Chapter 35: Withstanding the Dragon-Snatching Hand
Boom!
A massive crash resounded.
Dust billowed everywhere, and heaven and earth trembled.
All the guests, at this moment, fell silent like cicadas in winter, staring blankly at the white-robed figure struck by the Dragon-Snatching Hand.
If Long Haotian’s sudden strike had taken everyone by surprise, then Jun Xiaoyao’s remarkably swift reaction was even more unexpected.
Yet the technique Long Haotian unleashed was none other than the top-tier divine power of the Ancestral Dragon Nest: the Dragon-Snatching Hand.
Once this great technique is deployed, even possessing a marquis-level weapon for defense would still result in severe injury. Far less could one simply endure it head-on.
Long Haotian had used this very ability before to kill more than a dozen top-tier prodigies from major Dao lineages.
“Divine Child!” Jun Xuehuang’s face turned pale in an instant, drained of all color.
If Jun Xiaoyao was seriously wounded or harmed because of her, Jun Xuehuang could never atone for it, even if she died a hundred times over.
After all, her importance to the Jun Family was nowhere near as great as Jun Xiaoyao’s.
“Brother Xiaoyao!” Jiang Luoli’s delicate face also changed drastically.
Likewise, Jiang Rou, Jiang Shengyi, Jun Zhantian, and the others had expressions that shifted in unison.
At present, Jun Xiaoyao was indisputably the most pivotal figure among the younger generation of the Jun Family.
If something happened to him, the consequences would be unimaginable.
“Could it be… the tenth-birthday banquet for the Jun Family Divine Child will turn into a bloody one?”
“Is the legend of the Jun Family Divine Child going to end before it even begins?”
All around, the guests who had come to attend were stupefied.
If that were truly the case, the Jun Family’s prestige would plummet overnight, while the Ancestral Dragon Nest would gain enormous renown.
In this instant, the heavens and earth fell silent. Countless eyes focused on that peerless figure in white.
“Huh… Something about this doesn’t seem right…” The old Daoist from the Daoji Tianzong murmured in surprise.
Logically, being struck by Long Haotian’s Dragon-Snatching Hand should have at least sent him flying back with blood spraying, if not shattering his body outright.
Yet Jun Xiaoyao still stood there motionless, his face devoid of any expression.
Only his eyes, as deep as ancient wells, revealed an extreme indifference.
Everyone realized something was amiss.
Jun Xiaoyao’s reaction was too calm—he hadn’t even shifted an inch.
“Is the Divine Child just forcing himself to endure it?” some observed inwardly.
However, only Long Haotian himself could truly sense Jun Xiaoyao’s condition.
“You… your body…” Long Haotian’s dragon-like pupils brimmed with shock.
He had slammed a palm into Jun Xiaoyao’s chest, but it felt as though he were hitting a chunk of primordial immortal metal.
Not only did it fail to budge Jun Xiaoyao in the slightest, but his own hand hurt from the impact.
He was a member of the Dragon Clan, after all.
Dragon bodies were unrivaled beneath the sky. That was practically a common belief in the Immortal Realm.
But now, Jun Xiaoyao simply stood there letting him strike, without taking any damage. How was that possible?
“That’s it?”
Jun Xiaoyao turned his head slightly; though he said no humiliating words, it still caused Long Haotian’s face to redden with anger.
“What’s going on here? Could it be you’re just refusing to admit it, forcefully suppressing your internal injuries?”
It was the only explanation Long Haotian could think of.
“Heh… You’re overthinking things…”
Jun Xiaoyao finished speaking, and a sudden flash of cold light gleamed in his eyes.
He reached out, grabbing the arm Long Haotian pressed against his chest. Inside him, forty thousand colossal elephant particles burst forth simultaneously.
In an instant, four hundred million pounds of force surged out.
Tear!
Jun Xiaoyao twisted his wrist and gave a fierce yank!
Amid a miserable scream, Long Haotian’s arm was directly torn off by Jun Xiaoyao!
Blood splattered, dragon blood spilled.
Long Haotian staggered back, clutching the stump of his arm, his face ashen, utterly incredulous.
Not only Long Haotian, but the entire crowd was left speechless.
