MY HIDDEN TALENT IS FORBIDDEN BY THE HEAVENS-Chapter 197: THE PRICE OF STANDING

Chapter 197 — THE PRICE OF STANDING

The Jade Dragon was bleeding.

That alone was a miracle.

Emerald crystal fragments drifted through the sky like shattered glass after the last exchange. A cluster of scales along the dragon’s left wing still glowed with molten fractures where Azure Heaven Severance, Phoenix Sovereign Descent, and Solar Cataclysm Beam had converged.

The damage was real.

But the dragon still ruled the battlefield.

Its enormous wings stretched across the sky like a living mountain range. Emerald veins pulsed brighter beneath its crystalline armor as the creature hovered above the broken plain.

The Nine stood scattered across kilometers of devastation.

Bruised.

Bleeding.

Still alive.

Still fighting.

Dean Xu Canglong wiped blood from his jaw and lifted his sword again. The azure blade hummed quietly, its edge flickering with restrained power.

"Pressure the left wing."

General Han Dae-Woo cracked his neck.

"Thought you’d never ask."

Commander Rafael Ibarra rose slowly from a crater filled with shattered crystal and mud.

Water spiraled around his arms again, thinner than before but still deadly.

Dr. Elena Kovács’ drones hovered overhead, their harmonic emitters flickering.

"Dragon lattice still unstable at the previous fracture zone."

Dean Feng Yanrui’s phoenix flames burned lower now, crimson embers trailing behind him as he hovered.

"Then we break it again."

Grandmaster Tenzin Dorje exhaled slowly.

The ground beneath them sank slightly under renewed gravitational pressure.

"Move."

Above them—

The Jade Dragon watched.

It tilted its massive head slightly.

Observing.

Learning.

"You persist."

The dragon’s voice rolled across the battlefield like thunder moving through mountains.

"Persistence is admirable."

Its emerald eyes glowed brighter.

"But futile."

The dragon moved.

Its wing beat once.

The resulting shockwave cracked the earth again.

Entire ridges shattered as wind pressure rolled across the battlefield like a hurricane.

The Nine surged forward anyway.

Astra Nyx — Void Crescent II

A ripple of folded space appeared above the dragon’s injured wing.

Astra Nyx stepped through it like a shadow emerging from water.

Her blade shimmered with dimensional distortion.

"Void Crescent — Second Phase."

The curved slash tore across the damaged scales again.

Space itself peeled open.

Three fractured plates split further apart.

Emerald crystal blood sprayed across the air.

The dragon roared.

The wing dipped.

Dean Xu Canglong — Azure Heaven Severance: Twin Cut

Canglong was already moving.

His sword flashed twice.

"Azure Heaven Severance — Twin Cut."

Two intersecting lines of azure light carved across the fractured wing joint.

The scales cracked deeper.

One shattered entirely.

A chunk the size of a truck fell toward the battlefield below.

General Han laughed.

"That’s what I like to see!"

General Han Dae-Woo — Titan Breaker: Overdrive

Han surged upward.

Every muscle in his body ignited with amplified kinetic energy.

His aura roared around him like a living explosion.

"Titan Breaker: Overdrive!"

His fist slammed into the exposed fracture.

The impact produced a shockwave that flattened crystal formations across kilometers.

The wing joint cracked again.

The dragon’s body tilted sideways.

For a moment—

The Jade Dragon actually lost balance.

Commander Rafael Ibarra — Leviathan Spear Barrage

Rafael raised both arms.

Water spiraled upward from every remaining river, lake, and underground reservoir in the region.

Five massive water spears formed in the sky.

"Leviathan Spear Barrage!"

The spears struck the exposed joint one after another.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Each impact drove deeper pressure into the fracture.

Steam exploded across the battlefield.

Dean Feng Yanrui — Phoenix Sovereign Descent: Inferno Crown

Feng Yanrui’s crimson aura ignited again.

A phoenix of pure flame burst behind him.

