Chapter 52: Beneath the Moonlight

With a deafening roar, Xuanqing's entire body plunged completely into the earth. Yet another massive explosion rocked the area, blasting a smaller, secondary crater right out of the center of the giant abyss.

Zhou Yu and the colorful macaque collapsed on opposite sides, their mouths gaping wide as they gasped for heavy breaths.

The pale moonlight spilled dimly across the earth. The massive crater spanned roughly a mile in circumference. Zhou Yu lifted his head with great difficulty to scan his surroundings before falling heavily back to the ground.

He still could not find the slightest trace of Lady Fox. Could this truly have been a self-detonation style of attack?

In the distance, a streak of dark energy surged forward at high speed, plunging straight into Zhou Yu's body.

Although this dark energy came from merely one of Zhou Yu's avatars, his base energy reserves were already immense. The returning energy was enough to jolt his spirit awake. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and walked over to the colorful macaque.

Suddenly, a cold gleam flashed before his eyes. Zhou Yu immediately halted his steps. Peering closely into the dimness, he realized the flash came from the ox-fork. By now, the weapon was almost entirely destroyed—warped and battered to the point of resembling ash. Only the cold iron at the fork's tip seemed relatively intact, and the flash of light had been the moonlight reflecting off that scrap of metal.

Zhou Yu bent down to pick up the piece of cold iron, resting it in his palm. Though he had previously considered the ox-fork quite remarkable, he had never paid much attention to the cold iron on its tip, as the Bull King had never displayed any extraordinary properties with it. For a time, Zhou Yu had even used the fork to roast meat, only to find that the meat skewered upon it refused to cook at all, with the very flames actively avoiding the weapon.

Only now did Zhou Yu realize that the true marvel of the ox-fork lay entirely within its cold-iron tip. Yet, seeing the weapon destroyed, he felt a twinge of regret, knowing that such an artifact was a rare treasure even among the demon race.

Without dwelling on it too long, Zhou Yu grabbed the two pointed pieces of cold iron. Feeling the biting chill emanating from them, he pondered finding a place to store the metal safely—it might prove useful someday—while walking toward the macaque.

He helped the macaque up and asked, "How are you holding up?"

The colorful macaque looked limply at Zhou Yu and muttered, "You brat, you didn't go all out?"

Zhou Yu smiled and replied, "I recalled the avatar I left behind at Flower Fruit Mountain."

The macaque nodded, though he chose not to summon back his own avatar left at Flower Fruit Mountain. After all, he possessed the Golden-Hooped Rod. By holding the staff in his hand, a continuous stream of energy would naturally flow into his body, though it could not match the instantaneous recovery Zhou Yu had just experienced.

Using the moonlight, Zhou Yu and the macaque peered down into the smaller crater. It was pitch black inside, revealing nothing whatsoever, leaving Xuanqing's fate unknown.

"Since you've recovered so much, why don't you go down and take a look?" the macaque suggested.

"Go down your sister! What if he's not dead and glares me to death with a single look!" Zhou Yu retorted angrily.

The macaque thought for a moment and decided to stop holding back. He sat cross-legged on the ground, tossed the golden staff high into the air, and shouted, "Go down and smash him!"

Under Zhou Yu's astonished gaze, the golden staff emanated a flowing radiance, grew to massive proportions, flipped upright, and slammed fiercely down into the pit.

With a thunderous boom, Zhou Yu felt the ground shudder violently.

Another heavy crash followed, sending mud splattering in all directions.

The macaque lay back on the ground, let out a comfortable sigh, and said, "I can smash him to death without even lifting a finger myself!"

Staring blankly at the endlessly descending Golden-Hooped Rod, Zhou Yu was consumed by envy, jealousy, and frustration. Hearing the macaque's remark, he complained, "You monkey! When did you learn this divine ability without telling me? You had me thinking you were weak and even taught you the avatar technique!"

The macaque chuckled and said, "If I hadn't done that, how else would I have tricked you into teaching me the avatar technique?"

Zhou Yu raged, "Trick your sister!"

"Heh-heh..."

Hearing the macaque still laughing, Zhou Yu snapped, "You're still laughing? And it sounds so damn ugly!"

The macaque forced himself up, wearing a mournful expression, and protested, "I wasn't laughing."

Zhou Yu turned back to look at the macaque, whose face was etched with absolute solemnity.

