Chapter 621: Dragon Subduing
For Ying Zhoufan, monsterfolk discrimination had always been a mere slogan, a tool to elevate his own status.
He didn’t entirely believe in the theory of monsterfolk discrimination.
After all, if the Human Race discriminated against his noble bloodline, that would indeed be problematic and worthy of his anger.
But if they discriminated against lower-tier Rat Monsters or Insect Monsters… Ying Zhoufan considered that perfectly normal. He himself looked down on these inferior monsters.
Conversely, wealthy and powerful humans commanded his respect, especially given the Human-Monster Origin Theory, which monsterfolk scholars had been promoting through archaeological research in recent years — the idea that humans evolved from monsters.
Although many in the Human Race rejected the Human-Monster Origin Theory, Ying Zhoufan remained a staunch believer, and many of his monsterfolk friends shared his conviction.
Therefore, now that he had sensed Zhang Yu’s formidable strength, he no longer viewed him as mere scum. At the very least, Zhang Yu was a Champion-level human.
Ying Zhoufan’s offer of cooperation and mutual benefit carried at least half-genuine sincerity.
“If I continue fighting Zhang Yu within his great formation,” Ying Zhoufan thought to himself, “even if I manage to break through, I’ll likely suffer severe injuries.”
“If we cooperate, Zhang Yu and I can surpass everyone else and reach the finish line together… By then, we’ll have long escaped his great formation. I can then launch a sneak attack to determine first and second place.”
“If that Zhang Yu refuses to cooperate, I’ll just have to endure until the end.”
At that moment, Ying Zhoufan’s dragon body twisted, preparing for a direct confrontation with the great formation.
Facing Ying Zhoufan’s proposal, Zhang Yu simply said, “Receive my sword.”
In the next instant, as Zhang Yu’s sword finger lightly tapped, hundreds upon thousands of cold lights erupted forth like a meteor shower, streaking toward Ying Zhoufan.
The colossal dragon roared violently, its dragon body sweeping through the water to unleash towering, raging waves, as if to churn the entire sea into a boiling cauldron.
Zhang Yu countered with the Eternal Calamity Abyss technique, unleashing the Earthly Fiend Gravity he had been accumulating since the start of the battle. This gravity prison, shaped like a massive gravitational cage, closed in on the dragon.
Ying Zhoufan frantically waved his Monster Summoning Banner, attempting to shield his Spirit Realm signals amidst the swirling dust and smoke. His strikes repeatedly clashed with Zhang Yu’s Sword Realm, yet he remained unable to shake free of the Great Sun Moral Sword Intent’s relentless lock.
As the two exchanged a series of lightning-fast strikes, a barrage of hastily summoned flying swords finally descended upon Ying Zhoufan like a torrential rain.
The instant the sword artifacts clashed with the dragon armor, sparks erupted underwater, followed by the armor gradually fracturing under the relentless sword assault, erupting in a massive cloud of blood mist.
Roar!
Amidst the dragon’s roar, Ying Zhoufan bellowed, “Zhang Yu! You shall never trample upon the dignity of my monsterfolk! I would rather die than surrender!”
Simultaneously, ripples carried Ying Zhoufan’s voice to Zhang Yu’s ears: “Enough already, don’t you think? Even if you manage to seriously injure me, you’ll have wasted time. Neither of us will achieve a good score. What’s the point?”
“I’ll feign a grievous injury, you’ll capture me, and I’ll guide you to the finish line.”
Faced with Ying Zhoufan’s telepathic persuasion, Zhang Yu simply roared, “Come!”
In the next instant, amidst the furious combat, crimson flowers of blood erupted across Ying Zhoufan’s body. His strength seemed to wane abruptly, yet he still maintained a facade of desperate resistance, though clearly outmatched.
Witnessing this, Zhang Yu inwardly mused, “What a show! Is he trying to cast me as the hero who defies monsterfolk discrimination and oppression, all to highlight my own strength?”
“I’ll grant you that.”
Countless sword artifacts plunged into Ying Zhoufan’s dragon body, eliciting a bloodcurdling roar.
