Tang Wulin was quite confident in the Golden Dragon Dreadclaw. It was a combination of a soul bone and his own bloodline. It was his most powerful attack move yet. As he launched this attack, he reversed his bloodline to connect with his soul power and almost lashed out with a combination of a third of his strength and the energy absorbed by the Domineering Golden Dragon Body. Tang Wulin was confident that even an expert at the rank of five rings Soul King would have a hard time blocking that attack of his.
However, he was flabbergasted in the next instant.
The person before him showed no intention of evading the Golden Dragon Dreadclaw. The five, dark golden blades of light slashed mercilessly toward the person’s body and disintegrated. As the remnants of the attack dissipated, the dark golden body showed no signs of change.
It did not wait for Tang Wulin to escape upward. Tang Wulin’s vision blurred as a large hand choked his throat.
His body continued to sink downward and it seems as if this person had forcibly suppressed all the blood essence Tang Wulin had roused up earlier.
‘He’s fine… He’s actually fine… He was directly hit by Golden Dragon Dreadclaw, but it had no effect on him.’
From his body to his soul, Tang Wulin was ice cold all over. He knew that he hadhit an iron board 1 right now. This person was not someone he could fight against. His strength far surpassed his own.
The pressure from the seawater grew in magnitude. The explosion of energy earlier also resulted in the rapid deterioration of Tang Wulin’s strength, and the immense pressure made him feel numb in certain parts of his body. The feeling of being oppressed even made his brain fall into a light trance. The dragon scales on his skin were still present, and they still glowed with a faint golden light. However, although the bloodline in his body was trying desperately to break through, the enemy was far too powerful. The suppression was so great that Tang Wulin had no way of breaking out of it.
‘I’m done for…’ A bitter smile appeared on the edge of Tang Wulin’s lips. He had never thought that he would die such an obscure death in the midst of the ocean. Perhaps, he would soon turn into food for an soul beast and turn into nutrients for the ocean.
He saw nothing but a pitch black and could not even see the dark golden color of the enemy’s body anymore. Tang Wulin began to relax his limbs although his hallucinations were getting worse. He seemed to be able to see a pitch black tunnel and at the end of it, there seemed to be someone calling out to him.
At this moment, the large hand that was choking him suddenly loosened its grip.
The instant the grip was loosened, the bloodline within Tang Wulin suddenly rushed forward. His bloodline began to revolve, making his hallucinations disappear as he partly regained consciousness.
He could vaguely make out a figure traveling upward whereas his body was still sinking.
‘Did he think I was dead?’
Tang Wulin’s body was currently in an acute state of anoxia. However, the instinct for survival instantly cleared his mind. If his opponent truly thought that he had died, then the opportunity to live had finally arrived.
He bit the tip of his tongue to wake himself up with the intense pain. He did not attempt to float himself immediately but managed to flail his arms about to prevent his body from sinking down even further.
He had to wait for that peculiar enemy to get farther away from him. Otherwise, his death would be all but certain if his attempt to escape was discovered by his opponent.
He waited for some time but the pain in his body made him feel like he was going to explode, causing him to hallucinate once more. Tang Wulin dared not wait any longer. He bit the tip of his tongue again and managed to keep himself awake with the immense pain.
If it were another ordinary person, the person would have long been dead under such immense water pressure and prolonged state of anoxia. However, he had the Golden Dragon King bloodline. His life force 2 was extremely tenacious. In addition to that, his potential had been completely unleashed in the face of a life-and-death crisis. He flailed his arms about and managed to utilize what little soul power he had left in his body to swim upward.
Tang Wulin grew up in a seaside city so swimming came naturally to him, especially since the ocean was significantly more buoyant. As he controlled his soul power to reduce his weight, his body began to float up rapidly.
The water pressure began to kick in, but the lack of oxygen still caused him to hallucinate. Tang Wulin gritted his teeth. His life or death hung upon this single action. He had to endure this no matter what.
