Chapter 159: Life-Attribute Dragon Breed, Dragon-Slaying Power, Serpent Assassin! (4K)

Chapter 159: Life-Attribute Dragon Breed, Dragon-Slaying Power, Serpent Assassin! (4K)



"Oh? That must be one of the 'Three Nobles', right?"

Xue Jing poked his head out from behind a large, charred boulder, his gaze falling upon a vast expanse of scorched earth below the slope.

A dragon breed, approximately twenty meters in length and wingless, lay coiled on the ground in a state of slumber. A vibrant red coronet adorned its head, and its breathing was slow and steady, each inhalation and exhalation lasting an eternity. With every breath, its nostrils emitted a fine mist of golden lightning, accompanied by a faint rumble of thunder.

Its entire body was covered in rough, bark-like dragon scales that gave it the peculiar appearance of a tree that had come to life, like an ancient tree transformed into a colossal dragon.

Its body was slender at both ends but remarkably swollen in the middle, giving it an overall impression of extreme corpulence.

"Escort dragons born through asexual reproduction of pure-blooded dragon breeds usually inherit their bloodline attributes directly, with little variation," the person in the mirror within the black bracelet explained.

"Judging by the appearance of this escort dragon, it should be of the 'Life Attribute'... So, there's a high probability that the pure-blooded dragon breed is also of the same attribute."

"That's troublesome. This is bad news." The person in the mirror frowned as he looked at the dragon breed below the slope.

"Why is that? Are life-attribute dragons extremely powerful in combat?" Xue Jing raised an eyebrow, curious.

The person in the mirror shook their head. "Not exactly powerful, but they are troublesome."

"The Life Attribute encompasses a wide range of abilities, including proliferation, contagion, decay, and resurrection... Almost every one of them presents a unique challenge."

"Typically, life-attribute dragon breeds possess extraordinarily robust vitality and exceptional regenerative abilities. In simpler terms, they have an immense health pool and rapid health regeneration."

"This one, with its tree-like appearance, is undoubtedly the type with incredible vitality. To experienced Junction hunters, it's like wearing a sign that says 'Impossible to Kill' on its face."

The person in the mirror, with a youthful face, wore a grave expression.

"Strong vitality also means a high error tolerance. Strategies like slowly grinding them down are absolutely impractical."

"To defeat them, you either need specialized means to counter their regenerative abilities or overwhelm them with sheer power. There are no shortcuts."

"Unfortunately, not only do we lack the power to overwhelm a pure-blooded dragon breed, but we are also the ones who would be crushed."

Xue Jing stroked his chin thoughtfully. "That does sound like a dire situation."

No wonder the Fire-Crying Dragon I killed before had such abnormal vitality... It must have inherited some of the life-attribute powers from the pure-blooded dragon breed.

If even killing that Fire-Crying Dragon was so troublesome, then dealing with these escort dragons, who are direct descendants of its bloodline, would be even more outrageous.

"It's not just sounding desperate; it is desperate," the person in the mirror asserted.

Xue Jing reached for the Serpent Assassin's claw, which he kept close at hand.

Without this item, he would have given up already... He would have hidden somewhere and trained until he could take on the pure-blooded dragon breed.

But who knows how long that would take... He had already discovered that conventional skills had a limit; they couldn't be raised past level 10 without ascension.

If he couldn't fulfill the ascension requirements within the Junction, his skills would remain stagnant no matter how much time he invested.

In that case, the only path to power would be through the tedious process of cultivating ancient martial arts. That was truly a hopeless prospect, given how slowly power grew through that method. Who knew how long it would take to become strong enough to challenge a pure-blooded dragon breed?

"Fortunately, Instructor Wan gave me this before I entered the Junction," Xue Jing mused with a sense of relief.

Now, he would see just how effective the Serpent Assassin was against dragon breeds.

Xue Jing's gaze fell upon the 'Tree Dragon' below.

He intended to test his theory on this Tree Dragon...

"What do you plan to do? Are you going in directly?" The person in the mirror asked, arms crossed.

"As I've said, life-attribute dragon breeds will drag you into an endless war of attrition and wear you down until you die... If you don't have a plan to counter them, it's best not to act rashly."

Xue Jing stood up. "Of course, I have a plan."

"First..."

As he finished speaking, the ground beneath his feet exploded, propelling him like a cannonball toward the slumbering Tree Dragon below.

"Let's give it a little welcome gift."

Approaching noon, the Junction was bathed in scorching sunlight.

In the valley, countless crags cast long shadows in the intense light.

From the shadows, black, dense currents surged upward, enveloping Xue Jing, who hovered in the air.

Black flames ignited, giving birth to a colossal skeleton, soon followed by sinews, flesh, and armor...

