Surrounded in a triangular formation by three top-tier Blood Race powerhouses, the monsterized Li En was momentarily stunned before erupting in a mad fury!
He whipped his head around, glaring at No.3, Chise, and Bart with a look of extreme offense.
“The three of you! Have you lost your mind?”
His thick dragon tail lashed against the ground irritably, smashing shallow pits into the stone.
“I was being kind enough to help you handle these meddlesome human runts. What do you mean by turning around and surrounding me?!”
Li En’s unabashed declaration, filled with base desires and malicious intent, as well as his cold-blooded treatment of his former companions, had naturally been witnessed by the three Blood Pillars.
No.3 stood with his arms crossed in a leisurely posture, his scarlet pupils shimmering with playfulness and undisguised mockery.
He sized up Li En’s distorted, half-dragon, half-demon form, his tone airy and flippant.
“Tsk tsk. We are all ‘higher existences’ converted from lowly humans, yet you… you’ve managed to throw away even that last shred of humanity that serves as a fig leaf.”
He tilted his head, his smile cold.
“To show such ugly fangs to former companions, to kill them without hesitation, and even plot such filthy deeds… You really were born to live in the gutters. You’re more ‘pure’ than many actual magical beasts.”
These words pierced Li En in his most sensitive and prideful spot—he took pride in abandoning his humanity to embrace absolute power and desire.
“So what?”
Li En let out a threatening low growl from his throat as dark red energy surged across his body.
“What is the meaning of this? Are you helping those useless humans against me?”
His vertical pupils were filled with inflated confidence.
“Don’t think I’m afraid of you just because you’re Blood Pillars!”
“The current me… can even defeat the Imperial Sword Saint head-on! Just the three of you? So what if you come at me together!”
Hearing this, Bart spat a mouthful of non-existent saliva onto the ground, a look of disgust and impatient ferocity crossing his face.
“Another one… another fool who got lucky, gained a bit of power, and suddenly forgot his own name.”
He flexed his thick arms, his joints popping with a series of crack sounds. His crimson eyes squinted at Li En.
“You and that red-haired brat who acted all high and mighty because of a suit of iron armor are essentially the same—you’re both pathetic worms who know nothing about power!”
“Bullshit! I’m ten thousand times stronger than him!”
Li En flew into a rage.
Luke was currently one of the people he loathed most. Being compared to him was an absolute humiliation.
Bart didn’t take the bait. Instead, as if remembering something, a strange light flashed in his eyes.
He stared at Li En, his tone suddenly turning odd, laced with obvious provocation and a certain indescribable, complex emotion.
“I heard you talking big just now… saying you wanted to kill that black-haired brat named Yize?”
“And you wanted to do those disgusting things right in front of him?”
At the mention of Yize, Li En’s old and new grudges surged at once, the resentment in his eyes nearly overflowing.
“That’s right! That piece of trash! If you lot hadn’t gotten in the way, I would have already skinned him alive and let him watch while I—”
“Enough, enough!”
Chise couldn’t help but interrupt, her face showing a rare look of undisguised loathing. She even turned her head slightly, as if looking at Li En for one more second would soil her eyes.
This guy had displayed the darkest, most despicable side of humanity so vividly that, even from a Blood Race perspective, he appeared exceptionally low-class and… tacky.
Bart clicked his tongue. Looking at Li En’s distorted face, which was immersed in fantasies of revenge, he suddenly felt that compared to this nauseating, fallen dragonoid, that black-haired youth Yize—who was annoying but steady and powerful enough to make him suffer a great loss—actually seemed… much more pleasant?
At least that guy’s strength was the real deal, and he didn’t stoop to playing with such petty, foul schemes.
A strange emotion, one that even surprised himself, welled up in his heart. Bart spoke, his voice gravelly but carrying a nearly ‘educational’ mockery.
“Kid, I called you a fool, but you really are beyond saving.”
“You know absolutely nothing… about power.”
He raised his own fist—the one that had been easily crushed by Yize and had only barely healed—and shook it in front of his eyes, as if recalling that bone-deep pain and sense of powerlessness.
“With your current strength, at most, you’re only about as strong as the previous No.2 was.”
“But do you know how that ‘trash’ Yize dealt with me and No.2?”
Bart’s tone was decisive, carrying the certainty of someone who had experienced it firsthand.
Li En snorted in disdain. “Hmph, that’s because you and that No.2 were useless! You lacked strength, so who else is there to blame?”
He simply didn’t believe—or rather, refused to believe—that Yize could be powerful to that degree.
In his twisted perception, Yize must have just been lucky enough to gain a few decent Talents or used some despicable means to steal the spotlight that belonged to him time and time again.
“Screw you!”
Bart was a powder keg to begin with, and he was completely enraged by Li En’s undisguised contempt.
What pissed him off even more was that Li En’s contempt seemed to indirectly deny the power of the man who had crushed him with absolute strength—this complex emotion made Bart especially unhappy.
“Roar—!”
With a violent roar, the Blood Qi around Bart erupted!
Dark red blood-flames rose. He wasted no more words; the ground beneath his feet shattered as he turned into a blood-colored meteor, slamming violently toward the boasting Li En!
