Chapter 183: Rock Dragon War General
This miraculously self-fused and self-created profound skill became a glimmer of dawn in Yun Che's desperate situation. He shifted his attack focus to the distant Rock Dragon Archers. With each swing of his heavy sword, the Rock Dragon Warriors closing in were blasted away, while the phoenix-shaped flames shot forth obliterated the Rock Dragon Archers one by one.
Yun Che's roars, the howl of the heavy sword, the booming impacts, and the low cries of the phoenix intertwined into a tragic symphony within this isolated valley. His vision gradually blurred, his entire body nearly numb—so numb that he could barely feel the existence of his arms. Yet his right hand, still gripping the heavy sword, continued to swing mechanically. After dozens of phoenix cries, all the Rock Dragon Archers had fallen. By then, more than half of the five hundred-plus Rock Dragon Warriors had also collapsed. The heavy sword kept swinging, causing more and more Rock Dragon Warriors to fall... three hundred... four hundred... five hundred...
Boom!!!
With an explosive roar, the earth split apart. As Yun Che unleashed a strike pouring out the last of his strength, all the surrounding Rock Dragon Warriors were blasted far away, instantly creating a vacuum zone over five zhang in diameter. After this blow, Yun Che's vision finally went dark, and he fell to his knees... If not for the support of the heavy sword, he would have collapsed flat on the ground. His left arm, however, still held Xiao Xiannü tightly—that same arm bore over twenty wounds from swords, spears, arrows, and knives, a bloody mess with hardly a patch of intact skin. Yet the little fairy he protected with this arm had not suffered a single scratch, aside from her clothes being stained by his blood.
With Yun Che's final strike, the last group of Rock Dragon Warriors also fell. The breath he had been desperately clinging to drained away as his body gave out, leaving him unable even to stand or take a deep breath. Though his eyes were open, all he could see was a blur of white...
Even he could hardly believe that he had managed to endure this ninth wave of Rock Dragon Warriors. But he could no longer even clearly recall the process.
Scrape...
A heavy dragging sound came from ahead, making him instinctively lift his head. Through his blurred vision, he saw in the distance a Rock Dragon Warrior, which had fallen under his last strike, slowly rise to its feet. It picked up its long spear and charged at him.
Still... one more...
Yun Che gritted his teeth and bit down hard on the tip of his tongue, forcing his body upward. But his body now felt as heavy as ten million jin. Despite all his effort, not only did he fail to stand, but a piercing pain shot through his entire body. The heavy sword couldn't even be lifted; he could barely move it an inch.
The Rock Dragon Warrior was already upon him, thrusting straight forward. He had killed an entire nine waves of Rock Dragon Warriors—over a thousand in total. But this last one seemed like an insurmountable chasm.
If that Rock Dragon Warrior's spear had thrust at Yun Che, it might well have killed him directly. But instead, it aimed its spearhead at Xiao Xiannü.
The stone spear aimed at Xiao Xiannü struck a sensitive nerve in Yun Che. Drawing on some unknown reserve of strength, his left hand shot out like lightning, firmly gripping the spearhead. His right hand clenched into a fist and punched out with a heavy impact, smashing straight through the Rock Dragon Warrior's chest.
With a "thud," the Rock Dragon Warrior crashed heavily to the ground. Yun Che's vision darkened again. Unable even to maintain his kneeling posture, he gasped and fell backward onto the ground.
He had become a veritable blood-drenched figure, his entire body covered in countless wounds and bloody holes. Even he hadn't expected that, with so many injuries, so much blood loss, and his life force completely overdrawn, he was still alive...
No wonder all the previous trial takers had died inside this place... Yun Che closed his eyes and let out a feeble, bitter laugh. This was only the first trial, and it might not even be over yet. Even he, bearing various divine powers and profound arts, had ended up in such a state. For anyone else, perhaps the fourth wave, or even the third, would have been insurmountable. As for what came after—that was simply an increasingly terrifying nightmare and abyss.
Was this really a trial? How could there possibly be such a horrifying trial in this world? The difficulty of this trial compared to the Phoenix trial was more than ten times, a hundred times, even a thousand times greater...
"Yun Che... Yun Che!" Xiao Xiannü called out softly but received no response.
At that moment, the voice of the Primordial Azure Dragon came from above.
"Very good, young human. To have reached this point, you have already created an incredible miracle. If not for the woman beside you, you would have had it several times easier, at least not fallen into such a dire state. However, the first trial is still not over. The final wave—the most difficult challenge—will soon arrive. Before that, I grant you a breathing period of sixty breaths... No, given your current injuries, these sixty breaths may not allow you any recovery; instead, under the weight of your severe wounds, you may only lose more life... Everything depends on your own fortune."
Yun Che lay there motionless, his eyes open but devoid of spirit, as if he hadn't even heard the Primordial Azure Dragon's words. Just as his sea of consciousness was about to sink into silence, Mo Li's voice roused him like the sound of a drum at dusk or a bell at dawn.
"If you don't want to die, quickly use the Great Dao Pagoda Art to stabilize your injuries!"
Yun Che's eyes regained their luster. His body stirred slightly as the Great Dao Pagoda Art activated silently. Within less than ten breaths, the bleeding from all his wounds had stopped.