No one had expected such a turn of events.
After enduring a blow from Long Haotian’s Dragon-Snatching Hand, Jun Xiaoyao was not merely unscathed but responded with brutal force, ripping off Long Haotian’s arm.
Who could have foreseen that?
“The Divine Child of the Jun Family has a steady aura, and he truly doesn’t look wounded.” The old Daoist of the Daoji Tianzong observed.
Hearing this, many power holders had a moment of realization. Then, they looked at Jun Xiaoyao as if he were some sort of monster.
After all, even across the Archaic Heaven Immortal Realm, those who could withstand the Dragon-Snatching Hand of the Ancestral Dragon Nest’s dragon child could be counted on one hand.
Most importantly, Jun Xiaoyao had neither resisted nor been injured; he emerged entirely unharmed.
“An Archaic Sacred Body is terrifying even under the restrictions of heaven and earth!” Many young prodigies felt their hearts tremble.
“Divine Child…” Jun Xuehuang let out a sigh of relief, gratitude in her eyes as she gazed at Jun Xiaoyao.
“You can stand down now. Leave this mudskipper to me,” Jun Xiaoyao said calmly.
“Yes.” Jun Xuehuang nodded obediently.
At this moment, she no longer seemed like the lofty Seventh Sequence of the Jun Family, but more like Jun Xiaoyao’s maidservant.
Long Haotian’s face darkened at Jun Xiaoyao’s words.
He clutched the wounded stump of his arm, eyes filled with apprehension.
If he still looked down on Jun Xiaoyao after this, he’d be a complete fool.
Jun Xiaoyao gave a faint shake of his head.
Beneath his skin, faint azure light flickered.
Having absorbed and refined Xiao Chen’s dragon aura, Jun Xiaoyao could condense draconic scale armor within his body.
Combined with his own formidable Archaic Sacred Body, Jun Xiaoyao had blocked Long Haotian’s Dragon-Snatching Hand without so much as a scratch.
He hadn’t even bothered to use the Underworld God’s Protection from the Divine Elephant Overpowering Force.
“Hmph, Jun Xiaoyao, I don’t know how you withstood that strike, but if you think this means you’ve won, you’re too naive,” Long Haotian said coldly.
All at once, a powerful, vigorous energy surged from his body.
Then, in front of everyone’s stunned eyes, the blood and flesh at his severed arm began writhing, slowly growing into a new limb.
“That’s possible?” Some of the younger prodigies gaped, speechless.
Was Long Haotian immortal?
“No, even with the Dragon Clan’s vibrant blood energy, you can’t instantly regrow an arm. At least, Long Haotian shouldn’t be able to.”
“I get it. Rumor has it Long Haotian fused with a Dragon Essence. Maybe it’s because of that…”
Now everyone understood. Long Haotian had leveraged the advantage of Dragon Essence.
“Oh, Dragon Essence?” A glimmer flashed in Jun Xiaoyao’s eyes.
He looked at Long Haotian as though eyeing prey.
“Courting death!”
Long Haotian’s rage flared upon seeing that look in Jun Xiaoyao’s eyes.
He had always treated humans like prey—when had a human ever regarded him as the quarry?
Boom!
Long Haotian unleashed a punch, his blood energy surging mightily.
It seemed as if one could hear a dragon’s roar. The phantom image of a colossal dragon coiled around his punching force, destroying the void as it barreled toward Jun Xiaoyao.
The shockwave was so powerful it was as if a true dragon had emerged to fight across the skies.
This was another great technique of the Ancestral Dragon Nest, on par with the Dragon-Snatching Hand: Dragon Fist.
“As expected of the dragon child of the Ancestral Dragon Nest. His strength is remarkable!”
With just a single move, Long Haotian’s prowess overawed many of the younger generation onlookers.
Although they disliked his arrogance, they had to admit that he was truly strong.
Jun Xiaoyao’s lips curved into a faintly cold smile at the sight.
He struck out, fingers forming a seal, golden divine power coursing forth.
Behind him appeared an immense figure that seemed to tower above the heavens and earth.
“What is that…?”
Many guests saw it and their pupils constricted. That vast presence made their hairs stand on end, sending chills through them.