"Demon Emperor Realm… the Fifth Layer!"
The realization hit the two Silver Flood Dragon Elders like a physical blow. As the suffocating weight of Bai Susu's demonic aura washed over them, their internal organs tightened in a primal spasm of terror. This wasn't just a step above them; it was an insurmountable cliff.
The Fourth Elder, his face draining of all color, stammered, "When… when did you ascend to the Fifth Layer? Our intelligence placed you at the Second Layer only days ago!"
"Don't ask questions, you fool! Run!" the Third Elder roared, his voice cracking with panic. He didn't wait for a response. Grabbing his companion by the shoulder, he dove violently toward the ocean surface, desperate to reach the safety of the dark depths.
High above, Bai Susu watched their retreat with eyes as cold as glacial ice.
"You think you can run?" Her voice was soft, barely a whisper, yet it carried across the wind like a thunderclap. "Do you truly believe you can escape me?"
With a casual grace that belied the violence to come, she flicked her pale, jade-like fingers against the empty air. The atmosphere rippled. Two streaks of translucent Sword Qi—scarcely visible to the naked eye—erupted from her fingertips. They screamed through the sky, tearing a vacuum in their wake as they chased down the fleeing elders.
Panic seized the dragons. They frantically summoned their defensive artifacts, layering shields, barriers, and secret ancestral techniques behind them in a desperate bid for survival. But against the absolute authority of a Fifth Layer Demon Emperor, their defenses were as fragile as wet parchment.
The Sword Qi didn't just break their shields; it annihilated them.
Thwip. Thwip.
Two agonized screams pierced the roar of the wind, overlapping into a singular chord of death. The invisible blades punched through their bodies, and with a brutal, twisting force, the Sword Qi expanded. In a heartbeat, two centuries-old cultivators were reduced to nothing more than a grotesque rain of shredded flesh and blood mist, scattering into the ocean below.
Bai Susu dusted off her hands, her expression serene, as if she had merely swatted a pair of bothersome flies. The entire engagement had lasted less than three breaths.
In the distance, Luo Zhen watched the red mist settle, his throat dry. He swallowed hard, the reality of the scene settling heavily in his gut. He had known Bai Susu was strong, but witnessing this casual display of lethality recalibrated his understanding of the world.
She hadn't even drawn a weapon. Two simple flicks of her fingers, and two Emperor-level entities were erased from existence.
A sword, Luo Zhen realized, analyzing the residual energy signature. Her Natal Artifact is undoubtedly a sword. That's the only explanation for such refined Sword Qi without a physical blade.
He flew to her side, his gaze drifting downward to the chum floating on the waves. The metallic tang of high-level blood filled the air.
"You don't need to look so terrified," Bai Susu said, noticing his expression. A playful smile tugged at the corners of her lips, softening her terrifying aura. "Although we share the title of 'Demon Emperor,' the disparity between the layers is vast. It's exponential, not linear."
She gestured gracefully. "I stand at the Fifth Layer. Those two were merely at the First. The gap is an abyss. That is why I could dismantle them with nothing more than a thought."
"It's still terrifying," Luo Zhen admitted, shaking his head in admiration. "Incredible, really."
He felt a pang of inadequacy. Currently, he was only at the middle stage of the Demon King Realm. In the grand hierarchy of this world, he was an ant beneath the boots of Emperors. True, he had his trump card—the Nine Infants Demon Shadow—which could summon a projection with the power of a Second Layer Emperor, but the duration was pitifully short. If a true Emperor decided to turtle up and wait out his timer, Luo Zhen would be left defenseless, forced to flee for his life.
But the feeling passed quickly. Luo Zhen wasn't one to wallow. I'm only a Demon King, he reasoned. It's natural I can't kill Emperors yet. The fact that I'm invincible within my own realm and can even punch above my weight class is an achievement enough. And if I can't win, I can always run.
His train of thought was derailed by a deep, resonant vibration rising from the ocean floor.
The sea began to boil. Massive waves, hundreds of feet high, surged upward as if the planet itself were trembling. Muffled booms, like depth charges, echoed from the abyss.
Bai Susu's eyes narrowed as she sensed the energy fluctuations. "Daoist Qingyang has gone berserk."
