Bang, bang, bang — the sounds rang out without cease. In midair, Zhu Lie was being smashed around by Yang Kai like a sandbag, dragon blood splattering everywhere, a wretched sight to behold.
But no matter how badly he was beaten, Zhu Lie never once had the slightest thought of yielding or begging for mercy. On the contrary, the harder Yang Kai struck, the colder and more piercing his gaze became. It was as though, so long as Yang Kai didn't actually kill him, he would repay every ounce of suffering a hundredfold.
The pride of the Dragon Race was plain for all to see. Even though Yang Kai had transformed into a four-zhang-tall half-dragon form, in Zhu Lie's eyes he was no different from an ant.
With another thunderous boom, Zhu Lie was knocked out of the sky and slammed into the ground. Before he could spring back up, Yang Kai had already planted a foot firmly on his face.
"Submit?" Yang Kai looked down at him. "Just say the word and I'll let you go right now!"
"I will not!" Zhu Lie snarled through gritted teeth. "Relying on bloodline suppression — what kind of skill is that? If you've got the guts, let's fight in human form!"
Yang Kai chuckled. "What kind of logic is that? Among you dragons, hasn't it always been about whose bloodline is superior?"
"You're not a dragon!" Zhu Lie sneered.
"That's not quite right either. In human form, you have the strength of the third level of the Emperor Realm, while I'm only at the first level. If we fought as humans, wouldn't I be at a huge disadvantage?" Yang Kai shook his head repeatedly.
"Dealing with trash like you requires the third level of the Emperor Realm? This dragon will suppress his cultivation to the first level!" Zhu Lie wore an expression of utter contempt.
"Oh?" Yang Kai raised an eyebrow. "Seems like you're quite confident. Let me be clear up front — what happens if you lose?"
"Lose to you? Impossible!" Zhu Lie tried to shake his head, but with Yang Kai's enormous foot pinning it down, he couldn't so much as move it. He could only let out a disdainful sneer. "On equal terms, no one is a match for the Dragon Race."
"We'll see about that," Yang Kai scoffed. "Fine, let's do as you said — both of us fight in human form, no bloodline suppression. But you have to suppress your cultivation to the first level. If you lose, the previous matter is settled."
"And what if you lose?"
"Whatever you want with me."
"Is that a promise?" Zhu Lie's eyes lit up.
"It is!"
"Good. If you lose, you're coming back to Dragon Island with me. And I want you to kneel and kowtow three times. That's a great humiliation for you humans, isn't it?"
Yang Kai burst out laughing. "Never mind three — three hundred, three thousand, I'll give you as many as you like." As he spoke, he stepped back several paces and released his hold on Zhu Lie.
Zhu Lie sprang to his feet. Fury surged across his face, and he looked as though he might pounce at any moment to exact his revenge — but he forcibly suppressed the impulse, merely saying in a cold voice, "If you're a man, don't let people look down on you. I hope you'll keep your word."
Yang Kai snorted lightly. "That depends on whether you can beat me first."
With those words, he voluntarily dispelled the Dragon Transformation Art. His four-zhang-tall body rapidly shrank, returning to his original appearance.
It was at that very moment that Zhu Lie charged forward in a single stride, unleashing a torrent of dragon breath. Though he hadn't transformed into a full dragon and couldn't use most dragon race secret techniques, spewing a few blasts of dragon breath was no problem at all.
He had genuinely kept his agreement with Yang Kai, suppressing his cultivation to the first level of the Emperor Realm. As a result, this blast of dragon breath was somewhat weaker than what he had unleashed in his true dragon form.
Even so, such dragon breath was not something just anyone could withstand — it contained incredibly searing power.
After the dragon breath, he threw a punch straight at Yang Kai, his expression animated with excitement, as though he could already see the scene of Yang Kai being pummeled at his mercy. A mere first-level Emperor Realm cultivator — he didn't consider him worth worrying about. The only reason he had been thoroughly thrashed by Yang Kai these past days was entirely due to bloodline suppression.
After Yang Kai activated the Dragon Transformation Art, Zhu Lie couldn't even exert seventy percent of his true strength. How could he possibly be his match?
But now the situation was different. Both of them were in human form, with no bloodline suppression whatsoever. He had decided to beat Yang Kai soundly to vent his anger, and then drag him back to Dragon Island to hand him over to the Grand Elder for judgment.
His fist arrived almost simultaneously with the dragon breath, smashing directly into the inferno. An unexpected change occurred.
Zhu Lie's fist seemed to ignite, and rather than diminishing the dragon breath's power, the two amplified each other, causing a dramatic surge in destructive force.
Ssshhhk — !
A flash of sword light appeared. A broad, massive sword cleaved down onto Zhu Lie's fist, producing a piercing screech of metal grinding against metal. The dragon breath enveloping his fist was sliced apart in an instant, weakening dramatically, as though it might be extinguished at any moment.
"What?" Zhu Lie's face changed in shock.
Over these past days, he had endured Yang Kai's beating nonstop, so he had gained some understanding of this human's strength. He knew Yang Kai was considerably more powerful than an ordinary first-level Emperor Realm cultivator.
He hadn't expected this single blow to do anything decisive — it had merely been a probing attack. But he certainly hadn't anticipated that his opponent could receive it so effortlessly.