Chapter 1175, Strength Reversed

Translator: Silavin

 

Through the Slaughter Ancient God’s continuously surging power, Lu Fan could judge that this battle had been going on for quite long, perhaps a full day, perhaps even two.

 

In any case, such a prolonged, high-intensity battle had left his body just barely keeping pace, but his mind was already thoroughly exhausted.

 

Particularly as the battle dragged on, the Slaughter Ancient God’s strength kept climbing steadily, and Lu Fan found himself feeling increasingly strained with every passing moment.

 

The Devouring Dragon King was, admittedly, extraordinarily fierce. Throughout this extended battle, she had maintained a suppressive advantage over the Slaughter Ancient God, even grievously wounding him on multiple occasions, forcing the Ancient God to expend vast quantities of his Ancient God Power simply to heal his own battered body.

 

And yet, simultaneously, the Slaughter Ancient God was benefiting from every single exchange. His strength was rising to a frightening degree.

 

Lu Fan estimated that if their group were to fall here and truly be slaughtered by the Slaughter Ancient God, then the Slaughter Ancient God, once he had recovered, would reach a level terrifying enough to sweep aside the vast majority of Ancient Gods.

 

Even though he had yet to fully awaken.

 

If he were to fully awaken, he stood a very real chance of reaching his most overwhelmingly powerful state, even across the last several eras.

 

So this battle had to be won, no matter what!

 

The trouble was that Lu Fan had absolutely no idea what method the Devouring Dragon King actually had for dealing with the Slaughter Ancient God.

 

Even now, the Devouring Dragon King continued fighting in her original manner, trading blows with the Slaughter Ancient God without pause. She appeared to hold the upper hand, but in reality her advantage was shrinking by the minute.

 

One could even say that the Slaughter Ancient God’s strength had already grown to a point where he was no longer inferior to the Devouring Dragon King.

 

Perhaps the Slaughter Ancient God had also recognised the Devouring Dragon King’s potential, understanding that she could help him continuously sharpen himself, and so he had chosen to fight steadily and methodically, staying entangled with the Devouring Dragon King without rushing toward a decisive conclusion.

 

It seemed, from the Slaughter Ancient God’s perspective, that Lu Fan’s group was nothing more than a whetstone standing before him, incapable of threatening his safety, and moreover useful for giving him an advantage in the Ancient Gods Struggle For Supremacy.

 

Once Lu Fan’s group had served their purpose, he could snuff them all out at his leisure.

 

This gradual tilting of the scales toward the enemy, combined with the Slaughter Ancient God’s insufferably smug cat-and-mouse demeanour, left Lu Fan feeling utterly at a loss.

 

After all, he could not for the life of him see what method the Devouring Dragon King possessed for actually killing the Slaughter Ancient God.

 

If this continued, every last advantage their group had built up would completely vanish.

 

And sure enough, it was not long before the Slaughter Ancient God’s strength climbed to a level that outstripped even the Devouring Dragon King.

 

The moment the Devouring Dragon King wrenched off yet another of the Slaughter Ancient God’s heads, the Ancient God’s aura erupted with explosive force, sending the Devouring Dragon King staggering back several paces.

 

*Boom!*

 

At that point the Slaughter Ancient God had only four heads remaining, and yet the oppressive pressure emanating from his body was more than double what it had been when he possessed all nine.

 

Even Lu Fan, facing the Slaughter Ancient God’s freshly surged power, felt a flicker of helplessness wash over him.

 

It was a sensation not unlike the first time he had encountered the Ancient God Shadow Guard, all those years ago, when the only thought his heart could manage was to run, without so much as a scrap of Will to fight.

 

“You haven’t gone and completed the objective, right? The Slaughter Ancient God is already like this now. How exactly do you plan to kill him!?” Lu Fan thrust his arm before him, bracing against the howling gale, and shouted toward the Devouring Dragon King.

