Mark went on clicking a black-colored button.
*Ding! The skill, Trident Missile, was activated. 414,252 Ether points were deducted.
*Ding! Please lock on the target.
Because of all the flames ahead, it became a little bit harder for Mark to lock it right away, but without any intervention from any enemy, he comfortable took his time to do the task.
Once the target was locked, the three launchers absorbed natural energy from the surroundings at a terrifying pace, alerting all the Supreme realm experts within the 30 km radius.
Just like others, Lan Ju and Tang Jiyao also sensed the surge of power just a couple of kilometers away. They put a pause on their battle for a moment. The strangest thing for them is that the power isn't coming from a human or a beast. It was from a non-living thing.
Lan Ju didn't receive any information on it but he understood that Lu Zhen wanted to make the last strike. Hence, he decided to stop toying with the dragon and slammed the ground, unleashing one of his skills.
In an instant, huge volumes of water rose from the ground, extending like tree branches and capturing the red dragon's limbs.
*Roar*
The dragon roared in anger and used its hottest flames to evaporate the water web and free itself. However, before the flames touched the water, Lan Ju went on to pour lightning energy into the water threads, effectively paralyzing the dragon.
Tang Jiyao didn't feel helpless more than ever. He wondered why he even tried to wage an unnecessary battle against a superior opponent.
He regretted being arrogant about his cultivation strength, which led to the underestimation of the enemies. Just until a minute ago, this Tang Dynasty's ancestor was grinning in satisfaction because of an adrenaline rush, and now, that smile was long gone.
Like a trapped insect on the spider web, the dragon waited ten seconds until three beams of energy shot from the three launchers of the missile defense system.
The three beams of energy then converged immediately to take the appearance of a three-pronged spear, a Trident, as it flew toward its target at the speed of mach 4.2.
As the attack formed, Lan Ju and the Red Dragon sensed the power behind it. "Peak stage of the Demigod realm?"
Knowing well that he was going to die, Tang Jiyao decided to take his enemies with him to the afterlife by committing suicide.
He exploded his spirit core, intending to release almost 25 billion joules of energy into the surroundings, destroying everything within the ten-kilometer radius.
He died right away without seeing the result of his suicide attack, but unfortunately for him, nothing happened as he desired.
To save Mark, Lan Ju turned into the five-tailed leopard and used a magic skill to absorb all the energy into his body. As a result, the explosion happened inside him, damaging his internal organs.
Meanwhile, the ether trident passed through everything that came in its way and directly pierced the Red Dragon corpse's chest, destroying its body completely.
As everything happened in the span of a few seconds, Mark couldn't comprehend the situation.
It was only after he picked up the sniper rifle to look at the result did he saw the injured leopard. As for the dragon, he cannot see its remains. "Did I make a mistake?"
He was sure that the attack would kill the beast but didn't know that because it struck a dead dragon without any cultivation, it destroyed the remains completely instead of making a hole out of its chest.
So, why is there an injured leopard on the ground? Mark wondered whether his attack actually affected both of them.
He didn't know what happened but it wasn't the time to ponder on the situation either. Everything can be answered by Zheng. Mark flew toward the spot and landed before the five-tailed scarlet leopard, which was currently surrounded by a layer of translucent natural energy.
It took a whole 3 minutes for the Zheng beast to recover completely and transform back into a human.
Mark patiently waited until Lan Ju was fine and then enquired with him.
As Lan Ju explained the details of the battle, Mark only felt frustrated about losing his time, profits, and ether points without gaining anything in return. This negative feeling inside him forced him to take an extreme step.
He ordered the beast emperor in a serious tone, "Lan Ju, I want the fire seeds and the corpse of the golem. I ask you to kill every competitor that goes near my prey. If you meet someone in the Supreme realm, you can transform into your original form but make sure to finish them. After killing them, collect their corpses into this."
As Mark handed a gold-grade storage ring to Lan Ju, the latter replied with a question, "And what about you? Will you be taking care of the Golem?"
