Ya Ji vs. Poisonous Bird

A crimson figure streaked across the sky, and the winged wyverns circling above the Great Antlion Desert scattered in panic. Though the figure was not much larger than them, the danger etched into their genes kept warning them.

On the ground, some monsters noticed the presence overhead. They wondered why a Male Fire Dragon had appeared here. Even a young dragon that had just left its parents to live alone should have chosen a forest better suited for survival.

The Great Antlion Desert was all barren wasteland, with yellow sand swirling through the air, but it could not obscure Luo Yun's vision.

He followed the river for a while. Along the way, he saw migrating Carapacean Herbivore Dragons, Spirit Deer sprinting about to evade hunters, and Kulu-Ya-Ku sneaking eggs out of Herbivore Dragon nests. Yet he saw no sign of Ya Ji.

Once he realized he had already strayed far from Ya Ji's territory, Luo Yun could only turn back despite his reluctance.

Under normal circumstances, Ya Ji would only hunt near her territory. There had been plenty of Herbivore Dragons and Spirit Deer along the way here, yet none bore any signs of hunting. That meant Ya Ji had not chosen to hunt in this direction today, so continuing to search along the river would only be a waste of time.

After spending some time returning to the nest, he found it exactly as it had been, with no scent of blood. That meant Ya Ji had not returned midway. Luo Yun turned and flew out again.

This time, he planned to check the lake where Ya Ji had found him. But the moment he rose into the sky, his keen eyesight caught sight of a patch of violently swaying trees in the direction of the Ancient Forest.

That place was quite far from the nest, seemingly beyond Ya Ji's territory. Still, on the off chance that she was there, Luo Yun changed direction and flew toward it.

Ya Ji felt that she was having terrible luck today. After making sure her Hatchling Dragon would not wander off, she headed to one of her usual hunting grounds as she always did, intending to pick out a plump Herbivore Dragon for lunch.

But the moment she arrived, she saw a Great Jagras rampaging beside that lake, frightening all the Herbivore Dragons away.

Looking at its massive size, sturdy body, and the power radiating from it, Ya Ji could only resign herself to her bad luck and choose another hunting ground.

Yet when she reached her second hunting ground, she discovered that that damned Poisonous Bird had once again trespassed into her territory!!

Worst of all, this brainless Poisonous Bird seemed to have gone crazy today. Instead of fleeing when it saw her, it brazenly scarfed down nearby poison mushrooms with its huge tongue. When she approached to intimidate it, it even spread its wings, acting completely unlike itself as if it wanted to fight her.

How could she possibly put up with that?

Though she had no idea why the Poisonous Bird, which had once been slightly smaller than her, had suddenly grown so much larger after only a short time, Ya Ji had never been afraid of fighting this thing!

Back when she had not been this big, the Poisonous Bird would scamper away the instant it saw her. Now that she had grown so much stronger, she had to kill it outright!

With an angry roar, Ya Ji charged straight at it like a green truck.

The Poisonous Bird did not back down either, stubbornly charging to meet her head-on.

The two charging dragons collided, yet neither managed to overpower the other. In terms of strength, they were evenly matched.

Ya Ji could not accept that. That creature that only dared sneak into her territory to eat poison mushrooms whenever she went out hunting was now evenly matched with her?

It was like some trash you had always looked down on suddenly took some unknown drug and became your equal. In that moment, you were the fool, turned into part of the other person's game.

The instant the collision ended, Ya Ji's dragon blood boiled. No matter what happened today, she had to kill this creature. She had to defend her territory and her dignity!!

And so, the two enormous beasts roared as they fought. One had the advantage in size, while the other had the advantage of species. Neither could gain the upper hand.

The powerful stamina of large monsters caused them to gradually stray far from their original location as they fought, which was why Luo Yun had not spotted them immediately after taking flight.

When Luo Yun arrived, he found Ya Ji facing off against a Poisonous Bird. Around them lay fallen trees, scorched earth, and huge boulders corroded by venom.

Ya Ji was not in good shape. Scales had cracked in many places across her body, and many of the spines that usually draped over her back like a shawl had broken. Blood dripped from the large protruding spine before her jaws, while threads of purple venom coated her poisonous tail spines.

Her most serious injury was her right wing. The wing membrane appeared to have been directly hit by venom, leaving one area an unnatural purplish red as blood seeped from it.

A Female Fire Dragon would only use the highly draining attacks of fire and venom after driving an enemy away had failed. It seemed this Poisonous Bird had been too stubborn, provoking Ya Ji's killing intent. Even after suffering injuries of this severity, she showed no intention of stopping the fight.

Ya Ji was in such a miserable state, but the Poisonous Bird facing her was not doing well either. Still, compared to Ya Ji's injuries, its worst wound was the bleeding puncture through its abdomen. There was no need to guess that Ya Ji's protruding jaw spine had caused it.

Yet the Poisonous Bird seemed far more spirited than Ya Ji. Ya Ji was at a disadvantage in this battle.

Neither dragon noticed Luo Yun above them. At that moment, each had eyes only for the other. Their strength was too evenly matched, and with neither side clearly weakened, neither dared let its guard down. That gave Luo Yun an opportunity.

With a beat of his wings, Luo Yun flew high above the Poisonous Bird's back. After turning sharply, he dove rapidly toward it.

Speed Boost had activated the instant Luo Yun showed his intent to fight, making his dive faster and faster.

By the time the Poisonous Bird noticed the disturbance, Luo Yun was already extremely close. Even if it reacted, it was too late, because Ya Ji charged at it once again from the front.

Caught between attacks from front and rear, the Poisonous Bird was clearly battle-hardened. It merely turned to glance at Luo Yun's size, then ignored him, leaving its back exposed.

In its experience, a Male Fire Dragon of Luo Yun's size, even with the momentum of a dive, could at most slash it with a claw. With the fragile bones of a young dragon, if they collided, it would suffer only some impact while Luo Yun would break his bones and die.

And whether that little claw strike could even break its skin was another matter. The one who truly threatened it was this unfamiliar Female Fire Dragon that had attacked it for no reason.