177: Chapter 177 Dragon Breath? This is just a high-class sauna!

The moment the golden flames erupted, the temperature of the entire lava plain directly exceeded 12,000 degrees.

The space in front of Lin Fan twisted.

The ground vaporized before the flames even reached it.

Not melted, vaporized.

The rocks went straight from solid to gaseous, skipping the liquid phase entirely.

The coverage of this breath of Dragon Breath was a full 200 meters wide, spreading toward Lin Fan's position in a fan shape.

Five kilometers away.

Xia Wanqiu and Murong Yan stood behind a giant rock, watching the sky in the distance turn golden.

The tremors coming from the ground made it difficult for them to even stand.

Mu Qing held up her spiritual power shield, her face deathly pale.

"That is Dragon Breath."

"The innate Dragon Breath of the Ancient Flame Dragon clan."

"Even a Level 7 Martial Emperor would be heavily injured if they took a hit head-on."

Murong Yan's hand pressed against the hilt of her sword, her knuckles turning white.

Xia Wanqiu gripped her communicator, the screen displaying Lin Fan's vital signs.

Heart rate: Normal. Body temperature: Normal. Vital signs: All normal.

She stared at those numbers, not blinking for even a second.

In the center of the flames, Lin Fan was completely engulfed by the golden Dragon Breath.

The 12,000-degree flames wrapped around his entire body.

To be honest, this time he actually felt something.

Not pain. It was heat.

That scorching sensation that seeped from the surface of his skin all the way into the gaps between his bones.

The golden light film of the Indestructible Divine Body flickered violently in the flames; one layer shattered, and the next immediately replaced it.

Shattering, regenerating, shattering, regenerating.

The speed was so fast that it created a golden, flowing light effect.

The system notifications exploded. Not just spamming the screen. It was a bombardment.

[Ding! Suffered an attack from a Level 8 mid-stage ancient species 'Flame Ancient Dragon' innate Dragon Breath!]

[Defense + 320!] [Fire Resistance experience + 580!]

[Pain Conversion triggered! All attributes temporarily increased by 20%!]

[Thorn Armor triggered! Reflecting 300% true damage! Additional Soul Shock!]

320 points! One breath of Dragon Breath gave 320 points!

Lin Fan almost jumped up in the flames.

The ultimate move of a Level 7 mid-stage Lava Demon Ape was only 150 points. The Flame Ancient Dragon's Dragon Breath more than doubled that.

This was a true "premium client."

"Awesome!" He shouted in the Dragon Breath.

His voice was mostly swallowed by the flames, but he didn't care.

He was focused on something else now. The experience bar.

After this breath of Dragon Breath, the LV43 experience bar jumped forward by a large chunk.

You have to know that previously, fighting 137 Level 6 beetles only pushed the experience bar forward by two-thirds.

And this one breath of Dragon Breath pushed the experience bar directly to three-quarters. The efficiency was ridiculously high.

"Continue! Give me another breath!" Lin Fan spread his arms in the flames.

The Dragon Breath lasted about ten seconds before stopping.

The Flame Ancient Dragon closed its mouth, its golden vertical pupils staring at the area covered by the Dragon Breath.

The ground within a 200-meter radius had turned into a glassy, charred black plane. Everything had been burned away.

Rocks, gravel, terrain, all vaporized. Only a smooth, mirror-like, charred black crater remained.

In the very center of the crater, stood a person. Shirtless. Steam rising from his body. And still smiling.

"Is that it?" Lin Fan patted the dust off his arm. Wait, no dust. It had all been burned away.

He looked down at his pants. The pant legs had shortened again. They had now turned into shorts.

"Damn, my pants shrank again." He looked up at the Flame Ancient Dragon.

In the Flame Ancient Dragon's golden vertical pupils, for the first time, a never-before-seen emotion appeared. Confusion.

It had lived for who knows how many years. It had seen humans, other monsters, and ancient species.

It had never seen a creature that could be hit head-on by its innate Dragon Breath for ten seconds, be completely fine, and even ask for more.

No. Not "completely fine." It felt the damage reflected back.

At the same time the Dragon Breath was exhaled, a severe burning pain came from its throat.

The intensity of that pain was several times greater than the Dragon Breath it had exhaled itself.

And it was accompanied by a strange mental shock, making its brain buzz.

It subconsciously touched its throat with its dragon claw. Cracks had appeared on the inner wall of its throat.

Its own Dragon Breath... injured itself? No. It was reflected back from that human.

The Flame Ancient Dragon's vertical pupils narrowed. Its intelligence far exceeded ordinary monsters. Ancient species inherently possessed intelligence close to that of humans.

It quickly understood what was happening. This human had some kind of damage reflection ability.

Hitting him would hurt itself. Using Dragon Breath to burn him would crack its throat. Then it wouldn't hit. It wouldn't burn. It would stomp.

The Flame Ancient Dragon lifted its right front claw. With its 30-meter-tall massive body, a single claw was as large as a basketball court.

