38: Chapter 38 Slaying the Dragon!

Qin Yin and Qin Mo stared fixedly at the distant sea surface.

The Clam Spirit squatted on a nearby reef, its shell cracked open slightly, its tongue protruding to lick the shell from time to time.

They all knew that something unusual was about to happen.

Sure enough, a stream of golden light sliced through the night sky over the distant sea, swooping down toward the pitch-black waters.

"It's Lord Qinling."

Just as Qin Mo's voice fell, a burst of golden light suddenly exploded across the sea surface!

The golden light crashed directly into the ocean, its immense impact raising a wall of waves dozens of zhang high.

Even from more than ten miles away, they could see the pillar of water soaring into the sky.

Then, they all saw something rush out from the sea.

A massive black shadow!

It burst out of the sea and hovered in midair, its outline blurred in the night.

And then—

Thunderous lightning exploded!

Golden lightning erupted from the black shadow, tearing through the entire night sky!

In that instant, its outline was completely illuminated by the lightning as its massive body twisted and turned in the air.

Qin Yin and Qin Mo froze in place.

"Is that... a dragon?"

Seeing the figure amidst the lightning, Qin Mo swallowed hard.

Qin Yin did not speak.

She stood there, her grip on her saber tightening slightly more than usual.

Over the distant sea, the massive draconic body thrashed and roared amidst the lightning.

Even from over ten miles away, the roars made their eardrums throb with pain.

The Clam Spirit's shell opened a bit wider.

Its eyeball emerged from within, looking at the figure in the lightning with fear before speaking slowly.

"It is a dragon. This dragon has gone mad. If it gets any closer to the shore, the entire East Sea coast will be turned into an ocean."

Hearing the Clam Spirit's words, both Qin Yin and Qin Mo skipped a beat of their hearts.

But what the Clam Spirit said next made their breath stop entirely.

"What Lord Qinling intends to slay tonight is this very dragon."

Qin Yin and Qin Mo continued to gaze at the sea.

The lightning kept flashing, and the dragon shadow kept thrashing.

A pale golden figure was currently hovering in front of the dragon, so tiny it was almost imperceptible.

But that was Lord Qinling.

It was the divine lord who sat with lowered eyes and brows in the ruined temple.

It was Lord Qinling, who had granted them divine talismans, enabled them to become martial artists, and protected their village time and again.

Qin Mo clenched his fists and spoke up.

"Sister, can Lord Qinling win?"

Qin Yin looked at the sea illuminated by the lightning, gazing at that tiny yet steadfast golden figure hovering in place.

"He will definitely win."

She spoke softly.

...

Over the East Sea.

Lightning burst forth, illuminating the entire night sky.

Qin Ling's avatar hovered in midair, his right hand loosely cupped as golden light faintly circulated within his palm.

He looked at the Little Li Dragon in front of him, wrapped in evil qi and lightning, his expression calm.

The Little Li Dragon looked back at him.

Within its completely jet-black dragon eyes, there was no sanity whatsoever, only madness and killing intent.

Is this evil qi!

Qin Ling's eyes narrowed.

He hadn't expected that even a dignified Fourth-Turn Little Li Dragon could be corrupted to this extent by evil qi.

The Little Li Dragon moved.

It pounced directly toward him!

Its body of dozens of zhang turned into a black shadow amidst the lightning, moving with astounding speed!

Where its left front claw had been maimed was now empty, but its remaining three dragon claws swiped down toward Qin Ling's head with an air-ripping shriek!

Qin Ling's avatar flickered, dodging the strike.

The dragon claw grazed past his afterimage, exploding into a cluster of lightning behind him.

Before he could even stabilize his stance, the dragon's tail swept across horizontally!

Covered in festering scales, the dragon tail whistled with gale-force winds as it whipped viciously toward his waist.

Qin Ling raised his hand.

Clenching his fingers into a fist, he threw a punch concentrated with divine power!

