A deadly scenery was revealed behind the double doors.
The entire cavern was surrounded by light stone. Though it seed brittle, just scouring it with ones perception was enough to indicate it was actually extrely durable, even more so than in the tunnels so far. The cavern was roughly circular with a diater of several miles, larger than the previous one, and it was mostly empty.
Three human-sized boxes stood on the ground in the middle of the cavern. They were made of so brown material, with various lines running over their edges and no visible way to open them. They were more like cubical rock formations than boxes. Of the three, one was larger and also exuded a much richer aura.
Beyond those, a large hole lay on the ground at the far side of the cavern. Its lip was green, almost suffocating with life energy, and from where they stood, it was impossible to look into. The extre life energy of the hole made a stark contrast against the death dragon slumbering in the middle of the cavern, whose eyes snapped open at the sa ti as the doors. It stood and roared, the sound washing away the world. If space wasnt extrely stable here, and if the rock surrounding this cavern wasnt magically enhanced, just this roar could have annihilated the entire temple and a hundred miles around it.
The dragon had dark scales and scalding red eyes. Its body only stretched for three hundred feet, but the sheer power it exuded was leagues beyond the red dragon of the volcano, to the degree where they were simply incomparable. Jack was almost blinded by its aura. Drowned. Every thought of resistance fled his mind as only one remained: death.
This creature was sothing he could not endure.
Black Dragon, Level ??? (B-Grade)
Dragons are the darlings of the Dao. They are creatures that can stand at the top of the universe. Their bodies are large, durable, and powerful, while the Dao itself is carved on their flesh and bones. They do not need to eat to survive, as they can absorb the power of the world. Despite that, they often dominate a large area around them, relishing in the mortal pleasures.
Black Dragons are born of the Dao of Death. They possess extre understandings since birth, and their insights will keep accumulating naturally as they grow up. Their bodies are near-immutable, they are resistant to spatial or ti distortions, and their re presence can slowly deteriorate a planet.
That last statent was heavy. A dragons re presence could cause an entire planet to deteriorate. Who would believe sothing like that?
And yet, it was true. Jack felt it in his bones. The double doors had been isolating the dragons aura, but now that it struck them in the face, it brought with it the stench of death. If a mortal stood here, they would instantly dissolve into dust. Even Jack felt his powerful body shake, his dense cells working together to resist.
Most importantly, the dragons aura eclipsed all of the B-Grades present.
Spacewinds expression was dignified. Even the always calm and collected Uruselam had turned solemn. Late B-Grade, he muttered. Benefactors It is ti to fight for our destiny.
Late B-Grade!
Jack drew in a cold breath. B-Grades were said to be able to crack planets, but actually, most of them couldnt do it. What was a planet? It was a ball thousands of miles in diater, composed of innurable ores. Compared to the hard materials near the core, the surface was nothing but clay. anwhile, humans were just a few feet tall.
For a human to destroy a planet, that was a monuntal feat of power. Only the strongest B-Grades could achieve such a thing. None of the cultivators present had that powerbut this dragon did. That was the power of a late B-Grade.
Jack himself was an extrely mighty individual. He could shatter continents with his bare hands. Yet, his power was a far cry from the early B-Grades surrounding him. Even if his cultivation suddenly increased by five fruits and a major breakthrough to reach the early B-Grade, he still wouldnt have any confidence facing this dragon.
Between Jack and a monster at the late B-Grade, they could only be described as imasurably far apart. He was like an ant.
Cultivators, the dragon said, its voice aged and hoarse. It sowhat resembled Elder Boatmans, but deeper and more draconic. Since you ca, dont think about leaving!
A strong gust blew from behind them. Everyone was shoved inside the dragons cavern with no opportunity to resistthis was clearly no normal wind. At the sa ti, the double doors slamd shut behind them, trapping them in here with the dragon. Jack guessed that even if they tried to open the doors again, it would be impossible. At best, it would take long enough that they would have to fight the dragon first.
Jack didnt think that the creator of this place cared about them escaping. This wind chanism was clearly designed to protect the dicine garden in the previous cavern from the dragons death aura. Yet, it had now forced them into a corner. They had to defeat this black dragon or die trying.
Jack had no idea if the B-Grades could do it. And the worst part was, he could do nothing to help. He was just too weak. Even if their side won, just the shockwaves of the battle might have killed him already.
The dragons face warped into a cruel grin. Black smoke escaped the sides of its mouth. Its red eyes flared with bloodthirstiness.
Spacewind drew his sword. Facing this dragon, though his aura was inferior, he did not wish to be overshadowed.
Go all-out, he commanded, his gaze grim. Galvanize your inner world. Detonate it if you must. If we hold back in the slightest, we will all die here.
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The bodies of sixteen B-Grades erupted with power. Among them, Spacewind and Uruselam were the brightest stars, their auras a good chunk superior to everyone elses. Yet, facing them, the dragon wasnt daunted in the slightest.
Death is inevitable, it said. And yours, even more so.
As battle was about to erupt, Jack, Brock, and Min Ling glanced at each other with panic. They were not planning to participatenot because they didnt want to help, but because they couldnt.
Jack Rust! Spacewind roared heroically. Fight with us! I will protect you!
Jack barely held his tongue. What a joke! If he tried to join in, even the slightest ripples of power would tear him apart. Spacewind couldnt protect him if he wanted to, but he certainly had no such plans. He was just trying to get Jack killed.
Jack, Brock, and Min Ling didnt need to speak. They ca to an instant agreent. They rushed to the farthest corner of the cavern, where the shockwaves would be weakest, and huddled together closely. They made themselves as small as possible. Min Lings slender body pressed into Jacks, but at this mont, he had no ti to care about such things.
