Chapter 1 The Beginning

A raging gale howled, the violent wind carrying the force of the arrows to pierce the sky.

Just as Su Zhou had predicted, the National Teacher, having endured too many lightning strikes in succession, was temporarily unable to simultaneously deflect the rapid-fire arrows. With a wave of his magic sword, the powerful arrow aimed directly at his body was diverted by a magnetic field.

But as a consequence, the spiritual beast beneath him, a Yangyan Guangchan (Yang Flame Light Cicada), was directly blasted apart by the rapid-fire technique, transforming into a cloud of flying sawdust!

Forced to act, the National Teacher could only activate his qinggong (light body skill) and slowly descend. However, he displayed little surprise, merely gazing at Su Zhou with a burning intensity.

"So, it's the Eye of Spiritual Sight, and it can even block my spiritual vision... coupled with the dragon's roar from before, are you a Dragonkin?"

Without waiting for a response, he chuckled softly, "I haven't used Dragonkin to refine pills before."

At that moment, upon the snow-covered plains, the National Teacher and Su Zhou, two grandmasters, faced each other from a distance, on the same plane, no longer with one in the sky and the other on the ground. They were separated by only a mere hundred meters.

Su Zhou could hear the sounds of the Shenmu Guard and the garrison defending the fortress behind him. He could hear the rousing cries of battle, the explosions of lava bombs, the metallic clang of clashing swords, and all the sounds he would normally hear.

But all these sounds quickly receded from Su Zhou's ears, like a speeding motorcycle roaring into a street, only to quickly fade away.

At this moment, all of his spirit was concentrated on the National Teacher's every move. Su Zhou's eyes reflected the rapidly recovering spiritual power and spiritual energy flowing within his enemy's body. He was so focused that he didn't even hear what the other was saying as his mouth opened and closed.

This was Su Zhou's 'battle state,' a natural 'full concentration'!

--So strong, this enormous body, this massive reserve of spiritual energy, it's as if his entire being is forged from spiritual energy!

This is almost half-Xiantian (pre-celestial), half-Transcendent. No wonder the Righteous Army of a Hundred Families said that the National Teacher and the Demon Emperor were both close to successfully transforming into dragons. This statement is indeed not false at all!

Su Zhou's mind raced, processing the National Teacher's various stats. The opponent's strength was undoubtedly overwhelming. Leaving aside everything else, that vast spiritual energy was far more powerful than Li Daoran's by tenfold, and even Su Zhou's monstrously deep foundation couldn't compare. As expected of one of the Demon Dynasty's highest-ranking figures, who had accumulated power for decades!

But even so, it wasn't without weaknesses – for example, that enormous body, wouldn't its movements be somewhat sluggish?

Worth a try.

Exhaling, as if expelling all turbidity, Su Zhou took another deep breath, inhaling vast amounts of spiritual energy.

Boom! With a resounding rumble, he stomped on the ground, a storm rising from his feet, shaking countless rocks and stones into the air, causing the surrounding snow dust to ripple into a circle of mist, enveloping his figure, making it impossible to discern which direction he intended to move.

And the instant he broke free from the National Teacher's line of sight, a figure almost transformed into a gale, carrying a fierce spear, shot towards the National Teacher!

A second later, the area where the National Teacher was located was also enveloped in a sudden burst of snow dust. Only the cracking sounds of the ground constantly splitting could be heard, spiderweb-like cracks continuously spreading across the ground, leaving a long trail!

But soon, the northern gale blew away the snow dust, revealing that the place where the National Teacher had been standing had been replaced by Su Zhou's spear. He had pierced the solid, frozen earth with his spear, which was more than a meter thick, even blasting out a large crater like a cannonball, deeply embedded in the ground.

But the National Teacher's original figure had disappeared.

Pu! Su Zhou shook his spear forcefully, instantly sending the frozen earth flying like hardened ice with his brute strength. He pulled the spear from the ground, silently turning his head to look at the jade figure gently descending and standing on a snowdrift not far away.

The National Teacher's qinggong (light body skill) was excellent. The enormous body was not only swift but also incredibly agile, even possessing a strange, ethereal lightness. Despite being more than four meters tall and so heavy, it could still stand on a snowdrift.

Facing Su Zhou's gaze, he smiled, and then casually flicked the spiritual light magic sword in his hand. The electric arcs that had temporarily disappeared due to excessive lightning summoning began to reappear, little by little, on the five spiritual pearls embedded in it.

At this moment, the National Teacher calmly opened his mouth, seemingly saying something again, probably mocking Su Zhou's previous actions as mere child's play.

But the next moment, that calm expression immediately turned solemn.

Because Su Zhou was opening his mouth, his eyes wide, staring at him with a gaze like that of a hunter looking at its prey.

Hoo, hoo, hoo!

--The other party can still dodge, my speed isn't enough?

Taking three consecutive deep breaths, mercury-like spiritual blood surged through his perfect body. Su Zhou could hear his own heartbeat, incredibly slow, yet incredibly heavy, emitting a deep hum like a great bell in a Buddhist temple. Since his encounter with Yala, this was the first time he had driven his physical body to such an extent.

