VHBF -Chapter 182 The Evil Dragon Daddy (Part 13)

As everyone had expected, the battle in the sky was locked in a fierce stalemate.

One dragon. One disk.

The dragon’s body was agile and enormous, while that disk was no easy opponent either. It radiated a terrifying power born of the laws of heaven and earth. Though its size was not even half that of the dragon’s head, it was exceptionally troublesome to deal with.

Ao Su had not fought like this in a very long time.

So long that he almost felt nostalgic. Ten thousand years ago, in that great battle, he had been ambushed. Today, he intended to reclaim what was owed.

The damned Heavenly Dao that had schemed against Ao Su—this debt had to be repaid!

Another half hour passed. The dragon’s body was already covered in wounds. Golden blood overflowed across his skin, and the dragon scales that had shattered inch by inch no longer bore even a trace of their original luster.

A tremendous dragon roar suddenly rang out, its lingering echoes stretching on—sounding like a wail, yet also like a furious declaration of war. It made those who heard it feel their hearts seize and their courage tremble.

Everyone knew that the battle was likely nearing its end.

Power continued to drain away. A crack had already appeared in that disk. A mere divine artifact could not withstand the dragon’s ferocious assaults, nor could it contain the vast power of the Heavenly Dao for long. It swayed on the brink of collapse, liable to shatter into pieces at any moment.

Was this not strikingly similar to the dragon’s scales?

One of the most important things on a dragon’s body was its hard scales—they were his armor. The reason dragons could charge forward recklessly and launch powerful attacks without worrying about defense was precisely because of those indestructible scales.

But now, many of Ao Su’s scales had already split apart. His flesh was torn open, and it was difficult to find a single intact scale. Even so, this was not enough to make him admit defeat.

His condition was far from good, but the disk was no better off either. At most, it was a situation of mutual destruction. What mattered now was who could endure until the very end. If that disk could no longer bear the power and shattered first, then Ao Su might still be the one who laughed last.

He threw back his head and howled, gathering his strength once more before launching another attack.

At last—the disk broke.

It fractured into countless pieces that scattered downward. Some even landed on people’s heads. The cultivators were completely stunned. Several Mahayana-stage ancestors, who had been sitting cross-legged recovering from their injuries, stared at the fragments with expressions of utter disbelief.

The Heavenly Dao… lost?

Even the Heavenly Dao couldn’t defeat that evil dragon? Impossible!

Someone’s qi surged chaotically, blood spurted from their mouth, and with eyes wide in unwilling disbelief, they fainted on the spot.

Ao Lie threw back his head and laughed loudly, transforming into a man dressed in black. His black hair, hanging down to his ankles, and his robes were whipped up by the cold wind, as if a dark god had descended upon the world.

Yet just at this moment—just as everyone believed the dragon had won, and as the people of the Fantasy Continent could no longer hide the joy on their faces—

A sudden change occurred!

The sky abruptly darkened. Massive swathes of black clouds covered the original colors of the heavens, turning day into night, with not a trace of light remaining.

Dense and oppressive, carrying an ominous aura.

The wind stopped. The air grew stagnant, nearly suffocating. That pitch-black sky overhead seemed to be brewing something dreadful.

The expressions of the Fantasy Continent’s people changed—it was a lightning tribulation!

With such overwhelming momentum, this tribulation was clearly of no low rank. The cultivators understood this even more deeply.

Almost at the same time, several sect masters shouted loudly, “Run! Leave this place—go outside the city!”

Once a lightning tribulation descended, anyone standing near the one being struck would be drawn into it as well. That was nothing short of courting death! They could not afford to lose so many elite disciples!

Moreover, anyone with a bit of discernment could tell that this lightning tribulation came with malicious intent, carrying a terrifying aura of destruction. That evil dragon was likely facing almost certain death!

How could man contend with heaven? Even if a divine artifact were struck down, the Heavenly Dao could still summon a lightning tribulation to strike you to death.

Several Mahayana-stage ancestors came to their senses and laughed toward the sky. “Ao Su, oh Ao Su—you are destined to die here!”

