Jiuxiao! Pengluo!

Skreee—! The spectating crowd shuddered as a clear, ringing sword cry resonated from the territory of the Great Xia Sword Sect, echoing through the nine heavens. Immediately following it came the soaring roar of a dragon. A purple true dragon, a full hundred zhang long, soared through the sky with a pitch-black longsword clamped in its jaws! Jiuxiao's immense form exuded overwhelming pressure. The ferocious, ominous aura radiating from its body weighed on the onlookers so heavily they could scarcely breathe. No one had imagined that a true dragon still existed in this lower realm! The dragon might radiating from Jiuxiao was pure and profound. With a single lash of its tail that shattered the void, its massive body coiled atop the barrier! The great dragon encircled the perimeter, its dark golden dragon eyes glinting with icy chill. Its gaze locked dead onto Lu Wuhen beneath the barrier. Baring its fangs with a low growl, it spat out the Yanluo Sword. Seeing this, Nangong Xuandu made no move. He had no intention of letting Jiuxiao join the fight. Otherwise, if both sides started bringing out spirit beasts to brawl, things would get ridiculous. Yanluo streaked into midair, suddenly wheeling around to plunge straight toward the barrier! Witnessing this, Lu Hengtian said coldly, "Mister Nangong, this violates the rules!" Nangong Xuandu turned his head and gave Lu Hengtian an indifferent glance. Clang—! The black beam of light struck the barrier, sending violent ripples across its surface, and the Yanluo Sword was bounced away in an instant. Drenched in blood, Lu Wuhen burst into laughter at the sight. Pointing at the dense array screen, he sneered, "Hahaha! Li Guanqi, how naive can you be? A barrier of this caliber didn't break even under the clash of our full power. Did you really think a mere sword could pierce it? Without your sword, let's see what you do now!" Li Guanqi's expression shifted slightly. He had not anticipated this development either. Facing Lu Wuhen charging toward him, Li Guanqi could only condense a lightning sword of primal energy to fight back. Yet the moment the lightning sword collided with Dengxian, it shattered instantly into dust! The two weapons were simply not in the same league. In the blink of an eye, the tide of battle reversed. Where Li Guanqi had previously maintained the upper hand over Lu Wuhen, he was now forced into continuous evasion, not daring to meet Lu Wuhen head-on! Perched atop the barrier screen, Jiuxiao grew frantic at the sight. Its coiled body snapped taut, slowly rearing up as terrifying arcs of lightning crackled across its scales. Brilliant purple lightning gathered around its claws, which then slammed downward toward the barrier! Boom! Crash! Rumble—! Deafening explosions erupted, yet the barrier only rippled outward in waves. Beside it, Yanluo also struck frantically against the screen, but it was all in vain... The cultivators of the Ancient Clan let out quiet sighs of relief. Li Guanqi was simply too strong—so formidable that they had genuinely feared Lu Wuhen would lose! The Lu clan's ancestor also relaxed slightly. His reason for venturing to speak earlier had been to force Nangong Xuandu to keep the barrier intact. If that true dragon and the black sword truly bypassed the screen, the Lu clan would have stopped at nothing to send assistance inside as well. Lu Hengtian stared hungrily at Jiuxiao. This was a true dragon... If they could combine its essence blood with the Lu clan's body tempering technique, who in the Six Domains could possibly stand against them? *I must find a way to count this true dragon as part of the Great Xia Sword Sect's assets!