Burning Luck

The worst case scenario had happened. This was the sole conclusion the strongest son of Zulin as well as his assistant/shadow, Qi An concluded.

The young Great Unity Golden Immortal held an orb in hand, a miniature small world which contained his siblings. He himself was wrapped in a fur coat harvested from a now deceased avian cultivator who specialised in stealth.

His hold on the tree he stood on, thousands of kilometres away from the core battlefield was secure for now. A bit too close for his liking but he wanted to witness the events with his own eyes.

"Father, your ambition doomed you," he whispered closing his eyes and praying. He debated stepping forwards to help but shook his head. Voices from within the small world was urging him.

"Going there is suicide brothers and sisters," he said towards his siblings. However, in truth he too wished to aid his father as well.

Qi An cannot claim to like his father. His was arrogant, entitled, overconfident and brutal. He wasn't exactly the kindest of rulers.

He sighed and turned around and flew away.

…

Drip, drip, drip. Droplets of blood leaked from Zulong's mouth onto his claw. The dragon gazed down at his own blood and sighed. His shoulders slagged slightly and he descended from his high altitude.

"Brother, that was reckless of you," Yinglong lectured flying down to meet the elder dragon.

"Master taught us many years ago that nascent souls are once in a lifetime treasures. You shouldn't recklessly burn them."

"It worked didn't it?" Zulong snorted. "He let us in and allowed us to attack from two fronts."

"It's a miracle we didn't suffer any losses from that assault," the winged dragon frowned.

"You overthink things too much," Zulong defended himself. "The gamble payed off and victory is in our hands, now we just need take back what is ours."

Zulong gazed around the collapsed mountain and sighed. "It's a shame we won't be able to totally recoup our losses." His gaze traced downwards towards where Zulin would've fallen.

The rubble shifted. Stone and sand moved out of the way as a fatigued quadruped qilin stood amidst the rubble. He glared hatefully at the dragon floating above.

"Men, surround him. Besiege him, give him no chance to escape," Zulong ordered. His serpentine body straitened out and dived down as well.

The mighty Qilin Sovereign was surrounded from all fronts. In all directions, massive monstrous sea creatures dived for him. More than two dozen Great Principle Chaos Immortals.

Gritting his teeth, Zulin roared. An explosion of red hot light expanded out in all directions. It was an impact that eradicated everything in a several kilometre area.

Holding his claw up, Zulong forcefully held the blast back. It bounced harmlessly across his scales. His brothers were much the same, being capable of resisting the attack.

In a blinding flash of light, Zulin jumped out like a rocket. His target wasn't any of the more powerful figures but a weaker immortal. It was a cultivator who resembled a squid.

Sensing imminent danger, the squid Chaos Immortal unleashed a fog of ink. His tentacles shifted into spears of light striking at the qilin.

Zulin snorted at the display. He'd give credit where it's due, this squid had some ability. The qilin blew out a strong gust of wind dispelling the fog of ink. He proceeded to shrug off the light spears and ascended in a straight line.

"No!" The squid barely uttered before Zulin effortlessly pierced his defences. His eyes bulged as he died.

"Damn it," Qinglong who had been the closest to the squid charged for the qilin. His azure claws pierced the side of the sovereign.

Zulin screeched in pain. He raised his fore hoof and slammed Qinglong on the crown of his skull.

Tossing the dragon aside he turned his attention to five others who'd arrived admits the commotion. His speedy attack had ended and he was quickly surrounded.

Battling against multiple opponents was already something that was extraordinarily difficult. This was especially the case for so many immortals of similar rank. Zulin battered aside the dolphin, the stingray, the mackerel, but was blindsided by the shark.

He was dragged down and pummelled by the White Tiger. He was crushed beneath the massive snail. Catching himself, the qilin got up and threw the snail off and kicked the tiger away.

Xuanwu spun in and bashed Zulin across his face. His snake tail inhaled a gallon of air and unleashed a blizzard of frost and snow.

The qilin growled in furry and shot out flares of karmic fire forcing the others away. But amidst this, Zulong came behind him. His claw gripped Zulin by the back of his head and slammed his face into the ground, shaking the earth.

"We should flee," Erfu said to Wei and Kaimingshou. The only three to survive the previous battle and were now watching their ruler getting pummelled into the ground.

"He is besieged from all sides," Wei added. The three shared a look and got up from their positions on the ruined mountain. They transformed into three flashes of lights and fled.

"Ignore them, focus fire on Zulin. Give that horse no chances to escape," Zulong ordered his men. With his command, they charged in with a barrage of strikes.

Bolts of magical fire, water, lightning, and air blasted the qilin. Everywhere he turned he met opposition, harassment from all sides, from a distance or up close.

Zulin will return attacks of his own, karmic fire, and lasers of light, raise boulders the size of mountains. He fought ferociously and his antlers dripped with the blood of his enemies.

But the four seas experts had gotten more careful. They fought in groups of four and five. They attacked in all directions and left no openings.

Zulin could dodge all he wanted, attacks would fly over him. But he was trapped with no chances to break out.

Yinglong had created a massive storm over the area. It constantly rained and flooded the lands. He stayed in the outskirts harassing the qilin from a great distance.

"RAGH!" Zulong's latest claw strike eradicated much of the land creating another of thousands of creators that now littered the area. Blows so strong they threatened to punch directly into the void.

Yet again, Zulin narrowly rolled out of the way. His blue scales just barely dodging subsequent strikes from Zulong's whiskers, hind legs, and tail.