Ao Su, dressed in black, stood suspended between heaven and earth. He was neither undergoing a tribulation nor had he cultivated any heaven-defying technique, yet the Heavenly Dao had directly summoned a lightning tribulation without cause, utterly shameless, without even the slightest pretense. It was clearly determined to annihilate him here.

In that great battle ten thousand years ago, the Heavenly Dao had at least known how to hide itself—concealing its power within dragon-binding chains and divine artifacts, and acting through its lackeys. But today, ten thousand years later, it seemed to have lost its patience.

Ao Su keenly sensed the Heavenly Dao’s urgency.

The world claimed that the Heavenly Dao was just and impartial. In the dragon’s eyes, the Heavenly Dao had long since fed the word “justice” to the dogs. Its utilitarian nature was far too strong—perhaps the Heavenly Dao had already grown a second heart.

The dragon was not afraid of death. He had lived freely and unrestrained his entire life, never once betraying his true self. Thus, no matter how terrifying the lightning tribulation appeared, he did not take it to heart. Those crimson-gold eyes remained calm and unruffled as he stood quietly.

But—

Ao Su gazed toward the direction of the Dragon Palace.

There—his young hatchling was still there.

He moved, flying in the opposite direction of the Dragon Palace.

Straight out of the city.

The cultivators who had finally escaped to outside the city stared at the black shadow rapidly approaching them. “……”

“Ah—run! The evil dragon is coming this way!!!!!!!!!!”

“!!!!”

Meanwhile, the people of the Fantasy Continent who were still standing motionless inside the city: “……”

Even at such a critical moment, they couldn’t help but reveal expressions of schadenfreude.

At this moment, the Dragon Palace—so constantly on the dragon’s mind—had already been thrown into complete chaos. Thousands of people were frantically searching everywhere inside the palace, shouting, “Little Master! Little Highness!”

They were on the verge of losing their minds. The Lord’s situation was perilous, and at such a critical moment, the Little Highness had vanished without a trace!

At last, the tribulation lightning finished brewing.

A bolt nearly a hundred zhang thick, its color almost purple-black, slashed straight toward Ao Su.

Ao Su transformed into his true form and charged head-on into the purple lightning.

One bolt after another—the thunder tribulation was vast and overwhelming, carrying an aura capable of destroying everything. Its force and shape not only failed to diminish, but instead grew stronger with each strike.

One bolt.

Two bolts.

Three bolts.

Someone cried out in alarm, “That’s the Ninefold Heavenly Punishment Thunder Tribulation!”

“This is a thunder tribulation recorded only in ancient texts! Even this old daoist has never seen anyone personally endure it!”

The speaker was an elder of the Myriad Beasts Sect. He raised his head to look at the sky, his face full of sighs and lingering fear. “It’s said this tribulation consists of eighty-one bolts—each one stronger than the last—containing the most domineering destructive laws of heaven and earth. If struck by it, even if you’re not reduced to shattered bones, your soul will be annihilated!”

“Legend says this is the strongest thunder tribulation between heaven and earth, meant specifically to eradicate the most wicked beings. It appears only once every several hundred thousand years. Whether seeing it here is a blessing or a curse, that evil dragon will likely not escape this trial.”

The black dragon had already been injured while battling the Heavenly Dao, and after consecutively enduring three thunderbolts, he could no longer maintain flight when the third struck. He crashed down from the sky, kicking up clouds of dust. His massive body smashed a huge crater into the ground, and everyone felt as if the earth beneath their feet shook again and again.

The believers were frantic with anxiety, yet helpless, able only to watch as the thunder struck their Lord.

One by one, they pulled items out—divine artifacts, weapons, anything they had at all. They couldn’t enter the tribulation zone to help the Dragon Lord withstand the lightning, but at least they had to do something.

But the moment those items entered the range of the thunder tribulation, they were shattered into slag by the residual energy.

Seeing the fourth bolt about to fall, everyone shut their eyes in pain.

The Dragon Lord could no longer move. He didn’t even have any defenses left. This bolt was stronger than the previous three.

