Chapter 533: Old Acquaintance, in a Physical Sense

Chapter 533: An Old Acquaintance, in the Physical Sense

"Why are you crying?"

Li Wei looked at Saint Xi with some alarm.

This was the first time he had ever seen her shed tears.

Her expression was one of immeasurable sorrow.

Thick grief transformed into droplets that fell from her eyes.

Saint Xi murmured, "My mother..."

"Your mother?" Li Wei asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

Saint Xi turned and dashed off in a certain direction.

As she ran, she began to fly—so swiftly that even Li Wei couldn't keep up.

For a moment, Li Wei stood stunned, watching her silhouette nearly vanish behind the courtyard wall before he snapped back to reality.

He quickly activated his telekinesis to take flight, chasing after Saint Xi's fading form.

By the time Li Wei caught up with her,

he found her already surrounded by a group of people.

Just as he wondered who these individuals were,

a familiar figure emerged from within the crowd.

"Locks! Why is he here?"

Li Wei was utterly astonished.

Gusevi hadn't told him about seeking aid from the Human Empire.

Saint Xi stared fixedly at the emerald-like dragon scale held in Locks' hand, tears streaming endlessly down her cheeks.

"Mother..."

That was her mother’s scale—a relic imbued with her mother’s essence.

Locks gripped the jade-green scale tightly, gazing at the girl before him with surprise.

"Is this the dragon we’ve been searching for?"

"Why does it look like a human?"

"Hold on—is that... a horn?"

Locks noticed the dragon horn atop Saint Xi’s head.

Instantly, he realized the girl wasn’t human at all—she was a dragon.

The human appearance was merely a disguise.

A glint flashed through Locks’ narrowed eyes—he sensed something far beyond ordinary expectations.

But before coming to hunt dragons, he had prepared thoroughly.

Even if faced with a legendary-class dragon, he still possessed a chance to win.

"Form ranks! Prepare for battle!"

At his command, everyone sprang into action.

Weapons raised, aimed directly at Saint Xi, forming a combat formation.

Black light shimmered across their armor, an invisible force spreading outward, enveloping the entire area.

Saint Xi felt her body grow sluggish.

Some kind of power was suppressing her draconic bloodline.

In theory, being a sacred dragon with a holy dragon body, she should have been immune to any abnormal status effects.

Yet now, encircled by enemies,

she experienced a suffocating pressure unlike anything before.

It originated deep within her bloodline—an overwhelming dominance that stirred instinctive submission.

Saint Xi paused momentarily, then instantly understood—the source of this suppression stemmed from a more powerful dragon lineage.

Seeing the change in Saint Xi’s expression and weakening aura,

Locks allowed himself a faint smile.

This was his secret weapon against legendary dragons—the Sigh of the Demon Dragon King.

Crafted using the power of the Devil Dragon Monarch, this armor exerted immense restraint over dragonkind.

During its prime, the Human Empire used it to slay countless dragons.

Only when Dragon-Blood Warriors rose to prominence did the Sigh fade into obscurity.

To this day, only a few knew such armor existed.

Before receiving it from the Jade Prince, Locks himself had never heard of such extraordinary equipment.

Why the Devil Dragon Monarch would help humans forge weapons specifically designed to counter dragons remained unknown.

Perhaps only the Jade Prince, current wielder of the armor, knew the hidden truth.

Under the oppressive might of the Sigh, fear welled up inside Saint Xi unbidden.

She sensed an unparalleled authority emanating from her own bloodline.

Nowadays, the Demon Dragon King ruled supreme among dragons,

his lineage surpassing all others.

Saint Xi had long harbored dread toward him.

Even a mere trace of his power caused such profound impact upon her.

This intensified her inner terror exponentially,

nearly driving her to bow beneath his dominion.

Losing courage meant losing everything—even with legendary strength, Saint Xi could not unleash it fully.

Just as despair threatened to consume her entirely,

Li Wei’s voice rang out above them, reaching both Saint Xi and Locks alike.

"Locks, just as I thought—no matter how many times I see you, you always manage to irritate me."

Flames erupted from Li Wei’s hands, coalescing into a soaring fire dragon.

It circled high in the night sky, casting its gaze downward upon those gathered below.

Its presence radiated an intensity greater than even the Sigh itself.

Unlike the Sigh, which only those bearing dragon blood could perceive,

this new threat loomed visibly for all to witness.

The fire dragon before him was genuine magic incarnate.

One strike, and it would annihilate everyone present.

Rocks heard a familiar voice and snapped his head up abruptly, catching sight of Levi’s figure. His eyes narrowed, pupils contracting sharply.

A cold smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

“Ahaha, what a coincidence! I never expected so many... surprises tonight.”

Levi had once slain one of Rocks’ most important bodies.

