Chapter Forty-Seven: The Dagger Revealed

“Damn it! Charge!”
Following this assault, the Grand Ark suffered even greater damage, cracks appearing along its hull.
Yet Gongsun Yan pressed on, gritting her teeth as she urged the Grand Ark forward once more.
In an instant, golden light streaked across the void and descended before the Heavenly Dao Formation.
“Wang Daozong!” she shouted loudly.
Hearing this, Wang Daozong’s eyes finally shed all hesitation. He drew a deep breath and roared,
“Dragon Soul Link, rise!”
The City of Divine Wind, which had briefly regained stability after the Thunder Tiger shifted its attack, was thrown into violent tremors again, startling all cultivators.
The source of the tremors was none other than the Dragon Pavilion!
The shaking grew ever more intense, reaching a crescendo in just a few heartbeats.
Wang Daozong spat out a mouthful of blood, and from the top of the Dragon Pavilion a beam of golden light shot forth, connecting to him.
In that moment, Wang Daozong’s aura surged. He produced a stone bead from his hand, which, within the golden light, transformed into a horn.
Blowing the horn with all his might, his aura diminished with each note.
Yet the Thunder Tiger within the Heavenly Dao Formation suffered the same fate!
The beast roared, its aura wildly fluctuating, so unstable that the protective shield of the formation twisted to its limits.
As the Thunder Tiger’s aura waned, at one point it dropped to the level of a primordial beast.
Tu Lu’s unease finally melted away, replaced by joy in his eyes!
At last, the Thunder Tiger nearly fell completely into the realm of the ancient beasts.
The golden light linking Wang Daozong and the Dragon Pavilion weakened to its limit.
Just as everyone rejoiced, Tu Lu suddenly sensed something amiss, his expression changing sharply as he looked toward Gongsun Yan.
At the same time, a claw reached from the void beside him, grasping the golden light between Wang Daozong and the Dragon Pavilion.
It was a dragon’s claw!
“Dragon Pavilion, I have finally awaited this chance. The things that belong to me shall return!”
“You—!”

Wang Daozong’s face paled, but before he could speak, Gongsun Yan struck down upon his head, shattering his body instantly.
The dim golden light seemed to sense Wang Daozong’s death, shrinking rapidly as it tried to retreat back to the Dragon Pavilion.
“After all these years, I’ve finally caught you. How could I let you escape now!”
Gongsun Yan roared, and the dragon’s claw in the void gripped the golden light tightly. The Dragon Pavilion trembled again—not from gathering energy, but as if its energy were being drained.
Even the void through which the golden light passed quivered.
Everyone in Divine Wind City was stunned, unable to comprehend what was happening.
For a moment, even the thousands of demon beasts outside the city halted their advance.
But silence lasted only an instant; soon, a furious roar echoed from within the Dragon Pavilion!
A terrifying aura erupted, and a hawk-nosed elder burst forth from the Dragon Pavilion!
His aura surpassed even Gongsun Yan’s, rivaling that of a primal beast.
“Thief, daring to seize the Pavilion’s treasured Dragon Soul—today, not even the Lord of the Southern Cloud Nation can save you!”
Enraged, the hawk-nosed elder struck at Gongsun Yan with his palm.
Gongsun Yan merely laughed, showing not a trace of fear.
“So I wasn’t wrong—here in this border city’s Dragon Pavilion, the sleeping guardian is nothing but a decaying Nascent Soul cultivator. You cannot stop me!”
As her words fell, eighteen figures appeared around her.
Everyone in Divine Wind City was thunderstruck.
They could hardly believe that a Nascent Soul cultivator had appeared in their city, let alone that Gongsun Yan dared to confront one!
“It’s said that when a guest elder of the Dragon Pavilion reaches the end of their lifespan, they enter the forbidden grounds to sleep, becoming the Pavilion’s hidden guardian. I never thought it was true! Our Divine Wind City actually has a Nascent Soul powerhouse!”
“Has Gongsun Yan gone mad, daring to fight a Nascent Soul cultivator? Even if the Pavilion’s Nascent Soul guardian is at death’s door, before that moment he remains a true Nascent Soul!”
“She’s mad, she’s been mad ever since she sealed Divine Wind City!”
While the crowd was in shock, an even more astonishing scene unfolded.
Gongsun Yan’s eighteen clones formed a grand formation, encircling the Pavilion’s mighty guardian!
Each clone possessed only the early Purple Mansion aura, but together they imprisoned even the Nascent Soul cultivator!
“Supreme Spirit Sword!”
The hawk-nosed elder’s face twisted in anger, shouting as hundreds of sword energies erupted from his dantian, slashing out in all directions.
But one of Gongsun Yan’s clones unleashed a sonic wave, causing all the spirit swords to tremble and slow, then several clones moved in unison, stripping away the sword energies until their power was less than a third, while the remaining clones assaulted the elder together.

Not only did they shatter all the sword energies in an instant, they forced the hawk-nosed elder to retreat several steps, his face ashen.
Within the protection of the Grand Ark, Tu Lu’s eyes widened as he watched, for Gongsun Yan was manifesting the complete Shadow Guard Eighteen Formation!
“Impossible!”
The hawk-nosed elder staggered back, horror flooding his heart, his eyes blazing.
Gongsun Yan’s eighteen clones—one adept at sonic waves, seven at domain manipulation, ten at offense—combined to form an array, their auras entwined as one!
Individually, each clone possessed only early Purple Mansion cultivation, but united, each rivaled the late stage.
His attacks were instantly disrupted by sonic interference, then weakened by seven overlapping domains, reduced to less than a third of their power, before facing the ten late Purple Mansion-level assaults.
If he were at his peak, this might not matter, but his vitality was failing, his strength diminished, and most importantly, Gongsun Yan was already close to succeeding—he could not delay any longer!
“Wretch, you shall not prevail!”
He gritted his teeth, spat a mouthful of essence blood, condensing it into a seal in midair, then sent it deep into the Dragon Pavilion.
“The second layer?!”
Gongsun Yan’s expression changed. She gestured quickly, and the golden light trembled ever more violently. A gray shadow threatened to burst from the top of the Pavilion!
“Scoundrel, you dare!”
At that moment, another furious roar echoed from within the Pavilion, and a squat middle-aged man shot skyward, his aura even stronger than the hawk-nosed elder’s!
“You dare covet the Dragon Soul? Even if the Pavilion loses most of its hidden power today, you shall be captured!”
Though he appeared middle-aged, his aura was even more decayed than the elder’s, and he attacked with a massive thunderball.
“Thunder Tiger, strike!”
Gongsun Yan gritted her teeth and shouted into the void.
A beast claw reached out, blocking the thunderball and slapping toward the squat man!
“That’s the Thunder Tiger!”
“How can it be—the Thunder Tiger should be inside the Heavenly Dao Formation!”
Divine Wind City erupted in chaos.
Indeed, even now, the Thunder Tiger was still within the formation.
Yet outside the formation, before the squat man, another Thunder Tiger appeared—one that still radiated the terrifying aura of a primal beast!