Young Master Ruhua hadn’t expected Jian Chou to pull such a ruthless move.

Seeing the ghost axe being drawn back with a twist of her wrist, creating whooshing wind sounds, and noticing Zuoliu already preparing to form hand seals, he immediately developed a headache: “Are we really going to fight?”

“Ahem, Fellow Daoist Jian Chou, why must you be like this? This young master was merely joking. Now that Kong Hai is hunting dragons, with great enemies before us, we shouldn’t be fighting among ourselves…”

Finally admitting it was just a joke?

Jian Chou squinted slightly, wearing an expression that said “try continuing to make excuses for yourself.” The zhang-tall ghost axe in her hands seemed to weigh nothing at all, showing no clumsiness but rather displaying several points of agility.

With a casual wave, several ferocious ghostly shadows appeared, combined with the half-smiling expression on Jian Chou’s face, instantly giving everyone a bone-chilling sensation.

Just as she was about to say something, and Young Master Ruhua was also guarding against Zuoliu suddenly making a move, they were in this strange atmosphere of drawn swords and cocked crossbows when—

“Roar!”

“Rumble rumble…”

After a terrifying dragon’s roar, the furious sea spawned waves, rolling up three thousand wave crests with flying snow-white foam!

Upon hearing this, Jian Chou immediately felt her scalp explode with shock.

Between震骇 and amazement, she turned around to see that within the massive formation’s range, the black dragon’s enormous body was half-buried in seawater, with the part exposed above the surface still dozens of zhang long, stretching straight out of the sea.

The dragon head reared up, letting out a long howl toward the sky, bringing with it an arrogant wildness that scorned the world!

Due to its sudden leaping motion, the entire sea surface churned with waves, as if it wanted to swallow Jiang Wenchao, who stood not far in front of it, in one gulp!

“Fellow Daoist Jiang!”

No longer caring about the minor friction with Young Master Ruhua, Jian Chou gripped her ghost axe tightly upon seeing this situation and looked toward Jiang Wenchao.

Jiang Wenchao stood at the very front of those raging waves. Countless surging spray crashed toward him, yet none touched even a single thread of his robes.

A patch of maple-leaf red color fell upon this azure deep sea, immediately catching the eye.

Though the black dragon appeared frenzied, his face showed not the slightest surprise, but rather carried a hint of smile.

Hearing Jian Chou’s voice from behind, he said peacefully: “Fellow Daoist Jian Chou need not worry. It bears no ill will.”

As he spoke, he extended his hand forward.

Upon seeing this gesture, the massive black dragon actually lowered its high-held dragon head. Its enormous dragon eyes revealed a trace of joy, and it actually nuzzled Jiang Wenchao’s palm with its head, displaying a gentle docility.

“Holy crap! Did it suddenly become tamed?!”

Zuoliu, who had just released his hand seals, looked up to see this shocking scene and was so startled his jaw nearly dropped to the ground.

Xiao Jin also stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Young Master Ruhua, still in stealth mode in the void, said nothing.

Jian Chou felt both surprise and relief wash over her simultaneously. She gazed at Jiang Wenchao’s back, then looked at the black dragon that indeed showed no intent to harm, knowing that Jiang Wenchao had likely already communicated something with the black dragon.

Since Jiang Wenchao said there was no danger, she felt relieved.

Within the ten-li formation of light red gauze, the black dragon lowered its head and prostrated its body before Jiang Wenchao.

Jiang Wenchao’s palm gradually moved from the dragon’s head toward the rear.

A point of milky white spiritual light emerged from his palm, gently penetrating into the dragon’s body from the neck area, then spreading along the entire dragon spine.

In that instant, Jian Chou and the others standing outside the formation immediately widened their eyes.

As the milky white spiritual light flowed through, all the flesh on the dragon’s body seemed to become transparent, so the bones hidden deep within the flesh were immediately revealed in crystalline clarity. The dragon spine’s curve was sinuous yet powerful, as if a gentle flick could generate the mighty force to whip the entire world.

A deep red line of light extended from the black dragon’s neck all the way to its tail, emitting a faint red glow, tightly adhering to the dragon bones as if they were one body.

That was…

Dragon sinew!

The moment this dragon sinew appeared, the entire black dragon under Jiang Wenchao’s palm began to tremble slightly, its dragon eyes half-closed, faintly revealing traces of pain.

“Splash…”

The dragon’s tail seemed unable to suppress the sudden pain, thrashing about on the water surface, creating shocking water sounds.

