Chapter 22 The True Strength of Tier Six

After spitting out a mouthful of blood, the Sea Thunder Dragon’s very first reaction was that he had fallen into someone's trap. Therefore, he immediately swam toward the deep sea, intending to submerge and hide while he figured out who his enemy was before returning to exact his revenge.

However, how could Li Mingxing possibly let such an opportunity slip away? Zheng, positioned seven hundred meters up in the sky, instantly activated her High-Altitude Charge. In a flash, she arrived right in front of the Sea Thunder Dragon, driving the frost trident in her hand straight into the dragon's still-bleeding mouth. With this thrust, the Sea Thunder Dragon’s blood gushed like a tidal wave onto Zheng and the black flying dragon she rode.

At the exact same time, Li Mingxing hurled the golden banner he had kept before the Emperor Jun Temple. As soon as it was thrown, twelve golden-armored deities materialized around the Sea Thunder Dragon. The moment these twelve deities appeared, their attention was instantly drawn to the Sea Thunder Dragon below. Almost in an instant, these powerful warriors understood the gap in strength between themselves and their enemy. Without waiting for Li Mingxing’s command, they split into two groups on the spot, launching an attack on the enemy from both the water's surface and the sky.

Yet, at this moment, a trace of unease stirred in Li Mingxing’s heart. Hesitantly, he activated his Leadership, Bloodlust, and Emperor’s Aura, hoping to temporarily boost the combat capabilities of the deities using these skills.

However, the moment Li Mingxing utilized these skills, his win rate displayed on the ice mirror before him plummeted by about 15%, dropping straight from the original 61% down to 46%.

Upon brief reflection, Li Mingxing understood the reason. If he refrained from these petty tricks, the Sea Thunder Dragon might have remained ignorant of the true strength of these twelve enemies and perhaps felt fear; but by displaying such tactics, it was equivalent to explicitly telling the Sea Thunder Dragon that these twelve deities were inferior to him, granting him the opportunity to pick them off one by one.

At this juncture, Li Mingxing had no choice but to step forward, shouting at the Sea Thunder Dragon, which was just about to swallow one of the deities whole. Startled by the roar, the Sea Thunder Dragon halted, and his wide-open jaws closed much slower than intended.

Taking advantage of this opening, the deity who had already reached the Sea Thunder Dragon’s maw did not hesitate in the slightest. He plunged straight into the dragon's mouth and charged toward its abdomen. It was then that the Sea Thunder Dragon recalled that his stomach had already been injured in the earlier explosion; if the deity were to force his way in now, he might just slaughter his way to the internal organs along the wound.

Realizing this, the Sea Thunder Dragon panicked. Drawing a deep breath from the ocean, he inhaled massive amounts of seawater that transformed into minor water dragons, rushing straight down his throat. This was the first time the Sea Thunder Dragon had employed a skill. The eleven deities attacking from the outside naturally would not let such a fine opportunity pass; thrusting their long spears simultaneously, they pierced into the Sea Thunder Dragon's body, wreathed in golden radiance.

Originally, seeing Zheng wound the Sea Thunder Dragon so effortlessly and noticing the complete absence of scales on his hide, these deities had assumed the creature merely possessed superior brute strength while its defense was subpar. To their surprise, as their long spears struck the dragon's body, they failed to penetrate at all, instead glancing off to the sides. It became apparent that the Sea Thunder Dragon’s skin was exceptionally slick—so oily that piercing weapons simply could not find purchase.

Realizing this, the deities instantly altered their attack strategy, but it was already a step too late. A flash of electrical current danced instantly across the Sea Thunder Dragon’s pristine white body. The two slowest deities were electrocuted without a single chance to react, tumbling into the sea as charred lumps of coal.

Seizing the momentum, the Sea Thunder Dragon surged up from the ocean, sweeping his tail across the rear of an airborne deity and blasting him ten miles away.

In a fraction of a second, only eight deities remained in the sky. A hint of anger flashed in Li Mingxing’s eyes as he whipped his tail around, shooting out a silver sword pellet. The pellet moved with incredible speed, arriving before the Sea Thunder Dragon almost the instant it was fired. However, as a master of lightning, the Sea Thunder Dragon’s reaction time was unquestionably top-tier. The moment the sword pellet shot toward his face, he jerked his head back, narrowly dodging the strike.

Ordinarily, the remaining deities under Li Mingxing's command would have seized this opportunity to pounce, but the electrical network coating the Sea Thunder Dragon's body and his oil-like skin had robbed them of the confidence to score a one-hit kill. Now, they were forced to devise safer and more effective methods for themselves.

