Chapter 958: Emperor-Class Lightning Dragon! Qiao Lin

Boom—!!

The sky was ripped apart by violent lightning plasma, millions of black lightning bolts writhing like furious dragons through the ink-black cloud layer!

On the wasteland turned pitch-black by lightning glare, the charred earth continuously cracked under high-voltage currents.

Behind Xu Jingming, a towering humanoid tyrannosaur over three meters tall, a black light wheel two meters in diameter spun wildly.

Crackling—

Like the eye of a storm, countless lightning bolts surged within the ring, condensing into liquid lightning plasma!

Xu Jingming's violent dragon eyes became boiling lightning pools; every inch of his skin erupted with black electric arcs.

A peerlessly formidable aura slammed toward them, causing even Qiao Lin and her companions, still flying at high speed, to stagger!

"What… what kind of aura is this?"

Lady Xina's face changed slightly; she felt that the figure standing hundreds of meters away was no human, but a deity!

"My lord Qiao Lin, Xu Jingming is suspicious! Should we retreat first?"

Her earlier bold words were instantly abandoned; Lady Xina couldn't help urging again.

"Suspicious my ass!"

Qiao Lin snorted coldly, "This is a lightning world; Xu Jingming possesses a Lightning-type SSS-class ability.

This is merely an anomaly caused by his ability triggering resonance in surrounding lightning—he can't possibly have this much actual combat power!

Get ready to move!"

Whoosh—

Qiao Lin's body surged upward, transforming from a petite girl under one meter sixty into a tall, commanding woman one meter seventy-five!

A long, slender tail emerged from behind her, and a pair of fluffy cat ears sprouted atop her head.

Her once-clear eyes became cat pupils, each a different color.

One emerald green, one violet—looking profoundly eerie.

Heterochromatic Cat of Heaven!!

Enhancement-type SS-class ability!

After activating this ability, her movement agility doubles—a born assassin-type ability!

She once used this ability to consecutively slay three ninth-rank Beast Emperors!

Seeing this, Lady Xina could only grit her teeth and follow.

But before her ability could fully manifest, it was brutally cut off.

Roar—!!

A terrifying roar echoed from afar, flattening every tree within a radius of over ten kilometers.

These trees, hardened by lightning strikes and mutated, exploded and shattered under the roar alone!

Then, the source of the sound appeared!

It was a dragon over a hundred meters long, wings spread wide, soaring through the sky!

Purple lightning encircled the dragon; terrifying lightning radiated outward with its roar, its power still palpable nearly five to six kilometers away.

"That's the ninth-rank Emperor Beast!"

Qiao Lin's face turned pale; she shouted urgently, "Run! We must not let it catch us!"

Unlike the seventh and eighth layers of the Breakthrough Tower, the beasts in the ninth layer are vastly more terrifying!

This lightning dragon is one of the predators that frequently hunts in this area.

Although this beast is not recorded in the Blue Star Beast Codex, our tests revealed:

Its rank has reached Emperor-class, equivalent to a human's SSS-class ability!

Thus, despite being merely lower-tier ninth-rank, it still possesses the power to annihilate us.

In this period, we've only encountered this beast twice—never expected it to appear now.

Lady Xina and the other three around her also turned pale instantly and fled.

"Xu Jingming! We'll settle our business later—run first! This is a ninth-rank Emperor-class Beast!"

Though Xu Jingming was infuriating, Qiao Lin did not wish him dead.

After all, they had no deep grudge; the beasts were their common enemy.

Thus, even as she fled, she turned back to warn him.

"Emperor-class aptitude?" Xu Jingming's eyebrows lifted.

Beasts are categorized by aptitude: King-class beasts equal human S-class abilities; Emperor-class beasts equal human-awakened SSS-class abilities!

This was his first encounter with an Emperor-class beast.

"Jingming, let's flee first—this lightning dragon is too powerful," Su Qingli said with Solemn expression.

"No rush. I want to test it first."

Xu Jingming's voice was resolute; his stance did not waver.

His body cultivation art, Doushen Shenlei Body, requires absorbing the blood of lightning-type dragon beasts.

Previously, he absorbed the blood of the Thunder Tyrant King, which was ninth-rank peak—but only King-class aptitude.

If he slays this Emperor-class lightning dragon and absorbs its blood, his physique may undergo a new transformation.

Also, fleeing now would cause him to miss the chance to obtain the Red Cloud Fruit from Qiao Lin.

Thinking of this, Xu Jingming no longer hesitated—he activated his domain and unleashed Lei Shen Jiang Shi.

"Lightning Dash Technique!"

Crack—

A flash of Lei Guang—Xu Jingming shot forward like a black streak toward the dragon.

His initial acceleration exceeded seven times the speed of sound; the sharp tip of his spear hissed violently as it tore through the air.

The fire generated by friction carved a brilliant trail across the sky.

"Xu Jingming... he actually dared to strike at that dragon?"

Far away, Qiao Lin stared in shock at the scene.

"Overestimating himself—even an SSS-rank ability cannot win against an absolute level gap."

Lady Xina snorted beside him, "This is the Aurora Rank? Questionable intelligence."

Though still fleeing, all of them kept their spiritual senses fixed on Xu Jingming.

As an Aurora Rank, Xu Jingming surely had his own trump card; being instantly killed by the lightning dragon was unlikely.

But exhausting his trump card—and possibly suffering grave, near-fatal injuries—was certain.

Yet the next moment.

A thick bolt of black lightning surged skyward; Xu Jingming's spear pierced the dragon like a coiling dragon.

Amid a horrific shriek, it drove straight through the dragon's skull!!

"The dragon's skull was pierced through?"

Qiao Lin's pupils shrank, stunned by the sight.

Lady Xina likewise swallowed hard, but quickly recovered:

"It's a Rank Nine Beast Emperor—it possesses indestructible matter, nearly impossible to kill."

As Lady Xina said, even with its skull pierced, the lightning dragon's head rapidly regenerated.

Then it was pierced again!

Boom—!!

Thunder roared—Thunder Art, Dragon Thunder Art, Lei Shen Zhi...

One after another combat techniques erupted; around Xu Jingming, a vast black sea of lightning rose.

And he was the master of lightning!

"Though this lightning dragon is strong, it cannot inflict serious harm on me.

On the contrary, each of my attacks drains vast amounts of its indestructible matter.

As long as I keep dragging this out, I will win."

Xu Jingming flapped his wings, his black dragon eyes filled with unprecedented calm.

His base blood qi was 150,000; his base spiritual force reached 170,000!

Thunderstorm State, Second Layer of Lightning Domain, plus Lei Shen Jiang Shi, and the top-tier elemental weapon, Ji Yao Lei Huan.

The four enhancements stacked together multiplied his power tenfold!

And the SSS-rank Chaos Divine Thunder exerts overwhelming suppression over all other lightning abilities.

Even Beast Emperor-level monsters are no exception.

It was the stacking of these multiple factors that led to this battle situation.

But Qiao Lin and the others far away did not know this.

Watching Xu Jingming overpower the lightning dragon, Qiao Lin and the others exchanged glances, all seeing shock in each other's eyes.

Could Xu Jingming, a Rank Eight Mid-tier, really be this strong?