. . .

Fang Zhengzhi had no idea if he was awake or not . All he remembered was that he had a very strange dream after being hit by Yan Xiu .

In this dream, he was in his pocket dimension .

However . . .

His pocket dimension was clearly different . This time, the fruits on the huge tree were adorned with patterns . The sea of white mist was also glistening .

Of course, the most attention-grabbing fruit on the tree was the purple one .

A queer, crystal-like glow could be seen from the fruit . It became brighter and brighter, so much so that his entire pocket dimension was stained purple .

The trees were now purple in color, the leaves and branches bathing in purple light . Even the vast ocean glistened purple .

As the purple became more and more intense . . .

Fang Zhengzhi felt a deep-seated rage grow . He felt like he was losing control of himself and his actions became more involuntary .

In the end . . .

When he opened his eyes again, he saw an ancient city .

This was a city made up of red rocks . From afar, it looked like a giant beast bathing in blood .

There were two words emblazoned in red atop the city walls .

Blood Shadow .

Fang Zhengzhi knew what the Blood Shadow City was . However, he had no idea why he would dream of such a place . After all, he had never been there before .

How could he dream of it if he had never been there?

Okay then . . .

That was not the most important point . The most important point was that he saw a sword .

This sword shot straight into the heavens and morphed into a humongous dragon . It roared, causing the ground to shake, as it enjoyed its freedom .

Then, it turned back and tunneled back into the ground in a show of force .

This was known as . . .

The Returning Dragon!

　　 . . .

The purple dragon continued to circle in the sky before it finally morphed back into a ray of purple light which shot back down towards the middle-aged demon next to Wu Ji .

"Die!"

The purple dragon's roar sent chills down everyone's spine .

The middle-aged man stared at that purple light . He knew that this had come from Fang Zhengzhi, and he knew that Fang Zhengzhi was merely in the pinnacle Heavenly Reflection State .

For someone like that to attack . . .

He should not have felt threatened .

However, when he saw the purple light tunneling towards him, he felt an intense wave of fear . He did not know if it was because the light had enough power to destroy everything in its path . . .

Or because . . .

Of the aura it was exuding .

It had a lonely aura, almost as if it was alone at the very top . It felt as though this single attack could destroy an entire star .

The middle-aged man tightened his grip on his sword instinctively .

He did not know exactly how strong this attack was . However, he had a feeling that it was very powerful . It was so powerful that he wanted to escape .

However, could he dodge?

No!

He was the stronger individual .

This was the pride and arrogance that he had . After all, Yun Qingwu was behind him watching this fight .

His blade was already marked after his clash with Yan Xiu . However, he was not bothered by it .

The reason was simple .

He was in the Rebirth State . He was the more powerful one .

He raised his sword and the blade glowed purple . He charged forward like a bolt of lightning, straight towards the ray of purple coming towards him . . .

"Boom!"

An explosion rocked the entire area as the two rays of purple continued to clash and tear at each other . The roars of the purple dragon continued to resonate .

Then, silence . Complete, utter silence .

Only one sound could be heard, the cold crisp roar of the dragon . Other than that, there was no second sound to be heard .

Everyone was captivated by the battle .

The 50,000 strong Great Xia Dynasty army stopped fighting as they looked at the two rays of purple duking it out . All of the Southern Region soldiers also stopped fighting as they watched in awe .

The candidates were all holding their breath . . .

The demon elites were holding their breaths as well . They were all immensely powerful and could feel the energies contained within the two rays of purple .

The Dragon Protection Squad continued to hold onto their blades . They had been through rigorous and strict training, but even they could not resist looking at the two rays of purple .

Nangong Hao, Bai Xing, Wu Ji, Yun Qingwu, Xing Qingsui . . . there was no one on the battlefield who wasn't looking at the two rays of purple .

All of them only had one thought in their mind . . .

How does a pinnacle Heavenly Reflection State cultivator fight a Rebirth State cultivator? Furthermore, the duel seemed quite evenly matched .