A nearly twenty-meter-tall Shadowflame Armor Giant, a black-flamed behemoth, emerged once more.

The giant held a massive longsword, its blade pointed downward.

The twenty-meter-tall figure loomed like a mountain, crashing down on the slumbering Tree Dragon below with overwhelming force.

A piercing shriek of metal tearing through flesh filled the air as a massive black blade precisely struck the Tree Dragon's neck, piercing through and pinning it to the ground. The giant sword embedded itself deep into the earth, impaling the dragon and pinning it in place beneath the Shadowflame Armor Giant.

"ROARRRR!!!"

The sleeping Tree Dragon was jolted awake by the searing pain, immediately realizing what had happened, and let out an earth-shattering dragon's roar.

The entire valley trembled at the force of the roar, sending dirt and debris flying. The powerful sound waves distorted the air, creating rippling circles of distortion.

Even the Shadowflame Armor Giant was affected, its black armor rippling slightly as if the shadow flames threatened to unravel.

"BOOM!!!"

Despite the clear skies, rumbling thunder suddenly echoed from above.

Xue Jing's eyes narrowed as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a golden seed, tossing it into the air.

The seed rapidly multiplied and grew, sprouting over a dozen thick, golden roots that coiled and formed a spiral canopy above the Shadowflame Armor Giant, resembling an umbrella of golden wood.

Just as the canopy finished forming...

"CRACK!!!"

Amid the rolling thunder, a thick golden lightning bolt struck down from the heavens!

The powerful lightning bolt struck the golden wood canopy, shattering half of it into golden splinters that rained down across the surrounding area.

"Using Dragon Thunder Plants to counter Dragon Thunder, nice move."

The person in the mirror watched with a surge of excitement.

"...But it won't completely block it."

Xue Jing sat in the 'cockpit', watching as streams of golden lightning rained down upon the Shadowflame Armor Giant.

The golden lightning coursed wildly over the giant's body, causing slight cracks to appear in the black armor, only to be quickly repaired by the shadow flames.

"It blocked most of the Dragon Thunder, but a small portion still got through."

Xue Jing frowned.

"The destructive power is one thing, but the real problem is..."

He felt his body suddenly become heavier, as if he were carrying several tons of extra weight.

"...Thunder that affects gravity, troublesome."

"ROARRR!!!"

The pinned Tree Dragon began to struggle violently, its massive body shaking wildly, uncaring of the blade still embedded in its flesh. The movement tore at its neck wound, widening the gash.

The twenty-meter-long, corpulent body of the Tree Dragon moved with earth-shaking force, causing the entire valley to tremble.

Xue Jing seized the opportunity, controlling the Shadowflame Armor Giant to twist and turn the massive blade, using the dragon's own struggles to sever most of its neck.

He then released the blade and grasped the dragon's head with both hands, giving it a forceful yank.

"CRUNCH—"

Accompanied by the sickening sound of tearing flesh, the Tree Dragon's head was ripped clean off, leaving a long gash where its neck had been.

The severed head, now detached from its body, went limp, its eyes losing focus.

"Be careful," warned the person in the mirror. "For a life-attribute dragon breed, losing a hand, foot, or even its head is but a flesh wound."

"Its weak point is its core organ. But even that possesses extraordinary regenerative abilities, and you must utterly destroy it to kill the dragon..."

As if to prove the person in the mirror right, the headless Tree Dragon showed no signs of slowing down. Its fat body reared up, lifting the Shadowflame Armor Giant off the ground and tossing it aside.

Xue Jing controlled the giant to flip in the air, landing nimbly on its feet.

"CRACK—"

Golden lightning struck down once more, but Xue Jing was prepared. He controlled the Dragon Thunder vines to intercept the attack.

"BOOM—"

The vines shattered, blocking most of the dragon thunder, but a few stray streams of lightning struck the Shadowflame Armor Giant.

The giant's movements became sluggish as the weight of the lightning bore down on it.

Only when the lightning dissipated did the giant's gravity return to normal.

Xue Jing's gaze shifted to the fat Tree Dragon across from him.

The wound on its neck was rapidly writhing as countless cells proliferated, regenerating half of its head in mere seconds.

Before it could finish regenerating its brain, the Tree Dragon opened its mouth wide, revealing sharp fangs, and a golden-hued beam of light began to gather within. Sensing the impending danger, Xue Jing instinctively activated his Twinborn Instinct.

A surge of intense danger washed over him.

Trusting his instincts, he activated Twinborn Speed and leaped out of the Shadowflame Armor Giant's 'cockpit'.

The next moment, a thick beam of golden lightning blasted forth from the Tree Dragon's mouth, striking the spot where Xue Jing had just been.

"Buzz—"

The air vibrated as a lightning bolt tore through everything in its path, vaporizing the Shadowflame Armor Giant and piercing the valley, ploughing a deep furrow in the earth with its residual force.

