining down. Pale golden blood showered through the air as Jiuxiao frantically clawed at the thunderbolts and swallowed them down. Its massive body began to fall limply from the sky... Crash! Crashing down atop the mountain, Jiuxiao's vision blurred, yet its body swayed as it slowly rose to its feet! Coiled upon the mountain peak, the dragon body roared ceaselessly at the lightning in the sky! And it was at this very moment that Li Guanqi, lying upon Jiuxiao's back, twitched faintly as stray electric arcs jolted through him. Then, he slowly opened his eyes!