"The situation has changed," she analyzed coolly. "The Silver Flood Dragon Clan's Grand Protective Array requires four Emperor-level pillars to maintain stability. With the two I just killed, only the Silver Flood Dragon Emperor and the First and Second Elders remain below. Three cannot hold the weight of four. The formation is collapsing."
She looked at Luo Zhen. "Qingyang will break free any moment now."
"I see," Luo Zhen nodded, a grin spreading across his face. "They miscalculated. They never expected you to be this powerful. If they knew you were a Fifth Layer Emperor, they would have huddled in their shell rather than sending two elders out to die."
"Naturally," Bai Susu said, lifting her chin with a touch of arrogant pride that suited her perfectly. "With my current strength, even if the Silver Flood Dragon Emperor and his four lackeys attacked me simultaneously, they would still lose."
She glanced down at the churning water. "They likely sent those two up as scouts to assess the situation. Now, they've lost their scouts, and they're about to lose their island."
"So, Susu," Luo Zhen asked, shifting to strategy. "What are your odds against Daoist Qingyang? Can you take him?"
"We're bound to run into him," he continued. "The Silver Flood Dragon Emperor can't hold him. Qingyang is going to burst out of that water looking for blood, and this island isn't big enough for us to hide."
Bai Susu pondered for a moment, tapping her chin. "Intelligence suggests Qingyang is also at the Fifth Layer. He has a potent Demonic Path inheritance, which makes him dangerous. However, I am not without my own advantages. I've unlocked a fraction of the Sky Crystal Ant's ancestral abilities."
She shrugged. "If we fight, it's a coin toss. Fifty-fifty."
"That's good enough," Luo Zhen exhaled, relieved. "When the time comes, I'll back you up. We'll hammer that old dog into the ground together."
Bai Susu looked at him, amusement dancing in her eyes. "You? Help me? That's sweet, but no. You're a mid-stage Demon King. Your strongest attacks—that Tier 1 Exotic Fire and your green saber—would be like throwing pebbles at a mountain. You wouldn't even scratch his defense."
She waved a hand dismissively. "If we fight, stand back. The shockwaves alone from a clash between Fifth Layer Emperors could kill you by accident."
Luo Zhen pressed his lips together, swallowing his retort. Underestimated again. He decided not to argue. Let her think what she wanted; when he summoned the Nine Infants later, the look on her face would be worth the silence now.
Suddenly, the ocean's surface exploded.
Three beams of golden light shot from the depths, shattering the waves and ascending to the heavens. As the spray settled, three figures hovered in the air.
Luo Zhen recognized them instantly from the Crystal Palace. The two flanking figures were the remaining elders, but the man in the center commanded attention. He was an elderly man with a long, flowing beard, dressed in intricate dragon robes and wearing a heavy, ornate crown. His aura was vast, rolling off him in majestic waves.
This was Lei Nu. The Silver Flood Dragon Emperor.
Lei Nu's eyes widened as they landed on the woman floating before him. "Bai Susu? You… you're alive?!"
"Disappointed, Lei Nu?" Bai Susu's voice was ice. "You gathered the elite strength of your entire clan to hunt me down. You failed. I survived."
Her aura flared, expanding outward and causing the very air to vibrate with a low, threatening hum. "And today, the Silver Flood Dragon Clan ends."
The pressure of the Fifth Layer Demon Emperor crashed down on the trio.
Lei Nu gasped, his composure shattering. "Fifth Layer?! You broke through to the Fifth Layer? How is this possible?!"
Beside him, the First and Second Elders looked as though they had seen a ghost. They knew Bai Susu's history. She possessed the bloodline of the Primordial Sky Crystal Ant—a creature of nightmare legends. Even back when she was weaker, it had taken everything Lei Nu and four elders had to merely injure her. Now? She had healed, evolved, and returned as a conqueror.
Terror overrode dignity. Without a word of command, Lei Nu and his elders turned as one and fled in three different directions.
"Useless," Bai Susu scoffed.
She didn't chase. She simply moved her fingers. Three distinct pulses of translucent Sword Qi manifested, brighter and sharper than before, screaming through the air like judgment personified.
The screams were immediate.
The First and Second Elders didn't even have time to beg. The Sword Qi caught them, enveloped them, and atomized them into red mist.
Lei Nu fared only marginally better.
BANG.