"Kaboom . . . "

The roars faded but it was quickly replaced by thunder and a downpour . The raindrops were as large as beans and they brought with them a winter-like cold .

The rain pummeled the ground and sent mud flying all over the place . It began to wash away the blood on the ground, forming little streams all over the battlefield .

The battle ceased temporarily .

Both the Great Xia Dynasty army and the Southern Region army stood their ground, allowing the rain to slide off their armor .

It was cold . . .

But they didn't seem to be bothered .

All of the candidates were also under the brutal a.s.sault of the rain . Normally, they would find a nice restaurant to hide out, or a nice bar to have a drink . At the very least, they would use their abilities to shut out the rain .

But now . . .

Nothing like that happened .

All of the candidates stood rooted to the ground, the raindrops pummeling their faces and flowing down their necks .

"How did this happen?"

"How is that possible?"

"Am I dreaming?"

Whispers could be heard as candidates looked to one another . The roar of the dragon had all disappeared, and it was replaced with the calmness of the rain .

Then, the troops began to move .

All of the soldiers of the Great Xia Dynasty raised their spears, their expressions filled with excitement .

The expressions of the 100,000 Southern Region army froze . They still could not rid themselves of the shock and awe from what they just witnessed .

Xing Qingsui's expression was complicated . However, there were traces of surprise, almost as if he saw the light at the end of the tunnel .

Nangong Hao gripped his blade tightly . However, this imposing stance was not because of his opponent .

It had come from his heart .

"Fang Zhengzhi!" Bai Xing rarely called out someone else's name when in battle . However, this time, he yelled it out .

His tone was icy beyond belief .

　　 . . .

Fang Zhengzhi thought that he was in a dream . He thought that the pocket dimension he saw was just a dream, and the purple stain was a dream as well .

Furthermore, his visit to the Blood Shadow City confirmed in his mind that he was in a dream .

Because he was in a dream, he did not feel much emotions except for the growing killing intent .

But now . . .

He felt as though the dream was becoming a reality .

He seemed to have returned to the battlefield . He saw Yan Xiu in front of him, his body glowing red .

Other than Yan Xiu, he saw two middle-aged men staring at him . One of them was holding a blade stained with blood .

Of course, everything that he saw was through a purple lens . Even though he could tell that it was fresh red blood, he saw it as purple .

The faces of the two middle-aged men were also purple .

Fang Zhengzhi wanted to ask what was going on . Were they fighting?

However, when he saw Yan Xiu spit out a mouthful of blood whilst enveloped by a red glow, he did not ask any questions . He was consumed by a rage and a thirst to kill .

Yan Xiu was injured?

Fang Zhengzhi thought that he was in a dream . However, he never expected Yan Xiu to be beaten to this state even in a dream .

He placed his hand on yan Xiu's shoulders .

He did not speak . He knew that he was transferring some of his killing intent into Yan Xiu's heart and he knew that Yan Xiu knew exactly what he meant .

Of course, that was the truth as well .

Yan Xiu closed his eyes and sat down .

Fang Zhengzhi turned to look at the two middle-aged men once again . To be precise, he turned on the middle-aged men who had blood on his sword .

"Die!" Fang Zhengzhi did not think too much .

After all . . .

This was just a dream .

Then, he leapt into action . He did not think too much as too what technique he wanted to use . He only had one technique in his heart, the one he just witnessed .

The technique that had split the Blood Shadow City into two . The one that still left its mark till this day .

The purple dragon shot to the sky .

It charged towards the heavens and morphed into a twisting ray of purple light .

Fang Zhengzhi thought that this was definitely a dream . He never expected that he would be able to use this technique . This technique's power was indescribable .

The torrential rain started at that moment .

Raindrops splattered on his face, causing a cooling effect . However, the purple showed no signs of dissipating . In fact, it intensified .

The world was completely purple . Even the rain was purple .

Was this a dream?

A purple dream?

