Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon

Xie Hongling covered her lips and chuckled softly, the sound like silver bells drifting through the forest, but sweat beaded on the white porcelain bottle of Seven Absolute Soul Chasing Poison clenched in her fingertips—her feigned ease could not conceal the panic in her heart, and even the faint internal energy coiling around her fingers trembled slightly.

Lin Zhao had long since calmed himself, his finger resting on the trigger of the Internal Energy Armor Piercing Crossbow, his knuckles strained white.

The crossbow bolt coated in Seven Absolute Soul Chasing Poison lay silently in its groove. Its arrowhead gleamed blue-black, while its shaft was wound in fine silver threads—Silk Wrapping Arrows, specially made to conduct internal energy and strengthen armor-piercing force.

The two hid behind a waist-high thicket of wild jujube bushes, their forms obscured by branches and leaves. Yet Xie Hongling's heartbeat grew louder and louder, pounding like a war drum. There was none of the composure she had shown while handling poison before.

Suddenly, a thunderclap-like roar crashed through the valley, making their eardrums ache. Even the earth beneath their feet trembled, and the air hanging around them was shaken into chaos.

Lin Zhao and Xie Hongling both tensed at once.

In the distant pine and cypress forest, tree trunks as thick as bowls swayed violently. Startled birds beat their wings and shot into the sky. Even the goats and hares that usually hid deep in the mountains desperately burrowed into rock crevices. As for the savage mountain wolves, they all tucked their tails and scrambled out of the valley. Beneath the pressure of this Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon, every living thing in the valley trembled. It was fear born from bloodline itself.

Even an Entering Martial Master like Lin Zhao, who had cultivated the Mystic Dragon Breathing Technique to the fourth level, felt a heaviness in his chest as a chill shot up from the soles of his feet.

So this was the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon that could stand head-on against a Grandmaster Warrior of the Heavenly Gang Realm?

It truly lived up to its fearsome reputation!

Deep within the pine and cypress forest, Zhao Zhong was leading his men in a desperate flight.

He had once been an instructor at a garrison, and his Iron Shirt had reached its peak. Now, internal energy flooded his soles, each step grinding loose bits of earth from the ground.

Behind them, a colossal beast the size of a small mountain rampaged wildly. Pines as thick as bowls snapped at a single impact, while boulders half a man tall were sent flying far away, smashing pits half a meter deep into the earth.

The Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon stood a full three zhang at the shoulder and stretched more than ten zhang from head to tail. Layer upon layer of dark iron scales covered its body. Each scale was the size of a palm, its edges glinting coldly. It resembled an ancient river crocodile, only a hundred times fiercer. Whenever it moved, its scales scraped together with the clang of metal, numbing the ears. Even ordinary internal energy attacks would rebound from them.

Its limbs were as thick as old locust trees, wrapped in thick, wrinkled hide comparable to the dark iron Mountain Pattern Armor worn by soldiers. Every step drove a deep crater into the ground. Its claws gleamed coldly, and a casual swipe could rake five grooves into solid rock.

Li Cangying had long since abandoned his horse—no matter how fast it ran, it could not match the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon's short bursts of explosive speed.

Fortunately, the Green Falcon Wind Chasing Steps he cultivated were a second-rate martial world lightness technique. His arms stretched straight behind him, while his feet seemed to ride wind and fire wheels. Internal energy circulated through the meridians of his legs, making him several degrees faster than an ordinary swift horse. For the moment, he had not been caught, though his face had turned bright red, showing just how severely his internal energy was being drained.

When the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon saw that it could not catch Li Cangying, its bell-sized eyes rolled. Then it suddenly swung its head around and charged at the slower Zhao Zhong.

"Zhou Xuan! Get up there!" Zhao Zhong roared. Internal energy flooded his palms as he grabbed at an old elm tree thick enough for several men to encircle. His five fingers sank directly into the trunk, and he used the grip to climb upward.

The moment he reached a branch, the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon slammed into the tree. With a crack, the old elm split in two, wood chips scattering everywhere. An indentation bearing the imprint of its scales was even left in the trunk.

Borrowing the force of the falling trunk, Instructor Zhao leaped fiercely toward another tree, narrowly escaping disaster. He staggered two steps when he landed, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth—the earlier impact had sent his internal energy churning.

Zhou Xuan gripped a Bincheng Iron Great Shield, his throat tight. The Black Tortoise Iron Wall Technique he cultivated excelled in defense, and he wore fifty pounds of dark iron Mountain Pattern Armor, but standing before this enormous beast, his calves still shook uncontrollably.

He had once heard storytellers describe the ferocity of the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon and thought they had exaggerated. Only now did he realize those tales had actually been restrained!

