Crimson Lightning flickered as the roots of the Lightning Tree standing amid the yellow sands spread across dozens, even hundreds of meters.
In less than an instant, the Lightning Tree erupting from the ground covered most of the deadly iron stakes created by the Noble Phantasm "Impaling Fortress"!
Li Ye himself was no exception!
Even the air seemed to fall silent as the incomparably brilliant Lightning Tree silently blossomed.
There was no earthshaking roar. The instant the Lightning Tree appeared, soundless heat spread through the area.
Countless iron stakes melted, while the yellow sand beneath Li Ye turned to liquid and slowly sank!
In an instant, everything within Li Ye's sight became a blazing red, like a crimson ocean.
The scalding "seawater" submerged Li Ye's limbs and surged in every direction, slowly pulling his body down into that crimson ocean as well.
The iron stakes piercing through Li Ye's body collapsed and melted away.
His scarlet blood evaporated before it could even flow down!
Even Li Ye could not ignore the destructive heat brought by the Lightning Tree. This indiscriminate attack not only contended against Vlad the Third's Noble Phantasm, "Impaling Fortress," but also inflicted tremendous injuries upon Li Ye!
Though Li Ye still felt lingering fear, the Red Dragon's blood within him instantly entered overload, and the diverted mana continuously filled his body and its surface.
Time seemed infinitely stretched. Amid this apocalyptic scene, Li Ye's consciousness accelerated to a level even he found difficult to comprehend.
Boundless pain swept through his mind like raging waves, giving Li Ye the illusion that he was riding a tiny boat atop a stormy sea.
Very good!
His heart thundered, pumping out mana and freshly formed blood without end.
At that moment, Li Ye truly seemed to have become a humanoid dragon. A bizarre sight that defied human recovery ability unfolded upon him.
Li Ye constantly hovered between recovery and destruction, the injuries inflicted by the Lightning Tree healing almost the instant they appeared.
As time passed, the recovery ability and toughness of Li Ye's body continued to rise by leaps and bounds!
The Lightning Tree lasted less than a few seconds before completely collapsing.
Yet the impact it caused was enormous.
It extended beyond the area covered by the Lightning Tree, reaching even farther lands.
The sky became utterly clear. Even the sandstorm that had blanketed the heavens was briefly scattered by that strike, unable to gather again!
The boundless yellow sands heaved like an ocean, as if an invisible giant hand had thoroughly overturned them!
Even the regions not covered by the Lightning Tree had suffered such effects, let alone the very center where Li Ye stood.
Even after the Lightning Tree vanished, the crimson "ocean," which had sunk several meters into the ground, had yet to solidify, releasing heat waves enough to distort the air.
The air was incomparably dry. Not a trace of moisture existed on this land.
Rolling heat waves carried pale, dense mist as it slowly dispersed.
Li Ye, covered in wounds, staggered up from the viscous "ocean." Several bloody holes deep enough to expose bone covered his limbs and body, yet even such injuries had failed to claim his life!
Those bloody holes had already healed more than halfway, as though they would completely close before long!
Li Ye shook his slightly dazed head and swept his gaze across his surroundings.
A truly apocalyptic sight entered Li Ye's eyes—
"Heh heh, hahahahaha!!"
Even Li Ye could not suppress his excitement and burst into loud laughter. "The Impaler! What other Noble Phantasms can you bring out?!"
Though he had taken advantage of the Holy Grail, Li Ye had still relied on trading injury for injury to successfully withstand Vlad the Third's Anti-Army Noble Phantasm, "Impaling Fortress"!
Li Ye's chest heaved violently. To unleash an excessive amount of mana in an extremely short time and use a skill like the Lightning Tree, he had pushed the Dragon Core into extreme overload, recreating the excessive output he had triggered when wielding the Ruyi Jingu Bang.
If the Holy Grail had not been there to keep him alive, Li Ye would have died on the spot long ago.
Having brushed past death, Li Ye felt no fear. Instead, his fighting spirit surged ever higher!
Successfully clashing Noble Phantasms with a Servant proved that Li Ye's command and development of his own power had reached a new stage!
Unlocking one's potential required extraordinarily powerful imagination!
"I understand now, Lord Lancelot! This is true possibility!
This is what imagination is supposed to be!"
Unlike the ecstatic Li Ye, Vlad the Third, who had likewise been covered by the Lightning Tree, barely managed to rise from the ground.
All of his armor had melted away. His injuries were far more severe than the sum of every wound Li Ye had inflicted on him before!
"You can still move normally, The Impaler!"
Seeing Vlad the Third stand once more, Li Ye excitedly clutched his chest. His bare upper body was covered in scars. Though they had long healed, they had still left indelible marks upon him.
Li Ye covered his chest with one hand and reached toward Vlad the Third with the other, his expression animated. "The Impaler! What do you think of that move of mine!"
"Exquisitely brilliant power. As expected of the Holy Grail—"
Vlad the Third raised a hand and loosely clenched it, causing his spear to appear once more.
"Right?! I think that move was absolutely beautiful too!"
As if he had received approval, Li Ye took a deep breath, his laughter echoing through the sky.
Completely fired up, Li Ye strode forward, continuously lowering his body until he finally charged like a sprinting cheetah. "The Impaler! How will you handle this strike!"
Screech—
The instant Vlad the Third swung his spear, Li Ye accelerated once again.
A streak of Crimson Lightning flashed across the sky.
Vlad the Third naturally would not sit and wait for death. With a wave of his hand, countless iron stakes relentlessly pursued Li Ye's figure!
But Li Ye was now unbelievably fast. Unlike Thunderclap Flash's linear burst forward, he used miniature Thunderclap Flashes within the limits he could endure.
Though they were only two-thirds as fast as a normal Thunderclap Flash, Li Ye could freely control his direction of advance!
The Crimson Lightning that should have charged straight ahead abruptly doubled back and changed direction.
It evaded every one of those iron stakes!
When Li Ye arrived before Vlad the Third once more, Vlad the Third finally noticed the change that had occurred to him. What directly seized all of Vlad the Third's attention were Li Ye's—
Gem-like eyes—
At this final moment, Li Ye finally used the Eyes of Death Perception.
"Goodbye, The Impaler."
Splat!
Blood sprayed as a hand pierced straight through Vlad the Third's chest.
Skin, ribs, heart—
After cutting through the Lines of Death, it destroyed everything without holding back.
All of Vlad the Third's defenses were meaningless before this strike!
When Li Ye withdrew his hand from Vlad the Third's chest, the lifeless Vlad the Third remained standing silently before turning into specks of light beneath Li Ye's gaze.
He completely vanished.
Screech.
Crimson Lightning rose up and evaporated all the blood staining Li Ye's hand.
At that moment, Li Ye felt better than ever before.
Then he turned his head toward the distance, the corner of his mouth lifting.
"Next, it's you—"