With Azhdaha joining the ranks, Morax's confidence grew significantly. Counting himself, he now had two god-level combatants on his side.
Along the way, Morax and Jiang Yan took turns teaching Azhdaha. Although Azhdaha had lived for a very long time, he had always remained underground, blind and mute. Regarding daily life, he was a total novice.
If Morax's teaching was serious and dry, Jiang Yan's was a bit more mischievous. For example:
"Tuo-zi, see that Stonehide Lawachurl over there?" Jiang Yan sat on Azhdaha's shoulder, pointing at a tall figure sitting alone in the distance.
Even though Azhdaha had taken a human form, he was still a two-and-a-half-meter tall giant. This was something the one-meter-twenty Jiang Yan could only envy. He couldn't help it;
as an elf in his youth, he basically had the body of a child. Consequently, the tall and strong Azhdaha had become Jiang Yan's mount, and Jiang Yan would sit on his shoulders whenever he felt like it.
Azhdaha nodded honestly.
"Go over there and give him a couple of slaps," Jiang Yan chuckled.
Azhdaha: ???
Morax facepalmed in exasperation. Although Azhdaha didn't understand why, Morax didn't stop him, so he followed the instruction.
Before the Stonehide Lawachurl could even react, it was slammed into the ground by a massive dragon claw and stopped moving entirely.
"Uh... he didn't seem to be able to take even one slap," Azhdaha said in his stone dragon voice, sounding a bit awkward and apologetic.
"It's fine, it's fine, as long as the chest is okay." Jiang Yan grinned, looking at the Precious Chest that had just unlocked below. He slid down Azhdaha's arm and landed in front of the chest.
After skillfully opening it, the System's voice rang in his head.
[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for opening a Precious Chest! You have obtained Naruto World: Nine-Tails Level Chakra!]
[Note: Tailed Beast level chakra does not include Tailed Beast traits; it is simply a volume of chakra equivalent to a Tailed Beast.]
[Converting chakra volume into Elemental Power...]
As the System finished speaking, the elemental power within Jiang Yan's body began to skyrocket. Veins bulged on his neck as he gritted his teeth, enduring the sensation of the surging power.
"Jiang Yan?!" Morax sensed something was wrong and started to step forward, but Jiang Yan held up a hand to stop him.
"I'm fine." Jiang Yan took a difficult breath and managed a strained smile. "I just had a sudden breakthrough."
"The elemental power in his body just spiked immensely," Azhdaha noted in a deep voice. As an elemental dragon king, he was far more sensitive to such things than Morax. The capacity for elemental power in this kid had suddenly reached an unbelievable level. It was arguably even higher than his own!
Azhdaha gave Jiang Yan a deep look. Everyone had their secrets; since Jiang Yan didn't volunteer the information, neither he nor Morax would ask.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yan was immersed in the joy of successfully merging the Nine-Tails level chakra. His current elemental reserves should be enough to touch the threshold of the First Hokage! Forget just the Wood Golem; he could probably use the Veritable 1,000-Armed Kannon whenever he wanted now!
While he didn't know Sage Art yet and couldn't use Summit Enlightenment, it didn't matter. With Nine-Tails level elemental power, Jiang Yan was confident he could suppress any god in the Archon War! What? You say multiple gods are teaming up? Fine, I'll let the Veritable 1,000-Armed Kannon use only two of its hands!
At this moment, Jiang Yan finally felt truly relaxed. He no longer had to constantly worry about opening chests to survive! Now he could just take it steady and aim for more Precious or Luxurious Chests.
Indeed, with his confidence ballooning, Jiang Yan was starting to look down on Common Chests. Opening a hundred years' worth of Common Chests wouldn't equal a single Nine-Tails chakra from a Precious Chest.
This felt great!
Suddenly, the ground shook. The three of them looked toward the source of the vibration. A god was sprinting toward them at high speed. The god's face was filled with terror, as if it were being hunted by something.
"Huh? Isn't that..." Morax and Jiang Yan glanced at each other with strange expressions.
"What is it?" Azhdaha asked, confused.
The god in front of them was one of the two they had fought before. However, it clearly wasn't in very good shape. Morax cracked his knuckles and prepared to step forward, but Jiang Yan stopped him.
"Let me handle this." Jiang Yan was itching to test his new power.
"Are you sure?" Morax weighed the options and eventually agreed.
Azhdaha, on the other hand, didn't look worried at all. Duh! Why should he worry about a monster with more elemental power than an elemental dragon king? This was going to be a joke.
As the god drew closer, Jiang Yan stepped forward and clapped his hands together. A massive tremor erupted around him.
"Wood Style! Wood Human Technique!"
Following the youth's cold shout, Morax and Azhdaha watched in astonishment as a giant hand erupted from the ground, instantly grabbing the god by the head. Dust filled the air.
As it settled, a mountain-sized giant with a wooden dragon coiled around its neck appeared, pinning the god to the ground. The immense pressure rendered the god unable to move.
Jiang Yan stood on top of the giant's head, his eyes cold but a smile on his face as he addressed the god:
"Long time no see, mongrel!"
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