Chapter 20: Blazing Fire Transforms into a Dragon, the Sword Slashes Through the Pack of Wolves

"Fire, come!"

Jiang Sheng gave a loud shout. With a downward pull of his longsword, the flames burning in the front hall were stirred by his aura, swirling and spiraling upward.

The thick, pure spiritual power within Jiang Sheng's dantian surged forth. Nourished by the spiritual energy, the strands of summoned flame burned even more fiercely and expanded rapidly.

Judging by the overwhelming majesty emitted by the flames alone, the Eight Wolves of East County knew this move was absolutely extraordinary!

They could not tolerate Jiang Sheng completing such a technique. They immediately activated their dharma treasure, the Venomous Snake. The dozens of feet of the snake-shaped treasure accumulated power before lunging forward, straight toward Jiang Sheng!

The hideous, blood-colored serpent opened its maw wide, its fangs—formed from spear tips—emitting a terrifying, chilling light.

Even snowflakes were melted into toxic liquid just by approaching the blood-colored snake. An ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator would not even dare to harbor thoughts of resistance before this Purple Mansion Realm serpent.

Its filthy aura was enough to make a cultivator's movements difficult and prevent their spiritual power from circulating.

In the face of this Purple Mansion Realm serpent, even a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator would be nothing more than a lamb for the slaughter.

Jiang Sheng now truly believed that the Eight Wolves of East County possessed the strength to slay a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Yet, even as the gaping maw of the blood-colored serpent was about to swallow him whole, Jiang Sheng remained calm.

His longsword trembled. With a few swirling sword flowers, Jiang Sheng mobilized his aura and slashed out: "River Flow!"

In an instant, it was as if a great river was surging eastward, its waters churning. A cyan sword qi, like a mighty river, washed over the blood-colored serpent, forcibly suppressing the beast and driving it back to the ground!

Standing far off in the backyard, Tian Ming'an stared with wide eyes at this spectacular battle between cultivators, not daring to blink for fear of missing a single detail.

Whether it was the previous clash between Jiang Sheng's sword qi net and the various spells of the Eight Wolves, or this current scene, Tian Ming'an finally understood what a true cultivator was, and why the State of Qi was ruled by them.

Under such terrifying power, what use could a mortal army possibly have?

Even if dozens of pounds of gunpowder were ignited, it would be no different from a Qi Refinement cultivator casting a fireball spell, let alone the combat of high-level cultivators.

And now, the contest between Jiang Sheng and the Eight Wolves was even more terrifying.

First, Jiang Sheng, suspended in mid-air, seemed as if he were about to be devoured by that horrific, hideous serpent; but immediately after, Jiang Sheng slashed out another sword, sending a great cyan river crashing down to strike the monstrous serpent back to the earth.

Watching these scenes, Tian Ming'an felt a sense of yearning, wishing he could also become such a free and elegant cultivator!

If Tian Ming'an was filled with longing for Jiang Sheng, the Eight Wolves of East County were filled with absolute horror!

That was the dharma treasure chain they had spent their entire fortunes to forge—a terrifying treasure capable of defiling a cultivator's physical body, poisoning their spiritual power, and sealing their dantian!

When the eight iron chains were linked together, even a Purple Mansion cultivator had to be cautious. Why, then, could Jiang Sheng, who was merely at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, suppress their treasure so easily?

The dharma treasure serpent fell, letting out a hoarse, dry roar. Most of its hideous barbs had been destroyed, and even several of the fangs in its mouth had been snapped off.

Jiang Sheng quietly regulated his breathing while simultaneously summoning the flames again, drawing the strands of blazing fire to his side.

The sky was filled with roaring flames, illuminating the surrounding miles as bright as day. The scorching temperature even turned all the falling snow above the Qingxuan Temple into rain.

In the middle of this heavy snowfall in the dead of winter, warm rain was actually falling over the Qingxuan Temple.

When the warm rain hit Tian Ming'an's face, he instinctively wiped it away. Feeling the temperature of the rain and looking up at the green-robed Taoist standing amidst the sky of flames, Tian Ming'an murmured unconsciously, "So this is... the Taoist's strength..."

Never mind Tian Ming'an; even the Eight Wolves of East County, veteran evil cultivators of the demonic path, looked upon the sky-filling flames with terror. Could a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator truly possess such strength?

Was Jiang Sheng really just a Foundation Establishment Taoist?

Jiang Sheng's clear voice rang out once more: "There are three ways to establish a foundation. Whether one uses a Foundation Establishment Pill or not, there is the 'Mortal Path' of forced foundation building—which is what you lot are."

"There is the 'Earth Path' of using worldly energies to temper oneself—the very foundation building you take pride in, much like that late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator you claimed to have slain."

"As for this humble Taoist, I began my path at eight, mastered literacy in four, practiced methods for six, and by taking the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, I achieved the Heavenly Path Foundation, condensing my dantian into a Dao Platform."

"Do you know... what a Dao Foundation truly is?"

As Jiang Sheng spoke, his longsword slowly traced an arc before the tip pointed toward the heavens.

"Dragon, come!"

Jiang Sheng shouted loudly.

Tian Ming'an and the Eight Wolves looked up at the flames in horror, seeing a living creature slowly coalesce within the fire.

