Yu Xuan looked at the figure before him — a dragon, though in her current state, she appeared more human than beast. Her aura, however, was unmistakably draconic, vast and ancient.
He recalled their first eting, back when they had both newly joined the Heaven Immortal Sect. She had been surrounded by dragons of her realm, exuding nobility even then. He wondered idly if dragons like her even existed on his ho planet.
"Indeed, I do look familiar," Yu Xuan said, answering her earlier words.
"After all, we’ve t once before."
Long Anming frowned, trying to recall. His voice stirred a faint mory, and as her eyes traced his features, realization dawned.
"You..." she said slowly, her brows lifting.
"You were that human boy from the initiation. But your aura, it’s completely different now."
Yu Xuan smirked faintly.
"I was on a hunt."
’Arrogant human,’ Long Anming thought, suppressing a snort.
Then Yu Xuan added casually, "I’ve heard dragons make for quite the comfortable ride."
In an instant, the air trembled.
Long Anming’s golden pupils contracted as rage flared within her. A crushing, draconic pressure descended on Yu Xuan, shaking the very ground beneath their feet.
"I did know that humans were short-lived creatures," she said coldly, her fingers elongating into gleaming draconic claws.
"And it seems that saying holds true. Dying by my hand, even if only in this illusion, should be an honor for you, inferior being."
Yu Xuan’s lips curved slightly, his eyes calm beneath the suffocating pressure.
"Can you really kill ?" he asked.
"Aren’t dragons at their weakest when in their polymorphed form?"
Long Anming’s pupils narrowed into thin golden slits, murderous intent radiating from her entire body. The very air distorted around her as she vanished from sight.
"Let’s see how pathetically you die, human!"
Her voice echoed as she reappeared before Yu Xuan, her claws slashing straight toward his chest with lightning speed.
But Yu Xuan didn’t flinch. His blade moved in a blur, intercepting the strike.
The force rippled through his arms, numbing them slightly, she had truly ant to kill him in one blow.
Yu Xuan smiled faintly. Among all the disciples he had faced so far, she was undeniably the strongest.
Then his black and white eyes glead ominously. A beam of intertwined light and darkness burst forth, aid directly at the gleaming horns upon her head.
[Immortal’s Gaze] — Annihilation.
***
Pride.
What is pride?
And for a Dragon, what does pride truly an?
Dragons are beings favored by Heaven and Earth. Their pride stretches farther than the endless starry skies, vast, untad, and indomitable.
Every dragon bears an obsession that defines them. So boast of their colossal size, others of their unmatched beauty. So treasure their hoarded wealth, while others exalt in their wisdom.
To a dragon, pride is not rely emotion — it is their essence, their breath, their heartbeat. An affront to that pride is an unforgivable sin.
This is what the ancient texts call a Reverse Scale — the one thing that must never be touched.
Long Anming, born of both the Heavenly Creation Dragon Clan and the Destruction Death Dragon Clan, was no different.
She lacked nothing — neither in strength, nor in wealth, nor in majesty. She prided herself on her lineage, her flawless beauty, and above all, her horns, the sacred crowns of her existence.
Even though she had not expected the human before her to be this strong, never in her wildest thoughts had she imagined that he would truly wound her, even slightly.
Using her draconic senses, she felt it — a sting that no one in her lifeti had ever made her feel. Her horn, her pride, had been struck... and even damaged.
Though it could be healed, the fact itself was unthinkable.
She was in disbelief — not because of the pain, but because the possibility of it had never existed in her world. This was the first ti soone had truly injured her horn.
Stepping back in a daze, she raised her trembling hand and touched it — feeling the once-smooth surface now lted in parts, warped by the strange power that had assaulted it.
For a heartbeat, silence ruled the realm.
Long Anming’s golden pupils trembled.
It was insignificant.
It was aningless.
And yet... it wasn’t.
To her, that single wound was a blasphemy.
A low growl escaped her throat — not human, not restrained — but ancient, resonant, and filled with primal wrath.
The very air quivered.
"You... dared," she whispered, her voice no longer lodic but edged with the roars of dragons echoing from the abyss.
The ground trembled as black light burst from her body. Scales rippled across her skin, horns lengthened, and her aura grew unbearably heavy — majestic, suffocating, divine.
The ground beneath Yu Xuan cracked and sank under her pressure, yet he stood still, his expression calm — those black and white eyes watching her not with fear, but with curiosity.
For Long Anming, this was no longer a duel.
This was sacrilege.
And she would make the one who dared touch her Reverse Scale rember the wrath of a Dragon, in Life and even Death.
***
Yu Xuan turned his head toward the dragon, a faint, almost teasing smile tugging at his lips.
"Was that the first ti soone’s ever hurt you?" he asked lightly.
"Your expression is... interesting."
Long Anming’s reply was a sound that wasn’t entirely human — a low, animal snarl that vibrated through the air.
"You inferior thing. I will tear you apart in the most painful way imaginable."
"Again," Yu Xuan said, his tone amusing.
"Can you actually kill ?"
He didn’t wait for the answer.
From behind him, as if answering an unspoken command, a constellation of spears ripped through the sky.
Each spear was nicked with bloody red Qi, humming with dominance.
Long Anming moved before the spears reached her.
Her claws, closing.
She plucked several spears from the air as if they were twigs.
The rest slamd against a sudden veil of black scales that had rippled across her skin; the spears bounced, their red auras fizzing harmlessly away.
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