It was clear—the Emperor's Dragon-Guard were brimming with overwhelming battle intent, to the point of overflowing. It was as if their fighting will had been compressed for far too long, just waiting for this moment to erupt. They had been cultivating in seclusion all this time for this single purpose—to fight and annihilate Yi Tianxing's enemies. This was the very reason for their existence. They obeyed commands alone. Even if ordered to charge into a sea of blades and mountains of fire, they would not hesitate.
"It is time for the Emperor's Dragon-Guard to reveal their true fangs."
Yi Tianxing nodded silently to himself, fully satisfied with what he saw. Throughout the years, he had never stopped nurturing the Dragon-Guard. Cultivation resources, pills, training—none had ever been lacking. In fact, the resources poured into them far exceeded normal standards. Each one of them had received support equivalent to hundreds, even thousands of ordinary cultivators. The cultivation they received was utterly unrestrained, absolute.
They were, without question, one of Yi Tianxing's ultimate trump cards.
Each Dragon-Guard stood over three meters tall, physically towering and imposing. Glimmering scales covered their bodies, and in the blink of an eye, those scales transformed into seamless suits of armor—Dragonscale Battle Armor—encasing them entirely. It wasn't crude; rather, it amplified their imposing presence. Their armor radiated a true dragon's might, a pressure that naturally suppressed most living beings.
In addition, Yi Tianxing had obtained True Dragon Blood Essence from the Divine-Demonic Treasury, which had been integrated into their bodies to greatly enhance their foundation.
Each of them wielded a weapon known as the Inverse Scale Spear, and all cultivated the supreme dragon-body technique: True Dragon Undying Body—a peerless physical refinement art of the dragon race. Once mastered, it granted a near-indestructible physique and the strength of a true dragon.
With years of resources poured in, they had already reached frightening levels of mastery. In terms of cultivation, they were all sixth-rank Body Refiners, comparable to the Yang God Realm. And thanks to their physical body cultivation, their combat strength surpassed typical Yang God cultivators—they could fight beyond their rank.
Within the Heavenly Emperor's Dragon Diagram, they possessed unparalleled advantages. They could draw directly on the diagram's True Dragon Power to refine themselves, creating unstoppable momentum. The only true limitation was that no Dao Soldier could surpass the master's cultivation realm. They could, at best, reach the same level as Yi Tianxing.
That was one of the few unavoidable constraints of forging Dao Soldiers—they could never exceed the one who created them.
Still, as long as the master was powerful enough, this constraint would never become a true limitation.
Yi Tianxing viewed the Emperor's Dragon-Guard as one of his strongest trump cards, a force that could crush all opposition. He had hidden them away until now—but no more. Now was the time to let them shine.
"Slaughter!!"
With a unified roar, the Dragon-Guard's eyes shone with raging war intent. The moment they arrived, they had swiftly formed battle formations. Their strategy was not complex—Three Talents Formation. Three soldiers formed a minor unit; three minor units formed a medium one, and so on. These formations overlapped and reinforced each other, creating a massive formation where each soldier echoed the strength of the others.
As they stood in formation, they resembled a coiled army of true dragons. Their blood energy surged like a geyser.
"So he's created Dao Soldiers… and raised them to the sixth rank? What a terrifying emperor! Only an emperor would know how to hide such a force. But even so, if they're only sixth rank… my Immortal-Slaughter Army will butcher them like pigs."
Tu Qi (Slaughter-Seven) narrowed his eyes at the impeccably aligned Dragon-Guard and revealed a trace of surprise. But it was quickly replaced with pride. His army was invincible, born to kill all. How could a mere three thousand Dao Soldiers compare?
This battle was inevitable.
Yi Tianxing had already revealed his cards and taken a stand. If the Immortal-Slaughter Army refused to fight, Eternal Night would lose all face. Slaughtering these Dao Soldiers would bring prestige and vengeance in one stroke.
"Immortal-Slaughter Army, form ranks!!"
Tu Qi gave the command without hesitation.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Immortal-Slaughter Army strode forward in unison. With each step, their aura surged. The thick killing intent above their heads coalesced into a sea of blood—a crimson ocean covering the heavens.
