Transmigrated back into the body of her child self, can the mighty Celestial Bing Meilu survive in a Xianxia world all the while staving off the advances of arrogant young masters and wannabe protagonists alike?
Why is life so hard for the Icy Beauty?
Any corrections or criticisms are welcome, I hope you enjoy Chapter 45: One Very Bad Dragon
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Jiang Hu roared, his bloodthirsty cry filling the air. His sabre glowing white hot with fire Qi, he exploded towards the enormous Drake. The man could feel his blood pumping red-hot with excitement, his draconic instincts aroused by the mighty challenger before him.
'I need to devour it, evolve myself further. I can feel my next metamorphosis!'
"Dragon Slaughtering Arts of Xianwu In the Steel, First Saber: Steel Slash Slays Serpent!"
Jiang Hu slashed, a blinding explosion of white-hot metal qi ripping through the air and slamming into the Drake's mouth. It reared back its head and opened its maw, firing forth a burning crimson pillar of flame.
The Elemental Five leapt around, forming a massive pentagon that encircled the Drake. A barely visible diagram of the five phases appeared as the cultivators manifested the Five Bones of the Origin God. The five all began to glow with Qi as a huge portion of the flame was sucked away into their formation. Even with all of them working in perfect unison according to a profound formation, the Elemental Five were only in the First Realm and could not fully absorb the attack of a Core Formation Dragonkin.
Jiang Hu let the weakened blast of fire slam into him. The outer layer of his skin burnt away, revealing his bloody subdermal red scales. He leapt forward, slamming his sabre at the Drake's head, battering it aside.
Meanwhile, Xi Fu readied his spear, pulling it back in preparation of a thrust. An explosive Aura erupted from him, Heaven Defying Spear Intent flaring chaotically. He screamed in defiance, the ground around him grinding away to dust as the mighty energy began to condense around his spear.
'If I ever end up in conflict with the Redscale clan, I'll need to have experience in fighting Dragonkin. Sorry brother Drake, but you're going to be my whetstone.' Xi Fu thought, his eyes narrowed resolutely. 'It's time for me to see if I really can pierce the 'impenetrable' Dragon scales!'
"Dragon Slaying Spear - First Form, Scale Peircer!"
A blinding white flash tore through the air, filled with an aura that seemed to challenge everything around it. It coiled chaotically, veering off center and slamming into the scales of the Dragonkin's huge wings. The attack tore through them, and the Drake let loose a blood-curdling scream of pain, the rock around it shattering from the force of the screech.
The Qi Condensation outer circle members retreated backwards even further, some bleeding from their orifices from the force of the scream. They were not qualified to intervene in this battle.
The air split as the Five Bones of the Origin God manifested. Following the generative cycle, the Drake's flame turned into Earth, then Metal, then Water. According to the destructive cycle, water opposed fire. A massive spear of water formed, floating in the air. It was endowed with a good portion of the power of a Core Formation level attack and vibrated intensely barely held together even with the full concentration of five first realm cultivators acting as one.
Daoist Seagreen raised his hands, as if holding the massive floating water spear, and thrust. The huge spear followed his motions, erupting forward into a mighty river that carved through the air and slammed into the Drake. Steam exploded outwards, filling the air in hazy waves. Although the attack had been in the shape of a spear, it had no piercing power. Instead, the blunt force of a river, capable of crushing rock to dust and moving countless tons of earth slammed down with the weight of hundreds of thousands of gallons. The dragon was pushed backwards and slammed forcefully into the mountain behind it.
Filled with the sort of keen, feral intelligence that befit an apex predator, the Drake understood enough that using its flames would only backfire so long as the formation remained intact. It pounced forward towards Daoist Seagreen. Jiang Hu slammed into its side, knocking it off course and into the dirt.
His sabre chaotically slammed against its side dozens of times in the blink of an eye, the scales not breaking but the flesh below bruising and pulping from the sheer force of his uncontrollable assault.
Mu Gong and Shang Bolin, whom Bing Meilu 'affectionately' referred to as Slaves One and Two, joined in on the attack. Mu Gong raised his hands, unleashing numerous crushing palm arts onto its injured wing, while Shang Bolin released a thundercloud that zapped the Drake. Despite the concentrated attacks by three Foundation Establishment cultivators, the dragon took almost no damage. The defence of its scales and the toughness of its bulging muscles was simply far too much.
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Despite the lack of damage, the Drake had finally become completely frenzied, giving up completely on anything but brutally murdering those bothering it. The Dragonkin lashed out with its mouth, teeth finding purchase on Mu Gong's legs. The razor-sharp boulder-sized teeth shredded his legs off. The man screamed as the elemental five used a pillar of water to get him to safety. Li Ji was overlooking the scene and in charge of the healing items. He activated an instant regeneration talisman and tossed it to Mu Gong, his legs started to heal.
The Drake slammed his hands into Jiang Hu, sending him flying. His body smashed through pillars of rock, landing on the ground. At the same time, its tail smashed sideways. Shang Bolin raised his arms in defence, and doing so was the only thing that saved him from being fully reduced to a fine red paste. His arms disintegrated and his chest caved in as he flew backwards.
The second Instant-regeneration Talisman shot through the air, just quick enough to save the lighting cultivator's life.
"Feel the power of money!" Li Ji shouted.
The Drake turned in his direction, narrowing its eyes. The steward's face paled and he turned to run even as the massive red-scaled reptile leapt through the air towards him.
"Scale Peircer!"
"Second Saber - Wyrm Withering Whip!"