The ocean was pitch black. He could neither see the end of it nor could he see the surface. He could only squeeze what strength he had left in his body with his indomitable willpower.
The speed at which his blood essence revolved began to slow down. His limbs were as heavy as if they were filled with lead but he still managed to flail his arms about as he brought his weight down to slowly float upward.
The water pressure grew weaker but Tang Wulin’s movements were also beginning to slow down. Even he was unsure how far he was from the ocean’s surface.
Finally, his body could not take it anymore. He had no energy left to move his limbs. The intense lack of oxygen made it impossible unable to control his body. His dense body was adversely affected by his weight, and he began sinking again.
“No!!!” Tang Wulin screamed in his heart. Then, he unexpectedly felt a sudden surge of consciousness. At this moment, he could feel another surge of strength rising within him. He flailed his arms that were covered in golden scales about with all his might and his body suddenly leaped upward. The eighteen 3 Golden Dragon King seals within his body were compressed at the same time, and it felt as if they were squeezing out the strength from his body’s innermost core.
The golden light on his body was faint but unexpectedly, the feeling of oppression in his chest lessened somewhat. Tang Wulin waved his arms with all his might and kicked down with his feet.
Whether it was the sudden surge of consciousness before his death or some other thing, he knew that this was his final ounce of strength. If he could not break the sea’s surface with this, it would be the end for him.
Eventually, the stirred-up strength was still gradually exhausted, it was becoming more and more difficult for him to breathe. ‘I’m done for. Am I really done for?’
‘No!!!’
He howled in his heart. He forcibly squeezed out another ounce of strength and increased the speed at which he was floating upward.
‘Finally…’
“Puhhh!” His head broke the water’s surface. A wave hit him and made Tang Wulin’s torso fall backward.
He abruptly opened his mouth as wide as he could as a mouthful of air immediately gushed into his lungs through his mouth and immediately got transported to every part of his body. He broke into a gasping fit as his body seemed to be breathing in the air greedily.
Intense pain traveled along his limbs and bones, even from his inner organs. He had floated up too quickly from a depth of hundreds of meters. The change in the water pressure had brought along its symptoms which was now wracking his body, and the transition from an oxygen-deprived state to an environment full of air had left him feeling as if he was being torn apart.
He managed to paddle with his arms to stay afloat as he continued greedily breathing in big mouthfuls of air. The blood essence within his body finally resumed its revolutions.
He had never felt so close to death. As Tang Wulin floated on the sea surface, his entire body seemed to have gone weak and limp.
There was intense pain all over his body. It felt as if he was being peeled open and was being ground up. The feeling was so painful that he groaned out loud. However, he was smiling. Yes, he was smiling.
Right now, pain gave him a sense of pleasure. If he felt pain, at least it meant that he was still alive!
Finally, the powerful self-regulatory ability of his body made the revolving of his blood essence increasingly stable. The pain in his body also gradually subsided with the nourishment of his blood essence.
At this moment, there was only one thought in Tang Wulin’s mind. After eating so much food over the years, at least they were not eaten in vain! At this critical moment, it was still his vigorous blood essence that saved his life.
Although he was well aware that the big oceangoing ship was already far away, his crisis was far from over. Amidst this vast, boundless ocean, his death would be all but certain if he could not find another boat. However, at the very least, he had survived.
He waved his arms and managed to stay afloat as he controlled his body. Tang Wulin’s face was plastered with a bitter smile.
The two large oceangoing ships were already gone. Even if he could see them, he probably could not catch up to the ships at the current state his body was in. To say the least, it would be impossible.
So, he would end up dying in the ocean anyway? His dense body required him to constantly fight against his weight to prevent himself from sinking. However, this would also naturally exhaust what little was left of his stamina.
He suddenly thought of a phrase, dragging out one’s feeble existence.
At this very moment, his pupils suddenly contracted. He saw a dark golden flash.