Chapter 1134, The Flame Consumes

Translator: Silavin

 

Qin Qiu’s voice rang out from within the Golden Asura King with unwavering resolve. “It being strong is a blessing, not a burden. Compared to the Bronze Serpent, this Monster is a far more worthy opponent. Jian Ying, Tao Zi, we cannot afford to waste an opportunity like this. Let’s go!”

 

“Right!”

 

The other two answered in unison, and then charged forward once more, blades in hand.

 

As they surged ahead, beams of light poured forth from within the Golden Asura King, as though the colossus had been gilded in light itself.

 

These were Qin Qiu’s Skills at work. She was bolstering the Golden Asura King’s Defences and amplifying its Attack.

 

At this tier of combat, Qin Qiu’s Profession Skills were, admittedly, beginning to show their limits. Yet with the Ancient God Power infused into every Skill, they transcended what those ordinary Players could possibly cast. Thus, the Buffs she layered upon the Golden Asura King still translated into a substantial improvement to its overall Combat Power.

 

Even the blade of the Golden Asura King blazed with golden light, dazzling to behold.

 

The radiance of water and golden intertwined, two forces dancing in tandem.

 

Beneath the dual Support Buffs of Qin Qiu and Tao Xiaoman, both the Attack and Defence of the Golden Asura King soared to an entirely new level.

 

The Bronze Qilin showed no fear. It surged forward to meet the assault head-on, and the two sides became locked in a fierce exchange, the ceaseless ring of metal on metal filling the air.

 

The Golden Asura King pressed with savage intensity, yet the Bronze Qilin yielded not a single step.

 

The ferocity of the duel was such that even Lu Fan found himself taken aback.

 

He had not anticipated that Jian Ying and the others, fighting as one, could consolidate into a force of such overwhelming might.

 

Were it a straight fight, he estimated he would need to deploy at least three of his Dragons to reliably suppress the Golden Asura King. Five or so to bring it down.

 

Jian Ying and the others had only recently received their Ancient God Power, with little time to internalise and refine its Mechanics. To have already achieved this level of mastery spoke to nothing less than their own relentless unyielding effort and talent.

 

The Golden Asura King’s Defence was extraordinary, matched by an equally formidable regenerative capacity.

 

The Bronze Qilin carried the Slaughter Ancient God’s Will embedded within its very core. Its Attributes mirror the Golden Asura King’s almost perfectly. Physical Endurance, Recovery Speed, both stood at the absolute pinnacle. In short, it was not any weaker than Jian Ying and the others, even when they were bolstered by Ancient God Power.

 

Given time to master more of that power, taking down the Bronze Qilin would not be a challenge. But even now, Jian Ying and her companions were, at best, just fledgling Ancient Gods. To display this level of capability was already more than enough to surprise and impress Lu Fan.

 

With their strengths so evenly matched, a clean victory in the near term was basically impossible.

 

Lu Fan had intended to let Qin Qiu and the others continue forging their skills against the Bronze Qilin. However, time was not a luxury they could afford right now. He worried that prolonging this with the Bronze Qilin here might draw the attention of the Sacred Jiang Family, jeopardising the operation to strike down the Slaughter Ancient God.

 

And so, he stopped playing spectator.

 

He mounted Xiao Ye, called out to Lin Dong, and together they joined the encirclement.

 

“Dragon Fang Strike!”

 

He moved and chose a Basic Skill for the opening.

 

Lu Fan thrust his spear forward. A Dragon Head materialised, jaws plunging downward toward the Bronze Qilin from above.

 

The Bronze Qilin was already entangled with the Golden Asura King. It sensed Lu Fan’s approach and attempted to evade and parry. However, it could not tear itself free from the Golden Asura King’s unrelenting harassment.

 

Lu Fan’s strike made a clean landing. The Bronze Qilin was driven back dozens of metres.

 

At that same moment, Lin Dong opened her maw and unleashed a blizzard of bone-chilling cold. A torrent of Dragon Breath rained down upon the Bronze Qilin from above, aimed at sealing it entirely in ice.

