The wind, imbued with immense dragon-elemental energy, surged forward like a torrent, devouring everything in its path.
*Crackle... crackle...*
The sharp sounds of arcing electricity drowned out all other noises.
Based on the available intelligence, dragon-elemental energy did not cause large-scale explosive shockwaves like a supernova. However, the team chose to take cover behind the crystal pillars to avoid any potential repercussions.
*Whoosh!*
After a muffled explosion, the somber sky instantly cleared.
The pair and their feline companion peeked out from behind the crystal pillars to observe.
Unlike supernovas, which altered the surrounding terrain with each detonation, the eruption of high-purity dragon-elemental energy had not caused any severe damage to the landscape.
Only a few residual black lightning bolts flickered and jumped on the surface of the crystal rock walls.
However, the Nergigante displayed large areas of dark, glowing patterns.
These patterns, appearing in strips and alternating between red and black hues, continuously shifted and converged beneath its skin in a distorted manner.
*Roar... roar...*
The Nergigante, lying on the ground, let out a pained groan with its mouth slightly agape.
"Move out!"
At Li Fan's command, the circling Raging Brachydios swooped down, with Palico leaping onto its back onto the royal throne.
"Palico, confirm that their nesting route hasn't changed. Release the signal flare immediately. Be decisive."
"Understood, meow!"
Raging Brachydios, carrying Palico, sped away.
"The Nergigante's condition doesn't seem too good... let's go for the Kushala Daora first."
Li Fan made his decision.
"I was thinking the same thing."
Yudora, floating upside down, removed the Dragonator from her back.
Li Fan flicked his Wirebug silk, wrapping it around Yudora's waist several times.
"Watch out for the tail flame."
After giving the warning, Yudora raised her greatsword, slung it over her shoulder, and swung it behind her.
As her hands tightened on the sword hilt, *click*, the exhaust shield at the tip of the blade unfolded.
A faint orange glow ignited in the dim exhaust port, and her body, facing the ground, slowly moved forward with the aid of propulsion.
*Whoosh! Whoosh!* After a period of charging, a strip of red flame erupted.
*Swish!* The two plummeted towards the ground at high speed.
The whistling sound in the air alerted the Kushala Daora. It turned its neck to look back, immediately locking onto the two figures it would never forget.
*Whoosh!* A protective wind mantle emerged around its body.
Yudora, timing her landing, raised the Dragonator above her head and swung it down.
"Hiyah!"
*Clang! Sizzle!*
Unable to dodge, the Kushala Daora was struck on its left wing bone by the descending greatsword.
Although the wing bone did not deform, the crisp cracking sound indicated that the impact point had fractured.
On Yudora's side, the usual recoil from a normal slash did not occur, and she crashed to the ground mid-charge.
*Boom!* A large amount of crystal fragments scattered.
Yudora pierced the Dragonator into the ground to slow herself down, then used the blade to push off, leaping into the air again.
The Kushala Daora, accumulating white mist in its mouth, became wary as it noticed one person was missing.
*Swish! Clang!*
A flash bomb detonated, emitting a blinding golden light.
Li Fan moved his arm away from his eyes and emerged from behind the Kushala Daora's flank. He picked up the capture ball from his shoulder strap and rapidly threw it at the Kushala Daora.
*Thump... thump...*
The Kushala Daora, seeing stars, sensed the heavy footsteps and familiar scents, immediately recognizing the threat.
It directly spat the storm of wind it had been accumulating downwards, then, enduring the pain, flapped its wings, causing the swirling storm to expand rapidly.
*Gasp!*
A splash of blood fluttered in the air.
Li Fan touched his face, discovering a wound cut by a sharp object.
Seeing the numerous rapidly spinning sharp crystal fragments within the storm, he understood the source of the damage.
"Stop the Guillotine! Pull back!"
The ground of the Elder's Recess originally did not have so many sharp crystal fragments.
However, under the frequent bombardment of extremely destructive attacks, a thick layer had accumulated.
The monsters participating in the Guillotine, Rage, Brother Lei, Che Che, and Zhan Zhan, retreated.
Yudora, who was still charging, could only release her grip upon seeing this. The exhaust port closed, and the dragon fire spray was interrupted.
The storm expanded, continuously spreading outwards.
However, the team was not in a hurry. The Kushala Daora, hiding in the center of the storm, could ensure its own safety from attacks, but the duration would not last long.
Meanwhile, seeing the residual Elder Dragon dust in the air, faintly glowing intermittently.
The Teostra, confirming the Teostra was not dead, quickly rushed towards its location.
