The iron gates of the Cross Clan Ancestral Hall loomed through the mountain mist like the jaws of an ancient beast.
For a thousand years, this fortress had dominated the province’s martial underworld, its high stone walls reinforced with generational defensive arrays that no ordinary cultivator could ever hope to breach.
Grant Cross walked calmly up the central stone pavilion, his heavy work boots striking the wet marble with a slow, rhythmic cadence.
The storm had completely cleared, leaving the mountain air crisp and silent, save for the low, ominous humming of the defensive barrier glowing faintly across the compound perimeter.
Over the massive stone archway, thousands of elite clan disciples stood clad in matching obsidian robes, their weapons drawn, their eyes locked in absolute terror onto the lone figure advancing from the shadows.
« SYSTEM SPATIAL TACTICAL ADVISORY »
• Target Compound: Cross Clan Core Ancestral Array
• Identified Barrier: [Ancient Draconic Suppression Formation]
• Core Structural Integrity: 100% (Fueled by three foundational Spirit Stone matrix nodes)
• Active System Evaluation: Defensive density exceeds Tier 1 standard limits.
Immediate deployment of advanced transformation metrics recommended.
“Grant Cross!” a booming, thunderous voice resonated from the top of the grand balcony.
The Grand Ancestor of the Cross Clan—an ancient, wrinkled monster wearing golden ceremonial robes—stepped forward, his long white beard drifting in the mountain wind.
His eyes flared with a cold, ruthless light, his baseline Stage 10 Iron Body cultivation leaking a crushing crimson aura that physically warped the air around him.
Beside him stood Bradley, clutching his broken arm, a manic, desperate smile stretching across his pale face.
“You arrogant stray!” the Grand Ancestor roared, his voice causing the surrounding pine trees to drop their pine needles simultaneously.
“You broke your core seal, slaughtered our external elders, and stole our corporate capital, yet you dare to march single-handedly into our foundational domain?
“The Draconic Suppression Formation has been fully primed!
The moment you step past the threshold, your newly re-forged meridians will be completely drained to feed the main line’s chosen heirs!”
“Do it, Grandfather!
Kill him!” Bradley shrieked from behind the old man, his voice cracking with pure psychological trauma.
“Drain his core and leave him to rot in the mountain dirt!”
Grant stopped exactly three paces away from the glowing boundary line of the array.
He didn’t answer them.
He didn’t lower his head, nor did he offer a traditional martial salute.
He simply looked up, his black pupils ignited into a blinding, iridescent ring of draconic gold as he willed his thoughts deep into the system’s core.
“Initialize Skill Deployment: Sovereign Dragon Form,” Grant commanded silently.
Ding!
« SYSTEM EXERTION SEQUENCE: ACTIVE TRANSFORMATION » This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
• Executing Divine Skill: [Sovereign Dragon Form – Tier 1]
• Duration Remaining: 30 Seconds
• Kinetic Physical Attribute Multiplier: 100% Global Surge Engaged
• Stat Parameter Recalculation:
• Strength: 480 → 960
• Agility: 390 → 780
• Endurance: 510 → 1,020
• Total Ascendant Combat Strength: 5,500 → 11,000 (Absolute Realm Breakdown)
The entire mountain range violently buckled.
A deafening, primal dragon roar—the echo of an ancient, celestial apex predator waking from an eon-long slumber—reverberated directly through the souls of the thousands of disciples standing on the walls.
Thick, solid plates of midnight-black obsidian scales erupted from Grant’s pores, wrapping tightly around his forearms, chest, and shoulders, tearing his faded canvas jacket to absolute shreds.
The ambient room pressure collapsed into a complete vacuum.
Grant’s baseline 11,000 Combat Strength manifested as a visible, towering pillar of pure golden thermal fire that shot straight into the clouds, parting the mountain mist for ten miles around.
The Grand Ancestor’s arrogant expression shattered instantly.
