r18novel Page 49
Page 49
A ruffian looked at the fire lance with awe.
"I've seen similar firearms, but none of them were this powerful, let alone capable of piercing through a shield and blasting through an infantryman's armor! This power is simply outrageous!"
"This is the improved fire spear from Liangshan. It's much more powerful, several times more powerful than the ordinary fire spear."
Liu Hong proudly displayed the extraordinary technology of Liangshan, then led his men to continue their charge, seizing dozens of sets of infantry armor from the corpses in the tunnel.
The Imperial Guards were terrified by the devastating barrage of fire from the muskets. Their usual courage relied entirely on their invulnerable infantry armor. Not to mention the whistles and short swords carried by civilians, even the military-issue giant axes and halberds would have difficulty breaking through the infantry armor's 13-point physical defense.
Even with a powerful crossbow, when fired at close range within thirty paces, the steel arrows lose much of their power after piercing through thick infantry armor. Unless a vital organ is hit, it is impossible to cause a fatal wound.
However, their infantry armor is now riddled with shockingly large scars from being pierced by iron bullets!
Realizing that the armor could not save their lives, the morale of these Kaifeng Imperial Guards plummeted. Their usual courage vanished, and they fled in disarray.
"Pursue! Pursue immediately!!!"
Liu Hong ordered the pursuit to continue. Firearms were only just beginning to appear in Liangshan and were far from widespread. Before firearms became commonplace, these infantry armors were invaluable! Every pair captured was a treasure!
In an instant, fifty Liangshan musketeers charged forward through the narrow tunnel. They were only dressed in cloth, making them easy to move in, while the fleeing imperial guards were wearing heavy infantry armor weighing forty or fifty pounds, making it impossible for them to run fast. Amidst the blinding flashes of fire, deafening roars, and billowing smoke, one imperial guard after another had their backs pierced by musketeer bullets.
Realizing they couldn't escape while wearing armor, the Imperial Guards put on a show for Liu Hong, discarding their helmets, breastplates, belts, and armor before running away!
In one battle, Liu Hong captured fifty sets of infantry armor, which made his eyes light up.
Lin Chong frowned slightly. It was the first time she had ever seen such a terrifying weapon. She quickly grabbed a suit of armor and examined it carefully. Looking at the charred and mangled armor plates, she couldn't help but feel horrified.
This thing is terrifyingly powerful! It can't even stop a melee fighter? What has Junior Brother created?!
After successfully defeating the fifty-man Imperial Guard, the group continued their escape, but the loud gunfire attracted other enemies.
With a deafening roar, Liu Hong's head was suddenly torn apart by bursts of boiling silver pythons! The azure arcs of electricity, carrying the force of divine punishment, pierced into the tunnel dome, instantly melting the rock-cast arch into countless meteors.
The chilling plasma splashed and traveled along the scattered cracks, diffusing into a ghostly blue mist in the somber darkness. Concrete debris, wrapped in acrid smoke, fell in a flurry, weaving the musty smell of decay and the metallic tang of ionized iron into a throat-scorching veil.
Amidst a flurry of plasma and mud, a graceful and elegant noblewoman descended from the sky, riding on lightning.
As she walked, it was as if thunderclouds flowed across silk. Her cobalt blue satin dress rippled with electric currents with each graceful step, and her slender waist was adorned with a desert star map waist chain made of twelve meteorite iron pieces. Her frost-silver hair was styled into a married woman's bun, adorned with three thunderbolt hairpins forged from dragon bones. Whenever her fingertips lightly touched the ends of the hairpins, indigo static sparks would explode in the air.
The deliberately preserved dragon-like features seeped from the amber pupils, and an endless sandstorm of destruction swam deep within the iris. The lips, coated with agave balm, always had a faint curve, and the lingering pale blue scales from the jaw to the collarbone remained.
Liu Hong looked over solemnly and discovered that the person was a shape-shifting dragon.
Fu (Blue Dragon)
Level 21 (Level 21 dragon)
Life 241, Psychic 19
Strength 28, Agility 10, Constitution 22
Intelligence 16, Perception 16, Charisma 16
Physical Defense: 21 (21 adult dragon scales)
Magic Defense: 21 (21 adult dragon scales)
"Instructor Lin, you've gone too far. I don't know what grudge you have against Gao Qiu, but can't we resolve it amicably? Why do you have to kill the Grand Commandant's entire family in the capital? You're not just killing Gao Qiu, you're slapping the Emperor in the face!"
Empress Fu's face turned ashen.
"Put down your spear and come back with me! I guarantee that Kaifeng Prefecture will give you a fair and just trial."