Desperation was felt by the north continent sovereign. He was burning luck like no tomorrow. Taking all chances he could to avoid death, to look for openings. Killing that squid had done little to make this possible.

He flew away from Zulong firing massive waves of karmic fire much to the dragon's anger.

There were no words to describe Zulong's rage. Despite the besiegement, Zulin would not give up. He was burning through his stockpile of luck Qi to avoid his fate. A stockpile that rightfully belonged to the dragon.

Zulong fought in desperation. His long body attacked from all sides. He struck and got struck from all sides. His scales were cracked in some places and he was bruised beneath his skin.

Zulin screamed in pain as Colossal Shark bit into his tail. The qilin turned and returned fire causing the shark to quickly let go. Zulin then turned and knocked away the stingray from before.

Zulong charged up with Qinglong and Baihu. The two celestial bodies were met with the ancient chessboard while Zulong broke through the blockade.

"No!" Zulin's luck returned. He narrowly avoided a charging Zulong who's claw drew blood from the qilin's chin.

Falling back, the qilin flew in another direction. He would've made it if he was not tackled by a colossal eel. The divine beast coiled around the qilin and forced him back onto the floor.

"Damn you!" He screeched in fury. His muscle convulsed and he tore his way out of the eel's grip. He slammed his head into the eel's face dazing the creature.

"Die!" He stomped his front hoof down on top of the immortal's face crushing his skull in an instant.

"GAH!" Zulin fell forwards away from the corpse having been struck by Yinglong's claw. The winged dragon breathed a stream of lightning and forced Zulin to skirt across the ground kicking up a wave of soil.

Crashing roughly onto the ground, Zulin groaned in pain. He stood up unsteadily catching a glimpse of a charging Zulong.

"Fuck you," he cursed and began running at the dragon. His body was one engulfed with karmic fire. A pullet of luck flames that met the vast storm of seawater brought by Zulong.

BOOM!

The two clashed against each other rocking horns like they'd done thousands of years ago on Ao. An event that marked the first meeting between future sovereigns.

Zulong sneered at the qilin, he swayed his head aside and slammed Zulin into the ground with terrifying force. His claws stabbed into the qilin's spin, sheering his scales and flesh off.

"You think you could get away with stealing from me?" Zulong laughed taking pleasure in Zulin's screaming. He smashed the qilin again and again into the ground bloodying the celestial beast. "You think you can get away from destroying my kingdom? My home?"

The rest of his Chaos Immortals stopped on the outskirts watching their sovereign brutalise the qilin.

Zulong's claw tore into Zulin's face, tearing out his flesh. His other claw ripped into his throat. His regal golden scales were bloodied with the blood of Zulin.

Throughout this, the qilin strengthened his body as best as he could. Karma flowed through his skin creating a divine physique incredibly resistant to damage. But this could only do so much against the dragon's brutal physical strength.

Zulong clawed into Zulin's flesh. Light wounds were dug deeper and deeper. Zulong's own claws became like sedated knives specialised for killing.

"You want your luck so much?" Zulin wheezed with contempt. He gazed defiantly at a confused Zulong's eyes. "Then have it."

In Zulin's eyes, his pupils flashed with gold. The golden light of karma flashed all over his body. The image of the Qi Dragon of luck flashed into existence outside of Zulin's body.

It floated for a split second before assuming a new form. One doused completely in flames.

"You wouldn't dare," Zulong growled.

"You pushed things too far," Zulin growled back.

Whereas before, Zulin was incredibly hesitant to use up the stockpile of luck he took from Zulong, now he decided to deploy it. What was the point of luck if you weren't alive to use it?

'To hell with you,' Zulin thought darkly. On the surface, his body was just like Shenni's had been eons ago, bursting with energy about to erupt. 'You'll gain nothing here,' he chuckled weakly as the qilin exploded in a titanic explosion of karmic fire.

It engulfed the world in a bright dome that was visible from across the world. A controlled dome of detonated karmic fire that covered a radius of a trillion kilometres in all directions.

All things were eradicated. No life remained from the suicide attack. Trees, soil, living beings alike were burnt out of existence.

The great wilderness now sported a massive hole in the north continent. A hole filled with chaotic energies of the void. A chuck of reality was just missing.

Zulin floated in the void. He was incredibly weak and his vitality drained to the point of near death. He too had been burning his own nascent soul to fight without aid from the Unlimited Karmic Slaying formation for so long, now it had taken its tole.

He glanced around catching the sight of figures made of translucent grey water.

"Oh you've got to me fucking kidding me," Zulin sighed.

Zulong's entire body was a pool of Pellucid Divine Water. He possessed no flesh, no bones, no arteries, no organs. He was just a massive construct of water who's glowing eyes glared at Zulin with hatred.

In the seconds before the luck dragon detonated, Zulong opted to grab as many as he could. He was confident in eventually breaking Zulin's defences but that wouldn't stop the explosion. As such he grabbed all he could reach and assumed one of his master's strongest spells.

Zulong's liquid body enveloped his brothers, the other two symbols, and other people who were lucky enough to make it in.

All in all, thirteen Chaos Immortals were rescued by Zulong including the bulk of the elites. A devastating loss but not one he couldn't recover from.

As Zulong recovered his normal scaled form, he appeared beside Zulin. He exchanged no words with the sovereign. His glowing eyes only flashed with contempt.