paranoianovel Chapter 118 Soul-Condensing Nail, Suppressing the Dragon!
Chapter 118 Soul-Condensing Nail, Suppressing the Dragon!
Chapter 118 Hundred Souls Condensed into Nails, Suppressing the Dragon! (5K)
The beacon tower fell silent.
One hundred and three dim red lights on the city wall are all in their proper places, arranged neatly, exactly the same as the sentry posts when we were stationed there ten years ago.
The wind blew through the broken battlements, but couldn't move the light.
Xu Hao sat cross-legged on the ruins of the beacon tower, with the Devouring Sea Blade resting horizontally on his lap.
The scroll of the blessed land unfolded in the sea of consciousness, and the binding information of the beacon fortress took stable shape.
A new set of instructions appeared at the edge of the scroll.
[Military Soul Condensation Nail - Activation Conditions: The host guides the military soul's fighting spirit into the blessed land's scroll, and the scroll fuses the fighting spirit with the remaining power of the seal into a new Dragon-Suppressing Nail.]
[The process will take six hours, during which the host must not leave the blessed land area.]
[Price: All 103 military spirits will completely dissipate after the nails are solidified.]
The last line of text remained in my mind's eye, without flickering or displaying any warning color.
A plain and unremarkable statement.
One hundred and three lives for one nail.
Xu Hao closed his eyes.
He pressed his left hand on the ruined ground, and his inner energy burst forth from his palm, merging with the energy of the blessed land painting and spreading in all directions along the foundation of the fortress.
The dark red dots on the city wall sensed the summons.
No hesitation.
The first ray of light rose from the corner of the east wall and slowly descended towards the center of the beacon tower ruins.
The human figures in the light were blurry, but the postures of the Zhenbei Army soldiers were clear and standard, standing at attention with their long spears at their sides.
The second one followed.
The third lamp, the fourth lamp.
One lamp after another silently departed from their posts, converging towards the heart of the fortress.
No sound.
Even the wind has stopped.
Dark red orbs of light gathered, swirled, and interlocked above the ruins.
One hundred and three remnant souls pieced together a slowly rotating sphere of light, within which the outline of an army formation vaguely appeared: spearmen in the front row, swordsmen and shieldmen in the middle, and archers in the back row.
The formation is exactly the same as when we defended the city ten years ago.
The blessed land scroll began to devour the light sphere.
Dark gold patterns spread from the edge of the scroll, enveloping the dark red sphere of light, seeping in, fusing, and forging it inch by inch.
The process is extremely slow.
With each rotation of the sphere of light, a new inscription appears on the scroll.
The inscription's shape shares the same origin as the patterns on the six dragon-suppressing nails in the design, but there are differences—it has a more human touch.
It wasn't the work of the Martial Ancestor; it was formed from the blood, flesh, and will of one hundred and three ordinary soldiers.
Xu Hao's vital energy was being severely depleted.
The Blessed Land Scroll only has 30% of its energy left, which is far from enough to drive the nail solidification process.
The difference was all drawn from his body.
The internal energy of the Tongqiao Realm was drawn out of the meridians one by one and poured into the painting.
The feeling of blood and qi surging and flowing backwards is not much better than having your bones crushed.
But he gritted his teeth and didn't move.
Three hours passed.
The sphere of light shrank by half.
The inscription on the scroll covers one-third of the area.
The temperature around the ruins dropped below freezing—not because of the weather, but because the solidification process was consuming the surrounding heat.
A layer of white frost had formed on the rubble inside the fortress, and the breath exhaled turned into ice crystals that fell down.
The black tortoise in his arms had crawled out at some point and nestled beside his knees. The eerie blue light on its shell flickered, continuously channeling energy into his body.
Even a mosquito's leg is still meat.
Xu Hao did not refuse.
The fourth hour.
The sound of rapid hoofbeats came from outside the fortress.
Not one horse, but seven or eight.
The crisp sound of horseshoes pounding on the frozen ground grew louder as it approached.
Someone is shouting.
"Target confirmed in the direction of Fengsui Fortress!"