* Yet just as Jiuxiao's panic reached its peak, something struck the dragon's mind. It shot straight into the sky, turned toward the Great Xia Sword Sect, and let out a thunderous roar! The roar carried three parts urgency and seven parts rage. Soon, the crowd saw a snow-white radish—with only half its body remaining—scampering out. Seeing Pengluo's pale face, Jiuxiao wasted no time. It knew what Pengluo needed right now! Without a shred of hesitation in its cold dragon eyes, lightning coalesced around its claw as it plunged the talons straight toward its own heart! Rip—! Sparks flew the instant claw met dragon scale. The sharp tips swiftly tore through the scales and stabbed toward its heart! Roar—! The agonizing pain forced Jiuxiao to throw its head back and screech. Howling toward the heavens, it drove its claws even deeper! Watching this, Pengluo trembled from head to toe! Taking a stride forward, it reached into the void, tore off a section of purple-skinned ginseng, plucked a leaf from its own head, and shoved them both straight into Jiuxiao's mouth! Jiuxiao raised its head, its dragon eyes meeting Pengluo's. The meaning in that gaze needed no words. Roar—! Squelch! A drop of heart's blood the size of a fist drifted toward Pengluo. Jiuxiao's aura withered at a speed visible to the naked eye. The sight stirred everyone present to the core. "Jiuxiao!" Li Guanqi roared, his eyes bloodshot, his vision nearly tearing with fury! He never wanted them to suffer harm on his account. Jiuxiao had already sacrificed far too much for him... At this moment, Pengluo had shed all of its cynical, unreliable demeanor, its gaze hardened like steel. It opened its mouth and swallowed Jiuxiao's heart essence blood, then shoved the leaf and the purple-skinned ginseng firmly down Jiuxiao's throat without brooking any argument. Jiuxiao's body flickered with spiritual light, transforming into a torc as it fell into a deep slumber. Wild power surged within Pengluo. The violent energy restored its missing half almost instantaneously. Reaching out and slipping Jiuxiao around its neck, Pengluo said nothing, its face graver than ever before. With a beckoning wave of its hand, it forcefully drew the flying Yanluo Sword into its grasp. Immediately after, a pressure approaching the Body Integration Realm erupted with a roar! Just as confusion rippled through the spectators, intricate purple patterns suddenly spread across Pengluo's entire body. Those profound patterns were countless times more complex than the spirit runes displayed by Lu Xiuzhong and Lu Wuhen. Nangong Xuandu narrowed his eyes, a faint, intrigued smile touching the corner of his lips. Inside the barrier, Lu Wuhen also sensed the shift in aura outside. Furrowing his brows, he could not help muttering inwardly, *That radish couldn't possibly pierce this barrier, could it? Ha, how could it! This barrier can withstand attacks from the Body Integration Realm!* This was not just Lu Wuhen's thought; everyone else believed the same, whether cultivators from the Six Domains or the Ancient Clan. Not a single soul believed Pengluo could breach this barrier. Even Nangong Xuandu watched Pengluo with keen interest, suddenly wondering what Pengluo's true origins actually were. Hum—! Pengluo extended an arm as fair as white jade. Under the stunned, slack-jawed stares of the crowd, that arm sank into the barrier inch by inch! Hum—! A tremendous resistance pushed back, turning Pengluo's face crimson from the strain. Yet it did not yield a single inch. Every fiber of its being strained under the exertion, its entire body trembling faintly. "Haaah!" "I've never fought this hard in my entire life!" "Get the hell through!" Boom—! In an instant, the purple patterns on Pengluo's body flared with blinding, arcane light. As if dehydrated by fierce winds, its translucent, crystalline arm began to shrivel rapidly. Yet its body forced its way into the barrier at a visible pace. With its features twisted in ferocious determination, Pengluo squeezed inside with all its might, dragging Yanluo along with it inch by inch. Skreee—! With half its body wedged through, Pengluo raised its hand and hurled the Yanluo Sword forward with all its strength! "Master, catch your sword!" Cunning as ever, Pengluo did not just toss Yanluo inside; it also snapped off one of its own arms and threw that along as well. Turning back toward Nangong Xuandu, it said with an ingratiating grin, "Um... Senior, care for some dried radish to soak in your wine?" Looking at Pengluo's withered, wrinkled skin, Nangong Xuandu could not help but chuckle. Flicking a single drop of wine from the gourd at his waist, he smiled. "I don't care for dried radish. Go on."