Clang! Clang-clang—clang! Clang!!
One heavy metallic clash followed another, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes in rapid succession, sometimes with long pauses between them.
Even among Glavenus, there were fast and slow sword styles. Constantly changing the rhythm of an attack to make an opponent expose an opening was nothing unusual.
The Sulfur Dragon was getting more and more outmatched. Xingyan wasn't at all surprised that he could defeat it. More importantly, he had finally figured out how to wield Life Energy through swordsmanship—a technique unique to Glavenus, unrelated to the hunters' teachings.
This was a duel between two swordsmen.
The sword fight with the Sulfur Dragon had begun when the two had delighted in finding a worthy opponent. It was like a whetstone, allowing Xingyan to perfectly combine what he had learned from hunters with his own circumstances. From that perspective, the Sulfur Dragon could even be called Xingyan's benefactor.
A pure swordsmanship duel against an opponent of the same size with a similar fighting style was something no other dragon could ever offer Xingyan.
Xingyan's Sword Tail, forged from a large quantity of iron ore and Lapis Lazuli, was now wrapped in a faint red glow. In the dim cavern, the light traced red afterimages as it danced through the air, like the eyes of a Nargacuga leaping through the darkness.
Red Comet!
Uh, a comet, com-comet?
The Sulfur Dragon's heavy tail, wrapped in sulfide crystals, had been hacked into a pitted mess. Both its edge and its back were now riddled with holes of all sizes, and some parts had been smashed and bent to one side.
If the Sulfur Dragon hadn't kept secreting sulfide crystals to thicken its tail blade, its Sword Tail would have broken off long ago.
By contrast, Xingyan's Sword Tail had sustained almost no damage—apart from the dents left by savage impacts before it had been sharpened.
The energy gathered in his tail blade—or Life Energy, if one wanted to call it that—had done its job well, making Xingyan's Sword Tail both harder and sharper.
The more he fought, the more exhilarating it became. The more he slashed, the smoother his movements grew. Many of Xingyan's sudden thrusts as he twisted his body were as elusive as a crescent moon glimpsed through the horns of a gazelle, slipping past the Sulfur Dragon's guard when it least expected it.
Even if the Sword Master were dragged over here, he wouldn't recognize a trace of anything he'd taught Xingyan in the swordsmanship Xingyan was using now. This was absolutely not a style used by hunters, nor did it have anything to do with their usual techniques.
Every spin brought a slash. Whether he cut horizontally or struck downward, the whole dragon seemed to dance—yes, dance!
Spin, leap! And yet every strike landed precisely on a vital part of the enemy. This was a dancing sword style, one of a kind, suited only to the body of a Glavenus!
Another vicious thrust—Blade Charge!
It struck the Sulfur Dragon's hind leg, which had been struggling to defend itself. Under the Sulfur Dragon's dumbfounded gaze, Xingyan leaped up from where he stood, flipped over, and twisted high into the air—nearly hitting the cavern ceiling—before plunging back down!
Beast-Human Art: Dragon Ascending Dragon!!!
His body dropped abruptly. His tail blade dropped with it!
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!!
A series of rapid, ear-splitting metallic clashes rang out. The Life Energy wrapped around Xingyan's tail blade was suddenly unleashed as he descended, transforming into pure destructive force. The faint red glow it had given off turned pale yellow.
Crack—clang!
"Roar!!!"
The massive Sulfur Dragon staggered from the blow and roared at Xingyan's furious assault, a roar of pain—and of shock at the crisp sound of something snapping.
Before Xingyan could turn and draw back his striking Sword Tail, a yellow-green tail blade gleaming with a cold light spun through the air, then sank deep into the ground.
Its tail had been severed!
The Sulfur Dragon's tail blade had been cut off!!
"Roar!!!"
With its prized tail blade gone, the Sulfur Dragon roared again. But this time, along with its pain and rage, its roar held a note of panic.
It knew it had lost.
Its orange-yellow eyes fixed on Xingyan. Sulfur Dragons that had survived this long knew when it was time to retreat, so it didn't linger. It quickly fled along the path it had come.
Xingyan didn't pursue it.
It was rare to meet one of his own kind. Well, an subspecies, but still—it had let him enjoy a satisfying fight and hone a sword style of his own.
It had been a thoroughly exhilarating sword duel—probably a sword duel, anyway, even if the other guy hadn't exactly fought fair.
