"This physical attack is actually this strong!" Lin Lei was shocked inside. "Even back when the Crimson Rock Lord attacked, his physical power wasn't this monstrous. A punch thrown from mid-air actually pierced through my body." Lin Lei was very confident in his draconic transformation defenses, but today, that single punch had genuinely shaken him to the core.
The burly man's eyes burned with fury, his wild golden hair flinging about recklessly.
"How dare you wound me, 'Hemus'? Die!" That deep voice echoed through Lin Lei's mind as the golden-haired giant's right leg snapped out in a devastating kick.
A golden glow flowed across his thick right leg. The kick displaced space itself, sending ripples across the air as though the fabric of reality were the surface of a disturbed lake. The sheer power behind that leg—before it even reached Lin Lei, he could feel the danger closing in. "That punch was thrown from mid-air, not a direct hit, and the power was already terrifying. If this kick connects…"
Lin Lei didn't dare hesitate for a single instant.
"Blackstone Space, maximum repulsive force!" With a thought, Lin Lei unleashed a tremendous repulsive force upon the terrifying powerhouse named 'Hemus'.
At the same time, Lin Lei's steel dragon tail whipped against the ground with a sharp crack, and the rebounding force propelled him backward at tremendous speed.
"Whoosh!" Hemus's kick whistled through empty air.
"Boom!" Even though the kick missed, a golden shockwave still detached from his foot and shot toward Lin Lei like a bolt. This physical attack was far too fast! It wasn't affected by the Blackstone Space at all. Its speed also far exceeded Lin Lei's escape velocity. But Lin Lei had learned from his previous mistake—this time, he was prepared.
The divine sword 'Phantom' in his hand slapped sideways to intercept.
Seemingly slow but actually blindingly fast, the flat of the Phantom blade slammed into the golden shockwave.
"Clang!" The violent impact sent Phantom rebounding straight back into Lin Lei's body. At the same time, the dragon scales on his sword-wielding right hand cracked open, blood seeping through the gaps.
"Whoosh."
Lin Lei used the recoil to retreat even faster.
"Absolutely monstrous!" Lin Lei cursed inwardly. "That punch's force, transmitted through a divine weapon, still cracked the dragon scales on my hand. Across all the planes, aside from Belute, there's actually someone else this变态!" He had once witnessed Belute catching a sovereign artifact with his bare hands.
The strength behind that was unimaginable. And this golden-haired giant appeared to be in the same league.
In the distance, Bei Bei's eyes went wide as saucers. Without a moment's hesitation, he transformed into a streak of light and rocketed toward the golden-haired giant, sending an urgent mental transmission: "Boss, fall back! I'll hold him off!"
"Bei Bei, don't waste time—let's go! We can't block him!" Lin Lei transmitted back immediately.
Lin Lei accelerated his escape, and Bei Bei had no choice but to flee alongside him.
"You think you can run?!"
The golden-haired giant glared at the two fleeing figures, then stomped hard against the ground. "Boom!" "Boom!" Each footfall was like a meteorite slamming into the earth, and the golden giant's speed skyrocketed to its absolute limit as he charged after Lin Lei and Bei Bei in massive strides.
"Boss, that big brute is catching up behind us!" Bei Bei cried out.
"His speed increased." Lin Lei glanced back. When this golden-haired giant had been chasing the Death God Puppet, he hadn't been nearly this fast. It was obvious—the man called 'Hemus' was now in a towering rage.
"It's fine. Once he enters the Blackstone Space area, there's no way he can catch us," Lin Lei said with certainty.
And indeed, that was the case!
The moment the golden giant ran into the Blackstone Space zone, he felt the crushing repulsive force. Speed had never been his strong suit. Under normal circumstances, he could roughly keep pace with Lin Lei and Bei Bei through sheer desperate effort, but once trapped inside the Blackstone Space, he fell far behind both of them.
Lin Lei and Bei Bei fled ahead, rapidly widening the gap.
This forced the golden giant to retreat out of the Blackstone Space region. Once free of it, his speed surged once more, and he began closing in again.
In short… the two sides maintained a distance of exactly five hundred meters.
"Boss, this big brute keeps chasing us. What do we do?" Bei Bei asked anxiously. "Should we use the Sovereign's might?"
"Not yet."
Lin Lei couldn't bear to waste a single drop of the Sovereign's might. It wasn't that desperate yet.
"Bei Bei, from a few hundred meters away, this guy Hemus can see us clearly. So here's what we do—let's go underground. Flee through the tunnels. If he can't see us, he'll have a hard time tracking us." Lin Lei transmitted. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he wouldn't readily expend the Sovereign's might.
"Underground. Got it," Bei Bei agreed.
"You two won't escape!" An enraged roar reverberated between heaven and earth.
"This stupid brute—bellowing like that, isn't he afraid of drawing others here?" Bei Bei fumed as he sent a mental transmission.
"Bei Bei, I have a feeling this Hemus really isn't afraid of anyone showing up. He wasn't even fazed by your 'Devour Soul' attack—he must possess a sovereign artifact for soul defense. And look at his physical defense. This man is practically impossible to crack. His only weaknesses are that he can't fight effectively at range and isn't skilled in soul attacks. All right—into the ground!"
Lin Lei and Bei Bei plunged underground almost simultaneously, vanishing into the earth.
At the same time, Lin Lei withdrew the Blackstone Space, making it impossible for anyone on the surface to detect where they were.
"Hmph, trying to flee underground?" The golden-haired giant let out a cold laugh.
Then—
He raised his leg and stomped violently against the ground. A thunderous rumble shook the earth as a wave of golden light spread outward from the point of impact, rippling in all directions through the terrain.
"There they are!" The golden giant's eyes lit up.
He lunged to the left, then stomped hard once more. Golden light merged into the ground and radiated outward again.
Fleeing through the tunnels, while it concealed them from sight, was far slower than flying above ground due to the resistance of soil and rock.
"What kind of strange ability is this?" Bei Bei could clearly feel golden energy spreading through the earth like ripples in water, sweeping directly toward him and Lin Lei. However, this wave of energy carried no real destructive force.