Dividing themselves into three groups, the remaining eight deities made their move. The first group consisted of four individuals who converged on the Sea Thunder Dragon from four directions, their posture clearly indicating an intention to pin him down in place.

The second group comprised a single individual who raised his long spear high, mimicking a throwing stance, yet held off on attacking.

Behind this deity were three others forming a Three Talents Formation. Gathering all their power together, a radiant orb of light resembling a miniature sun materialized right at the center of their array.

Sensing that the three deities were pooling formidable power, the Sea Thunder Dragon knew even he could not afford to take such force head-on. Opening his jaws, he conjured a sphere of lightning within his mouth, clearly intending to eradicate all the deities before him with this attack.

Just as the Sea Thunder Dragon prepared to unleash the lightning sphere from his mouth, his abdomen suddenly spasmed, and a gush of fresh blood erupted from his throat. The moment the blood spewed forth, the freshly condensed lightning sphere abruptly vanished.

How could the deities let such a prime opportunity slip by? The concentrated power of the three deities poured directly into the body of the foremost deity, who then hurled his long-prepared spear.

With this throw, the spear streaked across the sky like a ray of sunlight, instantly plunging deep into the Sea Thunder Dragon's body. The dragon spat another mouthful of blood as his entire colossal form was sent hurtling backward through the air.

Yet, the instant the Sea Thunder Dragon was sent flying, the expressions of the deities—including the one who had just rushed back from ten miles away—shifted drastically. They could sense that this blow had not inflicted substantial damage; instead, the Sea Thunder Dragon had leveraged the momentum to escape their attack radius. Once he plunged back into the open sea, such an advantageous opportunity would not present itself again.

At that very moment, Zheng, who had remained aloft in the sky, once more executed her High-Altitude Charge. In a flash, she reached the spot where the Sea Thunder Dragon was flying backward, driving her trident deep into his left eye.

The timing of Zheng's strike was impeccable, landing precisely when the Sea Thunder Dragon lacked defensive capabilities. As the trident pierced his left eye, she simultaneously unleashed the freezing power contained within the weapon, instantly turning half of the Sea Thunder Dragon’s head into a block of ice.

Nevertheless, having attained tier-6 mastery over water attributes, the Sea Thunder Dragon possessed remarkably high resistance to ice. This blow merely blinded him in one eye without disabling his mobility. As Zheng pulled out the trident stained with dragon blood, his tail whipped around, striking Zheng squarely on the flank.

Seizing the chance, the black flying dragon beneath Zheng clamped its jaws onto the Sea Thunder Dragon's tail. Although it was sent flying heavily alongside Zheng just moments later, its bite successfully ripped a massive chunk of flesh from the dragon's tail.

Seeing Zheng knocked away, Li Mingxing, who had been observing from the sidelines, flew into a rage. Leaping across the sea surface, he closed the distance to the Sea Thunder Dragon in the blink of an eye. Disregarding whether the dragon was still wreathed in defensive lightning nets, Li Mingxing lunged forward, sinking his teeth directly into the dragon's flesh.

Under normal circumstances, given the Sea Thunder Dragon's thousand-meter frame, a creature of Li Mingxing's size would be entirely insignificant; even if bitten, he wouldn't have reacted strongly. But this time was different: Li Mingxing still harbored two fine-quality sword pellets within his mouth. As he bit down, these two sword pellets were injected directly into the Sea Thunder Dragon's body, inflicting considerable internal damage.

After delivering the sword pellets, Li Mingxing released his bite before the dragon could unleash its lightning, dropping back down into the sea. Meanwhile, the Sea Thunder Dragon prepared his retaliation: several pillars of water surged from beneath the deities, churning with crackling purple electrical currents. Without looking, Li Mingxing knew that being struck by these water pillars meant certain death, even for entities of the deities' caliber.

Yet, as the Sea Thunder Dragon channeled this technique, the lingering interference from Li Mingxing and Zheng threw off the spell's accuracy. Only three of the eight water pillars struck their targets, leaving Li Mingxing with five usable deities.

Having narrowly escaped certain death, the surviving deities realized that individual attacks could not inflict severe damage upon the Sea Thunder Dragon. Consequently, they soared back up into the sky, weaving themselves into a Five Elements Grand Array mid-flight. Pooling their collective strength, they funneled all five streams of energy toward a single purpose, preparing to channel this solar-derived power through just one deity.

Significantly, the target designated to receive this pooled energy was not one of the five airborne deities, but rather the surviving deity still trapped within the Sea Thunder Dragon's belly. The moment the energy converged, Li Mingxing witnessed the dragon's abdomen light up, beams of brilliant light radiating continuously from within his gut.