 

The Bronze Qilin had no room to dodge. The Dragon Breath struck, and frost began crystallising across its body at alarming speed.

 

Lu Fan pressed on. Another spear thrust hammering forward, and from his back, Little Blade Armour Dragon King launched four chain hooks simultaneously, their force merging with the might of the Dragon Fang Strike, doubling the Skill’s total Damage Output in an instant.

 

At the same time, the Golden Asura King melted the shield in its grip, fusing it together with the greatsword in its other hand, forging a single, far heavier blade. Gripping the new weapon with both hands, golden radiance and flowing water coiled together, and then it brought the sword down alongside Lu Fan’s strike in one devastating arc.

 

*Boom!*

 

Both attacks slammed into the Bronze Qilin. The creature’s eyes went wide as it strained to evade, but the frost crystallised across its body held it in place. Against the combined assault of Lu Fan and Jian Ying’s group, it had only one option: endure.

 

*ROAR!*

 

The Bronze Qilin unleashed a thunderous roar. The Slaughter Heart embedded in its chest erupted once more, and the Ancient God Power that poured forth was far more savage than anything before.

 

The flames swallowed its entire body in an instant, naturally smelting away the ice layer encasing it in the process.

 

Lin Dong recoiled sharply from the sudden eruption of fire. With a sharp cry, she immediately flew into the sky, unwilling to remain anywhere near the Bronze Qilin.

 

The blazing inferno also Nullified both Lu Fan’s and the Golden Asura King’s assault.

 

The Skills’ Damage Outputs were absorbed and dispersed by the shockwave of the explosion. The waves of heat rolling outward forced both Lu Fan and the Golden Asura King to fall back repeatedly.

 

Xiao Ye drew her wings in close, using them as a barrier against the heat and the wave of force.

 

With the Dragon Clan’s exceptional Resistances, neither the pressure wave nor the flames posed any real threat to Xiao Ye or Lu Fan.

 

The Golden Asura King, too, was built on a foundation of High Resistance and Defence. Though it was likewise driven back several steps, Jian Ying and the others inside it emerged entirely unscathed.

 

Behind them, Han Ke reacted. She raised the Moon in her hands and cast down a gentle Moonlight Barrier, encompassing everyone behind her within it.

 

With Xiao Ye and the Golden Asura King already absorbing the lion’s share of the impact up front, Han Ke’s barrier protected Ye Wuxian and Ouyang Bai Ge without the slightest difficulty.

 

In truth, Han Ke’s intervention was not necessary.

 

After all, even without her, the raw heat and shockwave would never have harmed Ye Wuxian or Ouyang Bai Ge.

 

The former was now the Calamity Ancient God. She was basically the flame that could incinerate all things in existence.

 

The latter was an Ancient God who had endured across multiple eras. The idea of being wounded by another being equivalent to an Ancient God Slave would have been a joke.

 

The flames continued their roaring surge.

 

Yet Lu Fan had already adjusted to its rhythm. He narrowed his eyes and fixed his gaze on the heart of this.

 

At its centre, the Bronze Qilin writhed and howled, seemingly in far greater agony than Lu Fan or any of the others. This fire had erupted from within its own body, yet it was inflicting no small degree of Damage upon the Bronze Qilin itself.

 

And yet, that Damage might not be an entirely unwelcome thing.

 

Because Lu Fan noticed something extraordinary: within the flames, the Bronze Qilin’s body was being tempered. The bronze coating its form was melting and resolidifying in repeated cycles.

 

Through each iteration, its frame grew harder, more powerful.

 

The bronze sheen began to fade. Threads of golden radiance started flowing across the Qilin’s surface, spreading with each passing moment. This was signalling that a metamorphosis was underway.

 

Lu Fan furrowed. His first instinct was to summon Ye Sha and charge in, landing a strike on the Bronze Qilin to interrupt this process.

 

But then Ouyang Bai Ge spoke a single sentence and he set that thought aside.