Jiang Wenchao frowned. The moment he clearly saw the dragon sinew’s condition, he immediately withdrew his hand.

The gentle milky white light instantly disappeared, and the dragon’s body that had become transparent under this spiritual light immediately returned to its original state.

Full flesh, pure black and lustrous dragon scales covered layer by layer, the long and fierce dragon bones disappeared, and the strange faint red dragon sinew also vanished.

The black dragon seemed to have suffered some tremendous torment, no longer able to support its massive body above the sea surface, and actually fell toward the sea the moment Jiang Wenchao withdrew his hand.

“Boom!”

The dragon’s body crashed back into the sea, splashing endless waves.

A flash of complexity crossed Jiang Wenchao’s eyes as he turned to look back.

Jian Chou and the others all stood at the formation’s edge, looking at him with searching gazes.

“Fellow Daoist Jiang, have you obtained any results?”

The questioner was Young Master Ruhua in the void. From the sound of his voice, it seemed he had already entered the formation and was not far from Jiang Wenchao.

Jiang Wenchao replied: “No results for now, but the cause is clear.”

“The cause?”

Jian Chou immediately became curious.

Jiang Wenchao smiled slightly, though his eyes carried several points of strange heaviness: “This earthworm originally had no intention of transforming into a dragon. It was merely caught by someone and thrown into this Kong Hai, after which dragon sinew automatically attached to its body, forcibly transforming it into its current appearance.”

“Senior Jiang’s meaning is…”

A flash of inspiration struck Zuoliu’s mind, and his question already carried several points of delight.

Jiang Wenchao nodded, confirming Zuoliu’s guess: “I have already communicated with it. It is willing to let us examine the dragon sinew to see what the cause is. If we can thereby strip the dragon sinew from its body, that would be a happy outcome for all.”

Originally just an ordinary earthworm toiling in the mud, upon entering Kong Hai it had dragon sinew attach to its body, thus becoming a majestic giant dragon.

In everyone’s eyes, this should be a tremendous blessing falling from heaven.

But in the little earthworm’s own view, this was an unprecedented disaster.

…

Jian Chou recalled the phrase “it wants to return to the earth to eat soil” that Jiang Wenchao had conveyed earlier, and suddenly found it somewhat amusing. But when her lips curved to show a smile, somehow she couldn’t laugh.

On the contrary, Xiao Jin, Zuoliu and the others were extremely excited.

“This is great! Who would have thought we’d all share the same goal? This makes it simple! If it became a dragon because of the dragon sinew attachment, then as long as we remove the dragon sinew, it can return to its original form, right?”

“Yes, yes, why don’t we give it a try?”

Young Master Ruhua also said: “It seems not acting directly earlier was the right choice. If we had rashly taken the dragon sinew, I’m afraid neither side would have benefited, and there would certainly have been a great battle. Thanks to Fellow Daoist Jian Chou’s foresight, and fortunately Fellow Daoist Jiang has the ability to communicate with it, now we share the same goal as this dragon, saving us the effort of fighting. Excellent, excellent.”

“What about Fellow Daoist Jian Chou?”

After listening to the others’ words, Jiang Wenchao couldn’t help but look toward Jian Chou, who hadn’t spoken.

Jian Chou frowned slightly, suppressing those strange thoughts that had suddenly emerged from her heart. She exhaled and relaxed her tone, also smiling: “As Young Master Ruhua said, if we can confirm this black dragon is willing to cooperate, it would indeed save considerable effort. What remains is the matter of how to extract the dragon sinew.”

Earthworms fundamentally lack the existence of “sinew,” and the spiritual light Jiang Wenchao had deployed earlier should have been harmless to it, yet it showed signs of pain.

It seemed…

This external “dragon sinew” was not a good thing for the original earthworm.

But for ordinary people, gaining dragon sinew in a single day and becoming a massive creature that could soar through heaven and dive into seas would absolutely be a blessing falling from heaven. Even with myriad sufferings, it would be difficult to refuse.

This earthworm’s single-minded desire to return to the soil was indeed rarely seen simplicity.

In everyone’s eyes, this was most likely due to its undeveloped spiritual intelligence, making it foolish enough to want to abandon the dragon sinew.

However, the earthworm’s willingness to give it up was good news for Jian Chou and the others.

After hearing the conversation, Young Master Ruhua smiled slightly and said: “I fear this dragon sinew retains great power. If we remove the dragon sinew and the dragon body returns to an earthworm body, it shouldn’t harm this earthworm. I’ve seen similar stories in ancient texts. After removing dragon bones, giant dragons became ordinary, returning to being a fish at the bottom of the sea, though the process seemed somewhat painful. Why not have Fellow Daoist Jiang explain this to Brother Earthworm as well? If he doesn’t mind, we’re willing to give it a try.”