"Boom—!"

The golden light collided with the dragon tail, exploding into a visible shockwave!

The Little Li Dragon was knocked back several zhang, leaving a fist mark on its tail.

But it didn't stop; instead, it lunged forward even more frantically!

Dragon claws, dragon tail, dragon teeth.

Like a beast that had completely lost its mind, it attacked wildly with every primal instinct.

Qin Ling's avatar did not retreat.

Facing the frantic Little Li Dragon, he unleashed punch after punch of divine power to meet it head-on.

Golden light and thunderous flashes intertwined, exploding wave after wave of shockwaves.

The sea churned and boiled from the force, waves surging to the sky, and the falling seawater rained down like a downpour.

After exchanging several blows, Qin Ling's avatar pulled back his fists and retreated, creating distance.

Reaching ten zhang away, the avatar raised his right hand.

His five fingers slowly spread open.

In his palm, seven golden runes were circulating.

When the first rune lit up, heaven and earth fell suddenly silent.

When the second rune lit up, the sea surface began to surge.

When the third rune lit up, violent winds howled into existence.

The fourth, the fifth—

By the time the fifth lit up, the phantom image of a massive golden sword had already condensed behind him.

Because his avatar possessed only eighty percent of his true body's power, this sword carried only five fiend runes.

The five fiend runes wrapped around the blade, exuding a sharp, heart-stopping intent.

Qin Ling looked at the dragon and lightly clenched his fist.

The Little Li Dragon felt the danger.

But corrupted by the evil qi, it could no longer think; it roared and charged forward!

Dragon claws struck out, and lightning exploded!

Qin Ling's avatar raised his hand and brought it down.

The light sword slashed down.

"Boom—!"

The massive golden sword collided with the dragon claws!

In that instant, heaven and earth lost all sound.

A blinding white light erupted, illuminating the entire sea.

The sea surface within a ten-mile radius was depressed by the shockwave, forming a giant circular crater.

The light dissipated.

The Little Li Dragon's claw was severed, golden dragon blood gushing from the wound, only to be dyed black by evil qi the moment it touched the air.

It let out a painful roar, staggering backward.

But it did not fall.

The Little Li Dragon raised its head, the madness in its jet-black dragon eyes burning even brighter.

It opened its maw and blasted a breath of dragon fire mixed with lightning and evil qi toward Qin Ling!

Unable to dodge in time, Qin Ling's avatar was grazed by the dragon breath.

The avatar was blasted backward, plowing a trench hundreds of zhang long across the sea surface.

...

Nights in Qin Family Village usually knew only the sound of ocean waves.

But tonight was different.

When the first clap of thunder erupted, the entire village shook.

It was not natural thunder.

The sound was too close, too heavy, as if thunder had exploded right nearby, shaking the entire village.

Village Chief Qin Zongliang sprang up from his bed, his cloudy eyes opening wide.

He grabbed his cane by the pillow, stumbled to the window, and pushed it open.

The lights in every household of Qin Family Village lit up one after another.

Some threw on clothes and ran out the door; some stood in their yards holding children; others climbed onto roofs, gazing out toward the pitch-black sea.

And then they saw it.

Over the distant sea, there was light.

Golden light and the glare of lightning intertwined.

The golden light soared to the sky, illuminating the entire sea region.

Lightning exploded around the golden light, one streak after another, as if something were thrashing frantically.

Waves surged sky-high; even from over ten miles away, white walls of water could be seen rising one after another.

A woman stood at her doorway holding a young girl, her entire body trembling.

"What is that?"

No one answered her.

Everyone stared at the sea.

"That golden light... is it Lord Qinling?"

The young girl being held suddenly spoke up.

She was the very little girl who plucked wild flowers every day to offer to Lord Qinling, and she had memorized the golden light from when Lord Qinling manifested.

Hearing the young girl say this, many villagers also felt that the golden light resembled Lord Qinling.

