Sovereign of the Ashes

Just as Suanni charged in to attack, Torch Dragon entered the battle as well.

The power Torch Dragon wielded had a specific term in the Immortal Realm civilization. It was known as “Yin Qi”.

This was a special power Torch Dragon had cultivated and slowly mastered while growing up in the Nine Netherworlds.

According to the Magus Civilization’s understanding and classification of power systems, this so-called “nether power” was somewhat similar to a fusion of death and dark powers.

Coincidentally, the Amenkha Empire also happened to be highly skilled at manipulating this kind of negative energy.

When Torch Dragon unleashed his Nine Hells Netherflame, even the Tenth Pharaoh on another battlefield could not help but glance in his direction.

From the perspective of judging the quality of a “plaything”, Torch Dragon was actually the most suitable prey for the Tenth Pharaoh.

If Torch Dragon had traveled to the Amenkha Empire in his younger years, he might have had the “great fortune” of being thoroughly beaten by some Amenkha powerhouse, only to be taken as that opponent’s mount afterward.

But that was clearly impossible now. The Tenth Pharaoh had her hands full with her own troubles.

After Torch Dragon joined the fight, the number of attackers targeting the fused monster king increased to four.

So what if they fused? So what if their power and aura had surged?

There were four dragons on the other side!

Meanwhile, Baxia, who possessed peak Rank Seven strength, did not join the assault against the fused monster king.

His enormous dragon eyes were fixed firmly on the Tenth Pharaoh.

More precisely, they were fixed on the four crystal balls held in the Tenth Pharaoh’s hand.

Baxia’s aura was now extremely frenzied, a sharp contrast to his usual calm temperament. Only when he saw White Stella and the other little ones trapped inside the crystal balls did a trace of his gentle, fatherly side appear.

In terms of size, Baxia was the largest overlord-level dragonkin present!

Even the fused monster king, whose body was formed from two overlord-level monster kings, seemed small compared to Baxia’s staggering bulk.

His massive, heavy body steadily advanced toward the Tenth Pharaoh.

As Baxia charged forward, Bi’an, his younger brother, let out a dragon roar and joined the battle as well, taking part in the attack against the Tenth Pharaoh.

On the Tenth Pharaoh’s side, it was three against one.

Baxia’s defensive power alone was enough to withstand the attacks of a Rank Eight overlord.

As for Chaofeng, the dragonkin who had mastered spatial laws, he had always been someone the Tenth Pharaoh was wary of.

The three dragonkin formed a triangle, surrounding her.

Chaofeng hovered at the very top of this special space, truly living up to his status as the eldest brother and senior among the dragonkin present. Having experienced and witnessed the most, he had a unique understanding of law power.

Ten or so orbs surged out from around Chaofeng, one after another.

As they reinforced the spatial cage around them, the orbs released heavy, oppressive fluctuations that surged toward the Tenth Pharaoh.

“Aren’t you afraid of accidentally hurting these little ones by using so much force?” the Tenth Pharaoh asked with a soft chuckle as she stood calmly within the space.

The four crystal balls in her hand clinked against one another as she toyed with them between her fingertips.

Sure enough, Chaofeng’s attack slowed slightly.

Although Baxia and Bi’an were furious, their movements also slowed almost instinctively.

Seeing this, the Tenth Pharaoh’s lips curved into a faint smile. The silver-gray dress she wore began to flutter.

“Self-Sealing Technique, release!”

Unlike the other Pharaohs of the Amenkha Empire, who took on hideous forms in their burst states, Tenth did not.

She was naturally beautiful. Even after unsealing herself, she still retained her original appearance.

Her silver-gray dress billowed around her, despite the lack of wind.

Tenth clenched her right fist, and white bone rings formed over her knuckles, resembling a set of brass knuckles.

In the next instant, she threw a punch toward Chaofeng, who was hovering directly above her in the air.

The white bone rings were clearly a world-class secret treasure. While Tenth was in her unsealed burst state, their power had risen to a level capable of threatening a mid-stage Rank Eight being.

Chaofeng’s defensive abilities were not as extreme as Baxia’s. His true strength lay in his mastery of spatial force.

In an instant, his figure flickered away, narrowly avoiding Tenth’s attack.

However, that dodge caused a brief lapse in the stability of his spatial domain, and the restraining space around them loosened slightly.

This was the opening Tenth had been waiting for!

Another bone hairpin appeared in her hand.

Facing Baxia, who was roaring as he charged toward her, Tenth shot the bone hairpin straight at his face.

The white hairpin was also a world-class secret treasure.

It was only a relatively low-grade treasure, and the Tenth Pharaoh clearly regarded it as a disposable treasure. She showed not the slightest concern over the possibility of it being destroyed in battle.

Faced with Tenth’s charged attack, Baxia did not even bother to dodge.

As the sharp bone hairpin shot toward Baxia, it left a trail of grayish-white law energy behind it.

Yet just as the attack was about to strike, Baxia simply turned his head aside and used his neck, along with the tortoise shell on his back, to take the blow head-on.

