Unfazed by the scrutiny, Jiang Chen smiled faintly. “You should know his motives, everyone, but I understand your concern. If you still have doubt, I’ll have my blood tested to prove my innocence after we kill this fiend. At this moment though, we must stay focused. Don’t give Lightford any chance to escape, or we’ll live eternally in regret!”

He wasn’t going to let the demon get his way. The attempt was clumsy, but the timing perfect.

The ten sacred lands had never been a close-knit group. Although they wouldn’t readily believe Lightford’s claim, the seeds of doubt had been planted.

Eternal’s forefather laughed. “If Jiang Chen were a demon, we would’ve detected it back when he underwent the trial to join the sacred land. This is a critical time, everyone. We mustn’t fall for this fiend’s trickery.”

“That’s right, we can’t fall for that!” Radiance’s forefather called out in agreement.

Several forefathers immediately took a stand to support Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen howeld. “Your trickery isn’t going to save you today, Lightford!”

“Let’s take him down together!” The Vermilion Bird’s red eyes blazed with intense flame, not unlike two volcanoes about to erupt.

The Black Tortoise made its move as well, its terrifying gravity vortex rushed toward Lightford.

The tortoise wasn’t afraid of Lightford. Its remarkable defenses were enough to shield it from most of Lightford’s attacks.

It made a perfect team with the Vermilion Bird, almost as if they were born to fight together.

Behind the Void Sacred Land, a ray of blinding light split through the sky. The very air trembled. Clouds converged to an unknown location as if they were under some command. Waves of clouds rolled and writhed with great intensity.

A howl rumbled through the clouds. Another dragon howl! It was purer and mightier than Jiang Chen’s.

Out of the thundering cacophony came a true dragon. The figure faded in and out of existence among the flickering rosy clouds.

Long Xiaoxuan!

Delighted, Jiang Chen answered with a dragon howl of his own. “You broke through, Brother Long!”

At the eleventh hour, Long Xiaoxuan broke through the threshold of empyrean and ascended to godhood. He’d joined the rank of divine sacred beasts!

The Vermilion Bird and the Black Tortoise were thrilled as well. The magnificent image of the dragon affecting the weather with its mere presence shook them to the core.

The true dragon was indeed the most superior bloodline among the sacred beasts. Even though they were both sacred beasts as well, they had to admit the dragon had some advantage over them.

The sheer natural phenomena of Long Xiaoxuan’s breakthrough covered the entire sky, shaking both heaven and earth.

The dragon himself had been through a significant transformation as well. The sheen of his body was more vibrant, and there was a perfect shine to his scales. Everything about him embodied perfection. More importantly, his might turned many cultivators’ mouth dry.

“A true dragon!” muttered Radiance’s forefather. “Can that be a real sacred beast?”

Long Xiaoxuan came up to Jiang Chen in a flash.

“Congratulations, Brother Long!” Jiang Chen greeted him. “Let’s kill this demon together!”

The look in Long Xiaoxuan’s eyes was deep as he nodded. “Together!”

The dragon was overwhelmed with a myriad of emotions. His gaze resting on Jiang Chen was both grateful and full of longing. His fate had changed entirely because of the human’s appearance.

He was only able to ascend to divinity in such a short period of time because of Jiang Chen. If not for his human brother’s resources and support, it would’ve been almost impossible for him to even ascend to empyrean, given his age.

As it was, he’d ascended to divinity, awakening the bloodline of the ancient true dragons.

He was on his way to the top of the martial dao world!

Lightford grimaced. Every pore of his body screamed in discomfort when the true dragon’s aura locked onto him. Another powerful sacred beast had joined the fight! He was one step closer to defeat and his demise.

The four divine beasts had a natural suppression effect over his bloodline. The effect was even more pronounced with the true dragon.

“This fiend is a monster demon, Brother Long,” Jiang Chen transmitted. “The four divine beasts are his natural bane. Your aura is especially threatening to him. Trap him with your dragon domain and attack him with your strongest move, alongside Brother Vermilion and the Black Tortoise.”

Long Xiaoxuan wasn’t an experienced fighter, so he wasn’t opposed to executing Jiang Chen’s instructions. He coalesced a powerful domain with his dragon aura. Blow upon blow from it crashed down onto Lightford’s head.

Agitation threatened to overwhelm the demon’s mind mind. There was a heavy weight on his chest, weighing him down.

The three sacred beasts were more than enough to occupy his attention. He had no effort to spare for the other cultivators. What was worse, Jiang Chen’s magical golden bell continued to suppress his bloodline.

It felt as if he was stuck in a meat grinder. Pressure came at him from all directions.

He made several attempts to activate his bloodline, intending to enter another battle frenzy. However, he failed continuously thanks to the auras of the sacred beasts.

The Black Tortoise used the opening to approach him. Waves of gravity swarmed toward Lightford, latching onto him down like shackles.

“Damn it!” In a fit of rage, Lightford dove down and hit the tortoise’s head with an enormous hand.

The desperate attack would’ve crushed the tortoise’s skull if it landed.

However, the tortoise managed to tuck its head back into its shell, the defense of which was its strongest suit.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Bam!

The enormous hand slammed into the tortoise’s back, leaving a web of fine cracks on the shell.

Black Tortoises were born with an almost impenetrable shell. Even Lightford’s furious attack failed to break through the defense.

Although the demon had managed to crack the shell, it wasn’t a serious injury for the tortoise. Meanwhile, he’d exposed his back to Long Xiaoxuan and the Vermilion Bird.

Claws of Crushed Mountains and Rivers split through the air, targeting Lightford’s back. The bird’s skyfire roiled toward him as well. The two attacks hit Lightford at almost the same time.