'
His voice was youthful, strong, and carried a reckless, impulsive energy.
Guan Hai.
The sound of horses' hooves stopped thirty feet outside the fort.
After a brief metallic clang, footsteps approached, crunching over the gravel.
"Is anyone inside? Commander Zhao's order—"
"6
Guan Hai's voice got stuck in his throat.
He stood in front of the breach in the east wall of the beacon tower, followed by six scouts from the Zhenbei Army.
All seven people froze in place.
The sight inside the fort left them speechless.
A swirling, dark red sphere of light floats in the center of the ruins.
Inside the sphere of light, the outlines of the military formations were clearly discernible: the phantoms of iron armor, the phantoms of spear tips, and the hollow eye sockets beneath helmets burning with flames.
This is an army that has been dead for ten years, and is making its final mobilization.
Guan Hai recognized the remaining markings of the number on the city wall.
The garrison at Fengbao, the 7th Scout Battalion of the Zhenbei Army, consisted of 108 men at full strength. Five were killed in battle, and the remaining 103 men were all killed in action in the winter of the 327th year of the Daheng calendar.
Not one surrendered, and not one fled.
The reinforcements we'd been waiting for for ten years finally arrived.
It was none other than the Zhenbei Army's own men who came.
Guan Hai drew his waist knife.
It's not about fighting.
He raised the sword to his forehead, the back of the blade facing outwards. A standard military salute of the Zhenbei Army.
Upon seeing their commander's action, the six scouts behind him simultaneously drew their swords and raised them above their heads.
The seven knives stood raised for a full thirty breaths in the cold wind.
No one spoke.
The outline of the military spirit inside the sphere of light did not react at all.
They no longer recognize living people, nor do they need to.
For ten years, they have only focused on one thing—defending this fortress.
Now they are going to do one last thing.
Guan Hai sheathed his sword and walked up to Xu Hao.
"Commander Zhao's letter has arrived." He lowered his voice, his gaze sweeping over Xu Hao's shattered right arm bound to his chest and the bleeding wounds on his ribs. "The Prince of Zhenbei already knows about the situation in the Northern Frontier. The Prince's exact words were—'If true, dispatch the Dragon Roar Guards north.'"
Dragon Roar Guard.
Xu Hao opened his eyes.
The ace of the Zhenbei Army.
It is said that all members are at least at the Inner Strength Realm, and the leader is at the late-stage of the Opening Aperture Realm.
The sharpest knife in the hands of the Prince of Zhenbei.
How long will it take to arrive?
'
"From the Prince's Palace to Desperate City, it will take two days of forced march," Guan Hai replied.
Two days. Too late.
"There's other news." Guan Hai pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. "It was sent by Sun Lizi from the coffin shop. The Bone-Eating Tent in the North City of Desperate Situation began breaking camp earlier today. The entire tent, along with several hundred barbarian beast guards, is retreating in the northwest direction."
6
Head northwest.
The image of the Six Nails Suppressing Dragon Diagram appeared in Xu Hao's mind.
The second dragon-suppressing nail that was pulled out was in the southwest direction.
After removing the nails, Bone Lady did not return the way she came, but continued northwest—there was a third Dragon-Suppressing Nail in that direction.
She was on her way.
One by one, they were plucked.
Pull out three, and the dragon will immediately awaken.
"Are the men you brought enough to seal the breach on the north side of Desperate City?" Xu Hao asked.
Guan Hai was stunned for a moment. "Seven people, what a load of crap."
6
"No need to seal it off completely. Just stall for time. I'll set off back to Rift Valley in two hours. Until then, the road from Desperate City to the northwest must remain unobstructed."
Guan Hai did not agree immediately.
He glanced at the slowly melting military spirit within the sphere of light, then at the bloodstains on Xu Hao's face and the ice crust forming on his gray wolf fur cloak.
"You went back to the Rift Valley alone, your right hand is useless, and your energy is almost depleted. What are you going back for, to become a snack for that dragon?"
'
"Driving nails."
Guan Hai remained silent for five breaths.
Then he turned and walked out of the gap.
