Chapter Ten: Beating the Dragon to a Pulp!

The three were filled with questions. "A lizard with wings? What kind of creature is that supposed to be? What does this have to do with a divine dragon?" They looked at Leng Tian, then at the enormous dragon. "He can't possibly not know what a dragon is, can he?" The three of them were utterly baffled.

Leng Tian had never even heard of such a spiritual beast as a dragon, let alone seen one, which explained his earlier, jaw-dropping remarks.

"Brother Leng, that isn't a big lizard. That's a mighty dragon—the king of spirit beasts! Many warriors dream of becoming dragon warriors," Huo Wu said, puzzled by Leng Tian's ignorance of dragons, but eager to explain, hoping to impress him.

"Dragon? You're calling that big lizard a dragon? Surely not; it doesn't even remotely resemble a dragon!" Leng Tian laughed at the notion, thinking it was the greatest joke he'd ever heard. If the true divine dragon knew of this, would it not spit blood and bash its head against a wall?

A guttural roar echoed through the air as the golden dragon beat its wings. A biting gale swept forth, its mountain-sized body casting a vast shadow across the ground.

As it drew closer, Leng Tian found it increasingly hilarious. He burst into laughter, pointing at the dragon in the sky. "And they call that a dragon? It's just a giant lizard! Hilarious!"

Another roar resounded. As a high-level spirit beast, the dragon could understand human speech—and as a monarch among them, all the more so. Now, its rage boiled over. A noble dragon's dignity, challenged by a mere human? It would not be satisfied until it crushed this insolent wretch.

"This is bad!" Yanlong exclaimed to Leng Tian. "Brother Leng, you've angered the dragon. We're in serious trouble now—today's just one disaster after another! Let's run while we still can, before it fully loses its temper!"

"Yes, Brother Leng, we need to go. We can't possibly stand against a dragon!" Huo Wu's pretty face was pale as she stared at the looming giant in the sky.

"It's too late. It's already enraged," Xiao Han said grimly, his gaze fixed on the dragon.

"You all get to safety. Leave this beast to me. I want to see for myself if this so-called dragon, with its divine bloodline, is truly worthy of the name," Leng Tian said, eyes blazing with fighting spirit.

"Are you insane? That's suicide, do you understand?" Yanlong stared at him in disbelief.

"Don't go, Brother Leng! You can't beat it," Huo Wu pleaded, her face filled with worry.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine. Besides, even if we tried to run now, do you really think we'd get away?"

Another earth-shaking roar. The dragon dove, its enormous jaws filled with leaping golden flames—dragonfire, the essence of its power, capable of melting steel and refining gold. It was said that the sacred dragon's flames could reduce a mountain to molten rock—such was their fearsome might.

"Get as far away as you can!" Leng Tian shouted, then dashed forward, fists clenched, golden light flickering around him.

With a leap, he landed on a boulder, then sprang again, shattering the rock beneath his feet and launching himself into the air. His right fist, wrapped in golden brilliance, radiated a domineering force as it crashed toward the dragon's gaping maw.

The dragon's eyes gleamed with scorn. Golden fire sprayed from its mouth, a thick pillar of flame colliding with Leng Tian's golden fist.

An explosion thundered through the air. Leng Tian's momentum faltered, and the dragon's massive head, hurtling downward, struck him like a meteor and hurled him to the earth.

A deep crater formed where he landed, and Leng Tian was buried at its center.

With a mighty crash, the dragon landed, sending an invisible shockwave that rolled the rocks and tumbled the earth. Its titanic body, nearly sixty feet long, swept its iron-hard tail, splintering trees in its path.

From afar, Huo Wu cried out and rushed to help Leng Tian, but Yanlong grabbed her arm and held her back.

A flash of blue appeared—the next moment Leng Tian stood before them, glancing back to reassure Huo Wu and the others with a confident look, then turned his steely gaze to the earthbound dragon.

Leng Tian's expression was cold. He summoned the full power of his Ninefold Earthshaker technique, pushing his golden, glass-like body to its limits—he was ready to face the dragon head-on.

With a surge of strength, his shirt shredded from his back, revealing a torso of beautifully sculpted muscle—not wild or explosive, but exuding the pure beauty of strength, his golden skin gleaming with a radiant, glassy sheen.

The dragon charged, massive limbs pounding the earth, each step sending tremors through the ground, golden flames dancing in its maw. The pressure it radiated sent nearby spirit beasts collapsing in terror.

"Flash Step!" Leng Tian moved, leaving a golden streak as he appeared instantly before the dragon. With a shout, his glowing fist hammered toward the dragon's head.

