"Awooo!!"
An extremely intense dragon roar echoed, like the first sound of the universe opening. Aside from this dragon roar, the world was silent, devoid of any other sound.
That enormous dragon body, already dead and cold, once its dragon soul was reforged within, with a swoosh, the empty dragon eyes suddenly lit up with dazzling brilliance.
As the dragon eyes shone with spirit, an indescribable and terrifying Dragon's Might burst out from the dragon body, spreading across the land for thousands of miles.
On the scene, except Mu Jinyu who could barely withstand this Dragon's Might, Wen Rou, Jian Ruyan, Zhuo Yue, and even the Little Phoenix inside the Bi Fang Cauldron were all suppressed, lying on the ground unable to move.
Even the Dragon-Phoenix Resentful Fiend, who was originally about to charge crazily, was suppressed, as if the time in the space it existed had been stopped, forcibly pausing in mid-air.
This flood dragon, entirely in a dark blue-black color, was after all a super Demon Emperor at the Peak Hedao Realm, just one step away from transcending the divine calamity to transform into a real Divine Dragon. How could it be compared to the Dragon Resentment formed by a mere Dragon Vein grievance?
Under its oppressive Dragon's Might, the once domineering Dragon-Phoenix Resentful Fiend, as if thrown into boiling water, did not even have the qualification to move.
The only one able to act was Mu Jinyu. Perhaps due to the dragon blood in his body, or because the dragon soul was controlled by him, the Dragon's Might intentionally spared him a bit. Not overthinking it, he quickly took out a Jade Bottle from his storage bag, uncorked it, pointing the bottle mouth towards the Dragon-Phoenix Resentful Fiend stagnated in mid-air.
"Buzz!"
The Treasure Vase, like a Jade Purifying Bottle, flowed with radiant white light from its mouth, with various runes flickering, followed by a bang as it shot out a brilliant light beam, enveloping the Dragon-Phoenix Resentful Fiend's massive nearly hundred-zhang long dragon body.
The Dragon-Phoenix Resentful Fiend, shrouded in the light beam, instantly began to shrink continuously, slowly being pulled towards the bottle mouth.
Time seemed to pass in an instant, or like an eternal wait. Under the painful watch, the once gigantic dragon body finally shrank to a finger-sized smallness, being taken into the Treasure Vase.
"Buzz!"
Upon trapping the Dragon-Phoenix Resentful Fiend in the Treasure Vase, cracks densely dotted the bottle as if it might shatter in the next second.
Seeing this, Mu Jinyu took out several specially refined Treasure Vases, stacking them like Matryoshka dolls to encase the one about to crack.
Then, worriedly engraving numerous restriction array patterns on the bottle, he barely managed to stabilize it, preventing any more cracks and ensuring the Dragon-Phoenix Resentful Fiend could not escape its confines.
"Phew... it's finally over..."
Mu Jinyu exhaled a long breath, only now realizing his back was soaked with cold sweat.
That scene just now was truly too dangerous.
One slip, and everyone would have perished at the jaws of the Dragon-Phoenix Resentful Fiend.
"If possible, I hope to never release this horrific thing again."
Holding the motionless Treasure Vase, Mu Jinyu muttered softly.
Alas, he knew this was likely just wishful thinking.
He had countless times not wished to use the Dragon-Phoenix Resentful Fiend, but in the end, faced with opponents far stronger than him, he was forced to release it repeatedly to avert crises.
This time, though he managed to slay all his enemies and survive the backlash of the Dragon-Phoenix Resentful Fiend.
Who could know if next time, he'd be able to control the dragon body with the dragon soul, suppressing the Dragon-Phoenix Resentful Fiend again?
Mu Jinyu had a vague feeling that the Dragon-Phoenix seemed to have birthed some spiritual wisdom, about to become a true monster.
Perhaps, with the peak realm flood dragon body, he could suppress it a few more times, but each time it was released, the Dragon-Phoenix Resentful Fiend would surely devour more spiritual objects. When it truly birthed spiritual wisdom, it might not wait for him to control the dragon body to suppress it and directly escape...
Such a situation would result in total loss of control.
Slightly shaking his head, Mu Jinyu stowed away the Treasure Vase, stopping his thoughts on future matters.
"Are you all alright?"
Getting up, Mu Jinyu turned to Wen Rou and the other two behind him, as well as the unconscious Little Phoenix inside the Bi Fang Cauldron.
"N-no problem..."
Wen Rou and the others looked somewhat pale, shaking their heads to indicate they were unharmed.
Mu Jinyu walked to the side of the Bi Fang Cauldron, scooping out the Little Phoenix, then headed towards Zhuo Yue to start healing them and regrowing severed limbs.
Mu Jinyu was very exhausted. It took two whole shichen just to regrow Zhuo Yue's severed arm and regenerate the pair of Phoenix Wings that had been sliced from the Little Phoenix.
Afterwards, forcing himself to remain alert, he said to them, "Let's go to a place first."
He didn't know how many Ninth Layer Fanxu Realm Heaven's Pride had entered the secret realm. If those he killed were not all who entered, then in their currently weakened state, running into two or three more Ninth Layer Fanxu Realm experts could prove very dangerous.
So, Mu Jinyu wanted to lead them to hide in the waterfall lake containing flood dragon essence first.
…
Outside.
At the secret realm's entrance.
A group of people awaited the results of those who entered the secret realm, to see who could obtain the relatively few Hedao Fruit compared to those who entered, thus stepping into the Unity Realm Stage.
Meanwhile, Wu Family Head Wu Xiongfei watched grimly from the side.
At this point, the Hedao Fruit was no longer related to the Wu Family. His only hope was that those who entered the secret realm would bring him the heads of Mu Jinyu and his companions.
So he could have good sacrificial offerings when he mourned his daughter and nephew!
Suddenly, someone gasped in shock.
He then took an antique bronze lamp from his storage bag.
"Whoosh!"
The flame on the lamp extinguished the moment he took it out.
"The Young Master... is dead..."
The person stared blankly at the extinguished flame, voicing his disbelief with a hollow tone.
This lamp, called the Soul Lamp, had a function similar to the Life medallion. When a wisp of spiritual thought was imprinted into the Soul Lamp, the flame would stay lit, but if it extinguished, it meant the person had died.
Observing this, representatives from a few major forces also slightly changed their expressions and took out their Soul Lamps and Life medallions.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!!"
In rapid succession, four Soul Lamps and Life medallions shattered, signifying the death of four people.
Those present exchanged glances, realizing the deceased were from the first eight who entered the secret realm.
"Did they wander into some perilous area inside? Otherwise, with their strength, four wouldn't have died at once."
Someone guessed aloud.
And shortly after this person spoke...
"Bang Bang Bang..."
The other four from the first eight to enter had their Soul Lamps and Life medallions shatter consecutively!
The faces of representatives from various factions drastically changed.
"Damn it, I should've brought Remaining Shadow Life Tokens, or I'd at least know how the Young Master died..."
The sect representative behind the deceased Heaven's Pride lamented bitterly, nearly driven mad with fury.
Five days later, as the space channels stabilized, allowing disciples to enter the secret realm, various factions secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
The eight were not weak, and their deaths reduced the number of competitors for the Hedao Fruit.
Yet before they could fully rejoice...
"Crack Crack Crack!"
Like firecrackers during a celebration, dozens of Soul Lamps and Life medallions abruptly shattered together, producing loud and clear noises.
Indicating nearly all who entered the secret realm had perished.