"Old Zhou, you take three men to the breach north of Desperate City and set up as many obstacles as you can. The rest of you come with me to the Throat-Severing Pass to intercept these barbarians' supply train."
Without a word, the scouts obeyed and dispersed.
Before Guan Hai mounted his horse, he glanced back at the fortress.
The sphere of light shrank even further.
The outline of the hundred-man army began to blur, and the few human figures at the edge had melted into pure dark red energy, swallowed by the dark gold inscriptions on the scroll.
"Ten years," Guan Hai said softly, seemingly to no one in particular.
The sound of horses' hooves faded into the distance.
The sixth hour.
The sphere of light disappeared completely.
One hundred and three military spirits, along with the afterimages of their armor, spears, swords, and shields, all merged into the scroll painting of the blessed land.
The inscriptions on the scroll covered the entire picture, and the dark golden light gathered, compressed, and condensed.
Finally, it was fixed as a three-inch-long nail.
It hangs in the very center of the sea of consciousness.
The nail is dark gold with dark red patterns on its surface—these are not runes, but traces left by the will of one hundred and three people.
Dragon-Suppressing Nail (Military Soul - Remnant).
The word "incomplete" implies that it is inferior to the original version forged by the Martial Ancestor himself.
But it's enough.
That's enough to fill a gap.
Xu Hao held the nail in his hand.
The actual object appears heavier than it does in the mind's eye.
Something that's only three inches long weighs a good thirty pounds when you hold it in your hand.
The temperature from my palm was neither too hot nor too cold, just right for the human body.
On the walls of the beacon tower, all the dark red lights went out.
The lingering resentment that had persisted for ten years was completely dispelled.
The wind howled through the empty battlements.
The fortress eventually became a true ruin.
Xu Hao stood up, holding the Dragon-Suppressing Nail.
The pain in my right arm worsened during the six hours of meditation; the broken bone rubbed against my flesh inside the bandages, causing excruciating pain.
The process of restoring his internal energy to 20% and condensing it into nails completely drained him.
But it's enough.
He stuffed the black tortoise back into the package and tightened the straps.
The Devouring Sea Blade hung at his waist.
The Dragon-Suppressing Nail was placed inside the Sumeru Chamber.
Pushing open the castle gate, a cold wind rushed in.
The countdown numbers in my mind jumped.
[Countdown to the full awakening of Chongyuan Dragon Lord: 5 hours and 27 quarters.]
It took more than five hours. From here to the rift valley, it's 330 li.
If no one stops us, we'll make it in time, just in time.
He had just taken his first step when the scroll of the blessed land suddenly trembled.
On the Six-Nail Dragon-Suppressing Diagram, the pattern of the third dragon-suppressing nail begins to disintegrate.
Bone Girl found another one.
The countdown numbers jumped wildly before finally freezing.
[Countdown to the complete awakening of Chongyuan Dragon Lord updated - 1 hour and 41 quarters.]
Less than two hours later.
Three hundred and thirty li.
Xu Hao gripped the Dragon-Suppressing Nail tightly, his feet pounding the frozen earth with the Surging Wave Step, his figure shooting into the wind and snow.
Behind them, the deserted beacon tower stood in the moonlight.
The dark red light on the city wall was gone.
But the sound of the wind blowing through the gaps in the battlements was just like a hundred people marching in unison.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Three hundred and thirty li.
Less than two hours later.
A cultivator at the Tongqiao Realm can travel 150 li in an hour on flat ground.
On the snowy plains, the price is 60% off, covering ninety li.
Two hours and one hundred and eighty li.
Halfway there.
It's too late.
Even if you run yourself ragged, it won't be fast enough.
Xu Hao glanced down at the Dragon-Suppressing Nail in his left hand.
The dark red patterns on the dark gold nails still carried warmth, and they felt heavy in the hand.
A new line of text emerged from the scroll depicting the blessed land in the sea of consciousness.
The Dragon-Suppressing Nail (Military Soul - Remnant) can release a short-term traction force, guiding the nail holder to move at high speed towards the seal gap.
[Cons: The energy consumption of the nail is approximately 30%, and the sealing and repair effectiveness is reduced to 40% of the original.]
