Xingyan Lost and Fierce Battle with the Sulfur Dragon Slayer!

Closing his eyes, Xingyan quietly felt the changes this Claw Dragon brought him—not enough.

His instincts told him that merely consuming this Claw Dragon wasn't enough; the evolutionary trait information he'd currently absorbed was still insufficient because this Claw Dragon was too weak, not a seasoned monster, and its purity was severely lacking.

Powerful monsters often possessed superior bloodlines to their weaker kin, with clearer and deeper evolutionary traits.

If Xingyan wanted to obtain a special organ or a trait from an Elder Dragon for his evolution, consuming just one would be almost enough, because monsters of the Elder Dragon's caliber were inherently powerful.

They were born at the top; ordinary monsters weren't even qualified to pick a fight.

But if the trait Xingyan wanted was found in an ordinary dragon, he would have to consume many of them. It was like how he had to consume many Sleepy Floater Dragons to evolve his Air Sac Carapace—unless the ordinary monsters consumed were powerful enough, which could shorten the process.

This single Claw Dragon was far from enough. Xingyan continued his search in this Miasma Valley.

He hadn't felt the sun on his body for many days. He even doubted if he could adapt to the brilliant sunlight and high temperatures of the Great Sand Sea if he went outside now.

No wonder the Claw Dragons that lived here year-round had degenerated eyesight. Although they hadn't devolved their eyes completely like the Great Jagras, a full, unopenable nictitating membrane had grown over both eyes, equivalent to congenital cataracts. They could only vaguely perceive light and dark.

The real New World was far larger than in the game. Even though Xingyan had become the overlord of a region in the Great Sand Sea, the territory he occupied was merely a part of the Flower Field Marshland Area. Now, he had strategically retreated to the underground areas and rarely visited the Flower Field Marshland Area anymore.

With Xingyan's stamina and speed, it had taken him months of non-stop travel to get from the southern part of the Great Sand Sea to the entrance of the Miasma Valley in the north. Now that he was inside the Miasma Valley, it was a complete unknown, impossibly vast.

In the beginning, he would use his tail to mark his path to avoid getting lost. However, after so many days, in this three-dimensional cave world with countless interconnected passages, Xingyan suddenly realized that his markings were everywhere.

He couldn't tell them apart. He couldn't tell them apart at all.

In the end, Xingyan simply gave up on marking his path. He was mentally prepared: if he really couldn't find his way back to the surface, he would just open his mouth and start gnawing on the rocks above him. He'd eventually chew his way out.

Well, one could only say that a foolish dragon had its foolish methods.

At first, Xingyan was a little worried about what would happen if he encountered the aging Steel Dragon prematurely. However, after spending some time in this corner of the Miasma Valley, he no longer had any such concerns—who knew where that old Steel Dragon had gone?!

There wasn't the slightest sign of its activity, let alone encountering it.

Xingyan even discovered a Serpent King Dragon's skeleton, partially exposed on the wall of a cavern. It was headless and tailless, only a section visible, with the other half buried in the rock, as if they had fused together.

The size of its open ribcage was even large enough for a large dragon like Xingyan to dance on, which made Xingyan incredibly envious—with a monster of that size, if he could be as big as a Serpent King Dragon, could he cleave the New World in half with a single blow?

A Dragon Slayer as huge as a World Eater... interesting.

There were more than one Serpent King Dragon that had died here. Xingyan didn't know which one this was, but it was definitely ancient, otherwise, it wouldn't have fused with the rock.

Needless to say, Xingyan naturally tried biting the Serpent King Dragon's bones to see if he could find any useful evolutionary information. But unfortunately, he couldn't absorb anything. These bones were no different from stones now, utterly devoid of nutrition.

It was almost like a sightseeing trip. Xingyan had already hunted three Claw Dragons. These stubborn territorial overlords were relatively easy to find. After all, like the "flat-headed brother," Claw Dragons wouldn't choose to flee or avoid a fight before it truly began.

But to be honest, within the current range of Xingyan's activities, he couldn't find any more Claw Dragons. The number of predators a region could sustain was limited, unless he searched further afield, but further...