Good thing I don't fight fair either. Otherwise, I'd be in trouble.
But what excited Xingyan most was that he could now sharpen his blade, too. Without sparing another glance at the fleeing Sulfur Dragon, he held his Sword Tail before him at an angle and carefully studied the pale yellow glow surrounding it.
I kind of want to thank the Sulfur Dragon... As a reward, I'll let it live this time.
It was a strange sensation. He used up his stamina to attack, then drew on the Life Energy within him through his attacks and channeled it into his tail blade. Xingyan simply waited and waited. After quite a while, the pale yellow glow finally faded.
But the Life Energy in his tail blade didn't return to his body. It was as if the moment he released it, it no longer had anything to do with him; once it dispersed, it returned to nature.
Xingyan shook his head. He wasn't going to dwell on it. The Life Energy required to sharpen his blade wasn't much for him, and it was still within what he could handle.
Even human hunters could sharpen their weapons multiple times during a single battle, using their own Life Energy in combat. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to defeat or kill large monsters and make a living in the wild. Every living thing in this world depended on Life Energy in everything it did. It was only the name that differed.
Without wasting a bit, Xingyan gobbled down the Sulfur Dragon's severed tail. It was a finished product, like refined ore ready for forging—he couldn't afford to waste any of it.
After the Sulfur Dragon left the area, Xingyan found a Claw Dragon within its territory. Once he had hunted and eaten it, he had temporarily accomplished his goal in Miasma Valley.
There was no time to feel sad about the Claw Dragon. Xingyan had already set his sights on his next target—Seregios!
But first, he needed to find a way back to the surface.
Xingyan stared blankly at the cavern, now thoroughly wrecked, especially at the seven or eight pitch-black holes in the walls, with no idea where any of them led. He was honestly starting to feel lost.
Three hundred and sixty-five miles to go?
Seregios lived in the Great Sand Sea. Back when Xingyan had still been weak, he'd found many golden scales on rocks—thin and sharp, each one like a razor blade.
For a while, he'd even gone out of his way to avoid the areas where he'd found those scales when foraging. Seregios had a particularly bad temper and loved tormenting its prey. What was with these large monsters? Why couldn't even one of them have a good temper?
If everyone had a bad temper, what was there to say? Just fight the moment you met.
They were fierce and combative, highly aggressive, and fiercely territorial. They showed no mercy even to their own kind. Seregios driven from their habitat had to find a way to survive on their own, or be ruthlessly weeded out by nature.
But honestly, by the time Xingyan had spent a long while heading north toward Miasma Valley, he still hadn't seen a living Seregios even once. He'd confirmed the species existed only by finding scales left behind on rocks.
According to the plan Xingyan had made before leaving his underground nest, he should have killed a few Seregios on the way to Miasma Valley, eaten them, and absorbed enough information about their evolutionary traits before entering the valley.
First, hunt Seregios, then Claw Dragons. The next stage of evolution he'd planned for himself required the physical traits of both species. After consuming enough of those traits and accumulating enough Life Energy, he'd complete his next evolution in Miasma Valley, then go and send Old Steel Dragon on its way.
It was a perfect plan. Xingyan almost couldn't help applauding himself.
Unfortunately, as the saying went, plans never kept up with changes. Xingyan's plan fell apart perfectly, too.
The reason was simple: he couldn't find the Seregios.
As one of the large carnivorous monsters at the top of the ecological hierarchy, Seregios was comparable to monsters like Rathalos and Zinogre. But unlike Rathalos, Seregios' vicious, combative nature made it impossible for them to get along with their own kind, let alone other monsters.
Everyone knew that monsters with reputations like that tended to die easily, and there were fewer of them as a result... Glavenus knew that all too well.
Anyway, fighting to the death was as natural to Seregios as eating and drinking. That was the life it loved.
On top of that, Seregios was a Flying Dragon Species with wings. A Ground Dragon left footprints that could be tracked, but Flying Dragon Species—what tracks could you follow when they flew through the sky?
That's cheating! You winged freaks!
Only after leaving his familiar comfort zone did Xingyan truly realize just how vast the Great Sand Sea was. The desert region once occupied by Horned Dragons, which he'd thought was enormous, had actually been only a small stretch of sand.
Beyond that stretch lay the Barren Stone Land, full of jagged rocks. Farther on, there was more desert, more wasteland, more desert...
