socalfunplaces Chapter 857 Interesting Formation
Chapter 857 Interesting Formation
Upon hearing this, Long Shishen couldn't help but chuckle. His laughter carried a hint of mockery towards the word "bribery," yet also a sense of relief that had been building up for years, like the soft cracking of ice. He slowly walked to Long Tian, his posture as upright as a pine tree, his eyes as calm as a bottomless pool of cold water, utterly undisturbed. "Even now, you still think of bribing me, trying to tempt me with the so-called inheritance of the Dragon Clan?" He gently shook his head, his tone carrying an almost pitying indifference. "Do you think that's what I'm fighting for? If it were truly for the so-called 'future,' for the empty fame and power of the Dragon Palace, I wouldn't have resolutely left the Dragon Clan in the first place. It's remarkable that you still can't see through it."
A faint blue halo enveloped Long Shishen, and when the light faded, he had returned to his original appearance—long, silvery-white hair cascaded down like a waterfall, a dragon-shaped mark on his forehead glowed faintly, and his eyes held the sharpness unique to the dragon race. He was no longer the ordinary mortal He Yuzhu had previously appeared in. After all, human cultivators were swarming outside, and if he continued to use He Yuzhu's appearance, he would be caught by their spies, and it wouldn't just implicate him. He Yuzhu had family and loved ones in the mortal realm, and if his identity were exposed and he were besieged by the humans as an "alliance with demons," it would be difficult for him to hide any longer.
He turned to look at Long Jiao and Long Tian, his gaze sweeping over their wounded bodies. His tone was calm but carried an undeniable weight: "Remember, next time you come looking for me, you must be prepared to die. And what you should be doing right now is staying here and quietly recovering your spiritual power."
Long Jiao clutched the wound on her arm, her eyes filled with confusion. She couldn't help but ask, "What does this mean? You're clearly our target, so why are you suddenly helping us?" She couldn't understand how her opponent, who was at loggerheads just a moment ago, would now say something like "protecting you."
Long Shishen looked out the window, where he could faintly hear the voices of human cultivators talking. He said calmly, "Take a look for yourself. There are so many human cultivators outside, all of them on high alert. You should know what they want—they not only want to capture me, but they also want to wipe out all the dragons as a threat. Your spiritual energy is severely depleted, and you can't completely conceal your dragon aura. If you rush out like this, I really don't know if you can escape from the human encirclement. But for now, I can protect you."
Long Tian pressed his chest wound, his brows furrowed, unable to understand this sudden change: "Why did you help us? We were ordered by our clan to take your life."
Dragon Godslayer's gaze lingered on them for a moment, his tone becoming more complex: "To be honest, you deserve to die for repeatedly obstructing me. But you are, after all, still dragons, sharing the same bloodline. This bloodline dictates that you can only die by my hand, and must never fall into the hands of humans, becoming their pawns to blackmail the dragon race. So you should focus on recovering. I'm only giving you three hours; after that, you won't get any more."
Long Jiao wanted to ask something more, but before she could even open her mouth, Long Tian pressed down on her shoulder. Long Tian shook his head at her and said in a deep voice, "Forget it, don't ask any more questions. It's more important to recover your spiritual power first. In the current situation, we can't afford to be picky."
Seeing her brother's solemn expression, and glancing at Long Shishen's seemingly genuine demeanor, Long Jiao swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue. She obediently sat down cross-legged and began circulating her spiritual energy to heal her injuries. The cave fell silent for a moment, broken only by the steady breathing of the three of them, intertwined with the faint sounds of human activity coming from outside, creating an eerie tranquility.
Dragon Slayer hovered in mid-air, a faint dragon aura swirling around him. This aura was dark gold, imbued with the weight of countless ages, yet also tinged with a restless, untamed arrogance. His eyes held a playful glint as he surveyed Long Tian and Long Jiao below, like a cat toying with mice. Dragon power occasionally flowed from his fingertips, but he never unleashed his full power. With his current strength, subduing these two still-developing dragon juniors would be a simple matter of lifting a finger, but he chose not to.
His peripheral vision swept below—the human cultivators were watching the battle intently, each one rubbing their hands together, their magical artifacts faintly glowing in their sleeves. Clearly, they were waiting for the dragons to weaken each other through internal strife so they could reap the benefits. Long Shishen deliberately slowed his attacks, sometimes intentionally exposing his ribs when Long Tian's fists struck, drawing fierce attacks only to dodge at the last second; at other times, he used only thirty percent of his strength to deal with Long Jiao's dragon breath, letting the scorching heat graz his clothes. He deliberately dragged what should have been a one-sided crushing defeat into a seemingly evenly matched stalemate—he wanted everyone to believe that his strength was comparable to that of the Long Tian siblings, making the fight more interesting and entertaining.
Three hours passed in the blink of an eye. The clouds in the sky changed several times, and the sun gradually slanted westward, turning orange-red. Long Tian and Long Jiao were already panting heavily, their chests heaving violently, their scales covered with fine cracks, some even oozing blood. Clearly, they were extremely exhausted, and even their ability to maintain levitation was somewhat unstable. Long Shishen estimated that the time was about right. Their stamina was just enough to sustain a breakout, but it would still require some effort, not too easy, nor too easy for the humans to defeat.
He suddenly stopped his attack, hovering in front of the two of them, a half-smile playing on his lips, his tone nonchalant: "You can leave now." His gaze fell on Long Tian, his voice light and airy, like a breeze across water, "But whether you can escape or not is none of my business."
Long Tian was stunned for a moment, his heart skipping a beat. Long Shishen had always acted erratically and ruthlessly; when he betrayed the Dragon Clan, he even dared to harm his own family. Why would he release someone so easily? There must be a trap here. He stared at the other party warily, his muscles tense, even his breathing was wary, and his brows were furrowed into a knot: "What do you mean by that? Don't try anything funny!"
Long Shishen smiled, offering no further explanation. He simply waved his hand, his tone languid: "Believe it or not, I'm leaving now."
During those three hours, he wasn't just "teasing" them. Taking advantage of the lulls in his fight with the Long Tian siblings, he had already subtly used his dragon power to set up a small illusionary array around them—the array wasn't particularly powerful, but it could distort light, temporarily confusing the divine senses of human cultivators and giving the Long Tian siblings a chance to survive. He had learned this array from a tattered ancient book a few days ago, and this was a good opportunity to test its effectiveness.