Stepping over rotting flesh pulp, Xingyan saw a patch of yellowish-green crystals on the cave wall near the ceiling—like the trace left by a paintbrush on paper, thick to thin, dark to light. So familiar.

Indeed familiar. After all, when Xingyan's own tail scraped against the stone wall, it left similar traces, just without the yellowish-green crystals.

And Xingyan knew what kind of monster left these traces. Besides the subspecies of Dragon Slayer that lived in the Miasma Valley, the Sulfur Dragon Slayer, who else could it be?

He stopped walking. Directly opposite Xingyan, an equally massive dragon stood quietly in the darkness. Its orange-red eyes were exceptionally bright in the dim light. It was watching Xingyan.

A familiar face. Xingyan often saw this face when he looked at his reflection by the water. A pair of short, thick, curved horns, a maw filled with sharp teeth, and symmetrical spikes growing from its head to the heat-dissipating plates on its back—but compared to the flamboyant, flame-like heat-dissipating plates on Xingyan's back, the plates on the dragon opposite him looked much tamer, slanting backward on its back.

It looked at least a whole size smaller than Xingyan. Its body carapace was not the usual reddish-brown of a Dragon Slayer but a yellowish-green, more fitting for the Miasma Valley.

But what was even more special was its tail. It was more slender and longer.

A Sulfur Dragon Slayer.

Although it might sound strange, from Xingyan's perspective—no, from a Dragon Slayer's aesthetic—the Sulfur Dragon Slayer opposite him was a very beautiful female.

A beautiful dragon among Dragon Slayers.

Shaking his head, Xingyan banished this thought from his mind, as the Sulfur Dragon Slayer opposite him had already adopted an aggressive stance. It curved its body, placing its long tail diagonally in front of it from behind.

Interesting.

Xingyan suddenly felt like laughing. Although he always referred to himself as the "greatsword among dragons," that was only because Dragon Slayers had a move called Tail Bite Great Spin, which resembled Iai. Strictly speaking, Dragon Slayers were monsters modeled after greatswords. Apart from that one move, every other attack was a wide, sweeping slash.

But the creature before him was different.

The Sulfur Dragon Slayer was a subspecies designed with the image of a longsword. Therefore, strictly speaking, the Sulfur Dragon Slayer was the true "longsword among dragons."

It had lost its Flame Sac, so it could no longer spit lava fireballs to attack.

Rather than biting enemies with its mouth, it preferred to slash enemies with its tail.

In a sense, Xingyan, a Dragon Slayer who didn't like to breathe fire or attack with its mouth, wasn't unusual. Nature had already produced kin that evolved in this direction.

So, isn't this interesting?

Unable to contain his excitement, he bent his body and placed his tail diagonally in front of him from behind, just like the dragon opposite. Xingyan glanced sideways; his tail was nearly twice as thick as the Sulfur Dragon Slayer's. This was the difference between a greatsword and a longsword.

A longsword dragon versus a dragon that used a greatsword as a longsword—who had superior swordsmanship?

An unspoken understanding passed between them. Neither Xingyan nor the Sulfur Dragon Slayer let out any roar to greet each other.

Clang!!

Only the sound of their tails colliding, the sound of their tails striking each other as they swung simultaneously—this was their best greeting.

The Sulfur Dragon Slayer's tail speed was very fast. After the initial clash, it sidestepped and slashed upward along Xingyan's tail. Xingyan, naturally, wouldn't just stand there and wait to die. The time he spent training with the Sword Master, learning the essence of Hunter swordsmanship, was not wasted.

With a nimble sidestep, Xingyan dodged the Sulfur Dragon Slayer's sword tail that swung towards his body. Seizing the brief opening, Xingyan unleashed a sweeping slash towards the Sulfur Dragon Slayer, whose back was exposed from its wide, arcing strike.

However, this Sulfur Dragon Slayer was experienced enough. The moment Xingyan dodged its attack, the entire dragon rolled on the ground, narrowly evading Xingyan's post-sidestep slash.

Well now, Xingyan thought, this is something.

This was their first encounter, their first clash, and neither dragon had gained an advantage. Both were cautiously probing.

For Xingyan, battles like this were far more interesting.

Constantly using his sword tail to hack at opponents still relying on primitive attacks with teeth and claws had been truly uninspiring. It felt like driving a tank against a Polish cavalry charge – they were simply on different levels.

