Reborn as the Last van Ambrose

The corruption pool continued to rise, taking shape.

Mo Xuan’s body solidified slowly. His body appeared to be made of living shadow, but as the darkness settled, it revealed pale skin that looked sickly and his eyes were bright green.

His smile made even the Dragon Kings step back.

"Two millennia of preparation," Mo Xuan said, his voice making the chamber’s stones crack. "Everything has proceeded exactly as I planned."

He gestured toward Gongfu, who had shifted into a defensive stance. "Even your transformation, child. Did you think the Dragon Emperor’s mana would purify you by accident? I orchestrated every detail to ensure you would become exactly what I needed."

"What you needed for what?" Ao Run demanded.

Mo Xuan laughed like breaking glass. "To serve as the perfect vessel. The Dragon Emperor’s power requires a compatible host. Jiaolong’s corruption made him suitable, but Gongfu’s purification makes him ideal."

The sorcerer raised one pale hand, and the air around Gongfu thickened with dark energy. "Come to me, child. Accept your destiny."

Gongfu’s response was swift. His body erupted with blue mana around him as he launched himself at Mo Xuan. "I belong to no one!"

"Dragon Storm: Tidal Breach!" Gongfu’s attack combined his dragon strength with his water mana. He summoned a giant wave that would topple cities if struck.

Mo Xuan didn’t move to defend himself. The attack struck him directly, filling the chamber with bright blue light. When it faded, the sorcerer stood exactly where he had been, completely unharmed.

"Impressive," Mo Xuan observed, brushing water off his robes. "But you’re still thinking like a dragon."

He gestured again, and the chamber filled with screaming winds. "Soul Dominion: Essence Drain."

The technique wasn’t an attack on their bodies—it was an assault on their souls. Invisible tendrils wrapped around each of the Dragon Kings and Gongfu, trying to pull something from their bodies.

Ao Shun was the first to cry out as he felt his life force being drained. Ice formed around him as his body tried to defend itself, but the drain continued. "He’s stealing our power!"

"Not stealing," Mo Xuan corrected. "Reclaiming. All power flows from the same source. I’m simply redirecting it to where it belongs."

Bi’an and Suanni tried to coordinate an attack, their techniques combining into a storm of fire and lightning. But Mo Xuan simply opened his mouth and breathed in. Their attacks were drawn into him like smoke, adding to his strength.

"This is impossible," Ao Qin gasped, his volcanic power being steadily drained. "No sorcerer should have this much power."

"Sorcerer?" Mo Xuan’s expression shifted to mock hurt. "You still don’t understand what I am."

The pale figure began to rise into the air, supported by his own will. As he ascended, the chamber around them started to change. The ancient stones began to crack and shift, reality bending.

"I am the first," Mo Xuan declared, his voice echoing from multiple directions. "The original practitioner of forbidden arts. The one who learned to transcend the boundaries between life and death."

Mo Xuan raised both hands toward the ceiling. Dark energy flowed upward, passing through stone to reach something far above them.

In the dragon graveyard, that Grim recently left, ancient bones began to stir. But this time, the awakening was different. Where the bone dragons they had faced before had been white, these new guardians rose with bones that gleamed like polished obsidian.

The corrupted bone dragons descended through the chamber ceiling as if it were mist. There were six of them, each one massive, their eye sockets filled with the same burning hatred that filled Mo Xuan’s gaze.

"Behold," Mo Xuan said as the corrupted guardians took positions around the chamber, "the true guardians of this place. Dragons who died in agony, twisted by centuries of rage, now given purpose under my command."

One of the black bone dragons opened its jaws and released a roar that was more like a scream. The sound carried across the whole chamber, shattering several of the chamber’s pillars and sending cracks racing across the floor.

"Six corrupted guardians," Mo Xuan continued. "Against three exhausted Dragon Kings, three exhausted dragons, and one confused child. The odds seem unfavorable for you."

Gongfu snarled, his golden eyes blazing. "We’ll see about that."

But Grim could see everything clearly. Mo Xuan had just turned a difficult fight into an impossible one. The corrupted bone dragons were individually as powerful as the guardians they had barely managed to defeat in the graveyard, and now there were six of them working under Mo Xuan’s command.

"Ao Run," Gongfu called out. "Can your illusions affect the dead?"

"Not these dead," Ao Run replied. "Mo Xuan’s corruption has made them immune to most magic." novelbuddy.cσ๓

"Then we fight them directly," Ao Shun declared, ice forming massive spears around his body.

"Have you faced worse odds?" Mo Xuan asked with genuine curiosity.

Before anyone could answer, the sorcerer gestured and all six corrupted guardians attacked simultaneously. Their movements were coordinated, each one striking from a different angle.

The first guardian’s claws raked across Bi’an’s tiger-striped scales, leaving trails of burning corruption that ate into his flesh like acid. The second breathed a stream of black fire that forced Suanni to counter with his own golden flames, the two energies creating an explosion that shook the chamber.

Ao Qin found himself grappling with the third guardian, his lava meeting the creature’s claws in showers of sparks and steam. But the corrupted bone was somehow more solid than the original guardians had been, and his attacks were barely doing anything.

Ao Shun created a barrier of ice to protect himself and Grim from the fourth guardian’s assault, but the creature’s black flames were slowly melting through his defenses. "The corruption is making them more powerful!"

Ao Run attempted to confuse the fifth guardian with multiple illusions, but the creature seemed to see through every deception. Its jaws snapped shut mere inches from his throat as he desperately dove aside.

That left Gongfu facing the largest of the corrupted guardians alone. The creature was easily twice the size of the others, its black bones inscribed with runes that pulsed green like Mo Xuan’s eyes.

"Dragon Storm: Ascending Thunder!" Gongfu pointed one finger ahead and created a massive bolt of blue lightning that struck the guardian directly in its skull.

The creature staggered but didn’t fall. Instead, it opened its jaws and spoke in a voice like grinding stone: "Puny child. We were ancient before you were born."

The revelation that these weren’t just animated bones but actual conscious spirits of ancient dragons made the situation even more horrifying. Mo Xuan hadn’t just raised the dead—he had enslaved the souls of dragons who had died a millennium ago.

"You’re fighting legends," Mo Xuan called out. "Dragons who shaped the foundations of the realms. And I have made them my servants."

The sorcerer raised his hand again. The corruption that had been draining the Dragon Kings’ strength suddenly intensified, making their movements sluggish and their techniques less effective.

"But please," Mo Xuan continued, "don’t let me interrupt your struggle. I’m quite enjoying the entertainment."

The battle was turning against them rapidly. Mo Xuan hadn’t even begun to show his true power. The sorcerer was just toying with them, testing their abilities while his corrupted guardians wore them down.