Chapter 108: The Dragon Clan Joins the Battle

"Blood, so much blood! What a beautiful scent!"

In the darkness, a blood-red figure awakened from its slumber. Endless crimson blood seeped down from the surface, bathing its entire body.

"What is this blood? It is so beautiful. Why have I never tasted it before?"

"Could it be a newly born race?"

As the endless fresh blood poured in, the beast's withered body began to recover. However, as it moved, a layer of dark blue, electric-net-like restrictions emerged on its skin, binding it tightly. In the center of the seal, there was a faint character: "Origin."

"Damn it! To have such beautiful blood before me and be unable to savor it?"

"I must break this seal!"

With a harsh tearing sound, three blood-red light shadows broke free from the seal and flew out. These were the three souls of the Hou, representing the Ego, Slaughter, and Bloodthirst, respectively.

The seal only constrained its physical body and had no effect on its souls. Driven by the Hou's intense desire to break free, its souls unexpectedly detached from its body and soared outward.

"This body is not worth keeping."

The Hou's Ego soul looked at the firmly bound carcass, flickered, and prepared to leave this hellish place to seek a new vessel.

"Where are you going? Come back!"

The Ego soul realized the other two souls had slipped from its control and was seized with alarm. Regrettably, those two souls represented only the desires for slaughter and bloodthirst, possessing no distinct self-awareness; they ignored it entirely and, with a brief flash, vanished from sight.

"Accursed!"

The Hou's Ego soul cursed in fury. In a single day, losing both its body and two-thirds of its soul—there was nothing more frustrating than this.

Yet, considering the prospect of tasting that exquisite blood, its mood improved slightly. The immediate priority, however, was to find a new body.

Flashing onto the battlefield of Zhuolu, the Hou's Ego soul felt a surge of excitement at the sight of the corpses covering the ground. After some searching, it chose the body of a peak Daluo Golden Immortal of the human race: Hou Qing, a great general under the Yellow Emperor.

As the Hou's soul merged with him, Hou Qing's tightly shut eyes snapped open. His entire body underwent a series of transformations; with a flurry of cracking sounds, thorn-like protrusions sprouted from his skin, and a pair of bat-like leathery wings unfurled from his back. They were a deep, blood-red, looking utterly terrifying.

"This body is not bad."

'Hou Qing' licked his lips slightly, then looked at the omnipresent corpses on the battlefield. Like a bat, he flapped his wings and began to feed greedily. However, lacking the souls of slaughter and bloodthirst, he soon had his fill, flapped his wings again, and flew off into the distance.

Meanwhile, the Hou's other two souls flew into the Yellow Emperor's camp. The soul representing bloodthirst entered the tent of the Yellow Emperor's youngest daughter, Nv Kui, while the soul of slaughter arrived at the tent of Ying Gou, another of the Yellow Emperor’s great generals.

"Blood... no, I do not want to drink blood!"

In Nv Kui's tent, under the influence of the bloodthirsty soul, she subconsciously dreamt of consuming human flesh and drinking human blood. She could not stop retching, feeling an intense resistance to the act of blood-drinking.

Simultaneously, in Ying Gou's mind, scenes of slaughter on the battlefield emerged. The thrill of killing fascinated him... he could not help but become intoxicated by it, unable to pull himself away.

...

The next day, when Xuanyuan awoke, he received a report from his subordinates that Ying Gou had suddenly gone mad during the night and slaughtered hundreds of ordinary human soldiers. He had since been subdued by several Daluo Golden Immortals.

"Ying Gou, what is going on?"

Xuanyuan frowned. He had some impression of Ying Gou as a brave warrior in battle; how could he have suddenly gone insane?

"The subordinate does not know, Your Majesty."

"Take me to see him!"

Frowning slightly, Xuanyuan ordered them to lead him to investigate. This was no small matter; if one such incident occurred, there would surely be a second. If his own generals were to go mad like this, how could the war be fought?

Soon, led by one of his men, Xuanyuan saw the current Ying Gou. By now, Ying Gou could no longer be called human.

Wearing tattered armor stained with blood and bits of flesh, his face was iron-blue, his fingernails were pitch-black and razor-sharp, and two massive fangs protruded from his mouth, coated in blood. He looked utterly grotesque.

"What happened?" Xuanyuan asked a Daluo Golden Immortal who had helped subdue him.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I do not know the specifics. Last night, I heard a commotion and rushed over. Seeing Ying Gou in a frenzy, I and several other Daluo Golden Immortals joined forces to restrain him." The immortal bowed, then glanced at the others who had helped.

"Your Majesty, I observe that Ying Gou has completely lost his reason and turned into a monster. I suggest Your Majesty act decisively and kill him to prevent him from escaping and harming the innocent!"

"Your Majesty, you must not!" Hearing this, the current Chancellor, Feng Hou, stepped forward urgently. "Regardless of his current state, he is Your Majesty's warrior. With the great battle looming, executing a general will surely chill the hearts of the troops!"

Xuanyuan pondered for a moment and agreed with Feng Hou. With a wave of his hand, he ordered Ying Gou to be bound and strictly guarded to prevent him from escaping and causing harm.

Seeing this, the others naturally said no more.

With the matter of Ying Gou resolved, the group returned to the war council tent.

"Chancellor, are the Dragon race willing to come?"

"Your Majesty, we have not yet received word, but I suspect the Dragon race will not refuse, given their deep-seated enmity with the Wu tribe," Feng Hou replied, bowing. He was responsible for these matters.

"Hmm."

Xuanyuan nodded, inquired about the overall state of the army, and dismissed the meeting.

Inviting the Dragon race to assist was intended to dispel the dense fog conjured by the mountain demons and spirits. The high-ranking officials of the human race were aware of the grudge between the Dragon and Wu tribes, so they were not worried about a refusal.

...

Meanwhile, the current Dragon King, Ao Xing, upon receiving the invitation from the human envoy, immediately used the Dragon race's unique communication arts to dispatch a group of Daluo Golden Immortal-level dragons who were currently performing cloud and rain duties near the Zhuolu Plains.

Ao Xing was a son of the East Sea Dragon King. After the four Sea Dragon Kings perished, he was enfeoffed by the Heavenly Court as the Dragon King.

Following the departure of the four Sea Dragon Kings, the strength of the Dragon race had plummeted, so they no longer divided themselves into four seas or dispersed their power as they once had.

Now, the entire Dragon race was under the command of Ao Xing alone, allowing him to mobilize the full might of the Dragon race with ease.