The previously calm sea surface instantly became shrouded with gloom. An odd silver fish tumbled through the waves. Each time it leapt from the water, its body elongated slightly. After several repetitions, Wang Qi saw a colossal creature before him.

Its horns resembled those of a deer, its head a camel, its eyes a rabbit, its neck a snake, its belly a mirage, its scales those of a fish, its claws those of an eagle, its paws those of a tiger, and its ears those of an ox... This was another pinnacle of the evolutionary tree. Billions of years ago, they possessed innate spiritual wisdom. Selective evolution had endowed them with this form.

This was a body seemingly created to harness spiritual power.

In this realm, all trajectories of spiritual power had shifted. A powerful spirit light naturally formed, resulting from the leaking ambient spiritual energy amplifying visible light. The upper body of this silver dragon raised up like a primeval reptile, assuming a posture that conveyed hostility. With its body as thick as a water tank and a length of a hundred yards, its mere presence was enough to make people look up. Beyond that, it did nothing else.

Yet, fear spontaneously arose.

Inside the organisms of this planet existed DNA that "feared the Dragon Clan." For other species on this planet, evading the Dragon Clan was indeed the right survival strategy.

However, this instinctual fear was quickly overcome. Wang Qi stood up, looking at the dragon in the distance, puzzled.

"Why? What level of demon beast is it?"

The dragon had clearly displayed Transformation Divine Power, and from this, it was undoubtedly a Transformation Demon Beast. However, when the dragon demon had shown hostility, clearly ready to fight with all its might, the comment in the Heavenly Star Map was still...

"Core Formation? This feeling... do you call that Core Formation? Elder Feng, was the equipment you provided faulty from the start?"

Ai Changguang didn't know these intricacies. He lifted his long sword, and the sword light stretched out like a long rainbow. When it passed through the gravity field created earlier by Ai Changguang, the sword light suddenly split. The two beams of sword light, like the simplest binomial in mathematics, intertwined and complexly interwove, giving rise to layers of variations.

This stroke was also a battle technique passed down in the Ai Family. Within the trajectory defined by Ai Changguang, the simplest sword light depicted the most intricate variations. For a moment, the two sword lights formed a sword curtain that stretched across space. Even the shadows of the sword lights, after splitting, were enough to cut a Golden Core Cultivator in half, let alone the connected sword light and shadows merging their qi, nearly forming a Sword Array.

If this stroke evolved to its limit, it should also turn into a formation itself, possessing the power to destroy heaven and earth. Ai Changguang's arithmetic level was not exceedingly brilliant, but it was sufficient to drive some of those changes. Wang Qi felt the spiritual energy roaring again in the heavens and the earth; that giant dragon was gradually losing its divine aspect, no longer carrying the might of heaven and earth!

Faced with such a stroke, the giant dragon spewed a stream of green light qi. It seemed as if the Milky Way poured down from the giant mouth of the dragon, the essence of the Dragon Clan soaring out violently. Its efficacy was no less than a real Demon Beast Tide. The Sword Array, like a house made of sticks, collapsed at the impact. Both the sword light and the essence annihilated each other, creating an indescribable storm of spiritual power that swept across the area.

Wu Shiqin, Ai Changyuan, and Lu Qianqian, taken by surprise, were thrown from the cabin. Ai Changguang once again ceased altering the space with gravity and shouted loudly, "Get inside! Power up the ship to its maximum!"

Without needing his instructions, Ai Changyuan also knew what to do. The spirit light surrounding the Spirit Boat surged. These spirit lights seemed connected as one, but in reality, it was made up of countless thin layers of light membranes. Within a mere foot-thick layer of spirit light, tens of thousands of light membranes overlapped, each layer dissipating forces and canceling each other out. The True Artifact Technology in the Magic Artifact was self-sufficient with inexhaustible spiritual power. Enveloped by the oval light membranes, the Spirit Boat quickly left the battlefield.