Previously, he thought that Mark was too overconfident but after sensing the power inside the ether trident earlier, he put a bit more trust in Mark's strength. Of course, the worry of Mark getting hurt is there, naturally. He warned him about the rage inside the lava golem.
Mark quickly dispelled his worries, saying that he will attack from far away.
Lan Ju nodded and left him alone. In the event of an ambush from an enemy that Mark cannot tackle, he would teleport to Mark's side and solves it.
Meanwhile, atleast ten kilometers away from this drama, two experts who just met each other to battle stopped their squabbling on who should back away and shifted their focus into the direction where Mark and Lan Ju were standing earlier on.
The Supreme Commander, Gu Chao, was in a state of shock, sensing the loss of life from Tang Jiyao.
"You must have also sensed it, right?" He asked Yan Hai, the leader of the Church of Doom. The latter nodded with a frown on his face.
Gu Chao then put forth a proposal, "How about we settle our differences later and remove the threat together? Neither of us alone will be able to fight this expert."
Yan Hai then responded with a counter offer, "We don't need to fight though. All we need is an elemental seed. Give us the smaller fire seed and take the bigger one. You can settle the compensation for the difference with Ether crystals."
"Alright." The Supreme Commander of the Dragon Empire nodded solemnly in agreement.
While it appears like the Church of Doom and the Dragon Empire suddenly became allies, however, in reality, Gu Chao never planned to honor the agreement from the start. He wanted to claim everything. Well, that is how the Dragon Empire is. Whatever thing the Tang Dynasty had eyes on, by hook or crook, the empire will acquire it.
Soon, both of them left in the direction where Lan Ju was heading towards.
Meanwhile, Mark was flying toward the lava golem that seemed to be continuously swinging its hands while pouring down the lava occasionally. As its enemies are atleast 1500-2000 times smaller than itself but have the power to put holes in its body, the lava golem was indeed facing trouble in killing them.
Of course, Mark can attack it and eventually kill it from a safe distance, way outside its range of attack. Unfortunately, he couldn't because of the competitors who are standing close to it.
He doesn't want someone to steal its carcass and run away before he reaches there. This is why he needed to be in close proximity.
At the same time, he cannot also finish it quickly too. It will make lose a lot of profits.
Hence, Mark flew at a controlled and low speed of about 80 kmph while Lan Ju tries to eliminate the competition and brings back their treasures.
By the time Mark reached the destination, the lava golem has already stopped swinging its arms and gone into a still mode.
Making the same mistake as Tang Jiyao, the lava golem treated him like a civilian, who is not of any threat to it, and didn't bother to attack Mark even after he came as close as 500 meters.
And since everyone is dead except for the two, well, according to Lan Ju, Mark summoned the missile defense system once again and set it up on a flat molten rock surface.
He clicked on the red button, launching the skill, "Multi-target ether missile." After the latest upgrade, it releases 25 ether missiles from one of the three launchers with each ether missile containing 120% of Mark's current attack power (10.0-int).
*Ding! Choose the targets.
"Okay, here we go…"
Mark allotted all the 25 markings to the lava golem so that it will be bombarded with ether missiles one after another. And all of this only costs him 30% ether energy.
Because the lava golem's body is quite huge, he hoped that its body along with the fire seeds won't be destroyed completely.
Mark's target lock is finished and the missile defense system is absorbing the natural energy.
He was expecting that everything will go well but little did he expect how much of a blunder he had made by coming closer to the target and launching the skill.
Because Lan Ju failed to mention how he sensed the surge of natural energy when he launched the ether trident earlier, Mark failed to guess the possibility of the defense system getting attacked while it was still in the middle of charging.
As an automatic response to the threat, the lava golem immediately acted upon sensing the power surge from the missile defense system. It raised its arm to swat Mark and the weapon at a terrifying attack speed.
"Oh, shit. Activate Nullification." Mark quickly raised his arms and used the remaining ether energy to launch the suit's skill, Nullification, in order to absorb the damage and protect the weapon.