This voice carried slight amusement and sounded courteous and refined, yet everyone clearly felt a deep “darkness” carved into their hearts.

Simply gaining advantage while still playing the benefactor.

Getting the dragon sinew while also counting it as a favor to this earthworm—there was no more profitable deal in the world.

Jian Chou looked toward the giant dragon that had fallen back into the sea and was swimming in the water, recalling the earlier scene and contemplating Fudao Shanren’s purpose in setting up this situation.

This kind of thing was like scholars trying to guess the examiner’s intentions during imperial examinations.

However, Jian Chou really couldn’t figure out anything at the moment.

She didn’t object.

“Please ask Fellow Daoist Jiang to inquire.”

Jiang Wenchao nodded and turned back toward the earthworm, asking: “We wish to take the dragon sinew attached to your dragon spine, but fear the pain will be unbearable. Would Brother Earthworm be willing to try?”

The giant dragon at the bottom of the sea immediately surfaced, approaching Jiang Wenchao with something close to delight, its enormous dragon head actually burying itself downward with effort.

The massive dragon body made a prostrating gesture, as if requesting their help.

The dozens-of-zhang-long dragon body, with its somewhat clumsy naive manner, suddenly took on a strange comedic quality.

This time, without needing Jiang Wenchao to explain in detail, they could all see: it had agreed.

“Good, now we just need to see who will act.”

Young Master Ruhua clapped his hands, finally breathing a sigh of relief, and raised the next question.

Jian Chou looked toward Jiang Wenchao: “Fellow Daoist Jiang’s cultivation is strong, and you’ve communicated with it, so you’re most familiar with it. Could we ask Fellow Daoist Jiang to extract the dragon sinew while Jian Chou and Young Master Ruhua provide protection from the sides?”

“Jiang has exactly this intention.”

Jiang Wenchao had the same plan in mind, and Jian Chou’s words matched his thoughts perfectly.

Therefore, he didn’t refuse, merely nodding before turning back to face the giant dragon.

At the same time, Jian Chou also passed through the formation, carrying her axe forward to stand not far from Jiang Wenchao’s side. Her spiritual power circulated and emerged, already gathering momentum.

Another figure of Young Master Ruhua—though everyone couldn’t see him, they knew he had already arrived beside Jiang Wenchao and was originally within the formation, so they weren’t worried.

Even Zuoliu and Xiao Jin found two different positions to stand, preventing any accidents.

With everything in position, Jiang Wenchao confidently entrusted his back to these friends in Kong Hai. His lips moved, quickly emitting several sounds that others could barely hear, then extended his hand.

“Boom!”

The giant dragon immediately leaped up, automatically extending its neck area toward him again.

No matter how tall a figure, under the enormous dragon’s massive body, it appeared small and fragile.

But standing on Kong Hai, before the giant dragon, Jiang Wenchao’s maple-leaf red robes billowed in the wind, instantly like burning fire in the wind, with an indescribable brilliance and serene beauty.

In this moment, everything seemed infinitely peaceful.

Jian Chou’s brows were relaxed, but her body was tense. Her calm gaze fell on Jiang Wenchao, watching every gradual change.

Rising in her heart simultaneously was a kind of admiration—

From beginning to end, Jiang Wenchao had been composed and unhurried, without the slightest tension. This bearing alone was enough for her to determine: emerging from the second trial, this person before her eyes would certainly be a great enemy in future trials!

Jiang Wenchao didn’t know what the two so-called “protectors” beside him were actually thinking, nor did he care.

Extending his hand, with fingers together like a blade, he made a single cut at the black dragon’s neck—

Puff!

The hard black dragon scales were instantly cut through by this blade-like finger force, and a gush of dragon blood immediately emerged from the wound, its color dark yellow.

Ancient texts said: “When dragons battle in the wilds, their blood is dark yellow.”

Dark yellow represents the mixture of heaven and earth—heaven is dark and earth is yellow.

Dragons are divine species remaining from ancient times or even the primordial era, extremely rare to see today. Upon first seeing the dragon blood’s color, even Jian Chou couldn’t help but be startled, while a strange feeling faintly emerged from her heart.

Ancient divine dragons having dark yellow blood was understandable, but dragons of recent times were generally no different from ordinary demon beasts.

