[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces":3,"chapter-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-48":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Dragon of a Thousand Faces",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2269694,4431,"Chapter 48: The Sword of Miracles (Third Chapter, Ten Thousand Words)","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-48",48,"\u003Cp>\"Shatter Blade. Break the Boundary!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a hoarse roar, light flooded the entire world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The high-difficulty sword technique’s secret, which he had never mastered, succeeded miraculously on this one thousand and first attempt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The scorching Hero’s Sword emitted both blazing sunlight and pure holy light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It... actually succeeded?\" The most incredulous was Li En himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How did I succeed? I don’t know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When did I master the technique’s secret? I don’t know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What are its conditions? Why did it never work before? I don’t know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the blade of light was finally filled, Li En was both lucky and dazed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A miracle?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Courage grants hope to the desperate. At this moment, Li En’s potential was fully drained, his subconscious and luck both reaching their maximum values.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I succeeded?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In that instant, the longsword, infused with immense holy power, rested in Li En’s hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, it reached its critical point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It exploded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Boom!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silver light spread outward; the entire world was instantly eroded by a holy storm, everything dyed in holy radiance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Infinite holy light, like an ocean tide, radiated outward from the sword in Li En’s hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This strike drained nearly all of Li En Sudar’s holy power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sword technique, which he had never mastered, could not be stabilized even if miraculously used.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, all of Li En’s power was extracted, transformed into a blooming flower of holy energy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Boom!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The holy explosion had become a sustained state.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The holy sword had become a source of high-temperature, high-purity holy energy radiation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire cave shook; rocks fell everywhere; everyone inside instinctively turned toward this direction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The explosion’s power was so immense that, had it occurred outdoors, it would have certainly produced a mushroom cloud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All living beings around Li En were subjected to \"purification.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dimon and Larry, farther away, were blasted backward; the beasts driven into a frenzy by Li En’s Dragon Claw were vaporized in an instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What of Heik and Li En at the epicenter?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the white light began to fade, only a long, dark, shadowy stain remained on the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The powerful demon had no time to utter a final word—it was utterly vaporized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In that instant, the immense holy power of the Heroic Oath was fully unleashed, turning it into a \"micro-nuke\" confined to a three-meter radius.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Heik’s regenerative ability could not withstand this unreasonable sea of holy power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Li En himself, he lay on the ground unconscious, his body emitting a faint aroma of roasted meat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The benefit was that his wounds had been seared shut; the downside was that the burns were likely severe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the real world, there is no \"friendly fire immunity\u002Freduction\"—throwing a fireball at yourself really can kill you; holy power is no different.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Holy power targets only evil, and a Holy Knight’s holy resistance is often absurdly high; Li En suffered little direct holy damage, but the sheer light and heat from the ultra-pure explosion still caused secondary injuries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Senior Li En.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Master.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before slipping into complete unconsciousness, seeing the two arrive, Li En finally closed his eyes in relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shatter Blade. Break the Boundary was an advanced holy sword secret that Li En had only grasped a fraction of.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As an evolution of Exorcism Slash, its principle remained simple: \"Channel holy power, then swing the sword\"—only adjusted for area-of-effect attacks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a reckless, high-consumption area attack: overloading with holy power, then detonating it as a wide-range AoE.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The core lay in maintaining stable, massive holy power infusion, compressing it, then triggering a focused explosion to contain the power within a controllable range.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All these actions had to be completed in an instant; otherwise, failure was inevitable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was not the legendary light beam (priests and high-rank knights had dedicated ranged holy light skills), but a close-range, sword-centered controlled holy storm—poor control would destroy the sword first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every step demanded extreme manipulation skill, requiring long-term cultivation under normal circumstances.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Previously, Li En had been stuck at the first step—\"holy power infusion\"—he hadn’t even seen the door, let alone entered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this time, a one-in-a-million stroke of luck had triggered: not only did he succeed on the first try, he overfilled beyond the limit with Heroic-level holy power—and didn’t detonate prematurely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How long have I slept?