Chapter 40: The Dragon Bows Not to the Divine

"Fire!"

"Little bugs, launch all the base-load artillery shells!"

Facing the diving dragon, the Jade God quickly issued orders to the cannons on the city walls. Lily only now noticed that the artillery on the distant walls was operated by small, insect-like creatures. These little fellows, resembling ladybugs, were remarkably agile in flight. They formed dense formations, working in teams to mimic human limbs and movements to operate the cannons. Some pulled the breechblocks to eject spent casings, while others mimicked human hands to shove shells into the chambers.

"What? You say these Armstrong guns can't hit aerial targets? Wrap your bodies around the shells! That way, the Void Energy within you will allow the shells to travel further in the air. What? Your Void Energy is too weak and scarce? I don't care—just buy me some time! Fire!"

Lily watched as the insects pulled the firing lanyards, and the breech-loading cannons let out earth-shattering roars. Dense clusters of blue shells rained toward the sky, each wrapped in a "shell coat" crafted by the insects—a technique that allowed these flat-trajectory ground cannons to function as anti-aircraft guns.

"False god! Do you think you can defeat me with this?!"

The Blue Dragon, initially rushing toward the Jade Palace, panicked slightly upon seeing the barrage of "insect-clad shells." It seemed the dragon was not entirely familiar with the Jade Palace's secrets. It began to maneuver rapidly in the air, its massive wings churning the clouds. Despite its body being dozens of meters long, it remained incredibly nimble, weaving and dodging through the web-like incoming shells. Even when a shell struck and exploded against the Blue Dragon, the Void Shield surrounding its body deflected the shrapnel.

"Hmph! Do you think you can handle me with just these spirit-insect-enhanced shells?"

The surviving spirit insects scattered in flight, but the Blue Dragon opened its gaping maw and devoured them. To the dragon, they were nothing more than a delicious snack.

"Damn little tricks!"

A blue light ignited in the dragon's throat—it was dragon fire mixed with a massive amount of Void Energy. The scorching dragon flames and deep blue void fire intertwined, as terrifying as the hellfire ignited by Satan.

"Burn them all! Burn them all! Burn them all!"

The words Commander Solt had spoken before the expedition echoed in the Blue Dragon's mind. As the sharpest blade of Stardust and the nightmare of the enemies of Stardust, only the destructive dragon fire descending from the heavens could reduce everything to ruin. Even the subjects of the hypocritical Jade God, and the god himself, would be engulfed in the monstrous dragon flames!

"Roar!"

Like a sword of flame slashing wantonly through the air, the dragon fire tore apart any shells or spirit insects that attempted to approach. The sky-covering net of artillery fire was forcibly shredded by the giant dragon.

"Little key~"

The Blue Dragon’s brassy eyes locked onto Lily, who was stunned by the sea of fire in the sky. When she had been attacked by the White Lion Riders, the disguise talisman on Lily’s face had failed due to the violent fluctuations of her Void Energy. The White Lion Riders had promptly reported this news to Freya and Solt, and naturally, the Blue Dragon knew as well.

"You cannot escape!"

The giant reptile roared and dove, its wings beating fiercely. Lily sensed an immense amount of Void Energy surging from its body like a tidal wave.

This four-legged crawler was far beyond her current capability to match! No! Not even the entire army of Tianyu could compare to such a monster! Lily felt a deep, chilling terror, yet she still forced herself to stand, lifting her head to glare at the evil dragon swooping toward the Jade Palace.

"Come with me, Jade-person! I won't make it painful for you."

The Blue Dragon's roar exploded in Lily’s ears, while a low, magnetic voice resonated directly in her mind. "Obey and come with me, and I will not make things difficult for you. Hmph, otherwise, it won't be as simple as just being burned to death by dragon fire."

"Pah!"

Even shrouded in fear, Lily channeled her energy from her Dantian. The young woman, surrounded by sky-blue Void Energy, stood straight and cursed at the sky. "Listen here, you bastard! I’m living just fine! Not only am I living fine now, but even after we kick your shitty Star God to death, I’ll still be living just fine! If I let you murdering, arsonist, evil-doing scum capture me, I’d rather be dead! It’s disgusting—it’s so damn disgusting! Just talking to you makes me want to vomit! You motherless, fatherless, ugly crawler!"

Lily's elegant Tianyu language infuriated the Blue Dragon. The behemoth let out a harrowing roar, and a torrent of blue dragon fire, seemingly hot enough to melt the very air, lunged toward Lily in the center of the plaza.

"Son of a bitch, he’s actually firing!"

Lily hurriedly channeled her energy to activate a thick Void Shield and attempted to scramble toward the buildings beside the plaza. But at this moment, Lily’s Void Energy was insufficient, and the shield generated from her body was highly unstable. It could never block that scorching dragon fire. The temperature around her spiked, and she felt the skin on her face being rapidly seared.