"Fairness? Where were you when Gao Yanei insulted my wife like that? Where were you when that scoundrel Gao Qiu tried to frame me to death? Now you come out to give me fairness? Too late!!! This is Empress Fu, the wife of Emperor Taizong! You all go first, I'll deal with her!"
Lin Chong brandished his eighteen-foot spear and charged forward, transforming into a demonic form! His two beautiful legs below the waist transformed into a silvery-white tiger-leopard body, possessing both the streamlined beauty of a snow leopard and the overwhelming power of a tiger.
As it ran wildly with its four paws on the ground, its two pert buttocks extended into long tiger and leopard tails, and fluffy white cat ears grew on its head once again. Its left eye retained the gentle ink color of a human, while its right eye transformed into the vertical silver pupil of a tiger and leopard.
It's just a level 21 dragon, nothing too scary. Although a dragon usually reaches around level 20 after it grows up, exceeding the world level limit of 12, a level 21 blue dragon is equivalent to a level 5 warlock, with decent spellcasting abilities.
However, all of these levels are biological levels, which is both an advantage and a disadvantage. This class build can only be described as good, overwhelming most classes, especially the Warrior class.
Character builds like Lin Chong, Yue Fei, and Liu Hong are all top-tier, carefully selected builds! They easily handle challenges beyond their level. Facing a fully grown blue dragon, level 12, and having completed its demonic ascension, Lin Chong showed no fear whatsoever; in fact, Lin Chong's attributes were even higher!
"Fire!"
At Liu Hong's command, another ten muskets opened fire to cover Lin Chong's charge.
Empress Fu knew Lin Chong was formidable, and her expression turned solemn. Her cobalt blue dress transformed into liquid metal, enveloping her entire body and creating a terrifying beauty that blended the true form of a blue dragon with human form. Half of her face maintained the exquisite makeup of a noblewoman, while the other half revealed cracked scales and leaping lightning as she withstood the bullets from the musket.
"clang!"
Empress Fu frowned slightly, noticing that her scales had been dented and broken by an iron pellet. Realizing the power of the object, she instantly cast a psionic shield, causing the remaining nine iron pellets to embed themselves in the void and fall to their feet, out of reach of her.
But at the same time, Lin Chong had already rushed in front of her like a storm. His eighteen-foot spear shattered her spiritual energy shield as easily as breaking glass, and the hundred-year-old dragon scales cracked amidst the metallic explosions!
As the eighteen-foot spear pierced the blue scale with the force of a falling meteor, Empress Fu's entire body suddenly lit up with spiderweb-like blue cracks. The blue scale that was hit did not peel off, but was shattered into dust by Lin Chong's charge! A waterfall of dragon blood, crackling with electric arcs, gushed out from the breach, but strangely passed through Lin Chong's body, without spilling a single drop of blood on her.
Empress Fu frowned, immediately discovering the secret behind Lin Chong's changing light and shadow. Her eyes flashed with terrifying lightning, and she stomped her jade foot, detonating a thunderous nova beneath her feet. A terrifying shockwave spread outwards, and eight hundred blue-purple lightning snakes simultaneously devoured the earth. Liquid plasma spewed from the cracks in the earth, and suspended metallic particles in the air instantly melted into countless crimson sparks. This indiscriminate, ultra-wide-range attack left Lin Chong with nowhere to hide!
Chapter 106: Leopard Head's Storm Strikes (Bonus Chapter for 2100 Monthly Tickets!)
Faced with the oncoming thunderstorm, Lin Chong quickly leaped backward to dodge. His leopard tail swept across the area, creating seven afterimages. Each illusion displayed a different posture in the air. A terrifying lightning spear clearly pierced his heart, but it only shattered a series of illusory light and shadows. His real body had already rushed several meters away.
As the shockwave formed from countless bolts of lightning crashed down like a stormy sea, the demonic patterns of the Dark Prince flickered in Lin Chong's vertical pupils. Every twist of her waist, every leap, every dodge and maneuver left a storm-like mark on the extremely narrow underground tunnel, as she narrowly evaded every bolt of lightning and every thunderclap!
When the lightning became so dense that it was impossible to dodge, she used the tip of her eighteen-foot spear to provoke a cluster of rampaging lightning, forcibly creating an annihilation escape route through the gaps in the lightning dragon. She passed through the thunderstorm unharmed, and after creating distance, she launched the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix for the second time, rushing to Empress Fu's front for the second time. The eighteen-foot spear shattered the dragon scales for the second time, forcing her to retreat step by step!
"Little brother! You guys go first! She's no match for me! If you stay here, you might get caught in the thunderstorm. Try to rejoin the others first!"
