One more catty, one more attribute point

Boom!

A blazing Heavenly Thunder descended from the sky.

The silver-white lightning clashed and annihilated the Demon Flames fiercely burning on Xu Hanlin's body, ultimately both dissipating into nothingness. Even the few streaks of lightning that managed to break through the barrier posed by the Demon Flames only managed to tear through Xu Hanlin's clothes.

Beneath his black robe, a layer of semi-transparent scales covered Xu Hanlin's skin.

His exaggeratedly strong body blocked the force of the Heavenly Thunder from outside.

Witnessing this scene firsthand,

both Yuan Qianqiu and Cui Mingri's expressions turned extremely grave; they felt a tremendous pressure emanating from Xu Hanlin.

"Who are you?" Cui Mingri narrowed his eyes.

Though the person in black maintained a calm demeanor, the hostility emanating from him was clear and obvious.

Yuan Qianqiu's expression darkened slightly as he reached out to grab Cui Mingri's arm, unwilling to engage in conflict with Xu Hanlin here. Although they didn't know Xu Hanlin's specific background, just the strength he had displayed was already beyond the combined capability of the two of them to cope with.

"You mean the person we just saw?"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Xu Hanlin nodded.

Yuan Qianqiu pointed in the direction Su Heng had just passed, "At the deepest part of the Cloud Heaven Secret Realm, if you want to find him, you can follow that direction deeper in."

"I see," Xu Hanlin nodded, "There's another matter..."

"What is it?" Yuan Qianqiu furrowed his brows tightly.

"The Cloud Key," Xu Hanlin pointed towards the position of Cui Mingri's chest.

There, a Cloud Key shone with a faint light amidst the darkness, warding off the terrible calamity from outside. "I need that thing."

"Are you joking?" Yuan Qianqiu's eyebrows furrowed harshly.

They had pushed themselves to their limits by coming here. If they removed the Cloud Key, they would be severely injured by the Heavenly Thunder on the spot. At that point, dying right here was a highly probable outcome, especially since neither of them had a physique like Su Heng's nor the strange Demon Flames burning on Xu Hanlin.

"Is that so..." Xu Hanlin nodded with a hint of disappointment.

He took one step back, as if he intended to leave this area. Yet, in the moment of his retreat, his figure flashed, and he abruptly reached out in an attempt to grab Cui Mingri. Cui Mingri, whose gaze had been fixed on Xu Hanlin, was alert and aware the instant the other moved.

Flames of scarlet fire covered his body in that instant.

At the same time, his left hand formed a claw.

He pressed down fiercely towards Xu Hanlin's neck.

Squish!

Cui Mingri's pupils dilated, and he vomited a mouthful of scarlet blood.

Xu Hanlin's figure in front of him had already vanished. Looking down, his chest had a gaping, mangled hole. The Cloud Key, along with a large chunk of flesh, was ruthlessly torn out in that very moment. Even his heart was severely damaged and was now uncontrollably spouting fresh blood.

"How is this possible!?" Staring at the gruesome wound on his chest, a look of astonishment appeared on Cui Mingri's face.

With the Cloud Key gone, the Yin Wind and calamitous fires howled towards him.

Add in his severe injuries, and Cui Mingri's eyes rolled back as he immediately lost consciousness.

Meanwhile, Yuan Qianqiu's complexion turned exceedingly ugly. He reached out to catch Cui Mingri, shaking his teeth as he took off his own Cloud Key and draped it over Cui Mingri's body. Then, spitting out a breath, he shot out a glint of cold light that instantly froze Cui Mingri's body.

After finishing this series of actions,

Cui Mingri's life was temporarily preserved.

But as for Yuan Qianqiu, disaster had struck. His bear-like robust frame was nearly turned into charred remains by a bolt of Heavenly Thunder.

His body shook, and without hesitation, he hoisted the half-dead Cui Mingri onto his shoulder and took large strides, dashing towards the exit of the Cloud Heaven Secret Realm with extreme speed.

...

...

Elsewhere, Su Heng arrived at the very center of the Cloud Heaven Secret Realm.

Above the floating land in the air.

He originally thought that standing on it would feel unstable, but in reality, it was quite the opposite. Su Heng stomped down hard, causing cracks to spread, but the land did not collapse. The secret realm's formation exerted a powerful gravitational pull compressing these rocks into something exceptionally hard, even more durable than ordinary mountains.

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Su Heng's gaze lifted to survey his surroundings.

The ground, smoothed by the fierce winds, was as even as a plaza made of black marble.

The land was vast, stretching beyond sight. The sky was also black, with flashes of lightning illuminating it. The lightning was a scorching red, not only intensely hot but also mingled with the power from the eternal heavens, the force so exaggerated it was unbelievable.

Any random streak of lightning here could grievously injure Heavenly Deceit.

Within sight, peaks of lacquered black mountains rose from the ground, piercing into the clouds. They stood like pillars supporting the palace of this world, immensely majestic.

It was unclear how they formed, but they stood unyielding amid the lightning and scorching flames. These ancient black peaks were carved with natural runes, drawing power from the surrounding environment. They seemed to be the key to sustaining "Cloud Heaven", only forming during specific time periods.

