Chapter 558: Pseudo-God Godhead

Chapter 558: The False God's Divine Core

As Li Wei was about to reach the small island where the Sacred Dragon King resided, he was suddenly ambushed by a mysterious and formidable enemy. Even his most prideful offensive technique—the Great Solar Nuclear Blast—failed to inflict any damage upon it.

Just as Li Wei and Sheng Xi were about to be captured by this enigmatic foe, a golden light intervened, driving the attacker away. Caught in the aftermath of the battle, Li Wei lost consciousness.

When he awoke, he opened his eyes to find two majestic sacred dragons standing before him.

Lying on the ground, Li Wei stared blankly at the two similar yet distinctly sized sacred dragons—one large, one small—before him. It took him half a minute to react.

The larger of the two was none other than the Sacred Dragon King he had searched for so desperately. His mind had clearly been addled by the impact; it took him half a minute just to reboot. He was slower than 99.99% of legendary mages in terms of waking up.

Seeing Li Wei regain consciousness, Sheng Xi happily moved closer.

Li Wei sat up and realized he was already on the island—a desolate rock with nothing but stone and not a blade of grass in sight. This barren island had been created by the Sacred Dragon King himself after arriving here, solely to allow him to remain undisturbed beneath the sea.

Instinctively, he asked, "How long was I unconscious?"

Sheng Xi replied, "About five minutes."

The Sacred Dragon King lowered his massive head and spoke in a deep, resonant voice that reached Li Wei’s ears.

"My apologies. The situation was urgent—I didn’t hold back in time and accidentally injured you."

Li Wei shook his head and said, "It wasn't your fault. If it weren't for your timely intervention, I might not have survived."

"Oh, by the way," Li Wei added, "what exactly was that thing?"

Just recalling how even his Great Solar Nuclear Blast couldn’t harm it sent chills down his spine.

The Sacred Dragon King answered solemnly, "It is an evil god worshipped by the Naga race."

"Wha—An evil god!?"

Li Wei sucked in a breath of cold air. Never had he imagined he would come under direct assault from such a being. Unlike past encounters involving distant curses or spiritual contamination, this time he had faced the entity head-on—and utterly failed to retaliate.

But then again, it *was* a god—even if corrupted. Realizing he stood no chance against such power did not bring him despair. After all, he hadn’t even broken through to the eighth tier yet. To think he could slay gods now would be pure delusion.

Still, somewhere deep within him, he quietly noted that false deity onto a mental list. One day, when he grew strong enough, that would be his first target.

The Sacred Dragon King continued, “I’ve taken up residence here at the request of the merfolk, to prevent the Naga’s evil god from using the underground sea passage to enter Haoyuan City.”

Looking at the colossal form of the Sacred Dragon King, Li Wei felt awe welling silently inside him. That the Sacred Dragon King could stand guard over the subterranean ocean and resist a divine-level opponent like the Naga’s evil god spoke volumes of his immense strength.

And if *he* was this powerful… what level of might must the Dark Dragon King possess—who defeated him and claimed the title of Dragon Sovereign?

Unthinkable.

Glancing toward Sheng Xi, the Sacred Dragon King sensed traces of Philis’ bloodline within her. He knew immediately—this girl was Philis' descendant.

Long ago, the treacherous and cunning Dark Dragon King had orchestrated a scheme to ambush Philis, luring the Sacred Dragon King into a trap during his attempt to rescue her. That betrayal led directly to the near-fatal defeat which forced the Sacred Dragon King into exile in the endless seas.

Speaking now both to Sheng Xi and to the memory of his deceased daughter Philis, the Sacred Dragon King recounted:

“In my battle with the Dark Dragon King, a demon god interfered. Though the Dragon God discovered the interference and acted swiftly to stop it, I still ended up losing.”

“After being gravely wounded and fleeing the Dragon Isle, I came to the depths of the Endless Sea.”

“There, I recuperated, healed my wounds, and waited for the right moment to strike back.”

“But then news arrived—the Dragon God had fallen.”

“Before his death, the Dragon God visited me once more. He entrusted me with a fragment of his divine core and told me that ancient merfolk descendants lay hidden somewhere in the Endless Sea.”

“For many years, I searched across these waters until I happened upon a group of merfolk fleeing persecution by the Nagas. When I saved one among them, I learned she bore the last royal bloodline of their race.”

“She brought me to Haoyuan City, where we used an ancient formation left behind since antiquity to conceal my presence, ensuring the Dark Dragon King could never track me down.”

“So there I remained, healing and rebuilding my strength.”

“The merfolk suffered greatly under constant Naga aggression. In gratitude for their protection, I offered to defend the Undersea Passage and block further invasions into Haoyuan City.”

“With the help of the half-divine core granted to me by the Dragon God, I repeatedly repelled the Naga’s evil god—who could never fully manifest its true power—and inflicted heavy losses on multiple invasion forces.”

