Saint-level Tyrannosaurus

"Brother Haoyue... is it really you?" Linley stared blankly at the man before him, his voice trembling slightly.

He had never imagined that he would meet Brother Haoyue here!

And... had Brother Haoyue really become this powerful? Had he casually scattered the dying strike of a Peak Ninth Rank Spined Iron-Armored Dragon with a single slash?

Wasn't that a little too outrageous?!

"The one and only." Haoyue walked over with a smile and patted Linley on the shoulder. "It's only been a few days. What, don't you recognize me?"

"No... that's not it..." Linley hurriedly shook his head, his words a little incoherent. "I'm just... so surprised. Brother Haoyue, what are you doing here? And your strength..."

"My strength?" Haoyue smiled and said meaningfully, "It's passable. But you, little Linley, you've got some nerve, venturing alone into a core area like Mist Valley."

Linley scratched his head, a little embarrassed.

"All right, let's not talk about that for now." Haoyue's smile faded as he turned toward the Spined Iron-Armored Dragon not far away. "This fellow... should be about done for, right?"

The two turned to look and saw the Spined Iron-Armored Dragon lying on the ground, its breathing extremely faint. That final attack had completely exhausted all its life force. Its eyes were vacant, and it was clearly on the verge of death.

"Roar, roar! Roar?" the Spined Iron-Armored Dragon managed, its voice as faint as a thread.

"Me?" Haoyue chuckled. "Just a passing mage. I didn't want to meddle, but you tried to kill my little brother, and I couldn't allow that."

As his words fell, its head suddenly lolled to one side, and the last of its life slipped away.

The Peak Ninth Rank magical beast, the Spined Iron-Armored Dragon, had fallen!

Silence returned to the cave.

Linley still hadn't quite recovered from the shock.

Dead?

The Peak Ninth Rank Spined Iron-Armored Dragon that had left him powerless to fight back had died just like that?

"All right, stop staring. It's completely dead." Haoyue patted Linley on the shoulder, pretending not to know. "Tell me, how did you end up here? This place is dangerous."

Only then did Linley come back to his senses. He hurriedly told Haoyue everything in detail: how he had entered Mist Valley, gathered Blue Heart Grass, been hunted by a flock of wyverns, hidden in the cavern, and witnessed the battle between the two magical beasts.

Haoyue listened quietly, nodding from time to time.

When Linley finished, he rubbed his chin and, still pretending not to know, asked, "Blue Heart Grass... what do you need that for?"

"I want to awaken my Dragonblood Warrior bloodline." Linley hid nothing and answered truthfully. "Our Baruch Clan has inherited the Dragonblood Warrior bloodline, but we need dragon blood and Blue Heart Grass to activate it."

"Dragonblood Warrior..." Haoyue's eyes flickered, and then he smiled. "Good, good. You've got ambition. So, did you gather the Blue Heart Grass?"

"I did." Linley nodded, a hint of a smile appearing on his face. "Bebe helped me gather well over a hundred plants."

"Squeak, squeak!" Bebe poked his head out from Linley's shoulder and squeaked twice in satisfaction, seemingly asking for credit.

Haoyue looked down at Bebe, a hint of surprise flashing through his eyes. Then he smiled and said, "Bebe, you're pretty impressive. You helped Linley a great deal."

"Yeah! Bebe's amazing!" Linley praised him without hesitation.

"All right, down to business." Haoyue's smile faded, and he said seriously, "If you want to awaken your Dragonblood Warrior bloodline, Blue Heart Grass alone isn't enough. You need dragon blood too, right?"

Linley nodded and said with some regret, "I was going to look for dragon blood, but I stumbled in here by accident. But..." He glanced at the Spined Iron-Armored Dragon's corpse. "There's a Spined Iron-Armored Dragon here. Its blood should work for awakening the bloodline too, right?"

Although the Spined Iron-Armored Dragon wasn't a particularly powerful member of the dragon race, it was still a dragon close to Saint-level, and its bloodline power was quite formidable.

In the original story, Linley had successfully awakened his Dragonblood Warrior bloodline by using the Spined Iron-Armored Dragon's blood and dragon crystal together with Blue Heart Grass.

But Haoyue shook his head. "The Spined Iron-Armored Dragon's blood? No, no, it's too low-grade. If you use its blood to awaken your bloodline, you'll activate thirty to fifty percent of it at most. Your potential will be limited."

"Huh?" Linley froze. "Then... what should I do?"

Haoyue smiled mysteriously. "Don't worry. Since I'm here, I'll find you something good. Wait here. I'll be right back."

"Huh? Brother Haoyue, where are you going?" Linley hurriedly asked.

"To find you something good." Haoyue waved his hand and, with a flicker of his figure, headed deeper into the cave. "Stay here and be good. Don't run around. I'll be back soon."

"But..."

Linley wanted to say more, but Haoyue's figure had already vanished into the darkness deeper in the cave.

"Grandpa Doehring, just how strong do you think Brother Haoyue is?" Linley couldn't help asking.

Doehring Cowart was silent for a moment before he slowly spoke, a hint of disbelief in his voice. "I can't see through him... I really can't. When he attacked just now, I clearly sensed that his aura was only around the Ninth Rank, but the power of that strike... definitely surpassed the Ninth Rank."

