Chapter 168: The Light Dragon Appears, A Fatal Strike in Consciousness

The three-colored wasteland dragons represented different forces and elements. Moving in a straight line, they writhed and flickered. Though seemingly slow, they left no time for reaction. Countless white lights around the three dragons vanished instantly—some dispersed, some melted, some absorbed—as the three-colored wasteland dragons shot into those white light spheres. A half-moon red light flashed briefly before disappearing…
That was the sword blade; the final red light was the sword’s aura. The earlier three-colored wasteland dragons were merely their original forms driven by true energy. With a clang, Liu Yi sheathed his sword again. Watching the white light, finally, the light sphere stopped attacking the moment it was cut.
Liu Yi knew it no longer had the ability to attack. As a gentle breeze blew, the white light sphere instantly turned into light and drifted into the ancient forest. Looking at that light, Liu Yi thought to himself—could it be… this light sphere was immortal? Could it reassemble even after turning into light?
If that were the case, the Cold Sword must have faced the same obstacle as well. But he thought he had already killed that light spirit, so there was no need to explain further to Liu Yi. If that was the case, everything made sense.
Liu Yi didn’t overthink it, as he had more important things to do. He must obtain the “Chapter of Heaven.” Although using it as a bait to cause chaos between the righteous and evil factions, it would be worth it if it could unify the evil faction. Besides, Liu Yi never believed that anything created by Pangu could compare to his sword.
He didn’t know how long he walked while thinking, but suddenly, everything became clear before him. Ancient trees stood in orderly rows of three by three, forming a cube that surrounded the space. A clearing about sixty feet wide and ten feet long appeared before Liu Yi. It seemed like a deliberately designed layout, but what did it mean?
In the center of the square clearing, an eight-trigram-shaped ground housed an odd box enclosed within an octagonal cube. The box appeared huge—at least ten times the size of Liu Yi. At the top of the box was a white bead the size of an egg. At that moment, a beam of sunlight shone down from above, causing the white bead to emit a dazzling light that illuminated the surroundings clearly.
It was then that Liu Yi noticed strange symbols painted all around the box. They didn’t look like words, yet they resembled drawings. Liu Yi thought to himself, “Could this be Pangu’s seal? But… could the ‘Chapter of Heaven’ be sealed inside such a large box? If so, Pangu must have created many ancient martial arts.”
As the light grew stronger, the white bead became brighter and brighter. Liu Yi grew curious. Even the Night Name Pearl wasn’t this large, and it seemed the bead could absorb light—definitely not an ordinary item. His curiosity about this seal grew even more.
Liu Yi slowly drew out his “Sorrowful Dream” sword, thinking, “Since it’s Pangu’s seal, it must be extremely powerful. Whatever’s inside, if I break this seal, I’ll know the answer.” By now, Liu Yi wasn’t guessing anymore. Yes, what could be more conclusive than facts?

As the flow of sword intent surged, the “Lanerfina Qing” meditation technique instantly reached its peak level. The burning desire for slaughter filled Liu Yi with power, and a hurricane arose, gathering the world’s magical energy and floating around Liu Yi in an instant. The rolling red clouds of blood symbolized the arrival of a true demon. With that gaze obscured, the white sphere no longer emitted any light either; seemingly sensing some danger, it slowly retracted.

With white hair flying and dust swirling, Liu Yi’s black leather coat flapped as he flashed a red light in his eyes. He grasped his long sword and swung it diagonally from the ground, carrying a wisp of dust. The red sword light flashed and struck the massive octagonal box head-on. With a “bang,” a halo appeared around the box, neutralizing the red blade force, rendering it invisible. Liu Yi frowned and thought to himself, “What a powerful seal! This definitely wasn’t created by Pangu alone. Even if Pangu were strong, he wouldn’t be strong enough to create such a seal. But what could have led the gods to impose such a seal?”

