The Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast slowly raised its closed, dark-gold eyelids, revealing molten-gold pupils blazing with fury at having its rest disturbed!
When it saw the black speck plummeting straight from the sky and sensed the undisguised, tremendous blood vitality and fierce fighting spirit within it, that fury instantly gave way to caution!
"ROOOAR!!!"
A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar suddenly erupted!
It sounded less like a tiger's roar than a dragon's cry, sweeping across the entire foot of the mountain!
Visible sound waves spread outward, shaking loose the surrounding rocks, whipping the trees into a frenzy, and sending leaves raining through the air.
The enormous beast raised a forelimb, and claws capable of easily shattering mountain rock swiped straight at Mu Chen with a howling, vicious wind!
Before the claws even reached him, a reeking wind and almost tangible pressure slammed into his face, as though intent on pulverizing both the figure in the air and the air around him!
"Just what I wanted!"
With that sharp cry, Mu Chen rode the momentum of his fall, drew his right arm back, clenched his fingers, and instantly gathered all his strength into his fist!
His punch, charged to its utmost, blasted fearlessly toward the Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast's enormous claws!
The instant fist met claw, time seemed to freeze.
BOOOOM!!!!!
A terrifying crash exploded at the mountain's foot like thunder rumbling through the highest heavens!
A visible ring of air erupted from the point of impact and swept in every direction!
RUMBLE!!
Wherever the shock wave passed, it scoured an inch off the ground and hurled countless broken stones and splintered trees into the air!
"ROOOAR!!"
The Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast let out a sky-shaking roar mingled with pain and fury.
The terrifying force packed into that punch actually knocked its enormous body several stumbling steps to one side, leaving a splinter of bone protruding from one foreclaw toe, dripping golden blood!
Using the recoil, Mu Chen flipped nimbly backward through the air and landed steadily on a relatively level clearing more than a dozen yards away.
He shook his slightly numb right arm, but a delighted, exhilarated smile spread across his face. Only a white mark remained on his right fist.
"Now that packs a punch!"
He had put nearly all his strength into that blow, yet he had only made his opponent suffer a minor setback. An Earth Ranking spirit beast's defenses truly lived up to their reputation!
The Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast fixed its molten eyes on Mu Chen, the fury in its gaze almost erupting into tangible flames.
It lowered its forequarters, poised for an all-out pounce, and growled a deep warning in its throat as dark-gold spiritual energy faintly coursed over its body.
Fierce winds howled at the mountain's foot, sweeping up dust and torn leaves.
Man and beast faced each other down.
Mu Chen slowly settled into a fighting stance, blood vitality surging throughout his body like a mighty, rolling river!
The next instant, he vanished from where he stood, and the ground beneath his feet exploded into a shallow crater.
The Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast moved too, charging straight at Mu Chen amid a gale that threatened to tear everything apart!
Two figures, one black as ink and the other dazzling dark gold, collided thunderously amid collapsing boulders and flying dust!
BOOM!
Mu Chen actually forced the Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast back dozens of yards!
Seizing his advantage, Mu Chen gave the beast no quarter, formed a fist seal, and closed in!
BOOM!
The already cracked mountain rock beneath his feet shattered completely. In an instant, Mu Chen crossed more than a dozen yards and bore down on the Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast before it could fully regain its footing.
Fast! Unimaginably fast!
The Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast's pupils abruptly contracted. Its pillar-thick hind legs drove hard against the ground, and its massive body darted sideways with agility utterly at odds with its size!
At the same time, its long tail, covered in savage bone spikes, ripped through the air like a steel whip and swept viciously at Mu Chen with a shrill howl!
The tail sweep carried tremendous force at a treacherous angle. If it landed, even hard iron or stone would shatter.
Mu Chen did not slow his forward charge. Only when the long tail reached him did his waist bend strangely, like drifting willow fluff, barely brushing past those howling bone spikes.