"Good heavens, even a Grandmaster Warrior of the Heavenly Gang Realm would need an internal energy weapon to stand against this thing head-on, wouldn't they?" Zhou Xuan's heart quailed, but there was no room to retreat. He gritted his teeth, filled both arms with internal energy, and charged forward like a savage bull. The Bincheng Iron Armor Piercing Axe in his hand chopped toward the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon's rear—the place where its scales were thinnest.

Clang!

The crisp clash of metal numbed Zhou Xuan's tiger's mouth. The Bincheng Iron Armor Piercing Axe was knocked far away, and even its blade had chipped.

As for the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon's scales, they did not even bear a white mark. Instead, the recoil threw Zhou Xuan's internal energy into disorder, leaving his arms sore and numb.

"Don't waste your effort!" Zhao Zhong shouted anxiously from the tree. "Other than Lin Zhao's Internal Energy Armor Piercing Crossbow, only a Grandmaster Warrior of the Heavenly Gang Realm can pour internal energy into a weapon and break its dark iron scales!"

The Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon grew even more enraged. It abruptly turned around, revealing a savage wound on its flank that still seeped blood. The wound was as wide as a bowl, the scales around it shattered, deep enough to expose bone. It had clearly been inflicted by the internal energy weapon of a Grandmaster Warrior of the Heavenly Gang Realm.

Yet dense granulation tissue had already grown around the wound's edges, shrinking it visibly before their eyes. Nourished by the essence blood of a fierce beast, its self-healing ability far surpassed that of ordinary people.

"Li Cangying! Come cover me!" Zhou Xuan roared, turning to run. He desperately poured internal energy into his legs, but his speed had still slowed considerably.

The Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon kicked off with its hind legs and sprang into the air. Its enormous body actually traced an arc through the sky as it pursued Zhou Xuan.

Li Cangying looked back, and his soul nearly fled his body. He hurriedly pulled the Internal Energy Short Spear from his waist—his treasured last resort, something he normally could not bear to use.

He poured all his strength into filling the spear with internal energy and threw it at the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon. With a dull thud, the short spear struck its scales without even leaving a dent. Instead, it bounced away and fell to the ground with a clang, its spearhead bent crooked.

The three low-level Entering Martial Masters circled the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon like three irritating flies. Though they could not hurt it, they managed to make it dizzy with rage.

This beast had fought a Grandmaster Warrior of the Heavenly Gang Realm not long ago. Though it had badly injured and driven away its opponent, it had suffered wounds itself. After being entangled for so long, its temper became even more violent. Bloodshot veins filled its bell-sized eyes, and its roars grew louder and louder.

Before long, it caught up to Zhou Xuan, the slowest of them all.

Before Zhou Xuan could raise his shield, the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon opened its bloody maw. Its fangs were half a chi long and slick with foul-smelling saliva. It bit down on him, shield and all.

Crunch—

The Bincheng Iron Great Shield was squeezed out of shape, its edge rivets bursting free with the shriek of twisting metal.

Zhou Xuan's scream came from inside the beast's mouth, so shrill that it made their scalps tingle. It was mixed with the muffled sound of internal energy collapsing.

He waved the Bincheng Iron Armor Piercing Axe in an attempt to chop, but his arm was pinned between the beast's teeth. He could not move at all and could only watch as his dark iron Mountain Pattern Armor was pierced by its fangs.

Before long, the shield fell to the ground with a clang, followed by a crisp crack. The Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon violently flung its head, biting Zhou Xuan in half at the waist. His mangled upper body was spat onto the ground, his intestines spilling everywhere. His mouth still made hoarse, gasping sounds, but within moments, he stopped breathing. Even his dark iron Mountain Pattern Armor had been dyed red.

The Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon seemed to find human flesh distasteful. It flicked its tongue, then charged at Li Cangying, moving even faster than before.

Zhao Zhong watched from the tree, and his heart turned cold—how had their only shield bearer died just like that?

He clung tightly to the trunk, his knuckles white, his internal energy nearly impossible to keep steady.

Li Cangying was terrified out of his wits. The internal energy in his dantian was nearly exhausted, and his legs felt filled with lead. Every step made him feel as though his knees would shatter.

The Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon had caught up behind him. Its foul wind blew against the back of his neck, and he could hear every scrape of its scales with perfect clarity.

"Lin Zhao, damn your mother, shoot already! My internal energy's almost gone—I can't hold on much longer!" Li Cangying cursed, his voice trembling as tears nearly burst from fear. He had no desire to end up like Zhou Xuan.

