Sun Er Dai's strong body was no better off than the leveled hills nearby in this violent storm. Perhaps blaming Li Xi's indiscriminate attacks, he let out a few low growls of grievance before picking up Madam Avril and running further away.
If Nasser's promotion was merely a high-explosive bomb detonating in place, then Li Xi was now a nuclear fission reaction, on an entirely different level.
Nasser felt Li Xi's presence, like a reawakening son of the earth, his every movement akin to the shifting of continental plates.
He had never experienced what it was to be outmatched, what it was for the heavens and earth to lose their color. Even a dragon, under such power, would only be a docile kitten, afraid to disturb the life that even gods would avoid.
Powerful, unimaginably powerful. He had thought that advancing to Level Eight would be a feat never before seen, making him invincible below the Saints. But seeing Li Xi now, he suspected even the true form of Dracula would have to bow down and flee a thousand miles.
A drop of sweat traced a path down Nasser's cheek. The alarm bells in his heart no longer rang; instead, every cell in his body was frantically sounding a desperate alarm, each one speaking its last words. Not a single cell believed they had any chance of survival. After two thousand three hundred years, he had always thought the end of life would be the destruction of the world. Now, he realized that cherishing every moment of life was the only true path.
Nasser had given up resisting. Such power was like a mantis trying to block a chariot with its arms, an ant trying to trip an elephant. It was utterly self-deceiving.
Li Xi did not savor Nasser's desperate struggle before death, nor did he look at the underground world whose terrain had been reshaped by his aura. Instead, he was experiencing the changes in his own body with every passing moment. "Steel bones" was an inadequate description; the flesh and blood within every inch of his body were filled with a power like a thousand cannons firing at once.
A mere movement, a step on the ground, could cause a great earthquake. Li Xi didn't know how powerful gods truly were, but compared to himself now, they were likely equals.
"You can rest assured, I'm not even as strong as you are now. I can only maintain this for thirty seconds. If you can last thirty seconds, then I lose."
Li Xi's gaze was as calm as a mirror, unperturbed even as he revealed his weakness to his opponent.
Upon hearing this, Nasser wanted to throw his pride and elegance into the trash bin and curse Li Xi. Thirty seconds? With this kind of power, he could die dozens of times over in three seconds.
Li Xi moved. His speed was so great that nothing but time itself could record his actions.
The newly promoted Level Eight Nasser, enveloped by his own domain, could not follow Li Xi's movements with his eyes. His domain had been invaded without him noticing; he didn't even realize his multiple shields had shattered. All he knew was that before his death, he saw a pair of cold, indifferent eyes. Those eyes were so ruthless, so decisive.
In truth, Li Xi had done nothing but appear before Nasser and, like shelling corn, pluck off Nasser's head.
Except for the undead, no living being could survive after being decapitated.
Nasser's blood gushed from the raw flesh and bone of his neck. This blood did not fall to the ground like rain but floated in the air, sketching the figure of a gaunt man.
When not a single drop of Nasser's blood remained, the man's visage in the air became clear. As expected, it was Dracula, the progenitor of vampires, who had not personally intervened.
Young, yet his eyes held the weariness of ages. He looked at Li Xi. Dracula, who had previously looked down with contempt upon all lesser beings, was now as shocked as if he had witnessed the impossible moment of defeating the God of Light when he saw the space around Li Xi distorting due to his immense physical strength.
"You..."
"Boom."
As Dracula's mouth uttered a single word, Li Xi threw a punch. It was a roar like the storm from a cannon of the largest caliber, the bellow of a Titan from ancient times who dared to challenge the authority of the gods. The air cannon, the size of a house, pulverized the clone of Dracula, who had descended using Nasser's blood, into nothingness.
If even Dracula himself couldn't defeat Li Xi now, how could a mere clone? Li Xi had neither the time nor the inclination for idle chatter. The initiative in conversations between the strong and the weak always belonged to the strong.
Power was everything.
The greatest predicament Li Xi had faced since his transmigration was resolved within these less than five seconds. Li Xi, with no smile, picked up Nasser's corpse and found Sun Er Dai hiding in the distance.
Li Xi plunged Nasser's corpse into the ground. The corpse of a Level Eight expert deterred any life from daring to look at it. This was Li Xi's way of establishing dominance with Nasser's body, a move reminiscent of him walking through Forgetfulness Forest with dragon dung in his hand.
Moreover, Li Xi already sensed that there were no creatures above Level One nearby. Those who could run had already run. With Sun Er Dai here to protect him, the external environment was safe. All that remained was to leave it to fate.
He poured the remaining repair potions and holy water from his spatial ring into his mouth. He even searched Nasser's ring but found no holy water or similar potions.
Looking at Madam Avril, who was still asleep, her shy appearance making his heart itch, Li Xi couldn't help but kiss her. He was going to die today, so why pretend to be a gentleman? She wouldn't know anyway, so a stolen kiss was harmless.
Sweet, so sweet! The taste lingered on his lips!