Then, he smiled, revealing a row of cold white teeth at the National Teacher, who was looking grave and already starting to wave his sword and cast spells.

"Just now, it indeed wasn't fast enough."

So he muttered to himself, and then, there was a loud cracking sound!

Surging spiritual power passed through his clothes, and azure-purple spiritual light transformed into an armor of mist. The violent wind tore apart Su Zhou's ordinary clothes, causing them to explode into fragments, and finally, these gales condensed into translucent azure-purple armor plates!

At this moment, triangular spiritual runes flowed across the surface of Su Zhou's body, the patterns flashing, his muscles coiling, as if possessing life, releasing a terrifying sense of power. This perfect body, originally concealed beneath his clothes and seemingly forged from steel, began to absorb the surrounding spiritual energy at a speed hundreds of times that of ordinary people, even transforming it into a tornado!

--Not fast enough?

"Then, I'll unleash my full power and become even faster!"

Boom! The sound of the ground being crushed rang out, blocks of frozen earth and rocks being shaken up. Su Zhou casually grabbed the largest of these, condensed spiritual power, and then, in the most standard baseball pitcher stance, threw it with all his might at the National Teacher.

The icy, solid rock was wrapped in azure-purple dragon patterns, breaking through the northern gale with the force of terror, shattering the constantly drifting snowflakes. It streaked across the sky with a howling sound, attacking the very center of the National Teacher's chest.

Thrown with such force, not to mention blocking it, even using a shield or a crenelated battlement as cover, the shield and battlement would be blasted apart along with it!

But meeting it was not the National Teacher's body, but a flying sword that had been released, wrapped in lightning!

Kacha! The flying sword was like lightning, flashing past in an instant. The rock, which was originally just ordinary stone, was instantly cut apart, but the spiritual power contained within it suddenly exploded, transforming it into a cloud of dust scattering in the sky!

And behind the dust of this shattered rock was Su Zhou's figure once again charging forward fiercely, and a spear, like a shooting star, stabbing towards the National Teacher's throat and chest – and in the flashing of electric light, the steel sword, returned to its master's hand, also chopped down with exploding arcs of electricity!

"Dong Guang!"

The metallic clang of weapons colliding rang out. Both sides, giving their all, each took a step back, their weapons trembling, their hands slightly shaking, both surprised by the other's strength.

--This strike would have sent a wooden centipede flying, but he was actually able to block my strength?!

As expected of the National Teacher who is about to transform into a dragon, he's completely different from those miscellaneous soldiers!

--Controlling and driving the magic sword with the power of thunder, and even the power of my jade body, which is fourteen feet tall, can't overcome this pure brute force, and I couldn't knock his weapon away?

As expected of a Dragonkin, perhaps even a pure-blooded dragon!

But this time, the National Teacher, who had experienced countless battles, reacted faster to the mutual retreat after the exchange. Accompanied by the flashing and condensing of azure wood energy, it transformed into Jiamu (First Wood) lightning. The sound of crackling electricity could be heard around him, and the air suddenly had the pungent smell of ozone. The surging lightning overflowed from the National Teacher's jade body, condensing into a layer of armor on his body.

Hua la! In an instant, Su Zhou's body showed a tendency to float upwards. He immediately realized that it was the spirit iron spear in his hand uncontrollably flying up, carrying him floating into the air!

"Don't use metal weapons against me!"

The National Teacher laughed loudly, his voice extremely loud, shaking the air. In the instant that Su Zhou hurriedly let go of the spear in his hand, temporarily losing the initiative, he threw the steel sword in his hand into the air and then formed a hand seal!

[Heavenly Lightning Sword Control True Art]!

Hong long! Another thunderclap, azure-blue electric light soared, and a thunderbolt, accompanied by the speed of sound, broke through the flying snow and howling wind, roaring towards Su Zhou!

It was the National Teacher controlling the flying sword with lightning, slashing towards Su Zhou's neck!

This hand of Lightning Sword Control was truly mysterious in its technique, completely different from the style of the warriors Su Zhou had encountered in this world before - this flying sword strike, with a speed close to three hundred and thirty meters per second, was enough to cleave a city gate, cutting four or five heavily armored soldiers into two pieces at the same time, and crossing the mere dozen meters between the two of them would take less than one-twentieth of a second!

Then, it struck heavily on Su Zhou's head!

But no head flew up, nor did blood spurt out.

One could only see the torn mist armor creating bursts of overflowing wind, and in the translucent surging of air currents, one could see Su Zhou's white teeth firmly biting the spirit steel flying sword. The flowing electric current on it was enough to paralyze lions and tigers, but it could not make him loosen his mouth.

Su Zhou, biting the flying sword in his mouth, had blood overflowing from his gums. He silently raised his fist again, exerting force from his feet, his whole body crashing into the National Teacher like a speeding car - and this time, they were too close!

"Hong!"

