Under the flames of total annihilation lay Yang Hao’s body, completely unprotected. Under the dragon’s breath, his fragile body was as thin as a sheet of paper.
Was everything over?
Thought Bista.
Thought the Crown Prince and the Princess.
Thought the audience.
The Snow Night Star Lion group in the sky thought so too.
But there was only silence. No sighs of lament, just no reaction yet.
After all, it happened too fast. In the blink of an eye, this astonishing battle had already reached its end.
But then Yang Hao exploded.
This transformation was unexpected for everyone. Dragon breath would only tear flesh from bone, rotting skeletons, at most turning one into dust.
But Yang Hao actually exploded. Surrounded and even corroded by four dragon breaths, he seemed unharmed. The flames around his body, which had nearly extinguished, suddenly exploded.
This explosion unleashed a sea of fire.
A towering inferno over five meters high radiated outward from Yang Hao, covering at least dozens of kilometers.
Everything within that range turned to scorched earth. Any creature or plant was burned beyond recognition.
Especially the over a hundred still-living magical beasts, already deaf and blind from Yang Hao’s earlier assault, kneeling motionless on the ground. After the firestorm passed, only their bones and inner cores remained.
This move was called “Flame Explosion,” the second-tier fire technique of the Dan Ding Sect’s sword techniques.
It was a group attack, unleashing a wave of flame from the center point, burning everything around it to ashes.
“The only chance!!” Yang Hao roared. Standing at the epicenter of the explosion, the massive detonation incinerated the magical beasts and the battlefield, but failed to block the dragon breath attacks.
Flames were ineffective against dragon breath.
It seemed as if Yang Hao was attempting mutual destruction with the four dragons, at least in Bista’s eyes.
But he was wrong.
The four streams of dragon breath poured onto Yang Hao’s body like a gentle breeze, having no effect whatsoever.
Instead, the “Flame Explosion” held the four dragons back.
The raging flames of the explosion swept everything before reaching the dragons. Three of them reacted quickly, spewing more dragon breath before turning to fly back into the sky.
But one was too slow and fell into the firestorm. The raging flames instantly scorched its scales. The world’s most incredible dragon species was actually injured by the fire.
Yang Hao had a reason for treating the dragon breath as a breeze. Back in the Divine Realm, he had nearly died from the black dragon’s breath, saved only when Hun Yuanzi sacrificed his life to give him a miraculous Dragon Breath Pill.
This Dragon Breath Pill was an immortal invention by the earliest founder of the Dan Ding Sect.
It cost countless lives to obtain. Consuming it could elevate one’s spirit to communicate with dragons. More importantly, it made one immune to dragon breath.
Yang Hao was simply unafraid of dragon breath. This secret was known only to him. Thus, he used it as his only chance, the final moment to turn the tide.
The four dragons believed Yang Hao would die under their breath. Everyone thought Yang Hao would die. Yet he could counterattack from the brink of death.
Indeed, as one Wind Dragon fell into the firestorm, struggling painfully and trying to take flight, Yang Hao shot forward like lightning. With a flip of his hand, Ying Yue appeared, its crescent blade elegantly tracing an arc. The first strike sliced across the shimmering inverted scale beneath the dragon’s neck.
The inverted scale shattered.
Ying Yue proudly spewed flames. Beneath the broken scales was the Wind Dragon’s pale blue flesh, completely unprotected. If Ying Yue followed through, the dragon’s throat and blood vessels would be severed. Yang Hao would become the first dragon slayer in the Empire’s arena.
He would kill a dragon.
The three escaped dragons furiously rushed back, spewing dragon breath, launching ice spears, even attempting to crush Yang Hao with their bodies. No dragon could tolerate watching a human kill one of their own.
That pride was etched into the dragon race’s very bones.
But these three dragons were too late. They were too slow and couldn’t unleash their full power.
Yang Hao’s Ying Yue was a true divine artifact, its speed and slashing force unstoppable.
So the doomed dragon lost all hope, its green eyes wide, staring at Yang Hao, seemingly pondering something.
Yang Hao was also thinking. As their eyes met for a tenth of a second, he suddenly let out a long cry. Ying Yue responded to his call, gracefully retreating from the trapped dragon, abandoning the near-at-hand dragon slaying feat.
The Wind Dragon flapped its wings within the flames, extinguishing the fire. It soared into the sky, quickly escaping the danger.
The entire audience was stunned.
Whether true martial artists or ordinary nobles, all could see that Yang Hao could have killed the dragon, but he chose to abandon the opportunity, sacrificing his only and final chance.
