Chapter 836: The Secret Behind Tiangui’s Invincibility
“Surrender — or die.” The crimson-haired Tiangui looked at Lieyan and showed his most savage smile.
“Hmph.”
Lieyan’s answer was as unshakeable as ever.
In truth, no man alive except Yueyang could move her spirit or influence her decisions. Long before she had ever met Yueyang, this giantess had been the kind of warrior who would rather break than bend, who would rather die than submit. She had lived by a code of righteousness and justice, undaunted by power, unmoved by threats or temptation. If not for Yueyang, she would never have learned what it meant to change or concede. Except for Yueyang’s furious glare, nothing in the world held sway over her — and especially now, having comprehended Sovereign intent, no man could shake the iron in her will.
She threw back her head and roared.
Like a thunderclap splitting the sky.
The blood-red dragon markings across her body blazed to blazing life. Boundless flame erupted from every part of her, burning with ferocious intensity.
The image of an ancient dragon appeared above her head — so vast it nearly burst the walls of the Stargazing Fortress.
The shockwave from her eruption was so powerful that even the supporting pillars cracked in the middle. Floor tiles tore up from the ground and flung themselves against the walls. The scorching air left everyone present struggling to breathe. Even Tianzhu, the Dragon Emperor, and Nanpei — locked in bitter combat — were forced to stop and dodge the energy blast.
City Lord Qianhu and his group nearly fainted entirely, huddling in a corner of the hall.
Trembling — as though the world were ending.
Aside from the Lion Heart King and Yueyang, not a single other person in the room could keep their footing.
Facing the crimson-haired Tiangui who sat unmoved while the entire hall crumbled around him, Lieyan’s fury reached its absolute peak.
“Dragon Rising!”
Her battle cry rang like a thousand soldiers charging into battle. Every ounce of accumulated power, channeled through the technique Yueyang had designed for her — later refined many times over by Xue Wuxia, Princess Qianqian, and even Night Empress — Dragon Three Forms, First Form: Dragon Rising.
The energy detonating from Lieyan’s right fist transformed into the blazing head of a blood-red ancient dragon.
Maw thrown open — it lunged to devour Tiangui.
Tiangui’s expression shifted, just slightly. This time, he raised a full hand.
Lieyan’s Dragon Rising crashed into his palm. The all-consuming ancient dragon head shattered against that one hand.
In the same instant, Lieyan had already spun on her right foot — left leg sweeping high in a diagonal slash, like a thousand-kilogram axe falling, aimed at the exposed gap between Tiangui’s shoulder and skull, directly at the neck. This connected strike was the Second Form of Dragon Three Forms: Dragon Tail Sweep. In the hands of the giantess with dragon blood inheritance, Dragon Tail Sweep at full force could level a small mountain — and as a surprise continuation flowing off the momentum of the first form, it carried both the amplification of Dragon Rising’s residue and the added weight of being unexpected.
Under the sudden ambush of Dragon Tail Sweep, even the battle-hardened, deeply experienced crimson-haired Tiangui was caught off-guard.
Boom.
The entire Stargazing Fortress lurched. The floor cracked wide open. Smoke and debris erupted like a volcanic blast. Enormous broken stone pillars were hurled about like scattered straw in a strong wind. Everywhere, destruction — and yet the Fortress had not collapsed. The interior, however, looked worse than any nightmare.
The wave of impact dissipated, smoke scattering rapidly.
The Lion Heart King’s eyes flew wide — his pupils contracting.
What he saw was a sight that defied reason.
The crimson-haired Tiangui was still in a seated position. The chair and the floor beneath him had been reduced to dust — he was suspended above an open crater, yet he had absorbed Lieyan’s Dragon Tail Sweep with his body completely undamaged. He still wore the same unhurried, settled posture he’d had in his chair.
Too powerful.