This black dragon before them, its bloodline emerging from this dragon sinew, seemed somewhat different.

The others’ eyes showed no unusual color, only staring intently at Jiang Wenchao’s movements.

The giant dragon trembled continuously from the wound, dark yellow fresh blood dripping along its dragon scales onto the blue sea surface, immediately dyeing a patch of blue-yellow color.

A faint red light emerged from the horizontal cut.

That was the trace of dragon sinew!

Jiang Wenchao’s pupils contracted, his gaze focused, but his strike was swift as thunder. His two fingers actually clamped down hard toward that wound.

His finger force was precise, curved like hooks, instantly hooking that strand of dragon sinew and pulling hard!

“Roar—”

The giant dragon’s pained roar immediately arose. Half its dragon body trembled violently as if struck by lightning, even showing signs of spasms, and even the seawater in this area began trembling along with it.

The dragon sinew was blood-red, but because this red was too deep, it appeared faintly dark.

The moment Jiang Wenchao’s fingers hooked it, it suddenly began writhing between his fingers, as if desperately trying to escape from his grasp, frantically retreating back into the dragon flesh!

“It’s alive!”

Standing close by, Jian Chou made the judgment almost instantly, speaking in shock.

As her voice emerged, brilliant golden light already rose from her ghost axe, preparing to strike at any moment.

Jiang Wenchao, grasping the dragon sinew between his fingers, naturally felt the sensation even more clearly.

It twisted and struggled continuously, desperately trying to coil inward.

The more it coiled into the dragon’s body, the deeper the black dragon’s suffering became. Its dragon eyes already showed faint red color, and its massive powerful tail lifted up, striking hard against the water surface, as if trying to use the force to shake this dragon sinew from its body.

But with the dragon sinew inside its body, how could this struggle be effective?

All it achieved was the dragon sinew using the force to retreat another inch into its body like a barb!

Seeing this, Jiang Wenchao’s brow immediately furrowed, his eyes already showing frost-cold intent.

The dragon sinew had faint red light that collided with Jiang Wenchao’s finger force controlling it, actually making faint explosive sounds like cold water splashing into boiling oil.

It was struggling desperately!

The entire giant dragon seemed unable to bear such tremendous pain and immediately began thrashing about.

“Snap!”

Without hesitation, Jiang Wenchao’s other hand directly slapped down, pressing the dragon head firmly!

The moment his palm touched the cold dragon scales on the dragon’s head, a massive battle disc with a diameter of two zhang and five chi suddenly rotated out with a thunderous roar.

A certain dao seal on the battle disc lit up, and a red Vermillion Bird phantom appeared behind Jiang Wenchao!

It had the brilliance of a fire phoenix, standing on a bed of lava, even its red wings wreathed in roaring flames, its noble and emotionless eyes showing deep red.

Whoosh!

With a spread of its wings, a scorching wind emerged from its body.

Almost simultaneously, Jiang Wenchao exerted force with his direct hand, and that scorching wind actually merged into his palm, immediately covering his entire palm with a layer of thin red light.

“Sizzle sizzle!”

The dragon sinew seemed suddenly burned by something, trembling spasmodically like fresh meat thrown onto a red-hot iron plate, immediately beginning to smoke and sizzle.

Seeing the dragon sinew was suppressed, he hesitated no further. His eyes turned cold, and he pulled hard again!

Rip!

The dragon sinew that had only emerged an inch from the dragon flesh was forcibly pulled out a full chi under this yank, as if powerless to resist!

The black dragon struggled violently, its thrashing tail nearly hitting Jiang Wenchao’s body, striking wildly in all directions.

“Bang bang bang!”

Countless sprays immediately rose on the sea surface.

Standing not far from Jiang Wenchao’s side, Jian Chou had to release a cloud of azure light to protect herself within it, but dared not leave Jiang Wenchao’s side even slightly.

The entire sea surface immediately became clamorous.

Only Jiang Wenchao’s eyes, calm yet hiding frost-cold, showed no change.

Both his hands were steady—one palm pressed firmly against the black dragon, preventing it from escaping his control, while the other hooked the dragon sinew, continuing to pull outward with irresistible force!

Amid the black dragon’s pained roars, within the increasingly high waves…

Inch by inch.

The dragon sinew, like a deep red dark thread, was slowly but continuously being extracted.

It struggled and resisted in fear, constantly emitting deep red light from its body that struck against Jiang Wenchao’s palm, but to no effect.

Protected by the Vermillion Bird’s fire, how could this small evil creature escape from his palm?