Forty percent.
The original Dragon-Suppressing Nail could imprison the Dragon Lord Chongyuan for eternity.
With 40% effectiveness, he'd probably be imprisoned for 30 to 50 years.
This worm will still wake up in thirty to fifty years.
But thirty to fifty years is enough.
The Zhenbei Army is prepared, and Tianqing Haotu is able to find another way.
Let's not think that far ahead.
Let's finish the work at hand first.
Xu Hao gripped the Dragon-Suppressing Nail tightly and channeled his inner energy into it.
The dark red patterns suddenly lit up.
A power that did not belong to him surged from the nail and enveloped his entire body.
The direction is more accurate than a compass—due north by a slight west, 330 li away.
This force wasn't pulling him.
It was 103 dead veterans who refused to disperse who were guiding him.
Step out.
The speed exceeded the limits of the Surging Waves Step.
The pulling force of the Dragon-Suppressing Nail, combined with the Qi and blood of the Opening Aperture Realm, propelled him to skim across the snow, leaving almost no footprints.
The wind became a wall.
It crashes in, tears apart, and is thrown behind you.
The gray wolf fur cloak was torn to shreds by the airflow within three breaths.
The polar bear skin lining was exposed and quickly thinned.
The traction force consumes the energy of the nail body.
With each breath, the dark red lines dimmed a little more.
He was using something formed from the essence of 103 lives as his legwork.
One hundred li.
The snowfield changed from flat to undulating.
Large areas of snow melted on the ground.
It's not that spring has arrived; it's that the heat from underground is rising upwards.
During the awakening process, the body temperature of Chongyuan Longjun rose sharply, and the permafrost within a radius of a hundred miles was being melted by the heat radiation of life.
Two hundred li.
The skyline ahead changed color.
A beam of dark gold light cleaved through the low, lead-gray clouds, causing the surrounding clouds to churn and steam, forming a huge, slowly rotating vortex.
In the distance, from the direction of Desperate City, the sound of horns echoed.
It's useless. The city walls can't stop something of this level.
Three hundred li.
The dark red patterns on the dragon-suppressing nails have darkened by 70%.
Traction weakens, and speed drops sharply.
Xu Hao poured all of his remaining 15% of his internal energy into his legs, causing his joints to creak from overload.
Three hundred and thirty li.
We've reached the rift valley.
He could hardly recognize him.
Two days ago, the valley walls were covered with a layer of dark green ice, but now not a single inch of ice remains.
The exposed rocks were baked dark red by the underground heat, and the snow within a radius of twenty feet at the valley entrance melted away, with mud and water flowing everywhere and steam billowing.
The sound coming from the bottom of the valley is no longer breathing.
It was a heartbeat. A heavy, powerful heartbeat, belonging to an ancient, ferocious creature about to fully awaken.
Each strike carried a substantial shockwave, sending rubble flying off the ground.
The countdown in my mind started ticking.
[Countdown to the complete awakening of Lord Chongyuan: 23 quarters of an hour.]
In less than half an hour.
Xu Hao unpacked the bundle on his back and placed the Xuan Turtle in a sheltered spot at the valley entrance.
"Lie down properly."
No further words were needed.
He jumped down.
A drop of two hundred feet.
Free fall.
The heat from the valley walls hit us in the face.
He drew the Sea Devouring Blade with his left hand, its tip slicing through the scorching rock face, slowing the metal as it cut through the rock, sparks flying like a waterfall.
The broken bones in his right arm were dislocated by the inertia of the fall, and his vision went black intermittently.
A familiar sensation came from the soles of my feet.
Smooth, warm, and ridiculously large in area.
Scales.
He then stood on Chongyuan Dragon Lord.
But this time is different.
The deep blue turned into a dark gold, carrying a scorching heat, and the surface patterns flowed like blood surging under the skin.
The seam where the nail was removed last time was open, and dark golden light poured out from it. The seam was three times wider than it was two days ago.
On the rock wall beside the crevice hung the remains of three molting demons, charred alive by the high temperature of the dragon's body.