The spectators quickly devised reasons for Yang Hao’s actions. If he had killed the dragon, he would have been unable to evade the other three dragons’ furious counterattack. His fate would have been mutual destruction with one of them, making survival impossible. Thus, Yang Hao chose to withdraw and defend instead.
As if to confirm everyone’s assumptions, Yang Hao immediately employed the second-tier ice technique of the Sword Dan, “Cold四方.”
Massive ice walls and blocks appeared around Yang Hao, enclosing him completely.
The ice techniques of the Sword Dan focused on defense, and “Cold Fang” was the ultimate defensive technique. It could instantly erect sturdy ice walls, shielding the swordsman within. These walls would require sustained attacks to break through.
However, the person inside the ice walls could not launch physical attacks either. It was a turtle-shell tactic. Yang Hao had hidden himself inside an ice shell, refusing to emerge no matter how the four dragons attacked.
This move shocked the entire arena.
Tens of thousands of spectators became furious. Their howls and curses began to rise and fall. To them, whoever won or lost didn’t matter, as long as there was blood and carnage to enjoy. Yang Hao had the chance to kill a dragon, and with just a slight effort, he could have perished alongside it. This was the first dragon slaying feat in the Empire in decades.
What could be more glorious than witnessing a dragon die before your eyes? Such a scene was nearly within reach, ruined by Yang Hao’s cowardice.
The audience, nobles, and warriors raged furiously, especially seeing Yang Hao hiding inside the ice, refusing to budge no matter how the four dragons spewed dragon breath or hurled ice spears. On the circular stands, a unified, thunderous chant erupted.
“Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!!”
Everyone made the same gesture: four fingers clenched into a fist, thumb pointing downward.
It was the execution gesture for gladiators.
In the Empire’s arena, duels between humans and magical beasts usually ended with mutual victories and defeats.
If the magical beast defeated the human and the gladiator survived but was severely wounded, the Empire’s nobles would decide the gladiator’s fate.
A thumb up meant life, a thumb down meant death.
Now, even before the duel ended, the entire audience was already condemning Yang Hao. Tens of thousands of thumbs pointed down, tens of thousands of voices roared.
“Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!!”
Even without any physical confrontation, Yang Hao would not have survived. The ice walls created by “Cold四方” started to crack under the furious counterattacks of the four dragons. Within minutes, Yang Hao’s defensive strategy would collapse.
At that point, he might be torn to shreds by the four enraged dragons.
“He’s finished,” Princess Xianlan said calmly on the highest balcony. Then she smiled strangely. “Brother, the person you chose is about to die.”
The Crown Prince gazed silently, saying nothing.
“What expectations do you have for him?” The princess didn’t understand much, but she said, “I think you’ll be disappointed. This person isn’t as strong as the rumors suggest. He’s of no use to you.”
The Crown Prince sighed, painfully nodding. Slowly, he raised his hand, thumb up.
“Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!!”
Seeing the Crown Prince’s gesture, the surrounding angry voices became even more deafening. Although in the arena, the highest-ranking noble had the final say, no one could override the collective voice of tens of thousands.
The Crown Prince’s face turned pale, but his gesture didn’t change. Instead, he raised his hand higher.
Thumb up.
Tens of thousands of fingers pointed downward, indifferent to Yang Hao’s life or death. They only cared that Yang Hao had deprived them of the thrill of watching a dragon slaying and must die, his blood required to appease their rage.
These tens of thousands were nobles, the highest in the Empire, killing as easily as removing a blade of grass, placing their senses above all else.
Even the Crown Prince couldn’t change their decision.
The Crown Prince’s face turned deathly pale. The roar of death poured into his ears like a flood, making him as fragile as a blade of grass in the wind.
Even if he continued to resist, these howls would eventually knock him down.
Another hand extended, slender yet exquisitely beautiful, making the same gesture of life.
Princess Xianlan stood beside the Crown Prince, though she disliked Yang Hao, the Crown Prince was still her brother.
Across the entire arena, all fingers pointed downward in execution, only the two of them wanted to give Yang Hao a chance to live amidst the raging nobles.
The four dragons were about to crush the thick ice.
Yang Hao’s fate seemed sealed.
The Crown Prince and Princess’s actions only enraged the audience further. Their shouting nearly collapsed the sky.
The Crown Prince closed his eyes, his face filled with pain—not from Yang Hao’s death, but from his own helplessness.
Xianlan gently covered the Crown Prince’s hand, her voice bitter, “See, brother? You can’t change anything. Even if we combine our efforts, we can’t change the smallest thing in the Empire.”