Worthy of the name of the crimson-haired Tiangui who had fought through the campaigns of the Conquest Army ten thousand years ago. Worthy of his rank as Warden Tantai Tumie’s foremost subordinate.
Tiangui gave a light push of his palm — and Lieyan went flying backward.
She barely managed to land.
Stumbling and unsteady, several steps retreating, she fell back beside Yueyang.
The giantess Lieyan turned her head toward the still, calm-faced Yueyang standing motionless at her side, and murmured something barely audible: “I’m sorry.”
Then she collapsed face-first to the ground.
The Lion Heart King’s pupils contracted once more. He hadn’t fully seen how Lieyan had been so severely wounded and brought down — but he was certain that before the hit landed, the crimson-haired Tiangui had not actually struck. Was it really possible that one light push had critically wounded Lieyan the giantess, whose dragon blood gave her unparalleled resilience?
If so — how terrifyingly strong was Tiangui?
If a single enforcer of the Central Divine Temple was this powerful, then even becoming a regional sovereign would make him nothing more than a puppet answering to someone above.
The Lion Heart King’s thoughts spun rapidly, and a hollow, defeated feeling settled into him. The thing he had spent his whole life pursuing — in the face of true power, it looked so fragile.
“Not bad. I thought I might kill the giantess in one strike — her life force is truly formidable.” Tiangui’s great laugh rang out, the scar pulling at both cheeks with each burst of it, making the expression even more terrifying than usual. City Lord Qianhu, still cowering in a corner, let out a nauseated heave — though he had eaten nothing, the acid in his stomach came up regardless, along with what seemed like all his bile.
The Lion Heart King looked immediately to Yueyang — and found, again, that the young man’s expression hadn’t changed at all. That gave him pause.
“Well now, Lion Heart King — backing the wrong horse must be terribly disappointing. What do you say — come over to our side, the Central Divine Temple? I, Tiangui, can personally guarantee that all prior transgressions will be forgiven without question. With your strength, your intelligence, and your ambitions, you would find enormous room to grow with us. I personally am content to stay in the Eternal Grievance Redemption Prison at Warden Tantai’s side — no need for you to do the same. With your capabilities, Lion Heart King, a position of Deputy Hall Master is completely within reach. In time, when you’re confident enough, you could challenge for Hall Master itself — and both I and Warden Tantai would support you. What’s the point of being a regional sovereign? Petty mountain-top lordship and self-righteous isolation only breed laziness and decay. Besides — when you truly enter the upper echelons of the Upper Heavenly Realm, you’ll need a powerful backer to stand firm. Is there any backer in all of the Heavenly Realm larger and more stable than our Central Divine Temple?”
Tiangui rose from his position as he spoke, stretching his imposing frame — but before committing to violence, he took his time and made his case to the Lion Heart King with considerable patience.
The Lion Heart King had to admit — it was a persuasive case.
Backing the wrong side carried real danger.
Tiangui was far stronger than anything he had imagined. If he persisted, standing in the wrong camp, the fall could be complete and irrecoverable.
If he switched sides now, everything could improve. An unshakeable backer for the future. Fame and power both within reach. The only loss would be his dream — and perhaps his freedom.
For the second time, the Lion Heart King looked at Yueyang.
The young man’s expression remained exactly as it had always been — as though Tiangui’s words hadn’t reached his ears, as though Tiangui’s display of overwhelming power had barely registered.
The Lion Heart King drew a long, slow breath of scorching air, letting it burn faintly in his lungs. This was the hardest decision of his life. The road ahead lay before him — right or wrong, victory or ruin, everything hinged on this moment. The right choice meant success and glory. The wrong choice meant total destruction, and death.
Tiangui waited with patient composure. Only when the Lion Heart King had gone completely still did he smile and ask: “Well? Have you decided?”
The Lion Heart King gave a firm, deliberate nod — and folded his hands in a respectful gesture. “Thank you. The Lion Heart King still feels that the Third Young Master more closely resembles a future master.”
