Golden-Armored Dragon Lizard

The collision sent Zhang Fei sliding back two or three meters. His arms ached and tingled, as though an iron hammer had slammed into them twice.

But the Ironback Tusked Boar had not gotten off lightly either.

Its massive body was forced to a halt, its head levered upward by Zhang Fei's braced arms. Its lumbering body staggered back several steps.

"Ahem..." Zhang Fei shook out his numb arms. "Not bad, old pig. You've got some strength."

The Ironback Tusked Boar shook its head twice, seemingly dazed, but even angrier than before.

It gathered its strength again and launched a second charge at Zhang Fei.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Man and beast collided for another four or five rounds.

Behind him, She Long could not bear to watch any longer. He drawled, "Charging is what an Ironback Tusked Boar does best. And what's your greatest advantage? That big, thick, tough tail of yours-is it just there for decoration?"

"...You could've said that sooner, Grandpa."

Zhang Fei turned and rolled his eyes at him.

Despite having virtually no combat experience, he instantly thought of a plan. Don't pythons use their tremendous constricting strength to strangle their prey?

At that moment, the Ironback Tusked Boar charged again with a low growl.

This time, Zhang Fei did not meet the Ironback Tusked Boar with his arms. He lowered his center of gravity and swept his snake tail sideways, whipping it into the boar's front legs with a whistling rush of wind.

The thick, armored tail slammed down with the force of a thousand weights. With a sharp crack, the Ironback Tusked Boar's front legs buckled, and its massive body pitched forward. Its charge was forcibly broken, sending its entire body stumbling sideways.

Before it could get up, however, Zhang Fei's snake tail had already coiled around it.

Like a giant python, his golden-scaled tail wrapped around the Ironback Tusked Boar's torso, passing beneath its belly and curling back over its spine.

One coil, two coils, three coils-the thick snake tail bound the Ironback Tusked Boar tightly, drawing ever tighter. The crushing pressure between its scales carried the terrifying strength granted by Martial Soul Possession.

The Ironback Tusked Boar let out a shrill, muffled howl, its four hooves kicking frantically in the air.

But Zhang Fei's snake tail tightened further and further, squeezing a series of cracking sounds from the bones in its chest.

The Ironback Tusked Boar's howls grew shorter and weaker, and its struggles gradually diminished.

Zhang Fei held his breath as well, veins bulging on his forehead and teeth grinding.

After a long while, the Ironback Tusked Boar stopped struggling altogether. Its four hooves hung limp, its heavy head drooped onto the fallen leaves, and its chest fell silent.

Then a white Soul Ring slowly rose above the Ironback Tusked Boar's corpse.

Only then did Zhang Fei slowly loosen his snake tail and release his Martial Soul Possession.

The golden scale patterns receded from his skin layer by layer, his slit pupils became round again, and his snake tail turned back into two legs.

He stood there panting for quite some time, his chest heaving and sweat streaming down his body.

"How does it feel?" She Long stepped forward and looked him up and down.

Zhang Fei raised his head and grinned. "Better than I imagined. I actually beat a fifty-year-old pig."

(At that moment, far away at Notting Junior Academy, a fifty-year-old, rank-twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster sneezed.)

She Long smacked the back of his head. "A fifty-year-old pig wore you out this badly? When you see a real Dragonkin Soul Beast several hundred years old, we'll see if you can still smile."

Zhang Fei rubbed the back of his head and chuckled without arguing.

She Long glanced at him and said nothing more, simply turning to continue onward.

Zhang Fei hurried after him. Suddenly, the forest did not seem quite so unnerving, and his steps were considerably steadier than when he had arrived.

For five days, She Long led Zhang Fei around the outskirts of Sunset Forest.

They set out at sunrise and rested at sunset.

Although danger lurked throughout the forest, with a Titled Douluo protecting him, Zhang Fei slept soundly every night.

Along the way, they encountered several Soul Beasts, including a three-hundred-year-old Iron-Armored Lizard and an Earth Dragon Crocodile over five hundred years old. Both were Dragonkin, but neither was old enough.

Then, on the morning of the sixth day, after they had followed a dry creek valley uphill for roughly an hour, the view suddenly opened up, revealing a towering cliff face.

At the foot of the cliff, an enormous creature lay motionless.

It was a huge lizard nearly four meters long, its entire body covered in dark-gold armored scales, each as large as a palm.

A serrated bony ridge rose along its back, extending from the top of its head all the way to the tip of its tail.

Its limbs were short and thick, yet immensely powerful. Its claws dug deep into the earth, crushing the loose stones beneath it to powder-a clear sign of its astonishing strength.

The Golden-Armored Dragon Lizard was an exceptionally ferocious Dragonkin Soul Beast, possessing tremendous strength and defense.

Even lying there motionless, its heavy, oppressive presence made Zhang Fei's back tense.

"Nearly eight hundred years old. Just right," She Long said softly, crouching beside him. "A Golden-Armored Dragon Lizard's defense and strength are brutally powerful. You can't withstand it. I'll subdue it first, then you stab it in the eye with your snake spear."

Zhang Fei nodded and drew a deep breath. He loosely curled his right hand, and with a thought, the pitch-black Eighteen-Foot Snake Spear slowly materialized in his palm.

This was his first time summoning this Tool Martial Soul since his awakening. The moment the spear settled into his hand, its heavy weight forced him to grip it with both hands.

She Long glanced at him, then vanished from the spot in a blur.

Zhang Fei barely saw how he moved. He heard only a piercing whistle through the air as a streak of blue-violet light cut through the dim forest, and the snake lance's tip struck precisely at the side of the Golden-Armored Dragon Lizard's neck.

How fierce was a Titled Douluo's strike? The dark-gold armor it took such pride in shattered like paper beneath the lance's tip, sending blood spraying.

Had She Long not been afraid of killing it with excessive force, the Golden-Armored Dragon Lizard would already have been a corpse.

Caught completely off guard by the blow, the Golden-Armored Dragon Lizard let out a deafening roar. Its thick limbs thrust hard against the ground, and its massive body surged up.

Its tail swept violently sideways, smashing toward She Long with a powerful gust of wind.

But She Long merely swung his snake lance across, its shaft firmly blocking the incoming tail. The recoil sent the Golden-Armored Dragon Lizard's tail bouncing back and made its massive body stagger.

The Golden-Armored Dragon Lizard turned, opened its enormous, blood-red maw, and lunged at She Long.

"Beast! Not only do you refuse to surrender, you even dare to resist!"

She Long barked the words, turned his wrist, and struck the Golden-Armored Dragon Lizard's head with the butt of his lance in a backhand blow.

The strength behind this blow was somewhat probing, but its terrifying force still slammed the Golden-Armored Dragon Lizard's gaping maw shut.

A flicker of fear flashed through the Golden-Armored Dragon Lizard's eyes.

It finally realized that the human before it was someone it could not afford to provoke. Driving its four legs forward, it jerked its body backward, trying to retreat beneath the cliff and escape.

But how could it outrun a Titled Douluo?

She Long's figure flashed again, and the butt of his lance struck its head once more.

He had already gauged how much the Golden-Armored Dragon Lizard could withstand, and this time, his strength was just right.

The Golden-Armored Dragon Lizard gave a grunt, its slit-pupiled eyes went dark, and its massive body swayed before crashing to the ground, where it lay completely still.

She Long prodded the Golden-Armored Dragon Lizard's eyelid with his lance tip. Only after confirming that it had indeed been knocked unconscious did he turn and beckon to Zhang Fei. "Little Fei, you can come over now."