Jiang Wenchao remained fearless and stern. The more the dragon sinew struggled, the tighter his grip became.

Bit by bit, inch by inch, chi by chi…

Just during this brief struggle, Jiang Wenchao had already extracted a full two zhang of the dragon sinew!

The black dragon’s tail was immediately freed from restraint. It whipped its tail fiercely, simultaneously borrowing force from the sea surface, arching its massive body and retreating hard in the direction opposite to Jiang Wenchao!

Puff!

Another spray of dark yellow dragon blood splattered out.

“Roar!”

The immense pain made the giant dragon cry out involuntarily, yet it was simultaneously accompanied by a sense of relief!

Everyone’s eyes couldn’t help but show surprised expressions.

Seeing this, Jian Chou felt even more admiration: though it was just a small earthworm determined to eat soil, it still had the resolve to return to eating soil.

Under its fierce retreat, the dragon sinew that had been firmly grasped by Jiang Wenchao actually broke free by a full ten zhang!

A dark red long line trembled, one end in Jiang Wenchao’s hand, the other still deeply buried in the wound at the black dragon’s neck, stretched taut.

Jiang Wenchao certainly wouldn’t miss this excellent opportunity.

With a flip of his wrist, he actually coiled the ten-odd zhang of dragon sinew into a circle. No matter how the dragon sinew tried to contract, it couldn’t withdraw even slightly from Jiang Wenchao’s grasp.

The deep red dragon sinew finally trembled once, as if afraid of what was happening.

Buzz buzz…

A frenzied vibration.

Deep red light like blood instantly covered the entire dragon sinew. The originally deep red dragon sinew now had a feeling of being so red it appeared black.

A strange and unpredictable aura rose from Jiang Wenchao’s heart along with this light.

Almost the moment this light appeared, the pained expression in the giant dragon’s eyes suddenly flashed and became fierce!

“Watch out!”

Jian Chou reacted quickly, knowing something had changed, and immediately struck.

When Jiang Wenchao heard the voice, he still felt Jian Chou was at his side, but when he looked up to sense her position, he discovered a faint moon-white figure had suddenly appeared ahead—it was…

Water Void Evasion!

Without warning, Jian Chou had directly appeared behind the giant dragon, right at the tail position.

Deep red light flashed again on the dragon sinew, instantly becoming black as ink.

A chilling aura emerged with fierce intensity.

All other emotions immediately disappeared from the black dragon’s eyes, and the previous affection toward Jiang Wenchao vanished in this instant!

The powerful dragon body arched desperately, its hard dragon horns striking straight toward Jiang Wenchao’s left hand pressing against it!

Almost all of Jiang Wenchao’s strength was concentrated in his hands. He could release his left hand, but would lose control of the entire black dragon; he could bring his right hand up to help, but releasing it would mean losing his grip on the dragon sinew.

He couldn’t let go of either hand!

In that instant, Jiang Wenchao’s mind flashed like lightning—the changes were too rapid to think carefully.

“Snap!”

The moment the dragon horn struck toward him, he actually grabbed the thick dragon horn directly with a fierce grip!

The tremendous impact immediately split his tiger’s mouth, blood spattering everywhere.

The black dragon’s eyes were completely deep red, obviously controlled by the dragon sinew attached to its body, showing an extremely sinister sense of triumph. It was about to arch again, completely crushing Jiang Wenchao’s palm to escape its predicament.

The dragon’s body was too long—to gather force, it needed to start from the body, especially the waist.

The black dragon was about to contract its body, arch its dragon form, and strike with gathered momentum—

But the next moment, it discovered it couldn’t pull back the rear half of its body.

On the contrary, a terrifying force came from the dragon’s tail, forcibly pulling it backward!

This…

What was this?

The dragon sinew, deep red approaching black, trembled with chaotic red light, both terrified and enraged!

In Kong Hai, everyone including Jiang Wenchao cast their gazes toward the dragon’s tail, then all stood dumbfounded, gasping!

Standing at the dragon’s tail—who else could it be but Jian Chou, who had just used Water Void Evasion to teleport there?

The moment the dragon sinew was about to control the black dragon to launch a second attack on Jiang Wenchao, she had already directly embraced the massive dragon tail with her bare hands!

Her slender palms, contrasted against the pure black dragon scales, appeared even more pale and almost transparent.

Only faint blue veins protruded from the back of her hands, her knuckles white, clearly using tremendous force.

One person’s strength, a delicate woman.

With one embrace, she actually held the entire dragon tail firmly, her eyes gleaming with determination, displaying unwavering toughness!