The Emperor roared in agony as the Sword Qi shot through his defenses and sliced cleanly through his torso. Half of his body was severed instantly, sending a geyser of scorching, silver dragon blood raining down into the sea.
"AAAAHHH!"
Lei Nu's howl shook the clouds. Desperate to survive, his body erupted in blinding spiritual light. He abandoned his human form, expanding rapidly until a colossal Silver Flood Dragon, hundreds of meters long, filled the sky.
But it was a broken dragon. Its lower half was missing, a gruesome stump trailing blood and viscera. The massive beast thrashed, its aura flickering like a dying candle, as it clawed through the air, trying to put distance between itself and the woman in white.
Bai Susu raised her hand again, ready to deliver the killing blow.
"Wait!" Luo Zhen shouted, intercepting her. "Leave the old lizard to me!"
Bai Susu paused, her hand hovering in the air. She glanced at the fleeing, crippled dragon, then at Luo Zhen. "You want him? Fine. He's lost half his body, and his cultivation base is collapsing. Even you should be able to handle him now."
"Thanks, Susu!"
Impulsively, Luo Zhen leaned in and planted a quick, firm kiss on her cheek. Before she could react, he turned and rocketed after the dying Emperor, his eyes burning with greed.
Bai Susu froze. Her hand went to her cheek, and a flush of crimson spread from her neck to her forehead. For a moment, the terrifying Demon Empress vanished, replaced by a flustered girl floating in the sky, completely unsure of what to do with her hands.
Meanwhile, the hunt was on.
"Lei Nu, you old fossil! Where do you think you're going?!" Luo Zhen roared, closing the distance.
Ahead, the massive silver dragon twisted its neck, eyes burning with humiliation and rage. Even crippled, even dying, he was an Emperor. To be chased by a mere Demon King was an insult he could not abide.
With a gurgling roar, Lei Nu opened his maw and spat a jagged bolt of silver lightning directly at his pursuer.
Luo Zhen had been waiting for this. His bravado was a mask; internally, his senses were dialed to their maximum. A wounded beast was the most dangerous kind, and an Emperor, even a dying one, could still kill a King if they were careless.
As the lightning crackled toward him, Luo Zhen's wrist flicked.
Tyrant Emperor Kill.
A hundred-meter-long illusion of a green saber materialized in the sky, humming with destructive potential. With a thought, Luo Zhen slammed it down to meet the lightning.
Just to be safe, he mentally commanded his internal fire, and a wall of Recovery Red Fire roared to life in front of him, a second line of defense.
It turned out to be unnecessary.
The green blade smashed into the silver lightning and shattered it effortlessly. The blade's momentum didn't even slow. It continued its arc, crashing heavily into Lei Nu's massive flank.
BOOM.
The impact was devastating. Lei Nu vomited a river of thick, dark blood, his flight path destabilizing as he nearly tumbled from the sky.
Luo Zhen blinked. Is he really this weak?
He activated his System's scanning function. The readout confirmed it: Lei Nu was running on fumes. His life force was draining by the second. Even if Luo Zhen sat down and had a cup of tea, the dragon would be dead in ten minutes.
"I was too cautious," Luo Zhen muttered, a savage grin forming. "Susu really did a number on him. His physical body is on the verge of total collapse."
He licked his lips, watching the massive dragon struggle to stay airborne. "But I'm a benevolent man. Let's help him on his way."
He raised the Green Splendor Saber high. The air shimmered as another massive blade shadow formed.
Seeing the executioner's blade rise again, Lei Nu's pride evaporated.
"Friend! Fellow Daoist!" the dragon wheezed, terror coloring his voice. "We have no quarrel! I have treasures—wealth! Please, just let me go! I beg you!"
"Let you go?" Luo Zhen laughed, a cold, predatory sound. "I'm planning to eat your bloodline, you old snake. Why would I ever let you go?"
"Die!"
The giant green blade fell.
BOOM.
Another strike, another fountain of blood. Luo Zhen didn't stop. As soon as the blade landed, he raised his saber again. And again. And again. As long as his Demon Energy held out, the bombardment would not cease.
It was a brutal, systematic dismantling. For three minutes, the sky was filled with the thunder of green energy slamming into silver scales.
Finally, with a low, mournful wail that vibrated in Luo Zhen's bones, the massive body went limp. The light in the dragon's eyes extinguished.