"Xiao Xiannü, don't worry, I'm fine..." Adjusting his breathing, Yun Che turned his face and put on a smile to reassure her. "You just... heard it too. There's only one last wave left... Victory is right before us. I... we will definitely make it through!"
"If... it weren't for me... you... would have at most... suffered only light injuries... At least... you would still have three-tenths of your strength left... to face the next trial... You... are truly... foolish..."
"Haha..." Yun Che laughed, but the laughter pulled at countless wounds on his body, making the muscles in his face twitch violently. "Since I've been foolish up to now, I'll see it through to the end. But don't ever again say things like abandoning you. Otherwise, all these wounds I've suffered would be for nothing."
The sixty breaths passed quietly.
The mountain wall directly ahead suddenly began to rumble with a "boom boom boom" sound. Amid the noise, a mountain gate nearly ten meters high opened on the cliff face. From within, a tall figure stepped out with heavy footfalls. By the time it had fully emerged, the stone gate behind it closed with a rumble.
This figure's appearance was quite similar to that of a Rock Dragon Warrior, but it was much larger—fully one zhang in height. It wore thick golden armor, and its weapon was particularly eye-catching: a giant gray sword, even larger than Yun Che's Overlord Giant Sword. The blade was twisted in shape, like an aberrant dragon bone, and the tip was configured in the form of a fiercely roaring dragon's head.
Both this massive Rock Dragon Warrior and the sword it held exuded an extremely terrifying aura—several times more frightening than when five hundred-plus Rock Dragon Warriors had appeared together.
The final trial of the Dragon God Trial's first level had only one opponent: the Rock Dragon War General!
Yun Che gently set down Xiao Xiannü, then straightened his body and placed both hands back on the hilt of his heavy sword. If there was only one enemy, as long as he could keep some distance, he wouldn't need to hold Xiao Xiannü and could fight with both hands at full strength.
He squeezed out every ounce of power from every part of his body, every cell. With a low roar, he stood up again, lifted the heavy sword, and held it horizontally before him.
"You can't defeat it... At Spirit Xuan Realm Level 5, even at full strength, you have no chance of overcoming it, let alone now in your current state," Mo Li said in a very low voice. "And... see the sword in its hand? That sword is even more fearsome than this giant Rock Dragon Warrior, because it is a heavy sword—and a genuine... Heavenly Xuan Artifact!"
Yun Che: "..."
"If I can't win, I still have to fight! Having come this far, I have no reason to give up and accept death!" Yun Che growled lowly. To keep the battle as far from Xiao Xiannü as possible, he actively advanced toward the approaching Rock Dragon War General. To conserve some strength, he dragged his heavy sword along, the blade carving a deep groove in the ground.
The Rock Dragon War General had no emotions, no words—only attack. When Yun Che entered its perception range, the eyes beneath its golden helmet suddenly lit up. Its pace quickened, and it swung its heavy sword, striking at Yun Che.
This was the first enemy Yun Che had faced in his life who used a heavy sword like him. But he was confident that this Rock Dragon War General's mastery of the heavy sword could never match his own, for he possessed the Celestial Wolf Prison God Scripture. Versed in the general principles of that art, Yun Che knew all the advantages of the heavy sword—and equally, all its weaknesses. He absolutely could not clash head-on with the Rock Dragon War General's heavy sword. The only chance to defeat it lay in using speed and seizing openings after its swings to strike.
As the Rock Dragon War General swung its heavy sword, his eyes flashed. He quickly retreated using Star God Remnant Shadow, dodging the blow completely. Now at the end of his strength, feeble and weak, even avoiding the strike left him unbalanced by the overflowing sword wind, nearly causing him to fall.
The Rock Dragon War General advanced, swinging its heavy sword in rapid succession, delivering four or five blows. Yun Che evaded them all with Star God Remnant Shadow... but that was all he could do. His body, sluggish from weakness, found no opportunity to counterattack.
The body was too heavy, and the sword too heavy. The Rock Dragon War General was not fast. Having failed to touch Yun Che after several attacks, it seemed to grow furious. It suddenly raised its oddly shaped heavy sword and let out an extremely grating shriek.
As the shriek echoed, chaotic yellow lights flickered in different places. Amid the yellow light, over thirty Rock Dragon Warriors wielding various weapons appeared at different spots... Some were near Xiao Xiannü's location, charging straight at her.
Yun Che had never expected that this Rock Dragon War General could also summon Rock Dragon Warriors. Seeing the ones rushing toward Xiao Xiannü, he let out a frantic roar. Gathering all his remaining strength, he charged over at top speed, swung his sword once, and blasted away the approaching Rock Dragon Warriors. Then he released his left hand from the heavy sword, reached out swiftly, and pulled Xiao Xiannü back into his embrace.
At that moment, a terrifying gale suddenly pressed down from behind him. As he had rushed back, the Rock Dragon War General had followed closely behind him. Just as he picked up Xiao Xiannü, its horrifying heavy sword struck mercilessly at Yun Che's back. Unable to dodge, unable even to turn fully around, Yun Che could only tighten his left arm around Xiao Xiannü, half-twist his body, clench his teeth, and meet the Rock Dragon War General's heavy sword with his right hand gripping his own, pouring all his power into the blow.