Lin Chong confidently brandished his eighteen-foot spear, starting with the move "Phoenix Falling into Clouds," unleashing a flurry of spear flowers and launching a frenzied attack like a storm. If Empress Fu were to revert to her dragon form and fight him in an open area, it would indeed be quite troublesome. Not to mention anything else, as long as she took flight and continuously suppressed him with her dragon breath, or reverted to her true form and used her absolute size and mass to crush him, Lin Chong would indeed have a hard time dealing with her.
But you're going to fight me in such a confined space, in human form? Who do you think you are?!
"No, I'm coming too! Li Cunxiao, you take the others and go first!"
Liu Hong didn't force the issue. The Blue Dragon Queen's area damage was indeed terrifying, and her psionic shield was strong enough to intercept bullets. There was limited room for maneuver for the remaining people. So he instructed Li Cunxiao, who had become agitated again after seeing the dragon, and the others to retreat quickly.
Liu Hong, wielding his Shadow Scale Spear, charged forward to fight Empress Fu alongside Lin Chong.
"Roar!!!"
The beautiful woman, transformed from a blue dragon, shattered her hairpins with a cold laugh, her long, snow-white hair erupting with countless lightning snakes. With a delicate hand gesture, she summoned the Thunder Pivot of the Nine Heavens, and as her dragon claws descended, three hundred bolts of lightning tore countless destructive, molten silver wounds in the darkness, striking the two once more!
Lin Chong remained calm and composed, using an exaggerated agility of 52 points, almost reaching its limit, to dodge and weave through the three hundred bolts of molten silver lightning.
Liu Hong, however, was even more headstrong and charged head-on into the thunder. Li Cunxiao's thunder immunity allowed him to pass directly through Empress Fu's torrent of thunder!
"drink!!!"
The moment Lin Chong and Liu Hong simultaneously swung their spears, hundreds of phoenix feather phantoms shot out from the spear tips. Each cluster of spear flowers transformed into a terrifying phoenix head, carrying a storm that swept across the world, weaving a cage of shadows and steel around the blue dragon. The eighteen-foot serpent spear and the scale shadow long spear simultaneously struck Empress Fu!
"Don't be presumptuous!"
Faced with the two's fierce attack, Empress Fu's phoenix robe suddenly shattered, and her arms grew fifteen times larger amidst the cracking sound of bones, transforming back into two towering and terrifying giant dragon claws, as majestic as the beams of a grand hall. In this narrow space, she had only transformed into a pair of dragon arms! The cobalt blue dragon scales were not ornate decorations, but rather layers of battlefield armor, each scale etched with thunderous battle patterns.
Lin Chong's spear unleashed seven spear blossoms, like a dragon emerging from the sea, biting towards the throat; Liu Hong's long spear swept across the lower body, its blade tearing through the air with a low, phoenix-like cry. These two deadly moves sealed off all escape routes.
Empress Fu's left claw gripped the spear, while her right claw intercepted the lance. The dragon claws, wreathed in lightning, rubbed against the eighteen-foot spear, sparking solar-like plasma that forcibly formed a closed circuit. The lightning force traveled along the spear shaft and struck Lin Chong's palm, causing the instructor of the 800,000 Imperial Guards to experience some muscle spasms.
Its right claw forcefully extinguished the double star river of Liu Hong's spear, and the monstrous force it unleashed caused the Scale Shadow Spear to deflect three inches and slam heavily into the ground.
At the same time, Empress Fu lightly stomped her foot again, and lightning patterns spread across the earth once more. A terrifying storm swept in, forcing Lin Chong to retreat and dodge, creating distance between them.
But this time, Liu Hong still refused to back down. Relying on his immunity to lightning, he withstood the Empress Fu's lightning nova and unleashed his current limit with the Sixfold Heavenly Gang Slash! The Scale Shadow Spear suddenly burst forth with six layers of starlight. Wherever the spear passed, the darkness was torn open with six dazzling cracks, outlining a shattered galaxy in the mortal world. The seven demonic stars of the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend were all wrapped in dense and indelible spiritual energy!
In an instant, Empress Fu's eyes reflected a scene of apocalypse: six layers of stars, seven demon lords, cleaving her dragon-scale blue armor, sending sparks flying everywhere! The terrifying burst of power sent her flying!
As the smoke and dust cleared, Empress Fu staggered and leaned on the ground. The dragon scales on her chest were not shattered, but rather scorched by the starlight, leaving behind marks like stars.