Ever since then, Rocks had been consumed with thoughts of revenge.

Unfortunately, Levi had been driven from the Elemental Tower by the Church of the Light God, vanishing without a trace.

Rocks couldn’t track him down.

He had assumed Levi had perished at the hands of the Church—his hope for vengeance forever lost.

Yet here he was, seeing Levi again this very night.

Seeing Levi filled him with even greater excitement than encountering Saint Shea herself.

Finally—he could have his revenge!

But Rocks didn’t intend to kill Levi. He wanted to turn him into his newest puppet.

And he would preserve Levi’s consciousness, letting him experience true despair firsthand.

Saint Shea looked up toward Levi, raising her right hand weakly as she cried out: “Levi… save me…”

Levi glanced at her and said firmly, “Don’t worry. As long as I’m here, no one can harm you.”

He sensed that Saint Shea had lost all will to fight.

She had lost courage—and with it, the desire to battle.

She was now powerless to continue fighting.

Levi was deeply puzzled, unable to fathom how Rocks had managed such a thing.

Saint Shea should have been immune to abnormal states like this.

Yet somehow, she had fallen into its grip, drowning helplessly within.

His heart grew cautious; he feared he too might fall victim to Rocks’ strange methods.

Rocks cast a sweeping glance over those surrounding Saint Shea and commanded, “Seize her.”

“Erica, Punk—you’re with me. We’ll deal with him.”

Upon hearing this, Levi instinctively turned his gaze toward the cloaked figure standing among them.

The hood fell back, revealing Erica’s face, now covered in magical markings.

Those arcane symbols writhed like centipedes crawling across her skin—on her cheeks, along her neck.

Rocks had subjected her to an even deeper level of alchemical transformation.

Now, Erica’s strength had grown far more formidable.

The light once lingering in her eyes had vanished completely. Her stare was cold and emotionless—as if she were nothing but an exquisite machine.

Punk was the man beside Rocks dressed in official robes.

He served as a trusted aide to the Jade Prince.

A sixth-rank Spellbreaker.

Spellbreakers—an extremely rare and extraordinary class.

Known as mage slayers.

That was precisely why Rocks remained confident despite knowing full well Levi’s immense power.

As Punk moved, two arrays materialized upon his palms.

Pressing both hands together, the sigils merged and rapidly expanded, engulfing the entire sky.

Wherever the array passed, every magical element fell silent.

Even the fire dragon conjured by Levi dispersed into thin air, fading away entirely.

Its constituent flames had already been scattered by Punk’s suppression spell.

Levi’s expression hardened as he attempted to summon nearby fire elements.

But where they had once responded eagerly, now they felt like solid concrete—cold, rigid, immovable.

He swept his gaze across the bizarre sigil covering the heavens.

“So it’s this contraption locking down the magical elements in this area?”

Levi looked toward Punk with mild surprise.

Impressive indeed.

With Punk suppressing Levi’s spellcasting ability,

Rocks and Erica launched their assault on Levi.

Boom! Boom!

Both erupted with astonishing force, leaping high into the air.

They charged at Levi simultaneously from opposite sides, attempting to surround and ambush him.

Though magical elements were silenced and elemental spells rendered unusable,

that did not mean Levi lacked combat prowess.

Using telekinesis, he lifted himself higher into the sky, evading Rocks and Erica’s coordinated attack.

Just as Rocks and Erica seemed about to collide—

Rocks suddenly spun midair, flipping 180 degrees—head downward, feet upward.

Erica curled into a tight ball.

Boom!

With a powerful kick, Rocks sent Erica rocketing straight toward Levi soaring above.

Working in perfect tandem,

Erica closed the distance instantly, appearing directly to Levi’s left side.

Her hands morphed into razor-sharp claws, slicing through the air like blades aimed at tearing Levi apart.

Sssshhh! Crack! Crack! Crack!

Her talons sliced through the atmosphere, striking Levi’s invisible armor barrier.

After piercing two layers of invisibly reinforced shields, her momentum faltered.

Unable to press further forward.

Her claws rebounded off the shield.

Still eager to continue her assault, a massive blue palm suddenly appeared overhead.

Boom! Whoooosh! Whoooosh! Whoooosh!

The giant hand of the mage slammed down from midair, pressing Erica directly toward the ground.

Without solid footing beneath her feet, Erica could not resist the tremendous force bearing down upon her.

She could only watch helplessly as she fell.

She launched a full-power attack, trying to shatter the descending hand of the mage above.

Boom!

Erica crashed to the ground, and the mage's hand exploded, dissolving into blue fragments that scattered across the night sky.

Lox turned his head to glance at Punk. Their eyes met for a moment.

After exchanging glances, Lox immediately resumed his assault on Levi.

He leaped high into the air, charging toward the heavens.

