Throughout the entire Dreamlike Forest, the cries of countless creatures rose one after another.
But unlike before, when their roars had been arrogant and savage, those cries were now filled with panic, as if death might descend on them at any moment.
Hearing it all, the Ancient Azure Dragon slowly lifted its head and sneered.
"You didn't really think I'd prepared so little, did you?"
"I admit it—your strength is impressive."
"But since you ran into me today, your defeat was decided from the very beginning."
Hum! Hum!
The dragon's massive body began twisting through the air.
At the same time, the trembling of the Dreamlike Forest grew even more violent.
Even Adrian Vale's brow furrowed.
From farther away, Raven Shaw scanned the surroundings, her expression full of suspicion.
"What the hell is going on?" she said. "Why are all the plants around us withering so fast?"
The life force of the entire Dreamlike Forest was draining away at a visible speed, as if something were forcibly siphoning the life out of the whole place.
Then Adrian gave a cold, mocking smile.
"So this is the road you chose?"
"You really intend to drain the Dreamlike Forest dry?"
The kagune behind Adrian spun faster and faster. The crimson in his eyes deepened.
Within his field of vision, the entire Dreamlike Forest had become threaded with countless seven-colored lines.
One end of those lines was connected to every corner of the forest.
The other end—
was connected directly to the Ancient Azure Dragon in the sky.
It was obvious now.
The dragon was feeding on the life force of the entire Dreamlike Forest.
The next instant, dazzling seven-colored light burst across the dragon's body.
Its wounds began healing at a visible pace.
"Hahaha!"
The dragon's triumphant laughter thundered across the battlefield.
"Adrian Vale, you're nothing but a pitiful latecomer. You were never going to beat me."
"You can injure me, yes—but I can endlessly draw life from the Dreamlike Forest around me and replenish every loss."
"Even with only one-seventh of my original power, I am still more than enough to crush an arrogant human like you."
The dragon slowly closed its eyes, savoring the feeling.
"This sensation… of life force surging through me…"
"It's been a long time since I indulged myself so extravagantly."
Adrian's face darkened.
"So you're really going to drain the Dreamlike Forest dry?"
"Do you not realize that once the Dreamlike Forest dies, you'll disappear with it?"
The Ancient Azure Dragon opened its eyes again, disdain thick in its voice.
"What ridiculous nonsense."
"If I survive, then the one who dies alongside this collapsing space will be you."
"According to the Dreamlike Forest's rules, the moment you entered as the challenger, your existence was already bound to this place."
"If I defeat you, then you become the failed challenger."
"And when this decaying space dies, you'll vanish from the world with it."
At that, Adrian suddenly recalled several things the dragon's true body had said earlier.
A trace of irritation crossed his face.
"What a pain…"
"So this entire trial was rigged from the start. The absolute advantage was already in the hands of this one-seventh dragon incarnation."
"Or rather…"
"It was in the hands of Jason, the coward hiding behind it."
Dragon Nation's viewers could only grind their teeth in frustration.
"What a joke! If Eat-Stream Adrian Vale and Boss Raven had been the first challengers to reach this place, they probably would've succeeded already!"
"So is there really no way to turn this around? Is all the benefit of the Dreamlike Forest going to that bastard Jason?"
"No way! That little rat has only been hiding in the shadows. There's no way he deserves the final win!"
"Exactly! A guy who doesn't even dare fight head-on isn't qualified to take anything!"
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Divine Domain: Forbidden Zone, the two Divine Domain creatures Wuxian had been watching had finally reached the last stage of their battle.
The giant spider lashed out with its many legs, each one slicing through the air.
Opposite it, the black-and-white giant serpent flicked its tongue rapidly. Its tail struck from a cruel angle toward the spider's abdomen.
Yet the spider didn't even try to defend.
Instead, it drove six of its long legs straight toward the serpent's vital point.
Bang!
The spider's leg slammed into the serpent's weak point.
But to everyone's surprise, it failed to break through.
Still, even if the serpent's scales there were unnaturally tough, the impact was more than enough to stagger it.
Its body swayed violently, nearly collapsing.
And yet, borrowing the momentum of that stumble, its tail accelerated even harder.
Boom!
The huge tail smashed directly into the spider's abdomen.
The spider instantly went berserk.
Its nine legs stabbed downward again and again, every single strike aimed at the same spot.
At last, a shallow dent appeared in the serpent's weak point.
Seeing that, the black-and-white serpent let out a furious hiss and threw itself even more savagely at the spider's abdomen.
Dragon Nation's viewers were stunned.
"What is this? Why are these two suddenly fighting like they're trying to die together?"
"Are they seriously going all in like this?"
"They weren't even at the point of collapse yet!"
