Chapter 1010: Another One Bites The Dust?

With a loud and piercing dragon roar, Tang Mohuang gave up his human form in exchange for his true dragon body. He transformed almost instantly into a streak of crimson light, merging directly into the massive fire dragon projection.

The moment his body merged, the enormous fire dragon shrank by about a third, putting more distance between it and the sword light beam. At the same time, the fire dragon's body became significantly more solid, and a large flower bloomed atop the fire dragon's head—the Everblaze Sunflower.

Empowered by the Everblaze Sunflower, the flames around the fire dragon burst skyward with tangible intensity, slightly slowing the descent of the massive sword light. At the same time, the fire dragon opened its maw and spat out the Heavenly Fire Pearls. Like shooting stars, the three flaming pearls struck the descending sword light in succession.

They exploded with massive bursts of flame in red, orange, and blue hues. The sword light, which appeared capable of splitting the heavens, stalled three times under the assault, its seemingly unstoppable momentum visibly dimmed.

Yet in the end, the Heavenly Fire Pearls were all blasted away, one after another. The now-diminished sword light still pressed downward, continuing its descent toward the fire dragon.

So strong...

Tang Mohuang had poured his full power into activating the Heavenly Fire Pearls. With the might of his clan's most powerful divine items and his own peak Great Demon King cultivation, he still couldn't fully block the sword light?

He truly hadn't expected this outcome. But there was no time for hesitation; the terrifying sword intent he felt pressing down on his fire dragon manifestation made the threat of death feel all too real.

The Everblaze Sunflower atop the dragon's head, which provided a thirty percent boost to his fire energy, combusted almost instantly. A radiant golden-red glow engulfed the fire dragon and erupted outward. The searing flames merged with Tang Mohuang's own fire energy, forming a massive dragon-shaped pillar of fire that collided head-on with the descending sword light, unleashing a dazzling explosion of light and destructive force.

With this, no doubt remained that Tang Mohuang had revealed all his trump cards. He had used the freshly obtained Everblaze Sunflower as a one-time consumable, activating the domain power of the Scorching Sunflowers and fusing it with his own, generating even greater might.

He would never have done such a thing unless forced. The waste was immense. If he had used the Everblaze Sunflower slowly, over a long period of time, he had a real chance of awakening the Blazing Sun Domain, and fusing it with his own Lava Domain would have taken his cultivation to a higher level.

But with the Battle for the Throne on the line—and, more importantly, his very life at stake—Tang Mohuang had no room left for hesitation.

The Three Heavenly Fire Pearls that had been slapped away by the sword light arced back through the air, injecting more fire into the massive dragon-shaped pillar.

BOOM!!!

A deafening blast shook the sky. In an instant, flames erupted in every direction. Only Tang San and the Blue Gold Tree projection behind him remained unscathed, shielded by the Sword Saint Demon Emperor's sword light. The rest of his Life Domain was nowhere to be seen, and the freshly-rebuilt platform was in ruins.

Terrifying energy surged. The dragon-shaped flame pillar disintegrated almost instantly, and the Sword Saint Demon Emperor's sword intent also vanished in a flash.

THUD!

A massive Fire Dragon slammed hard into the already-cracked stone platform. One of its horns had snapped off, cracked and shattered scales were scattered everywhere, and a gaping wound over ten meters long and half a meter deep had opened across its massive shoulder and back.

The entire arena fell into silence.

So this is the difference between an Emperor and a Great Demon King?

It looked like just a one-order difference on paper, but even with the Fire Dragon clan's divine artifacts and using every last shred of his power, a Great Demon King still couldn't block a single strike from a lower-ranked Emperor's remnant power?

The gap was unimaginable.

The audience was filled with fear.

Meanwhile, the remaining contestants in the Battle for the Throne had respect and eagerness in their eyes. More than ever, they thirsted for one of those positions. To them, this clash only served as further confirmation: To become an Emperor was to step into an entirely different realm of existence.

A hoarse, agonized, and furious dragon cry echoed. The massive dragon body reverted to humanoid form. Tang Mohuang's left arm hung limp, but his right hand still gripped his spear, and he thrust it toward Tang San.

Blocking that strike had cost him far more than expected. The Everblaze Sunflower had been used up before he could even warm up to it, and he had sustained serious internal injuries. The sword energy rampaging inside him wasn't easy to dispel. He knew this would greatly impact his chances in the rest of the competition. How could he not be furious?

But as he charged toward Tang San, he suddenly paled.

To his absolute shock, he saw that the Sword Saint Demon Emperor's projection behind Tang San had not vanished, and the statue in Tang San's hand still hadn't disappeared either. Then, to his absolute

horror

, he saw the Blue Gold Tree clan leader flash him a bright smile.

BOOM!

The statue in Tang San's hand suddenly exploded. The Sword Saint Demon Emperor's projection behind him soared into the air. Another massive beam of sword light formed, radiating a majestic, world-dominating aura!

The overwhelming sword intent erupted skyward, and Tang Mohuang felt his very blood freeze. All thoughts of anger and resentment vanished as he screamed in terror, "I concede!"

Having just endured one strike from the Sword Saint Demon Emperor, Tang Mohuang was already traumatized. As the sword light surged again, even the remaining sword energy within him began to stir, as if it might start to boil. He had no courage left to resist. In the Battle for the Throne, there were no rules; the referee might intervene in time, but they might also not. Death was real, and as valuable as the Emperor's seat was, his life mattered more! There was no way he'd dare try to block another blow!

The Soul Capturer Nymph Emperor was about to stop them, but in the next instant, the massive pillar of sword light popped like a balloon, scattering into countless strands of sword light.

What...?

Tang Mohuang, now standing just meters from Tang San, had almost curled up in fear. His hands still clutched his dragon spear, but he was trembling. Bathed in the scattering sword light, he looked utterly humbled.

"You—How can you use the statue twice? Wasn't it supposed to be single-use?" Tang Mohuang stared at Tang San in disbelief, face full of frustration.

Tang San shrugged and said, "It

was

single-use. The second time was just to scare you. Didn't expect you'd actually concede. Thanks for that, I suppose."

Seeing Tang San's grin, Tang Mohuang looked like he had been struck by lightning.

It... was a scam? I... I fell for... a scam?

Before tens of thousands of spectators, and under the watchful eyes of over a dozen Emperors, he had screamed out his surrender. This was beyond embarrassing. He wanted nothing more than to disappear into a crack in the ground.

I lost. I fucking lost. To this motherfucker, of all people.

Tang Mohuang's face turned from pale to flushed and back again, and his aura fluctuated wildly. He even seemed about to charge again. But at that moment, the Soul Capturer Nymph Emperor descended between them and calmly declared, "Tang Mohuang has conceded. Victory to the Blue Gold Tree clan!"

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

This statement reinforced the facts: Tang San had won his second match.

Tang Mohuang looked like his soul had been drained. He collapsed onto the ground, eyes dazed. He had already given everything, yet he had still lost. And his opponent had used an auctioned item barely a few hundred coins more expensive than his own Everblaze Sunflower. He had literally been defeated by money, and he hadn't even made it through round two!

Unable to suppress the sword energy any longer, Tang Mohuang spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed, unconscious. Well, at least it appeared so. Nobody knew whether he had actually passed out or just pretended to because of sheer shame.

After respectfully saluting the Soul Capturer Nymph Emperor, Tang San took off and returned to his VIP pavilion.