Levi looked toward Punk, intending to deal with him first.

If he couldn’t use elemental magic, it would indeed be a major disadvantage.

Levi flew up, dodging Lox, and headed straight for Punk.

Suddenly, just as Lox was about to land, the back of his clothes tore apart, revealing two blood-red wings sprouting from his back.

Lox’s eyes also transformed into vertical golden pupils.

He roared with laughter, lunging toward Levi. “Levi, this body was specially made for you!”

Whoosh!

Lox moved at incredible speed, becoming a streak of red-black lightning chasing after Levi.

With a flick of his left arm, it morphed into a venomous serpent, lunging to bite Levi.

Levi quickly dodged. Unable to evade fully, he intended to block with his invisible armor shield.

Suddenly, he sensed something wrong.

His body hesitated slightly.

Squelch!

The venomous snake conjured by Lox’s left hand actually pierced straight through the invisible armor shield, appearing before him.

Levi grabbed the snake by its neck, his eyes flashing with golden light.

The dragon’s vision allowed him to clearly see the extremely fast-moving serpent.

At the instant the snake pierced through the invisible shield, he seized it.

He did not let Lox’s sinister trick succeed.

Gripping the snake tightly, Levi felt no sense of reality in the creature.

It felt like holding a slippery, cold mass of gelatin.

As if applying just a little more pressure would cause it to slip out of his palm.

Clearly, this thing was no longer mere flesh.

Hiss!

The snake suddenly opened its bloody maw wide.

Two razor-sharp fangs were revealed.

Squelch.

Two streams of venom shot out from the fangs, striking the unsuspecting Levi.

Fizzzz!

The venom corroded Levi’s chest clothing.

A smug expression appeared on Lox’s face. “You’re finished. This is the Nether Serpent—no one can withstand its poison.”

“Oh, really?”

Despite being caught off guard by the attack, Levi’s expression remained calm.

Lox’s eyes narrowed as he saw that Levi’s chest was completely unharmed.

The lethal venom of the Nether Serpent had merely corroded his clothing.

The moment the venom touched Levi’s body, it was instantly evaporated by an overwhelming heat.

Though he appeared normal, he had already entered the Sacred Flame Lord state.

Due to Punk’s Magic Suppression Formation,

the power of the Sacred Flame could only burn within Levi’s body.

Fizzzz!

Lox felt intense burning pain.

Levi’s palm was like a red-hot branding iron.

The snake held tightly in his grasp gradually charred and blackened.

Crack!

Levi clenched his fist, and the snake shattered into countless pieces.

Lox’s expression changed drastically.

“Damn it!”

Lox shouted furiously at Punk on the ground. “What are you waiting for?!”

Punk calmly observed Levi, extending his right hand with his index and middle fingers aligned like a sword.

He drew a vertical line from high to low in front of him.

In an instant, Levi heard the sound of his invisible armor shield shattering beside his ear.

Punk had been waiting for an opportunity to break through Levi’s defensive barrier.

Shield-breaking was, after all, a specialty of the Magic Suppressors.

“Hahaha! Die!”

Seeing Levi’s shield destroyed, Lox laughed maniacally as he smashed his fist fiercely toward Levi’s head.

Now, there wasn’t even a trace of mercy in his heart.

Even if he had to kill Levi, as long as he could obtain part of Levi’s corpse,

he could bring Levi back to life once again.

Boom!

Lox’s face twisted in shock.

His fist had been caught by a single hand.

Lox stared at Levi in disbelief.

One had to understand that this body of his possessed a formidable strength comparable to that of a sixth-rank high-level magical beast.

Power was by no means the defining trait of this physical form.

Yet, it was still far beyond anything a mere mage should have been able to withstand.

And yet, against all odds, Levi had blocked it.

After Levi broke through to the sixth rank, the power he received from Sanxi far surpassed what he had held during his time at the fifth rank.

Furthermore, as Sanxi's own strength grew, Levi’s own power escalated in tandem.

By now, Levi's physique had long since reached the peak of the sixth rank.

Even a peak sixth-rank warrior might not have possessed a strength as mighty as his.

Levi crushed Rox's fist.

Rox's face twisted, partly from a violent and agonizing pain, and partly from an utter, disbelief-filled shock.

It was not merely a matter of his fist being crushed.

White smoke began to rise from Rox's right fist as a terrifying heat transferred through Levi's palm and into Rox's body.

It incinerated his bones and flesh, causing the very blood in his veins to boil.

Green smoke billowed from Rox's entire form as his whole body fell into violent convulsions.

In the end, his brain was scorched to cinders.

Searing heat rushed out.

The corpse fell to the ground.

With a dull thud, Rox's body shattered into pieces across the floor.

There was no blood; the flesh and bone of his entire body had already been reduced to charcoal.

(End of chapter)