Just as they arrived at their corner, they turned around and saw the B-Grades collide with the dragon. The extrely stable space was torn apart like paper. Ti grew erratic. Elents scattered everywhere, while all sorts of weapons clashed against scales.
It was armageddon. Each of these beings could crush celestial bodies. With all of them fighting at the sa ti, even the escaping shockwaves were beyond horrifying. They crashed into the stones around the cavern, so absorbed into them and so reflected.
Thankfully, the walls held, or the entire hidden realm might have been at risk. However, that was terrible news for Jack and the others. All the shockwaves bounced off the walls. So of their power was absorbed with every reflection, but a terrifying amount still spread across the cavern, building up with ti. The situation instantly beca explosive. Fighting in such a stormy terrain, the weakest B-Grades present could barely hold on. So were directly injured. Spacewind and Uruselam took the brunt of the dragons attacks, but even they were on the verge of collapsing.
In the C-Grade, every three fruits corresponded to one tier of powerfrom the early to the middle, to the late C-Grade. At the B-Grade, the difference between each tier was even greater. Though these early B-Grades were all extre characters, and though there were sixteen of them, they were at a disadvantage against a single late B-Grade dragon.
Jack and the others could not bother with the state of the battle. They were enduring their own life and death calamity. With all the shockwaves reflecting off the walls, the density of power in the cavern had climbed to unprecedented degrees. It was like they were trapped in a closed room where nuclear bombs constantly exploded.
Thankfully, the small corner they had huddled into protected them from most of the shockwaves, but a few still snaked through. Defending against them was an ordeal. Three Dao shields superimposed over each other, from the weakest to the strongest: a golden shield of brohood, a purple aura of the Fist, and a red-cyan domain of lightningfire.
Min Lings shield was the outermost one, so she had to bear the brunt of the shockwaves. Her entire body rocked in tune with her Dao shield. Her face paled, and she forcibly swallowed the blood she was about to puke.
Let help! Jack growled.
Min Ling didnt respond, but holes appeared on her Dao shield. A few shockwaves slipped through, impacting Jacks shield instead. It warped and contorted, cracking like glass. His entire body shook. He barely stayed on his feet. He had already assud his four-ard battle form, but it could not help in this casethe only thing it enhanced was his body, not his Dao.
Like this, Jack and Min Ling together could barely resist the shockwaves. Their Dao shields twisted but held. As for Brock, he was too weak to assist them directly. His golden shield was their last, desperate line of defense.
Go bros! he shouted, manifesting a large golden trumpet that he blew to encourage themlike a football fan.
At this point, the reflected shockwaves had grown so strong that even the B-Grades could not endure them. They had all co together inside a bubble of protection. That bubble originated from Uruselam, who had taken charge of their defense. It was unknown what principles operated this bubble, but when passing through it, the shockwaves were weakened, allowing the B-Grades inside to barely endure them. Otherwise, half of them would have perished already, and the rest wouldnt be able to take on the dragon.
The bubble itself was spectacular. It was a creamy white, with various runes swimming on its surface and the faint sound of hymns echoing in the surrounding space.
Maintaining the bubble was taking a massive toll on Uruselam, leaving him unable to attack. But that was fine. Spacewind was in charge of offense, leading every other B-Grade to combine their powers against the dragon. The world shook and splintered. The power released was so trendous that even through the magically-enhanced cavern, the entire hidden realm was shaking in a massive earthquake. Ravines had opened everywhere, lakes were leaking, rivers were changing course. The entire realm had been thrown into uproar.
The black dragon was enduring both the shockwaves and the attacks of all the B-Grade cultivators. However, its body was beyond durableit could withstand this onslaught for so ti. Its situation was even better than the cultivators.
Turn to ash! it roared, opening its jaws wide and releasing a torrent of black foam. As soon as it touched Uruselams defensive bubble, its surface was corroded. Uruselam paled and spat out blood. This blood flew to the destroyed part of the bubble, hastily repairing it, but a portion of the black foam had already seeped through. As it fell on a B-Grades body, the man screadhis body deteriorated as if enduring the passage of a million years, then turned desiccated and dissolved into dust. He had died in less than a second with no ability to resist.
The rest of the B-Grades made as much distance from the body as possible. Five of them combined their powers to suppress the black foam, while the rest continued attacking the dragon.
The greatest price of this, however, was not the dead B-Grade, but Uruselams weakening. His face was pale, his raised arms were shaking, and the bubble he had conjured, while enduring, was flickering. I cannot last much longer, he said through gritted teeth.
The dragons red eyes revealed joy. It still persisted. Drawing a deep breath, it gathered its power and prepared to unleash another dark breath. If it struck the cultivators, Uruselams bubble would shatter, and they would all die horrible deaths. The battle was going terribly.
At this mont, Spacewinds gaze went cold. He did not wish to die like this. Suddenly, his hand shot to the side. A large palm of wind grabbed a Church cultivator without any warning and flung her forward, through the bubble, directly onto the black dragon!
Everyone was stunned. Even the black dragon paused for an instant, not expecting this.
Detonate your inner world! Spacewind roared quickly. Do it and I will protect your family on the outside. Otherwise, I will torture and murder them all!
There was no ti to think. The dragons claw slashed down at the cultivator even as her body was assaulted by nurous shockwaves. Her defenses crumbled instantly. In this situation, she was deader than dead.
At her last monts, the cultivators heart shook. Her face ford an ugly, pitiful smile, and then her entire body imploded. Curse you, Spacewind! her last words echoed alongside a massive explosion.
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