Embrace tightly, pull hard!

“Roar!”

The giant dragon immediately let out a miserable wail!

Countless deep red lights on the dragon sinew, almost black, actually shattered with a thunderous crash under this wail. With a “hum,” the entire exposed dozen zhang of dragon sinew immediately weakened.

All the red light in the black dragon’s eyes disappeared completely, and its cries became even more pitiful.

For the “earthworm,” this was truly an undeserved disaster.

Jiang Wenchao hesitated no further. Seizing the opportunity, he directly released the dragon horn and pulled the failed dragon sinew backward!

One person eastward, pulling the dragon sinew; one person westward, dragging the dragon tail.

Whoosh—

A long, teeth-grinding sound, sharp and piercing.

Countless people’s scalps immediately exploded: these two were simply insane!

The poor black dragon was powerless to struggle and had lost considerable blood.

Even more pitiful was the dragon sinew that had been showing off just moments before—in this instant, it had already been pulled out dozens of zhang.

At the final moment, only a small section of short tail remained in the dragon’s body.

The deep red dragon sinew, when pulled out, was actually extremely slender, like threads arranged in the air, trembling constantly.

Neither Jiang Wenchao nor Jian Chou were particularly merciful souls who would pity this ill-intentioned dragon sinew.

Applying force, the two showed perfect coordination, about to deliver the final blow to completely remove the dragon sinew from the giant dragon.

“Heh heh.”

Atop Kunwu’s main peak, above endless sea of clouds, the Palace of All Heavens stood at the edge of those clouds.

At some point, both Fudao Shanren and Hengxu Zhenren had taken their positions on the plaza floating three hundred chi above the main peak.

Seeing Jian Chou and Jiang Wenchao about to succeed, Fudao Shanren couldn’t help but let out a cunning laugh.

Hengxu Zhenren watched the trembling, powerless dragon sinew, his brow furrowing slightly as if seeing through the mystery within.

Sect leaders and elders from various other sects also stood on the plaza, but at more distant positions.

Zhou Chengjiang, wearing deep gray robes, stood beside his master, Elder Pang Dian of Dragon Gate, saying several words. His face showed not the slightest guilt, but rather concealed a helpless resignation of taking blame for others.

Pang Dian’s aged face was filled with fury, his eyes bulging as he glared at Zhou Chengjiang, hardly believing what he had just said!

The entire Dragon Gate had been brooding over the “Dragon Scale Dao Seal” that Jian Chou had used against Tang Buye, already sharpening their blades, waiting to question Cliff Mountain about how this Dragon Gate-exclusive technique had ended up in the hands of a Cliff Mountain disciple and been used without restraint.

But who would have thought that Zhou Chengjiang now claimed this was something he had exchanged with Jian Chou after their “exchange and discussion”!

Furious, Pang Dian was absolutely furious!

“You, you…”

His wrinkled finger pointed at Zhou Chengjiang, the word “traitor” right on his tongue, about to explode.

Zhou Chengjiang had already prepared to face the storm, adopting a resigned attitude.

At this moment, gleeful laughter suddenly came from ahead: “Hahahaha, it’s out! Hahahaha…”

Pang Dian recognized this laughter—it sounded like Fudao Shanren.

Had the second trial ended?

He couldn’t help but turn to look, only to see Fudao Shanren waving a chicken leg, laughing toward the sky. Above Kong Hai overhead, a magnificent phenomenon appeared!

The dragon sinew, with only a few inches remaining in the dragon’s body, seemed to know its end was near and struggled desperately.

Jiang Wenchao held one end of the dragon sinew, and under its terrifying struggle, the originally soft dragon sinew actually transformed into a sharp spike, stabbing fiercely into his palm!

“Boom!”

Towering flames immediately erupted from Jiang Wenchao’s palm, spreading across his entire body.

Above the sea surface, fierce flames blazed everywhere.

Having witnessed the dragon sinew’s torture of the earthworm, and knowing that once it attached to him he would become the next earthworm, Jiang Wenchao would rather destroy the dragon sinew than let it approach his body.

As flames rose, the dragon sinew was scorched, immediately igniting with surface fire.

The dragon sinew that had just pierced Jiang Wenchao’s palm was immediately burned into contraction, struggling desperately.

The slender dragon sinew possessed terrifying power.

Jiang Wenchao momentarily couldn’t hold it and was broken free.

The flaming dragon sinew, its deep red scorched by fire, gradually revealed a golden color.

“Bang!”

