Battle of Hess City

These Wyverns possessed intelligence no less than that of humans; their destruction within Hess City was not aimless, as they specifically targeted areas populated by humans.

Liewen stood on a rooftop, and it did not take long for them to discover him.

This flock of Red Dragons numbered over a dozen, and the leader, nearly a hundred meters in length, radiated terrifying pressure from its crimson dragon scales.

This was a Rank 9 Red Dragon.

Liewen held Laina in his left arm, and Light Element gathered behind his back, condensing into a pair of white wings.

With a flap of his wings, Liewen soared into the sky.

Generally speaking, aside from Wind-style mages who could fly using wind magic, other warriors and mages could not rely on their own power to fly until they reached the Saint Realm.

But that was only the general rule; ordinary warriors and mages, even at Rank 9, might not necessarily comprehend the realm of "Draw Heaven and Earth."

Yet Liewen had already begun to comprehend the profound mysteries of the "Light Element," placing his realm far beyond that of an ordinary Rank 9 warrior.

By utilizing the mysteries of the "Light Element," Liewen could condense elemental wings to fly.

The dozen or so Red Dragons spat dragon breath toward Liewen.

The fiery dragon breath of the Red Dragons emitted an astonishingly high temperature, and the dozen streams of breath dyed half the sky a deep red.

Liewen flapped his elemental wings, nimbly dodging the fiery breath as he charged toward the leading Rank 9 Red Dragon.

White light erupted from his body, enveloping him completely until Liewen transformed into a sphere of white light.

This was precisely the mystery of "Purification."

The white light blocked the intense heat of the dragon breath; Laina, nestled within the white light, was completely unaffected by the battle, even clapping her hands in excitement at flying through the air.

The white sphere of light charged toward the Rank 9 Red Dragon; at a mere three meters in diameter, it appeared incredibly insignificant before the hundred-meter-long body of the dragon.

The Red Dragon spat dragon breath at Liewen.

When the fiery dragon breath touched the white sphere, it was split to either side, unable to burn into the interior of the sphere at all, just like a river parting when it hits a reef.

Liewen surged upward, passing straight through the body of the Rank 9 Red Dragon.

The tough dragon scales were like paper, easily pierced by the white sphere of light.

Like a pebble punching through tofu, the white sphere emerged from the other side of the Rank 9 Red Dragon, which let out a mournful cry before plummeting toward the ground.

The other Rank 8 Wyverns were terrified. Liewen flew into the flock of Red Dragons, and the white light on his body expanded violently; three Red Dragons had parts of their bodies engulfed by the white radiance, instantly incinerated into ash, their remaining carcasses falling downward.

Over the past month, Liewen had figured out two ways to use the "Purification" mystery: one was to shrink it into a light sphere, reducing the range but concentrating the power.

The other was to let the light expand, greatly increasing the range but reducing the power.

Liewen had used the first method to kill the Rank 9 Red Dragon, while for the weaker Rank 8 Red Dragons, he chose the second.

Is there a way to have both high power and a large range?

Liewen had pondered this, but he had yet to find a clue.

Seeing Liewen's terrifying strength, the surviving Red Dragons dared not linger and fled in a panic.

Liewen watched the Red Dragons scatter and fly away, extending his right hand as Light Element condensed into a white spear.

He hurled the spear with force, and it transformed into a streak of white light, piercing through the body of a Red Dragon.

This was a technique he had developed based on the Light-style forbidden spell, Holy Light Spear, utilizing the mysteries of the "Light Element."

Of course, the power was far inferior to the Holy Light Spear, but it was more than enough to deal with a Rank 8 magical beast.

Liewen descended toward the ground to collect the Magical Crystal Cores and essence blood of the fallen Red Dragons.

The Bo Lei Clan's body-cultivation secret techniques required a significant amount of Magical Crystal Cores and magical beast essence blood.

A Rank 7 Magical Crystal Core was worth 50,000 gold coins, a Rank 8 was worth 500,000, and a Rank 9 was worth 5,000,000.

Although Liewen currently possessed over a hundred million gold coins, he could not afford to be wasteful.

In this battle, Liewen had earned one Rank 9 Magical Crystal Core and four Rank 8 Magical Crystal Cores, along with their corresponding essence blood.

He stowed the cores and blood away, then looked up at the flying magical beasts wreaking havoc elsewhere in Hess City, his eyes gleaming.

This was a golden opportunity to obtain Magical Crystal Cores and essence blood.

Hess City was vast, and flying magical beasts were attacking everywhere.

The Holy See had made preparations for this, having arranged for Wind-style mages and Holy Knights mounted on flying magical beasts to meet the challenge.

Battles were raging everywhere; the fight between Liewen and the Red Dragons just now had not attracted much attention.

Above Hess City, various colors of battle qi and magical light flashed in the sky, with blood raining down from time to time, followed by magical beasts or humans falling to the ground.

The mansion where Liewen resided was not in the central area of Hess City, but in a small corner; he landed on the ground and ran toward the carcasses of the fallen magical beasts to collect their Magical Crystal Cores and essence blood.

On the other side, the battle outside the city walls was even more brutal.

The horde of magical beasts had reached the foot of the walls, with Earth-Walking Dragons, Velociraptors, Bloodthirsty Iron Bulls, and other beasts violently ramming the city gates.

Other beasts were climbing up the city walls.

There were many species of magical beasts, and quite a few possessed the ability to climb.

"Roar!"

With a thunderous roar, a Level 9 Earth-Splitting Black Bear charged toward the city gate and slammed into it with all its might, causing the towering gates of Hess City to teeter precariously.

Judging by the situation, the gates would collapse after only a few more impacts.

Just then, numerous figures leaped down from the city walls.

There were tens of thousands of them, each moving with agility and possessing the strength of at least a Level 7 warrior.

They were members of the eight ace knight orders of the Radiant Church; this time, in order to block the beast tide at Hess City, the Radiant Church had dispatched four of its eight ace knight orders.

The Glory Knights Order, the Holy Knights Order, the Radiant Knights Order, and the Holy Light Knights Order each consisted of ten thousand men, all of whom were at least Level 7 warriors skilled in coordinated formation attacks.

In addition to the four knight orders, there were also deacons from the Religious Inquisition.

These experts, who excelled at operating in the shadows, were dressed in purple robes and moved in groups of six.

Blazing white light erupted from their bodies, connecting together to form the shape of a hexagram.

These experts from the Religious Inquisition formed battle formations to hunt down those Level 9 magical beasts.

The Earth-Splitting Black Bear at the city gate was struck down by six special-grade deacons who had formed such a battle formation.

With the entry of these four knight orders and the experts from the Religious Inquisition, the tide of battle shifted, and the area beneath the city walls was cleared of the beast horde.

However, the magical beasts soon launched another counterattack.

Battles were raging both outside the city and in the skies above it.

This battle lasted for three full days, yet the magical beasts were unable to break through.

During these three days, Liewen took the opportunity to collect quite a few Magical Crystal Cores and essence blood from high-level magical beasts, enough to last him for a long time.

"Hmm?"

Liewen, who was resting in his mansion, suddenly sensed something. He glanced at Laina, who was sleeping soundly in her cradle, then left the mansion and headed toward the south gate.

Above the south gate of Hess City, three giant magical beasts had appeared.

There was a giant lion with blood-red eyes, a giant golden-furred ape with purple eyes, and a dragon-kin creature with a body as black as rock, though it lacked wings.

All three of these magical beasts were standing in mid-air.

The Blood-Eyed Mane Lion, the Purple-Eyed Golden Ape, and the Tyrannosaurus Rex—they were all Saint-level magical beasts.