　　 . . .

"Clang!" The middle-aged man's sword dropped to the ground . By this time, it was no longer a sword . It was a hilt with no blade .

As a Rebirth State cultivator . . .

His sword would not be destroyed even if it had been cracked . He would be able to use Dao to keep the blade intact .

But the fact was that his sword had broke, smashed to smithereens .

There was only one possible explanation . His Rebirth State Dao was insufficient to protect his sword .

The middle-aged man's gaze was lost as he looked on exasperatedly . He did not know what just happened, but he knew that the facts could not be changed .

"Young Master!" The middle-aged man turned to look at Yun Qingwu, who was still on top the cliff .

Yun Qingwu's white dress was initially dancing in the torrential rain . However, as her dress collected more and more raindrops, it became too heavy for the wind to lift .

Her veil was drenched and stuck to her face . Even though one still couldn't see her face, her exquisite features were obvious .

The middle-aged man wanted to say something to Yun Qingwu .

However, he realized that Yun Qingwu was not looking at him . Instead, she was looking at the youth in front of him .

He suddenly understood what was happening . He could tell what Yun Qingwu was thinking . This feeling originated from the expression beneath the veil .

He saw that Yun Qingwu was smiling .

That's right . . .

Smiling .

The middle-aged man did not know why she was so joyous, but he had a feeling that her joy had something to do with this youth .

Was it because the youth wasn't dead?

Or was it because . . .

Was the youth very powerful?

The middle-aged man no longer looked at Yun Qingwu . He turned to look at Fang Zhengzhi . He felt like he had to do something .

"Can you tell me the name of the technique you just used?" The middle-aged man stared at Fang Zhengzhi's eyes, which were completely stained purple .

"Name?" Fang Zhengzhi had no idea why the people in his dreams would ask such strange questions . Since they were characters in his dream, they should know what he did .

He didn't feel like responding .

However, when he heard the middle-aged man's question, the technique flashed in his mind and he felt an urge to say its name .

Maybe . . .

It was a memory .

Maybe this memory wanted to let him know that it existed .

Regardless of the reason, Fang Zhengzhi answered the question in a simple and straightforward manner .

"This technique is known as . . . The Returning Dragon!"

