Blood spurted out of Alex, quickly forming into his Blood Armor. At the same time, 123 swords flew out of his Soul Space, with Midnight at the front, all of which formed into an array and struck at the Dragon Emperor.
The Dragon Emperor used a single attack, a strong gust of air that struck the swords and destroyed the attack.
All the swords fell back, with a few ones that weren't made up of Starforged Tungsten even breaking on impact.
Alex quickly took back all the swords except Midnight and struck again. God Rending Death Blade struck out, but once again a single strike from the Dragon Emperor destroyed it. He didn't even have to use a strong technique to do so.
"There is no reason why you should be fighting back," the man said. "You are too weak to do anything."
Alex moved back and reached out for Yao Ning to teleport with her, but right before he could touch her, he felt the space between him and her expand ever so slightly.
Alex gasped in surprise and had to reach out further, but by that time, the Dragon Emperor was once again on top of him.
The spear struck him on the armor and Alex was sent flying into multiple trees, dragging a large crater on the ground before he stopped somewhere far away. His blood armor was dismissed almost instantly as it lost all of its energy from that one strike, and what little strength he had in his body did nothing to protect him from the attack.
His body worked to heal itself as quickly as it could to save him, the organs that were ruptured and the bones that were broken reverting to how they were before.
Alex saw specks of black and white before his vision returned. His ears still rung from that strike, the sensation of pain not yet letting up. He felt the ground shake again and shockwaves hit him almost the same time. That caught Alex's attention and he pulled himself out of the ground to look back to see what was happening. He was still dazed when he saw that things were not looking very good. Yao Ning had put up her technique once again, creating a defensive sphere with 16 arms floating out to attack in all directions. She fought with the Dragon Emperor, but it was clear she had no chance at victory at all.
She used all she had, her techniques, her artifacts, and any other constructs, but nothing worked against the man who stood above every other mortal in this world.
A single swing of his spear brought destruction and a simple stab brought annihilation.
Yao Ning fought back all the swings and stabs she could, but she was helpless. Alex tried to move to help her in any way he could, but there was nothing he could do against someone whose core was half-filled with Immortal Qi.
Alex looked at his hand. He still clutched the talisman he found inside the cave. Fortunately, it hadn't been destroyed in the attack. With this talisman, he could save her.
Alex focused on himself and looked for the perfect opportunity to teleport into Yao Ning's sphere. Just as he was about to teleport, a forked lightning bolt came toward him out of nowhere.
Alex teleported to the side out of pure instinct and watched the lightning bolt fly past where he had been. Once he knew he was safe, he focused back on saving Yao Ning and turned around just in time to see the scene of terror.
The lightning strike broke past Yao Ning's barrier, striking her. She flew into the distance, crashing into the ground. Even without looking, Alex could tell she was badly hurt.
He needed to save her.
Alex teleported to grab onto her and run away with her, but even as he did, he felt the space expand between where he wanted to be and where he was.
Alex understood what was happening, and he altered his teleportation to match the increasing distance. He arrived right next to Yao Ning and reached to grab her. So close.
The Noble Dragon spear stabbed into Alex's hand, spearing through it into the ground. He was so close, and yet… so far.
The Dragon Emperor raised his other hand and struck out with a bolt of lightning.
The Immortal attack consumed all light and sound as it blasted into the ground. Alex felt the remnants of the attack pass through him, the force ripping away his skin, but his body was unable to move due to the spear that stuck him to the ground.
When everything faded away, all that remained in the ground was a deep hole with not even a body remaining. Alex looked at the hole in horror as the realization dawned on him.
Yao Ning was dead.
"No…" A deep sense of loss filled Alex. "No…"
The Dragon Emperor pulled out his Spear and pointed toward Alex. "I would prefer if you answered my question now. I can't seem to—"
Alex struck out.
White hot fire poured out of his hands, filled with True Fire Dao, burning with a temperature that ignited the woods around them just because of their proximity.
The Dragon Emperor quickly wove a barrier of Air with his Qi, forming a defense. He suddenly felt the barrier warp as space itself warmed around him.
He used his own Dao to expand the space around him, to put more distance between him and the fire.
The fire disappeared a moment later, and what came was a single sword strike that he barely managed to see before it was right next to him. It was so small that it was practically invisible to his senses for the most part.
It managed to break past his barrier of wind somehow, but when it did strike him, it was already too weak. The attack struck him in the chest, creating a small line of wound that bled a few drops of blood, but other than that he was fine.
"Not bad. But you'll have to do more if you want to hurt me in any way important," the Dragon Emperor said. When the dust cleared, Alex was there on the ground before him, staring at the Dragon Emperor intently.
The Dragon Emperor moved to attack him and paused. He tilted his head in confusion.
"Why do I no longer sense your killing intent?" he asked. Then he struck out.
A bright white bolt of lightning struck through Alex, tearing him into millions of motes of light.
"No wonder…" The Dragon Emperor said with an amused expression. "A fake."
He spread his senses and immediately covered the entirety of the secret realm. He first checked the Voidgate to make sure he wasn't there. Then, he searched the rest of the area.
At first, the Dragon Emperor frowned as he couldn't find Alex at all. He worried that he had somehow let Alex go. However, a moment later, he saw Alex pop out of the ground nearly 30 kilometers away from there.
"A ground-based escape technique, huh?" he asked himself. "Not bad."
He moved at a blinding speed and covered that distance in the time it took Alex to cough out the dirt and get back on his feet. Before Alex could realize what was happening, he was once again struck with a weaker bolt of lightning, and the Dragon Emperor stood before him once more.