His knees wobbled, the ancient golden tiles beneath his sandals cracking into fine dust under the sudden, god-like gravity of Grant’s presence.
Bradley collapsed completely onto his face, hyperventilating as the sheer weight of the Sovereign Pressure pinned his chest to the stone floor.
“Eleven…
Eleven thousand?!” the Grand Ancestor stammered, his teeth visibly chattering as his Stage 10 cultivation base violently destabilized.
“This isn’t an iron body…
This is a Mythic Lineage transformation!
Back choices!
Fire the formation!
Destroy him now!”
The thousands of disciples frantically channeled their collective energy into the array.
The defensive barrier flashed with a blinding, toxic crimson light, sending three massive spectral chains of condensed spiritual energy flying out of the stone gate, wrapping tightly around Grant’s scaled torso to drain his lifeforce.
Grant didn’t even lift a hand to block.
He simply took a single step forward, crossing the boundary line.
CLANG!
The three massive spiritual chains slammed directly into his chest, but the moment they touched his Tier 2 Dragon Scale Armor, they didn’t drain a single thread of his energy.
Instead, the massive kinetic back-pressure of his 1,020 Endurance attribute caused the spectral chains to shatter simultaneously into millions of harmless red glass shards. Get faster updates on novelping(.)com.
Grant reached into his soul-bound Spatial Vault, the pitch-black Obsidian Dragon Blade materializing smoothly into his right hand.
The light-devouring steel hummed with a terrifying, absolute frequency as he raised the weapon high above his head.
“A thousand years of legacy,” Grant whispered, his voice vibrating with the low, terrifying resonance of distant cosmic thunder.
Moving with his maximized 780 Agility, his physical frame completely blurred, appearing directly in front of the reinforced main iron gates.
He brought the black blade down in a single, effortless vertical strike.
BOOM!
The strike was absolute structural annihilation.
The sheer physical force of his 960 Strength combined with the sword’s +250 Armor Desolation modifier created a massive shockwave of condensed physical kinetic energy.
The ancient iron gates, the reinforced stone walls, and the thousands of foundational defensive runes beneath the palace didn’t just crack—they completely disintegrated into fine grey powder.
The invisible crescent wave of dragon energy tore through the primary courtyard, leveling the main ancestral palace structures brick by brick, throwing thousands of elite disciples through the air like broken ragdolls.
The entire thousand-year defensive formation of the Cross Clan vanished from the face of the earth in a single second.
« SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: DEFENSIVE GRID ANNIHILATED »
• Core Target Destroyed: Cross Clan Ancestral Gate Array
• Structural Integrity: 0% (Total Elimination)
• Enemy Combatants Immobilized: 1,200x Core Disciples
• Experience Points Accumulated: +3,500 EXP
• Status: Core reserves are currently overflowing.
Ready for immediate database integration.
Grant slowly walked through the settling cloud of stone shrapnel, his obsidian-scaled hand dragging the tip of his black blade across the ruined floor, leaving a glowing trail of golden magma in its wake.
The grand courtyard was completely flat.
The only structure left standing was the ruined balcony where the Grand Ancestor knelt in the dirt, his golden ceremonial robes torn to pieces, staring at the total devastation of his lineage with wide, unblinking eyes of pure, unadulterated terror.
Grant stopped three feet away from the trembling old monster, his golden draconic pupils looking down at him with an expression of cold, absolute dominance.
“The seal is broken,” Grant said softly, the pitch-black blade humming against the ancestor’s throat.
“Now, hand over the family throne.”
Chapter 14 complete!
Grant just activated his ultimate Sovereign Dragon Form, hit an absolute maximum of 11,000 Combat Strength, and completely leveled the thousand-year Cross Clan ancestral palace in a single strike!
The Grand Ancestor is thoroughly broken, and Bradley has nowhere left to run!
What will happen when Grant formally claims the majority seat of the entire province’s underworld next?