Chapter 390 The Returning DragonTranslator Sparrow Translations Editor Sparrow Translations . . . Fang Zhengzhi had no idea if he was awake or not . All he remembered was that he had a very strange dream after being hit by Yan Xiu . In this dream, he was in his pocket dimension . However . . . His pocket dimension was clearly different . This time, the fruits on the huge tree were adorned with patterns . The sea of white mist was also glistening . Of course, the most attention grabbing fruit on the tree was the purple one . A queer, crystal like glow could be seen from the fruit . It became brighter and brighter, so much so that his entire pocket dimension was stained purple . The trees were now purple in color, the leaves and branches bathing in purple light . Even the vast ocean glistened purple . As the purple became more and more intense . . . Fang Zhengzhi felt a deep seated rage grow . He felt like he was losing control of himself and his actions became more involuntary . In the end . . . When he opened his eyes again, he saw an ancient city . This was a city made up of red rocks . From afar, it looked like a giant beast bathing in blood . There were two words emblazoned in red atop the city walls . Blood Shadow . Fang Zhengzhi knew what the Blood Shadow City was . However, he had no idea why he would dream of such a place . After all, he had never been there before . How could he dream of it if he had never been there Okay then . . . That was not the most important point . The most important point was that he saw a sword . This sword shot straight into the heavens and morphed into a humongous dragon . It roared, causing the ground to shake, as it enjoyed its freedom . Then, it turned back and tunneled back into the ground in a show of force . This was known as . . . The Returning Dragon . . . The purple dragon continued to circle in the sky before it finally morphed back into a ray of purple light which shot back down towards the middle aged demon next to Wu Ji . Die The purple dragon s roar sent chills down everyone s spine . The middle aged man stared at that purple light . He knew that this had come from Fang Zhengzhi, and he knew that Fang Zhengzhi was merely in the pinnacle Heavenly Reflection State . For someone like that to attack . . . He should not have felt threatened . However, when he saw the purple light tunneling towards him, he felt an intense wave of fear . He did not know if it was because the light had enough power to destroy everything in its path . . . Or because . . . Of the aura it was exuding . It had a lonely aura, almost as if it was alone at the very top . It felt as though this single attack could destroy an entire star . The middle aged man tightened his grip on his sword instinctively . He did not know exactly how strong this attack was . However, he had a feeling that it was very powerful . It was so powerful that he wanted to escape . However, could he dodge No He was the stronger individual . This was the pride and arrogance that he had . After all, Yun Qingwu was behind him watching this fight . His blade was already marked after his clash with Yan Xiu . However, he was not bothered by it . The reason was simple . He was in the Rebirth State . He was the more powerful one . He raised his sword and the blade glowed purple . He charged forward like a bolt of lightning, straight towards the ray of purple coming towards him . . . Boom An explosion rocked the entire area as the two rays of purple continued to clash and tear at each other . The roars of the purple dragon continued to resonate . Then, silence . Complete, utter silence . Only one sound could be heard, the cold crisp roar of the dragon . Other than that, there was no second sound to be heard . Everyone was captivated by the battle . The 50,000 strong Great Xia Dynasty army stopped fighting as they looked at the two rays of purple duking it out . All of the Southern Region soldiers also stopped fighting as they watched in awe . The candidates were all holding their breath . . . The demon elites were holding their breaths as well . They were all immensely powerful and could feel the energies contained within the two rays of purple . The Dragon Protection Squad continued to hold onto their blades . They had been through rigorous and strict training, but even they could not resist looking at the two rays of purple . Nangong Hao, Bai Xing, Wu Ji, Yun Qingwu, Xing Qingsui . . . there was no one on the battlefield who wasn t looking at the two rays of purple . All of them only had one thought in their mind . . . How does a pinnacle Heavenly Reflection State cultivator fight a Rebirth State cultivator Furthermore, the duel seemed quite evenly matched . Kaboom . . . The roars faded but it was quickly replaced by thunder and a downpour . The raindrops were as large as beans and they brought with them a winter like cold . The rain pummeled the ground and sent mud flying all over the place . It began to wash away the blood on the ground, forming little streams all over the battlefield . The battle ceased temporarily . Both the Great Xia Dynasty army and the Southern Region army stood their ground, allowing the rain to slide off their armor . It was cold . . . But they didn t seem to be bothered . All of the candidates were also under the brutal a.s.sault of the rain . Normally, they would find a nice restaurant to hide out, or a nice bar to have a drink . At the very least, they would use their abilities to shut out the rain . But now . . . Nothing like that happened . All of the candidates stood rooted to the ground, the raindrops pummeling their faces and flowing down their necks . How did this happen How is that possible Am I dreaming Whispers could be heard as candidates looked to one another . The roar of the dragon