A small red plum flew from the void, also striking the dragon sinew.

Upon impact, it immediately exploded.

Petals burst with infinite radiance, shocking the entire dragon sinew into weakness.

This was Young Master Ruhua making his move.

He and Jian Chou had been standing by specifically to prevent this exact situation.

Jian Chou’s reaction wasn’t slow either, but her approach was far more ruthless and decisive than Young Master Ruhua’s. Her target wasn’t the dragon sinew, but the giant dragon!

Raising her arm, she lifted the ghost axe, already emanating grim dark light.

Howl…

Endless ghostly shadows emerged from the rust-stained cast patterns, baring their fangs.

But no matter how fierce they were, they couldn’t match Jian Chou at this moment!

Wielding the axe in a single strike, the seemingly clumsy axe blade actually slashed toward the giant dragon’s neck!

The “black dragon” that was originally an earthworm was absolutely terrified. Just moments ago it had been controlled by the dragon sinew, then violently pulled from behind by that crazy woman with terrifying force that made it feel like its entire body would break.

Now it had finally escaped the dragon sinew’s control, hadn’t even had a moment to celebrate, and this existence that had been like a living Buddha was now raising a terrifying axe against it?

Mother!

Deceived!

These bad people!

Whimper whimper whimper…

The black dragon couldn’t think further and desperately darted forward!

But no matter how fast it was, how could it match Jian Chou, who had already formed her Golden Core?

Her refined power was incredibly condensed. The same axe swing, but with tremendously increased force and speed.

Swish!

Brief as lightning!

The black dragon only felt severe pain in its neck and let out a pained howl.

The dragon’s roar immediately shook heaven and earth.

Jian Chou’s axe fell, slashing across the black dragon’s neck. A fist-sized piece of flesh was cut away by the axe, along with the dragon sinew, falling straight toward the sea surface.

“Puff…”

Another spray of dark yellow dragon blood.

But the giant dragon’s neck wasn’t severed.

Jian Chou still had favorable feelings toward this little earthworm and naturally wouldn’t strike lethally without cause.

Only a small portion of the dragon sinew remained in the dragon’s body. Rather than give it a chance to counterattack, better to end everything with one axe blow!

People don’t die from losing a piece of flesh, let alone a dragon with powerful vitality, or rather…

An earthworm with even more terrifying vitality?

Jian Chou’s axe came decisively and fiercely. Many people hadn’t even reacted before seeing the entire dragon sinew completely stripped away, writhing on the sea surface like a long snake, surrounded by Vermillion Bird fire from Jiang Wenchao’s palm and entangled with the shattered spiritual light from Young Master Ruhua’s red plum.

The originally deep red dragon sinew, under these various torments, had its deep red color faintly receding, revealing a hint of pale gold.

The moment this golden color appeared, the entire Kong Hai suddenly trembled once, so quickly it seemed like an illusion.

Jian Chou was alert and hesitant, not yet having time to consider the key points, when even more violent trembling appeared…

The dragon sinew’s golden light gradually intensified.

As it trembled, it completely escaped Jian Chou and the others’ control, floating toward the higher sky.

“Rumble rumble…”

The entire seabed shook, as if some massive creature was about to emerge from the deep sea.

The moment this trembling appeared, an inexplicable fear rose from the black dragon’s heart, making it unhesitatingly flick its tail and directly curl up behind Jian Chou, who had just cut off a piece of its flesh, trembling with fear.

The scene was utterly ridiculous, yet no one could laugh at this moment.

Xiao Jin, Zuoliu, Young Master Ruhua, and Jiang Wenchao all simultaneously moved closer to Jian Chou, watching the surrounding situation.

“Glub glub glub…”

The seawater boiled.

A massive gray-white light gradually rose from the seabed, then transformed into pale gold, becoming increasingly intense as it approached the surface.

Around Jian Chou and the others, nine white dragon pillars, each requiring dozens of people to embrace, suddenly broke through the deep sea and shot skyward!

Simultaneously, directly in front of them, blinding golden light suddenly covered half the sky, illuminating the dark-colored ocean.

A magnificent golden giant gate slowly rose from the seabed, higher and higher…

In the blink of an eye, the giant gate had reached one hundred and twenty zhang!

Ancient and simple golden patterns spiraled around the giant gate, with scale-like carvings flashing pale golden flowing light, emanating an eternally ancient aura.

Powerful, vast, ancient!

On the massive gate frame were actually nine giant dragons connected head to tail, with eighteen dragon eyes all tightly closed.

