The Crimson Dragon, sensing its imminent demise, let out a furious, rattling roar. It realized that as long as the Plant Matrix held it in place, it was nothing more than a caged beast. With a sudden burst of primal strength, it surged forward, attempting to use its massive true dragon physique to crush the "human cub" in close-quarters combat.
Zhangting's eyes remained cold. This was exactly what he had engineered.
Favorable Timing and the Moonstone Resonance
The liquid metal on the Panlong Staff shifted, morphing into a pale, ethereal Moonstone. Zhangting had not forgotten the dimension of time; at this moment, the moon was perfectly round. As moonlight filtered through the canopy and bathed the battlefield, Zhangting felt a surge of energy—a comprehensive boost that resonated with his "Unity of Heaven and Man."
In this sealed space, Zhangting became the center of the world. He met the dragon's claws head-on. Each collision was a symphony of sparks and blood. The Crimson Dragon's shock grew with every exchange. It had faced genius soul masters before, but they were fragile—usually one claw strike was enough to end them. But this boy? His body felt as resilient as a true dragon's, and his fighting spirit was a suffocating pressure that even a king of beasts struggled to match.
The Unyielding Staff Technique
Seizing a moment of the dragon's hesitation, Zhangting unleashed the pride of the Qian Gu family: the Unyielding Style.
"I want the sky to no longer obscure my vision, the earth to no longer bury my heart!"
This was a staff technique designed to defy the heavens. While the ninth move, "Break through and become a God," remained a myth even to his great-grandfather, the first eight moves were enough to dominate the mortal realm.
Form: Unyielding Style! A massive, fiery-red phantom of the staff materialized, carrying the weight of a setting sun. Zhangting aimed not at the dragon's chest, but directly at the fracture in its wing.
Snap!
The bone didn't just break; it shattered into a comminuted mess. The dragon couldn't even scream; the pain was so absolute it robbed the creature of its breath. Zhangting didn't let up. He followed with a rain of strikes—dense as a storm—until he found his opening.
With a final, thunderous strike, he cleaved down onto the Reverse Scale on the dragon's chest.
Snap!
The ultimate defense of the True Dragon shattered. As the Red Dragon's life force began to dissipate into a cloud of pure, concentrated spiritual energy, Zhangting planted his staff into the dirt to keep from collapsing.
Chapter 30: A Birthday Party or an Extermination?
Outside the pod, the silence in the control room was deafening. Qian Gu Die Ting, the Battle God Douluo, had been stroking his beard so intensely that he unconsciously plucked out a large clump when the dragon's scale broke.
"The Yangtze River's back waves push the front waves forward," Die Ting whispered, his voice thick with uncharacteristic awe. "A new generation has surpassed the old."
He had expected Zhangting to use guerrilla tactics—killing minor beasts at the edge of the platform to slowly harvest energy. Instead, the boy had charged straight down the "middle lane," soloing a True Dragon at Level 20. It was a feat unprecedented in the history of the Spirit Pagoda.
The Aftermath
Inside the simulation, Zhangting sat cross-legged amidst the carnage. His magnificent robes were stained crimson—a mixture of his own blood and the dragon's. Every movement felt like "sprinkling pepper and cumin on an open wound," a stinging, raw agony that his Ice God Pearl struggled to mask.
As he began to absorb the massive cloud of spiritual energy left by the Crimson Dragon, his two purple rings began to vibrate violently. The energy was too much, too pure. It began to force a qualitative change.
The Mission to the Yuanen Family
As the news of Zhangting's breakthrough spread through the high-ranking members of the Tower, the focus shifted to the upcoming diplomatic mission.
"Grandfather," Zhangting's voice crackled through the comms as he began to stabilize. "About the Yuanen family... we are going for the first birthday of Yuanen Yehui, correct?"
Dongfeng looked at the reports of Zhangting's combat data—the sheer violence and absolute dominance he had displayed. He glanced at the other elders, who were all thinking the same thing.
"Zhangting," Dongfeng replied dryly. "Looking at the way you just handled a True Dragon... are you sure you're going to a first birthday party? Or are you planning to wipe out their entire family?!"
Zhangting simply closed his eyes, a faint, cold smile playing on his lips as the purple rings on his feet slowly began to bleed into a terrifying, deep Black.
1,000-Word Detail Expansion: The Mechanics of the Black Ring Transition
The absorption of a True Dragon's energy at Level 20 is not merely a "level up"; it is a systemic reconstruction. As Zhangting meditates, the 10,000-year energy doesn't just sit in his rings. It flows through his 206 golden runes, which act as a filtration system.
The "Soul Shock"—the vengeful consciousness of the dead Crimson Dragon—roars through his Spirit Sea. But Zhangting's mind is a fortress. Supported by the Ice God Pearl and the "Unyielding" intent he just practiced, he crushes the dragon's ghost. His bones, reinforced by the Body Sect, groan under the pressure of the 10,000-year energy, but they do not break. They grow denser. They grow stronger.
By the time he opens his eyes, he will no longer be a boy playing at being a prodigy. He will be a Sovereign in the making, ready to face the Titan Giant Ape.
Next Chapter: The Titan's Den — Meeting the Limit Douluo Yuanen Zhentian.