Who knew where those Seregios had flown off to while Xingyan trudged along, rarely coming across an oasis or a place with enough plants and wildlife to sustain life? It was just too hot here.
Xingyan didn't dare change direction and search at random, afraid he might lose his way and wander into some endless desert, where he'd die of heat or thirst and end up as another dragon's dung.
Even turning into a mummy was out of the question.
Xingyan had watched enough documentaries in his previous life to know all too well what happened when you lost your way in the desert.
All he could do was keep going in the direction he'd picked at the start. He didn't dare veer off, afraid he'd get lost in the depths of the Great Sand Sea.
The mountain always seemed farther away the closer you got.
Fortunately, Xingyan eventually crossed the desert and rocky wasteland and reached an entrance to Miasma Valley. By then, he had no intention of continuing to look for Seregios. Instead, he burrowed underground like he'd just been rescued.
Don't ask. It was cool. Ask again, and there was groundwater he could gulp down.
Refreshing!
Honestly, if the dream of becoming a Forbidden Species hadn't always shone ahead of him, and the desire to evolve hadn't constantly lingered in his heart, he might have wanted to spend the rest of his life in Flower Field Marshland... There was no shortage of food or water, plenty of ore, a comfortable temperature, and even Cats who cooked delicious meals.
As long as he was lucky enough not to run into special monsters like Elder Dragons or Deviljho, that was all an ordinary dragon could ask for in its life.
There was no need to risk his life and endure such a harsh environment to come all the way here.
He kept grumbling as he searched for a way back to the surface. He could complain all he wanted, but Xingyan's steps never stopped—it was just that the thought of heat so intense it could melt a dragon made his scalp tingle.
Friends who often got trapped in underground caves and couldn't find their way out surely knew that planets had gravity. You just had to figure out which way was up and which way was down, then head straight toward the ceiling.
Huh? What was that? There was no path? A dead end?
Hey, he'd thought it was something serious. When there was no path, all you had to do was open your mouth wide and chew your way through. Simple as that.
Xingyan chewed up the rocks in his mouth and swallowed them. Seeing sunlight stream through a crack he'd broken open in the stone before him, he felt his eyes grow a little misty.
Rumble!!
There was nothing to think about when he was this close to the surface. Xingyan charged with all his might, smashed through the last layer of rock, and emerged into the open air!
Ah! The sun!!
So bright!!
The world was a blinding white. Xingyan had to squint as he adjusted to the long-missed sunlight. It took him a while to make out everything around him again.
Well, Miasma Valley had a new passage leading to the Great Sand Sea. Reshaping nature was a meaningful part of a dragon's life, so there was no need to thank him.
Even the wind brushing past his nose was dry and sandy. Xingyan contentedly narrowed his eyes. He felt that the clean breeze would blow away the rotten smell that was everywhere in Miasma Valley and had practically soaked into him.
In the distance, he could see several Horned Dragons, big and small, fleeing in panic. They had probably been spooked by Xingyan's violent breakout to the surface.
Hmph, trying to run?!
There was nothing to say. Xingyan strode after them. The sun-baked rocky ground awakened his memories. This was the familiar feeling!
Eat!
The taste of Horned Dragon meat was the taste of home, impossible to forget. Xingyan swallowed two of them, hide, bones, and all, without wasting even the blood inside them. It was still as delicious as ever.
Once he'd eaten his fill, Xingyan returned to the question that had been bothering him a month or so ago.
Seregios! Where the hell are you?!!
You're nowhere in the Great Sand Sea! Where did you go?!
Xingyan was so frustrated... He couldn't remember how many times he'd wished for wings. If only he had a pair, his search range and mobility would both increase several times over. It wouldn't even compare to how things were now.
But he couldn't fly—not yet, at least.
There was nothing he could do. Xingyan could only get moving and find himself a place to stay in the area for now, then search for signs of Seregios.
If Horned Dragons could live here, that meant there was plenty of food in the area. In other words, Seregios might come here to hunt.
It wasn't just a random guess. Xingyan suddenly stopped and stared at the Horned Dragon's corpse in front of him. It hadn't rotted, but the blood that had run onto the rock had already dried. More importantly, a scale had pinned the Horned Dragon firmly to the stone, severing its spine and snuffing out every last spark of life.
A golden scale, thin and sharp as a blade.
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