"Heh-heh..."

At that exact moment, the eerie, chilling laughter echoed once more.

Zhou Yu and the macaque shivered involuntarily.

Every hair on the macaque's body stood on end.

With an earth-shattering crash, the Golden-Hooped Rod shot straight up into the sky, hurtling far into the distance.

From deep within the crater, a beam of cyan light erupted.

"Roar!" Followed closely by an enraged, furious bellow.

"Xuanqing isn't dead!" Zhou Yu and the macaque stared at each other in dismay.

Zhou Yu couldn't help but think of the Divine Qilin, another sacred beast akin to Xuanqing. Even after being severely battered by Liu Wujian and Tian Xing, and enduring that massive explosion, it hadn't died, ultimately transforming into a tiny white beast that attached itself to Liu Yueming.

He had been far too careless! Knowing full well that sacred beasts were not so easily slain, he had actually let down his guard.

In truth, this could hardly be blamed on Zhou Yu; no matter how hard he tried, he still lacked the capability to truly kill Xuanqing.

Amidst the soaring pillar of cyan light, a cyan divine dragon, roughly thirty meters in length, slowly rose from the crater.

Xuanqing had been forced back into his true form, though the exact extent of the power he wielded in this shape remained unknown to Zhou Yu and the macaque. One thing was certain: it would be terrifyingly formidable!

The cyan divine dragon possessed a slender, serpentine body. Although some scales had peeled away and half of one claw was destroyed, the sheer pressure radiating from his form filled Zhou Yu and the macaque with suffocating dread, making them want to drop to their knees just to find relief.

Unlike the golden dragon summoned by Morrison, this cyan dragon possessed the authentic form of a mythological Eastern dragon—a creature gifted with miraculous abilities, entirely unlike the fire-breathing lizards of Western lore.

"Humble vermin, you actually dare to severely wound my physical body!" Once the divine dragon soared high into the air, he ceased his ascent, circling the sky three times before halting mid-air.

Zhou Yu noticed that the dragon was panting slightly.

Although Xuanqing had survived and revealed his true form, the injuries he had sustained were severe indeed.

Suddenly, the body of the Xuanqing dragon swayed unsteadily in the air. He closed his eyes in discomfort, then opened his jaws to expel a glob of black liquid mixed with dragon blood.

This foul matter splattered onto the ground, emitting a bizarre odor. Zhou Yu sniffed the air and vaguely deduced that these were the aphrodisiac pills he had forced the dragon to ingest earlier.

"Despicable vermin, using such filthy tricks to ambush me!" Though the Xuanqing dragon was currently extremely weak, with his internal energy in complete turmoil, he still had no intention of letting these two vermin-like entities escape.

"Lowly—"

"Go to hell!" Before the Xuanqing dragon could finish his sentence, the colorful macaque roared. The Golden-Hooped Rod, which had just been knocked away by Xuanqing, flew back automatically and slammed viciously toward the dragon.

With a deafening crash, a blinding burst of cyan light erupted from the dragon's body, blocking the staff. Even so, though it prevented a direct hit, the tremendous impact still sent him hurtling backward through the air.

The macaque continuously directed the golden staff in a flurry of assaults. Xuanqing was driven steadily backward, explosions of cyan light blooming across the sky.

"Roar! Humble vermin!" Xuanqing bellowed in fury, spitting a cyan energy sphere from his mouth directly at the Golden-Hooped Rod.

The staff was struck by the sphere and blasted backward. The macaque's spiritual consciousness shook violently, and he spat a mouthful of blood.

"Ah! Great Moon Goddess! Bestow upon me boundless power to annihilate these vermin!" Having sustained grievous injuries, suffered continuous strikes from the golden staff, and twice expended massive amounts of energy to deflect it, the Xuanqing dragon was forced to resort to his ultimate trump card.

Zhou Yu remained silent. With a grim expression, he broke into a sprint, charging directly toward the Xuanqing dragon, gripping the two pieces of cold iron tightly in his hands. He knew Xuanqing was attempting to unleash some sort of forbidden secret art.

The winds and clouds shifted dramatically. True to expectation, at Xuanqing's fervent call, the clouds in the sky raced across the firmament. Miraculously, the slender crescent moon rapidly transformed, swelling toward a full moon.

At that very moment, a gust of crimson wind swept across the earth, and Lady Fox materialized.

