Chapter 2924: Third Level

Amidst a roar, the crimson spear lunging towards the Dragon Sovereign was blocked by the light barrier, stopping just three zhang from him. In other words, Xue Wei, holding the spear, was at the same distance from the Dragon Sovereign—virtually face to face! Yet, this seemingly negligible distance became an insurmountable chasm, preventing Xue Wei from slaying the Dragon Sovereign.

Sacred Dragon City was founded by the Dragon Race's Second Ancestor, Yang Qing. It has existed for countless millennia; while not as old as the universe itself, the time difference is not significant. Having been maintained for so many years, the city's grand scale, as a Hedao City, was beyond imagination. Beyond the main city, there were numerous satellite cities and various facilities; only all of them combined constituted Sacred Dragon City. This was originally the foremost Hedao City in Star Abyss.

Previously, the first defensive formation had encompassed the entire Sacred Dragon City, but now, the second light barrier only covered the main city. Xue Wei realized with a start, "Multiple great formations! So this is what you're relying on!" No wonder the Dragon Sovereign had remained composed earlier, even as the first defensive formation seemed on the verge of collapse. He could activate the second formation at any time, giving him complete confidence. Looking up, Xue Wei frowned slightly, clearly perceiving that this second formation was much more solid and robust than the first. This was understandable. Comparatively, the first formation protected a vast area—the entire Dragon City—while the second only covered Sacred Dragon City's main core. Naturally, this made the latter much more solid and robust.

"So what if it is?" the Dragon Sovereign replied indifferently, gazing at Xue Wei. Xue Wei let out a cold snort, decisively withdrew her crimson spear, and turned to leave. Her voice trailed back, "I'll just have to see how long this layer of the formation can last." Behind her, a colorful glow emanated as numerous puppet Half-Saints continued their assault. Without orders from Xue Wei and the others, these puppets had never ceased their siege. Violent aftershocks swept through, causing the satellite cities and various structures to peel away and shatter layer by layer. The immense scale of Dragon City visibly shrank.

Inside the formation's light barrier, the Dragon Sovereign slowly exhaled, watching Xue Wei's retreating figure. Despite his outwardly composed demeanor, he was inwardly very anxious. After all, Dragon City had never faced such a major crisis throughout its history. To counter the current calamity, Dragon City had virtually deployed all its reserves. The intricate multi-layered formation was a system painstakingly perfected by the earliest generations of Dragon ancestors, and no one had expected it to be put to use today. He tilted his head slightly, looking towards the River of Time within the city. Whether the ancestral legacy, passed down for generations, could be preserved today depended entirely on Lu Ye.

"Daoist Star-Day, in your estimation, how long can this second formation last?" Outside Dragon City, Xue Wei returned and addressed Star-Day. Star-Day, who evidently had already made a prognosis, answered without hesitation, "Given the current situation, it should last for about three days." Xue Wei nodded, her own assessment aligning with his. She stated coldly, "Then we'll wait for three days!" She had charged forward earlier, intending to directly slay the Dragon Sovereign, but unexpectedly returned empty-handed. With so many Half-Saints watching, she felt somewhat humiliated, and her killing intent was now difficult to suppress. But it didn't matter; it was only three days, after all. After three days, when this second formation broke, she wondered if the Dragon Sovereign would still be able to smile.

"Hmm?" Just then, Fei's eyes suddenly widened. It wasn't just him; all ten Half-Saints present sensed an anomaly and directed their gazes towards the River of Time. From the ethereal, traceless river, a figure suddenly tumbled out, then swiftly darted into the interior of Dragon City, disappearing from view. "How is there still someone inside this River of Time?" Fei asked, utterly bewildered. "Míng Fēng, who was that person?" Xue Wei immediately inquired. How could Míng Fēng know who that person was? Although he had seen clearly, it was a completely unfamiliar face. After all, the only people he knew in Star Abyss were Lu Ye and a few others. However, given the circumstances, anyone capable of emerging from the incredibly profound River of Time was certainly no ordinary individual.

Leaving aside the apprehension and uncertainty of Xue Wei and the other Half-Saints, Lu Ye was consumed by anxiety within the River of Time. He had sent numerous Dragon powerhouses into his inner world one by one. Although each possessed the potential to advance to Half-Saint, their foundations ultimately differed. For instance, Third Ancestor Yang Lie and Fifth Ancestor Zhu Pang were undoubtedly the two with the most profound foundations, which allowed them to break through first. The subsequent Dragon ancestors were also exceptionally talented. However, since their foundations varied, their ascension times would differ.

Now, another one had finally ascended and broken through. Although within the River of Time, Lu Ye, aided by the power of the Tower of Time, was still fully aware of the situation in Dragon City. Thus, as soon as this elder, who was from the same period as the Seventh Dragon Ancestor, broke through, Lu Ye sent him out. There was a simple reason: for the city's great formation, each additional Half-Saint guarding it would increase its defensive strength, allowing it to hold out longer. This Dragon elder, who lived concurrently with the Seventh Ancestor, was the first to break through during this siege. Over the next three days, Lu Ye continuously sent out more than a dozen additional Dragon Half-Saints.