Passing above the Nergigante, it saw that although it was extremely weak, it was still struggling fiercely.
After a moment of hesitation, the Teostra descended, deciding to finish it off first.
It was clearly aware that if this hidden danger was not completely eliminated, any further accidents would make a safe retreat impossible.
*Roar...*
A weak roar echoed in its consciousness.
"Are you there? This King requires your assistance..."
"Who are you? Are we close?"
Li Fan replied, while looking towards the Nergigante.
The red and black patterns that had burrowed under its skin had now spread throughout its entire body.
The speed at which this strange injury was spreading exceeded his expectations.
As expected, it had a trump card, and it was very effective against the Nergigante.
*Roar! Roar... Roar!*
"How dare you look down on this King... You are indeed not familiar with me, I shall spare you... Ah! It hurts so much!"
At this moment, the Teostra was stomping on the Nergigante's head, accumulating flames in its mouth while continuously swiping and clapping with its foreclaws.
"Bear with it for a moment, let me think of a solution..."
After replying, Li Fan took out his handheld device and summoned Hui Hui and Shan Shan.
To avoid alarming either of the fighting parties and ensure the plan's smooth execution, Hui Hui and Shan Shan were deployed very far away.
Therefore, it would take some time for them to arrive.
But the problem was, even with reinforcements, driving away the Teostra would not solve the spread of the red and black patterns.
This meant the Nergigante's death was only a matter of time.
"The Nergigante cannot die, otherwise all previous efforts will be in vain, and there will be no other monster to help me deal with it... Ah! It's not entirely in vain, at least I can craft over a dozen sets of Nergigante armor and weapons."
*Roar... Roar?*
"Uh... Who are you trying to deal with? And what are these Nergigante armor and weapons you speak of?"
Despite being under heavy attack, the Nergigante's curiosity remained strong.
"Ah? How did my thoughts get into the consciousness channel!"
Li Fan immediately took off his Thunder God Helm, calmed his mind, and began to research a solution. Where should he start?
The Nergigante had not yet formed its carapace, and its skin was transparent. Any abnormalities found within its body could be directly observed.
With this thought, Li Fan raised his binoculars and found its chest and abdomen, which had not yet been completely covered by the spreading patterns.
The distorted red and black patterns beneath its skin were slowly devouring its life energy.
This was not just a simple reduction in energy; it also disrupted the Nergigante's internal energy circulation.
The larger the area of spread, the slower the internal energy circulation would become. Once completely blocked, the Nergigante would die from energy depletion.
If it had lived long enough and its body was covered by a sufficiently thick carapace, high-purity dragon-elemental energy would likely have had difficulty invading.
However, for a young Nergigante, the combination of strong winds and high-purity dragon element was an unsolvable killing move.
The Elder's Recess was more fully prepared than Li Fan had anticipated.
*Crack!*
The Nergigante's skull was smashed by the Teostra, and its explosive breath began to pour in.
Hui Hui had arrived. Although driving away the Teostra now might not have much significance, allowing it to continue attacking would only lead to the Nergigante's faster demise.
Wait! Dragon-elemental energy, life energy... don't they cause violent reactions when they meet?
Li Fan, seeing Hui Hui circling and accelerating in the air, thought of something amiss.
Hui Hui could use both types of energy as fuel, but it absolutely could not use them simultaneously, or it would explode.
There was no definitive conclusion as to which energy was superior, but they clearly would not coexist so peacefully within the Nergigante.
Unless, one of them had an absolute advantage in total quantity.
Due to the vast difference, the violent reaction was swallowed and assimilated before it could even form.
Currently, the overwhelming advantage undoubtedly lay with the dragon-elemental energy.
The only solution was to introduce more life energy to counteract the dragon-elemental energy.
While this carried the risk of self-destruction, it would at least prevent death from energy depletion.
Just as Li Fan thought he had found a way to alleviate the situation, the glowing core in the Nergigante's chest came into view.
The energy flow gushing from the core was constantly impacting the encirclement of high-purity dragon element.
However, due to the wide spread of the red and black patterns, not only was it completely unable to connect with any part of its body, but the impact force of the energy flow was also gradually weakening.
It looked like a gradually weakening heartbeat.
It was then that Li Fan realized that when the red and black patterns dominated, the first thing to be blocked was actually the injection of internal energy.
"It also thought of this solution, but all the paths are blocked..."
Li Fan sighed helplessly.
He hadn't expected much from the three Elder Dragons.
He had thought they would help weaken the Nergigante and then be driven away. If the Nergigante proved too strong, he could offer some assistance.
He had never imagined it would be so thoroughly prepared.
