Ursinore was terrified in his heart: "So fast!" Just now, all four of his afterimages had been struck almost simultaneously. If he hadn't urgently used two Saint Realm angels as shields at the critical moment, he, Ursinore, would have been killed by Lin Lei in a single exchange.
In truth, in his human form, Lin Lei's strength wasn't much greater than Ursinore's.
The main reason was that Lin Lei had launched a surprise attack. With the speed of the Purple Blood flexible sword, by the time Ursinore reacted, Lin Lei's blade was already in front of him. If Ursinore had been prepared beforehand, he wouldn't have been so flustered.
"Lin Lei, what is the meaning of this!" Hastings shouted coldly.
At the same time, Hastings and Luoye both stood up. Afraik, Aokaisei, and Clemerson of the Church of Darkness also rose, gazing coldly at Lin Lei. The leaders of the two great religious organizations of the Yulan Continent—the Church of Light and the Church of Darkness—now shared a common enemy—
Lin Lei!
Looking at the gazes of Hastings, Afraik, Luoye, and the others, Lin Lei actually felt a trace of joy in his heart.
"Grandpa Derin, do you see this?"
More than twenty years!
When he had left Hess City and entered the Magic Beast Mountain Range, that year had been the year 10,000 of the Yulan Calendar. Back then, Lin Lei hadn't yet turned twenty. He had sworn that he would uproot the Church of Light. But he knew very well… it had to be done step by step.
The Church of Light valued the power of faith.
Now, with the Holy Alliance having lost a third of its territory, its population was only four to five hundred million. But in the territory controlled by the Church of Light within the Kingdom of Chaos, the population numbered over two hundred million. If Lin Lei unified this region and banned missionary activities and the like…
For the Church of Light, it would be an unprecedented blow.
"Back then, in my eyes, the Church of Light was still a colossal force. And now…" Lin Lei glanced at Ursinore, who was clutching his bleeding chest, "even the Head Judge of Inquisition, 'Ursinore,' is far from being my match." Lin Lei murmured to himself, "Grandpa Derin, watch—the day is coming soon, very soon. The day to uproot the Church of Light is near. This is only the first step!"
Derinkoort held an extraordinarily important place in Lin Lei's heart.
He had taught Lin Lei since childhood, selflessly—whether in magic cultivation or Flat Knife carving, it was truly Grandpa Derin who had shaped Lin Lei. Even in moments of danger, Grandpa Derin had risked the dissolution of his soul to save Lin Lei.
Lin Lei had long been waiting for the day to deal a ruthless blow to the Church of Light.
Now, with the Church of Light walking right into the line of fire, would Lin Lei show any mercy?
"What about it?" Lin Lei swept his gaze across everyone in the hall. "You want to make a move?" Hastings and Afraik were about to speak, but at that instant Lin Lei's body transformed. Deep cyan dragon scales instantly covered his entire body, his long robe bursting apart in a flash, fabric fragments shooting forward like sharp arrows.
The experts from the Church of Light and the Church of Darkness each easily deflected the fragments with their respective techniques.
Lin Lei's icy dragon tail swayed gently, producing a sound as if the air itself were being sliced open. Lin Lei's dark golden pupils swept over the group: "If you want to make a move, I'll oblige at any time!"
"I've been waiting for you too." Buck's deep voice rang out, and at the same time his body began to transform as well. His frame swelled dramatically, his height surging to three meters in an instant. His entire skin took on a cyan hue, bulging veins coiling around his body like serpents—utterly terrifying.
White armor, solid as rock, rapidly grew from beneath his skin and covered his entire body.
Saint Realm Ultimate Warrior—the Undying Warrior!
"Heh heh." A sinister chuckle came from the side as Sisley's ghostly green eyes swept over the group. "Since I, Sisley, reached the Saint Realm, I haven't had a proper battle yet. Church of Light… the 'favor' you once showed me, I shall now properly 'repay.'"
"Gah gah, fighting—of course you can't leave me, Bei Bei, out of it." Bei Bei hovered in the air beside Lin Lei.
The situation in the top-floor hall of the riverboat had deteriorated to the absolute extreme in an instant.
Pope of Light 'Hastings' and Pope of Darkness 'Afraik' exchanged a glance. They had calculated long ago: though Lin Lei's side had four powerful fighters, in terms of actual strength, Sisley had only recently entered the Saint Realm and likely couldn't threaten experts of Hastings' and Afraik's caliber.
Buck, the Saint Realm Undying Warrior, might be somewhat troublesome.
And Bei Bei was no less of a threat than Buck.
The greatest threat… was Lin Lei. Not only was he a Saint Realm Dragon Blood Warrior, but his comprehension of laws was also extraordinarily high. Among Ultimate Warriors, most had extremely low comprehension of laws. Those who could reach Lin Lei's level had simply never existed before.
The strongest Dragon Blood Warrior in all of history!
"If I use the Grand Prophecy, I should be able to restrain Lin Lei. Combined with Luoye's cooperation, defeating Lin Lei might be possible," Hastings thought to himself. The power of the 'Grand Prophecy' was not something that could be compared to Ursinore's 'Shadow Clone Technique.'
Hastings and Afraik merely exchanged a glance, both understanding each other's thoughts.
"Ha, haha." Hastings simply laughed three times, and upon receiving the signal, Luoye, Ursinore, and the others immediately sprang into action.
"Boom!"
The entire top floor of the riverboat exploded and was torn wide open. Over a dozen figures shot into the sky like arrows, and the hull of the massive vessel cracked apart. The crew members below who had been controlling the boat's advance immediately leaped into the river and swam toward the shore.
As they swam toward the bank, the crew members craned their necks to look up at the sky.
They were soldiers of the Baruch Kingdom. When they had been ordered to come aboard, they had known that the one conducting matters on the boat was the Baruch Kingdom's spiritual pillar—'Lin Lei.'
"What is that—a legendary Phoenix?" the crew members gasped in shock, their mouths hanging open.
High in the sky, a colossal bird with wings spanning over a hundred meters was wreathed in flames. Black feathers covered its entire body, and noble plumes, elegant as a crown, made this black bird appear all the more regal. This was a Saint Realm Magical Beast—the legendary 'Hellfire Phoenix'!
Hellfire Phoenix: a dual-attribute Darkness and Fire Saint Realm Magical Beast.
Across the vast expanse of sky, this Hellfire Phoenix loomed like a black cloud over the Liuyan River. The leader of the fallen angels, 'Clemerson,' stood upon the Hellfire Phoenix's back, gazing coldly at Lin Lei, who hovered in the air in the distance.
"ROAR~~~" A terrifying roar shook the heavens.