"Protect me. If I die, you will be free. Do not seek trouble with dragons again. Although I don't know why you're so fixated, your strength is too weak. To get revenge, you must first survive."
Li Xi patted Sun Er Dai's armor. He had intended to touch Sun Er Dai's body, but his armor was too well-made, fitting perfectly. He could only pat the armor to express what might be his final words.
Sun Er Dai didn't understand what was happening to Li Xi, but he felt it wasn't good. He quietly listened to every word Li Xi spoke.
Li Xi wanted to say more, but the thirty seconds were up. The infinite power dissipated. His red hair instantly turned withered and yellow, like wild grass bleached by the autumn wind.
The purplish-black dragon scales became like severely dehydrated fish scales, pale and dry, devoid of any color.
His full, robust muscles shrank as if dehydrated. The world began to waver in Li Xi's eyes. As he felt dizzy, he seemed to rest his head on something soft, and then he lost consciousness.
Sun Er Dai gently touched Li Xi with a finger as tall as himself. Li Xi lay there like a dead fish, allowing Sun Er Dai to move him without any reaction.
As Li Xi's breathing weakened and the dragon-like features on his body became unsustainable, his body instinctively began to conserve energy, retracting all his dragon scales and wings, revealing Li Xi's original appearance: an ordinary young man on the brink of death. At this point, Sun Er Dai finally understood.
"Roar."
A deep, sorrowful roar emanated from the depths of his being, expressing his love for Li Xi, his master who always put his safety first.
With the deterrent of a Level Eight corpse and the fully armed Mountain Giant Ape, Sun Er Dai, no ordinary beast dared to pry. Not only beasts, but even ordinary insects vanished, as if this piece of land had been cut off from the world, eerily quiet.
Sun Er Dai anxiously waited for Madam Avril to wake up. He clearly remembered his master telling him that the rest depended on this woman. Unfortunately, both individuals pressed together were in the same state. No matter how he nudged them, they wouldn't wake up.
Looking at her small body, Sun Er Dai dared not use too much force, fearing his strength would extinguish his master's hope. However, as Madam Avril remained unconscious, Sun Er Dai scratched his head in desperation.
In his perception, his master, Li Xi's aura, had become imperceptible. If this continued, he would surely die.
In fact, it wasn't just Sun Er Dai who was anxious; there was someone even more so: the Two-Tails Matatabi sealed within Li Xi's belly. Li Xi could have unsealed it and released the fully formed Two-Tails to defeat Nasser. But for some reason, Li Xi did not choose that safe path, instead opting for the dangerous secret medicine.
At this moment, the Two-Tails Matatabi was ceaselessly channeling its chakra into Li Xi's body, sustaining his almost depleted life. Unfortunately, Li Xi was like a leaky teapot; no matter how much water was poured in, it would flow out and not be retained.
The Two-Tails Matatabi was frantic. If Li Xi died, it would die too. It had never lived before.
Just as Sun Er Dai and the Two-Tails Matatabi were growing impatient, a dwarf clad in worn armor stealthily approached within a thousand-meter radius.
At such a distance, even Li Xi, in the underground world, couldn't see that far. However, these dwarves took out red lenses and placed them on their eyes, clearly seeing Sun Er Dai. Besides the two people lying on the ground, Li Xi and Madam Avril, they could also see Nasser's corpse, standing upright to dry, without any blur.
This group of dwarves numbered only ten. The leader had two braided beards, while the others had only one.
The number of braids in a beard was a symbol of a dwarf's status. Young dwarves were not allowed to braid their beards. Adult dwarves usually had one braid. Only by holding office or making contributions were they allowed to weave more braids. Under normal circumstances, only the tribal leader of the dwarf race could weave four braids.
Borikansai, the dwarf with two braids, staggered upon seeing Nasser's corpse swaying in the wind. He took several deep breaths before calming his trembling soul.
The aura of a Level Eight expert would not dissipate for even ten years after death, let alone one that was fresh.
Borikansai was shocked. Level Eight, a being who would be sung of in legends a thousand years later! Who could have killed such a powerful being? Could his Copperbeard clan be saved?
As for Sun Er Dai beside him, wearing simple armor crafted by an apprentice blacksmith and wielding a poorly made, bent weapon, despite his height of nearly twenty-one meters, he appeared small in front of Nasser's headless corpse.
Before Borikansai could recover from his shock, a peerless beauty floated up from behind the giant ape. She was so beautiful that it seemed all the world would bow its proud head before her. Even the legendary, life-sustaining sun would have to hide its face beneath her radiant beauty.
Borikansai was momentarily mesmerized by her goddess-like beauty, forgetting the purpose of his journey.
But as his saliva dripped unconsciously onto the ground, through the red lens, Borikansai could clearly see the gaze of the goddess-like woman turn towards him. Across the thousand meters of darkness, her gaze seemed to penetrate the lens and pierce his very soul. The blissful intoxication vanished in an instant, and his entire body trembled with fear at that faint, emotionless, passionless look.
"Go."
Borikansai dared not linger any longer. With such power and such means, to stay would mean certain death. If not now, then when?