Her face was deathly pale. She was currently weakened to the absolute extreme. During the massive explosion, she had managed to recall her avatar just in time to replenish her energy, shedding her physical body to avert certain doom. Only now, after the blast, had she managed to barely reconstruct her true form, though her internal demonic power was virtually exhausted. The moment she appeared, she and Zhou Yu flanked the grounded Xuanqing, charging fiercely toward him from opposite sides.

Meanwhile, the colorful macaque sat cross-legged on the ground, using his spiritual sense to forcefully recall the Golden-Hooped Rod.

"Look over here!" Zhou Yu roared, hurling the two shards of cold iron before hunching his body and rocketing forward like a cannonball.

Hearing the shout, the Xuanqing dragon instinctively glanced toward Zhou Yu. Turning his head, he caught sight of two cold, starry glints hurtling rapidly toward his eyes. Since all of his energy was currently dedicated to summoning the full moon, he simply slammed his eyes shut.

With two muffled thuds, the cold iron struck Xuanqing's eyes. However, because his eyelids were exceptionally thick and tough, the metal failed to pierce his actual eyeballs, embedding themselves deep within his thick eyelids instead.

"Fox-Attack Technique!" Lady Fox sprinted forward while weaving hand seals in mid-air. A crimson fox materialized out of thin air, swelling to massive proportions. Composed entirely of blazing fire, the beast lunged at Xuanqing. Upon colliding with his body, it behaved like a basin of liquid fuel, igniting into a roaring inferno across his scales.

Xuanqing ignored the flames, allowing the strange fire to scorch his scales until they grew charred and emitted a foul, burning stench.

"Full moon! Bestow upon me your power!" Xuanqing threw his head back and chanted toward the heavens.

"Let me bestow my fists upon you!" Zhou Yu had already closed in, slamming a fierce punch directly at the Xuanqing dragon's head.

The blow packed terrifying force. Deprived of demonic energy for protection, Xuanqing at this moment was little more than a gigantic beast. Though his physical defense remained formidable, he was still sent reeling sideways by Zhou Yu's full-force punch.

"Boom, boom, boom!" Airborne, Zhou Yu continuously descended upon the dragon, his fists, kicks, and knees hammering relentlessly into Xuanqing's massive frame, actually driving the colossal beast backward through the air.

It was an utterly unimaginable sight: a divine dragon nearly thirty meters long being physically battered through the air by a human teenager!

At that moment, the wild boar soldiers arrived under the leadership of Fatty. Seeing Zhou Yu's heroic display, Fatty roared at the top of his lungs, "Lads! It's time to slaughter a dragon! Later on, I'll let you all taste dragon meat!"

The wild boar clan consisted entirely of voracious food lovers. Hearing that there was dragon meat to be had, how could they possibly hold back? They charged forward fearlessly, brandishing their weapons and raining blows upon the Xuanqing dragon.

A continuous chorus of metallic clanging rang out as their crude weapons struck the dragon's scales.

While these ordinary weapons could not inflict any serious harm on Xuanqing, being repeatedly hacked by a swarm of weak, ant-like entities wielding garbage-tier arms drove the proud dragon to the brink of absolute madness.

Lady Fox and Zhou Yu launched a second wave of coordinated assaults. A flash of resolute cruelty crossed Xuanqing's eyes. He threw his head back to glare at the nearly complete full moon hanging in the sky, gritted his teeth, and ignored his agonizing injuries. Whirling around, he swept his tail to knock all the wild boar soldiers flying, let out a furious roar, and began stumbling away like a madman.

Zhou Yu was momentarily stunned. The bastard was actually running away!

"Do you have any dignity left as a sacred beast? You're actually fleeing?!" Zhou Yu cursed loudly as he gave chase.

Xuanqing paid him no mind, coughing up blood as he stumbled frantically toward the distance.

At that exact instant, the moon in the sky finally transformed into a perfect full moon. A brilliant pillar of moonlight poured down, bathing Xuanqing's body in its glow.

Xuanqing stopped dead in his tracks. Bathed in the moonlight, the wounds across his body rapidly healed. Gradually, his form expanded once more, growing until it reached a staggering ninety meters in length before finally coming to a halt.

"Prepare to die!" Xuanqing spun around, unleashing a devastating dragon breath directly toward Zhou Yu.