The Demon Venerable looked at Zhou Fan's Great Sun form, and for the first time, a look of solemnity appeared in her eyes.
She flashed forward, punching towards Zhou Fan. Zhou Fan raised his hand, anticipating her move, and caught the Demon Venerable's fist.
“Is this all your power?”
Zhou Fan slowly exerted force, as if to crush the Demon Venerable's fist.
Seeing this, the Demon Venerable no longer held back. A Dragon's roar exploded in their ears, and Zhou Fan was shaken back several steps by the sudden burst of the Demon Venerable's Aura.
The originally empty underwater space suddenly filled with a vast expanse of mist.
A Dragon's head was the first to emerge from the swirling clouds, with a ridge rising on its forehead, like the patterns of an ancient bronze bell, revealing the weight of tens of thousands of years.
Most striking were a pair of antlers, branching into seven tines, each like cast iron and carved jade, with blood-jade-like red light 凝結 at the tips, as if to pierce the clouds.
Its eyes were like two bronze furnaces melting gold, with pupils of bottomless red glaze, and outer corners that swept upwards like a Phoenix's beak, with thunder flickering between glances.
Its nose bridge was high and straight like a bronze beast-face pattern, with a slightly upturned tip, and two Dragon's whiskers hung from its sides, tens of meters long. The tips of the whiskers were as fine as silk yet as tough as steel, and as they trembled with each breath, they brought forth tiny sparks.
The Dragon's body was long and winding, a thousand meters in length, yet without an ounce of superfluous flesh.
Its scales were the purest cinnabar red, each one like glowing red gold, with gilded edges.
Along the Dragon's spine was a row of inverted bone blades, running from its neck to the tip of its tail. Fine scales also grew on either side of the bone blades, complementing the main scales and adding to its ferocity.
Its four limbs were well-proportioned and powerful. Four legs grew from its belly, each with three claws, shaped like carvings, with distinct phalanges, and translucent blood-jade-colored claw tips.
The Dragon's tail was like a steel whip, tapering towards the end, with a fiery glow like flowing fire at its tip.
It was a pity that due to the twenty thousand years of punishment, the originally magnificent and incomparably divine Dragon's body was covered in scars, with many places where scales had fallen off, revealing red-jade-like flesh and blood.
At the joints where its four limbs connected to its torso, there were four 貫穿 holes, and several tines of one of its Dragon's horns had also been severed.
Perceiving Zhou Fan's gaze, which carried a hint of pity, the Demon Venerable instantly became enraged.
It moved its body, and where its Dragon's whiskers swept, clouds condensed into lotus-shaped fire patterns. Its claws stepped on the Void Realm, and scorched Dragon's claw prints appeared in the air, from which small red flame flowers bloomed, only to instantly turn into wisps of green smoke and ascend.
It slammed a claw down towards Zhou Fan's head. Zhou Fan held the Great Sun in his hand, meeting the claw with a fist.
After a brief stalemate, Zhou Fan retreated half a step. The Demon Venerable rose on the clouds, and its Dragon's tail, as if crossing the Void Realm, suddenly whipped towards Zhou Fan's face.
Zhou Fan raised his arms to protect himself. The force of that tail was indeed powerful, a sweep of over ten million tons. After retreating several steps, Zhou Fan barely managed to stabilize himself.
Before he could even catch his breath, a mouthful of Dragon's flame enveloped him. This Dragon's flame was once the Demon Venerable's most powerful attack.
When her cultivation was at its peak, a single breath of this Dragon's flame could incinerate even a Soul Transformation Venerable, leaving not even a speck of dust.
Now, after twenty thousand years of punishment, although the Demon Venerable's power had weakened to the early stage of form transformation, her opponent was only a Human Race Cultivator who had just entered the fourth rank. It seemed that this mouthful of Dragon's flame would have no problem eliminating him.
The Demon Venerable carefully sensed the man's life force within the Dragon's flame. Three breaths later, an expression of disbelief flashed in the Demon Venerable's crimson eyes.
She used all her strength to spew out another mouthful of Dragon's flame, then her figure disappeared into the clouds.
