1831 Never Alone

Alex took in the world as he opened his eyes and saw what was before him. Even as the bubble of slowed time came to an end, he could see the Dragon Emperor launch his bolt of lightning that came for him at an impossibly fast speed.

It was simply too quick for him to do anything else but teleport away. If he remained, the strength of the lightning bolt would have been sure to kill him.

However, at the moment it wasn't just himself he could think about. Liz, who had fallen unconscious behind him, would die as soon as he teleported away.

Whatever split second Alex had to make a decision ended up being not enough for him to make a good one. All he could do at that moment was hope he didn't die from the attack, and hope that protected his aunt somehow.

He belatedly began using his Qi to strengthen his body while knowing it was useless when suddenly something appeared in a flash in front of him.

Pearl teleported between him and the bolt of lightning, standing tall as the Immortal attack struck him.

As soon as it struck him, a glow of golden light sprang out from him, taking the form of Bai Jingshen's head, which roared loudly once again.

This was the third and final protection Bai Jingshen had put on anyone, and Pearl had decided to use it to protect Alex using it.

"Pearl!" Alex spoke out loud, stopping his Qi halfway before he wasted it.

"Brother!" Pearl shouted, ignoring his great grandfather's roaring head before him. He turned around and quickly ran back to Alex. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," Alex said with a sigh of relief. "You saved me."

"I'm glad," Pearl said. "Can you fight or should we leave?"

"Take her away, I will fight," Alex said as Midnight flew out into his hands. His stronger Saint Qi filled him now, making him nearly as strong, if not stronger than every single person on the battlefield.

The only one who could be said to be stronger than him without using Immortal Qi was Hannah, and she too wouldn't come close to his strength once he used everything else he had up his sleeve.

The Dragon Emperor shot Bai Jingshen's roaring head once again out of frustration, but the head easily protected Alex and the others against the Dragon Emperor's attack.

Pearl flew up to the unconscious Liz and turned to look toward the Dragon Emperor. "I shall wait for your death," he said and teleported away with her.

"Damn the White Tigers," the Dragon Emperor said under his breath. "Why must they all seek to place themselves before my path to stop me."

Alex watched Bai Jingshen's head slowly fade away, knowing he was to fight at any moment. He took a deep breath as he made his final preparations.

The Blood God's Manual flew out and the remaining blood beasts that were stored inside the manual flew out as well.

Whisker appeared from where he had been staying as well, and jumped onto one of the man-beasts, pulling out the 3 Immortal puppets.

"Brother, do you need these?" he asked.

Alex's eyes narrowed. He hadn't thought about the puppets for a while, because he had never intended to use them in the actual fight.

The Immortal puppets would only be physically strong. Because of that, they were quite useless when they had to be used in the skies unless the person using them had strong Qi.

Alex doubted even Hannah with her Immortal Qi could not use the puppet to show their true strength, so there was little chance it could be much use to Alex at first.

But defense-wide, they probably could be used from time to time.

Alex stored the puppets in his Soul Space and turned to face the Dragon Emperor amid the disappearing motes of light.

The Dragon Emperor's eyes narrowed, seeing Alex be ready to fight him.

"Are you going to fight me? All on your own?" he asked, a look of amusement flashing within all the anger and hatred he showed on his face. "Do you think you can beat me just because you broke through to be a little stronger?"

"Can I beat you? I do not know. All I can do is try, so I will fight you," Alex said.

He brought out a few pills just as he said that and consumed them one after another, letting the energy within them suffuse into his body one after another.

As he ate those pills, the Dragon Emperor noticed a weird aura emanating from Alex. He could not tell what the aura was, but it gave him a bad, sickly feeling.

His eyes narrowed to figure out what was happening, and as he did, he saw something. Black veins grew out from Alex's eyes, going through his cheeks, down to his neck.

Soon, his entire body was covered in dark veins.

"As for whether I'm fighting alone," Alex said. "I never was."

The Dragon Emperor got a little serious. He had heard about this thing from his subordinates, this forbidden technique of sorts where Alex had gotten ridiculously strong.

He had every reason to worry about this.

'So it came from pills, huh?' the Dragon Emperor thought. 'I will see what pill it is that would make him so strong. I will take that recipe for myself, along with everything else.'

Alex felt the power course through him, the aura of Death and Darkness mixing through him, consuming what he gave it, while it empowered him.

And thanks to Godslayer's incredible control, it would not go overboard like it had during his time in the ocean. This was the perfect way to make himself strong without sacrificing too much.

Only, he didn't have too much time.

"There is only so much in your body I can use without completely taking over or ruining our body itself," Godslayer said. "And I cannot take over your sword as I am too strong for the spirit within it to handle me now. All you can do is use what I give you appropriately."

Alex nodded internally. "How long do you think I can handle?" he asked.

"I cannot tell you right now," Godslayer said. "But whatever the amount is, it should be enough to send that man to his death's door. Everything else will either fall upon you or luck itself."

Alex put on a resolute look. "I'm not dying here," he said. "I have plenty more to do."

"Good," Godslayer said. "Now go win."

"I will," Alex said.

The pills he had eaten were affecting his body as well at the same time.

The Spirit pill enhanced his spiritual energy while making it replenish just faster. The Lightning Resistance pill helped him take less damage from Lighting attacks. And finally, a Saint Replenishment pill, to replenish his Qi as he fought.

Alex could have eaten more pills, but he dared not eat anymore due to the danger of those pills conflicting with each other. They would even be useless thanks to the corruption on his body draining away everything to make him all that more powerful.

Realizing there was nothing more to do, Alex sent powerful Yin Qi into Midnight, empowered by Godslayer's corruption, and used his first attack in his battle against the Dragon Emperor.

God Rending Death Blade.