[System Notification: You have slain the Silver Flood Dragon Emperor. Experience Points gained: 5,000,000.]
Luo Zhen froze. The number echoed in his mind.
Five million.
A jolt of pure dopamine rushed through his nervous system. He felt like a gambler who had just hit the jackpot on a slot machine that hadn't paid out in years.
Lei Nu was a boss monster—an Emperor, a Clan Leader, and a tier above him. The multiplier for the kill was insane.
He quickly checked his internal stats. He had already stockpiled over three million experience points from refining the pills and resources he'd won at the City Ranking Competition. With this windfall, he was sitting on over eight million.
The requirement to advance from Demon King Middle Stage to Late Stage was seven million.
He had arrived.
[System Notification: Experience threshold reached. Initiate level up?]
"Yes," Luo Zhen hissed, trembling with anticipation.
[Experience deducted. Initiating advancement.]
The reaction was instantaneous.
The sky above him darkened violently. The clear blue was strangled by roiling black storm clouds that materialized from nothing. Within the heavy vapor, arcs of blue lightning began to dance, thickening rapidly from threads of silk to the width of chopsticks, then to the thickness of a python.
This was the Tribulation.
CRACK-BOOM!
A pillar of blue lightning, thick as a tree trunk, hammered down from the heavens, swallowing Luo Zhen whole.
But he was ready.
"Green Jade Body, activate!"
Within the blinding column of destruction, a brilliant, verdant light erupted. Luo Zhen's skin took on the sheen of polished jade. The lightning tore at him, but the green light absorbed and repaired the damage as fast as it occurred. It was a violent equilibrium of destruction and regeneration.
In the distance, Bai Susu saw the lightning pillar and gasped, rushing toward him. "Luo Zhen? A tribulation now?!"
"I'm fine!" Luo Zhen's voice boomed from inside the lightning storm, confident and strong. "Just a little thunder. It can't hurt me!"
Bai Susu slowed, watching the green light pulse within the storm. She recognized it. It was the same light that had shielded her during her own ascension in the ant nest. She exhaled, the tension leaving her shoulders.
The storm was intense but short-lived. The clouds dispersed as quickly as they had gathered, leaving behind a smoking, bare-chested figure hovering in the air.
Luo Zhen's aura had transformed. It was denser, heavier. He flexed his muscles, feeling the power of the Demon King Late Stage coursing through his veins.
Bai Susu turned her head sharply, studying a particularly interesting cloud formation to avoid staring at his naked torso.
"I really need to invest in some thunder-resistant armor," Luo Zhen grumbled, looking at the charred rags that used to be his tunic. "Every single time I level up, I end up streaking."
He quickly pulled a spare set of robes from his spatial ring and dressed.
[System Notification: Lightning Tribulation survived. Congratulations, Host. You have advanced to Demon King Late Stage.]
Luo Zhen dismissed the notification and turned his attention to the real prize.
Floating on the ocean surface was the corpse of the Silver Flood Dragon Emperor. Even with half of it missing, it was a mountain of meat and scales, five hundred meters of raw potential.
He descended, hovering just above the snout of the dead beast. He glanced back; Bai Susu was still politely looking away.
Perfect.
"Time to eat."
Luo Zhen activated his Devour ability.
A black vortex ripped open in the space before his chest, spinning with a terrified velocity. It acted like a black hole, generating a suction force that targeted the specific essence of the dragon.
Under the irresistible pull, the massive corpse began to dissolve. Flesh, blood, and bone liquefied into a thick, glowing stream of crimson energy that flowed upward and spiraled into the vortex, feeding directly into Luo Zhen.
It was grotesque, and it was glorious.
In seconds, the mountain of flesh was gone. All that remained floating on the water was the massive, hollowed-out skin of the dragon—shimmering silver scales threaded with gold—and the spiraling silver horn that had once adorned Lei Nu's head.
Luo Zhen swiped his hand, sucking the items into his grasp.
"The skin of an Emperor-level dragon," he muttered, running a hand over the indestructible scales. "Invaluable defensive material. And this horn…" He tapped the sharp point. "The essence of his power. This will make a weapon that could crack mountains."
He stashed them away, a satisfied grin plastered on his face. The hunt had been good.