The back-to-back bouts of "crazy sparring" had sent Xia Dong's combat experience soaring like a snowball rolling downhill. Throughout it all, his divine sense, stronger than that of others at his level, had played a key role.
Faced with the Great Serpent's oppressive presence, an ordinary cultivator who had only just embarked on the immortal path would likely have lost their composure long ago, their movements stiffening.
But Xia Dong's divine sense allowed him to force himself to calm down in the blink of an eye, remaining absolutely, utterly composed.
What was more, whenever he reviewed a fight, he would slow down and dissect every detail—the contractions of the Great Serpent's muscles, the scrape of its scales—as though time itself had stretched to a crawl. The combat experience he had earned through blood, sweat, and pain became almost instinctive, flowing seamlessly into his dodges and counterattacks the next time around.
Of course, just how much real killing power this kind of "training partner" could produce, with Xia Dong shut away from the world, would only be revealed when he eventually fought "cunning and treacherous" human cultivators or genuine wild yao beasts in actual combat.
Still, Xia Dong knew perfectly well that when it came to combat experience, the person he was now had been reborn compared to his former self. He was more than a little stronger.
His use of Crane Shadow Step had now reached a state of effortless, natural perfection, answering his every whim.
In the past, he had used Crane Shadow Step simply to be fast, precise, and steady. But now, under the extreme pressure of darting and dodging the Great Serpent's attacks, his movement technique had begun to carry a faint trace of Daoist resonance.
Every step he took through the air unconsciously landed on certain