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BOOOOM——————

Unlike the previous aerial strike, this time Chen Xuanfeng clearly focused his attack on the mountain riddled with dragon nests. The blade energy cascaded like a monsoon, or erupting magma, cleaving through mountains and shattering rocks. In an instant, the majestic peak, home to hundreds of old and new dragon nests, was sundered violently, collapsing into rubble.

In the blink of an eye, the "Sleeping Ridge," like a thousand-foot sheer cliff face, crumbled like a tower stripped of its pillars. Countless plumes of dust erupted from the shattered rock layers, forming a cloud that blotted out several kilometers of sky. The thunderous collapse overwhelmed even the wails of the dragons above and below.

This catastrophic collapse was, in truth, the result of centuries of negligence by the dragons residing here. They had relentlessly excavated vast nests into the mountain, relying on magical reinforcement while ignoring the structural integrity of the core. When faced with Chen Xuanfeng's assault—whether the sheer force of the "Tiger Soul Blade" or the Platinum Lightning entwined with the "Sword of Divine Punishment"—their magic proved utterly futile. The nests, their magical frameworks destroyed in an instant, collapsed one after another, dragging the entire mountain down with them.

Nearly a dozen dragons, deep in slumber within their nests, along with the treasures of dozens more, were buried beneath the ruins. However, since Chen Xuanfeng had primarily targeted the mountain itself, aside from the ancient gold dragon he'd marked for death—sliced into pieces—the other dragons remained unharmed.

Witnessing this tragedy unfold again, the dragons pursuing Chen Xuanfeng in the sky, as well as those attempting to intercept him, were struck dumb with horror once more.

"Hmph... Heh heh... HAHAHAHA! Is this the Dragon race? Is this the power of the so-called supreme race of the continent? Is this the pride you flaunt, the very thing that emboldened you to challenge me?" Chen Xuanfeng threw his head back, laughing maniacally—a sound long absent—as he roared at these supremely intelligent super beasts: "Pathetic overgrown lizards! Arrogant fools! Without the Dragon Saint, you are NOTHING! Watch closely—today, I will level the entire Sacred Dragon Mountain and erect a monument from your flesh and blood to commemorate this day!"

With that, his figure vanished once more, a blur of argent death streaking toward the front mountain, charging straight for the "Amethyst Platform," where the massive fortress stood.

"Accursed monstrosity! You will pay for this today!" The dragon elders, their dignity pushed to the brink, let out piercing roars as they bellowed in unison: "All dragons, heed our command! Activate the 'Infinite Scale-Shattering Curse'! Spare no cost—annihilate this devil————"

With this roar, the five remaining dragon elders soared into the sky, forming a pentagram magic circle. Multicolored energy erupted from their gaping jaws, twisting together like lightning, spinning endlessly. The other dragons quickly gathered around, pouring their power into the formation. Though draconic hierarchies were fractious, with even elders lacking absolute authority, none dared disobey now—not with their kin slaughtered and their home under siege.

Chen Xuanfeng, racing toward the Amethyst Platform, sensed the gathering energy above and sneered. "Finally willing to go all out? Too late—everything is proceeding as I foresaw!"

Long before arriving at Sacred Dragon Mountain, he had accounted for every variable. With Winter Night, the hybrid Demon Dragon, by his side, Chen Xuanfeng was well-versed in draconic combat. Dragons lived long lives and inherited knowledge directly from their parents; no matter how lazy, each mastered numerous spells and techniques, making them capable of single-handedly taking on armies. Yet precisely because of their strength and pride, most dragons—barring certain clans—lived scattered and isolated. While individually formidable, they lacked experience in coordinated warfare. Faced with a stronger lone enemy, they would descend into disarray, squandering their numerical advantage. The dragons themselves knew this, which was why every lineage preserved at least a few joint combat techniques from the ancient War of Four Races—simple yet devastating skills that required no rehearsal, though the cost was often equally steep.

The "Infinite Scale-Shattering Curse" was the deadliest among them. This arcane combat technique required only five magic-proficient dragons as its core. As others fed their power into it, the pentagram would unleash an endless barrage of high-level Disintegration Rays, homing in on the enemy automatically. Though Disintegration was merely a seventh-tier spell, it carried a slim but ever-present chance of utter annihilation—unlucky victims, even six-winged seraphs or archdevil lords, could turn to dust in an instant. The "Infinite Scale-Shattering Curse" compensated for the low odds with sheer volume. With enough dragons, hundreds of thousands of rays could converge into a colossal beam capable of annihilating even a reborn Archdevil King or the Twelve Sages resurrected—leaving no choice but flight.

For other races, the one mitigating factor was that this technique's sheer volume of Disintegration spells drastically increased the risk of magical backlash—something even dragon mages couldn't prevent. Worse, backlash carried a far higher chance of utter annihilation. Every time this technique was unleashed, dragons would inevitably perish to its recoil. Thus, it was only deployed in direst need.

Chen Xuanfeng had anticipated this.

The first strike at "Thousand Cloud Cliff" was meant to be sudden and overwhelming, leaving the dragons no time to react. Then, attacking the nests of the "Sleeping Ridge" would enrage them fully, raising the odds of them resorting to the "Scale-Shattering Curse" to over ninety percent. Of course, had the dragons responded rationally from the start, launching a joint assault immediately, Chen Xuanfeng would have skipped the "Sleeping Ridge" and struck the "Amethyst Platform" fortress directly.

"Even after a thousand years of cooperation, dragons have never truly treated humans as equals. If their survival is truly threatened, and without the Dragon Emperor Knights to restrain them, they wouldn’t hesitate to unleash this curse—even if it meant dooming every human on Sacred Dragon Mountain," Winter Night had explained during their planning. "After all, no matter how many die, more humans will grovel to serve draconic masters... At least, that’s what most dragons believe."