Xi Fu and Jiang Hu attacked together. A huge gash exploded in the dragon's back as its scales were torn to shreds by the young man's Spear Intent. Moments later a massive slash of metal Qi ripped forward from the Sabre cultivator smashing into the Drake's exposed flesh. Blood and bits of torn muscle poured from the wound on its back.
Screaming the drake raised a foot and stomped, slamming Jiang Hu into the ground. He let loose a bloodcurdling scream, stabbing his sabre up at the Drake's foot. The blade snapped and the drake-clawed foot crushed down on him.
One of the Drakes' eyes had a blood-covered golden sabre stuck within it, leaving the creature half blind. Xia Fu would finish what the senior who'd left the sabre behind had started. He leaped at the dragonkin's face, his glowing spear stabbing into its other eye. The organ popped, boiling fluid spraying out of the hole he'd pricked. Now completely blind the dragon operated only using its other senses. It's left-wing shot through the air, slapping him aside with a burst of blood and the sound of broken bones. Li Ji fired two Instant Regeneration talismans. Already four of fifteen had been used and the dragon was clearly nowhere near dead.
Xi Fu shakily stood up as his broken body regenerated. All throughout the fight, he had been slowly feeling out the Dragon and the law contained within its scales. Each time his spear broke through them, he could feel the Heaven Overwirting intent they contained, gaining deeper enlightenment. At this point, he was ready.
The spear cultivator shot forward, enhancing his legs with Qi. he leapt up the side of the dragon as Jiang Hu, Shang Bolin and Mu Gong attacked it. Ripping his spear from its eyes, he retreated backwards, leaping atop a pillar of basalt.
"Everyone- Distract it for a moment. When I say, attack it with everything you got,"
He could see his comrades nod, and he inhaled deeply, steeling himself. He pulled back his spear, the world seeming to come to a pause and his Heaven Defying Spear Intent gathered.
'There's a Law within its scales, something that overwrites reality around it - a demand that the scales of a Dragon remain impenetrable. Alive, the Law is far more clear and potent than a scrap of dead skin, and yet it is still decayed and muddled. I'm not aiming for its body- what I need to Peirce is not the scales themselves, but the Law contained within them.'
"Dragon Slaying Spear - Second Form, Law Breaker!"
An almost imperceptible light gently shed from his spear, as if flittering in and out of existence. Xi Fu's legs tensed and he exploded forward, stabbing his weapon forward. The tip of the weapon slammed into the dragon's side, barely pushing an inch into its scale. But, they were not what he was here to attack. Heaven Defying Spear Intent exploded forward on an invisible plane, pouring not into the dragon but into some deeper aspect of reality that lay beneath it.
Xi Fu gasped as he felt a Law slam down on him, an unfathomably domineering will that accepted nothing but absolute submission.
'Henceforth, those of my kind shall have impenetrable scales!' the cry resounded through him, attempting to overwrite his will.
He screamed in defiance, waves of Spear Intent surging from him and into the challenge. The two intents met. One that sought to defy all laws and achieve absolute, untethered freedom and one that sought to dominate reality itself, demanding unconditional surrender from all it saw. Blood poured from Xi Fu's eyes, and cracks formed through his meridians at the power of the clash. If he couldn't even pierce the hide of a Core Formation Dragonkin, wouldn't he be completely helpless to ever defeat the Redscale clan and see his daughter freely? The young man grit his teeth in defiance.
"Nothing in this world will stop my spear! I refuse to accept that I can't pierce this. Break!"
From every inch of the dragon's body, cracks exploded outwards, glinting with red light. Then with the sound of shattering glass, the cracks exploded. A massive shockwave of Qi bubbled outwards, a pure wave of force that shoved away man, dirt, rock and air with no regard. Xi Fu was flung dozens of meters helplessly, his body limp and bloodied.
The drake opened its mouth in a silent scream of unimaginable pain as a fundamental aspect of its existence, its very meaning under natural law, was forcefully ripped away. Its scale physically remained, but there was subtle dullness to them now. These were no longer 'dragon scales', just clumps of meaningless keratin. if Bing Meilu were watching she wouldn't have known whether to laugh or cry at the unfathomable loss of wealth from Xi Fu's destruction of the scale's most valuable property. The scaly hide of a Core Formation Drake would have been enough money to found a minor sect.
"Attack now..." Xi Fu sighed weakly.
He dimly watched as Jiang Hu ripped the golden sabre from the dragon's eyes, the weapon glowing with a brilliant golden light. Body bursting with draconic strength, he leapt forward, and with a single slash, decapitated the red drake.
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Blood poured from the desiccated corpse of the Red Drake, wrapping around the tall, muscular form of Jiang Hu. Scales surged out of his, his body bubbling outwards into a cocoon. Li Ji grimaced at the disgusting sight. He didn't think he would ever get used to the sight.
The group set up camp, waiting as hours passed. Jiang Hu once more underwent a metamorphosis, his being re-written with the might of a Drake. Soon, they began to hear the crunching sound of the man eating up the shed snakeskin that formed his outer cocoon.
With a wriggle, Jiang Hu pulled himself out of his discarded skin. He had physically changed even more. The obsidian horns that curled around his head had grown out even further, gaining slight traces of red crystal. His eyes were split and serpentine. His broad, muscular body had shrunk dramatically, huge muscles made hyperdense and fully hid below thin, flawlessly smooth limbs. His new-grown skin, once tanned from the heat of the Ashen mountains, had become completely pale and milky. If one strained their eyes, they could see the subtle shift of sharp red scales under his skin.
"Welcome back Jiang Hu!" Li Ji waved, before blinking in confusion.
Jiang Hu hissed, his eyes filled with a bestial, feral hunger, exactly like that of the Red Drake they had just fought.