"Surpassed the Ninth Rank..." Linley murmured. "Could Brother Haoyue already be a Saint-level expert?"

"It doesn't seem like it." Doehring Cowart shook his head. "Saint-level experts have a distinctive domain aura, and he doesn't have one. But his strength... is definitely more than it appears. There's more to this child than meets the eye."

Linley nodded, even more curious about Haoyue.

Brother Haoyue was a descendant of the Tiger-Striped Warriors, one of the Four Ultimate Warriors, and was eight years older than him. When Linley was a child, Haoyue had already been a famous genius mage at the academy. Haoyue had always looked after him, and he had rarely seen Haoyue fight.

He hadn't expected that, when they met again, Haoyue would have become so powerful after transforming into a Tiger-Striped Warrior.

Meanwhile, Haoyue was moving quickly through the cave.

He was astonishingly fast, darting through the passage like a streak of black lightning. The abundant elemental energy around him continuously flowed into his body.

Deep within Mist Valley, Haoyue swiftly followed the route he remembered.

There was a Saint-level Tyrannosaurus here, which he had discovered three days ago. He hadn't been fully confident at the time, so he hadn't attacked rashly. Over the past few days, he had been observing it in secret, learning its habits and the location of its lair.

Soon, Haoyue arrived at the entrance to a huge cave.

A powerful aura emanated from within, bringing wave after wave of pressure.

This was the place.

Haoyue took a deep breath, his eyes gleaming.

"Tiger-Striped Warrior-activate!"

Hum-

He immediately transformed into a Tiger-Striped Warrior. His aura began to rise wildly: Eighth-level Warrior... Ninth Rank... It only stopped after surging all the way to Peak Ninth Rank.

At the same time, the Hex [From Mind to Matter] forcibly raised his health to the Saint Realm Mid-Stage. Vast vitality surged through his body, making him feel as though he had inexhaustible strength.

The Hex [Heavyweight Striker] also brought his attack power to Saint-level-every ordinary attack dealt additional damage based on a percentage of his maximum health.

Tyrannosaurs were royalty among dragons. Even at Early Saint-level, their bloodline power far surpassed that of ordinary Ninth Rank dragons. Using a Tyrannosaurus's blood to awaken the Dragonblood Warrior bloodline would definitely be more than ten times as effective as using a Spined Iron-Armored Dragon's!

Haoyue picked up speed and charged ahead.

About half an hour later, Haoyue arrived before a huge underground cavern.

This cavern was several times larger than the previous one, its ceiling over a hundred meters high. Countless glowing ores were embedded in the surrounding rock walls, illuminating the cavern as brightly as day.

And in the center of the cavern was a dragon!

An enormous dragon, so huge it was suffocating!

It lay there quietly, its body covered in deep black scales, each the size of a millstone and gleaming with a cold metallic luster. Its head was like a small mountain, and two enormous dragon horns curved toward the sky like a pair of sharp spears.

Even by a rough estimate, the dragon was over fifty meters long!

Compared to it, the Spined Iron-Armored Dragon from before was practically a child.

A Tyrannosaurus!

A Saint-level Tyrannosaurus!

Even lying there asleep, the terrifying pressure it emitted made the surrounding space tremble slightly.

Haoyue stood at the cavern entrance, feeling that terrifying pressure, his breathing a little hurried.

"Damn, it's really big..." Haoyue murmured.

"Roar-!!!"

Haoyue let out a low roar and charged at the sleeping Tyrannosaurus like a fierce tiger descending a mountain.

He raised the miaodao in his hand high. Terrifying energy gathered along its blade, forming a massive blade aura tens of meters long.

Haoyue slashed down!

The brilliant blade light tore through the air with the might to destroy heaven and earth, striking the Tyrannosaurus hard across the back!

Clang-!!!

The clash of metal was deafening.

Sparks flew from the Tyrannosaurus's hard scales. A deep gash appeared across its back, and black dragon blood gushed out.

"Roar-!!!"

The intense pain jolted the sleeping Tyrannosaurus awake. It let out an earth-shaking roar and jerked its massive head up, its crimson dragon eyes fixed on Haoyue, filled with fury and killing intent.

"Roar-!"

Sensing the intruder, dragon roars filled the cave.

It was Pawalei, the Early Saint-level Tyrannosaurus who had been struck awake.

The Tyrannosaurus's roar made the entire cavern tremble.

It slowly rose to its feet, its enormous body like a small mountain, giving off an unparalleled sense of pressure. The wound on its back continued to bleed, but this only further roused its ferocity.

"Lowly human! How dare you disturb the great Lord Pawalei's sleep! I'll tear you to pieces!" the Tyrannosaurus roared, swiping its enormous claw fiercely at Haoyue.

The claw wasn't fast, but it carried the power to destroy heaven and earth. Before it even arrived, the terrifying wind pressure had already cracked the ground.

"Well met!"

Rather than alarmed, Haoyue was delighted, his eyes blazing with fighting spirit.

He pushed off with his foot and drifted backward like a phantom, swinging the miaodao in his hand repeatedly at the same time.

Clang, clang!!

Blade and claw collided, the metallic clash deafening.