Stranger Danger

“The arrogance!”

Innocent Miao hmphed at the same time her fish basket appeared above the young man. The golden dragon circling the Strange Artifact let out a mighty roar, and a terrible pressure pressed down on him like the fall of heaven itself.

“Arrogance? Since when is stating facts considered arrogance?”

Innocent Miao’s eyes widened. The golden light had seemingly caught the young man off guard and buckled his knees slightly, but he easily and casually rose back to his feet. As he straightened himself, the golden light beams descending from the fish basket shattered bit by bit like glass, and the fish basket itself wobbled unsteadily. The golden dragon’s roar also devolved into a pitiful whine as if it was afraid of the young man’s power.

When the young man fully stood up, the golden dragon abruptly exploded into smithereens. The fish basket was also blasted far, far into the distance.

“Pwack!”

A mouthful of fresh blood gushed out of Innocent Miao’s lips. Her face also turned as white as a sheet.

She did not hesitate. She immediately turned around and broke off into a run.

The reason was simple. Her opponent was simply too powerful.

The fish basket was no ordinary object. A Phenomenon-class Strange Artifact, the Dragon Nursing Nest was one of the hidden treasures the founder of the Dragonrider Mountain, the Dragonrider Trueman had left behind for his disciples.

Legend said that the founder of the Dragonrider Mountain was a strange yet amazing warrior who specifically cultivated the ways of dragonslaying. He had slain many true and lesser dragons in his life and founded the sect known as Dragonrider Mountain.

The Dragon Nursing Nest was a Strange Artifact he forged using a dragon’s tendons and blood. A support-type Strange Artifact, the power of a true dragon resided within the Dragon Nursing Nest. If a Stranger was kept within its confines, they would eventually undergo a transformation and gain the bloodline of a true dragon, albeit a faint one. Hence the name.

Besides that, the Dragon Nursing Nest possessed the ability to shackle and intimidate. For example, its wielder could apply a true dragon’s pressure to lock down an entire space. That was how they were finally able to capture the little Stranger.

The Dragon Nursing Nest was undoubtedly a powerful Strange Artifact, and yet it had failed to contain the young man for even a single breath. What did that say about his strength?

That was why Innocent Miao did not hesitate to make her escape.

Unfortunately for her, she had barely moved when her instincts suddenly screamed of impending death. Without thinking, she summoned a beam of golden light that transformed into a golden dragon out of her body and wrapped herself in it.

“Dragontaming Art: Dragoncoil Protection”

Dragoncoil Protection was a defensive technique where the practitioner transformed their astral qi into a dragon and surrounded themselves in it. Normally, it could block most attacks without fail.

The young man though? Innocent Miao could only watch in horror as a single fist penetrated her golden dragon like it was paper.

Knowing that there was no time to lose, she curled into herself and somehow yanked herself free from her opponent’s fist intent and energies. Like a dragon diving into a river, she swam forward with great speed and slowed down only after she was ten or so meters away.

A blue dragon could navigate the void of the waters as easily as it soared through the skies. Hence, the technique was named “Blue Dragon Swim”.

“Are you sure you want to make Dragonrider Mountain your enemy?”

Innocent Miao looked back at the young man ten meters behind her with an ugly expression. He was currently withdrawing his fist with a relaxed expression on his face.

The Dragonrider Mountain mainly cultivated the spirit so as to tame a dragon with their mind or slay it with their intent. However, that also meant that they were weak in body.

Innocent Miao had no doubt that the punch would have wounded her grievously if she hadn’t escaped in time.

“Are you regretting your life choices?”

The young man smiled brightly, but none of it reached the eye. It was exactly the same smile she had used on Wang Shengkui earlier.

“A shame it’s a little too late, isn’t it?”

Innocent Miao’s expression grew uglier. It was the exact same phrases she had flung at Wang Shengkui earlier, and now the bastard was throwing her words right back at her.

“I’m not scared of you!”