Ai Changguang, with his long sword revolving around his body, gathered surrounding gravity. Layers of sea water converged beneath him, forming a vortex. Sea water, rising against the gravity field protected by Ai Changguang's mana, washed across heaven and earth, continually weakening the incoming surge of Dragon Clan essence. The space invisibly changed again, an invisible prism created. Ai Changguang swung a sword light, then the sword light in mid-air, without warning, split into a rainbow-colored air wave. Though this sword wave lost its sharpness, its deadly intent was enough.

The seven-colored tidal wave finally extinguished the concentrated light qi being exhaled. Constant thuds emitted from the giant dragon, akin to the sound of hard objects breaking. Dragon scales burst forth, suggesting that even this giant dragon was not impervious. The intricate sword qi instantly formed an array, grinding clockwise towards the giant dragon like a meat grinder.

The giant dragon let out a long moan, seemingly feeling some pain. Perhaps it was the pain that reminded it of what it was doing, as a burst of blue radiance surged. Each of its acupoints seemed to turn into fountains, even volcanoes, as if the long-repressed essence erupted fiercely, forming a barrier of dragon scales on its surface, the strongest force in the universe emerging from the core of the atom, replacing electromagnetic forces to connect everything. It roared at the sky, seemingly venting something. The sea water and the seven-colored sword qi were simultaneously pushed aside, with a hundred-yard-high tsunami spreading out in all directions.

The Spirit Boat beneath Wang Qi snapped upwards like a massive fly swatter. Wang Qi's chest was heavily struck by the deck, almost spitting out blood. He looked towards the giant dragon, recognizing its tactic: "Dragon Power... Dragon Guard..."

"Dragon Power" signified nearly infinite essence, "Dragon Guard" at least represented a defensive power more than a hundred and eighty times stronger than before. Wang Qi then realized how superficial his previous utilization of the Dragon Clan's Divine Skills had been; he had barely scratched the surface. The Transformation Flood Dragon that he had previously killed was a laughingstock.

With these activated, how could any ordinary creature win?

The green light and the seven-colored sword light repeatedly crushed against each other. Ai Changguang's Sword Array continuously evolved but could never complete. Yet, the giant dragon, after activating its innate talent, seemed to fall into confusion, unsure of what it should do next. It groaned, forcefully shaking its head.

Ai Changguang noticed the unusual state of his opponent, but he only knew to take advantage of this. Wanxiang Heavenly Attraction drew on the power of this planet. Even ants could rely on muscle to contest power, but in his hands, it was amplified a hundred or more times, endlessly versatile. The broadest power in the universe crossed time and space, directly impacting the gathered mass inside.

He was "pulling".

The giant dragon felt three of its vertebrae being torn apart by forces in three different directions. It was a reptilian, its nervous system far less centralized than that of mammals, with the nerves within its spine not much less important than its brain. Agonizing pain obliterated its reason. In a frenzied rage, the dragon took flight; its tail whipped, sending an ancient cold light bearing supreme sword intent slashing through space, directly cutting into the sword array.

On its tail was a sword—at least a weapon very much resembling one. The flexible fin wrapped around the hilt. The nerves on the Dragon Clan's tail fin were densely packed, even more sensitive than the hands of the Human Clan. Over millions of years, it had evolved into a nimble limb.

The key to the Dragon Clan's swordsmanship lay in the concept of "sway." The movement of the dragon tail was succinct yet powerful. Perhaps millions of years ago, someone among their kind akin to Galileo had revealed the beauty of this simple motion to them. The giant sword, ten zhang long and about one zhang wide, was forged from the strange metal found at the sea's depths. Millennia of sedimented spiritual power from the ocean made the seabed's ores exceptionally heavy. The Dragon Clan's forging process refined these metals to elicit a unique luster. This was the Dragon Clan's artifact refining system, which didn't adhere to the hierarchal distinctions of human artifact refining. The giant sword fiercely slashed into the sword array, the air it split emitting a sharp cry from being too slow to escape; the seawater it hit burst into a boil. A gap was cleaved in the otherwise perfect sword array. The ancient God Sword pinned the ring of light, the circulation of the seven-colored light paused momentarily, and then the entire sword array crumbled progressively, like disintegrating under the weather.