As the dragon’s jaws gaped open, Zhang Yu spat out a fiery beam — the Heavenly Sun Radiance God — which shot straight into Ying Zhoufan’s body.
As the Heavenly Sun Radiance God burrowed into his abdomen, Ying Zhoufan let out a furious dragon’s bellow.
Then, under the repeated assault of sword artifacts and fiery beams, Ying Zhoufan thrashed wildly before being forcefully dragged before Zhang Yu.
Through the churning water, Ying Zhoufan’s voice hissed, “Enough already? Let’s take first place together.”
Zhang Yu thought to himself, “This monster is yielding too easily. There’s bound to be a trap. He probably wants to use my strength to reach the finish line before striking.”
Ying Zhoufan mused inwardly, “Hmph, I’ll let you have the upper hand for now. It’ll help me complete my act: the monsterfolk hero who endures discrimination and brutal suppression before staging a final, desperate comeback.”
Zhang Yu pondered, “We’ll race to the finish line together, and then…”
Ying Zhoufan plotted, “I’ll ambush him and steal first place!”
Meanwhile, outside the underwater storm raging from Zhang Yu and Ying Zhoufan’s fierce battle…
Mu Qiansi’s figure left a trail of afterimages as she surged forward relentlessly.
“Fine, fine, you two can keep fighting to the end of time,” she thought to herself. “I’ll just take the lead now.”
But moments later, she felt a tremor in the water. A colossal dragon shadow burst through the storm, hurtling past her position with astonishing speed and vanishing in an instant.
“That was…”
Mu Qiansi frowned, recalling the scene she had just witnessed.
She saw Zhang Yu standing proudly atop the dragon’s head, his foot planted squarely on Ying Zhoufan’s head as they charged forward.
“What happened to your monsterfolk pride? Subdued by a human so easily?”
Mu Qiansi cursed inwardly and poured every ounce of strength into her sprint, but she could only watch as the dragon and its rider steadily widened the gap between them.
The raging currents surged like countless massive hands, churning the water into spiraling whirlpools that propelled the pair forward.
Meanwhile, the surging Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power acted like invisible ropes, relentlessly pulling the dragon and its rider ahead.
With each twist of the dragon’s massive body, they gained another surge of violent acceleration.
Their relentless sprint stirred up violent underwater storms, creating chaotic currents that even impeded Mu Qiansi’s pursuit.
Realizing she couldn’t close the gap despite her best efforts, Mu Qiansi reluctantly admitted, “Their combined speed is now beyond my reach.”
Meanwhile, as Zhang Yu steered the colossal dragon forward, he diverted a strand of his consciousness to sense the unusual sensation emanating from the Azure Water Golden Crystal Armor.
During their recent battle, the armor had come into contact with the blood that erupted from Ying Zhoufan’s exploding body, absorbing a few drops. This seemed to have finally partially satisfied its lingering hunger for blood.
Moreover, as Zhang Yu’s Crippled Ox Body-Sacrifice Heart Art and Immeasurable Heart Inner Dharma Body continued to circulate within his mind, they resonated powerfully with the blood-infused Azure Water Golden Crystal Armor.
Moments later, a fragment of cultivation art information materialized in Zhang Yu’s consciousness:
“Monster Saint’s Myriad Transformations Divine Scripture… another black art?”
“So, the Azure Water Golden Crystal Armor needs dragon blood? No, wait, Ying Zhoufan has Eagle Monster bloodline, so it’s eagle blood? Or… just monster blood?”
As Zhang Yu flipped through the fragments of the Monster Saint’s Myriad Transformations Divine Scripture, he mused inwardly, “The cultivation art information within the Azure Water Golden Crystal Armor requires not only resonance with the Crippled Ox Body-Sacrifice Heart Art and the Immeasurable Heart Inner Dharma Body but also an analysis of the monster race’s bloodline information.”
“Or perhaps…”
Zhang Yu repeatedly examined the scripture’s contents, his mind racing with hypotheses. “The knowledge itself is inherent within the monster race’s bloodline. The Azure Water Golden Crystal Armor might merely be a translated copy, activated by the combination of the monster bloodline and my two mental cultivation techniques.”
