Chapter 3: Last Roar Of A Dragon

Elsewhere, deep within the forbidden forest...

The silence was deafening.

Not that type of silence.

No, this was the silence before some sort of catastrophe.

Ao Kuiba stood beneath the broken canopies, his robes stained with blood from his own fingers.

Around him, dozens of cultivators surrounded the young man.

Imperial dragons.

Ancient warriors.

Disciples of other factions.

They had all come to kill Ao Kuiba, and yet, they made no move.

They had all witnessed first hand what Ao Kuiba had done.

They had watched as his broken arm reattached itself.

They had felt the power surge from his body, despite the poison spreading throughout his veins.

And now...now they were realizing something.

Ao Kuiba hadn’t been running blindly.

They had all seen the red robed youth’s eyes.

His arrogance had been stripped away.

Stripped away to reveal only caution.

The crimson masked killer looked up at Ao Kuiba.

His voice was hushed, as if not wanting to believe it himself.

"Kill him."

His voice was not loud.

No, this time he spoke quietly, almost in a whisper.

"Kill him now."

And with that, the surrounding cultivators exchanged glances before leaping into battle.

BOOOOOM!!

The forest was shattered by the force of the attacks.

Dozens of techniques tore through the trees.

Sword like beams shot down from the sky.

Dragon’s fire scorched the land.

Lightning split the heavens.

A giant golden claw shot forward, embedding itself into the earth before Ao Kuiba.

Ao Kuiba disappeared.

The golden claw sent cracks spiraling across the land, but the young man was long gone.

Poised behind one of the attackers, Ao Kuiba raised his hand, his palm slamming into the cultivator’s back.

BANG!!

The attacker’s protective layer of spiritual energy cracked, sending him flying through three ancient trees before vanishing into the forest.

Ao Kuiba turned, his eyes narrowing as another killer shot forward from the side.

Ao Kuiba caught the incoming sword just in time, his eyes locked onto the attacker’s face.

"You’re too slow."

Ao Kuiba twisted his wrist, sending a sickening crack through the air as the attacker’s sword broke.

His own arm sent the cultivator sprawling across the ground.

Ao Kuiba turned, watching as a golden dragon descended from above.

Ao Kuiba raised his head, his golden eyes narrowing.

The dragon’s fist came down, only for Ao Kuiba to catch it with ease.

A moment passed, and then Ao Kuiba smiled, the dragon’s eyes widening in horror.

"No..."

BOOOOOM!!

Ao Kuiba sent the beast crashing to the ground, sending shockwaves rippling through the land.

The surrounding cultivators took a step back, realization dawning on their faces.

"It’s impossible!"

"He’s poisoned!"

"How is he even standing?!"

"He should barely be able to circulate his energy!"

Ao Kuiba stood from the crater, blood trickling down his chin, his breathing ragged.

His vision was already growing blurry.

The poison was taking hold, and Ao Kuiba knew that soon, his body would give out.

But even as that realization set in, Ao Kuiba’s mind remained sharp.

Because despite everything, one thing had become clear to Ao Kuiba.

He did not have to win this battle.

Not really.

Ao Kuiba’s eyes slowly swept across the battlefield, his gaze landing on the red robed prince.

A smirk graced Ao Kuiba’s lips, so small that it could barely be seen.

The crimson mask man frowned.

"What are you smiling about?"

Ao Kuiba looked up at him, his golden eyes filled with amusement.

"You really haven’t noticed have you?"

"Noticed what?"

Ao Kuiba turned his gaze to the ground, his smirk widening.

Looking down at the earth, Ao Kuiba chuckled quietly.

The red robed prince’s expression paled as he realized what the Perfect Cultivator was looking at.

"Everyone!"

His voice was urgent, almost frantic.

"Get away from him!"

Too late.

Ao Kuiba stomped his foot against the ground.

BOOOOOM!!

The ground beneath the battlefield erupted, golden markings snaking out from Ao Kuiba’s position.

One.

Ten.

One hundred.

One thousand.

Dozens of runes flared to life across the forest, stretching from mountain to mountain.

The surrounding cultivators gasped in horror, their gazes snapping to Ao Kuiba in disbelief.

"What...what is this?!"

"Formation?!"

"How did he...?"

The red robed prince’s eyes were wide as he looked at the countless golden markings stretching out beneath them all.

"No..."

His voice was filled with disbelief.

"He’s been..." The prince’s voice shook as he looked at Ao Kuiba.

"He’s been laying formations!"

Everyone turned their gaze to Ao Kuiba.

It suddenly made sense.

The mountains Ao Kuiba had crossed.

The battlefield’s where he had fought.

Everywhere he had gone.

It had not been random at all.

It had all been leading to this.

The prince’s face drained of color as he stared at Ao Kuiba.

"You’ve been leading us here."

Ao Kuiba looked at him, his smirk still in place.

"For three days." Ao Kuiba’s voice was quiet, but it carried through the battlefield.

"You chased me for three days."

Ao Kuiba raised his hand.

Slowly, a golden rune appeared in his grasp.