Its horns resembled a deer, its head a camel, its eyes a rabbit, its neck a snake, its belly a clam, its scales a fish, its claws an eagle, its palms a tiger, and its ears an ox. It possessed a dragon's spine and a golden tail, with scales and claws fully extended!

This was a True Dragon!

A sacred creature favored by Heaven and Earth!

Jiang Sheng was, quite literally, using the sky-filling flames to condense a fire dragon with full scales and claws!

"Roar!"

The ten-zhang fire dragon spiraled in the sky, surrounded by clouds of flame. It raised its head and let out a dragon's roar that intimidated all evil, sounding like a clap of thunder.

The dragon's roar scattered the snow within a three-hundred-zhang radius, and the sound traveled over a hundred miles, echoing through the Qingping Mountains.

In the next moment, the majestic fire dragon spiraled behind Jiang Sheng. Its massive dragon head lowered beside his shoulder, its dragon eyes staring intently at the blood-colored serpent struggling and writhing within the temple, as if looking at a mere earthworm struggling for life.

"A group of evil cultivators with Mortal Path foundations dare to seek trouble with this humble Taoist!"

"You truly seek your own deaths!"

Jiang Sheng's voice echoed inside and outside the temple.

The Eight Wolves of East County were now filled with sheer dread!

Heavenly Path Foundation Building!

This Taoist was actually a Heavenly Path Foundation Builder?!

Tian Ming'an's heart jolted. To think there were so many ways to establish a foundation; no wonder the Taoist was so powerful—he was a Heavenly Path Foundation Builder!

"Brothers, let's give it everything!"

The Alpha Wolf's eyes nearly split with rage as he poured all of his spiritual power into the blood-colored serpent.

The other seven also poured their entire spiritual reserves into the serpent, even merging a large portion of their own blood essence into it.

The previously withered blood-colored serpent regained its spirit. Its cold, serpentine eyes stared fixedly at Jiang Sheng, who stood in mid-air like a god surrounded by the fire dragon. With its fangs sharpened, its aura surged once more!

"Kill!"

Under the command of the Eight Wolves, the blood-colored serpent tensed its body and transformed into a streak of blood-red light, whistling upward!

Jiang Sheng's expression remained unchanged. Spiritual power poured madly into the fire dragon. With a point of his sword, the fire dragon roared, spewing intense flames before lunging at the oncoming blood-colored serpent.

Tian Ming'an was now completely dazed. Above the Qingxuan Temple, the flaming fire dragon and the blood-colored serpent were entwined, biting and tearing at one another. The terrifying majesty emitted by the two behemoths startled countless hibernating creatures.

Dragon roars and serpent hisses rang out continuously. Terrifying fluctuations of spiritual power radiated outward, completely clearing the snow within a thousand zhang of the temple and crushing vast patches of green pines and bamboo.

The Eight Wolves of East County watched helplessly as their serpent dharma treasure was gradually bitten away piece by piece by Jiang Sheng's fire dragon, slowly falling into a disadvantage.

If their serpent treasure were truly destroyed, they would have no way to survive.

The youngest of the Eight Wolves turned feral. He struck his own chest with a palm, sacrificing all of his essence blood: "Big Brother, you must live!"

"Eighth Brother!" The Alpha Wolf gritted his teeth. This was their youngest brother!

Immediately after, the seventh, sixth, and fifth brothers also sacrificed all of their essence blood to fuel the serpent.

The Alpha Wolf watched his own brothers die before his eyes, and a mountain of hatred ignited in his heart. He felt as if he were seeing the unwilling, angry, venomous, and regretful gaze of the Qi Refinement level-eight clan leader they had slaughtered before.

Time and time again, they were the ones slaughtering others, treating them as playthings to be toyed with.

But now, half of their brothers were dead!

Suddenly, with another roar, the fourth, third, and second brothers also successively sacrificed their entire blood essence to the serpent, causing its aura to expand once more!

"Second Brother! Third Brother! Fourth Brother!" The Alpha Wolf clenched his fists so hard his nails pierced his flesh, yet he felt no pain; he only felt as if his heart were bleeding!

"Big Brother, you must live! Our vengeance depends on you!"

Hearing his brothers' final words, the Alpha Wolf finally let out a hideous roar: "Aaaaaah! Jiang Sheng! I want you dead!"

The Alpha Wolf drove the surging blood-colored serpent straight at Jiang Sheng, clearly intending to drag him to the grave with him.

The thirty-zhang blood-colored serpent pressed down like a covering sky, its maw wide open to swallow Jiang Sheng whole!

But Jiang Sheng merely pivoted his sword tip. As the ten-zhang fire dragon spiraled, it moved to protect him.

With the fire dragon guarding him, Jiang Sheng held his right hand level. The green lotus upon the three-foot blade bloomed, emitting an incredibly dangerous aura.

"You want this humble Taoist to die? You're not quite there yet!"

"Slash!"

In an instant, clear light turned into a shadow, and the sword emerged like a dragon!

In the winter of the 39,825th year of the Shanhe Calendar, amidst the heavy snow of East County, the people of Qingping Town all heard the roar of a dragon in the mountains that night!