Chapter Ninety-Five: The Power of the Dragon Essence

"Ah..."

Ma Zhenlei let out a bloodcurdling scream.

It was because my right hand, already transformed into a dragon claw, twisted once more, and the sharp talons drove straight into his chest.

He had meant to retreat, but under my control he trembled violently, utterly unable to move back. With one hand, he gathered another Five-Thunder Palm Seal and slammed it toward my chest.

I did not dodge at all. I let the Five-Thunder Palm Seal strike me. The clothes on my upper body were blown to tatters, revealing the crimson dragon scales beneath my skin.

Seeing that I would not move, he attacked like a madman, striking me palm after palm, even trying to shatter the vital point between my brows with brute force. Yet I remained unmoved.

As his attacks weakened.

I released him. He clutched his chest, cold sweat pouring from him like rain. Before he could recover, I raised a hand, seized his shoulder again, and with a single wrench I heard him scream over and over; his only remaining arm drooped unnaturally, ruined beyond use.

It was not over yet.

Immediately after, I drove strength into my feet and leapt into the air, arching my back and drawing my shoulders taut before throwing a punch infused with the power of my spirit. It crashed into the center of Ma Zhenlei's brow.

That blow sent him kneeling to the ground, unable to move. I shifted my stance and kicked him in the stomach. He was sent flying, smashing into a withered willow tree.

The willow snapped in two, and he rolled down into the bed of the dried-up White Dragon Pool.

I stood on the riverbank, staring into the empty riverbed.

Ma Zhenlei lay there for a long while without moving, but I knew he was not dead yet. At that moment, there was only one word in my mind: revenge. I did not linger on the bank for even a second. I sprang into the air, landed on the exposed rocks at the bottom of the riverbed, and dropped beside him.

"Lin One, could it be that you are the son of that White Dragon?" Ma Zhenlei rolled onto his back, lying there and gasping hard as he asked.

"Kill!"

With a furious roar, I struck him again with a punch.

His chest caved inward, and half his body sank into the mud and sand.

"The Ghost Path has been destroyed for a thousand years. Now that it wishes to rise again, it is harder than ascending to heaven. You will never succeed! Even if you kill me, there will still be countless Daoist powers coming to take your life and wipe out your Ghost Path!" Ma Zhenlei rolled free of the mud and sand and, bracing himself against the rocks, forced himself to stand.

He backed away slowly, a sly look in his eyes.

"Lin One, you want to kill me to avenge your mother. I deserve death, but if you kill me, you destroy your mother's dragon essence as well."

But by then, my mind held nothing else.

Only the word kill.

I charged at him again and sent another punch into his stomach. He coughed up a mouthful of blood. The shoulder I had crushed earlier seemed to have recovered; he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked at his palm.

In his palm, there was a blood-red dragon-shaped talisman.

The dragon image had not taken form before. Now, the talisman had finally completed itself.

"Lin One, with your power, even if you have taken on a demonic form, you still cannot kill me. Your chance is already gone. Next comes your death!"

The dragon-shaped blood seal in Ma Zhenlei's hand began to emit a faint violet glow. A few seconds later, that violet light spread rapidly until it covered his entire body.

I did not care about whatever violet light he had. I simply struck at him again with a fist.

But when I was still half a meter away, I found myself unable to move another step. I withdrew my punch and changed my footwork, yet I still could not get close.

Gradually, black scales appeared on half of Ma Zhenlei's face.

Ma Zhenlei gave a grim smile and walked toward me.

I did not retreat, but I could feel a terrifying force pressing down on me, making it impossible to even steady my body. Ma Zhenlei said, "The power of this thousand-year dragon essence is indeed something else! Lin One, do you still want to kill me? I don't think you can even stand up!"

"I will kill you, no matter what!"

At once, the fury inside me surged again. I clenched both fists, leaped into the air, stepped on the bronze chain, and flew toward him. My fists changed and shifted as I hammered them at Ma Zhenlei.

Yet just as my fists were about to reach his vital point, Ma Zhenlei looked up at me, and suddenly I stopped in midair, unable to move.

I could not even control my own body. Ma Zhenlei stared at me with a cold smile, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. From somewhere, a fierce force erupted and sent my whole body flying hundreds of meters away. I crashed onto the bronze chain and then into the sand at the bottom of the river.

I turned over and forced myself back to my feet.

Ma Zhenlei tore loose a bronze chain as thick as an arm and hurled it at me. I seized the chain with one hand and exerted force, and with a series of sharp cracks the bronze links snapped into pieces.

The terror of the thousand-year dragon essence was overwhelming. Even in my current state, I could still feel an irresistible suppression. I could not even get close to him. How was I supposed to avenge myself?

At that moment, the two men on the bank saw that the situation had completely spiraled out of control, and they seemed ready to flee.