The tips of the claws were covered in dark golden scales, and the temperature at the edges of the scales exceeded 6,000 degrees.

It prepared to stomp this human directly into the ground. After stomping him in, it would apply continuous pressure. No explosive force, just continuous pressure. Let's see how he reflects that.

The claw fell. The speed wasn't fast, but the coverage area was immense.

Lin Fan looked up at the sky-covering dragon claw, his eyes lighting up.

"Stomp? Good guy, you changed moves? Smart! Knowing that hitting and burning are useless, you switched to pressure?"

"Nice, nice, I like this! I was pressed by Zhao Gang's Hundred-Fold Gravity at the league, that was incredibly enjoyable, but the time was too short."

"Don't make yours too short either!" He didn't dodge.

The dragon claw fell. "Boom!" Lin Fan was smashed into the ground.

The glassy, charred black ground beneath his feet shattered, and his body sank in.

The weight of the dragon claw began to apply continuous pressure. Heavy, continuous, stable pressure surged from all directions.

Not an explosive impact, but a continuous crushing. The system notification changed style.

No longer a single "Defense + XX". But a continuous string of small values.

[Defense + 15!] [Defense + 12!] [Defense + 18!] [Defense + 14!] [Defense + 16!]

It was increasing every second. The values weren't big, but they were consistent.

And it wasn't just the Defense value. The pressure was all-encompassing. Bones, muscles, internal organs, skin, meridians.

Every part of his body was being squeezed. Every part of his body was gaining experience simultaneously.

"That's more like it!" Lin Fan was pressed under the dragon claw, his voice muffled.

"Continuous damage from gravity types is just comfortable. Come on! Push harder!"

The Flame Ancient Dragon increased its force. It could feel that the human's body beneath its claw was exceptionally hard. It couldn't be flattened. It couldn't be crushed.

The reflected pain brought to the claw was also continuous, but because it was continuous pressure rather than an instant explosion, the reflected damage was relatively dispersed. It could handle it.

So it kept pressing. One minute. Two minutes. Three minutes.

Lin Fan was under the dragon claw, his experience bar steadily moving forward.

Three minutes of continuous pressure, the Defense value had increased by a total of nearly 300 points. Adding the 320 points from the previous Dragon Breath, plus the experience accumulated from fighting the Lava Demon Ape.

The LV43 experience bar was now full.

[Ding! Congratulations to the host! Defense Level increased to LV44!] [Physical strength fully enhanced!] [All attributes + 5%!]

Lin Fan felt a warm current surge through his entire body. His bones were cracking and popping, muscle fibers were restructuring, and the golden luster on the surface of his skin shone even brighter.

Leveled up. But it wasn't enough. It was still one level away from unlocking the next skill. Only at LV45 could he draw a new god-level passive.

"Continue! Don't let up!" Lin Fan shouted under the dragon claw.

The Flame Ancient Dragon furrowed its dragon brows. It added another 20% force.

Then it felt something wrong. That human under its claw. It seemed to have become harder.

It wasn't psychological. It had really become harder.

Three minutes ago, it could still feel the other's body slightly deforming under the pressure. Now, there was absolutely none.

Pressing down was no different from pressing on an iron plate. And the reflected pain was also increasing. Because it had added force. Adding force meant the reflection was also greater.

Cracks began to appear on the bottom of its claw.

The Flame Ancient Dragon made a decision. Retract the claw. It lifted its claw.

Revealing the crater beneath. In the crater, Lin Fan was lying sprawled out, his posture extremely relaxed.

"Eh? Why did you stop?" He sat up. "Buddy, is your hand tired? How about switching feet? Or you can sit on me, I don't mind the weight."

The Flame Ancient Dragon: "..." It was now very certain of one thing. This human was sick. And quite sick at that.

It had lived for so many years, and it had eaten at least eight or ten thousand humans. Never had a human, after being stepped on by it for three minutes, lain in a crater complaining that it stopped too soon.

The Flame Ancient Dragon began to re-evaluate the opponent in front of it. Couldn't be killed by hitting. Couldn't be killed by burning. Couldn't be killed by pressing.

And hitting it hurt itself, burning it burned its throat, pressing it cracked its claws. What to do?

Its golden vertical pupils flickered. Then it did something unexpected by everyone. It took a step back. Turned around. Headed off. Prepared to leave.

"???" Lin Fan jumped out of the crater. "Where are you going? Come back! We aren't done! I'm still one level away from drawing a skill! You come back here!"

The Flame Ancient Dragon walked towards the direction of the core area without looking back. Its pace was steady. Its rhythm was even. It was completely unaffected by the madman behind it.

Lin Fan stood in the crater, looking incredulous. A Level 8 mid-stage ancient species. Ran away. Scared away by him.

"No, you're a dragon! A dignified dragon, scared away by a human? Doesn't your dragon life need face?"