Looking upwards,

Su Heng came into close contact with the phantom left by a Tyrant Dragon.

From a distance, the sight of that formidable Dragon Power and its world-shaking bearing was already enough to inspire awe in anyone.

But upon reaching the very center of the "Cloud Heaven Secret Realm," the scene that unfolded was even more exaggerated. A body as vast as a mountain, scales with a metallic luster, and those gigantic wings that blotted out the sun...

"Wings?"

Su Heng fixed his gaze to confirm that he was not mistaken.

The Domineering Dragon had the classic appearance of an Eastern dragon, but with wings added... In Su Heng's memory, in the myths of his previous life, there seemed to be only one that met this criteria. That was Ying Long, hailed as the number one war deity in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, who assisted Emperor Xuanyuan in slaying Chi You.

In some ancient myths, Ying Long was also worshiped as a creator deity.

The "Ying Long" from his memories and the Domineering Dragon phantom that Su Heng saw in the secret realm seemed to overlap significantly.

"Could the two be from the same source?"

Su Heng had been in this world for nearly six years.

Some mythological references in both worlds indeed had many commonalities.

Although true dragons in the records invariably possessed the supreme power of moving mountains and reversing heavens, each real dragon was considered the pinnacle of evolution, far surpassing the limits of the power hierarchy Su Heng currently understood. But among these true dragons, there seemed to be a system of hierarchy as well.

And, if nothing else, the "Domineering Dragon" was one of the oldest and most formidable amongst them.

To date.

Su Heng had encountered two real dragons.

The first was the Domineering Dragon in front of him now, the second was the owner of the Dragon Blood in An Shelie's body.

The ink dragon buried in the Dragon Abyss prairie. Su Heng was deeply familiar with the power of the ink dragon; despite being fallen for who knows how many years, a segment of Dragon Marrow from its body could still bring about a transformative change in Su Heng.

But, just from the aura felt,

The already fallen ink dragon and the phantom of the Domineering Dragon before him clearly differed.

Su Heng noted down these key points to research further once he returned. However, the pressing matter was to take advantage of the opportunity and complete the Thirteen Phases Tyrant Dragon Secret Technique. If he missed this chance, he would have to wait for the Cloud Heaven Secret Realm to open again, which would be in thirty years' time.

With that thought—

The ground beneath Su Heng's feet "boom" exploded, and he leaped forward.

Lightning flickered, and Su Heng's burly figure was now atop a massive pitch-black mountain peak at the very heart of the Cloud Heaven Secret Realm.

He sat down cross-legged.

Above his head, a low-hanging, lead-gray sea of clouds spun, with the majestic form of the Domineering Dragon coiling within.

Below Su Heng, there was an endless expanse of black scorched earth. Ancient peaks stood tall, piercing the sky. The vast expanse between heaven and earth was filled with the destructive forces of Heavenly Thunder and earth flames. Everything within sight was devastation, yet Su Heng's body remained stalwart.

Dragon Blood boiled within him, his body so strong it defied belief.

Even if wounded, he healed quickly with the Healing process. During Healing, the potential of the Dragon Blood was further excavated, enhancing his defenses as if steel through hundreds of refinements. Amidst increasingly violent Heavenly Thunder, Su Heng's physique grew even more fierce and intimidating.

The attribute panel appeared before his eyes.

Su Heng steadily injected his accumulated thousands of attribute points into it.

As a massive number of attribute points were spent, the completion degree of the Domineering Dragon Thirteen Forms Secret Method correspondingly increased.

In but a breath,

It had risen from the initial 71 to 72, then continued to surge to 73. It kept growing steadily without pause, everything progressing as expected, quite stable. Su Heng retracted his gaze from the attribute panel, nodding his head with a satisfied smile on his face.

He closed his eyes, his hands loosely held in front of his navel, emptying his mind. He attempted to communicate with the mark left by the Domineering Dragon using his Spirit, hoping to gain some additional benefits from this phantom.

Unfortunately, not knowing whether the method was wrong or if he was too fanciful.

Su Heng was not successful.

Instead, he discovered the special environment of the Cloud Heaven Secret Realm.

Since the Domineering Dragon had left its mark here a thousand years ago, Su Heng wondered if in the even more ancient times, other powerful beings had also engraved their marks and left traces here.

As Su Heng pondered, a sudden sense of alarm surged within him.

Swish!

A black light shot towards him.

Su Heng sidestepped flashily, and the black light hit the mountain behind him.

With a "boom," the mountain instantly exploded, shattered into pieces, and the whole ground vibrated with a buzzing sound.

Su Heng had already tested on his arrival: the Cloud Heaven Secret Realm was extraordinarily solid.

To cause such damage here, one must possess profound cultivation, a rare and formidable opponent indeed.

"Has the time finally come?" he mused, looking toward one side, yet the newcomer was not the Buddhist group he had anticipated, but another figure wearing black clothes and black hair, with red eyes—a muscular silhouette.

Their gazes met across the distance, and Su Heng sensed an almost insane hatred in the eyes of the newcomer. This person's face also gave him an inexplicably familiar feeling.

After a moment's thought, Su Heng's expression cleared.

"So it's you... Xu Hanlin." He slowly rose from the peak, a teasing smile on his face.