However, the sword array had fulfilled its purpose. Ai Changguang unfolded his Primordial Spirit's Magical Domain with great composure. He was a low-grade Primordial Spirit, and his magic domain operated stiffly. But here, the physical laws were altered, the rotation of heaven and earth began to lean towards him. The strings of gravity were rewoven, and the Spirit Light around him diffused like ink in a water painting.

The giant sword seemed to remind the dragon of something. It roared furiously, its body soaring up before tumbling and crashing towards Ai Changguang. It wasn't simply a rush of body against body. Utilizing its physiological structure, it wielded itself like a long whip. Different parts of its body struck at Ai Changguang from various angles, like a line of soldiers suddenly deploying and encircling!

Dragon Ascending Strategy. A Thousand Winds, A Millennium of Rain!

Dragon Guard transformed into Qi Force, strangling everything. Under the lashing Dragon Qi, Ai Changguang's sword light could no longer suppress it, retreating progressively.

Ai Changguang piloted the Spirit Boat at high speed towards the Dragon Stream Islands. It was unwise to engage the sea's sovereign in battle. Although at the Transformation and Primordial Spirit Realm, external environments had minimal impact, in this overwhelming situation, even a one percent chance of victory must be seized!

The boat's attacking Spirit Prohibition fully unfolded, Ten Thousand Sword Energies shooting out in all directions like a peacock's tail, turning any approaching Demon Clan into sieves.

Wang Qi held the Dragon Slayer Gun, sent by Feng Luoyi, gripping the Spirit Rhinoceros Bottle filled with Sky Dragon Slaying Sword Qi. He asked, "You all have calculators, right? If we get separated later, unless it's dangerous, you must take out your calculators and connect to the Ten Thousand Immortals Illusion Realm, understand?"

Teacher Feng's satellite map didn't seem very reliable, but the rescue system should still work!

"Understood!"

"Okay, meow!"

"Mhm!"

No longer concerned with concealing himself, Ai Changyuan accelerated the Spirit Boat at full speed. The distant islands at the horizon in the view of everyone rapidly enlarged, from tiny black specks gradually covering the horizon into large islands.

Suddenly, Feng Luoyi's voice burst into Wang Qi's mind: "Get a Spirit Rhinoceros Bottle with the Banished Immortal Enlightenment Technique, hold it in your hand!"

Wang Qi almost cried out, "Teacher! You're about to get me killed! What are you trying to do!"

"The Heavenly Star Map is fine," Feng Luoyi said somberly. "I underestimated the situation in the West Sea. I thought, even if the West Sea Dragon King is a Banished Immortal, he wouldn't dare to strike at his kin before seizing great power..."

"Whatever works." Wang Qi struggled to not shout, "Look behind. Are those Core Formation Dragon Clan? Can Core Formation Dragon Clan suppress a Primordial Spirit Master?"

"That dragon's issue, it…"

Before Elder Feng could finish, the Spirit Boat was hit by another violent shake. It seemed to have struck something and was sent flying into midair. While upside down, Wang Qi saw from his "topside" a giant dragon enveloped in red-black mist furiously spewing black flames at the sea's surface.

Wang Qi's body shivered. An instinctual revulsion forced him to stiffen. It wasn't the typical disgust stemming from bloodlines; this aura was something all life detested.

Even shielded by defenses, he detected that familiar power.

"Increasing Entropy… Evil Demon…"

Everything became clear. The Immortal Alliance's satellites gathered data on the distribution of spiritual power, but the ability of the Entropy-increasing Demon was precisely to burn and eradicate Spiritual Energy.

The first Dragon Clan might have been a Transformation and even Divine Power Stage Great Demon before, but now, if judged by Spiritual Power alone, it truly only remained at the Golden Core level. Its power, now more manifesting as energy. And the one before them, Wang Qi couldn't even sense the Demon Core.

(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, we welcome you to vote, send monthly tickets on qidian.com, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)