What kind of destructive power could a bare-handed strike have? Listening to this sound, one could know that it was like a siege hammer hitting a city gate, with a heavy rumble, and a crisp cracking sound of jade breaking!

Su Zhou's fist even stimulated the airflow, creating a circle of ring-like shock waves. A full-force strike from the perfect body erupting with spiritual power directly sent the National Teacher, who couldn't dodge in time, flying into the air, and the violent fist wind even blew away the snow behind the National Teacher!

Peng! At the moment of being hit by this fist, the azure-blue lightning light exploded, and the electric current armor covering the National Teacher was shattered. At the same time, centered on the National Teacher, an extremely powerful repulsive force erupted, transforming into a surging gale, directly blowing away Su Zhou and all the ice, snow, and rocks within dozens of meters, allowing him to stagger and fall from the air, stabilizing his body.

Hoo hoo!

After spinning a few times in the air, Su Zhou landed with a perfect posture that would have been given a perfect score by gymnastics judges. He was biting the flying sword in his mouth, unable to laugh wildly, but in Su Zhou's eyes, there was an obvious madness!

"Let go!"

Having finally managed to stabilize his body, the National Teacher saw Su Zhou's expression at this time and felt a sense of foreboding in his heart. He immediately formed a hand seal, the electric current flashed, vibrating the flying sword, using an incredibly terrifying vibration frequency to directly shake open Su Zhou's teeth - but just before he shook them open, Su Zhou's expression was ferocious, his upper and lower rows of white teeth exerted force, and he actually wanted to bite off a piece of this spirit steel magic sword!

Zhi ga - Although he bit into empty air, even so, accompanied by a tooth-aching cutting sound, seven or eight extremely obvious tooth marks appeared on both sides of the magic sword.

"Pei!"

Feeling that his canine teeth were a little loose, Su Zhou spat out the steel shavings scraped off, along with the blood from his gums, and his high-speed regeneration ability stabilized his tooth roots. He raised his head, looked at the National Teacher, whose face was solemn and had a fist print on his chest, and said in a low voice with the most malicious tone, "The quality of your weapon isn't very good - and you're quite fragile too."

Saying so, Su Zhou himself was secretly shocked in his heart - if it were an ordinary person, or even a wooden centipede, being hit by his fist would have turned them into minced meat, but the National Teacher's jade body seemed to combine the hardness of steel and the flexibility of bark. A fist strike could not penetrate it, but only broke open a piece of his chest. That sentence just now was completely a boast. His own body was probably only like this at most!

Not to mention weapons, he was at least a humanoid Transcendent being. Even if his white teeth were used to refine spiritual weapons, they would not be shameful. One bite almost broke his teeth, which was enough to prove the quality of that magic sword!

"Hmph, little dragon, you haven't mastered the human techniques of taunting... But you are indeed worthy of me unleashing my true power."

Hearing such a straightforward taunt, the National Teacher, whose chest had a large dent, narrowed his eyes, and azure spiritual light flashed in his eyes. He snorted coldly, and then said solemnly: "Witness the true secret technique!"

Kacha kacha - After saying that, the National Teacher's jade body, which had a dent in its chest, began to gradually crack, the cracks spreading to his whole body, like shattered porcelain.

Then, even more dazzling lightning than before bloomed from the cracks. This violent azure-blue spiritual light directly blasted away all the jade body, and a slightly young figure walked out of this exploded shell, revealing a figure that looked only about thirteen or fourteen years old, so young that he looked like a Daoist child.

[Reverting to Youth]

The 'National Teacher', wearing a snow-white silk Daoist robe, carried a magic sword, and his face was several levels younger than before. He walked out of his jade 'body armor', and high-heat electric arcs flashed around him, even melting the surrounding ice and snow, bringing a scorching aura that was enough to melt steel.

And the most conspicuous were those eyes without pupils, in the deepest part of the eyes, there was only a ball of azure lightning flashing.

He moved his hands and feet, seeming a little unaccustomed to this too low perspective. Then, the National Teacher raised his head, looked at Su Zhou, whose face was solemn, and chuckled: "That's more like it."

--Second stage, others are getting bigger, but this National Teacher is getting smaller?

Although such a thought flashed through his mind, the sense of danger in Su Zhou's heart rose several levels sharply - after the jade armor fell, most of the wood energy belonging to the Shenmu dissipated, but the restless thunder aura became even clearer!

But without giving Su Zhou more opportunities to observe, the National Teacher, who had stopped his essential transformation but showed his true power, silently raised his hand, and instantly, the azure jade fragments that had fallen around him all leaped up, and then, amidst the flashing lightning, roared towards Su Zhou!

Su Zhou naturally hurriedly dodged - but he didn't expect that in the instant after he dodged, electric arcs flashed wildly on the jade fragments, and then disintegrated in the blinding white light!

A thick rumble like an artillery bombardment sounded, and the visible, materialized sound wave shock wave, mixed with rolling high-temperature steam, shook off all the snow on the branches of all the trees within a radius of several kilometers!

The ice and snow behind Su Zhou exploded!