Chapter 731
Ren Xue
“They are protecting the Tree of Life, protecting Isis’s last vestiges of consciousness,” Ares gasped—his gasps not from exhaustion, but from madness eroding his sanity. “The Abyss wants to completely devour Isis, using her Tree of Life as a breeding ground to give birth to the complete Children of the Abyss. These monsters are the Abyss’s immune system; they will attack any outsider who tries to approach.”
"Does it have any weaknesses?" Tang Wulin asked, piercing the three heads of a three-headed dog-like monster with a single shot.
“Yes,” Ares pointed to the fleshy growths in the sky. “Those growths are nodes of abyssal power; they provide energy to this land. Destroying them will temporarily slow down the monsters' regeneration. But each growth is guarded by a powerful protector…”
Before he could finish speaking, the nearest tumor suddenly began to pulsate violently.
Its surface cracked open with countless fissures, from which dozens of thick tentacles extended. These tentacles were covered with suckers and barbs, each over a hundred meters long, like living mountains, lashing out at the crowd.
"careful!"
Tang Wulin pushed Dai Chengfeng aside, but was then struck hard by a tentacle.
"boom!"
He crashed into the ground like a cannonball, creating a crater ten meters in diameter. The Golden Dragon Spear flew from his hand and embedded itself in the scorched earth some distance away. The phantom of the golden dragon dimmed for a moment, but quickly reformed, letting out an angry roar.
"Wu Lin!" Qian Renxue tried to swoop down, but was stopped by the other three tentacles.
Those tentacles were incredibly agile and incredibly hard. Qian Renxue's holy fire could leave scorch marks on them, but it couldn't sever them all at once. The tentacles attacked from different directions, forcing her to dodge in mid-air.
Bibidong's situation was even worse.
She tried to corrode the tentacles with the aura of death, but their regeneration rate was astonishing. A section would be corroded away, and a new one would grow back within seconds. Even more terrifying, the tentacles secreted a mucus that could counteract the corrosive effects of the death aura.
“This is the power of an Abyss Lord.” Ares’s voice was solemn. “Within that tumor, an Abyss Lord is being nurtured. Although it is not in its complete form, it already possesses some of the characteristics of a Lord.”
"How do we fight?" Dai Chengfeng asked. He had just severed three tentacles, but more tentacles were emerging from the tumor.
“Concentrate your firepower on the tumor itself,” Ares said. “But someone has to draw the tentacles’ attention so the others can get close—”
"I go."
Tang Wulin climbed out of the pit.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and a deep bruise marked his chest, but his eyes were more resolute than ever. The Golden Dragon Spear flew back into his hand, emitting an excited hum.
“Your power is insufficient—” Ares tried to stop him.
“No, that’s enough.” Tang Wulin took a deep breath. “The Golden Dragon King has eighteen seals, and I’ve only unlocked sixteen of them so far. The last two seals are the Golden Dragon King’s core power, and also his most dangerous power—once unlocked, he might completely lose his mind and become a monster that only knows how to kill. But now is the time.”
"Are you crazy?!" Qian Renxue shouted in the air, "What would you do—"
"I will control myself," Tang Wulin interrupted her, a slight smile on his face. "Trust me, just as I trust you all."
He closed his eyes.
Within his body, the eighteen golden seals surfaced in his consciousness. The first sixteen had shattered, releasing power that brought him to godhood. The seventeenth seal was a complex dragon-shaped rune, radiating a dangerous red light. The eighteenth seal was completely covered in blood red; just a glance at it was enough to send shivers down one's spine.
Tang Wulin's spirit touched the seventeenth seal.
"Click".
The first crack appeared on the seal.
"Roar--!!!"
Tang Wulin suddenly opened his eyes, his pupils now a pure gold, with bloodshot veins spreading within them. His aura surged, his golden dragon scales grew thicker, and grotesque bone spurs sprouted from his shoulders, elbows, and knees. His body swelled, reaching a height of two and a half meters, every muscle as if cast in steel.
But the biggest change was on his back. A pair of dragon wings tore through his clothes and unfurled.
Those were not the fleshy wings of traditional dragons, but wings of light composed of pure energy—the left side was a brilliant gold, symbolizing creation and life; the right side was a deep dark red, symbolizing destruction and death. For the first time, the power of the Dragon God was fully manifested in him.
"This, this is..." Ares was stunned.
"The Wings of the Dragon God." Tang Wulin's voice became deep and resonant, carrying the unique majesty of the dragon race. "Although it is only in its embryonic form, it is enough."
He flapped his wings.
"boom!"
The sonic boom blasted away the surrounding scorched earth, and before the tentacles could even react, Tang Wulin had already appeared in front of the tumor. His speed was too fast, so fast that the laws of physics in this world seemed unable to keep up.
The golden dragon spear thrust out.
This shot contained no skill whatsoever, only the purest "penetration," condensing the power of the Golden Dragon King's seventeenth seal.
The moment the tip of the gun touched the surface of the tumor, time seemed to stand still.
Then, a dull sound, like a heart being crushed, came from inside the tumor.
"Thump... thump... thump..."
The pulsation of the sarcoma stopped.
Its surface began to crack, and blinding golden light shone through the cracks. The tentacles froze in mid-air, then drooped limply like ropes that had lost their support.
"No—impossible—" A sharp, distorted voice emanated from the tumor, the consciousness of the Abyss Lord, "How could you—this is the Abyss's domain—"
"Because the Dragon God is above all else," Tang Wulin said calmly, drawing his spear.
The next second, the tumor exploded.
This wasn't an ordinary explosion; it was a complete release of energy. The dark red abyssal power clashed violently with the Golden Dragon King's power, creating a chain reaction. The shockwave from the explosion wiped out all monsters within a radius of several hundred meters, even blowing away a layer of scorched earth.
Tang Wulin hovered at the center of the explosion, protected by the dragon wings, and was completely unharmed.
He looked at the other tumors.
There are seven left.
"The next one," he said.
This time, the monsters felt fear.
It wasn't just individual fear, but the fear of the entire Abyss's "consciousness." The Dragon God was a supreme being who ruled the divine realm in ancient times, a terror even the Abyss feared. Although the one before them was merely an inheritor, that pure bloodline, that status that transcended everything, instilled a sense of threat in the Abyss's instincts.
The monsters' attack paused for a moment.
Then, an even more frantic counterattack began.
All the monsters, regardless of strength or form, abandoned their original targets and surged towards Tang Wulin. They wanted to overwhelm him with sheer numbers, drown him with the pollution of the abyss, and kill this successor of the Dragon God before he could fully mature.
"Protect Wu Lin!" Qian Renxue shouted, her domain's light reaching its peak. (End of Chapter)