449: Broken Dreams

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

The large red Dragon head, with an unstoppable momentum, pierced through countless snowflakes, heading straight for Lilith.

The terrifying speed broke the sound barrier, and the deafening sonic boom that followed sounded like a Dragon's roar, making people watch in a daze.

Xiao Fan, hidden in a corner, stared blankly at this scene, his eyes filled with nothing but melancholy.

He had been impersonating Xiao Zhanmo for almost two years, but he had only met the real Xiao Zhanmo once before, and today was the second time.

The reason for this meeting was for today's battle.

If it weren't for the plan, perhaps Xiao Fan would never have known what kind of person the real Xiao Zhanmo was.

Nor would he have cared about this matter.

He had taken it for granted that this identity was just one of his alt accounts.

Until that day, when he met Xiao Zhanmo in secret…

After discussing the key steps for today's events.

The two sat in the old house.

You looked at me, I looked at you.

Xiao Fan wanted to talk about other things because he was too lonely, but he didn't know where to start.

But it seemed Xiao Zhanmo also wanted to talk.

Until he took out two pots of wine, and under the influence of alcohol, he opened up.

This old man was very humble.

He asked him what the Super God Class was like.

What Di Yi Academy was like.

Whether the Capital was beautiful.

And what Shanhai Pass was like.

As he asked these questions, Xiao Fan saw expectation, love, and excitement in the old man's cloudy eyes.

Xiao Fan thought the other party was just curious.

But it wasn't until later in their conversation that he realized.

It turned out that… Xiao Zhanmo should have been a member of the Super God Class.

He possessed a quasi-Divine-Grade talent—Broken Scabbard.

This was a very strange talent.

Its effect was quite limited, but its power was terrifying.

The first strike of every battle could increase its power tenfold!

The burst power of a preemptive strike was unparalleled in the world.

He lived in a second-tier city, better than Xiao Fan's.

He attended the best high school in that city and was also a dazzling figure.

He said that the girls who pursued him back then could line up from the playground to the school gate.

He said that he used to walk with his head held high and with big strides.

He said he thought he would be the protagonist of this world.

Because by the time he graduated from four years of high school, he would definitely have the chance to enter the Super God Class.

But in his last year of high school, foreign races suddenly attacked. That was over a hundred years ago. The world back then was not completely peaceful, so such things were normal.

As a key student cultivated by the school, and possibly the first person in the school's history, Xiao Zhanmo was naturally very well protected.

If he had remained silent, his life might have been just as he imagined.

But he couldn't just watch his classmates, whom he had once called brothers, die in front of him, nor could he watch the girl who admired him be brutally beheaded.

While he remained indifferent.

He could only be protected and retreated by the best teaching team.

He couldn't bear it.

He was the protagonist, how could he bow to the enemy?

Moreover, those people came to attack this city back then precisely to kill him.

A quasi-Divine-Grade in that era was an absolute hot commodity.

What's more, the Broken Scabbard skill carried a very high possibility of instantaneous tenfold burst…

He was seen as a thorn in the side by the foreign races, who did not hesitate to pay a huge price to launch a night raid on this peaceful city, just to kill him.

In the end, the young Xiao Zhanmo secretly rushed out from the teachers' protection and began to fight the foreign races with wits and courage.

He said, “If you don't kill anyone else, I won't leave.”

This was to buy time for other classmates to evacuate.

He was brave, resourceful, and righteous, daring to confront enemies several times stronger than himself.

This was Xiao Zhanmo.

And for his passionate zeal, he paid a very heavy price.

After that battle, he achieved his goal and saved many classmates.

But he himself was left with severed Meridians, and because he missed the best time for treatment, ultimately… his potential was ruined, leaving him with only half of his former strength.

The dream of entering Di Yi Academy and stepping into the Super God Class could no longer be realized.

His classmates and teachers came to comfort him every day.

But one night, he chose to flee the city.

He could not accept the reality that he was truly crippled.

He didn't know how to face the people who had once placed great hopes on him.

He even regretted it, wondering if everything would have been different if he hadn't rushed out at that time.

He could only keep running; only then could his heart feel a little better.

Later, the school immediately reported to the military, and he was found by warriors from Tianhe Pass, the closest to the area.

Then, he was trained to become the captain of a secret unit.

From being the center of attention.

To being ignored.

Xiao Zhanmo suddenly understood at that moment.

He was not the protagonist of this world at all.

He accepted all of this.

The change in his mindset completely transformed his life from that moment on.

They say a starved camel is still bigger than a horse.

Xiao Zhanmo was the same; he thrived in the secret unit.

Only occasionally, in the dead of night, looking at the moonlight reflected in the lake and his increasingly aged face, he would fantasize about what Di Yi Academy was like, what the Super God Class was like.

What it was like to fight the Demon King Group.

How cool it must be to be called a hero.

He looked at the generations of heroic Geniuses on television, his eyes full of envy.

That used to be my dream too…

But all of this had been buried deep in his heart the moment he fled his hometown, never to be mentioned again.

Life is like a dream, and a hundred years pass in the blink of an eye.

He retired, and he also saw the Human Race getting better and better.

He was completely relieved.

Because he found that whether there was one more Xiao Zhanmo or one less Xiao Zhanmo in this world, it seemed to make no difference.

As long as everything was developing in a good direction, that was enough.

He had no children, no elders above him, living alone in this city, often getting drunk, staying awake all night, waiting for death to come.

Until one day, he suddenly received an urgent mission.

The content of this mission instantly awakened all of Xiao Zhanmo's memories.

Demon King Group.

Super God Class.

That fallen young hero.

All of this made him tremble with excitement.

Because he felt like he was back at the center of the world, as if he had touched the dream of his youth again!

Although he wasn't the protagonist!

He stood with the protagonist!

For the past two years, he often caressed the rusted iron spear, fantasizing about fighting alongside Xiao Fan one day.

He wanted to compete with the Demon King Group, wanted to join hands with the top Geniuses in this world, and wanted to break through this sky!

So he quit drinking and started training desperately, just waiting for an opportunity!

Finally, this day, the opportunity came.

He also learned the Wandering Dragon Star Shattering Spear, which he once believed in, from Xiao Fan!

At this moment, he stood in the endless storm, surrounded by scarlet Dragons, watched by countless powerful figures and ancestors above his head, and behind him were the people he was protecting.

He was the focus of all attention.

At this moment, he was the protagonist!

He gripped the spear handle tightly, staring intently at the incredibly powerful Lilith in front of him, hot tears streaming down his aged face, and he roared with the same passion as when he was young!

“You Long… Broken Scabbard!”

At this moment.

Xiao Fan, hidden in the ground, looked up in horror.

Because scarlet flames involuntarily ignited around him!

These flames broke free from his control at this moment, burning uncontrollably.

And.

On the battlefield at this time.

The same flames burned in the pupils of the old figure holding the long spear!

The true activation method of the Fire of Resistance.

It was finally activated!