Bone Lady's sentries are all useless.
Xu Hao slammed one knee on the scales and pulled out the Dragon-Suppressing Nail with his left hand.
The dark red patterns on the nail are almost invisible.
He didn't know if 30% of his energy was used up on the journey, and whether the rest would be enough to drive it in.
Hold the nail in your left hand and aim it at the seam.
My heart suddenly raced.
The scales undulated violently.
That dark golden vertical pupil reappeared at the edge of his field of vision.
Not half-open. Fully open.
The pupil constricts and focuses.
It was locked to him.
The intelligence of someone at the peak of the Shattered Realm is returning.
The turbulent chaos within the vertical pupils gradually solidified, transforming into an ancient, condescending scrutiny.
Humans treat ants with more courtesy than this.
A final warning popped up on the scroll depicting a blessed land in the sea of consciousness.
I didn't finish reading the text.
Because I don't have time.
With his left hand, he hammered the Dragon-Suppressing Nail into the cracks of the scales.
There was no internal energy to drive it, and no martial arts moves.
It was a man whose right arm was shattered, whose blood and energy were almost depleted, and who could barely stand, who used the last of his strength to drive a three-inch-long nail into the body of a dragon.
The nail tip touched the inner wall of the scale seam.
The dark red patterns are striking.
The remaining will of the 103 military souls was ignited one last time.
It wasn't an aggressive outburst, but rather a determined, pre-emptive one.
Ten years ago, they guarded a beacon tower until the last man fell, without retreating an inch.
Now, we guard a seal and will not retreat.
The nail sank into the cracks of the scales.
One inch.
The dragon roared.
The infrasound generated by the vibration of the entire body sheared off a layer from the valley walls on both sides.
Xu Hao was so shocked that his internal organs shifted, and all the remaining internal energy in his acupoints dissipated.
Hot blood gushed from the corners of his mouth and nose at the same time.
Two inches.
The scrutiny in his dark gold vertical pupils turned into rage.
An immense, indescribable will pressed down.
The mental barriers of the Tongqiao realm are less than paper in the face of this will.
His knee slammed into the scales, and his teeth clenched so hard they crunched.
The sounds coming from my ears all turned into a buzzing.
Three inches.
The nail was completely embedded.
The dark golden beam of light contracted rapidly within the cracks in the scales.
The remnants of the sealed power resonated with the Nail of Military Soul, and an invisible chain spread out from the nail head, rapidly expanding along the surface of the scales.
The rage in his vertical pupils remained.
But my eyelids started to droop.
It wasn't out of my own free will.
He was forcibly held down.
My heartbeat slowed down. One breath — two breaths — three breaths — back to the rhythm of sleeping, once every five breaths.
The dark golden beam of light went out.
The bottom of the rift valley was plunged into darkness.
Xu Hao lay on the scales, his blood staining the giant scales a dark red.
His left hand was still pressed against the seam of the scales, and the nails of all ten fingers were flipped over.
The last line of the Blessed Land scroll popped up.
The Dragon-Suppressing Nail (Military Soul - Remnant) has been implanted. The seal repair is complete.
[The awakening process of Chongyuan Dragon Lord: has been terminated.]
[Estimated duration of the seal: 37 years.]
Thirty-seven years.
He managed to muster the last bit of clarity and glanced at the six-nail diagram.
The third secondary nail has just been removed, and a new primary nail has been installed.
Two secondary nails were lost.
The six-nail dragon lock was downgraded to a four-nail dragon trap.
Thirty-seven years later, this worm will awaken again.
Let's just get through today first.
He rolled off the scales and fell into the narrow crevice between the valley wall and the dragon's body.
Lying face up to the sky.
At the mouth of the valley, a small, pale blue dot of light lay on the edge, flashing intermittently.
"Don't worry—I'm not dead yet—"
Darkness swallowed up sight.
The last thing I saw before losing consciousness was not the light of the Xuan Turtle.
From the sky above the rift valley, the sound of synchronized footsteps could be heard, and a crimson battle flag was moving.
The flag has a single character embroidered on it.
town.