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"You dare harm my wife—I'll make you regret being born into this world!" With a roar filled with malice-laden hatred, Chen Xuanfeng didn’t even wait to retrieve his blades before unleashing the Nine Yin White Bone Claw at the Dragon Saint.

Nine Yin White Bone Claw — Celestial Tri-Lament: Regret — Ten Reincarnations of Heart-Piercing Vengeance.

A pair of wolf claws transformed into hundreds of razor-sharp talons, surging like a tide toward the Dragon Saint’s vital points. Though the severely wounded Dragon Saint mustered his combat energy to block most of them, his body was still riddled with hundreds of bloody holes, fresh blood gushing forth once more, splattering around like a crimson rain under Chen Xuanfeng’s assault.

Nine Yin White Bone Claw — Celestial Tri-Lament: Hatred — Centuries of Flaying, Millennia of Ruin.

Chen Xuanfeng’s claws tore and sliced along the Dragon Saint’s wounds, instantly shredding the bones, joints, and meridians of this Saint Master, causing his body to collapse like a marionette with severed strings. But Chen Xuanfeng wasn’t done yet—his fingers channeled destructive force inward, crushing every bone and tearing apart his opponent’s organs in chunks.

Nine Yin White Bone Claw — Celestial Tri-Lament: Grief — Eternal Pulverization of Flesh and Bone.

With a final surge of claw energy, Chen Xuanfeng withdrew and leapt onto the first tier of Qingcheng Fortress’s walls, not sparing another glance at the Dragon Saint. Behind him, the Dragon Saint let out a final, agonized scream as every wound on his body erupted anew—his skin, muscles, tendons, bones, and organs exploded layer by layer, shattering into nothingness until his entire form dissolved into a mist of blood.

The final and most devastating three techniques of the Nine Yin White Bone Claw, an external martial art’s ultimate pinnacle, had at last been fully mastered by Chen Xuanfeng in this moment.

A generation’s strongest Saint Master, the foremost of human martial artists, was reduced to ashes—barely an hour after the assassination of the Orc King Samantha.

With Catherine’s fate unknown and the Dragon Saint annihilated, the continent's supreme experts of his caliber had nearly all perished.

At the same time as the Dragon Saint’s demise, Carol and Xi Luo both abandoned their opponents and rushed toward the Dragon-Slaying Sword embedded in Qingcheng Fortress’s walls. The Dragon Saint could die, but the Dragon-Slaying Sword could not be lost—for only with it could there be a new Dragon Saint, a new Dragon Knight. In a way, this sword was more important than the Dragon Saint himself. Had they known Catherine was pregnant, they might never have brought such a crucial divine weapon here.

But before they could reach it, another massive white figure landed beside the wall first.

The ice dragon—*Winter Night*, Chen Xuanfeng’s draconic steed, outpaced everyone else and performed an action that left all parties stunned.

He bent down, seized the shattered Dragon-Slaying Sword in his jaws, tilted his head back—and swallowed the legendary divine weapon whole.

Eating an epic divine weapon alive?

No super magical beast had ever done such a thing. No creature’s stomach could compare in hardness to an epic divine weapon, let alone the Dragon-Slaying Sword, a blade designed to slay all dragons. Even in its damaged state, it shouldn’t have been reduced to food for a mid-rank dragon.

Yet before the eyes of all, the White Dragon showed no signs of toothache or stomach pain. Instead, he chewed twice, swallowed, then spat out a few patterned metal fragments—decorations once embedded in the sword’s hilt. The blade itself had clearly become his meal.

"ROOOOOARRRR—"

The most violent outburst didn’t come from the humans, but from the ancient Golden Dragon that had served as the Dragon Saint’s mount. This elder dragon, nearly ten thousand years old, had outlived multiple generations of Dragon Saints and held no reverence for the current one. Thus, he felt nothing at his master’s death. But the Dragon-Slaying Sword was different—forged by the Dragon God himself, it was the core of the Dragon Knight’s covenant. Losing it meant that in a century, no more Dragon Knights would exist, severing *the dragon race’s* influence over the continent’s fate. Moreover, the sword was crafted from the horn and crystal of the Abyssal Dragon King. The ancient Golden Dragon knew the rumors about *Winter Night’s* lineage—and now, this dragon of dubious origins had made his intentions unmistakably clear.

So, ignoring his injuries, he flung aside the Black Crystal Bone Dragon harassing him and charged at *Winter Night* with a furious roar.

But once again, he was too late.

A massive, dark storm of draconic energy cocooned *Winter Night* like a silken shroud. The enraged Golden Dragon crashed into it—only to be repelled without leaving a scratch. Moments later, the cocoon exploded, revealing the creature within—

An obsidian-scaled, six-winged, single-horned wyrm with golden eyes.

Though it lacked one pair of wings compared to the legendary Abyssal Dragon King, its unmistakable form sent a chill down the spine of the ancient Golden Dragon, who had witnessed that ancient tyrant’s glory a millennium ago.

"...So you truly are his descendant. What painstaking concealment..."

Meanwhile, atop Qingcheng Fortress, Chen Xuanfeng could spare no attention for the chaos below.

Catherine, once hailed as the world’s strongest female warrior, now lay in his arms like a shattered-winged butterfly. Never before had he felt his wife’s body so light, so cold.

"...Is this divine retribution, heavens? Even after death, even in another world, can my sins never be washed away? But if punishment must come, let it fall upon me—not Catherine..."

Though her body bore many wounds, a beastman’s combat instincts always avoided fatal strikes. The blood loss alone couldn’t kill a Martial Emperor, and even her mangled limbs could heal in time. But what had truly severed Catherine’s life force was that single punch to her back.

The Dragon Saint’s draconic-enhanced fist, fused with the Demon Dragon King’s power, was the apex of draconic might—surpassing even Samantha at her peak. Though Catherine had mustered every ounce of strength to shield herself in that final moment, the blow had shattered her spine, crushed over a dozen ribs, and nearly obliterated her heart and lungs. By the time she fell from the dragon spirit dimension, her pulse and breath had stilled entirely. Such injuries would be beyond recovery even for the most tenacious supreme magical beasts.