“Centuries passed in the blink of an eye. Little did I expect that one day, I would meet a descendant of Philis herself…”

His gaze lingered warmly on Sheng Xi, filled with emotion.

Philis died by the hands of the Dark Dragon King. For her lineage to survive until today was nothing short of miraculous. The Sacred Dragon King hadn’t even known she carried a child.

Thinking of that, guilt gnawed at his heart.

Had it not been for his conflict with the Dark Dragon King, perhaps Philis wouldn’t have met such a fate.

Soon, determination flared in the Sacred Dragon King’s eyes.

Regret and self-reproach were useless; they could not bring back the lost.

He was well aware in his heart that the Demon Dragon King's upheaval within the dragon race had certainly been fueled by the machinations of the God of Demons behind the scenes.

This was not something he could simply avoid.

The God of Demons had long since set their sights upon the dragon race.

Not only the God of Demons, but also those gods above in the heavens.

They too were culprits.

The Dragon God had already fallen—slain by the God of Demons and the pantheon of heaven.

The Sacred Dragon King opened his mouth and spat out half of the divine fragment the Dragon God had entrusted to him.

A golden radiance filled Levi’s vision, what lay before him seeming like the most dazzling object in all the world.

So brilliant it was that he could not look away for even a moment.

Compared with the divine fragments of the Beast God and the Elf God,

the fragment of the Dragon God was far larger, containing an immensely more powerful force.

Moreover, this divine fragment brimmed with divine energy.

That was why the fragment of the Dragon God emitted such a stunning glow.

It was precisely because of the remaining divine power within the fragment that the Sacred Dragon King had effortlessly repelled the evil god of the Naga race.

The divine fragment slowly descended, and Levi reached out both hands to catch it as it fell.

Holding the divine fragment, he looked at the Sacred Dragon King and said, “If you give this to me, what about the evil god of the Naga?”

The Sacred Dragon King let out a laugh. “A mere nameless evil god is unworthy of the power of a divine fragment.”

Suddenly, two enormous whirlpools appeared beneath the sea.

One extended a colossal tentacle—fifty or sixty meters in diameter and over a thousand meters long—from its vortex, crashing down toward the Sacred Dragon King on the island.

From the other vortex emerged the black-furred beast claw that had just suffered injury.

The claw, covered in coarse black fur, lunged toward Levi.

The target of the evil god was the divine fragment of the Dragon God held in Levi’s hands.

Yet the Sacred Dragon King seemed to have anticipated this.

He spread his wings and soared into the sky.

Seizing the massive tentacle, he tore it apart. The flesh and blood of the evil god scattered like a rain of gore, chunks of meat falling from the heavens.

Having shredded the tentacle, the Sacred Dragon King opened his mouth and unleashed a blinding beam of golden light.

Sacred Dragon’s Breath!

Sizzling—

The black-furred beast claw was scorched by the Sacred Dragon’s breath. Its fur turned to ash, its skin peeled away and vanished into nothingness.

When only bones remained, the beast claw reluctantly withdrew into the vortex.

Whoosh! Boom!

A tremendous gust of wind swept across. Levi quickly crouched low, steadying himself so as not to be blown away.

The Sacred Dragon King landed back upon the island, majestic and awe-inspiring.

His peerless gaze swept over the gradually vanishing whirlpools.

Once the storm passed, the island returned to calm.

Only then did Levi raise his head to look at the Sacred Dragon King.

Indeed, the strength of the Sacred Dragon King was beyond measure—he was fully capable of standing toe-to-toe against a godlike foe.

At this moment, the Sacred Dragon King should still have been in his prime.

Levi finally understood why it was said that even gods would yield before a dragon in their prime.

A prime dragon truly possessed power rivaling that of a deity.

Alas, even among dragons, though the Sacred Dragons were among the longest-lived,

their prime lasted barely over a millennium.

But gods, if they did not die, remained forever in their prime—

unbound by the constraints of lifespan.

Gods had transcended the very dimension of living beings.

They were a form of life existing in higher dimensions.

Among countless millennia, how few there were who could transcend the boundaries of life itself and ascend to divinity.

Now, such an opportunity stood right before Levi.

He looked down at the divine fragment of the Dragon God in his hand.

The divine fragments of the Beast God and the Elf God were also in his possession.

If he wished, he could now obtain the power of a god.

Ascend to the dimensional level of divine existence… become a pseudo-deity.

Even if merely a pseudo-god, it was still an existence beyond the reach of many.

Levi put away the divine fragment of the Dragon God.

He looked at the Sacred Dragon King and said, “I will not use these divine fragments, nor will Saint Xi.”

“Because I believe we can become true gods through our own abilities.”

Determination flared in Levi’s eyes.

He was utterly convinced that this was something achievable.