At those words, Tiangui’s eyes narrowed.
Needle-thin.
A tiny current seemed to flicker in those tightly-narrowed eyes.
After a long pause, Tiangui let out a great roaring laugh that shook the entire Stargazing Fortress — then cut it off sharply, as precise as a blade coming down. He looked at the Lion Heart King and asked: “Can you tell me why?”
“Not many reasons — just a feeling.” The Lion Heart King laughed, with just a trace of self-mockery. “I’ve always prided myself on being rational. But today, for once, I broke that habit. Tiangui — you are genuinely formidable. But your power is something I can feel and measure. The Third Young Master’s power is something I cannot feel at all. What ultimately made my decision was your persuasion.”
“There was something wrong with my persuasion?” Tiangui asked, genuinely puzzled.
“Nothing at all,” the Lion Heart King said, shaking his head. He raised a finger toward Yueyang, who was in the process of drawing Lieyan into the Grimoire World. “The Third Young Master said nothing. What does that prove? He doesn’t care which side I choose — but you do. If you had absolute confidence in victory, you wouldn’t care about my allegiance. Just like him.”
“Well said — but you miscalculated one thing.” Tiangui laughed again. “The reason the Third Young Master said nothing is because he knows that no matter what he said, you wouldn’t believe it — so by saying nothing, he successfully made you suspicious. Lion Heart King, you have no real weaknesses. But you are far too suspicious. And in the Heavenly Realm, the excessively suspicious seldom live long.”
“Is that so?” The Lion Heart King’s expression didn’t change. He pressed both hands together, and the full eruption of his energy began to rise. “Tiangui — do you know what I most want to say? Because of the Third Young Master’s unbroken calm — a Divine Sense I’ve spent nearly a thousand years unable to understand or break through has finally fully crystallized for me. From this moment, I, Lion Heart, possess an unshakeable will. Don’t bother trying to move my heart with words any further — it will have no effect. And not only me — Tianzhu there, and Long Xuan there — your words cannot touch them either.”
“Then let me show you — even those who have comprehended Sovereign intent are nothing but small insects in front of me, Tiangui!”
The crimson-haired form blurred.
He appeared simultaneously behind both the Dragon Emperor and Tianzhu.
The Dragon Emperor immediately raised the Dragon Shield — successfully blocking Tiangui’s ambush.
And Tianzhu — he was faster than even Tiangui’s movement, his thunder-and-lightning fist carrying annihilating force landing with perfect precision on Tiangui’s left ear.
Watching this, a new understanding lit in the Lion Heart King’s eyes. The reason these two cultivators of such comparatively low rank could force the higher-ranked Nanpei into continuous retreat — it was because they possessed an unshakeable will that let them completely ignore their opponent’s suppressive aura, bringing out their own power at full capacity. Unlike other Sky-rank cultivators who, upon facing a higher-rank opponent, found themselves fully suppressed and able to perform at less than half their potential — these two were different.
True Sovereign intent, even facing an enemy as formidable as Tiangui — met head-on, with full power deployed.
“Pathetic.” Tiangui’s ear absorbed the full punch without flinching — on anyone else, it would have been crippling — and with a single backhand slap he sent Tianzhu’s entire body flying. A stomp on the ground cracked the floor and sent the Dragon Emperor — behind his Dragon Shield — blasting upward into the sky.
Tianzhu crashed through the hard walls of the Stargazing Fortress.
And kept going.
The Dragon Emperor drove through the ceiling of the great hall, carrying broken stone and brick with him as he disappeared into higher floors above.
Tiangui could have given chase. He didn’t — because at some unnoticed point, Yueyang had appeared directly in front of him.
Yueyang looked at the crimson-haired Tiangui, who had just shaken the entire room, with a completely neutral expression.
No fear. No anger of any kind.
His gaze was the gaze of someone glancing at a random stranger on a busy street.