The Flame Ancient Dragon continued walking. Lin Fan panicked.

This was the highest quality experience pack he had ever seen; one breath of Dragon Breath was over 300 points, three minutes of being stepped on was 300 points, the efficiency crushed all other opponents.

He was still one level away from reaching LV45. LV45 meant a new god-level passive. If this dragon left, where was he going to find such a good source of experience?

"Wait! I won't provoke you anymore! Come back and hit me!" Useless. The Flame Ancient Dragon continued walking.

"I'll give you money!" Still useless. "I'll sing for you!" Lin Fan pulled out a megaphone.

The Flame Ancient Dragon walked even faster. Lin Fan stood on the spot, watching that massive back getting further and further away, stomping his feet in anxiety.

Then he saw the Lava Demon Ape on the ground, holding its severed wrist and cowering in the corner. Level 7 mid-stage. The one he had been chasing and beating earlier.

Lin Fan looked at the Lava Demon Ape, then at the departing Flame Ancient Dragon, and an extremely unreliable idea popped into his mind. He smiled.

"Big monkey, do you want revenge?" The Lava Demon Ape trembled all over.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid," Lin Fan squatted down and patted the Lava Demon Ape's head. "I won't hit you. You help me call that dragon back, and I'll let you go."

"It's your neighbor, right? You know each other, right? Go, call it back. Just say there's a human taking a dump at its doorstep, whether it wants to come back or not."

The Lava Demon Ape stared blankly at Lin Fan. Its eyes were filled with a question. Are you sick?

Lin Fan smiled even more brightly. "I am indeed sick. But if you don't help me call it, I'll keep beating you."

The Lava Demon Ape looked at its severed right hand. Then looked at Lin Fan.

Then it took a deep breath, and in the direction the Flame Ancient Dragon had left, let out a tentative low roar. "Roar..." The sound wasn't loud. It reeked of cowardice.

The Flame Ancient Dragon ignored it. "Louder," Lin Fan directed from the side, "You can't even scare me with that volume. Do it again, with feeling."

The Lava Demon Ape roared again, this time a bit louder. The Flame Ancient Dragon still ignored it.

Lin Fan sighed, pulled out the megaphone, and handed it to the Lava Demon Ape. "Use this."

The Lava Demon Ape took the megaphone with its remaining left hand, looking confused.

"Shout towards over there," Lin Fan taught it hand-in-hand. "Press this button, then roar."

The Lava Demon Ape pressed the play button. Lin Fan's pre-recorded voice came out of the megaphone.

"Flame Ancient Dragon, you coward! You can't even beat a human! Aren't you ashamed! Are you even an ancient species! Do you deserve to be the boss of the volcano!"

"If you don't come back, I'll tell all the monsters that the Level 8 mid-stage Flame Ancient Dragon was scared away by a shirtless human!"

The sound echoed across the lava plain. In the distance, the Flame Ancient Dragon, which had already walked 500 meters away, stopped.

The golden flames on its tail suddenly leaped up three meters. Then it turned its head. In its golden vertical pupils, pure rage burned.

Seeing the Flame Ancient Dragon turn around, Lin Fan snatched back the megaphone and waved at it excitedly.

"That's it! That's more like it! Come, come, come! Come back! Continue! This time use all your best skills! I'm in a hurry! I'm still one level away!"

The Flame Ancient Dragon let out a dragon roar that shattered rocks. It accelerated.

Its 30-meter-tall massive body sprinted toward Lin Fan, the bone spurs on its back all standing erect, its entire body of dark golden scales glowing red-hot.

It wasn't planning on using Dragon Breath. It wasn't planning on using its claws. It was prepared to use the most primitive, most violent attack method of the dragon race. Ramming.

Using its 30-meter-tall body, charging at full speed.

"Here it comes, here it comes!" Lin Fan stuffed the megaphone back into his spatial ring, planted his feet firmly, and spread his arms. "Experience feast! Time to eat!"

In the distance, Mu Qing watched this scene, her whole person completely stunned.

Her lips twitched for a long time, and she only squeezed out one sentence. "He... used a Level 7 monster to call a Level 8 monster... and called it back..."

Xia Wanqiu was beside her, flipping through a tablet to record data, not even raising her head. "Normal operation."

"This is called normal operation?" Murong Yan added, crossing her arms, "Last time in the Abyss, he chased a Level 8 Nine-Headed Nether Serpent for two kilometers, and in the end, punched one of its heads to pieces."

"At least he didn't chase it this time, which counts as progress, letting it come back on its own, how much easier."

The corners of Mu Qing's mouth twitched twice. She silently closed her communicator.

The association had already urged her to evacuate three times. She didn't know how to report this.

"Report to headquarters, that human used a megaphone to call back a Level 8 ancient species"? If she submitted this kind of report, she would probably be sent for a mental evaluation.

With a loud boom. The earth trembled. The Flame Ancient Dragon slammed into Lin Fan again.