Just as Ao Qing was deep in thought, a voice full of killing intent rang out from the distance.
"Who are you people!? How dare you trespass on Mount Shu and seize its spiritual lifeline! We, the mountain's guardian generals, will never let you leave!"
As the leading guardian general roared, he thrust his spear forward, and his body began to grow, expanding in size and power. In the blink of an eye, he was as massive as a small mountain.
The other guardian generals followed suit, growing in size without hesitation—colossal beings towering like titans.
Meanwhile, the surrounding mountain gods and land deities began chanting incantations, unleashing their most powerful techniques and divine arts, without the slightest mercy. They all surged toward Ao Qing at terrifying speed.
In an instant, their combined attacks formed a dense web of magical firepower—a net so tightly woven that even the smallest creature could not hope to escape. It was overwhelming.
From afar, even Ao Guang, the former Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, could clearly feel the crushing pressure from this many guardian immortals striking in unison. He found it hard to breathe.
As for the shrimp and crab soldiers nearby, their faces were filled with awe and fear. Their limbs felt heavy, their bodies suppressed by an invisible force. Even moving a finger became a struggle!
They could all sense it: the combined attack of these guardian deities had power on par with the peak of a Great Luo Golden Immortal.
If any normal immortal had been in their place, they would have been instantly crushed.
Just as Ao Guang and the others were about to step forward to help shoulder the burden alongside Ao Qing, they were stopped by a calm voice.
"No need to worry. Just a few mountain guardians—nothing worth fearing."
Ao Qing smiled faintly and raised his hand.
And the moment his words fell, his body exploded in brilliant golden light as he transformed!
A tremendous Dragon King's aura surged out, shaking the heavens, summoning black clouds and torrential rain from all directions.
"What...!?"
The guardian generals froze as Ao Qing began his transformation. An overwhelming force burst from his form and swept outward, shattering their killing intent, dissolving their techniques as though they were mere illusions.
It was as if their fiercest spells and attacks had been absorbed into a bottomless sea—as if they had never existed.
"Impossible! His dragon aura alone negated all of our combined attacks!?"
"What incredible pressure… Just the dragon might alone crushed everything!"
One of the guardian generals' expressions twisted with fear. He shouted:
"That's no ordinary demon dragon! That's a true Dragon King! Quickly—we must stop him before the transformation completes! If he fully becomes a golden dragon, we won't stand a chance!"
His words finally snapped the others out of their stupor.
Of course they were shocked!
Their joint assault could match the peak of the Golden Immortal realm, yet this mysterious dragon crushed it with aura alone.
What did that mean?
Only dragon royalty possessed that kind of power.
And before they could react further, a deafening roar burst across the sky, and the clouds split apart.
In a blaze of golden light, Ao Qing's body underwent a drastic transformation:
His limbs and spine grew rapidly, stretching into the heavens.
His human head morphed into a majestic dragon head.
His entire body surged with energy as thunder and lightning crackled across his scales.
A terrifying presence emerged—an enormous dragon over a thousand zhang long, coiled above Mount Shu. Storm clouds churned at his feet, and his form blotted out the sun.
Even the guardian generals, who had grown to mountain-sized giants, now looked like ants beneath Ao Qing's colossal body.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Suddenly, the golden sheen on Ao Qing's body morphed, replaced by thick, jagged purple-gold patterns that lit up his entire form.
His scales shone with a dazzling luster, sending chills down the spines of every being who saw him.
"That… that's… a Purple-Gold Dragon!?"
The guardian generals froze in horror.
They had seen many five-clawed golden dragons in their time—but never a dragon that radiated pure purple-gold brilliance.
"No… That's a mutated dragon! One that has absorbed Pangu's Essence!"
A more knowledgeable guardian general's voice trembled.
"A Mutated Purple-Gold Dragon…? What kind of monster are we facing!?"
Back on the clouds above, Ao Guang and the other dragon elders were also frozen in disbelief.
They had heard of mutated dragons—but never actually seen one.
"It's said that above golden dragons, there exists a bloodline anomaly… and our Dragon King, it seems, has become a Purple-Gold Mutated Dragon," said Prime Minister Turtle with a deep breath.
"Yes… I can confirm it," Ao Guang nodded gravely. "After absorbing Pangu's Essence, he has evolved into something… divine."
Meanwhile, Ao Qing—now fully transformed—took a moment to feel his new form.
"Let's see just how powerful this Eight-Clawed, Primordial-Calamity, Mutated Purple-Gold Dragon really is!"
His stats were surging—everything about him was growing stronger at a rate even he could barely comprehend.
With a single motion of his massive body, Ao Qing lunged toward the guardian generals.
Thunder clapped, and the wind screamed.
Before most of them could even react, several were already being ripped to shreds by his razor-sharp claws, their bodies torn into bloody mist—dying before they even knew what happened.
In their final moments, not one of them understood how he struck.
They only felt a flash of lightning…
And then, nothing.