"Gurgle~~~" The golden lava in the lake churned endlessly, and the rain of fire-red boulders finally ceased.
Lin Lei and the others finally let out a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, all the broken stones — whether fractured or shattered into dozens of pieces — floating across the ground rose into the air. Everyone immediately raised their guards, ready to defend at a moment's notice. But these suspended stones flew toward the cave walls in every direction, sinking into the deep craters that dotted them. After a brief writhing motion, all the cave walls returned to a smooth, even surface.
It was as if the barrage of boulders had been nothing but a dream.
"Phew." Lin Lei and the others exhaled.
"There are even fewer survivors now," Dilia whispered. Everyone inside the cave felt a suffocating pressure. That wave of boulder bombardment had merely been an appetizer — the real course had yet to arrive. And yet the mid-stage gods had already been reduced to fewer than ten.
The upper-stage god demon 'Spurley' spoke up in a resonant voice, "Everyone, we—"
"Boom!"
Without warning, three massive serpents of lightning burst from a distant tunnel entrance, hurtling straight toward the white-horned elder. The strangest part was that each of the three lightning serpents bore a blade of light at its head.
"Hmm!" Solomon's brow furrowed slightly.
The white-horned elder instantly grew solemn. With a flicker of his body, over three hundred clones materialized throughout the entire cave, each radiating its own soul signature. In an instant, it became impossible to tell which one was the real body.
"Haha~~" A wild, arrogant laugh rang out. The three lightning serpents twisted and transformed into three figures — the Edwards brothers.
"Edwards brothers, what are you doing?!" The white-horned elder's three hundred-plus clones filled the cave simultaneously with an enraged roar. "What are you doing?!" "What are you doing?!" ...The furious shouts echoed endlessly through the cavern, and those roars contained a strange, oscillating wave within them.
Lin Lei and several other mid-stage gods felt their heads spin involuntarily.
"The Sonic Profound Mysteries?" Lin Lei was startled.
The Edwards brothers had already separated, positioning themselves at three of the cave's tunnel entrances, cutting off any escape for the white-horned elder.
"What are we doing?" The eldest of the Edwards brothers sneered, then opened his mouth. "ROAR~~" With that heaven-shaking roar, countless threads of lightning spread outward, blanketing the entire cave. Then the lightning split apart, gathering at two opposing ends.
At one end, the lightning condensed into a dense mass. At the other, it radiated outward in all directions.
"Ssssss~~"
The two clusters of lightning formed an extraordinary field of radiation. The three hundred-plus clones were caught within this lightning radiation zone — but they were not the only ones. Lin Lei and the group of demons were also inside the field. Now Lin Lei and his companions were in serious trouble.
"Lin Lei, Bei Bei, this is a type of material attack within the Laws of Lightning — a rather unusual variant. Protect yourselves!" Solomon transmitted through divine sense.
At the same time, Solomon spread his hands wide, and two streams of black light unfurled, enveloping Dilia and Nees respectively.
A material attack!
Bei Bei's body was extraordinarily tough. He had nothing to fear.
"Thanks," Lin Lei transmitted to Solomon. It was already generous of the man to protect Dilia.
"Ah!" In the span of a single heartbeat, Lin Lei felt an astonishing surge of electrical force attempting to penetrate his 'Pulse Armor.' It pierced not only from the front but also tried to bore through from behind. However, the Pulse Armor's defenses were truly formidable.
Lin Lei endured it head-on.
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" ...
The three hundred-plus clones exploded one after another. Among the mid-stage god demons caught in the blast, aside from Lin Lei's group, only two others managed to survive by the skin of their teeth. All the rest perished.
"Second Brother, Third Brother, lend a hand." The other two Edwards brothers opened their mouths as well.
With two additional roars, even more lightning flooded the cave. Countless threads of lightning converged at both ends, and the penetrating power intensified dramatically. The two remaining mid-stage god demons screamed in agony before being reduced to powder by the electricity, leaving only their divine cores drifting down.
"Hmph!" Solomon grunted, and the black light enveloping Nees and Dilia thickened further. His expression turned somewhat savage.
"Damn it, these three bastards have lost their minds," Solomon growled.
Bei Bei's body was incredibly powerful. Even with the intensified electrical penetration, he could still withstand it. But Lin Lei's 'Pulse Armor' began to tremble violently.
"Not good." Lin Lei could clearly see countless needle-fine sparks of electricity piercing through his Pulse Armor again and again. The armor was shaking剧烈ly. At this point, Lin Lei could no longer hold back. He immediately shifted into his true form.
"Huh?"
The Edwards brothers were visibly shocked, their gaze snapping to Lin Lei.
Azure-gold dragon scales now covered his entire body, with a faint cyan luminescence flowing across them. An ancient, overwhelming aura radiated from his dragonized form — so powerful that even upper-stage gods couldn't help but take notice. That mighty dragonized body showed no fear whatsoever of the lightning's penetrating force.
"Who is he?" The Edwards brothers exchanged glances, each arriving at the same speculation.
A body this powerful was absolutely not one of those commonplace dragonmen. And that aura was nothing short of terrifying.
"It doesn't matter who he is. Our target is that white-horned old fool. Brothers, attack!" The Edwards brothers leaped almost simultaneously, each brandishing a thin short blade crackling with faint lightning.
The white-horned elder bellowed and swung his long staff downward in a devastating劈砍!
"Ssss~~" Faint cracks appeared in the air itself.
"The old coot's been holding back this entire time!" The Edwards brothers' faces twisted with vicious intent. The eldest brother's short blade clashed directly against the long staff.
"Boom!"
Like a thunderclap, lightning coursed through the white-horned elder's staff as well, and his whole body trembled involuntarily. Meanwhile, the other two Edwards brothers shot forward like arrows, their speed so extreme that even Lin Lei and the others felt their hearts skip a beat.
"This is a one-sided slaughter!" Lin Lei's brow furrowed as he glanced at Solomon beside him.
This was Solomon's own loyal retainer!
Yet Solomon remained perfectly still, watching in silence. Clearly, he had no intention of intervening — or perhaps... lacked the ability to do so.
"Sigh. The old man is going to die," Lin Lei sighed inwardly.
"ROAR~~~" A deafening dragon roar shook the heavens. A colossal dragon of lightning roared and opened its massive jaws, swallowing the white-horned elder in a single gulp. In the final moment before death, the white-horned elder let out a frenzied scream, followed by a deep, muffled explosion.