“To obtain the complete Monster Saint’s Myriad Transformations Divine Scripture, I’ll likely need the Azure Water Golden Crystal Armor to absorb more diverse monsterfolk bloodlines.”
Having made up his mind, Zhang Yu resolved to purchase blood samples from various monsterfolk species immediately after the competition concluded.
After all, he still had over 100 Spirit Coins at his disposal. If that proved insufficient… well, the advertising revenue from the next match should provide ample funds.
The thought of the advertising revenue rekindled Zhang Yu’s fighting spirit. “Regardless of Brother Dao’s performance in the next round, I’ll secure first place in this underwater challenge.”
“Only by securing first place and further boosting my popularity and Immortal Dao Potential can I continue to close the gap between myself and Dao Qiankun and Kuang Tianqing, improving my chances of winning the championship.”
With this thought, Zhang Yu barked, “Drink up! Let’s accelerate, Ying Zhoufan!”
Feeling the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power lash against him like a whip, forcing him to accelerate once more, Ying Zhoufan cursed inwardly but charged ahead.
The underwater scenery flashed by in a blur. When Ying Zhoufan reached the next registration area, he found a Fish Monster already waiting there, holding a black registration sphere.
Ying Zhoufan’s heart jolted. “So that’s how it is.”
Recalling intelligence about Zhang Yu, he pondered, “This guy used the Azure Water Golden Crystal Armor’s breeding function to cultivate a horde of Demon Beasts.”
“He then deployed these Demon Beasts to the later registration areas to secure the spheres in advance, saving himself the trouble of searching for them.”
“Wait a minute… if he doesn’t need to find registration spheres anymore, what am I supposed to do?”
Just as Ying Zhoufan was thinking this, he saw another Fish Monster pull out a black registration ball.
Zhang Yu casually said, “Hurry up and register.”
Ying Zhoufan’s heart jolted. “Is this guy deliberately having the Fish Monsters find black registration balls for me, just to keep me focused on speeding up and fully utilizing my speed?”
“Doesn’t he fear I might ultimately defeat him?” Ying Zhoufan thought.
“Hurry up,” Zhang Yu said flatly.
Sensing Zhang Yu’s unwavering confidence, Ying Zhoufan chuckled inwardly. “This guy… is he really so sure he’s got me figured out?”
Taking the black registration ball, Ying Zhoufan thought, “Then let’s settle this once and for all.”
After registering with both black balls, the man and the dragon accelerated forward again, chasing after the second-place position.
As for having the Fish Monsters collect more black balls, Zhang Yu couldn’t be bothered. After all, taking black registration balls out of the registration area was against the rules, and as long as they remained within the area, there was no way to prevent other competitors from detecting them.
Besides, the registration areas were teeming with black balls — far more than the 11 competitors needed. Hiding a few would be utterly pointless.
As the fusion between man and dragon accelerated, and with the added advantage of skipping the black registration ball searches in subsequent registration areas, they maintained their momentum like lightning, advancing with astonishing speed. Before long, they spotted a figure who had merged completely with his sword.
It was Yu Yunzhan from Heavenly Sword University, an academic overachiever who had taken over Bai Zhenzhen’s Relay Ball. He had once piloted the Sky-Patrolling Flying Swords alongside Wen Wuya to support the regular team tournament.
Now, Yu Yunzhan was one with his sword, his entire being transformed into a streak of sword qi. He cleaved through the underwater currents, hurtling forward at full speed.
In an instant, Yu Yunzhan felt an enormous shadow envelop him, gradually overtaking him with astonishing speed.
The sea currents churned up by the massive figure surged toward him like a storm, forcing him to reduce his speed to resist the turbulent flow.
“What is this…” Yu Yunzhan murmured, watching the man and dragon recede into the distance, inwardly astonished. “Has Zhang Yu subdued Ying Zhoufan?”
The rankings shifted again. Ying Zhoufan climbed to second place, with Zhang Yu hot on his heels in third.