On the high slope, Xie Hongling had lost all trace of her earlier smile. Her face was pale as paper, and even her lips trembled.

She tugged Lin Zhao's sleeve, her voice shaking. "Brother Rakshasa, let's run! This Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon is too fierce. We can't stop it! Even an Internal Energy Short Spear couldn't pierce its scales. The armor-piercing crossbow might not work either!"

Before Lin Zhao could speak, Xie Hongling had already pushed Phantom Step to its limit and staggered toward the valley entrance. She was truly afraid. If she stayed any longer, she would leave her life here.

Her little poison arts were enough against low-level Entering Martial Masters, but against a fierce beast like the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon, they would not even be enough to fill the gaps between its teeth.

Lin Zhao glanced at her fleeing back, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. "A pack of trash. Just as expected, they're unreliable. At the crucial moment, all they know is how to run."

He did not move. His gaze remained locked on the distance between the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon and Li Cangying—three thousand meters, one thousand meters, four hundred meters... The Internal Energy Armor Piercing Crossbow had reached its effective range, but he was still waiting.

This beast's dark iron scales were too thick. From too far away, even poison-coated arrows might not pierce a vital point. He could not waste his only chance.

"Three hundred meters! Two hundred meters!" Li Cangying slowed further and further. His legs went weak, and he nearly fell. The Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon's claw was about to strike his back, and the stench from its mouth had already filled his nostrils.

Just as the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon's bloody maw was about to bite Li Cangying, Lin Zhao pulled the trigger of the Internal Energy Divine Machine Crossbow.

Whoosh—

The Silk Wrapping Armor Piercing Arrow, saturated with Seven Absolute Soul Chasing Poison, ripped through the air with a sharp whistle. Wrapped in a faint glow of internal energy, it flashed like black lightning and shot straight at the skull behind the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon's left eye—the weakest vital point in its dark iron scales.

Pfft!

The crisp sound of the bolt piercing scales rang especially clear. The fletching vanished completely into the beast's head, while blue-black blood poured down the shaft, carrying bits of flesh with it.

The Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon let out a miserable shriek, its enormous body shuddering violently. It had clearly suffered grave injury. It had been so intent on chasing Li Cangying that it had failed to notice the internally refined master archer hidden on the high slope.

But it did not die. Instead, it was driven completely mad.

Blood filled its bell-sized eyes. It stomped the ground, cracking the hard stone beneath its feet and crushing the terrified Li Cangying into a heap of meat. Blood pulp and bone fragments sprayed everywhere.

Then it swung its head around, eyes red-rimmed, and charged toward Lin Zhao on the high slope with blood streaming from its head. Every step shook loose crumbs of earth, and every shrub along its path was crushed flat.

Lin Zhao frowned, tightening his grip on the armor-piercing crossbow. "Its dark iron scales are actually this hard? It survived even a strike to a vital point?"

His feet did not move an inch.

The instant he fired the first arrow, his left hand had already seized the Divine Machine Crossbow's string. His right arm muscles bulged as internal energy circulated down his arm. With a click, he locked a second, weighted armor-piercing arrow into the groove. Its shaft was made from thousand-year iron pear wood, three parts thicker than an ordinary crossbow bolt, and its tip was coated in Bone Corroding Water capable of eating through scales.

In the distance, Xie Hongling crouched behind a blue-gray boulder, her fingertips digging into stone crevices, her knuckles pale. Even the internal energy sustaining Phantom Step was becoming hard for her to control.

The Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon's roars drew closer, mixed with the sound of broken stones rolling downhill. She did not dare breathe loudly.

Li Cangying's scream still echoed in her ears. It had unmistakably been the sound of someone dying completely.

She calculated inwardly: she was only twenty-seven, and her poison arts had earned some reputation in the martial world. If she could attach herself to a Grandmaster Warrior of the Heavenly Gang Realm, or perhaps the master of a martial hall, she could cultivate safely in the future and purchase Dragon Blood Ointment for body tempering. That was far better than risking her life against fierce beasts in these wild mountains.

Just then, the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon's foul wind had reached the foot of the slope.

The beast still had a crossbow bolt lodged in its head, black blood flowing over its dark iron scales. Every step made the slope tremble faintly, and stinking saliva dripped from the corners of its mouth.

Lin Zhao's eyes narrowed. He pulled the trigger again, and the armor-piercing bolt flashed like black lightning toward the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon's front leg joint. Though the scales there were thick, they connected to its tendons and were crucial to its movement.

Pshhk—

The bolt pierced through overlapping scales and buried itself deeply in the joint bone. The Bone Corroding Water took effect at once, blue-black corrosion spreading outward from the wound.

The Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon gave a howl of pain. Its front leg buckled, and with a boom, it crashed to the ground. Its massive body rolled twice, crushing several bushes and leaving a shallow pit in the earth.

It struggled to rise, but its broken bone had pierced through flesh. Every movement made it howl in agony, and the muscles beneath its dark iron scales spasmed.

Lin Zhao did not stop. He poured internal energy into the armor-piercing crossbow once more and, with a click, loaded a third arrow, this time aiming at its hind leg joint.

With a whoosh, the arrowhead sank into flesh again. The Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon's hind leg gave out as well, and it collapsed fully onto the ground. It could only thrash its tail helplessly, hoarsely exhaling foul air as black blood gathered into a small puddle beneath it.

"Break all four of your limbs. Let's see how you move now." Lin Zhao's voice was cold. He drew the Cold Iron Rawhide Bow from his waist, nocked a poisoned feathered arrow, and fed internal energy through his fingers into the shaft. With a whoosh, he fired at the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon's right eye. The arrowhead pierced the eye socket precisely, and black blood burst forth. The beast's roar immediately weakened into faint whimpers.

Before long, the Seven Absolute Soul Chasing Poison mixed by Xie Hongling began to take effect.

The Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon's entire body convulsed. The muscles beneath its dark iron scales trembled without pause, its breathing grew weaker and weaker, and at last its huge body stiffened violently before becoming completely still. Only blood continued to flow slowly.

Zhao Zhong slid down from the pine tree, clutching Zhou Xuan's Bincheng Iron Armor Piercing Axe. He filled his palms with internal energy before steadying himself, then hurried toward the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon.

First, he stabbed the beast's eyes twice with the axe. Sparks flew as the blade struck its scales. Only after confirming it was thoroughly dead did he collapse to the ground, panting heavily, wild delight gleaming in his eyes.

The Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon's scales could be forged into dark iron scale armor, three times more protective than ordinary Mountain Pattern Armor. Its bones could be boiled into Body Tempering Bone Glue, a treasure for unranked martial artists breaking through into Entering Martial Masters. Even its claws could be made into Armor Piercing Cones. And then there was that coconut-sized Pangolin Dragon Essence—it could assist in condensing internal energy, and one tael of it was worth a hundred taels of silver in the Black Market. There had to be at least thirty thousand taels' worth here!

With this money, not only could he buy enough Spirit Condensing Grass to break through to a low-level Entering Martial Master, he could also ask someone to secure him an easy post at the garrison. He would never again need to live with a blade's edge beneath his tongue.

As for Zhou Xuan and Li Cangying's deaths, he did not care in the slightest. Better that they were dead—two fewer people to divide the spoils with meant he could take another thirty percent for himself!

Only after seeing that the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon was truly dead did Xie Hongling activate Phantom Step and sway her waist as she approached, a coquettish smile once more piled onto her face. A small porcelain bottle of poison was still pinched between her fingers.

Lin Zhao also put away the Cold Iron Rawhide Bow and slowly stepped forward. The Cold Iron Frost Condensing Sword remained tucked at his waist, while a layer of internal energy constantly wrapped his palm—he had long been on guard against these two.

"Brother Rakshasa, we have you to thank for your divine archery today. Otherwise, we would all have become food for this beast." Zhao Zhong smiled until his face wrinkled. He rose and pulled more than a dozen thumb-sized white porcelain bottles from his pack. "I'll extract the Pangolin Dragon Essence, and we'll divide it as agreed—you take forty percent, I take thirty, and Red Spider takes thirty. How does that sound?"

He crouched before the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon's mouth, pried its teeth open with an internal energy dagger, and endured the stench as he reached into its throat to pull out a coconut-sized gland.

A cool, warm fragrance spread instantly through the air. It was highly pure Pangolin Dragon Essence, and the gland's surface still gleamed with oil.

Zhao Zhong carefully squeezed the Pangolin Dragon Essence from the gland into the porcelain bottles. When he finished, there were only fifteen bottles—five fewer than he had estimated. By the time Xie Hongling and Lin Zhao took their shares, there would not be much left for him.

He turned his back to them, and his face immediately darkened. If there had been twenty bottles, he could have generously given Lin Zhao several. But there were only fifteen now... He gritted his teeth and reached for the internal energy dagger at his waist, an idea already taking shape in his mind. Why not simply kill them both? These fifteen bottles of Dragon Saliva Fragrance, along with the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon's scales and bones, will all be mine!

When Zhao Zhong turned around, the smile on his face had become vicious. The internal energy dagger in his hand suddenly stabbed at Lin Zhao's throat, its blade wrapped in a faint layer of internal energy. "Hongling! Move! His internal energy has just run out—this is his opening!"