They had killed the master of Azure Robe Temple and the female priests of White Pure Temple. I could never let them escape.

I planted my feet on the rocks beneath the water, leapt into the air, returned to the bank, and blocked their path.

"You killed the master of Azure Robe Temple, and those fellow female priests as well. You still think you can walk away alive?"

The two of them came to an abrupt halt. At that moment, I sensed a strange wind rushing in from behind. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ma Zhenlei had already appeared more than three meters behind me. I spun away at once, then leapt into the air again and drove a fist at him.

But as my fist drew near, the closer it got, the harder it became to advance. I could not touch him in the slightest.

He stared at me and said smugly, "With dragon might here, who would dare come close?"

Then he shouted furiously.

With a burst of violent force, I was thrown back more than ten meters.

Zhang Yu and Qiu Yuanzhen saw this and broke into a run, fleeing toward the woods not far away. I was about to give chase when I heard two screams. Zhang Yu and Qiu Yuanzhen were already sent flying back.

They hit the ground, struggled up, and tried to run again, only to find a figure already standing in their way.

"Li Nanhua, you traitor from Dragon-Tiger Mountain, you're not dead yet!" Zhang Yu blurted out when he saw him.

He immediately cast a talisman, but before it could reach Daoist Li, Daoist Li snatched it from the air with his bare hand. A ball of fire consumed the talisman, reducing it to ash.

"Zhang Yu, you slaughtered innocent female priests. Your crime deserves death!" Daoist Li said coldly. The aura around him was so overpowering that Zhang Yu was forced to back up several steps.

Zhang Yu's face darkened as well. He formed a hand seal, drew out a ritual sword, and seemed about to call down heavenly thunder against Daoist Li. But Daoist Li shifted his footwork and became a blurred shadow.

The next instant, a palm struck Zhang Yu squarely between the brows. Trying to summon thunder in front of Daoist Li was childish folly. Zhang Yu was smashed backward by that palm, staggering as a black shadow burst from within him. Blood poured from all seven openings of his body, and he collapsed to the ground.

The black shadow was Zhang Yu's soul. After death, it tried to flee, but Daoist Li flicked a yellow talisman from his sleeve, and it struck the shadow dead on.

As soon as the talisman touched the soul, white smoke rose in a hiss of sizzling sparks, and it vanished into nothing.

"Such sin cannot be atoned for even by scattering the soul to the winds!" Daoist Li's fury had not yet subsided.

After Zhang Yu died, Qiu Yuanzhen saw that the situation was dire. His cultivation was about the same as Zhang Yu's, and he had also heard of Daoist Li's fearsome reputation, so he turned and fled.

But he had only run a dozen meters before Daoist Li blocked him again.

"You had the nerve to kill my disciple, and you still want to leave?"

At that instant, Daoist Li's eyes also turned blood-red.

His aura was too terrifying. Even though Qiu Yuanzhen had trained his spirit, he was utterly unable to make a move before him.

Daoist Li let out a thunderous roar and split a palm down onto the crown of Qiu Yuanzhen's head.

A black shadow tried to flee from between Qiu Yuanzhen's brows; that was his spirit. But it could not escape. Under that palm strike, his spirit and soul were both shattered apart.

Only then did Daoist Li stop.

While Daoist Li was destroying Zhang Yu and Qiu Yuanzhen, Ma Zhenlei's repeated attacks had already pushed me steadily into disadvantage.

The fierce power of the dragon essence in his body made it so that I could not even approach him.

I was forced back by wave after wave of overwhelming force, sent flying over and over until I could no longer keep my footing and crashed to the ground. Daoist Li came over, helped me up, and after looking at me once asked, "Lin One, how did you become like this?"

At present, my whole body was covered in blood-red scales. I no longer looked human at all, and it was indeed a frightening sight.

"Kill him!"

I could only force out those two words. The flames inside me were still raging madly, and there was nothing else in my mind.

"You must not expend any more strength. I will seal your spirit first!"

After speaking, Daoist Li immediately formed a hand seal. His fingers changed rapidly, and with both index fingers he tapped the acupuncture points along my back. Only then did the fire of rage within me gradually die down.

The red scales on my body, along with the dragon claws, slowly withdrew.

By then, I was leaning against a rock, unable to move even a little, because every inch of my body hurt so badly it was almost unbearable.

"This is the power of a thousand-year dragon essence. It is only natural that you cannot beat him." Daoist Li glanced at Ma Zhenlei and said with a faint frown.

"Daoist Li does have a keen eye. But since you are a traitor to the Daoist world, do not blame me, Ma Zhenlei, for showing no mercy today. I will cut you down as well," Ma Zhenlei said.

"Is that so? Then this poor Daoist would very much like to see who, exactly, you can cut down today!" Daoist Li said.

He rose to his feet and stood before me. That tall, imposing back was as steady as a mountain, with an extraordinary air about it.