Chapter 87: On the Brink of Life and Death

Indeed, the person brought out by Fen Tian was none other than Rod himself. After unleashing his final, deadly strike with all his strength, he was in a state of extreme weakness. The cyclone within his dantian was dim, his meridians empty, and all he could feel was intense pain, as if thousands of silver needles were piercing him—unbearably so!

At the very last moment of the fierce battle, when he felt his body about to burst under the terrifying force, Rod bravely gave up the chance to defeat the giant dragon, for he sensed that defensive barrier had been broken! He retracted his attack, used the recoil to fly backward, and then escaped with Fen Tian’s help.

Even so, Rod believed that Black Dragon Sognar must have been in no better condition after that terrifying strike! The power of that blow was even terrifying to Rod himself—it exceeded all imagination.

In that instant, Rod felt the terrifying tremors emanating from it. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of melancholy, realizing then the horror of being at the mid-stage Saint level—techniques that harness energy from heaven and earth to unleash devastating power were truly terrifying! Such techniques could probably rival those of a divine-level warrior at full strength.

With Fen Tian’s help, the two turned into a red light and vanished from that area in an instant, like a thin thread about to disappear altogether.

“Roar… Damn humans! Unforgivable! Today, I, Sognar, in the name of the Dragon God, will make you pay with your blood!” It was only after Rod left that the dust in the area slowly settled, revealing a massive figure—though it was in a pitiful state. Covered in dust, with bloodstains all over his body, his scales were torn to shreds. There was even a terrifyingly large hole on his back, about the size of a fist, deep into his bones, revealing red and white bones beneath. Blood gushed out like a hot spring, but the wound was contracting and writhing at a visible speed—demonstrating the dragon race’s terrifying healing ability as it rapidly healed itself!

The terrifying power contained in that strike actually pierced through his back—the so-called toughest part of his body—and penetrated all the way inside. Thinking of that move, the Black Dragon still felt terrified. If that human hadn’t suddenly given up at the last moment, he might really have lost his life there today. Even so, he could still clearly feel the pain from his wounds and the threat of death.

A trace of barely noticeable fear and reluctance flashed in his eyes. Yet, driven by the pride of his dragon race, the Black Dragon was unwilling to simply give up on a creature that had stolen his treasure and hurt him.

With a long roar, he pursued the enemy with his exhausted and battered body at an astonishing speed. Now, it was possible to clearly see that many scales around his wounds had fallen off, revealing the flesh beneath—showing just how severe the damage inflicted by that single strike was.

“Hurry up! He’s catching up!” Hearing the angry roars behind him, Rod felt a chill in his heart. He hadn’t expected the dragon’s defenses to be so strong. Even after being severely injured, it still pursued relentlessly. Though angry, Rod was utterly helpless and could only curse in silence.

“If I can survive today, I will definitely return one day to avenge this!” Rod muttered to himself, his eyes gleaming with vicious intent.

Ignoring spatial boundaries, with the help of Furnace Sky, he charged straight ahead. Having already crossed the 3,000-g gravity zone, he arrived at the 4,000-g zone in an instant, followed by the 5,000-g zone! The 2,000-meter distance passed in the blink of an eye. Yet the dragon showed no sign of giving up. The distance between them had now been reduced to less than 30 meters, and he could clearly feel the cold aura and fury emanating from the dragon behind him!

This was even after the dragon had suffered severe injuries. What if it hadn’t been injured? The thought sent a shiver down his spine. If it hadn’t been injured, it might have already rushed up to him and torn him to pieces by now. After all, he currently had no ability to fight back, and Furnace Sky was also struggling to keep moving, lacking the strength to counterattack.

6,000-g gravity! Furnace Sky wasn’t affected by the gravity, but Rod clearly felt its oppressive force, especially on his wounds and internal injuries. Under the pressure of gravity, he couldn’t help but spit out more blood, along with some flesh fragments and internal debris—proving that his injuries were already at a terrifyingly severe level.

The dragon was less than twenty meters away. Feeling death approaching, Rod felt a sense of despair—he had never felt such despair before. Falling into the dragon’s grasp surely wouldn’t end well; not only might he be devoured by the Fiery Sky, but he would likely end up in a situation where he couldn’t survive nor die! Stealing the dragon’s treasure was like touching its sacred scales, and adding to that, he had injured it severely, causing its hatred to reach an uncontrollable level.