The Sacred Dragon King gazed into his eyes, moved by the emotion reflected there.

After a moment of silence, he said, “Perhaps, for you, this may not be the best choice.”

“How you choose is entirely up to yourselves. My duty is only to safeguard this fragment.”

“As per the Dragon God’s wishes, I am to deliver it to the destined one of the future.”

The Sacred Dragon King needed no divine fragment—his own strength surpassed that of a pseudo-god.

Perhaps the Beast King and the Elf King were not as powerful as the Sacred Dragon King,

but they, too, held no interest in the divine fragments capable of creating pseudo-gods.

For they shared Levi’s confidence—that they themselves could take that step and become gods.

They were waiting for the right moment.

Sometimes, becoming a god too early was not necessarily a blessing.

The Sacred Dragon King glanced at Levi and said, “Of course, you must also prepare yourself to endure trials.”

“The hardships you are about to face may far exceed your imagination.”

Li Wei spoke firmly, "I have confidence."

"I will surely become a god."

"So will I."

Saint Xi leaned in and said.

Confidence gleamed in her eyes.

The Sacred Dragon King did not discourage this promising junior.

To possess such formidable strength at such a young age—perhaps she truly had the potential to become the next Dragon God.

The Sacred Dragon King smiled and said, "Of course, but before that, you must first complete the awakening of our Sacred Dragon bloodline inheritance."

Expectation sparkled in Saint Xi's eyes.

"How can I awaken it?"

The Sacred Dragon King replied, "I will help you unleash the power of your bloodline inheritance. At that time, you will face the trials of the bloodline legacy. As long as you pass all the trials, you will awaken the most powerful force of the Sacred Dragon clan."

Li Wei asked, "How long will this take?"

The Sacred Dragon King said, "It's unclear. A few years at the shortest, perhaps even hundreds of years."

Upon hearing that it might take centuries to complete the Sacred Dragon inheritance,

Saint Xi's heart wavered with hesitation.

Sensing her thoughts, Li Wei quickly said, "Saint Xi, I believe you will surely pass the trials successfully."

He smiled and said, "Don't be afraid. I'll wait for you."

After hesitating for a moment, Saint Xi steeled her resolve and walked before the Sacred Dragon King.

"I want to accept the Sacred Dragon inheritance."

The Sacred Dragon King nodded and lowered his head to touch hers.

Golden light appeared between the two massive heads.

The Sacred Dragon King emanated pure golden radiance.

Saint Xi's golden glow was interwoven with seven-colored brilliance.

Seeing this, the Sacred Dragon King's eyes showed unmistakable surprise.

"The Time Dragon's inheritance?"

Buzz!

The golden light expanded, enveloping the entire island.

When the light faded, Saint Xi lay on the ground, falling into deep slumber.

Li Wei sensed the intense fluctuations within Saint Xi's soul.

He understood that what she was experiencing was far from simple.

The Sacred Dragon inheritance primarily occurred on the soul level.

Saint Xi's slumber might last for years, even decades or centuries before she awakened.

By that time, she would have unleashed her full potential, and her strength would rise to new heights.

Li Wei had no intention of waiting so long.

He had his own plans.

Before leaving, Li Wei harbored a question and posed it to the Sacred Dragon King.

"Sacred Dragon King, I have a doubt—what is the relationship between the merfolk race and the naga race?"

Hearing this, the Sacred Dragon King lowered his head and said, "Long, long ago, the naga were actually also merfolk."

Curiosity appeared on Li Wei's face.

The Sacred Dragon King continued, "In ancient times, the merfolk worshipped and revered the Sea God. But at some unknown point, the Sea God suddenly vanished. Without divine protection, the merfolk were invaded by an evil deity."

"During this process, some merfolk chose to worship the evil deity."

"Those who abandoned their faith in the Sea God and turned to the evil deity were cursed, gradually transforming into hideous forms. Later, they were called the naga by the merfolk."

"The naga believed the curse came from the merfolk. Originally merfolk themselves, the naga had turned to the evil deity for survival. Filled with anger and resentment toward the merfolk, they regarded them as mortal enemies."

"The hostility between both sides has persisted until today. During this time, certain events occurred that caused the naga, worshippers of the evil deity, to disappear from the main world and fall into the abyss."

"Until the Abyssal Depths emerged, opening a gateway to the abyss, the naga became vanguards of the abyssal invasion, returning once more to this world."

"The merfolk, influenced by their ancient enmity with the naga and also to prevent the abyssal invasion of the main world,"

"established Abyssal City as their base to suppress the Abyssal Depths' exit, preventing the naga from leaving the depths."

"Unable to open the exit for so long, the evil deity behind the naga could no longer remain passive, which is why they appeared here."

After listening, Li Wei had another question.

"Where did the Sea God go?"

(End of Chapter)