Dragon Tribulation of All Realms

Chapter 173 Assassination Techniques

—There's only one.

In the void, Wu Chen walked across ruins and rooftops. He could feel his toes touching the ground, but not a single speck of dust was stirred up in the mortal realm. His method of tracking and stealth was initially quite cautious, but soon his actions became bolder, and his decisions more reckless.

He could see his surroundings—ruins everywhere, dust everywhere. In the shadowy corners huddled dark figures, like the degraded vampires he had encountered before. Occasionally, there were slightly stronger ones, powerful vampires whose energy levels should have reached the mid-tier.

They came because of the noise caused by Wu Chen earlier, and after seeing the high-ranking vampire, they bowed and retreated—they did not communicate with each other using language, only with brief movements and rapid, sharp growls.

Like a wild beast.

The dust of the void passed by those ancient vampires.

They may have lived in these lost ruins ever since this area was separated. And considering that vampires are indeed creatures with remarkably strong vitality, the fact that they can still be lively and energetic after thousands of years without drinking blood... is not particularly unusual in the world of Mondas.

Where is Callisto?
The compass is still in my hand.

Even in nothingness, the compass needle can still function.

It consistently pointed in a certain direction—the same direction the high-ranking vampire was heading. And that's why Wu Chen followed it instead of immediately engaging in battle.

—The odds of winning should be over 70%.

He wasn't referring to Callisto, but to the high-ranking vampire before him—even though the vampires here had special constitutions and weren't afraid of restorative divine power. He felt he could succeed just as easily.

The sword was in his hand.

The enchanting of high-level enchanted weapons is in the works.

The high-ranking vampire being followed stopped in its tracks, its final point of contact being the entrance to a sanctuary—it halted and remained motionless. Beyond the sanctuary lay a hazy void.

This is the boundary of this lost city. Even in his ethereal state, Wu Chen experienced a sense of spatial and temporal chaos as he approached that blurry void—his head was heavy, his senses were blurred, and he was certain that even if he ran into that void for an hour, the moment he stopped, he would find himself still standing in the same place. And perhaps it was this very force that prevented Mil from personally stepping into this lost city.

We can't go any further.

But the compass was pointing towards the interior of the sanctuary.

Its doors were tightly shut, and the doors and walls were etched with patterns of blood—clearly, this must be some kind of powerful and ancient seal, or protective mechanism. It was unlikely that this seal could be broken by brute force without meeting certain conditions.

—This might not be the main entrance.

A thought flashed through Wu Chen's mind. His gaze swept over the door—the hinges were rusted, and the signs of weathering and decay on the door, along with the bloodstains, had sealed the seams shut—even with virtually no forensic expertise, Wu Chen was certain that the door hadn't been opened from the outside recently. And this not-so-large sanctuary probably couldn't possibly house a complete dragon.

Callisto didn't enter from here.

This lost city was not the core area and was not as dangerous as he had previously imagined.

So--

Concentrate your mind.

Power is being gathered.

All spells and martial arts techniques are ready to be activated.

The time of the illusory spirit's ethereal transformation has reached its end.

The high-ranking vampire slightly raised its head, its scarlet eyes suddenly gleaming, and deep red blood flames suddenly ignited between its claws, about to strike down in the direction of Wu Chen in the next moment!

It can't do that.

Because the moment the phantom ended its ethereal transformation, Wu Chen chose to appear from its side and rear—a brief observation was enough for Wu Chen to discern that it used its right hand as its dominant hand. Therefore, Wu Chen appeared directly on its left! Enchantment light flickered.

Ability boost, flow acceleration, divine assault—Slash!

The moment the vampire raised its claws and turned, the blade was already slashing down towards its neck. An invisible, resilient protective layer suddenly appeared, but it proved utterly ineffective against this all-out attack!
'Crack—' The high-ranking vampire was severed from his body.

The two severed pieces of the body, one large and one small, disintegrated into large swarms of bats before hitting the ground. However, Wu Chen was prepared for this; his mind had already activated, and countless strands of mental energy transformed into a tightly clenched hand.

All the bats were captured.

Most of them collapsed on the spot, crushed into bloody foam by the concentrated psychic power. The remaining small portion, however, reassembled under the pressure of the external crisis, and in the blink of an eye, it once again possessed a gaunt silhouette with a slightly diminished aura.

Restoration techniques were useless, and fire was ineffective. The target's aura also dropped much less than expected. Even though at least four-fifths of the bats were crushed by psychic power, the drop in magical energy was less than one-tenth!
Vampires are indeed incredibly resilient.

However, the vampires of Mondas are generally skilled in the use of magic, which is quite different from the vampires of the Undead King's world, who are more adept at close combat!
Now, the magical effects on its body have been completely eliminated due to the reorganization of its physical form. This naturally means that it is at its most vulnerable at this moment.

A ray of light flowed from his fingertips. It was a pale green light, an essential spell for mages in the Kingdom of Heaven. It shot out from Wu Chen's other hand, which was not holding a sword, and precisely pierced into the reassembled mass of flesh and blood before him.

Sixth-tier magic, Disintegration.

It struck the center of the coalescing flesh, and the eerie green light then spread like a spiderweb to all the flesh connected to the vampire. The entire battleground froze for a moment. In the next instant, all the vampire structures that had been struck turned to ashes in the eerie green glow.

Its presence has vanished.

The battle then came to an end.

However, the evidence that the battle was over did not clearly emerge in Wu Chen's ears.

—No scoring announcement was issued.

He thought about it, but he wasn't nervous. Because his source theory was giving him more inspiration and power. And this proved that he had indeed taken a solid step towards achieving his current goal.

"Hoo..." He exhaled softly.

His exhaled breath dispersed the dust covering the fallen noble's clothing—Wu Chen turned his head, the blood-stained patterns covering the sanctuary behind him somewhat dimmed. Clearly, killing this high-ranking vampire had broken the seal.

Part of the effect.

A beam of telekinesis shot out silently, and Wu Chen's fingertips touched the ancient garment covered in decay. The next moment, he obtained information about the garment from his dream.

—【The Decaying Monk's Robe: The robe worn by monks of the Holy Spirit Church who bear the responsibility of guarding the seal. When the original owner's corpse was corrupted by the power of the High Lord and fell into vampire status, the Holy Spirit's blessing on this robe also faded. It no longer possesses any effect.】

—【Purchasing this item requires 1 resource point.】

So that's it. He was a guard, a jailer. And moreover, a remnant of a corpse that was involuntarily transformed—becoming a vampire instead of a ghoul after death only means his soul failed to escape. He's probably now trapped in the Cold Harbor of the Annihilation Realm, another prisoner under the command of the demon god Moragbal.

Poor guy.

Wu Chen turned around and glanced at the seal on the sanctuary. Clearly, this runic structure, forged with blood energy, was the cultivators' last act of resistance as they transformed into vampires. But the compass needle wouldn't be wrong; the real seal had already malfunctioned and had no connection to this place. Therefore, there was no need to hold back.

"This is still Nirn."

Flying remained impossible, and dimensional teleportation failed to activate. Attempts to use the fossil-to-mud technique on the sanctuary were also ineffective. Using brute force, however, might also have undesirable consequences.

So--

Judging from the dimness of the sealing runes on the walls, there should still be three cultivators remaining in this lost ruin. The next step is to remove them all as quickly as possible.

(End of this chapter)