Xue Jing's pupils constricted as he witnessed the scene.

"What the heck was that? Big bro's atomic breath?"

He gaped in astonishment.

If he had been hit by that, he would have been instantly vaporized with no chance of survival.

His gaze shifted to the fat Tree Dragon.

Or rather, it wasn't fat anymore.

That move seemed to have exhausted it as well, as the Tree Dragon's once bloated belly had slimmed down, seemingly emptied of its stored energy.

"Hmm... So it seems this escort dragon's danger level is about 5.5... I thought it would be 5.3 at most."

The person in the mirror within the bracelet stroked his chin and commented, "And you can tell that just by looking?"

Xue Jing raised an eyebrow, "How so?"

He was still a bit confused about the specific manifestations of danger levels and their implications.

Determining 'danger levels' was inherently challenging, requiring the calculation of numerous factors; it wasn't as simple as bigger size and greater strength equating to higher danger.

The person in the mirror huffed, "My eyes are the measure, and they've never been wrong. When I say 5.5, it's 5.5."

"And another thing, its core organ is most likely in its belly."

"ROAR-RRR!!!"

The Tree Dragon, now fully regenerated, let out a roar filled with hatred and anger.

"While you now have the strength to engage it in direct combat for a period, if this drags on, it will definitely wear you down to your death."

"Any countermeasures you have, use them now," the person in the mirror urged.

Xue Jing nodded in response.

"Crack—"

Dragon Thunder cracked down from the sky, but Xue Jing, with his Twinborn Instinct active, had already darted away from his previous spot.

Freed from the burden of the Shadowflame Armor Giant's massive form, Xue Jing's movement speed was incredibly fast.

With the boost from Twinborn Speed, his sprinting and dodging turned him into a fleeting shadow.

Golden lightning bolts pursued him, one after another, striking the ground behind him and ploughing deep furrows in the charred earth, yet failing to touch him at all.

As Xue Jing sprinted towards the Tree Dragon, he drew a silver-white claw from his pocket, holding it in his palm with the tip exposed.

"Crack—"

Ducking another bolt of Dragon Thunder, Xue Jing took a deep breath and channeled his energy.

A spiral indentation appeared at the base of his thigh, rotating as it extended down to his foot and converging at the Yongquan acupoint.

"Boom!"

With a burst of Cyclone Thunder energy, the ground beneath Xue Jing's feet exploded, creating a circle of deep pits, and a ring of white air waves blasted forward. Already moving at incredible speed, his pace quickened even further as he rushed towards the Tree Dragon's belly.

Just as he was about to make contact with the Tree Dragon's stomach, Xue Jing brandished the 'Serpent Assassin' claw.

The silver-white claw touched the rough, bark-like dragon scales.

Like a scorching-hot knife slicing through butter, it encountered no resistance as the Tree Dragon's belly was instantly gashed open by a massive wound.

Xue Jing's eyes widened slightly.

With his keen eyesight, he could clearly see the details of what had just transpired.

It wasn't the sharpness of the claw that had sliced through the dragon scales.

In fact, the tip of the claw hadn't even made direct contact with the scales.

Just before touching the scales, the Tree Dragon's flesh had torn itself open, as if the dragon was desperately 'dodging' the Serpent Assassin claw!

The Tree Dragon was utterly terrified.

A primal fear, like encountering its mortal enemy, swept through its entire being, something it had never experienced since its birth.

Even its parent, the 'Dragon God', had never instilled such a feeling in it.

Trembling, fearful, and even—despairing.

Without hesitation, it tried to activate its bio-energy field to flee the area.

But it was too late.

Holding the Serpent Assassin, Xue Jing passed through the Tree Dragon's body without any hindrance. Wherever the claw was about to touch, the dragon's body tore itself apart to avoid contact.

He seamlessly penetrated the Tree Dragon's body.

Black flames ignited in his pupils, and the pitch-black interior of the Tree Dragon posed no obstruction to his vision. Though his sight was reduced to black and white, he could still see clearly.

His gaze shifted upward, and he spotted a fleshy sphere about a meter in diameter, pulsating like a heart.

Lightning bolts crackled and danced on its surface.

Xue Jing immediately understood that this was the Tree Dragon's core organ.

He stomped on the 'ground'—the soft stomach wall—and propelled himself upward, leaping towards the fleshy sphere.

"Chh—"

As expected, the Serpent Assassin claw pierced the core.

The silver-white claw glowed brilliantly, and the sphere began to inflate rapidly, as if being pumped full of air.

"ROAR-R!"

The Tree Dragon released a fearful, anguished roar, its body freezing in mid-air.

Several seconds later, it crashed to the ground.

...

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end