No one knew who started praying first.

In any case, when the first person joined their hands in prayer, one after another, all the villagers of Qin Family Village began to pray.

Their eyes all looked in the same direction.

That sea.

That sea torn apart by golden light and lightning.

Village Chief Qin Zongliang knelt straight down, his gray hair trembling slightly in the night wind.

He pressed his hands together, his cloudy eyes shining with light.

"Lord Qinling..."

"You must return safely."

...

Over the East Sea surface.

Qin Ling's avatar stabilized his stance and glanced down.

On his chest was a charred scar.

That was where the aftermath of the dragon breath had struck.

In the distance, the Little Li Dragon hovered in midair, its severed dragon claw bleeding, but it was already too insane to care.

Heaving heavy breaths, its dragon eyes remained fixed on him.

Qin Ling's lips curled up slowly.

Because his avatar's Demon-Slaying Sword with five fiend runes had managed to sever the Little Li Dragon's claw in a single blow.

This gave him a clear understanding of the Little Li Dragon's defense as well as his own destructive power.

The strength of his true body was more than enough to slay the dragon!

Its mind corrupted by evil qi, the Little Li Dragon did not linger for long; knowing no retreat, it only wanted to tear apart everything in front of it.

It moved once more.

Its battered draconic body turned into a black shadow amidst the lightning, pouncing toward Qin Ling's avatar!

Its speed was astonishingly fast!

A distance of a hundred zhang was crossed in a flash!

Opening its jaws, the Little Li Dragon snapped down toward Qin Ling's avatar with immense force.

Yet Qin Ling's avatar stood motionless in place.

The avatar didn't even raise his head to look at the approaching dragon teeth.

He just stood quietly, a faint curve appearing on his lips.

The dragon teeth were now extremely close to Qin Ling's avatar.

At that very instant!

An even brighter golden light suddenly plummeted from above!

The Little Li Dragon's movements stiffened abruptly.

It raised its head.

The golden light swooped down from the night sky, so fast that not even lightning could catch up to it.

It could only see an outline growing brighter and brighter.

It was a human shape, bearing an aura it both recognized and loathed.

Qin Ling's true body had finally arrived at the battlefield.

At this moment, he hovered three zhang above the Little Li Dragon, his right hand held high.

In his hand, he held a sword.

The sword had no physical form, consisting solely of light.

Seven golden runes wrapped around the blade, flowing and burning, emanating a pressure that made heaven and earth change color.

For the first time, a different emotion appeared in the Little Li Dragon's madness-filled, pitch-black eyes.

It was instinctive terror.

It wanted to flee.

But it was too late.

The Demon-Slaying Sword with seven fiend runes wielded by Qin Ling's true body descended.

Without any fancy moves, it was simply a single strike slicing downward.

Yet in that instant, heaven and earth lost all sound.

The seven golden runes exploded in sequence.

With every explosion, the sword momentum grew heavier.

When the first exploded, the sea surface within a ten-mile radius sank under the pressure.

When the second exploded, the wild winds abruptly ceased, and the lightning died out.

The third, the fourth, the fifth—

By the fifth explosion, the Little Li Dragon was unable to move, pinned firmly in midair by the invisible pressure.

The sixth exploded.

The festering scales on the dragon body began to shatter.

The seventh—

The sword fell.

The golden sword light slashed through from the dragon's head, piercing through its body and emerging from its tail.

A golden light connecting heaven and earth swept across the sky.

The Little Li Dragon froze in place.

In its pitch-black eyes, the madness finally receded.

In its place was a peaceful sense of relief.

The next moment, the dead Little Li Dragon plummeted straight into the East Sea.

With the Little Li Dragon dead, the sea finally calmed down.

The lightning dispersed, the dark clouds receded, and moonlight washed over the sea surface once more.

The Little Li Dragon was completely gone.

Only a serene ocean remained, alongside the golden figure hovering in midair.