Douluo Dalu (Soul Land): Shadow Monarch

At a mere glance, all the hairs on Cheng Xiao's body stood up. He saw a crimson dragon soul unleash a dazzling, scorching magma pillar from its mouth, while an ice-blue dragon soul conjured a vortex filled with sharp ice shards in front of it. Both attacks were aimed directly at Cheng Xiao, who was holding onto the dragon claw.

Cheng Xiao felt a surge of joy. These two dragon souls seemed to be energy remnants left behind by the ancient dragons. If it were only the dragon bones, the shadow summoning might fail, but with the presence of dragon souls, that might not necessarily be the case.

A corpse without a soul cannot be summoned back to the present world after a long time. However, a corpse with its soul is a different matter entirely.

Facing the violent assault of the two dragon souls, Cheng Xiao raised his hand, slightly curling his fingers. A protective energy barrier instantly enveloped him, blocking the scorching magma pillar and the icy vortex.

In the next moment, the dragon claw in Cheng Xiao's arms lifted into the air, absorbing the energy from both the dragon souls' ferocious attacks. As the energy was absorbed, the dragon claw didn't retreat but instead charged straight toward the two dragon souls.

Judging by the scene, it seemed as if the dragon claw had encountered a delectable feast.

Just as Cheng Xiao stood there in a daze, the red and blue dragon souls sensed the threat of the dragon claw. Immediately, they turned tail and ran, their earlier ferocity gone in an instant. They let out sharp cries, their tails whipping in the air, as if terrified of being caught by the dragon claw.

"Awesome!" Cheng Xiao exclaimed, giving a thumbs up. What he had anticipated to be a fierce battle had unexpectedly turned into such a miraculous event.

But then, Cheng Xiao quickly realized the downside: the dragon claw was absorbing the energy of the two dragon souls. If it drained them completely, how would he use shadow summoning?

Thus, a peculiar scene unfolded: the dragon claw was chasing the two dragon souls, and right behind it was a shadow moving at lightning speed. It was a perfect depiction of a chase where none of them could escape.

…

Before long, the ice-blue and crimson dragon souls were cornered by the dragon claw. Cheng Xiao followed closely behind, fearful that the two remaining dragon souls would be devoured.

"Damn, this dragon claw sure is fast! There's no one even driving it, but it's acting like a creep who's seen a beautiful woman." Cheng Xiao grumbled nervously as he eyed the dragon claw, which had finally stopped.

"Roar!"

The two dragon souls roared simultaneously. Cheng Xiao didn't understand what they were trying to convey. His gaze shifted slightly, and he saw the dragon claw had somehow appeared above the dragon souls. In the next instant, it viciously slammed down. The once serene underwater world suddenly transformed into chaos.

Seeing this, the two dragon souls were startled. The crimson dragon soul opened its mouth wide, drawing in the surrounding energy.

In the next moment, a thick, fiery dragon breath formed in the mouth of the crimson dragon soul. It shot a scorching dragon breath at the descending dragon claw.

Witnessing this, the ice-blue dragon soul similarly gathered extreme cold energy. Unlike the fiery dragon breath, the ice-cold dragon breath blasted out. Together, the red and blue dragon breaths desperately resisted the overwhelming dragon claw.

Cheng Xiao, seeing this unfold, immediately retreated at high speed, disappearing from the scene in the blink of an eye.

As soon as Cheng Xiao retreated, a deafening explosion erupted from the depths of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.

The destructive energy radiated from the spring's depths, and the void-like space resounded with the roar of dragons.

The intense heatwaves and icy vortex completely enveloped the massive dragon claw. What had once seemed like an indestructible dragon corpse began to shatter. At that moment, the true form of the dragon claw was revealed.

With a thunderous boom, the giant claw fractured, and a streak of red light floated out, coming to a halt nearby.

From a distance, it was a colossal dragon. Its body was even larger than the shattered dragon corpse, and it burned like a moving volcano.

The giant dragon slowly opened its blood-red eyes. It lowered its head, spotting the energy-depleted ice-blue and crimson dragon souls. A mocking grin spread across its face. "Dragons from the barbarian lands, how dare you challenge the commander of the Light Dragon Legion? Ignorant trash."

However, after ridiculing the two dragon souls, the crimson eyes shifted to one side. A ball of fire formed in the dragon's mouth, and a devastating dragon breath shot out. Its terrifying power began to collapse the surrounding space.

But just then, from the depths of the darkness, a shadow swiftly swept out. Its speed was so fast that its body twisted into an eerie arc. The destructive dragon breath barely missed Cheng Xiao, grazing past his shoulder.

The aura of destruction felt familiar to Cheng Xiao. Yes, it was the dragons under the command of the Destruction Monarch.

"Song of the Fire Dragon." After dodging the attack, Cheng Xiao trembled slightly before casting one of the most powerful spells taught to him by the orc sorcerers, the Song of the Fire Dragon.

With the emergence of a magical array, a massive fire dragon appeared. A searing dragon breath immediately blasted toward the giant dragon.

"Orc sorcery?" The giant dragon glanced at the incoming dragon breath with disdain. The scales covering its body were sufficient to nullify any attack. In its eyes, the orcs' sorcery wasn't even worth its time to defend against.

However, just as the giant dragon was dismissing the need for defense, a shadow had already appeared above its head. A blade formed from shadow energy plunged into its skull, and before the dragon could react, Cheng Xiao unleashed an upgraded skill that dealt a critical hit: Thousand Blades!

In an instant, Cheng Xiao's blade transformed into thousands of afterimages, piercing into the dragon's skull at lightning speed. To prevent the dragon from retaliating, Cheng Xiao cunningly activated the Ruler's Authority. Even though the power gap between him and the dragon was immense, underestimating an opponent in battle could spell one's doom.

"This power… the Shadow Monarch!" The wounded dragon had intended to fight back, but the moment it sensed the overwhelming aura of death, panic set in. It thrashed its massive body, its enormous tail swinging wildly, causing the world beneath the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well to tremble.

"Splurt!"

A gaping wound was carved into the dragon's head, and scalding, red-hot dragon blood gushed out. Cheng Xiao's lips curled into a smirk. Underestimating an opponent during battle had sealed this dragon's fate from the very beginning! As the space around them trembled, Cheng Xiao's face changed. He stomped his foot and swiftly dodged. A moment later, two dragon breaths blasted the spot where he had been standing. Judging by the red and blue colors of the dragon breaths, it was clear the two dragon souls were behind the attack.

Turning his gaze, Cheng Xiao saw the two dragon souls unleash their final dragon breaths with all their remaining pride. The combined scorching and freezing breaths pierced through the dragon's skull, extinguishing the light in its blood-red eyes. The colossal dragon collapsed with a deafening thud, its once-molten scales darkening as its vitality drained away, leaving them dull and lifeless.

At this moment, Cheng Xiao cursed inwardly. These two dragon souls clearly intended to kill him along with the dragon. Thankfully, his quick reflexes saved him; otherwise, that attack would have pierced him as well. Didn't they see how it tore through the dragon's skull?

Fortunately, Cheng Xiao was unharmed, so after grumbling to himself, he approached the dragon's corpse. The two dragon souls had also lost their former brilliance, their ethereal forms on the verge of disappearing.