Guo Ran ended up misspeaking in his excitement. Afraid that the Sovereign clan expert would misunderstand, he hastily corrected himself.

“I don’t think there’s a need to. How could I let Senior deal with small fries like them? That would be too grand for them,” replied Long Chen as he shook his head.

In truth, Long Chen did feel like borrowing the Sovereign clan expert’s power to erase these people. However, the pride deep within his soul refused to let him do such a thing no matter what.

Guo Ran and the others were greatly disappointed to hear that, wanting to see the Sovereign clan expert instantly kill all these bastards.

The experts within the tribulation seethed with anger to hear Long Chen and the Sovereign clan expert refer to them as small fries. Although they did fear the Sovereign clan expert a bit, they were still peak experts in their own rights and had the courage to risk their lives.

“The Sovereign clan only exists in legend. Yet, a little discarnate soul dares to act arrogant? My Netherdragon race will soon replace you, and we will become the new Sovereign clan of the dragon race!” Netherdragon Tianzhao’s voice boomed as he stepped forward.

Despite his voice ringing out loud and clear, it was clearly shuddering. It was a feeble attempt to act tough, and everyone could hear the nervousness and fear in his heart.

With a cold disdain, the Sovereign clan expert regarded Netherdragon Tianzhao. “A traitor of the dragon race dares to act arrogant before me? Do you think the support of the Nether Emperor is enough to let you do as you please? If we were from the same era, I would have undoubtedly challenged him and severed his nether horn to use as a toothpick.”

Netherdragon Tianzhao’s mouth opened several times as he tried to retort, but not a single sound escaped his lips. He was too intimidated by the Sovereign clan expert’s aura to speak.

He wanted to show his toughness and fearlessness but found himself incapable. He was shaking. Whether it was from anger or fear was something only he knew.

At this moment, the gaze of the Sovereign clan expert swept through the crowd. He suddenly frowned. “I just noticed some small fries with tough backgrounds here. Are you sure you don’t want me to kill them?”

“I really don’t need you to do so. I believe in myself, and I also want to have a fair and unrestrained battle against you,” replied Long Chen confidently.

“Alright then. I’ve taken control of the heavenly tribulation’s power, but I barely managed to get to my ideal state. Killing them would undoubtedly deplete some of my energy, compromising my peak condition,” acknowledged the Sovereign clan expert with a nod.

“Then this little one will be so bold as to ask you for some pointers,” said Long Chen as he cupped his fists.

As he spoke, a nonexistent breeze tousled his black robes and long hair. A formidable aura emanated from him, signaling his readiness for the upcoming fight.

“Scarlet Dragon Battle Armor!”

Long Chen’s voice reverberated like the thunderous roar of a god, echoing throughout the heavens. A sacred dragon cry interlaced with his roar, creating a resonance that shook the very foundations of the world.

The scarlet dragon represented the fourth stage of a dragon’s growth. Preceding it were the green dragon, azure dragon, and golden dragon. The green dragon symbolized the youthful form of a true dragon, while the azure dragon signified its growth stage. Only the golden dragon was recognized as a fully matured true dragon.

As for the scarlet dragon, it marked the pinnacle of a true dragon's cultivation journey. Legend had it that once a true dragon reached maturity, it would depart from the dragon race and embark on a trial by fire within the cracks of the ten thousand worlds.

These cracks between worlds harbored powerful fiendish devils from beyond the heavens. The golden dragon slew countless devils, soaking in their blood and enduring the invasion of their devil blood, until their golden scales turned scarlet. Achieving this stage demanded the extermination of millions of devils, all within the same realm as the dragon.

This trial by fire was a unique ordeal exclusive to the dragon race, existing beyond the confines of the nine heavens. Of course, this was all just legend. Let alone the human race, even within the dragon race, only a few elites knew the real secrets behind this trial.

With the true dragon race nearly extinct, their legacy lived on solely through legends. Given that most experts didn’t even fully understand the world of the nine heavens, there was no way for them to know what existed beyond.

However, everyone knew that the scarlet dragon was a dividing line in the true dragon race’s cultivation path, akin to a child nurtured in a greenhouse stepping onto the battlefield for the first time. Once their robes were stained scarlet with blood, they transformed into true warriors.

Scarlet blood was a mark of the true dragon completing the trial. At first, the Dragonblood warriors had absorbed the mixed blood of the Ten Thousand Dragon Nest’s blood pool, but then one drop from the Sovereign clan expert’s blood had purged that essence blood, leaving them only with the dragon soul wills of those myriad dragons.

As a result, all the Dragonblood warriors had the same red color on their scales. Yet, when Long Chen summoned his Dragon Blood Battle Armor, the Dragonblood warriors were surprised to discover that Long Chen’s scaled armor bore a different hue than theirs.

Their Dragon Blood Battle Armor was also dark red, with a slight luster to their scales, causing them to look like seasoned warriors clad in blood-colored armor.

On the other hand, Long Chen’s scales were in an even deeper shade of red. In fact, it was so red that it almost started to turn black. His armor lacked any luster, as if it sucked away all light. Every scale resembled a bottomless black hole that devoured everything around it.

This red hue sent shivers down people’s spines, and they didn’t even dare to look at the scales directly. The scales seemed to have countless resentful spirits imprisoned inside them, and if they looked at them too long, they felt like their souls would be dragged down into a bottomless abyss.

Even those familiar with Long Chen couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat upon witnessing this new armor.

“Boss’s new battle armor is rather frightening!” Guo Ran gulped upon seeing it.

Their battle armor had dragon qi supporting them and possessed some kind of sacred light. Hence, they had thought that Long Chen’s armor would probably be only more majestic and sacred. However, it ended up looking like this.

The Sovereign clan expert frowned at Long Chen’s armor and asked, “What is this?”

“Senior, is there a problem?”

Long Chen himself didn’t feel anything odd in the slightest. On the contrary, he felt this battle armor to be extremely comfortable. After he summoned it, he felt endless power welling up within him. He had never felt such a feeling before.

“Let me see where the problem is!”

Without warning, the Sovereign clan expert thrust his weapon into Long Chen’s chest. Long Chen was caught off guard by the sudden assault, unable to react in time before the lightning spear pierced through his chest.