After the halo disappeared, the octagonal box instantly returned to its original state. Liu Yi finally understood why the Cold Sword had left this place—given their current cultivation level, it was impossible to break this seal. Yet Liu Yi was unwilling to give up. Could a well-planned plan be abandoned just because of a minor setback?

Suddenly, Liu Yi thought of Long Yan. Long Yan’s aura could melt anything. Since he couldn’t break the seal with his own cultivation, he would try using Long Yan’s power combined with his own skills. A fire-elemental artifact paired with the power of the 13th level of demonic cultivation should have a chance to break the seal imposed by the gods.

Liu Yi deliberately concentrated the powerful true energy of the 13th level of “Lanerfina Qing” onto the “Sorrowful Dream” sword, using only the energy to unleash Long Yan’s aura. In an instant, the sword in his hand emitted a yellow light. As more true energy was poured into it, the blade’s light shifted from yellow to red, then to purplish-red, accompanied by a warm sensation.

Due to Long Yan’s overwhelming aura, the ground began to crack, and the intense heat distorted the surrounding space. But what was the structure of this Forgotten Forest? The ancient trees around it didn’t burn despite the extreme heat, clearly indicating that these trees were special. Liu Yi grew even more curious about this Forgotten Forest—such high temperatures couldn’t burn those trees at all, which was truly remarkable.

As the true energy continued to accumulate, Liu Yi delayed unleashing Long Yan, as he wanted to use his supreme true energy in conjunction with Long Yan’s power to break through the seal. Therefore, he needed to concentrate his true energy for a long time.

Fifteen minutes is not a long time at all, but for gathering true essence energy, it is quite insufficient. At this moment, Liu Yi’s entire body turned purplish-red due to the domineering aura of Dragon Flame. The demonic aura in the sky kept converging around Liu Yi’s body in a vortex-like pattern, with purple lightning flashing above his head from time to time. His white hair fluttered as his eyes turned blood red—he had reached his limit. With a flick of his right hand, the “Sorrowful Dream” sword soared into the sky. A flash of purple light appeared, and as the light emerged, Liu Yi shouted, “Transform!”

The entire “Sorrowful Dream” sword transformed into a purplish-red monstrous dragon—Dragon Flame. Its body was surrounded by flames, with only its red eyes visible. With a loud roar carrying the power to burn everything, Dragon Flame rushed straight at the octagonal box, aiming diagonally at the white pearl.

With a clanging sound, as it made contact, Dragon Flame’s body gradually faded, its flames slowly disappearing, and it transformed back into the “Sorrowful Dream,” now embedded diagonally in the pearl.

Liu Yi was overjoyed. If the sword had pierced through the halo and pierced the white pearl, it meant the seal imposed by the gods had been broken. In other words, what was inside that huge box would soon be revealed.

Prompted by this realization, Liu Yi didn’t hesitate further and stepped forward. But after just a few steps, he noticed his feet trembling violently, as if the entire earth was shaking. He stopped abruptly and looked around, but saw nothing unusual.

However, when his gaze fell on the huge box, he was shocked to see that the white pearl with the “Sorrowful Dream” sword embedded in it was gradually cracking downward, and the box itself also developed massive cracks. As these cracks appeared, the earth trembled, filling Liu Yi with shock! What was sealed inside that seal was definitely not the “Chapter of Heaven.”

With a flick of his right hand, the “Sorrowful Dream” flew back into his hand. He sheathed the sword and stood upright, waiting for something to happen. Judging from those cracks, there must be a living thing inside the sealed box—meaning this seal had nothing to do with the legend of the “Chapter of Heaven.”

As Liu Yi pondered, the octagonal box suddenly split in two, and the eight trigrams pattern below emitted white light. The dazzling light allowed Liu Yi to faintly see something rising from inside the box and soaring into the sky. Instinctively, he moved slightly, leaving behind a afterimage as he stepped back.