CLANG!

A brilliant metallic clash rang out across the battlefield, sending sparks flying as violent fluctuations of law energy rippled through the air.

The bone hairpin did pierce Baxia’s neck, but it was caught between his dragon scales. The tortoise shell behind him also helped absorb a large portion of the impact.

After taking the Tenth Pharaoh’s attack, Baxia showed no sign of slowing down. Instead, he raised his dragon head high and continued charging straight toward her.

Seeing this, Tenth raised an eyebrow. As she clenched her left hand, the sharp hairpin lodged in Baxia’s neck instantly triggered a Bone-Shattering Nether Explosion.

The destructive force of the world-class secret treasure’s explosion finally forced a muffled groan and a roar from Baxia.

Although Baxia’s speed was finally reduced, he still pressed forward relentlessly, charging toward Tenth without hesitation.

Farther away, Bi’an was blocked by the tide of death that poured out from between Tenth’s fingers and the folds of her Sealing Robe.

Among the dragonkin involved in this battle, Bi’an was the weakest in combat.

His personal cultivation was roughly at mid-stage Rank Seven, and since he specialized mainly in defensive geo elemental energy, with metal power as a secondary focus, he posed the least threat to Tenth.

Even after temporarily slowing the advance of the three dragonkin, the Tenth Pharaoh did not grow complacent.

During her burst state, she could indeed hold her own in this impressive one-against-three situation. But what would happen once the burst phase ended?

Baxia would definitely devour her whole!

Not to mention, even after fusing, the two overlord-level monster kings on the other side still looked like they were struggling against their enemies.

With four dragonkin surrounding them, it was only a matter of time before their spines were broken—unless they had another trump card or reinforcements waiting in reserve.

The four crystal balls in Tenth’s hand now glowed with a faint light. She glanced down at them, knowing full well that these four little things were the reason Baxia and his family had been chasing her so relentlessly.

“Ambushing these four little ones and taking them hostage was the Gallant Federation’s idea. It has nothing to do with me personally, you know.”

She held out the crystal balls and said, “Look, I haven’t done anything to them.”

“How about we both take a step back? If we continue fighting, can you guarantee they will come out unharmed? At the very least, you care about their safety, right?”

With that, Tenth flung her hand outward.

The four crystal balls shot out in different directions, disappearing into the depths of the starry sky.

Baxia, Chaofeng, and the others immediately froze in shock.

Chaofeng’s figure blurred, splitting into two afterimages that shot toward Black Oblivion and Hanliu.

Bi’an went after Qixiu.

Baxia twisted his dragon head and charged straight after White Stella.

The Tenth Pharaoh really was something else.

The Amenkha Empire had long been notorious for its brutality.

Its powerhouses had always flayed or dismembered their enemies. There had never been a single instance of them compromising or negotiating with their foes.

Yet Tenth was able to show weakness without hesitation and even “reason” with the Dragon Clan. In doing so, she had set a new precedent for the Pharaoh lineage of the Amenkha Empire.

As the surrounding containment space trembled, the Tenth Pharaoh pushed her necromantic power to its limit and unleashed a burst of death ripples into the surrounding space.

Without Chaofeng’s suppression, the cracks in the restraining space grew even wider.

Tenth rushed toward the largest space-time rift. As she flew, she did not forget to unleash another series of death strikes, lending support to the fused Spider Monster King and Rhinoceros Beetle Monster King.

“You idiots, hurry up and follow me!” she yelled at them.

Her strike collided directly with the Flood Dragon King in the distance, creating an opening for the two fused monster kings.

The Flood Dragon King was far weaker than the Tenth Pharaoh. When his Water-Severing Sword clashed with her attack, it let out a violent hum, and the blade itself trembled fiercely, rippling like disturbed water.

So, this is the power of a Rank Eight sage...? The Flood Dragon King could not help but wonder inwardly.

Although three of the Eight Great Sages had already reached Rank Eight, the brothers usually only sparred among themselves. They had never fought each other seriously.

In fact, within the Immortal Realm Civilization, the sages had rarely fought in earnest over the past tens of thousands of years.

Although the Immortal Realm Civilization had encountered a handful of overlord-level opponents from other worlds during its expansion, their numbers were far too few to withstand a coordinated assault from the Immortal Realm’s sages.

Because of this, many cultivators in the Immortal Realm had no clear understanding of just how terrifying sage-level experts truly were.

Even a Rank Seven entity like the Flood Dragon King was still somewhat unclear about the true nature of Rank Eight.

With their master’s help, the two fused monster kings hurriedly chased after Tenth.

Tenth knew the four crystal balls would not be able to hold off Chaofeng and the others for long.

Faced with the attacks launched by Suanni, Torch Dragon, and the other remaining dragonkin on this battlefield, she could only defend herself. She did not even try to counterattack!

Another deep dragon claw mark appeared on Tenth’s fair shoulder.

She clenched her teeth so hard they nearly cracked.

“That bastard from the Gallant Federation who gave me this rotten advice had better pray I do not see him again,” she snarled under her breath.