Chapter 154: Fighting the King of Jinling

Chapter 154: Fighting the King of Jinling

Although the dynamic difficulty of the third-stage dungeon was rated A+, Xia Zheng did not dare to take it lightly. If the dungeon had been temporarily adjusted to S-rank, he would now be facing five S-rank powerhouses.

"No, the auras these five individuals emit are different. Clearly, the aura of the King of Jinling is the strongest, the Charm King's is the weakest, and the auras of the Blood Spirit King, the Nether King, and the Black Prison King fall in between. The only one truly reaching the S-rank might be the King of Jinling alone." However, Xia Zheng reasoned that even if the other four were merely at the A+ rank, they would still be exceedingly difficult for him to withstand.

His current level was B-rank, but his actual combat capability could reach the A+ rank. Combined with the unique combat methods of a mentalist, if he were facing a single S-rank powerhouse alone, he might still have some confidence. But on top of that, having to face four A+ rank powerhouses as well—that would probably be...

"It seems I really am going to meet my end in this stage this time. What a pity; I won't be able to clear the dungeon." A trace of regret flashed through Xia Zheng's heart. However, the tempering he had undergone through this dungeon had allowed him to fundamentally understand many truths behind the fall of Evernight City, and it also accumulated a wealth of experience for him to participate in the upcoming reclamation war in the future.

Yet, Xia Zheng did not immediately reveal his true form; instead, he continued to remain concealed.

Just as the five royal members were conversing, a sudden anomaly occurred. The statue in front of the altar seemed to partially come back to life. It actually raised its head to look in Xia Zheng's direction and smiled, "What a bad child, hiding on the side and eavesdropping. That's not very nice."

As soon as these words fell, a flash of lightning actually refracted from the statue's eyes, striking directly toward Xia Zheng.

Instantly, the vampires below all raised their heads to look at Xia Zheng.

"Divine Thunder!" Xia Zheng did not hesitate to deploy his Divine Consciousness Thunder as well, crashing it directly into the incoming lightning. The two forces mutually annihilated each other, showing that the statue's strength was currently only around the A+ rank; otherwise, Xia Zheng would not have been able to block it.

"How bold."

"Scoundrel!"

"He is mine!"

"This time you will definitely die without a burial place!"

The chaotic auras below transformed into five rays of light in varying colors, surging upward and flying toward the direction where Xia Zheng was located.

"Come forth!" Xia Zheng had already deployed his Plankton Shield and Dripping Water Sword. Then, pointing once more toward the location of the altar and the statue, he concentrated his spiritual power to a high degree. Almost in a single thought, the flying stones rent the air and attacked, the spellcasting time instantly shortening from 2.5 seconds down to 1 second.

Rumble...

The sky was cast in gloom, and massive flying stones plummeted downward. The vampires below were struck with panic, once again experiencing that overwhelming sense of immense crisis from the previous moment.

Xia Zheng had no time to check whether this attack would be effective; he dared not hold high expectations and could only flee in haste.

Flapping his wings, he pierced through his own falling boulders and began escaping outward. He needed to lure these five royal-tier vampires away as much as possible to create an opportunity for the army led by Luo Bing.

Five rays of light penetrated the flying stones, forming five holes—these were the figures of the five royal-tier vampires. Pausing for just a brief moment, they immediately locked onto Xia Zheng's aura and gave chase.

"Damn it, his strength has improved again."

"Kill him! We cannot let him escape this time."

"Close the formation and completely lock down the space."

"Rest assured, he cannot escape; the grand array was activated long ago."

"He's mine, don't fight me for him!"

The five royal-tier vampires pursued him one after another. Xia Zheng fled at full speed, fetching five spiritual spirit beads from his bosom and swallowing them down, pressing them under his tongue. Disregarding the massive consumption of his spiritual power, he pushed his speed to break its limits again and again.