Xie Hongling had been prepared. She drew a dark iron dagger coated in Blood Sealing Death Powder from her sleeve and, using the speed of Phantom Step, silently circled behind Lin Zhao and stabbed at his heart from behind. She had prepared two doses of this poison. Even a high-level Entering Martial Master would not survive three breaths after being struck, much less Lin Zhao, who was only a low-level Entering Martial Master with refined internal energy.

Yet Lin Zhao seemed to have expected it all along.

He had long seen that Zhao Zhong and Xie Hongling were old partners. During the division of spoils, they had constantly exchanged glances. How could he, an outsider joining them, possibly fail to stay vigilant?

He had deliberately waited until the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon came close before firing, precisely so the beast would eliminate Li Cangying, the fastest among them. With only two martial masters left now, he was not afraid in the slightest.

"Mystic Dragon Breathing Technique, Mystic Dragon Strength, activate!"

Lin Zhao exerted force from his dantian. The muscles throughout his body instantly tightened as dark golden internal energy surged across him, forming a thin energy shield over his skin.

He leaped more than a man's height into the air, easily avoiding Zhao Zhong's dagger. At the same time, he drew a packet of Saltpeter Eye Irritant Powder from his robes with his backhand. With a surge of internal energy, the powder scattered like mist toward Xie Hongling behind him.

"Ah! My eyes!" Xie Hongling was caught off guard. Saltpeter powder entered her eyes, and pain drove her back with a scream. Her dagger fell to the ground, and her internal energy instantly fell into disorder.

As Lin Zhao landed, he had already drawn the Cold Iron Frost Condensing Sword from his waist. Internal energy flowed along the blade, raising a layer of cold light. He slashed at Xie Hongling. "Take this—Three Talents Slash!"

The sword light streamed like silk, carrying fierce inner force as it chopped straight at Xie Hongling's shoulder.

Xie Hongling hurriedly raised her arm to block, but how could her internal energy arm guard withstand a cold iron sword?

With a crisp clang, the arm guard split in two. The sword's momentum did not lessen, and it cut her directly into four pieces. Blood and organs splashed across the ground, and she did not even have time to finish screaming.

When Zhao Zhong saw Xie Hongling die in an instant, his heart turned cold. He swung his sword and stabbed at Lin Zhao's lower abdomen again, the move three parts faster than before—he was ready to risk his life.

But Lin Zhao neither dodged nor evaded. His left hand formed a claw and seized the blade directly. Mystic Dragon Strength condensed into an energy shield over his palm. The iron sword could not pierce even half an inch and instead was numbed by the shield's recoil.

"Too weak!" Lin Zhao sneered. His five fingers clenched, and Mystic Dragon Strength erupted, slightly warping the blade. "With your pathetic, unranked skills, you dare plot against me?"

He kicked Zhao Zhong in the lower abdomen. Mystic Dragon Strength poured through his foot into Zhao Zhong's dantian. With a bang, Zhao Zhong was sent flying into a pine tree. He spat out blood, and his internal energy instantly collapsed.

Ignoring the pain, he scrambled up and ran toward the valley entrance, the fifteen bottles of Pangolin Dragon Essence still tucked in his robes. As long as he escaped, found somewhere to break through, and returned later, revenge could wait!

"Trying to run?" A cold glint flashed in Lin Zhao's eyes. He pulled out the Cold Iron Rawhide Bow, poured internal energy into it again, nocked an arrow, and drew it to its full extent. The bow curved into a full moon.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three poisoned feathered arrows shot out in succession, their shafts wrapped in Mystic Dragon Strength as they flew toward Zhao Zhong's back like soul-chasing cords.

The first arrow pierced his shoulder blade and pinned him to a tree trunk. The second nailed the bend of his knee, making him collapse. The third pierced straight through his neck, its arrowhead emerging from his Adam's apple with a spray of black blood.

Zhao Zhong staggered around, his eyes filled with unwillingness. He opened his mouth but could not make a sound. Blood kept flowing from the corners of his lips, and at last he fell to the ground with a thud, completely dead. The porcelain bottles in his robes rolled everywhere.

Lin Zhao walked over, drew the Black-tipped Dagger from his waist, cut off Zhao Zhong's head, and casually tossed it beside the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon's corpse. "You forgot: when facing a master archer among Entering Martial Masters, never turn your back and run." He looked down at the porcelain bottles, bent to pick them up, and tucked them into his pack. These fifteen bottles of Pangolin Dragon Essence, along with the Mystic Armored Pangolin Dragon's scales and bones, were all his now.