At the critical moment, *Clang!*

The dragon fire was blocked by a solid, white Void Shield. The terrifyingly high-temperature flames were deflected by the shield, slamming directly back toward the Blue Dragon.

"False god! You..."

The Blue Dragon hurried to dodge its own dragon fire, while the thick Void Shield remained unscathed!

"Four-legged dragon brat!" A deep, sonorous voice descended from the sky of the Jade Realm. "Neither you nor your Star God should push your luck! If it weren't for that evil god colluding with you, I would have wiped you out long ago! How many innocent worlds have you slaughtered within the Jade Seal Realm? How many innocent people have your dragon flames harmed?"

The Jade God’s resonant voice acted like a mind-piercing spell, causing the Stardust soldiers who were attempting to pursue and slaughter the Dongsong military and civilians to suffer splitting headaches. Their iron wall was dismantled by a single voice, rendering them unable to form a battle line for the time being.

"Is that... the Ethereal God?!"

Regardless of whether the cat-folk knew the true identity of the Jade God, they now had a precious opportunity to escape. The surviving Dongsong soldiers and civilians seized the chance to cross the river at the shallows, fleeing into the vast mountain ranges north of the river.

"Solt... Commander... what is this..."

In the Stardust ranks, the adjutant, also suffering from a splitting headache, asked his commander. He looked up to see Solt standing on his war chariot as if nothing were wrong, gazing toward the distant Jade Palace with a wicked, seductive smile on his face.

"Finally made a move... old man of the East..."

"Silence, false god!" Even the Blue Dragon, possessing powerful Void Energy, was shaken by the Jade God’s voice. "Everything in the Jade Realm will be conquered by us! Our great Star God will eventually destroy your subjects! For revenge! For the revenge of my great Star God! I will become the blade that sweeps your Tianyu Dongsong filth away entirely! And then I will hang your head, your scalp, upon our battle flags!"

"Hmph." The Jade God let out a cold laugh. "You thick-headed idiot! My power may not be what it once was, but it’s not something a little crawler like you can threaten me with! Your Star God doesn't even dare to confront me head-on, relying instead on that evil god from the outer realms to plot and scheme! Fenrir once had the chance to be my friend, but he listened to the bewitchment of that evil god! Believe me, I destroyed everything he had! The destruction of that steam world has nothing to do with me, I repeat!"

The Jade God sighed, then said sternly, "In my hometown, there is an old saying: 'When friends come, we have fine wine; when enemies come, we have shotguns!' If you wish to be enemies, then don't blame me! My boys and I will fight you bastards to the very end!"

Instantly, the Void Energy within the shield began to condense rapidly. Although the thick Void Shield had been weakened, the gathered energy hummed like a laser cannon primed and ready, aimed squarely at the Blue Dragon fluttering in the sky.

*Huh? Where’s the dragon?*

Oh, it had already turned and was fleeing toward the direction of Zhongzhou.

"Then don't blame me for being heartless. I’ve already slapped your god once, I don't mind taking off one of your wings now!"

The Blue Dragon flapped its wings, fleeing backward. It cursed itself internally for its reckless advance following the Star God’s orders, not waiting for the Electric Phoenix, who had yet to arrive from the Void Sea, to act in concert. The dragon fire it had spent half its energy to accumulate had been easily neutralized by the Void Shield projected by the Jade God from the Void Sea. Even in his weakened state, the Jade God was not someone it could match!

But the enraged Jade God would not let the dragon escape so easily. A white light, bright as a nuclear explosion, flickered across the sky of Zhongzhou. A large hole, burned through by white void fire, instantly appeared on the Blue Dragon’s left wing.

"Urrgh-ahhhhhhh!"

Lacking the support of its wing, the Blue Dragon plummeted toward the ground. Before its heavy body could smash into the earth, it desperately generated a Void Shield to brace itself, but it would be unable to take flight for some time.

Freya arrived at the spot where the Blue Dragon had crashed, rushing to use her Void Energy to treat the dragon's wounds, which were still being seared by the white flames. Watching the massive Jade Palace drifting toward the Northern Mountains, the faces of the Stardust ranks were filled with shock, fear, and resentment.

Only one person was an exception.

"Hahahahahaha!" Solt laughed heartily. "The old man has more power than I thought~ Good~ very good~"

The white void energy also knocked Lily to the ground behind him. She gasped for air, unable to regain her composure for a moment. Yet she managed to stand, lifting her head to look at the city of Zhongzhou, which had already fallen into purgatory.

The Jade God sighed again. His gaze, hanging over the Jade Realm, looked toward the northern part of Dongsong, which had not yet been touched by the purgatory.

"I must build that wall quickly!"