The two elite armies stood opposed—tension rising like thunderclouds ready to explode.
"To think Emperor Yi truly had such Dao Soldiers. If he had deployed them earlier, we wouldn't have been able to hold Sky Wolf City. It would've been flattened."
"We've got a numbers advantage—100,000 against 3,000. Logically, there's no way those Dao Soldiers can win. But why would he do this? Does he have some other card to play?"
"This is a battle that must not be lost. It's about the dignity of Eternal Night!"
Among the Eternal Night soldiers, anticipation and tension were building. They desperately needed a decisive victory to boost morale. A defeat here would be devastating.
"His Majesty actually had such Dao Soldiers… Just 3,000 of them could wipe out any army. Still, can they truly withstand the Immortal-Slaughter Army?"
Even Zhuge Liang and Liu Bowen hadn't known of the Dragon-Guard's existence. It had been a well-kept secret.
"Don't worry. My husband would never fight without confidence. Since he dares confront them, he must have a solid plan. Let's wait and see."
Yao Yue inhaled deeply, voice calm.
"Indeed. The spatial gate is here—His Majesty can retreat anytime. His safety is ensured."
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The Slaughter Blades of the Immortal-Slaughter Army were unsheathed, radiating savage brilliance.
"Emperor's Dragon-Guard—fight! Fight! Fight!!"
A roar shook the skies.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Dragon-Guard strode forward, their bodies growing rapidly. Their Dragonscale Armor enlarged with them, and in seconds, they had become towering giants three to four thousand zhang tall, like true titans.
Their blood energy exploded from their bodies and rushed into the heavens. The clouds above were torn apart by the sheer force.
The Inverse Scale Spears also transformed, becoming colossal divine weapons, thousands of zhang in length—like pillars holding up the sky. An oppressive pressure swept across the battlefield—as if true dragons had descended to dominate the world.
One Dragon-Guard, clad in yellow-scaled armor inscribed with glowing runes, stomped forward. Golden light pulsed from his foot into the earth.
Rumble!
The ground trembled. A shockwave burst from beneath, aiming to topple and kill the charging Immortal-Slaughter troops.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Dozens of radiant earth spikes burst from below—razor sharp, as deadly as divine weapons—impaling upward like a forest of blades. At the same time, his spear swept forward, smashing through enemy lines like a divine dragon's wrath.
The devastation was immediate and unstoppable. Each attack carried the might of a seventh-rank True Spirit Realm powerhouse, capable of leveling mountains.
"Body Refiners… damn it. He's refined Body Refiner Dao Soldiers?!"
Tu Qi's eyes narrowed sharply. This was no illusion spell—it was their real bodies. True Battle Bodies.
These weren't just massive for show. Their size brought real power—an amplification of strength, not a dilution.
Worse yet, these weren't ordinary physiques. These were the feared…
True Dragon Undying Bodies.
Still, the Immortal-Slaughter Army wasn't to be underestimated. They didn't dominate the battlefield through reputation alone.
As the earth spikes rose and attacks surged forward, blood-colored blade light flashed through the battlefield, shattering the spikes mid-rise.
"Haaah!!"
In a roar of war, the soldiers of the Immortal-Slaughter Army also began to grow. Their bodies absorbed the surrounding blood mist, devouring it and transforming into blood giants thousands of zhang tall.
Each now wielded a massive Blood Blade, cleaving the air as they charged.
"Kill!"
The clash came swiftly. The two armies collided with thunderous force.
The Immortal-Slaughter soldiers wielded terrifying blade arts. Each slash unleashed a wave of blade light thousands of zhang long. And each strike exuded a sense of massacre—echoes of corpses and blood.
What was worse, the second strike would split into two blades—each executing a different blade form simultaneously, as if two warriors were attacking in one body.
This was their most feared blade technique:
Thousand-Handed Blood-Slaughter Demon Blade.
Each slash created a phantom—another blade, another hand. In theory, if one could strike a thousand times, one slash would unleash a thousand blades.