Innocent Miao uttered wrathfully as she stomped the ground, hard. The earth churned, and a pair of earth dragons burst out of the earth to attack the young man’s left and right flank. It almost looked like two dragons playing with a pearl.

The young man did not even look at them as he spread his arms wide. He caught the earth dragons by their heads, and they came to a dead halt just like that.

Not done yet, he clenched his fingers and caused cracks to spread across their whole body. Then, they shattered into pieces.

As soon as the earth dragons shattered, a single water bead appeared on Innocent Miao’s fingertip. She flicked it at the young man.

The second the water bead left her fingertip, it transformed into a roaring river.

What better way to fell a dragon from the sky than a river?

“Dragonslayer Art: Dragon Subjugation”

The young man didn’t dodge even though the river was rolling straight toward him. He simply walked toward Innocent Miao until the river was a second away from him. Then, he clenched his fist and thrust it forward.

The raging flood of water was split in half just like that.

So what if you have a river that fell dragons?

I have a fist that could divide a river.

When the river was split apart, Innocent Miao chanted something that sounded like a draconic roar capable of commanding all bodies of water. The river churned, and eight water dragons burst out of it.

A mountain was famous not because it was tall, but because a celestial lived within.

A body of water was famous not because it was deep, but because it was a dragon’s den.

As soon as the eight dragons appeared, the disintegrating waters stabilized and gathered behind the eight water dragons. Then, they formed a wave that was over three hundred meters tall.

As the eight dragons circled the sky, the waters turned into a mirror in the sky and showed off the scene of a celestial slaying a true dragon.

Right after that, a finger pierced through the water mirror and descended from above.

The descending finger was accompanied by eight dragons and an ungodly tidal wave.

It was the ultimate killing technique of the “Dragonslayer Art”, “Slay True Dragon”.

Even before the finger descended, the roars of countless dragons resounded for hundreds and thousands of kilometers. Heaven and earth themselves cowered before their might.

If a celestial’s finger could slay a true dragon, what about a man?

How could it not squash a man like a bug?

Unfortunately for Innocent Miao, the young man didn’t even give her the chance to laugh before he raised his fist and punched again.

The punch shattered the descending finger,

Put a hole in the raging tides,

And shattered the mirror in the sky.

When a man’s fist was taller than the heavens, then it could kill even a celestial, no?

“All sauce, no substance.”

The young man commented casually as he withdrew his fist. He then resumed his walk toward Innocent Miao once more.

Innocent Miao completely lost the will to fight as a strange cry escaped her lips. She leaped into the air and soared into the sky like a true dragon. There were clouds shrouding her person like a veil.

The wind submitted to a tiger, and the clouds to a dragon. A dragon could hide itself in the clouds, grow bigger or smaller, or even turn invisible. Hence, the technique was named “Dragonrising”.

“Dragonrising” was invented after observing how a dragon leaped and soared through the sky. In short, it was a movement art in the “Dragonslayer Art”. It enabled the practitioner to conceal themselves in the clouds and fly across heaven and earth like lightning.

“Dragonrising” was the Dragonrider Mountain’s best escape art. It was also how Innocent Miao appeared over a hundred meters away in just a breath.

She did not believe that the young man could catch up to her. It was clear that he was a body-tempering warrior, and no one could deny his sheer physicality. However, a body-tempering warrior was also weak in mind and movement. She was certain he couldn’t spot her, much less chase her down.

“You’re pretty fast, but do you really think you can run?”

Unfortunately, a ridiculing voice entered her ears the next moment. It sounded so close it might have appeared right next to her.

Innocent Miao shivered as the breath of death brushed against her nape. She looked behind her back just in time to see a finger descending toward her.

The second she saw the finger, she knew that she could neither block nor avoid it. She could only watch helplessly as the finger touched her forehead.

Bang!

There was a crisp bang, and the sound resounded inside her headspace like a bell’s ringing.

Every time the sound echoed, countless memories would surface from her headspace. It almost felt like someone was flipping through her memories like a book using his spirit.