Under the eager gazes of the other three, Zhou Fan, transformed into the Great Sun, emerged naked from the Dragon's flame.
His body was completely unharmed, but his High Grade Magical Artifact pants had completely turned to ash.
With a sweep of his Divine Sense, Zhou Fan realized that the Demon Venerable's Aura was no longer in this underwater space. He quickly burst out of the space and pursued the Demon Venerable, who had transformed into a Dragon and fled.
“You all go wait for me above. I’ll be back soon.”
The three were completely awed by the power Zhou Fan displayed. They had initially thought that Zhou Fan, with his initial fourth-rank cultivation, could at most barely withstand the Demon Venerable's attack.
They never expected Zhou Fan to have one trump card after another. That Dragon's flame, which seemed to burn everything and could destroy heaven and earth, fell upon Zhou Fan, yet couldn't even scorch a piece of his flesh.
The three obediently flew out of the Void Abyss, quietly awaiting the return of the powerful Zhou Fan.
Meanwhile, Zhou Fan, transformed into the Great Sun, was even faster than the three-clawed red Dragon riding the clouds and mist.
When the red Dragon burst out of the Void Abyss and soared tens of thousands of miles into the sky, Zhou Fan successfully caught up with the Demon Venerable.
He grabbed the tip of the red Dragon's tail and instantly appeared on its spine, slamming down a fist without mercy. The red Dragon immediately let out a mournful cry.
Zhou Fan paid no attention, simply riding on the Dragon's back, wildly throwing punches.
After enduring for a while, the Demon Venerable felt her body was about to be broken in half by Zhou Fan's blows. Her voice was filled with immense grief and indignation as she transmitted a message to Zhou Fan's Divine Sense.
“Human, this Venerable can let you all go. Stop now, and this Venerable will not hold your transgression against you.”
Zhou Fan was a man of action. As soon as he heard the Demon Venerable's words, he knew it hadn't been subdued yet. So, his fists flew, like beams of light piercing through the Demon Venerable's Dragon's body.
The Demon Venerable couldn't take it anymore. Although twenty thousand years of punishment had made it fearless of pain, its body was already riddled with holes. Now, being so ravaged by this Human, it would likely be beaten to death within a short time.
The Demon Venerable feared nothing but death.
It wanted to live. Only by living could it seek revenge, and only by living could it have everything.
Having endured twenty thousand years of punishment, the Demon Venerable truly did not want to fall before dawn.
She transformed into her Human form. The elemental power within her was no longer sufficient to maintain elaborate clothing. She wore a red gauze, barely covering two crucial areas.
“Human, this Venerable admits that you now indeed have the qualifications to negotiate with this Venerable.”
“What do you want? Is it Dragon Clan secret techniques or supreme Opportunity? This Venerable can give them to you.”
“I want you.”
Zhou Fan spoke bluntly, “I want you, Demon Venerable, to be my servant.”
“Heh, Human, don't be delusional. You know that's impossible.”
“Why is it impossible?” Zhou Fan smiled, pulling the dying, defenseless Demon Venerable into his arms.
“You want to live very much, don't you?”
“If it's living without freedom, then I'd rather die.”
The Demon Venerable pressed against Zhou Fan's hot body, feeling something strange. She moved, wanting to break free, but she couldn't escape Zhou Fan's embrace at all, looking as if she were pouting.
“If you truly wanted to die, you would have had opportunities to do so during these twenty thousand years.”
“Demon Venerable, I understand you. Living often requires more courage than dying. I can spare your life and not deprive you of your freedom.”
“Human, what do you want to do?”
The Demon Venerable looked at the man's handsome face, so close, and a ridiculous thought suddenly arose in her mind.
“Sign a master-servant contract with me, for a period of one hundred years. After a hundred years, I will set you free.”
Upon hearing this, the Demon Venerable realized she had misunderstood.
She turned her head to the other side, not wanting Zhou Fan to see her expression.
“Alright, but I need you to give me ten years of freedom. After ten years, I will come back to you to sign the contract.”