Even after letting go of the three subordinates that he had been protecting, it was still difficult for the lord of the Heavenly Dragon Temple to protect himself against the attack of the formation, Xuan Hao, and Pei Yang at the same time. Even though he was stronger, he was still locked in a situation where he was essentially being attacked from three sides at the same time, all of which had Earth Immortal Realm level power.
Because of this, it did not take long before he was forced to use all of his energy to defend himself from the constant onslaught. Unable to mount a serious counterattack against Xuan Hao or Pei Yang.
A Biiiiiiiit longer chapter today.
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For those wonder about the Earth Immortal Realm:
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1-4 layers around dao lotus, Early Stage Earth Immortal Realm
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5-8 layers, Middle Stage Earth Immortal Realm
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9-17 layers, Late Stage Earth Immortal Realm
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18+ layer, Peak Earth Immortal Stage, Half Bloom Stage.
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This view of the Earth Immortal Realm is what is used on the Ewaria continent. Mainly due to the fact that there is close to no Earth Immortals in the Half Bloom Stage and those at the realm don't try to improve and instead try to reach the Celestial Immortal Realm.