"Phoenix Sovereign Descent — Inferno Crown!"

The phoenix dove straight into the damaged wing.

Crimson fire exploded across the scales.

The emerald armor blackened.

The dragon roared again.

For the first time—

The roar carried anger.

Headmaster Suryavansh Rao — Solar Cataclysm Beam: Maximum Output

High above—

Suryavansh Rao gathered another miniature sun between his palms. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

His breathing was heavier now.

But his eyes remained steady.

"Solar Cataclysm Beam — Maximum Output."

A pillar of solar fire descended again.

It struck the cracked wing joint directly.

The phoenix flames ignited brighter.

Molten jade dripped from the dragon’s scales.

Dr. Elena Kovács — Resonance Collapse Field: Full Spectrum

Her drones spread wider than before.

"Engaging full-spectrum collapse."

Hundreds of frequencies detonated across the dragon’s damaged wing.

"Resonance Collapse Field!"

The jade lattice destabilized.

The cracks widened violently.

Grandmaster Tenzin Dorje — Mountain Suppression: Second Weight

Dorje pressed both palms against the earth.

The battlefield sank again.

Gravity intensified.

"Mountain Suppression — Second Weight."

The dragon’s damaged wing collapsed further.

Its massive body dropped several meters in the air.

Kaito Veyron — Chains of the Abyss: Binding Spiral

Dark chains erupted from Kaito’s arms again.

"Chains of the Abyss — Binding Spiral!"

The chains wrapped around the cracked wing joint.

They tightened violently.

The dragon’s movement slowed.

The damage zone was fully exposed.

The Nine attacked together.

Azure blade.

Solar beam.

Phoenix inferno.

Ocean pressure.

Gravity suppression.

Void chains.

Harmonic destabilization.

Kinetic impact.

The battlefield became an apocalypse of power.

For fifteen seconds—

The Jade Dragon was overwhelmed.

The cracked wing nearly collapsed.

The emerald armor shattered in several places.

The dragon dropped twenty meters in the sky.

Hope sparked again.

Then—

The dragon adapted.

Its emerald veins exploded with light.

A pulse of foundation energy erupted across its body.

The chains shattered.

Gravity collapsed.

The water spears disintegrated.

Solar plasma scattered.

Phoenix flames blew apart.

The dragon’s wing healed halfway in seconds.

It roared.

Not the city-destroying roar.

A focused blast.

The shockwave struck the Nine.

Everyone scattered.

General Han was thrown through a ridge.

Commander Ibarra crashed across a dry riverbed.

Astra vanished through space to avoid the blast.

Dean Feng Yanrui barely stabilized himself in the air.

But one of them was too slow.

Dr. Elena Kovács.

Her drones were still repositioning when the emerald shockwave struck.

The blast hit her directly.

Her defensive barrier shattered instantly.

She was thrown through the sky like a rag doll.

Her drones exploded one after another.

She hit the ground half a kilometer away.

Hard.

The impact carved a crater through stone.

Silence spread across the channel.

Dean Xu Canglong’s eyes sharpened.

"Elena!"

No answer.

Smoke rolled across the crater.

Then—

Her voice returned.

Weak.

But alive.

"I’m... still here."

She tried to stand.

Collapsed again.

Blood stained the ground beneath her.

General Han cursed.

"That thing almost killed her."

The Jade Dragon watched.

Its emerald eyes glowing brighter now.

"You weaken."

Its voice rumbled across the battlefield.

"And yet you continue."

The dragon spread its wings again.

The sky darkened further.

Emerald energy gathered in its throat once more.

The Nine regrouped again.

Bruised.

Bleeding.

One of them badly injured.

But none retreating.

Dean Xu Canglong lifted his sword again.

"Stand."

Phoenix flames reignited.

Solar light flared again.

Water rose again.

Chains coiled again.

Gravity pressed down again.

The Nine had taken a loss.

But the battle was not over.

Not yet.

And the Jade Dragon prepared its next strike.

[Chapter ENDS]