“There will always be change,” the Crown Prince suddenly opened his eyes, turning away from the violent scene behind him.
“No one can change it,” Xianlan’s gaze was calm, “This world doesn’t belong to the Empire, doesn’t belong to you and me. It belongs to the Senate.”
“And you?” The Crown Prince sharply looked at his sister.
“Who do you belong to?”
Xianlan smiled faintly, turning to leave.
Yet at that seemingly doomed place, something changed.
The massive ice block enclosing Yang Hao had become increasingly thin, even allowing glimpses of his figure inside. This person wasn’t passively awaiting death but was frantically working on something.
The four dragons’ fury had turned their eyes red. Under their massive claws’ attacks, the ice block developed tiny cracks, finally shattering.
A savage cheer erupted from the stands. Now the nobles eagerly anticipated the dragons killing Yang Hao, preferably tearing him into pieces and swallowing him whole.
Only a few sharp-eyed individuals noticed something in Yang Hao’s hand. It seemed to be a pill, similar to the love potions sold by the Dan Ding Sect.
Even stranger, after the ice shattered, the four dragons stopped mid-air, unmoving. Even when the dragon riders jabbed their inverted scales, they endured the pain, completely ceasing their attacks on Yang Hao.
Yang Hao raised his hand high. From his palm, several silver rays shot out, piercing into the four dragons’ brains.
The dragons suddenly became wild again, soaring higher into the sky, rolling and writhing as if their bones were being pulled out one by one.
Meanwhile, the seemingly condemned Yang Hao still stood there, one finger pointing to the sky, his face flushed as he muttered incantations.
At this moment, anyone could sense something was wrong.
But no one understood what.
Why had the four dragons stopped attacking Yang Hao?
What had Yang Hao done?
Only one person understood, someone at the edge of the arena, panicking.
Bista, the leader of the Beast Heart Sword Group, was the true master of the four dragons. His Beast Heart Sword was intricately linked to the seals within the dragons’ minds. As long as these seals remained intact, the four dragons were compelled to obey his commands.
But now, he discovered that the Beast Heart Sword’s glow had dimmed. He could no longer command the four dragons. He didn’t know what Yang Hao had done, but he was certain Yang Hao was shaking the seals implanted by the Senate in the dragons’ minds.
It was inconceivable. The Senate had consumed dozens of elders to create those seals. Could someone actually undo them? Could Yang Hao actually do it?
The answer was revealed a few seconds later.
With a thunderous roar from Yang Hao, a black mist exploded above each dragon. Then the four Wind Dragons’ eyes underwent a tremendous transformation.
Their previously confused and pained eyes now overflowed with vitality, regaining the dragon race’s former brilliance. Although their sealed divine powers couldn’t return, their consciousness had awakened. In this state, no one could control them.
They were dragons, the greatest and most powerful beings in the world.
A colossal dragon roar, an unprecedented roar, exploded in the arena, this time directed at the stands, at the nobles who had just been screaming for Yang Hao’s death.
The stands crumbled one after another, like dominoes, turning to dust.
Tens of thousands of lives were instantly reduced to powder before the four now-free dragons.
The four proud dragons ascended to the middle of the clouds, turned to nod at Yang Hao, then let out a light cry, vanishing into the vast sky.
This was Yang Hao’s plan. He stood like a statue, gazing at the fading dragon silhouettes in the sky.
From beginning to end, Yang Hao had never intended to slay dragons. Quite the opposite, he aimed to rescue them. That’s why he hadn’t killed the trapped Wind Dragon. Seizing that moment, he had communicated with the dragon race mentally. In this world, only Yang Hao, who had consumed the Dragon Breath Pill, could communicate with dragons.
Yang Hao had sealed himself inside the ice block not as a defensive tactic, but to concoct a pill, a truly extraordinary pill.
The Soul Elixir!!
The ultimate pill of the Dan Ding Sect. It required the soul and spirit of a dragon to complete. This miraculous pill’s function was to remove seals from dragons.
Of course, no matter how powerful a pill was, it couldn’t restore the divine race’s former strength. But the seals etched by the Senate into the dragons’ brains, commanding them to obey, could be removed.
So on this ordinary afternoon in the Empire, the sky echoed with dragon cries, sunlight hiding behind clouds. The Empire’s arena was no longer as peaceful as usual.
On such an ordinary day, the Galaxy Empire’s four most incredible dragons escaped. Before leaving, they killed nearly half a million imperial nobles.
The Beast Heart Sword group ceased to exist.
This astonishing duel had an ending no one could have predicted.
Yang Hao won.
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