Dragon's Origin

Song Hongde was a formidable figure, a man who wouldn't always act based solely on his personal preferences. He knew when to play the generous benefactor and when to feign subservience. If it benefited him and his family, Song Hongde was capable of anything.

For example, within the Perpetual Battlefield, Song Hongde could humble himself before Wang Sheng. But once out of that place, Song Hongde would seek to reclaim his lost dignity.

Of course, that wasn't the only reason. At its core, everything was about利益 (lìyì - benefit/interests). In killing Wang Sheng, Song Hongde was primarily acting for the benefit of his family, with personal grudges coming second.

The Perpetual Battlefield held immense benefits – a fact acknowledged by all forces. So, aside from Wang Sheng, which force had the greatest advantage within the Perpetual Battlefield?

Without Song Hongde and his men, it would be hard to say. Perhaps the Imperial family and Triumph Palace, being the first to enter, or maybe those families who only sent a few individuals in the initial waves.

But with Song Hongde returning with hundreds of subordinates, things were different. The Song family instantly held the most significant advantage in the Perpetual Battlefield.

Firstly, the Song family had a forward base, or rather, two, within the Perpetual Battlefield. The disguised one could certainly be utilized.

Secondly, the Song family possessed the most experts. In terms of seventh-layer and above experts, no force could compare to the Song family after Song Hongde's return.

Furthermore, the Song family's experts had lived in the Perpetual Battlefield for over a decade, making them a hundred or a thousand times stronger than forces like the Imperial family and Triumph Palace, who had only been there for a month and were guided by Wang Sheng. As long as they didn't encounter terrifying swarms like the man-eating ants, the Song family could essentially roam freely outside the core of the Perpetual Battlefield.

Even their understanding of the Perpetual Battlefield's core was more profound than that of other forces. It could be said that the hundreds of Song family experts had improved thanks to the influence of the martial intent released by the Perpetual Battlefield's core.

In this situation, who would the Song family need to deal with first to maintain their absolute advantage in the Perpetual Battlefield? Even a simpleton like Dai Huan, let alone a formidable figure like Song Hongde, would know what to do.

Therefore, since they couldn't bring Wang Sheng into the Song family and make him one of their own, killing Wang Sheng was the most beneficial course of action for the Song family. Any major force in their position would make the same choice.

Unfortunately, Song Hongde was dealing with Wang Sheng, a man whose methods no one had been able to figure out since he arrived in this world.

The black dot in his vision grew larger and larger, and Song Hongde could clearly see that it was a fist-sized sphere with some horizontal and vertical patterns. It was moving very fast, and its power was clearly several times greater than the previous steel pellets.

However, thinking that he could kill the Song family's patriarch with a slightly larger iron ball was laughable. Even if Wang Sheng was flying in the sky, even if he flew twice as high, it was impossible.

The two guards were both at the eighth layer. Facing the iron ball, which appeared to be dozens of times heavier than the steel pellets, they didn't panic. They used the same method as before, deflecting it with their weapons, confident that this large iron ball would also be knocked aside. This was the confidence of eighth-layer experts.

However, before their weapons could touch the iron ball, it exploded with a bang. It wasn't the iron ball that Song Hongde thought it was, but Wang Sheng's last remaining high-explosive grenade.

Fire and shrapnel instantly swept through the area. Song Hongde, who had been as proud as an emperor, had to lower his arrogant head in the face of this sudden explosive attack, curling up his body, using all his spiritual energy, and activating the protective arrays on his protective suit to resist this completely unexpected attack.

The high-explosive grenade was very powerful, but against two eighth-layer experts, its power was still slightly insufficient to be lethal.

The high-speed shrapnel from the explosion rained down on the guards, but was deflected by the two eighth-layer guards, and no shrapnel could hit Song Hongde. However, while the shrapnel was defended against, the flames were not so easy to defend against.

A ball of fire nearly two zhang in diameter engulfed everyone. No matter how well protected they were, some of the clothing on each person was ignited, and exposed skin was inevitably licked by the flames.

By the time everyone had frantically put out the flames, the shed was riddled with holes. The people under the shed were covered in black and scorch marks. The two eighth-layer guards were covered in soot, their eyebrows were completely burned off, and half of their hair was burned off. They looked as ugly as could be.

Song Hongde did not escape either. Half of his hair was singed, and half of his beard was charred. Because he had just covered his face with his hands, there was now a ridiculously funny handprint on his face. His body was also scorched in many places. He looked even more disheveled than when he was in the Perpetual Battlefield.

Wang Sheng knew from the beginning that the weapons and equipment he brought from Earth were becoming increasingly useless. As he faced stronger and stronger enemies, first the Glock 17 became useless, then the sniper rifle, and various grenades and bombs.

Apart from the high-explosive grenade he had just thrown, Wang Sheng only had one incendiary bomb, two smoke bombs, three scatterable anti-personnel mines, and one directional fragmentation mine. Among these, the only one that could really threaten Song Hongde was probably the incendiary bomb.

However, Song Hongde had two expert guards, so the incendiary bomb would definitely affect those two guards first. The shed was not a closed area, so it wouldn't be very useful. In the end, Wang Sheng only chose the high-explosive grenade, as a lifelong lesson for Song Hongde.

Song Hongde was indeed deeply impressed, so deeply that he became even more determined to kill Wang Sheng. Unfortunately, Wang Sheng escaped this time with such a good opportunity. It probably wouldn't be so easy to find another opportunity next time. Maybe he would have to wait until Wang Sheng left Worry-Free City next time.

In the sky, Wang Sheng looked at the scene below, regardless of the result, and regardless of the various thoughts and fears of the people below, and flew straight into the distance.

“You probably don’t have many chances.” Wang Sheng said to Song Hongde’s shed, as if talking to himself.

Without modern treatment methods, relying on alchemy and the medical skills of this world to treat heavy metal poisoning accumulated over decades was almost impossible.

Song Hongde was able to persevere in the Perpetual Battlefield with his cultivation and will, but once he returned to the Song family, without having to face constant danger, the energy in Song Hongde's heart would dissipate, and his body would soon collapse.

When Song Hongde officially started treatment, it would be the beginning of Song Hongde's bedridden, declining years.