But the moment the golden giant gate stopped rising, the eighteen dragon eyes seemed to sense something and all opened simultaneously!

Hair-raising terror!

The feeling was like being watched by nine ancient golden giant dragons, immediately causing chills to rise from the heart and invade the entire body.

The pressure was immense!

Under these eighteen dignified yet vicissitudinous gazes, Jian Chou only felt suppressed, even her circulating spiritual power became extremely difficult, her face immediately turning pale.

Boom!

Almost without hesitation, the moment the dragon eyes opened, the Dragon Scale Dao Seal activated uncontrollably.

Centered on Jian Chou’s brow, pale golden dragon scales covered her entire body, immediately generating a mysterious and distant powerful aura.

The pressure from the golden giant gate and nine giant dragons immediately lessened.

But those standing beside Jian Chou weren’t so fortunate—almost everyone’s face turned red, their qi and blood churning!

The black dragon completely curled itself into a ball.

After losing the dragon sinew, its entire body seemed to shrink, though it still hadn’t transformed back into an earthworm.

It was terrified beyond measure, its gaze falling on the dragon sinew floating before the giant gate.

The nearly hundred-zhang-long dragon sinew, the moment the golden giant gate appeared, completely turned golden, then suddenly contracted to only five zhang in length, automatically forming a golden talisman and imprinting toward the giant gate!

“Hum!”

As if opening some ancient seal, the golden giant gate suddenly trembled, bursting with brilliant light that made heaven and earth lose color.

The nine giant dragons coiled around the gate pillars and frame almost simultaneously turned their heads, eighteen dragon eyes all looking into the gate, simultaneously opening their mouths to release nine dragon roars that shook people’s hearts with such resonance that except for these roars, no other thoughts remained.

Amid thunderous sounds, everyone’s minds were drawn in, their eyes seeing nothing else.

The tightly closed great gate finally slowly opened.

Thus, the magnificent scene behind the gate suddenly rushed toward everyone.

It was a sea domain far broader than Kong Hai, presenting a dim blue color, as if salvaged from endless years and covered with dust.

Dragon pillars covered in cracks stood silently above the deep sea.

In this dim coloring, there were brilliant colors attracting everyone’s gaze.

Giant dragons of silver-blue, crimson, or golden color—some coiled around dragon pillars, others diving deep beneath the water, still others playing on the sea surface…

At the distant sky’s edge, lead-gray clouds seemed endless, making it impossible to measure how vast this sea truly was…

The Ancient Dragon Domain!

An inexplicable aura, the moment this giant gate opened, poured out entirely like a massive wave engulfing everyone.

They couldn’t distinguish whether this was reality or illusion.

Those giant dragons, against this dim background, had an indescribable ferocity and desolation…

Fierce winds blew, parting the heavy clouds above the dragon domain, revealing a massive golden dragon horn in the cloud gap.

A vicissitudinous and vast voice emanated from within the giant gate.

“You insignificant ants, having obtained my clan’s lawless, constant, and ever-changing dragon veins, why not become dragons?”

Why not become dragons…

Endless echoes resonated across the sea.

The black dragon curled behind Jian Chou, the original earthworm, uncontrollably flew toward the giant gate the moment this voice fell, as if to join the countless kinfolk in the endless dragon domain!

“Roar…”

A powerless yet indignant dragon roar!

Why not become dragons?

Jian Chou’s heart also surged with emotion, yet she had an indescribable feeling.

Become dragons?

This earthworm didn’t want to become a dragon at all!

The black dragon’s dozens-of-zhang-long body rapidly passed by her side, about to completely enter the giant gate.

At the critical moment, Jian Chou’s eyes burst with cold light, and she unhesitatingly reached out to grab fiercely!

Her slender yet powerful five fingers smoothly caught the black dragon’s tail!

Here we go again!

In that instant, the black dragon almost felt like fainting.

Although it only wanted to return to the earth to eat soil, couldn’t she find a different way to hold it!

Coughing up blood…

“Boom!”

Her other hand followed, embracing the dragon tail. At this critical moment, relying on the Dragon Scale Dao Seal and her Golden Core stage tremendous strength, Jian Chou pulled the black dragon back and slammed it back onto the sea surface!

Massive waves leaped up, instantly soaking everyone’s clothes.

In this moment, everyone was stunned.

Jian Chou stood amid these massive waves, dragging the black dragon’s powerless tail, looking calmly toward the giant gate’s sky, her entire being radiating determination.

“It’s merely an earthworm that doesn’t wish to become a dragon. Why must Your Excellency force it?”