"And during those three days." His smirk widened.

"I had plenty of time."

The formation roared to life, sending shockwaves across the land.

BOOOOOOM!

The mountains trembled, the sky distorting as the forest was consumed by the power of Ao Kuiba’s spell.

The cultivators gasped in horror.

"Break the formation!"

"Destroy the nodes!"

"Everyone attack!"

"Attack the formation!"

"Stop him from completing it!"

But it was too late.

Every strike, every technique was consumed by the runes, funneled through the formation and dissipated into the energy surrounding them.

Ao Kuiba’s eyes gleamed.

"Too late."

The red robed prince roared in fury.

"KU IBA!"

His voice seemed to resonate with the forest itself as the realization of what Ao Kuiba had done truly set in.

"You’ll die too!"

Ao Kuiba laughed.

His bloodied face was calm, almost serene, as he looked at the prince.

"I know."

The prince stared at Ao Kuiba, his heart pounding in his chest.

Ao Kuiba’s brothers had always feared him.

Feared his talents, his strength, his power.

But none of it was what frightened them most.

Because they had realized, in that moment, that Ao Kuiba’s true power was not his strength, or his cultivation.

It was the fact that while everyone else had lost their minds, Ao Kuiba’s mind had remained sharp.

That he was still thinking, still calculating.

Even now, as his body failed him, Ao Kuiba could still think.

His gaze burned with a strange intensity, his mind racing through the possibilities.

The formation continued to expand, and the sky was consumed by the power of Ao Kuiba’s runes.

A massive vortex of power appeared in the heavens, and beyond it, the cultivators could see...nothing.

Their was simply nothing beyond the vortex, save for an endless abyss.

Swirling with chaotic energy, the vortex pulled everything towards it.

Trees.

Rocks.

Spiritual beasts.

Cultivators.

Even the earth itself was consumed by the black maw.

The red robed prince grabbed a boulder next to him, his fingers digging into the stone.

"KU IBA!"

Ao Kuiba stood at the center of it all, his bloodied clothes hanging from his body.

His silver hair whipped around in the storm, his body cracking beneath the force of the runes.

But he smiled.

"You wanted me dead." Ao Kuiba’s voice was quiet, but his words rang through the storm.

"You’ve dragged all of us into this!"

Ao Kuiba tilted his head, a frown appearing on his bloodied face.

"No."

His eyes narrowed, a cold look sweeping across his features.

"You dragged yourselves here."

"Save me!" The prince roared, as several cultivators shot towards Ao Kuiba.

"Save me!"

Several cultivators followed his lead, but the vortex had already taken a decent chunk of the battlefield.

One by one, powerful killers were sucked into the storm, their screams tearing through the air.

Ao Kuiba’s body was already failing, the poison running rampant through his system.

His soul was fading, and his cultivation was crumbling.

Ao Kuiba knew he would not be able to sustain the vortex for much longer, and so he made a single calculation.

His golden eyes met the crimson robed prince’s gaze.

For a moment, neither said a word.

Then Ao Kuiba smiled.

"Tell them something for me."

The prince frowned.

"What?"

Ao Kuiba’s voice was hushed by the storm, but the words rang true.

"Tell the Vermilion Grotto-Heaven..." Ao Kuiba’s gaze flickered to the sky, the vortex reaching its peak.

"...that if I survive..."

Ao Kuiba’s golden eyes flashed.

"...I’ll come back."

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The vortex exploded, obliterating the battlefield as Ao Kuiba and the remaining cultivators were swallowed by the storm.

Ao Kuiba’s eyes were the last thing to disappear, and then even those were consumed by the vortex.

The formation collapsed, and the vortex vanished, leaving the forest in ruins.

Mountains split, and ancient trees were sent flying across the land, but nothing compared to the crater Ao Kuiba had left behind.

Ao Kuiba was gone, along with the majority of the cultivators who had pursued him, leaving only a few behind.

Nothing remained of Ao Kuiba’s body, or his aura, or anything else that showed he had been there at all.

Back with the Vermilion Grotto-Heaven, the news spread quickly of "Ao Kuiba’s" disappearance.

The Perfect Cultivator.

Their best and brightest had vanished, hunted down by their enemies.

Some believed Ao Kuiba dead, others that he had been consumed by the vortex.

But several elders knew better.

Ao Kuiba had deliberately released a forbidden spatial formation.

And no one knew where he had gone.

But somewhere beyond the heavens, something else happened.

Something deep within the unknown realms, far beyond the lands of the Imperial Dragons.

Ao Kuiba’s body was still barely alive, his cultivation shattered, his soul failing, but his mind still active.

Then, something strange happened.

The darkness around him began to shake, and another soul appeared within it, floating silently.

It was unfamiliar.

Confusing.

Strange to Ao Kuiba, but he was not surprised.

His golden eyes flew open, his expression changing for the first time in years.

"What...are you?"

There was no response.

Only another soul staring back at Ao Kuiba from within the deep darkness.

And then the two collided, merging together.

The soul of the Perfect Cultivator had fallen, but what emerged from it would be something no one had ever seen before.