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he awoke again, the armor burned and stuck to his skin had been removed; Li En, bare-chested, was already bandaged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young man pushed himself up; every moment now was precious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t waste words telling them to ignore him—without his combat power, this battle was already lost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Less than fifteen minutes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This, at least, was good news.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slight movement brought pain to his shoulder, but it was no longer the bone-deep agony it had been.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was clearly the result of holy power healing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do you still have holy power?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\".Almost none,\" Larry sighed, speaking honestly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We can still fight,\" Dimon said—he’d never had much holy power to begin with.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En tried moving his left hand—it still worked, though it hurt. He’d likely have to rely on one-handed swordplay from now on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wound on his neck felt much better; such rapid recovery meant his two junior knights had used all their holy power to heal him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En glanced: Dimon still had combat capability.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Larry, clutching his chest and gasping, had truly reached his limit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this battle, she, unarmored, had suffered heavy injuries, then used all her holy power to heal Li En—she was done.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Where are the children?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Still in the secret chamber. We’re guarding the door—they’re safe.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This, perhaps, was the best news of all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En nodded, thought for a moment, then spoke directly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Larry, take the children up first.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No, I—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Leave your armor with me. This is the optimal setup.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En looked at his armor—the expensive \"Sudar family artwork\"—now completely ruined.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Large gashes across the upper half had shattered its defense; the armor’s interior was fused with blood and flesh, faintly smelling of roasted meat—it could only serve as a grill now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Obey. Think of your vow of protection. As long as the children are safe, we are already undefeated.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Larry clenched his teeth, then finally nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His bare chest felt cold; Li En instinctively touched his chest—there should have been a copper necklace with a \"ruby\" pendant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The necklace remained, but the gem was now only a few charred fragments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En never suspected the two knights had taken it; it seemed something had happened at that moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Biological Level: Inferior Stone, Status: Strength 6(13), Physique 7(11), Agility 5(6), Spirit 6(16)】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, Li En was stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The increase was enormous (all stats rose by over two points), and his attributes now subtly surpassed most ordinary orc’s Inferior Stone baseline.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was likely just one step away from truly entering the Inferior Stone level.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Dragonization: 5.7%, Awakened Racial Talent: Dragon Eye (Perceive Truth), Dragon Claw (Rend Reality)】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Beastization: 2.5%, Awakened Bloodline Ability: Tongue of Speech (Understand Human Language)】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dragonization had been further stimulated; beastization remained unchanged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En now understood what had happened at that moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The explosive holy power had stimulated his body to absorb the Hero’s Blood, completing the bloodline foundation and granting him the basic capability for Shatter Blade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, with his rapidly evolving body as a foundation, and through a series of coincidences, he had successfully swung that sword.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is this a miracle? Or did you do it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En stared at the Hero’s Sword beside him; at that moment, he had truly felt its aid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【The Hero Who Brings Miracles, said to be a super-gambler who never lost.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Uh, your activation condition isn’t 'user is about to die,' is it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En could only guess—perhaps its miracle was an unknown fate or luck-based ability.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Huh.\" He swung the sword once more with one hand; holy power could be unleashed at any moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if it had been luck and accident before, now that he’d used it once, repeating it required only following the instinct of life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its power would never match the lethal blow of unleashing all Heroic holy power, but for his current state, it was the new strength he needed most.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Shatter Blade. Break the Boundary (Beginner) mastered】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Heroic Codex’s record confirmed this possibility.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Hero’s sword that brings miracles? Legend says the Hero was indeed a unique class—stronger the stronger the foe, the more desperate the battle. But can you really walk by the river forever without falling in?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1417,"2026-06-19T21:45:41.002Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","8f1cd0181c605be225e17f3efc86f23a11c1a66c421936d03f864b80dcce0270","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-49","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-47",362,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-cover.jpg"]