Scorn flickered in the dragon's eyes. It spat another pillar of fire, but Leng Tian matched its contempt, dodging with blinding speed, twisting his body to evade the searing flames.

He appeared at the dragon's side in a blink and struck upward with a powerful blow to its jaw. Golden fire sprayed in all directions as the dragon howled in pain, its massive head thrown back.

Leng Tian leaped upward, but the dragon's tail swept across, smashing rocks and felling trees, the force gouging a deep trench in the earth.

Suspended in midair, Leng Tian took several steps, shifting sideways toward the dragon's head. The tail whipped back at him—a deadly threat.

As danger closed in, Leng Tian's face remained impassive, a flicker of madness in his eyes. His hands blazed with golden light, swelling to twice their size. The tail was upon him, but with a shout, his body glimmered with dazzling color as he firmly seized the tip of the dragon's tail with both hands.

The sound was like metal striking metal, ringing with a deadly resonance.

Leng Tian clung to the dragon's tail. His strength was extraordinary, but the dragon itself was the very embodiment of power. Suspended in the air, with no footing to brace himself, Leng Tian was struck hard in the chest by the dragon's immense force.

He felt his upper body go numb, all sensation lost, but he gritted his teeth and refused to let go. The dragon lashed its tail, lifting Leng Tian high, then smashing him into the ground.

Each crash echoed through the mountains. Leng Tian was like a golden hammer, pounded again and again.

No one knew how many times he was smashed before the dragon finally ceased its assault. It snorted twin plumes of mist from its huge nostrils, lifted its head, and roared to the heavens.

Its eyes shone with awe-inspiring majesty—a dragon is proud and noble, and it cannot abide the defiance of lesser creatures. It glanced down at the human it had tormented, expecting to see a mangled corpse.

But its eyes froze in disbelief. The frail human was looking back at it, coldly smiling. "Impossible! He survived?"

Leng Tian, meanwhile, was covered in dirt and dust, his clothing tattered, but his hands never once released the dragon's tail. Though he disdained this so-called dragon, he had to admit its physical power was formidable. But that wasn't enough for him to show mercy.

"Big lizard, now it's my turn," Leng Tian said with an evil grin, tinged with a hint of savagery.

He turned, hoisted the dragon's tail onto his shoulder, and stamped his feet with explosive force—each step caving in the ground beneath him. His roar was like a devil's shriek, echoing through the mountains, veins bulging beneath his golden skin.

With relentless strides, he broke into a wild run, dragging the dragon's massive body through the forest, smashing rocks and felling trees as if reaping a harvest.

The dragon howled and thrashed, wings beating, summoning gales that tore up the ground, yet no matter how it struggled, it couldn't break free from Leng Tian's grasp.

In moments, a swath of forest disappeared. Leng Tian's eyes had turned golden, veins bulging across his body. He ran like a primordial beast, wild and furious.

On the open ground, Leng Tian dragged the dragon in circles, a whirlwind of violence. The dragon's roars echoed like thunder, reverberating across the mountains.

The circles tightened, the dragon's body carving rings into the earth like a tree's growth rings. When the circle finally shrank to just a few yards, Leng Tian stamped his foot, unleashing a wave of force that sent up clouds of dust.

Using the momentum, he spun in place, dragging the dragon's body around him like a spinning top. The violent rotation whipped up a tornado, an unstoppable force of nature.

The dragon struggled, wings useless, limbs flailing, but it could not break the grip of Leng Tian's hands.

In the midst of the whirlwind, Leng Tian let out a long howl and flung his arms—sending the dragon's massive body flying.

Like a mountain, the dragon hurtled through the air. Leng Tian's eyes flashed cold as he flashed forward in a streak of light, overtaking the airborne beast in mere heartbeats.

As the dragon crashed to earth, Leng Tian leaped high, his colossal, illusory fist glowing with the force to shake mountains, and smashed it down on the dragon's body.

The blow exploded with a thunderous sound. The dragon wailed in agony, its body tossed skyward again. Dazed, terror now filled its heart for this tiny human; its arrogance had been shattered by Leng Tian's relentless assault.

Leng Tian landed, eyes fixed on the dragon. He calculated its descent, then sprang up to meet it, unleashing another mighty blow.

The dragon soared through the air again, regaining some awareness only to be consumed by pain. Its anguished roars sent birds fleeing and beasts cowering in the forest.

Eight times in a row, Leng Tian struck, and eight times the dragon was launched skyward.

From a distance, the three onlookers were petrified, their minds blank, staring in a daze at this wild man who was treating the mighty dragon so ruthlessly.

Martial Peak, Chapter 10: Beating Down the Dragon! — End of update.