“Kid, you can’t escape!” The dragon’s roar came again from behind. Rod felt heartbroken. He never expected to die in this damned place! It seemed he really had no choice but to give up?

“Kid, if you don’t want to die, come to me—over by the lake to your left!” Just as Rod was at the absolute peak of despair and ready to give up, a sudden voice startled him. A flash of light appeared before his eyes! A woman’s voice! Could there be someone else here? And a woman at that? Someone who could reach this place must be strong enough, not weaker than him. Who could it be?

“Fiery Sky, the lake to the left, hurry!” Without hesitation, Rod quickly conveyed his thoughts to Fiery Sky, as if grasping at a life-saving straw. At this moment, he placed all his hopes on this option. Even if it was just an illusion born of desperation, he had to try—it was his only chance. His only option was to trust that mysterious voice.

Under Rod’s guidance, Fiery Sky suddenly changed direction and rushed toward the left!

“Huh? Damn it, over there…” Seeing Rod and Fiery Sky change their escape route, the black dragon immediately followed without pause. But in the next moment, as if it had thought of something, its expression changed drastically! It then began to mutter incomprehensibly.

This hesitation gave Fiery Sky another chance to catch its breath and widen the distance slightly!

“Damn human, unforgivable! Hmph, that damned old guy probably hasn’t come out yet!” Its eyes flickered, as if hesitating, but seeing Fiery Sky getting farther away and feeling the pain from its wounds, the dragon really didn’t want to give up on the first creature in thousands of years to hurt it! Taking a deep breath, as if making up its mind, it charged forward and pursued again! However, if anyone observed carefully at this moment, they would notice that the dragon seemed hesitant and indecisive, its aura momentarily disrupted.

In the dark forest, a desperate escape and pursuit unfolded. After traveling about a thousand kilometers under six thousand times normal gravity, Rod finally saw a glimmer of light! In this gloomy place, that light shone as brilliantly as a silver disc, utterly dazzling.
“As expected!” As he got closer and saw clearly what it was, Rod’s heart warmed, and a look of wild joy flashed across his face. It was a lake—indeed, a lake. It seemed his earlier hallucination wasn’t real; he had truly heard that sound! His heartbeat accelerated suddenly, and his blood flowed faster. The pain from his wounds and the pressure of gravity seemed forgotten as his survival instinct surged once again.
“I’m not meant to die!” muttering to himself, Rod urged Furnace Sky to speed up, sensing that the dragon behind him had suddenly increased its speed, rushing forward like it had taken stimulants.
“Wretched creature, you can’t escape!” In an instant, the dragon was less than ten meters behind Rod. A blast of dragon breath was emitted as the dragon roared ferociously.
Hit by the powerful dragon breath, Rod and Furnace Sky flew forward like kites with broken strings in a strong wind, eventually crashing heavily to the ground.
“Hmph…” With a cold snort, the dragon rushed forward, its massive claw aiming at Rod.
Severely injured and unable to fight back, Rod frowned as he watched the claw descend. He could only pray silently for the mysterious person to appear; otherwise, he would truly perish here today.
“Hmph… Sognar, when did it become your turn to wreak havoc by Silver Moon Lake? Get lost!” At the moment the claw was about to strike his face, a cold snort suddenly rang out, loud as thunder, shaking everyone’s blood. Rod, the weakest of them all, spat out blood in shock. If even such a snort was so terrifying, just imagine how powerful this person must be! In the next moment, joy flashed on his face—sure enough, the person had arrived. The claw that was about to hit him was overturned by an invisible gust of wind. The dragon was pushed back a step!

A vague figure slowly emerged under such circumstances, eventually taking shape as a woman. She was clad in black attire that, though loose, could not conceal her striking figure—her curves prominent, legs long, and her slender build presenting perfect golden proportions! Just by looking at her back, one could imagine endless possibilities; she must surely be a peerless beauty! That was Rod’s immediate judgment. The fear and worry from earlier life-or-death moments vanished, and lying behind her, an inexplicable sense of security spread through him. He felt relieved and let out a long sigh. Looking at the black dragon across from them, a cold smirk appeared on his lips—he actually saw worry and fear in the dragon’s eyes, for the first time! Who could this person be, to inspire such fear even in the black dragon? Seeing this, Rod couldn’t help but wonder. The forest seemed to become increasingly eerie.