At the same time, Lin Chong launched another devastating charge! Her four claws compressed against the rock wall like springs, then suddenly unfolded, and she launched her third thrusting charge like an arrow released from a bow! The spacetime along her charge trajectory strangely collapsed. When she took her first step, she was still several meters away; the afterimage of her second claw had already torn apart the earth along the way; and the moment her true form descended with her third claw, the entire space was distorted and shook.
Before the spear even reached her, the dragon scales on Empress Fu's chest curled and charred on their own. Once the eighteen-foot spear pierced the dragon scales, a terrifying shockwave erupted instantly! It tore through the earth, kicked up dust, and sent her flying!
Smoke swirled and dust filled the air. When the dragon wings, powerful enough to blot out the sky, suddenly unfurled, the air was compressed into visible ring-shaped shockwaves. The moment the dragon wings were fully extended, the true terror of the Blue Dragon Clan erupted from the Queen Fu's body—the dust clouds that had been swept into the air by the hurricane now formed a rotating crown of thunderstorms under the blessing of dragon lightning, and the dragon blood falling from the sky was like a scarlet rainstorm.
Lin Chong and Liu Hong frowned slightly. We did indeed severely damage this blue dragon, but she actually flew back to the Tang Dynasty Kaifeng City on the first basement level through the crack she had blasted open, and restored her original form as a blue dragon!
The basement level of Kaifeng City is too big and too high. Fighting a dragon in this kind of terrain would be very difficult.
Meanwhile, Li Cunxiao led more than fifty people to quickly retreat, wanting to rejoin the others. Unexpectedly, at the corner, they encountered a second mature and beautiful woman. Her dragon horns resembled a golden phoenix crown, and her beautiful eyes were like thunderous springs. She blocked their way.
The terrifying pressure of thunder sent chills down Li Cunxiao's spine. Under the threat of death, she arched her back like a cat, her fin-like ears involuntarily pressing down to the sides, resembling the wings of an airplane. Her dragon-like snout opened, exhaling a series of hoarse, low breaths.
What bad luck! There were only three dragons in total, and our group encountered two of them!
Chapter 107: Empress Dowager Song Secretly Releases Li Cunxiao
"Oh no! Another dragon is coming!!!"
The Liangshan soldiers were taken aback and immediately opened fire! But to little avail. The scales of an adult dragon were too thick and too hard. These early firearms could only damage the scales and cause minor injuries. Moreover, adult dragons were often powerful spellcasters. She raised her hand and wove a psionic shield, intercepting the bullets in the void!
"Where did these bandits come from, daring to cause trouble in my husband's Kaifeng city? They're courting death!"
The noblewoman snorted coldly and gracefully blocked the way in front of the crowd. A pair of enormous blue dragon wings that blotted out the sky stretched out from her white, jade-like back, instantly tearing her plain white dress into a sexy and alluring backless gown.
The front of her clothing, lacking support, slipped off her two soft, jade-like breasts, hanging limply from her waistband, fluttering in the wind. Two alluring glimpses of her skin were faintly visible through the pale bodice.
The towering lightning in the sky gilded her butterfly-shaped shoulder blades with silver light, and the roar of the electric arcs tearing the world apart was deafening. Her pair of blue dragon wings, which could be spread out for three zhang, trembled slightly in the night wind, blocking all the way for the group.
Moonlight streamed down the hollows of her bare back, her pearly skin gleaming with a faint sheen of sweat. The torn satin fabric piled up around her waist like flowing clouds, the deep V-neck revealing glimpses of her waist rising and falling with her breath, and the dark gold collar wrapped around her snow-white ankles, leaving a damp trail in the dew-soaked underground world.
Moonlight streamed across her proudly raised jade neck, around which a golden collar, its chain-like pattern entwined, rested. The cold, molten iron pressed against her warm throat, which trembled with each breath. This collar was clearly an elaborately crafted prisoner's garment, with serpentine fangs piercing the pale blue veins beneath her snow-white skin, freezing the swan's posture of stretching its neck in a delicate moment of struggle and submission.
As she raised her hand to touch the metal restraints, her fingers collided with the gold, producing a cold, shattering sound. The taut lines of her throat, however, revealed their vulnerability due to this movement. These ornate shackles twisted the queen, who should have been high above, holy and elegant, into a dangerous arc of depravity and lewdness under the moonlight.
"Damn it! This is Empress Song, the wife of Emperor Taizu!"
Seeing yet another adult blue dragon appear before them, the group was filled with despair. It would have been better to stay with Instructor Lin and Liu Hong at Empress Fu's place! Something might happen there, but here it was certain death! None of us could handle a blue dragon!
