His body reacted instinctively before he even had time to think about what that thing was.
He drove Nine Yang Body Protection to its limit in that instant. Half-gold, half-white light blazed up like kindling set alight, forming a thick, solid golden barrier over his body.
But Nine Yang Body Protection, activated in such haste, could not unleash its full power. Before the luminous patterns on its surface had fully stabilized, that enormous tail slammed into the golden barrier, trailing a howling gale.
Boom!
A deafening crash erupted through the gray-white mist, shaking the entire valley. Like heavenly thunder exploding at the valley floor, it sent the surrounding Hidden Dragon Qi churning in every direction.
Li Bufan felt a force capable of toppling mountains and overturning seas surge from that tail. Heavy and brutal, it felt like a moving mountain had struck him head-on.
Nine Yang Body Protection shuddered violently the instant they collided, dense ripples spreading over the golden light.
He was hurled backward uncontrollably, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
Thoughts flashed through his mind. That defense had merely been an instinctive response thrown up in haste. He had not activated Nine Yang Body Protection at full strength—it had not even reached half its defensive power.
Had he fully deployed Nine Yang Body Protection, that tail strike might still have knocked him back, but it would never have injured him.
Although he had learned this technique long ago, his response speed in actual combat was still woefully inadequate. When he had time, he would have to thoroughly hone his ability to activate his defensive technique in sudden emergencies. Otherwise, in a life-and-death battle, that tiny delay could become a fatal opening.
But his combat instincts did not falter because of his injury.
Riding