Published: February 11, 2025
A crossbow bolt brushed past the Holy Father's left cheek.
The force of the nuclear launch was estimated to be equivalent to that of blue or even purple bows, and since these crossbow bolts had been processed by Ye Zhongming, reaching the white level, they were able to break through the Holy Father's skin.
Although it was just a small injury, only a drop of blood flowed from it.
The power of this shot, if it had been fired by someone else, even Ye Zhongming, would have likely resulted in a chunk of flesh being torn off. However, for the Holy Father, it merely created a tiny cut, which swiftly closed up and healed completely.
But as Zhang Xiang had thought, this at least proved that this ninth-level expert was still human and had not reached an invincible level.
Yet this small wound caused the Holy Father's aura to change dramatically.
Previously, this ninth-level expert acted more like a decoy, using his ghostly speed to draw attacks meant for the Temple of Dawn's army towards himself.
He seemed to be toying with two war fortresses.
Even when surrounded by crossbow bolts, the Holy Father felt he could handle the situation with ease. It turned out he was merely careless to have been injured.
Now he was angry.
Others didn't understand why he hadn't counterattacked; if he had joined the attack, both the city walls and the war fortresses would have been destroyed long ago.
But the Holy Father knew exactly why.
Because attacking consumed a great deal of energy, and he had only three sources of energy: either from this space, which would lead to a rapid collapse of the area, or from the Blue Secret Realm, which was already on the brink of destruction and could no longer provide energy sufficient for a ninth-level life to fight.
Alternatively, he could draw energy from other life forms, which was what the Holy Father had been doing all along. He valued Red Hair for the immense energy within her, and along the way, he had absorbed energy to fire several blasts of the Power of the Gods beneath the tower.
But this method couldn't be considered the Holy Father's own energy; it was merely borrowed and could not be truly absorbed.
The last source was his own energy.
A ninth-level life could essentially be seen as a self-sustaining energy source, having transcended the shackles of life itself to form a communion and cycle with the mysterious powers of the universe.
From this perspective, the energy of a ninth-level life would not be exhausted.
However, this came with a prerequisite: it needed to be connected to the energy of the surrounding space. Only the vast universe could provide the endless energy needed for evolution.
Yet every ninth-level life was limited by the space they occupied; a fragmented or unstable space would affect their ability to absorb and store energy. The more unstable the space, the greater the impact on energy absorption.
Therefore, after consuming his own energy, the Holy Father required a long time to gradually replenish it.
Due to the uniqueness of ninth-level lives, energy was nearly equivalent to their lifespan. The more energy they consumed without timely replenishment, the shorter their lives would become.
This was the problem the Holy Father faced.
He refrained from attacking because it would require using his own energy, and once expended, he wouldn't be able to replenish it, thus shortening his days of existence.
One must understand that nothing is absolute in the universe. Even if he does not use energy, it would still dissipate slowly. While life forms capable of timely replenishment need not fear this, the Holy Father could not; the Blue Secret Realm could not satisfy his needs.
So he was desperately seeking a new path because the energy within him was running low, and he was facing death.
The remaining energy the Holy Father possessed was used to sustain his life.
Given this, he certainly would not attack recklessly.
But now he had been injured, and as an overlord, his dignity was violated, so he had to counterattack.