At this moment, Li Cunxiao was also terrified by the sudden appearance of a blue dragon. She immediately transformed into dragon form. During this time, she had grown a bit larger, her size slightly exceeding that of a Siberian tiger. The young dragon's spine, covered with cobalt blue scales, arched high upwards, each scale standing on end, like a ruffled ball of fluff, trying to appear even larger. She opened her mouth and unleashed a breath of Yin Thunder from the Blessing of the River, causing a bolt of molten silver lightning to tear through space and slam into the mother dragon in front of her!
The light laugh that had just escaped from the Empress Dowager's lips had not yet faded when her fingertips pierced through the raging lightning. The molten silver dragon breath collapsed into a trembling drop of honey in her palm, making her entire hand almost transparent.
Then, in front of the dumbfounded Liangshan soldiers, she ate the thunderbolt alive.
As her tongue swept away the last vestiges of lightning, her lips brushed against the afterimage of thunder, exploding into tiny sparks. A moist sheen trickled down her lip lines, like the alluring residue of a cherry coated in sugar. The bells on her collar jingled softly as she swallowed, her throat and neck forming a graceful swallowing line.
The Yin Lightning, powerful enough to erode even the black iron, transformed into lingering silver threads between her lips and teeth, stretching out into shimmering arcs the moment her pearly teeth gently bit her.
"Blue dragons are immune to lightning, how dare you breathe lightning at me? What kind of inexperienced child is this, not even knowing this?!"
Seeing that he couldn't breathe properly, Li Cunxiao let out a low growl like a trapped beast and suddenly lunged forward! His pupils burned with the madness of a trapped beast fighting for its life, and his ten fingers formed sharp claws tempered by Yin lightning. His entire dragon transformed into a sharp blade wrapped in the Yin lightning of the Ji River, and he slammed into Empress Song. But the moment he touched her body, he was directly blown away by a dragon wing that blotted out the sky!
In the last moment before Li Cunxiao lost consciousness, she heard her bones crack like ice breaking open.
The blue-scaled dragon merely lazily lifted its wings three inches, yet visible ripples of azure light spread through the air. Li Cunxiao's true dragon face was twisted and deformed by the wind pressure, and the entire dragon was blasted dozens of meters before crashing to the ground in a pathetic state. Even one of its small milk teeth was knocked out, and blood flowed freely from the broken tooth. Only then was its consciousness awakened by the pain.
"Where did these dragon cubs come from? They don't follow any rules at all. If I wanted to kill you, it would only take the blink of an eye."
"However, if you are willing to wear the collar and become one of us, and keep me company and amuse me on ordinary days, I can spare your life."
With an air of supreme arrogance, Empress Song gently stroked the slave collar around her neck with her fingers. Her fragrant tongue darted out from her lips and lightly licked the blood droplets on the dragon's wing. Then she froze, stunned, staring at Li Cunxiao, whom she had just knocked away, with an expression of disbelief.
"Song! How are things on your end?!"
Suddenly, a terrifying dragon roar, accompanied by thunder, resounded in the distance. This sound could actually travel along the veins of lightning, through the dome of the underground city, and exploded next to Empress Song. The roar coming from inside was that of Li Cunshen, the Ninth Protector!
Upon hearing his voice, Empress Dowager Song was clearly frightened, shrinking her neck and arching her back, her pupils and earlobes bulging, like a startled humanoid cat.
Not only that, but it started raining in the underground city on the first basement level. Dark clouds swirled above the rocky dome, raining down deadly droplets. Anyone touched by these droplets, which were imbued with spiritual energy, would be detected by Li Cunshen. That's how everyone else had been discovered before.
"My granddaughter has run into a formidable enemy, and there are some criminals around here too. Do you have anyone with you?!"
As the torrential rain poured through the Tang Kaifeng ground level on the first basement level and flowed into the Han Kaifeng tunnel on the second basement level, the Empress Song's astonishment vanished instantly. She immediately cast a protective shield with her left hand, covering Li Cunxiao and the Liangshan soldiers, preventing the rain from reaching them. She then quickly replied, her voice truly like thunder, echoing through the space.
There's no one here.
Empress Song glanced at Li Cunxiao in shock. Excitement, joy, sadness, guilt, helplessness—countless emotions swirled in her pupils like a revolving lantern, and she even shed a single tear.
Then, in front of all the Liangshan rebels and Li Cunxiao, she actually flew away, leaving the desperate crowd dumbfounded.
Chapter 108: Lu Zhisheng Beats Nine Protectors with a Cane
"You two know each other?!"
The ruffians stared in astonishment at the giant dragon that had flown away, then at the injured Li Cunxiao, and were filled with shock and confusion.
"I've never seen her before?"
Li Cunxiao was also very puzzled. It was the first time she had met Empress Song, but why was she so sad when she looked at her for the last time?