Chapter 010: Touching the Sacred Rank

Du Fan was still somewhat confused. To him, the tingling sensation from that attack had shaken him slightly and was somewhat annoying, but it had also brought him some comfort—far more so than any massage. He wondered if these people in front of him were new masseurs from the imperial capital, given their talent…
Thinking this, Du Fan couldn’t help but reach out and touch his shoulder. He noticed a faint red mark where he had been hit, but it was already slowly disappearing. His skin felt slightly different, yet it seemed no more unusual than before.
Still, he had a vague feeling in his mind as if a delicate little hand had been exploring his body, and faintly… it seemed like a woman had taken great advantage of him?
That woman… with a shy expression yet deep affection… could it be… Chenchen?
What was even stranger was that a voice in his subconscious seemed to tell him that he should have been critically injured and on the verge of death earlier. But now, aside from looking rather bizarre naked, there was nothing abnormal about him…
At this thought, Du Fan became even more confused.
Actually, it wasn’t Du Fan’s fault. His consciousness space had already been stimulated, and after being unconscious for so long due to the injury, it was normal for him to feel confused.
Originally, if he had continued to sleep for a few days, he would have woken up without being confused. But his sleep was interrupted, so such confusion was inevitable.
Still, it was good that he was confused; otherwise, if Du Fan had discovered his strength had suddenly improved so much, he might have been scared to death.
The court magicians around him saw Du Fan’s state and their expressions changed drastically, their eyes filled with disbelief. After all, they knew the power of that attack, but Du Fan’s current appearance…
These court magicians almost simultaneously remembered Du Fan repelling Francis. Could it be that his incredible strength had returned?
“Impossible! Impossible!” The lead court magician shouted loudly. “Even if you’re a master of the Sacred Rank! Even if you’re a domain expert beyond the Sacred Rank! You can’t possibly come away unharmed! Absolutely impossible!!!”

With this furious roar, the lead court mage had completely gone mad. As he screamed loudly, he felt magic flowing continuously from the other court mages toward him. Seemingly driven mad by anger, he no longer cared about anything else…
A blood-red glow burst violently from his eyes, and blood-red light spread throughout his body; even his breath seemed to carry a strong hint of blood…
The remaining court mages who had used the combined spell collapsed in tremors. Their magic drained at an astonishing rate, turning them into mere skeletons in an instant…
Clearly, all their magic had been sucked dry by the lead court mage’s frenzied draining!
This was the biggest flaw of the combined spell! Once this magic was used, if the leader went mad, he could completely drain the magic from those who had used it…
But according to legends, if one drained all the magic from those who used the spell together, the leader could even break through the barriers of the Saint rank in an instant, gaining the power of a Saint for a certain period…
Yet such gains came at a steep price!
But at this moment, the lead court mage surely didn’t care about that anymore.
“Die!”
He suddenly shouted fiercely. His body floated in place, and with a wave of his hands, two golden flames appeared in his palms before being hurled violently in Du Fan’s direction.
These two golden fireballs rushed toward Du Fan like arrows, with long trails, seemingly containing immense power within their small size.
After throwing those two fireballs, the remaining court mage continued waving his hands, sending more and more fireballs flying at Du Fan like a storm…

Although Du Fan was still a bit dazed at this moment, he could still sense the terrifying killing intent in those fireballs… Different from the lightning before, these golden fireballs seemed to carry a trace of sacred-grade power, which made Du Fan instinctively feel fear even in his confusion. Immediately, his body flew forward subconsciously, and a faint silver light appeared all over him—the same light that had appeared on Du Fan’s body after Chenchen used the technique to reshape his essence.

This silver light seemed to separate completely from his body and formed a barrier in front of Du Fan. When those fireballs hit the barrier, they exploded instantly, sending sparks flying everywhere…

The court mage kept screaming loudly, his appearance barely recognizable as that of a human. He kept throwing fireballs, followed by continuous explosions. Sparks flew everywhere, and eventually, even Du Fan’s figure was completely covered in them.

The roaring finally stopped. The remaining court mage’s body trembled uncontrollably, and a trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth…

By using sacred-grade power with his ninth-level strength, he had already suffered backlash from the power. His internal organs might have all burst by now, but he couldn’t care less at this moment. He just stared fixedly in Du Fan’s direction.

Finally, when the dust around him dissipated, the room he had been in had completely vanished, replaced by ruins everywhere. The side buildings were also starting to burn, clearly the work of this court mage!

But Du Fan, who reappeared from the dust, still looked drowsy. The barrier in front of him had disappeared entirely… A few fireballs seemed to have hit him, leaving scorched scars—clearly, the sacred-grade power had finally harmed Du Fan somewhat…

However, those injuries didn’t seem too serious.

The court mage’s face turned pitch black. He stared at Du Fan in disbelief…

With such frantic use of magic, even a true sacred-grade expert would likely be severely injured by such an assault… But Du Fan… But Du Fan…

Moreover, having used such an immense amount of strength through the fusion technique with his body at full strain, his body was already on the verge of collapsing. Although he was still floating, the magic power within him seemed out of his control, tearing at his body in all directions…
The court mage understood deeply that drawing the magic power of everyone who used this spell after employing the fusion technique was already a reckless act. Using that gained power to launch such a insane attack was simply seeking death—any miscontrol of the magic power within him could lead to immediate death…
The peril involved here was beyond the comprehension of outsiders.
Yet Du Fan before him cared not at all for the power he had obtained by sacrificing everything, even his life. His own power seemed insignificant in front of Du Fan…
It was only at this point that the court mage truly understood why his master was worried about this guy recovering…
If such a person held a high position, wouldn’t it truly be detrimental to an empire with a declining monarchy?
Thinking of this, the last remaining court mage showed a look of grim determination on his face. Staring at the still drowsy Du Fan, he said slowly, word by word, “You! Good! Very good! I admit I’m no match for you… But… even if I die, I’ll drag you down to hell with me!”
The court mage took a deep breath suddenly, as if swallowing all the air around him. From the corpses of the previously dead court mages, several pale white auras surged forth and were drawn into his stomach along with his movement.
The court mage seemed to swell slightly instantly, and his overall aura grew increasingly powerful. Although he had forced himself to reach the Saint level, his strength had only reached the edge of that realm, but his aura was far inferior…
Yet now, with his aura surging, it carried a pressure so immense it made one’s scalp tingle…
Du Fan had been somewhat dazed, but the pressure from this aura snapped him fully awake…
Now awake, though he still didn’t understand what was going on, he realized that the guy in front of him was likely… going all out!