 

The Devouring Dragon King dug all four claws firmly into the ground, eyes fixed on the Slaughter Ancient God, and there was no mistaking the wariness in her gaze.

 

Nevertheless, her stubbornness remained perfectly intact.

 

“I said I could kill him, so I can kill him!” She declared.

 

“The Slaughter Ancient God may look frightening, but it’s all surface and no substance. His strength has not necessarily reached a level that none of us can handle!” As if to prove her own words, the Devouring Dragon King spread her wings and charged forward once more, delivering a thunderous strike.

 

This claw brought to bear the power of a Bronze Dragon, and its might was not difficult to imagine.

 

Among the Dragon Race, after all, the Bronze Dragon Clan were the undisputed king of close-quarters combat. Aside from the thick-skinned Gold Dragon Clan, not a single Dragon Clan dared to engage the Bronze Dragon Clan in melee.

 

Throughout the battle with the Slaughter Ancient God, the Devouring Dragon King had consistently relied on the Bronze Dragon Bloodline’s strength to press the attack, frequently scoring hits and leaving the Slaughter Ancient God riddled with wounds.

 

But this time, things were a little different.

 

The Devouring Dragon King’s claw connected with the Slaughter Ancient God’s body, and the sound of the collision was entirely unlike anything that had come before.

 

*Thud.*

 

It sounded flat and unimpressive.

 

It was as though the Slaughter Ancient God’s Defence had undergone a complete transformation. Facing this strike, he did not even bother to defend, simply taking the blow head-on through his Physique alone.

 

After absorbing that claw strike, the Slaughter Ancient God emerged without so much as a scratch, and instead swung his tail with sudden and violent force, cracking it squarely into the Devouring Dragon King’s side.

 

*Crack!*

 

The Devouring Dragon King let out a stifled grunt, driven back repeatedly, Dragon Scales shattering on impact, flesh and blood smearing across its side in a grisly mess.

 

The force of that single strike far exceeded anything that had come before.

 

However, the moment the Devouring Dragon King sustained the injury, Xiao Cui, Han Ke, and Ouyang Bai Ge’s Void Insects all moved at once to heal her wounds. The lacerations visibly closing and knitting back together before their eyes.

 

But the single exchange had made it obvious. The gap in their strength was now clear.

 

The Slaughter Ancient God had not merely caught up to the Devouring Dragon King. He had overtaken her, and by no small margin.

 

The prospect of the Devouring Dragon King suppressing the Slaughter Ancient God as she had before was now virtually impossible.

 

Never mind suppression, frankly, whether she could hold on without being killed was a question worth asking.

 

Thus, the equilibrium of strength had been completely shattered, and the Slaughter Ancient God had taken the lead.

 

Ouyang Bai Ge surveyed the situation, shook her head, and sighed. “It seems that killing a powerful High Tier Ancient God like the Slaughter Ancient God is far too difficult for us right now. If we had discovered the Slaughter Ancient God earlier, we might have been able to destroy it in a single overwhelming burst and seize his Divine Seat. But now that he has fully developed to this point, we can no longer instant-kill him, and this prolonged, unceasing battle has allowed his strength to surge at a pace even faster than I had anticipated.”

 

“We need to leave. I have already prepared a passage out of here using a Void Rift. Though I cannot say where we will end up on the other side once we leave the Void World, it is far better to remain here. We need to retreat and devise a longer-term plan, and prepare ourselves to face an even more fearsome Slaughter Ancient God.”

 

With that, Ouyang Bai Ge moved to open a Void Rift, intending to make use of the contingency she had long since prepared.

 

Keeping the green mountains intact meant there would always be firewood to burn. If they could not win, the only option was to leave first and think of something later.

 

Still, when one considered it, the Slaughter Ancient God had already awakened. If they left now, it would very likely abandon the Jiang Family Sacred Land and begin rampaging across the Western Border, or even Dragon Country itself.