This scene utterly astonished Xue Wei and the others. All their intelligence had been provided by Míng Fēng, and according to their understanding, Dragon City only had nine Half-Saints, led by Si Shengya. Yet, how had a dozen more appeared now? And they were emerging successively from the River of Time. No one knew what was happening, and even Star-Day, who had the most knowledge of Star Abyss, couldn't provide an explanation. However, when these dozen or so Dragon Half-Saints appeared, Xue Wei and the others specifically observed them, clearly noticing their unstable auras, indicating they had just broken through to Half-Saint. And with the appearance of these Dragon Half-Saints, the defensive light barrier's strength noticeably increased.

Under these circumstances, the second defensive light barrier held for a full three and a half days, half a day longer than Star-Day and Xue Wei had anticipated. Nevertheless, the grand formation was eventually bound to break. When the light barrier's glow became extremely dim, appearing as if it could shatter at any moment, the Dragon Sovereign, who had stood motionless, finally stirred. He turned and walked inward, his steps unhurried. Upon seeing this, a sudden uneasy feeling arose in Xue Wei's heart.

Three breaths later, almost at the instant the second defensive light barrier was breached, she suddenly moved, transforming into a streak of crimson light, just as she had three and a half days prior, and lunged directly towards the Dragon Sovereign. Almost simultaneously, the Dragon Sovereign halted again and turned to look back. What met his eyes was a crimson figure already attacking right before him—a scene almost identical to before. Even more similarly, another defensive light barrier appeared not far in front of the Dragon Sovereign. The crimson spear, imbued with a fierce assault, caused the light barrier to slightly indent, but it was ultimately blocked.

Xue Wei gritted her teeth. The third layer! The Dragon Sovereign's lips curved into a sarcastic smile. "What? Are you so eager to kill me?" Xue Wei's chest heaved violently, clearly incensed. This time, she couldn't be bothered with further words for the Dragon Sovereign and simply turned to leave. Because, compared to the second layer, this third layer's light barrier was even more solid and robust. They had spent three and a half days breaking through the second light barrier; this third layer would likely take even longer. However... this was the end of it! Because Xue Wei had already realized that this was absolutely Dragon City's final defense, and the area enveloped by the light barrier was its most core region. Once this defensive layer was breached, Dragon City would have no further barriers to rely on.

Originally, under the fierce onslaught of the puppet Half-Saints, many satellite cities of the vast Dragon City had been peeled away and shattered, greatly diminishing its size. Now, having lost the second defensive layer, even more areas were pulverized. In just over an hour, only the area covered by the third layer of defense remained of the immense Dragon City. Compared to before this battle, Dragon City's current size was barely half of its original form. If an uninformed person were to see it now, they would hardly believe this was the renowned Dragon City, as its current size appeared no larger than a typical Universal-level city.

Yet, within this small remaining area, more than thirty Half-Saints had gathered. Excluding the initial group, the rest had emerged from the River of Time over the past few days. Inside the River of Time, the power of the Tower of Time could be maximized. Currently, the flow of time in Lu Ye's inner world was incredibly fast, and since the Dragon Race themselves cultivated the Dao of Time, this remarkable outcome was possible. It was precisely because more than thirty Half-Saints were stationed there that Dragon City's final defensive layer was so robust.

However, this was not the total number of Half-Saints! There were still Half-Saints who had not yet emerged from Lu Ye's inner world. It wasn't that he deliberately hid them, but rather that Dragon City's defensive formation had a limit; it couldn't sustain the addition of too many Half-Saints, and thirty-odd was already the maximum. In such a situation, even if more Half-Saints were to join, the defensive formation's strength would not increase. Therefore, Lu Ye simply let them remain in his inner world.

"Little Ye, I believe we can hold out for another six or seven days!" the Dragon Sovereign softly transmitted. Within the River of Time, Lu Ye nodded slightly. "It's almost time!" Hearing this, the Dragon Sovereign's heart settled. Since Lu Ye had said so, he must be confident, meaning there was a chance to save Dragon City. The only trouble now was the considerable number of enemy powerhouses. Dragon City could not remain perpetually on the defensive; even the sturdiest defense would eventually be breached under such a relentless assault. Therefore, when the time was right, they would have to strike back to preserve Dragon City. To strike back implied a direct and frontal confrontation.

In this situation, Star-Day would definitely have to be handled by Si Shengya. But how would they deal with Xue Wei and Fei? And Míng Fēng was not easy to contend with either. Lu Ye should be able to tie down one of them, but what about the remaining two? And what about the other six Origin Realm Half-Saints?