The razor-sharp gust pressed his robes tight against his body and ripped several strips of fabric loose.
He clenched his fingers and drove a simple, direct punch into the Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast's comparatively soft flank beneath its ribs!
THUD!
A deep crash erupted, like a blow against thick leather.
Mu Chen's fist landed squarely against the Dragon Tiger Beast's ribs.
Its dark-gold scales flashed frantically, trying to disperse that tremendous force, but the power was too concentrated, too penetrating.
The scales groaned under the strain and caved inward slightly. A ring of fine cracks silently spread from the imprint of his fist!
"Rrgh!"
The Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast roared in pain, causing its descending claw to stray slightly off course.
Mu Chen had already used the recoil to pull away. Following the footwork he had grasped in his earlier battles, he circled to its other side.
Another punch!
BOOM!
This time, he struck where the joints of the Dragon Tiger Beast's hind leg met.
The Dragon Tiger Beast stumbled again, its enormous body beginning to lose its balance.
It twisted its neck in wild fury and opened its blood-filled maw. Golden breath as hot as molten lava gathered in its throat, about to erupt...
How could Mu Chen give it that chance?
His gaze turned icy. Seizing the momentary opening the Dragon Tiger Beast exposed through pain and imbalance, he suddenly sprang upward, leaping directly to the height of its head!
His left leg swung like a battle-axe, slicing through the air with a terrifying shriek before slamming viciously into the Dragon Tiger Beast's lower jaw just as it prepared to unleash its breath!
CRACK!
The impact rang out with a teeth-grating sound.
The Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast's gathered breath was forcibly interrupted. That tremendous kick snapped its head upward, its neck bones creaked audibly, and its enormous body lost all balance and toppled backward with a crash.
Dust shot into the sky, and the ground shook violently, as though a small mountain had collapsed.
Mu Chen landed, his eyes locked on the enormous beast struggling in the dust. Without the slightest pause, giving it no chance to catch its breath, he pushed off and charged again!
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
A dense barrage of blows, like pounding drums, exploded continuously at the mountain's foot, nearly drowning out the Dragon Tiger Beast's agonized roars.
The dark-gold scale armor, sturdy enough to withstand slashes from ordinary Spirit Artifacts, began caving in across large swaths beneath Mu Chen's terrifyingly powerful fists.
Scales flew apart, and golden blood seeped from the cracks, staining its dark-gold fur and gilding the broken stones and soil beneath it.
The Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast's roars gradually grew shrill and desperate.
It had never faced an opponent like this, whose strength matched its own and whose speed and agility far surpassed it!
Despite its enormous body and formidable defenses, it was as though it had sunk into a mire, with nowhere to apply its strength, able only to endure the endless barrage of heavy blows.
The longer Mu Chen fought, the more fluid his movements became, and the more unrestrained!
The blood vitality within him thundered and surged like a mighty river, and a sliver of the innate chaos saint body dao embryo's potential was further awakened in this exhilarating battle!
His control over his strength grew ever more exquisitely precise. Every ounce of power went exactly where it belonged, with none wasted.
Fist intent!
A will sprouted and coalesced within his heart. No matter how thick your scales or how boundless your strength, I will break through with a single punch!
"BREAK!"
With a sharp cry, the muscles of Mu Chen's right arm bulged. His blood vitality instantly gathered into his fist, and an exceedingly faint sheen even appeared across his knuckles!
SPLURT!
The sound was not particularly loud, but its dull weight made the heart tremble.
Mu Chen's fist punched straight through the Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast's indestructible skull and buried itself deep inside!
Its savage aura receded like a tide, and its boiling dark-gold spiritual energy abruptly went out.
Mu Chen slowly withdrew his arm.
The instant his fist pulled free, thick golden blood mingled with yellow-white matter gushed like a fountain from that horrifying wound!
The Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast, an Earth Ranking spirit beast, was dead!
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