Tiangui gave a low snort. He didn’t move against Yueyang immediately. Instead, he stepped sideways — passing alongside Yueyang and flickering into place behind the Lion Heart King. “Lion Heart. Final chance. Submit — or die.”
“Solar Griffin King!”
The Lion Heart King’s answer was to fuse with his summoned war beast — the golden griffin blazing like the sun itself — then condense a Sun of energy powerful enough to fill the entire Stargazing Fortress and push it toward Tiangui. If his Golden Griffin King hadn’t ascended to the realm of Solar Griffin King, the Lion Heart King might not have had this confidence — but the Sun Stone he had traded an enormous stretch of territory for had successfully elevated his life-guardian war beast. With the Solar Griffin King, the Lion Heart King felt no fear even against Tiangui.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
The entire Stargazing Fortress detonated.
The roof of the sky dome vanished. The thick, hardened walls in every direction crumbled to broken ruins. City Lord Qianhu and those who had been huddled against the walls were scattered like dust particles, flung off to somewhere unknown.
What remained was three people.
The Lion Heart King, still driving his full force forward.
Yueyang, his breathing unchanged, his presence perfectly still.
And the third — the crimson-haired Tiangui, who had absorbed the Lion Heart King’s full-power strike and stood completely, impossibly unharmed.
The Lion Heart King turned slowly around. He saw Tiangui behind him — without a scratch. Without so much as a thread of torn clothing. And something in him quietly descended toward despair.
This Tiangui was too strong. He himself had surpassed all King-level Sky-rank cultivators and was reaching toward the Emperor-level Sky-rank threshold. His life-guardian war beast had ascended to Solar Griffin King. He had even, on the verge of this battle, achieved a breakthrough to Sovereign intent. And yet, even so — Tiangui had taken everything he had and been utterly unaffected.
How could any opponent like this be defeated?
For the third time, the Lion Heart King looked toward Yueyang.
He felt he had nothing left — whatever happened now was entirely up to this young man.
He had come thinking he might still play a meaningful role in the outcome. Now he knew — even his proudest technique, the Solar Strike, was completely useless in front of real strength.
Just as the Lion Heart King’s heart sank toward resignation, Yueyang suddenly smiled.
It was a small smile. But it hit the Lion Heart King like a spring appearing in a desert, or a ray of dawn breaking through darkness. Something moved in the Lion Heart King’s chest — an unfamiliar longing he had never experienced before. Could this young man truly have a way to defeat the crimson-haired Tiangui? Someone that impossibly strong — could it really be done? Was this absurdly young human truly worthy of his faith?
“I’ve worked it out now,” Yueyang said, calm and unhurried. “Ripple Talent. Shockwave Domain. And the Energy-Draining Parasite war beast. No wonder every attack gets neutralized.”
As Yueyang kept speaking, the crimson-haired Tiangui’s previously arrogant expression slowly grew darker with each word — until, finally, it had turned to barely-suppressed fury. Because Yueyang had just revealed a secret that left even the Lion Heart King stunned.
Yueyang’s slight, insufferable smile stayed fixed at the corner of his lips. He brushed a few fragments of stone from his shoulder with a light hand, and his voice rang out clearly in the rubble of the Stargazing Fortress: “And in this fight, there have been two Tianguis doing the dirty work — which is why I kept wondering. How could Lieyan, Tianzhu, and the Lion Heart King’s full-power attacks be completely disregarded? A Tiangui who stays arrogant even when facing overwhelming odds — why? I’ve finally worked it out. Tiangui and Tianyao never operate apart. You two have been fighting together as one this entire time. Come on — just because you dressed in black doesn’t mean I can’t see you standing there.”
“Correct. But what you don’t know,” the crimson-haired Tiangui said, his voice dropping to something cold and final, “is that everyone who has ever discovered this secret is already dead.”
Behind the crimson-haired Tiangui, a new shadow had appeared.
Identical in every detail.