At this moment, his figure moved like a cannonball, directly breaking the sound speed and generating a sonic boom, instantly widening a considerable distance between himself and the four royal-tier vampires behind him. However, the speed of the King of Jinling was also continuously increasing, clinging firmly to his tail. At this point, the differing strengths of the five royal-tier vampires became clearly distinguishable.

" Brat, you can't escape." While keeping up a relentless pursuit, the King of Jinling was also inwardly shocked. Even under his full-speed pursuit, the opponent was still able to maintain a lead ahead of him by a distance—it was simply unimaginable.

Xia Zheng made no reply and continued his flight. Radiating his spiritual power outward to constantly sense abnormalities in the surrounding space, he finally detected something amiss before long.

"Divine Eyes!" Xia Zheng's eyes instantly turned fierce as he began to probe the anomaly right before him.

Through his continuous observation, he indeed discovered that a faint layer of blood-colored barrier seemed to exist within the surrounding air. This barrier was imbued with a violent and tyrannical element, attempting to devour his spiritual power every time it probed. If one drew close to it, it would transmit an overpowering urge for slaughter.

"The grand array the five of them spoke of must refer to this invisible barrier right now. If my spiritual power weren't special and able to sense it, I might have suffered a massive loss." Although Xia Zheng was moving at extreme speed, he still deftly avoided this layer of invisible barrier. However, doing so restricted his speed, allowing the King of Jinling behind him to close the distance between them.

Having pursued for a long time without catching up, the King of Jinling grew enraged. Now seeing the distance narrow, he immediately clenched his fist and unleashed a punch directly toward Xia Zheng's back.

The sharp aura instantly condensed into a ball of golden light. Roaring as it slashed through space, the golden light directly transformed into a fist—a gigantic fist.

Sensing the crisis, Xia Zheng immediately rolled his body to dodge. This punch came with immense momentum, and the resulting wind from the blow made his entire body sting with pain.

Still, he managed to dodge it. The golden fist continued on with unabated momentum, crashing directly into the invisible barrier. This instantly provoked the surrounding heaven-and-earth array into a rippling motion, as if it had come alive, transforming into waves of dark red organisms that revealed tens of thousands of mouths, biting relentlessly toward Xia Zheng. As a vampire, the King of Jinling was immune to this type of barrier attack.

At this moment, Xia Zheng's spiritual power consumption was immense. He had to drain a bead dry, then turned back, pressing both index fingers to his temples as a scene flashed through his mind.

A gigantic footprint materialized and plummeted downward, stepping squarely onto the back of the King of Jinling. Caught off guard, the King of Jinling was driven straight down, smashing into the ground.

Seeing this, Xia Zheng did not immediately deliver a follow-up blow, but instead continued fleeing at top speed.

Boom!

A few seconds later, the ground burst apart. The King of Jinling leaped out, returning to mid-air. Looking toward the direction where Xia Zheng had vanished, his facial expression had completely transformed.

His originally handsome visage now appeared severely distorted with rage. Two dark red horns protruded from his forehead, fangs bared at the corners of his mouth, and his eyes were dyed a scarlet red.

"Scum, just wait." With that, a mist of blood billowed from his body, wrapping tightly around his form. Followed by a muffled explosion, his entire person vanished into thin air, leaving only a faint bloody shadow hurtling rapidly through the air—at this moment, he seemed to have transformed into a streak of bloody light.

Dozens of kilometers away, Xia Zheng felt a massive crisis gripping his heart. Relying on his spiritual power, he immediately began generating barrier after barrier around his body—some physical, others purely energetic.

"This ends here!" Along with an abrupt male voice echoing through the space, Xia Zheng, together with the defensive layers surrounding his body, was suddenly gripped by a gigantic bloody hand. Yet for a moment, the blood hand could not crush him to pieces, and the two forces remained locked in a stalemate.

Xia Zheng felt an overwhelming pressure—not only physical pressure, but pressure upon his mind as well.