From there, the battle turned utterly vicious.
At last, all nine of the spider's legs pierced deep into the serpent's vital point—
while the serpent's tail punched all the way through the spider's abdomen.
Only then did Wuxian begin walking forward, his expression as calm as ever.
Foreign viewers, however, immediately panicked.
"No way! Don't tell me he's about to steal the kill like this!"
"So after the two Divine Domain creatures tore each other apart, this Dragon Nation contestant is just going to take the reward for free?!"
"That's absurd! How can he do something so shameless?!"
"If he'd fought them head-on himself, he might not even have beaten them!"
In the middle of that outrage, Wuxian simply flicked his fingers.
Shhk! Shhk!
Two invisible projectiles shot forward at blinding speed.
Pop! Pop!
The heads of both Divine Domain creatures were pierced clean through.
Green blood splashed in every direction.
The light in both creatures' eyes dimmed at once, then vanished completely.
A moment later, their bodies began disintegrating into ash and drifting away on the wind.
Only then did the Will of Blue Star announce the result.
[Congratulations! Dragon Nation contestant Wuxian has successfully obtained Underground Water Resources.]
Back in Dragon Nation, the land trembled faintly.
Across nine different regions, the ground began shaking.
Then vast new underground water reserves appeared, hidden beneath the earth.
Dragon Nation's geological and survey teams, who had long been on standby, rushed into action and quickly confirmed the news—
nine massive underground water zones had been formed.
The entire nation erupted.
"This is incredible! With these nine huge underground water reserves, Dragon Nation won't have to worry about water shortages anymore!"
"And the best part is that the ground structure in those regions is stable enough that large-scale extraction won't risk collapse!"
"More importantly, with underground water secured, crop growth in those nine regions is going to explode!"
"In other words, Dragon Nation has basically gained nine new granaries!"
While the whole nation was celebrating, some especially sharp-eyed viewers noticed something strange.
"Wait a second. Did anyone else catch this?"
"When those two huge creatures showed up, the Will of Blue Star never gave any warning at all."
"And after Wuxian killed them, it didn't announce any stat reward either."
"Yeah. What's going on?"
"Did the Will of Blue Star's reward system bug out or something?"
Foreign viewers jumped on the opening immediately.
"I think it's obvious—Wuxian only got the resources because he stole the result after the two creatures fought each other to the death."
"Exactly. That's why the Will of Blue Star didn't grant him any additional reward."
"In other words, this is basically a warning. It's telling Dragon Nation contestants not to try to slack off and exploit loopholes!"
Back in Dragon Nation's live studio, Bingbing frowned.
"We've noticed some foreign viewers are spreading a very rude theory. Professor Luo, Captain Ryan Cole—what do you think?"
Professor Luo answered first, his tone full of disdain.
"That kind of argument is complete nonsense."
"If that were really the reason, then why would nine new underground water reserves have appeared inside Dragon Nation at all?"
Captain Ryan Cole nodded and added calmly,
"Like Professor Luo said, that claim has no basis whatsoever."
"In fact, I think there's only one reasonable explanation."
"Wuxian's strength has already surpassed those two S-rank creatures by too much."
"From the Will of Blue Star's perspective, crushing two creatures at that level no longer counts as a meaningful achievement."
"Which is why no extra reward was granted."
"Or to put it another way…"
"The reward from killing two S-rank creatures simply isn't enough to noticeably improve Wuxian anymore."
"So the Will of Blue Star didn't bother spelling it out."
Meanwhile, back on the battlefield, Adrian hovered in the sky.
One scarlet kagune after another had lengthened and thickened, whipping mercilessly at the Ancient Azure Dragon.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The blood-red kagune lashed through the air like enormous flexible whips.
Each strike landed with a brutal snap.
The dragon's body was now covered in streaks of blood-red impact marks.
"Damn little beast! I'll flay you alive and tear out your bones!"
Under the agony, the dragon roared again and again.
Its body twisted desperately, but no matter how it moved, it could not escape the relentless whipping of Adrian's kagune.
At that moment, the entire battle had shifted completely.
The dragon's lightning still crackled around its body—
but every bolt that struck Adrian's scarlet kagune failed to leave even the slightest mark.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thunder hammered the blood-red surface over and over.
But it accomplished nothing.
And just like that, the battle fell into a deadlock.
Only one side was screaming.
And that side was the Ancient Azure Dragon.
As for Adrian—
he looked less like a fighter and more like an executioner calmly carrying out a sentence, utterly indifferent to the dragon's suffering.
Seeing that, viewers across the world were left speechless.
"How strong is this guy really? How is he actually overpowering the dragon?"
"At this point, that ancient dragon looks more like a toy in his hands than a real enemy!"
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