Liu Yi suddenly felt an immense force before him—filled with killing intent and hostility. He thought to himself, “Could what’s sealed inside be a world-destroying entity like the Nine Nether Demons?” He looked upward along the white light.

In an instant, it emerged from that huge box—a massive white light dragon stood high in the sky, its entire body swirling around. Only its eyes were red; the rest was completely enveloped in white light. Liu Yi was stunned and exclaimed, “It’s Long Hui.” The embodiment of light, Long Hui was said to be the strongest among the Barren Dragons, comparable even to the Dragon Emperor. Yet, for some reason, it had suddenly disappeared at one point.

Liu Yi sensed something was wrong. If this Barren Dragon had been sealed by the gods in this Forgotten Forest, what did that mean? Its power far exceeded the gods’ imagination, which was why they sealed it—this was Liu Yi’s first guess.

Just as Liu Yi was uneasy, a voice came through, seemingly filled with doubt: “It was you who broke my seal.”

Liu Yi was even more shocked. This was the only Barren Dragon he could speak to—of course, not the one in his dreams. If so, Long Hui’s power seemed to surpass that of the Dragon Emperor, and it had been sealed by the divine realm due to its immense strength.

Liu Yi looked up at the giant dragon swirling in the sky and said, “Yes.”

Long Hui’s blood-red eyes scanned Liu Yi before it asked, “Are you a demon?”

Liu Yi nodded and replied, “Yes.”

Long Hui suddenly laughed—a laugh that already carried human emotions, tinged with confusion. It continued, “How absurd. The divine realm seals me, yet the demonic realm frees me. The world has changed, and so have the gods and demons.”

Liu Yi asked, “Why did the divine realm seal you?”

Long Hui replied, “Why? It’s been so long; I’ve forgotten too. I think they feared I would disrupt the order of the three realms, so they sealed me. Since they couldn’t kill me, they resorted to this despicable scheme.”

Liu Yi also laughed suddenly. “Haha, those gods like Pangu are just gods driven by selfish desires. In truth, they fear your power surpassing theirs, that’s why they try to suppress you.”

Long Hui continued, “At last, I’m free. Tell me, to break my seal for you, I can agree to one of your conditions or do one thing for you.”

Liu Yi glanced at Long Hui and suddenly raised ‘Sorrowful Dream,’ saying, “Fine. If you can help me, then obey me, enter the body of ‘Sorrowful Dream,’ and follow me forever.”

Long Hui paused for a moment before replying, “Your condition seems too domineering—follow you forever? What reason do you have for me to follow you?”

A red glow flashed in Liu Yi’s eyes as he said, “Does following me need a reason? I can’t explain it, but I must subdue the Eight Wonders Divine Dragon. Otherwise, how can I even consider challenging the divine realm?”

Long Hui said, “What boldness! You want to subdue the Eight Wonders Divine Dragon? Let’s see if you have the ability.” With that, two red beams shot from Long Hui’s eyes, aiming straight at the two ancient trees behind Liu Yi. It was light—pure light. The moment Liu Yi saw it, the light struck the trees behind him, instantly turning them into stone trees.

Liu Yi thought to himself, “So fast. It’s light. If you look at it with your eyes, how can you possibly avoid it?”