This time… death was inevitable…

“It’s said that within the forty-nine evolutions of heaven there is always one chance of life—everything in the world has vitality. There is only one exception: the Ninefold Heavenly Punishment Thunder Tribulation…”

“Nine… nine… no… life!”

Ao Su lay on the ground, the scales on his body already blasted apart into pieces. Golden blood flowed from the cracked scales, seeping into the earth.

He slightly turned his head, gazing toward the city—the direction of the Dragon Palace.

There was a strange illusion, as if a chubby little dragon were lying on top of him, clumsily rubbing against him, soothing and acting spoiled—obedient and clingy, just a bit timid, nothing like a great and mighty dragon.

With his eyes half-closed, Ao Su thought: with such a huge commotion, had she been frightened?

He closed his eyes and let the sky-piercing thunder fall upon him.

“Bad thunder! You’re not allowed to bully my daddy!”

An angry little milky voice rang out.

Ao Su snapped his eyes open—this wasn’t an illusion.

It was real!

The tiny little dumpling stood on his body, hands planted on her chubby waist, head tilted up as she furiously shouted at the rapidly descending thunderbolt.

The dragon’s true form was over a hundred zhang long, massive like a mountain as it lay on the ground. Compared to it, the tiny milk dragon was insignificant—so much so that he had mistaken her presence for a hallucination.

“E-egg… Eggling.”

His little hatchling.

“Daddy, don’t talk! I’m going to beat the bad guy!”

Seeing the lightning about to strike her daddy, the dumpling suddenly leapt up, transforming into a little milk dragon. Flapping her small, chubby wings, she shot into the sky toward the massive thunderbolt.

Ao Su shouted, “Eggling, come back!”

As cultivators, everyone present had exceptionally keen eyesight. Whether inside or outside the city, all saw the tiny golden dragon beneath the enormous purple lightning.

The cultivators’ hands trembled as they cried out, voices shaking, “T-this is bad—the little divine dragon…!”

“Little Highness, come back!” Only now did Alice and the others from the Fantasy Continent realize that the Little Highness hadn’t been mischievously playing hide-and-seek, nor had she been captured by cultivators. She had sensed that her father, the Dragon Lord, was in danger—and had gone to save him.

But she had only just hatched, not even a year old. She had only learned a few minor spells and even flying was a struggle.

Wasn’t this suicide?!

The believers’ eyes split with anguish, despair rising in their hearts. “Your Highness, dodge it!”

At this moment, they wished they could rush up, grab that little golden figure back, and give her a hard spanking—even if it meant committing insubordination!

Losing the Dragon Lord was already unbearable—they could not also lose the Little Highness. She was still so young, needing everyone’s protection!

Alice roared, “No! I’m going to save the Little Highness!”

But—it was too late.

They didn’t even have time to enter the tribulation zone. The towering purple thunderbolt had already swallowed that tiny figure whole.

Ao Su spat out a mouthful of blood. Even at his weakest moments before, he had never coughed up blood—but now his eyes were filled with despair.

His Eggling… had she been struck by the thunder tribulation into nothingness, not even scraps left behind, just to save him?

When had the powerful, arrogant dragon ever shown such panic since his birth? His grievously injured massive body became a burden instead, unable to move. Ao Su transformed into human form, his face deathly pale as he stood up.

His eyes burned, a crystalline tear slipping from the corner of his eye. His limbs were numb and trembling as he walked step by step toward where the thunder had struck.

“Ka-ba ka-ba…”

Ao Su and everyone else looked up.

They saw the golden little chubby dragon wobble up from the bottom of the crater, flying shakily into the air, then toward Ao Su.

In her chubby paw, she was gripping a miniaturized purple… thunderbolt?

She chewed on it happily, munching with relish. The crowd focused their spiritual energy into their eyes to look closer. The little fat dragon bit down along one end of the lightning—one bite, one segment, bite by bite. The lightning seemed to struggle, twisting grotesquely in her paw, yet utterly unable to escape.

It looked especially—pitiful.

Ao Su: “……”

Everyone else: “……”