As Rode stabilized his position, Shep Ravenwood launched another attack, unleashing a series of fierce palm strikes.
Rode furrowed his brows and swiftly dodged to the side, opting not to engage in a direct confrontation.
Just as he evaded the first wave of attacks and was about to catch his breath, Shep Ravenwood’s palm strike was already upon him.
Unable to dodge in time, Rode raised his hand to block the strike.
The force of the strike sent Rode flying a hundred meters away, with traces of blood at the corner of his mouth.
“Not bad, you actually managed to injure me!” Rode wiped away the blood from his mouth and looked at Shep Ravenwood.
“I can not only injure you, but I can also kill you!” Shep Ravenwood responded calmly.
“Arrogant!” Rode’s tone turned serious. “I won’t waste any more time with you. Let me show you what despair truly means!”
After speaking, Rode’s aura instantly surged. His hands opened wide and closed together, forming a massive axe in his grasp, surrounded by crackling thunder.
The axe rapidly spun in the air, as if it could shatter the void into pieces. The wind howled, and its presence was overwhelming.
In the blink of an eye, the axe carved a sharp arc in the air and swung towards Shep Ravenwood.
Shep Ravenwood didn’t stand idle. As soon as Rode launched his attack, he activated his own trump card without hesitation.
Above his head, a golden-scaled kylin appeared, exuding a powerful and majestic aura.
In the next moment, the kylin roared towards the sky, followed by a tremendous surge of energy that collided with the axe.
Boom!
A deafening sound reverberated through the sky as shockwaves billowed. Two nearby boulders were instantly reduced to rubble.
At the same time, Shep Ravenwood and Rode were both sent flying hundreds of meters away.
After stabilizing their positions, both of them coughed up blood.
With just one move, their combat power had decreased by thirty to forty percent.
“I underestimated you!” Rode slightly eased himself and walked towards Shep Ravenwood.
“You’re not bad either!” Shep Ravenwood narrowed his eyes.
“Thanks for the compliment!” Rode responded. “Today, I have truly witnessed the profound strength of Glavale!”
“No wonder it is the oldest and most powerful nation on this planet! I have to admit, compared to Glavale, the heritage of Northfortia in this world is indeed far inferior!”
“You just realized that?” Shep Ravenwood replied coldly. “Northfortia has only existed for less than a tenth of the time that my Glavale has. What right do you have to speak of strength?”
“I have a question that I’m curious about. Why did the members of Blood and Devil Sect come here? What does Ether Mountain hold…” Rode didn’t finish his sentence.
“If you can survive until the end, you will know the answer!” Shep Ravenwood interrupted him directly.
As he spoke, he took out a pill and swallowed it before charging forward once again.
After briefly observing the battle between the elders of Ether Mountain’s Inner and Outer Courts, he wasn’t optimistic about their situation and had no intention of wasting time talking to Rode.
Rode remained silent. His eyes narrowed as he activated his full power and met Shep Ravenwood head-on.
The two engaged in battle once again.
At that moment, a thunderous sound echoed in the nearby sky, causing the void to tremble. A mushroom cloud rose into the air.
Following that, two figures were sent flying backwards several hundred meters, leaving behind trails of blood in the air.
The two figures were Sebastian Fennimore and Elias Delaney, both bearing injuries.
After several rounds of battle, Elias Delaney seemed to be slightly inferior, with his aura much more chaotic than Sebastian Fennimore’s.
They both stabilized their positions and began to recover their strength.
Elias Delaney was only a few hundred meters away from the battlefield between Rode and Shep Ravenwood.
“Elder Elias, are you alright?” Rode blocked Shep Ravenwood’s attack and quickly flashed towards Elias Delaney.
“You came at the right time!” Elias Delaney’s eyes flashed with a hint of severity as he looked at Rode.
“What…” Rode began to ask.
Before he could finish his sentence, a burst of black mist exploded from Elias Delaney’s body, enveloping Rode instantly.
“Damn it!” Rode quickly understood Elias Delaney’s intentions and hurriedly dodged to the side.
However, with only sixty to seventy percent of his power remaining, he couldn’t escape the pursuit of someone at the first-rank Holy Realm.
Before he could escape the area covered by the black mist, a terrifying spiritual power imprisoned him, making it difficult for him to move.
Soon after, he felt a strong suction force pulling him in.
“Ah…”
In the next moment, Rode’s agonizing screams echoed from within the black mist.
“Ravenwood, act quickly! He wants to seize your essence to enhance his own strength!” Sebastian Fennimore shouted loudly from a distance upon witnessing this scene.
Without needing any reminder, Shep Ravenwood understood Elias Delaney’s intentions after a brief moment of hesitation. He raised his hand and sent several powerful gusts of wind towards the black mist.
However, his attacks were blocked by a barrier ten meters away from the mist and couldn’t make any progress.
“Hmm?!” Shep Ravenwood furrowed his brows.
Then, he activated all his power and unleashed his own trump card against the barrier.
Boom!
The golden kylin collided with the barrier like thunder, producing a loud noise that caused the barrier to shake violently for a few moments.
However, it was intact and unbroken.
At that moment, Sebastian Fennimore had already arrived within two to three hundred meters. He swiftly swung his sword made of Chi power towards the barrier.
The sword’s momentum was unstoppable as it shattered the barrier instantly, causing shockwaves to ripple outwards.
In the next moment, Rode fell freely to the ground. Although his essence hadn’t been completely drained due to time constraints, he was on the brink of death.
After crashing heavily onto the ground, he spat out a mouthful of black blood. His body had become much thinner, and his face was pale as wax. His aura was exceptionally weak.
Judging from his condition, even if no one attacked him further, he probably wouldn’t last more than a few minutes.
Lying on the ground with a twisted expression, Rode looked up at Elias Delaney in mid-air.
At that moment, a tinge of regret rose in his heart.
If only he had known earlier! Why did he bring this upon himself? He couldn’t blame anyone but himself!
As they exchanged blows once again, another loud noise resounded in mid-air. Shep Ravenwood was sent flying seven to eight hundred meters away by Elias Delaney’s strike.
With previous injuries already present on his body, he was now even more heavily wounded. Fresh blood gushed from his mouth.
At the same time Elias Delaney attacked, Sebastian Fennimore raised his hand and formed a sword made of Chi power. He swiftly thrust it towards Elias Delaney.
Caught off guard, Elias Delaney instinctively leaned to one side, causing the sword’s edge to leave a deep wound on his waist. Blood spurted out like an arrow.
“You’re seeking death!” Elias Delaney roared. His aura surged once again, surpassing his previous level by a significant margin after absorbing most of Rode’s essence. Although he didn’t directly break through to another realm, his combat power had clearly increased.
Immediately after that, he continuously flipped his hands, causing thunderous forces to rain down on Sebastian Fennimore like meteors falling from the sky.