"Roar-!"
The Golden-haired Lion Mastiff roared at Zhou Yang, its domineering roar actually turning into an invisible shock wave that blasted toward him.
"Big dog, who said you could bark like that?"
Faced with this, Zhou Yang did not sit around waiting to die. He sidestepped, rushed to the Lion Mastiff's side, and threw a punch with all his strength.
Bang-!
Two hundred thousand jin of force exploded against the Golden-haired Lion Mastiff's body with a dull boom.
The terrifying force sent it flying dozens of meters backward, stunning everyone present. Even Leng Yaozhu and the others secretly watching from elsewhere were somewhat dazed.
When she noticed Zhou Yang's group encounter the Golden-haired Lion Mastiff earlier, she had intended to end this Spirit Ascension immediately, but Yali had stopped her.
"I believe in him."
Those few words left Leng Yaozhu speechless.
Looking at the one who had returned, young and immature once more, she had wanted to serve as his Dao protector, guarding him until he returned to his peak.
Yet Yali's strange confidence seemed infectious, touching something within her.
After a moment's hesitation, she gritted her teeth and chose to trust Yali, but Soul Power circulated around her as she prepared to come to Zhou Yang's aid at any moment. If anything went wrong, she could intervene in time without fear of being left with regrets.
But clearly, those worries seemed somewhat unnecessary.
In the distance, after smashing through several towering trees, the three-meter-tall Lion Mastiff now wore an all-too-human look of bewilderment on its ghostly face.
The punch that had just struck his head had sent the blood and Qi within its body surging and left its mind in a fog. If Soul Beasts did not possess inherently tougher bodies than Soul Masters, an ordinary Soul Master struck by that punch would probably never have gotten back up.
Once his consciousness cleared, he also realized what had happened.
He had been sent flying by a human.
The next instant, rage flooded its mind.
It stamped its four limbs down, blasting a huge crater into the ground beneath it. A peculiar deep crimson appeared on its pitch-black ghostly face, making it look even more eerie and savage.
Roar-!
This roar spread an incomparably domineering wave of air, shattering everything in a ring around the Lion Mastiff into fine powder.
A white runic ring of light with golden edges and a black interior appeared beneath his feet, encircling the Golden-haired Lion Mastiff. At the same time, a black shadow resembling his head emerged, its image even larger than his body as it enveloped the Golden-haired Lion Mastiff.
Its body swelled again, growing as tall as a small mountain. Its muscles bulged as though about to burst, making that ghostly face look even more terrifying.
With its Tyrannical Domain unfurled, the Golden-haired Lion Mastiff had thoroughly marked the armored figure before it and committed him to memory.
The humiliation of being utterly overwhelmed just now had completely enraged this ferocious beast.
Now it would give everything it had to fight the human before it to the death.
"Oh-ho, enraged now?" Zhou Yang felt as though a notification reading [Challenger V activated] was about to pop up above his head.
Facing a Golden-haired Lion Mastiff that would strike fear even into a Soul Douluo, Zhou Yang showed no fear at all. Brimming with fighting spirit, he took a card from his card case and inserted it into the dragon-head slot on his left hand.
[Sword Vent]
The Drag Saber fell from high above into Zhou Yang's grasp.
Wielding the Drag Saber, Zhou Yang charged forward. Its terrifyingly sharp blade sliced straight through the Golden-haired Lion Mastiff's steel-like flesh and muscle.
One slash drew blood, cutting deep enough to expose bone.
Ignoring the pain, the Golden-haired Lion Mastiff lashed out with its claws, its swollen paw almost larger than Zhou Yang himself.
Zhou Yang dodged again, slashing repeatedly. Against the Golden-haired Lion Mastiff's mountain-like body, he made full use of his current agility.
Forget landing an attack-it could not even graze him.
Its platinum-colored fur was now stained crimson. As slash after slash fell, bloody wounds kept appearing, lending the ferocious beast an even bloodier look.
Yet even covered in wounds, the Golden-haired Lion Mastiff acted as though it felt no pain, tearing madly at Zhou Yang as it attacked.
Its mountain-like bulk did not affect its speed at all. Watching it, Na'er felt her heart jolt at its terrifying explosive power.
Had she not seen Zhou Yang nimbly evade every attack and strike back with her own eyes, she would have worried whether he could press the exit button in time.
Seeing that close combat had not stopped the ferocious beast before him, Zhou Yang casually tossed away the Drag Saber, took out another card, and inserted it into the slot.
[Strike Vent]
A ball of flame plunged from high above and enveloped Zhou Yang's right hand, transforming into a crimson dragon-head weapon-the Drag Claw.
Modeled after Dragreder, the Drag Claw opened its bloody maw as though it would burn everything with the flames within.
At the same time, Dragreder emerged from the clouds overhead, flew toward Zhou Yang, and circled him.
Zhou Yang gathered his strength, condensing a huge, scorching fireball inside the dragon's head before blasting it toward the Golden-haired Lion Mastiff.
Meanwhile, seeing Zhou Yang pull away rather than continue fighting at close quarters, the Golden-haired Lion Mastiff gathered terrifying, domineering destructive power in its mouth and spat it toward him.
The golden breath beam abruptly collided with the crimson fireball, only to be engulfed by it, steadily suppressed and driven backward toward the Golden-haired Lion Mastiff.
Boom-!
Amid the Golden-haired Lion Mastiff's shrill screams, a terrifying explosion erupted. Its enormous body was blasted away and slammed heavily into the ground, throwing dust into the sky.
Its platinum-colored fur was gone, a great swath of its hide stripped away. All that remained now were scorched-black slash wounds deep enough to expose bone, with lingering flames flaring up from time to time and igniting the flesh beneath.
Although it tried to force itself up with its Tyrannical Domain, its body had suffered grievous injuries, and it had not yet managed to recover its condition. It could only let out furious yet feeble roars as it staggered to its feet.
"Next comes the finale!"
[Final Vent]
An icy mechanical voice rang out, as though announcing the Golden-haired Lion Mastiff's end. The finisher card was inserted, completing the final reading.
Dragreder circled beside Zhou Yang like a divine dragon guarding him, displaying its full majesty.
Performing the standard Ryuki motions, Zhou Yang leaped high, spun through two full 360-degree turns in midair, then unleashed a sudden flying kick from above at the Golden-haired Lion Mastiff, which clung to life on the ground and tried to struggle.
Dragreder followed close behind, spewing terrifying flames that merged with Zhou Yang, turning him into a scorching crimson streak that blasted toward the Golden-haired Lion Mastiff.
This time, the force carried the Golden-haired Lion Mastiff nearly several li away, leaving a conspicuous furrow across the ground as though it had been plowed.
Boom-rumble!
An explosion far greater than the last erupted around the Golden-haired Lion Mastiff. Ferocious power burst forth, like the final block being pulled from a tottering stack; with the central support gone, order collapsed.
A terrifying mushroom cloud rose, engulfing an area several li across.
Fortunately, Na'er and the others had sensed something amiss and left in time. Combined with Zhou Yang deliberately holding back and taking care where he landed, this kept his own people from being affected.
Under that formidable figure of a full 300t, no matter how mighty or domineering the Golden-haired Lion Mastiff was, it could no longer make a sound.
"Big dog, why aren't you barking anymore?"
"Oh, so you're ded."
Just before dying, the Golden-haired Lion Mastiff turned into a wisp of light. The sharp-eyed Dragreder opened his mouth and swallowed it, then quietly departed.