Clang!!

The two sword tails met again, recoiling on contact—Clang!!

The cavern was filled with the sound of smithing. A formidable opponent had Xingyan brimming with energy. The swordsmanship he'd learned from the Sword Master was being put to constant use in this battle.

The fight with the Sulfur Dragon Slayer was like a duel between two swordsmen. It wasn't about size or strength, as with other monsters, but about swordsmanship itself!

This was a completely new experience for Xingyan, even after so many battles. This kind of combat was even different from sparring with the Sword Master. After all, the Sword Master was only human; his strength, size, and even the weapons he used were far smaller than Xingyan's. Their combat objectives were also vastly different.

The Sword Master couldn't take a direct slash from Xingyan and counterattack, but the Sulfur Dragon Slayer could.

Clang!!

Another fierce vertical slash. The Sulfur Dragon Slayer hastily swept its sword tail across the ground to gather momentum, deflecting Xingyan's strike upwards.

But it was too heavy.

Xingyan had never bothered to refine his sword tail. Even though the current blade was crudely forged and would be discarded upon full evolution, the iron ore and lapis lazuli Xingyan had used were real—and heavy.

This weight was simply too much for the Sulfur Dragon Slayer's more slender sword tail. It wasn't an illusion; a noticeable notch had already appeared on the Sulfur Dragon Slayer's tail blade!

In contrast, Xingyan's sword tail… honestly, with its thickness and weight, it could be mistaken for a hammer with a blade.

The sword tails separated after the clash—but they didn't separate?!

A glint of cunning flashed in the Sulfur Dragon Slayer's orange-red eyes. This time, instead of retreating, it shifted its legs to the side. Using the momentum from flicking Xingyan's sword tail upwards, it brought its own tail back down in a counter-slash!

This strike was faster, more agile than any previous blow!

This creature had clearly not used its full strength earlier, instead adapting to Xingyan's attack rhythm and power before seizing an opportunity for a surprise attack.

Truly the most intelligent among the beast dragon species; it even knew how to use deceptive tactics.

Undoubtedly, the Sulfur Dragon Slayer's sudden burst of power landed a heavy blow on Xingyan's side—BOOM!!!

The air sac carapace that was struck exploded instantly. The sudden blast even startled the Sulfur Dragon Slayer, and the resulting shockwave directly repelled its sword tail, preventing further damage.

"ROAR!!" (Didn't expect that?!)

This was the first roar Xingyan had let out since the fight began, but it wasn't for mockery or boasting. His roar was incredibly loud, and in a confined space like a cave, it mixed with the echoes to become deafening, capable of unsettling an opponent's mind.

The instant he roared, Xingyan twisted his body and lunged forward with a straight thrust!

His massive, sharp sword tail, like a dragon, aimed directly for the Sulfur Dragon Slayer's abdomen. Sensing Xingyan's attack, it hastily reared its forebody upwards to dodge—Slice!

But it was still a fraction too late. The sharp sword tail sliced through the area above the Sulfur Dragon Slayer's foreclaw. Had it dodged even a little slower, this blow might have severed its throat.

It was stunned.

The Sulfur Dragon Slayer was completely bewildered.

Wait, this fellow creature—why is it exploding?!!

It could clearly feel that its carefully planned strike had no solid impact on flesh. Aside from the initial feedback of breaking through the carapace, it was immediately met with the force of an explosion.

Carapaces explode?

How could I be dreaming this?

—Why doesn't mine explode??

With its level of intelligence, the Sulfur Dragon Slayer was already pondering such questions.

Then, it became even more confused.

BOOM!!

Just as the Sulfur Dragon Slayer retreated a few steps, hesitating whether to flee, the carapace on Xingyan's body suddenly exploded again.

This time, let alone the Sulfur Dragon Slayer, even Xingyan was bewildered—Wait, where did I get hit?!

There's no dragon here?!

Why did my carapace explode?!

For a moment, both dragons tensed up. Xingyan quickly retreated a couple of steps, then swung his sword tail around him in the air several times, trying to locate the invisible enemy surrounding him.

Whoosh, whoosh, the movements stirred up the wind.