The smile at the corner of Lu Yao's lips slowly faded as she lifted her eyes toward the ruins in the distance.
Amid the shattered walls and debris, the cold wind dispersed the smoke, revealing a man's battered figure.
The man leaned against half a locomotive. The shadow power around him was so thin it was nearly gone, and the lifelike purple dragon markings on his face had long been covered in blood. Dark red blood trickled down the contours of his face, obscuring most of it.
His left shoulder bone was shattered, and his entire left arm hung limply at his side. Blood dripped from his fingertips onto the ground.
Yet even though he was gravely wounded and near death, the man still struggled to raise his right arm, gathering what little shadow power remained to form a Shadow Dart before hurling it with all his strength.
However, the Shadow Dart containing all the man's strength flew straight for only a few meters before the chaotic air currents twisted it off course.
Lu Yao did not move. She merely watched the Shadow Dart fly toward her, then... fall at her feet.
"Damn it, was it a headwind?" Li Xiao gritted his teeth, unwilling to accept it.
If the wind had been at his back, that Shadow Dart would definitely have hit Lu Yao.
Lu Yao watched this insignificant resistance, a faintly mocking curve appearing on her lips.
"So what if it hit? Your attacks will never break Yinglong's defenses. Whether it hits or not makes no difference."
In her eyes, everything Li Xiao did was merely futile struggle.
Li Xiao fell silent for a moment. His legs strained with difficulty, his back pressed tightly against the half-locomotive as he slowly forced himself upright.
He stood up.
Li Xiao slowly