had all disappeared, and it was replaced with the calmness of the rain . Then, the troops began to move . All of the soldiers of the Great Xia Dynasty raised their spears, their expressions filled with excitement . The expressions of the 100,000 Southern Region army froze . They still could not rid themselves of the shock and awe from what they just witnessed . Xing Qingsui s expression was complicated . However, there were traces of surprise, almost as if he saw the light at the end of the tunnel . Nangong Hao gripped his blade tightly . However, this imposing stance was not because of his opponent . It had come from his heart . Fang Zhengzhi Bai Xing rarely called out someone else s name when in battle . However, this time, he yelled it out . His tone was icy beyond belief . . . . Fang Zhengzhi thought that he was in a dream . He thought that the pocket dimension he saw was just a dream, and the purple stain was a dream as well . Furthermore, his visit to the Blood Shadow City confirmed in his mind that he was in a dream . Because he was in a dream, he did not feel much emotions except for the growing killing intent . But now . . . He felt as though the dream was becoming a reality . He seemed to have returned to the battlefield . He saw Yan Xiu in front of him, his body glowing red . Other than Yan Xiu, he saw two middle aged men staring at him . One of them was holding a blade stained with blood . Of course, everything that he saw was through a purple lens . Even though he could tell that it was fresh red blood, he saw it as purple . The faces of the two middle aged men were also purple . Fang Zhengzhi wanted to ask what was going on . Were they fighting However, when he saw Yan Xiu spit out a mouthful of blood whilst enveloped by a red glow, he did not ask any questions . He was consumed by a rage and a thirst to kill . Yan Xiu was injured Fang Zhengzhi thought that he was in a dream . However, he never expected Yan Xiu to be beaten to this state even in a dream . He placed his hand on yan Xiu s shoulders . He did not speak . He knew that he was transferring some of his killing intent into Yan Xiu s heart and he knew that Yan Xiu knew exactly what he meant . Of course, that was the truth as well . Yan Xiu closed his eyes and sat down . Fang Zhengzhi turned to look at the two middle aged men once again . To be precise, he turned on the middle aged men who had blood on his sword . Die Fang Zhengzhi did not think too much . After all . . . This was just a dream . Then, he leapt into action . He did not think too much as too what technique he wanted to use . He only had one technique in his heart, the one he just witnessed . The technique that had split the Blood Shadow City into two . The one that still left its mark till this day . The purple dragon shot to the sky . It charged towards the heavens and morphed into a twisting ray of purple light . Fang Zhengzhi thought that this was definitely a dream . He never expected that he would be able to use this technique . This technique s power was indescribable . The torrential rain started at that moment . Raindrops splattered on his face, causing a cooling effect . However, the purple showed no signs of dissipating . In fact, it intensified . The world was completely purple . Even the rain was purple . Was this a dream A purple dream . . . Clang The middle aged man s sword dropped to the ground . By this time, it was no longer a sword . It was a hilt with no blade . As a Rebirth State cultivator . . . His sword would not be destroyed even if it had been cracked . He would be able to use Dao to keep the blade intact . But the fact was that his sword had broke, smashed to smithereens . There was only one possible explanation . His Rebirth State Dao was insufficient to protect his sword . The middle aged man s gaze was lost as he looked on exasperatedly . He did not know what just happened, but he knew that the facts could not be changed . Young Master The middle aged man turned to look at Yun Qingwu, who was still on top the cliff . Yun Qingwu s white dress was initially dancing in the torrential rain . However, as her dress collected more and more raindrops, it became too heavy for the wind to lift . Her veil was drenched and stuck to her face . Even though one still couldn t see her face, her exquisite features were obvious . The middle aged man wanted to say something to Yun Qingwu . However, he realized that Yun Qingwu was not looking at him . Instead, she was looking at the youth in front of him . He suddenly understood what was happening . He could tell what Yun Qingwu was thinking . This feeling originated from the expression beneath the veil . He saw that Yun Qingwu was smiling . That s right . . . Smiling . The middle aged man did not know why she was so joyous, but he had a feeling that her joy had something to do with this youth . Was it because the youth wasn t dead Or was it because . . . Was the youth very powerful The middle aged man no longer looked at Yun Qingwu . He turned to look at Fang Zhengzhi . He felt like he had to do something . Can you tell me the name of the technique you just used The middle aged man stared at Fang Zhengzhi s eyes, which were completely stained purple . Name Fang Zhengzhi had no idea why the people in his dreams would ask such strange questions . Since they were characters in his dream, they should know what he did . He didn t feel like responding . However, when he heard the middle aged man s question, the technique flashed in his mind and he felt an urge to say its name . Maybe . . . It was a memory . Maybe this memory wanted to let him know that it existed . Regardless of the reason, Fang Zhengzhi answered the question in a simple and straightforward manner . This technique is known as . . . The Returning Dragon