Long Hui continued, “What do you see? Do you think you have the ability to dodge my consecutive attacks? Do you think you can exceed the speed of light? Even if you could, do you have the confidence to dodge?”
Liu Yi pondered Long Hui’s questions deeply. Indeed, even if he could exceed the speed of light, he still couldn’t dodge it unless he attacked first. But Long Hui embodied the essence of light—every one of his movements would be detected by it. If speed were the criterion, with light illuminating the entire land and everything around it within its sight, who could possibly be more sensitive than light?
Yet Liu Yi had to try. If he couldn’t subdue Long Hui, how could he hope to tame the Eight Deserts Divine Dragon…
Liu Yi smiled and said, “You can sense everything within your range. That reminds me of something. But if I can’t even subdue you, how can I talk about entering the World of Gods? If you doubt my abilities, then let’s begin now.”
As he spoke, Liu Yi gradually closed his eyes and slowly drew out the ‘Sorrowful Dream’ sword, tilting it on the ground. He knew how fast Long Hui was, so he had to be faster. But the naked eye was no longer sufficient to match Long Hui’s speed. Thus, he relied on his senses, on that faint sense to be faster.
As Liu Yi closed his eyes, the demonic energy around him gradually gathered around his body. The powerful true energy of the 13th level, ‘Lanelfina Qing,’ quickly filled his entire body. Three dragon shadows of the divine dragons spiraled around the sword, sealing off all his consciousness. He relied entirely on his senses to perceive every detail—airflow, tree growth, the angle of sunlight.
Long Hui looked at Liu Yi’s sword and said, “It seems you do have some skills—able to reclaim Dragon Flame and Dragon Zeal and break the seals of the gods. I just wonder if you can pass this test. If you can, I will follow you forever.”
Liu Yi’s other consciousness was fully awakened, allowing him to sense everything around him. His movements were controlled entirely by his consciousness, a natural reaction to attacks, bolstered by the power of the three divine dragons.
Liu Yi smiled and said, “Let’s begin. You may be a challenge, but I have no way back. It’s a fight to the death—failure means death. If I can’t even subdue you, whether I live or die doesn’t matter.”
Long Hui laughed fiercely, a laugh filled with human emotion yet expressing arrogance. He believed his speed was already the fastest. How could a demon compare to him? With a loud roar, the white light around him intensified. Hovering in the air, it mercilessly shot red petrifying rays at Liu Yi, firing them from different angles, in varying quantities, and at different speeds.
In that dark space, Liu Yi only saw red rays appearing before his eyes. If he attacked now, it would be too late. So he didn’t act. He relaxed his consciousness, relying solely on natural resistance and reflexive reactions to defend against those red rays.

The angle shifted to the sky, revealing a white light dragon circling at various angles, with red light continuously shining downward. If it were an ordinary person, at the speed of the dragon’s light, they would have been petrified thousands of times by now. But Liu Yi was no ordinary person—he had broken through to the thirteenth level of “Lanelfina Qing” once again and evolved his “Sorrowful Dream” sword. From the aerial perspective, the figure stood with his sword upright at an angle, seemingly motionless, as it was invisible to the naked eye. Yet his shadows kept flipping up and down—one, two… Liu Yi’s actual body showed no sign of movement, while the eighteen shadows continuously changed the sword’s position, blocking, slashing, and intercepting the deadly light of the dragon’s glow with illusory movements. Most astonishingly, though the real body remained still, the eighteen shadows, despite their constant changes, never strayed an inch from it, continuously blocking attacks. While relying on natural defense and thinking through strategies, Liu Yi finally understood that if the best defense is offense, that doesn’t apply to him. At this moment, he was doing the opposite—using the most clever defense, letting his highest level of breakthrough serve as natural movement, and seizing the enemy’s weaknesses at the fastest speed to deliver a fatal strike… The dragon’s light circled in the sky faster and faster, with more and more red light hitting Liu Yi. Yet his shadows prevented that light from approaching even slightly. Countless shadows spread out from Liu Yi’s body, blocking the red light in an instant with a single motion. It seemed Liu Yi wasn’t moving, but because he was so fast, countless shadows appeared to take the hit… Inside Liu Yi’s world, however, it was eerily quiet. At this moment, his body and consciousness were completely separated. His body moved at speeds beyond light, creating countless illusions, while in his consciousness, his world was black, with only the light dragon circling. After several circles, Liu Yi finally found the perfect spot to strike—right in the middle of the dragon’s head… Liu Yi suddenly opened his eyes wide and moved his hands swiftly. His long sword slashed diagonally, raising dust around him. As the sword was raised, a red light flashed instantly into the dragon’s eyes!