Putting on the Thunder God Helm, Li Fan reluctantly transmitted the information.
"I have some unfortunate news for you."
*Roar?*
The weak Nergigante gave a faint response.
"What did this King do wrong?"
"Perhaps you were too ostentatious... In fact, it's the fault of your species."
Li Fan replied.
*Roar?*
"So my birth was a mistake?"
"You could consider it nature's choice, just as some things must be periodically eliminated for the normal functioning of the world."
*Roar... Roar...*
"Why should nature decide whether this King lives or dies?"
"Nature doesn't decide anyone's fate; it's merely a tendency for maintaining operation."
Li Fan explained.
*Roar!*
"This King does not accept this!"
*Thump! Thump!* The Nergigante pushed itself up with its claws, its wings spread.
Li Fan, who was providing end-of-life care, hadn't expected the Nergigante to still be able to stand.
*Roar!* With a roar, it echoed throughout the Elder's Recess.
Li Fan noticed that all the dragon crystals on the surface were glowing.
The tips of its claws, infected by the red and black patterns, faintly flashed with white light, but were instantly reoccupied by the red and black patterns.
"Can you feel the resonance with the dragon crystals!"
Li Fan asked urgently.
*Roar?*
The Nergigante expressed its confusion.
"The source of the energy flowing within you is the dragon crystals. Can you feel their presence?"
Li Fan explained.
*Roar!*
The Nergigante roared firmly.
"Then, next..."
Li Fan hesitated for a moment before transmitting the information through consciousness.
"Through constant contact and sensing them, guide them into your body!"
The Nergigante raised its foreclaws and pressed them with all its might into the ground formed by the dragon crystals.
*Boom!* The immense pressure caused the ground to crack and sink.
Circles of faint light appeared on the surface of the dragon crystals, with the center of the converging circles being where the Nergigante stood.
The Teostra, constantly driven away and pursued by Hui Hui, roared upon seeing this scene. Using the crystal pillars on the ground for cover, it quickly turned back.
The massive energy convergence caused the crystals around the Nergigante's four claws to rapidly heat up, quickly melting and softening into an orange-yellow state.
The red and black patterns began to transform into silver stripes, starting from its claws and rapidly extending towards its body.
The arriving Teostra began to scatter black dust in the air again.
Without the Kushala Daora's wind assistance, it clearly had to fight at close range.
The Nergigante looked up at the sky for a moment, then slammed its left claw down onto the ground.
*Boom!*
A massive torrent of energy erupted directly from the ground where its claw landed.
The bursting blue light dimmed the entire sky.
The Teostra had come to fight to the death, and its positioning was not carefully calculated.
Furthermore, this energy eruption was unexpected, directly piercing its left wing with the torrent of energy.
Seeing that it was no longer able to fight, the Teostra could only dive and choose to escape.
Hui Hui was about to pursue when it saw the Nergigante looking up at it.
*Thump! Crackle!*
The Teostra, rushing down, slid to a halt.
It opened its mouth, bit down on the injured Teostra's neck, and flapped its wings dozens of times before it could barely take flight.
Due to the damage to its left wing, its flight was constantly veering to one side, appearing extremely unstable.
As for the Kushala Daora, the constant accumulation of wind storms to form a defense was becoming unbearable for Li Fan.
If the battle situation had not changed, he would have been willing to continue the stalemate, but now that the Nergigante had mastered crystal resonance, every moment of delay increased the threat.
"Get out of the way!"
Taking out the Abyss Yuan, he loaded it onto the Thunderclap God Blade and roared.
"The disc is loaded!"
Yudora, who had run far away, informed him.
"You like hiding inside and not coming out, huh."
Li Fan flicked his Wirebug silk, leaping into mid-air, twisting his body, and slashing downwards with a blade-like energy attack.
Along with the descending blade, not only was there a straight Qi blade, but a thick pillar of lightning, flashing with golden light, struck directly into the center of the storm.
*Sizzle sizzle!*
The sound of surging electricity filled the air, and the swirling storm quickly dissipated. A large area of sharp dragon crystal fragments scattered on the ground, and the Kushala Daora fell backward.
Li Fan, smoking, also lay on the ground.
"Guillotine!"
As soon as Yudora spoke, the sky darkened again.
She looked up and saw a giant pillar of energy sweeping back and forth in the sky.
"Trust the fifth-generation team members. They can handle it. That's the opponent we truly need to deal with."
Li Fan, lying on the ground, pushed himself up and pointed towards the source of the light.
At this moment, the Nergigante was radiating white light all over its body, its brightness so intense it was impossible to look at directly.