“Good! I was looking for a place to vent anyway!”
Li En let out a wild howl and met him head-on! He clenched his dragon claws, chaotic Dragon Power wrapping around his fist as he smashed it against Bart’s oncoming blood-colored fist!
Boom—!!!
Fists collided like two small mountains crashing together!
A terrifying shockwave exploded in a ring, kicking up dust and rubble everywhere!
It was a clash of pure brute force and violent energy!
In this exchange, Li En slid back several steps, each step leaving deep grooves in the ground.
Bart shook his somewhat numb arm, the blood-light in his eyes growing even more intense, but his heart sank slightly.
Li En, however, didn’t let up. He laughed wildly.
“Did you see that? You useless failure! This is the power I have now!”
He pressed his advantage, his claws creating a flurry of afterimages that blanketed Bart. Simultaneously, his thick dragon tail whipped toward Bart’s lower body like a steel lash!
Bart roared repeatedly, pushing his Blood Awakening power to the limit.
Blood-armor solidified on his arms as he countered attack with attack, clashing against Li En’s claws while relying on his extensive combat experience to narrowly avoid or block those insidious tail strikes.
The two were locked in combat, their battle causing the city walls to tremble incessantly as thunderous booms echoed.
However, as the fight continued, Bart quickly fell into a disadvantage.
He had already sustained significant injuries from his fight with Yize, and his Blood Qi was heavily depleted. Forcing his Blood Awakening now was an act of overextension.
In contrast, the monsterized Li En grew more courageous as the fight progressed, his attacks becoming increasingly violent and ruthless.
Bang! A heavy dragon claw strike shattered a piece of the blood-armor on Bart’s guarding arms, causing him to stagger.
“You failure! What’s wrong? Weren’t you acting all tough just now?”
Li En pursued him with a sneer, his dragon tail following like a shadow and slamming heavily into Bart’s back, sending him flying forward.
Bart let out a muffled groan, but he forcibly twisted his body, digging his feet deep into the ground to stop his retreat.
He looked up and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. Instead of fear, his face bore an even more ferocious, almost crazed smile.
“Too light…”
Bart spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm, his crimson eyes locked onto Li En. His voice was hoarse but clear.
Li En was stunned. “What?”
“I said, your attacks—”
Bart suddenly stood tall. Though he was covered in wounds and his Blood Qi was churning, his posture carried a stubborn pride.
“—are way too damn light!!”
“What?!” Li En was furious. This failure still dared to be stubborn!
“Compared to that brat Yize…”
Bart didn’t wait for a reaction and continued to roar, every word sounding as if it were being squeezed out of his chest.
“These little moves of yours are like scratching an itch! He only used—”
Unbidden, images flashed through Bart’s mind: how that seemingly ordinary palm had effortlessly caught his full-strength punch in his Blood Awakening state… that calm, indifferent gaze… and the subsequent, irresistible, incomprehensible, and purely soul-crushing power…
“—one punch! Just one damn punch!”
Bart’s voice suddenly spiked. His Blood Qi fluctuated violently due to his extreme emotions, appearing as if it were burning.
“And he slammed me into the dirt so hard I couldn’t! Get! Up!”
He roared the last few words with every ounce of his strength.
Bart hadn’t even realized it himself, but in his heart, he had already come to recognize that overwhelming power.
The moment his voice fell, he moved!
There were no sophisticated techniques, no roundabout strategies.
He channeled all his remaining Blood Qi, along with his burning indignation and obsession, into his right fist!
The blood-armor on that fist became more solid than ever before, even faintly emitting a dark red glow like a miniature blood-sun!
It was a simple, unadorned straight punch!
Yet it contained all his current strength, all his will, and that blurry understanding of ‘true power’ that had been carved into his bones after being crushed by Yize.
This punch was fast, fierce, and accurate!
The timing was perfect, catching the moment when Li En was momentarily shaken by his words and his attack faltered!
“What?!” Li En saw only a streak of highly concentrated blood-light expanding rapidly before his eyes!
Boom—!!!
It landed squarely and without reservation on Li En’s chest, which was covered in thick dragon scales!
Time seemed to freeze for an instant.
Then, Li En’s massive dragonoid body was sent flying backward off the ground!
He streaked through the air until he smashed through a section of a crumbling wall tower in the distance, stopping only after being buried under the collapsing brick and stone ruins!
Dust billowed into the sky, obscuring that area.
A moment of dead silence fell over the battlefield.
Even Chise, who had been watching coldly, felt a flicker of clear surprise in her crimson pupils.
She looked at Bart, who was gasping for air while maintaining his punching posture, his Blood Qi noticeably dimmer. She said softly, “That punch… was actually quite cool.”
She paused, her tone taking on a hint of curiosity. “But… Bart, why do I feel like there was something… different in the way you talked about that human, Yize?”
She had originally wanted to use ‘admiration’ or ‘recognition,’ but she felt that would be too ridiculous for Bart, so she changed her wording.
Bart abruptly pulled his fist back, a flash of nearly imperceptible panic and embarrassment crossing his face.
He retorted gruffly, though his voice wasn’t as confident as before. “How… how is that possible! I… I just couldn’t stand that damn bastard acting so high and mighty!”
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