Normally, no cultivator would choose to pursue both body and sword cultivation. It was simply too much to handle, and the returns were meager at best.
Typically, only those who aspired to be pure qi refiners but lacked the talent to advance to the Cave Mansion Realm would reluctantly switch to martial arts as an alternative for gaining strength. However, the martial cultivation of such individuals was usually of very low quality.
This was why Yellow Sand Dragon King looked down on Xu Ming with utter disdain.
With a cold sneer, Yellow Sand Dragon King struck out, summoning a massive dragon claw apparition that smashed down toward Xu Ming's head, locking firmly onto his aura.
Xu Ming, with his long sword strapped to his back, responded with a single punch.
The dragon claw apparition shattered on impact as Xu Ming closed in on Yellow Sand Dragon King once more.
At the same time, Yuan Yu activated the other formations she had prepared. Xu Ming also triggered the Fear Heart Formation.
As Xu Ming thrust his sword toward Yellow Sand Dragon King's heart, a sudden wave of terror surged within the flood dragon. Panicked, Yellow Sand Dragon King dodged to the side.
He knew perfectly well he could have intercepted the sword—but his body instinctively chose to avoid it!
Though he dodged, he didn't escape unscathed. Xu Ming's sword pierced into Yellow Sand Dragon King's shoulder.
Frost-like, piercingly cold sword energy spread through Yellow Sand Dragon King's blood vessels.
Roaring in anger, Yellow Sand Dragon King exhaled a blast of dragon breath toward Xu Ming, forcing him to withdraw his sword and creating distance between them.
Yellow Sand Dragon King's fury only grew. To think he had been injured by such a lowly cultivator!
In his rage, Yellow Sand Dragon King reverted to his true form—a massive flood dragon—and lunged at Xu Ming.
Xu Ming channeled his spiritual energy into his sword, unleashing one sword strike after another. The sword energy rained down like a storm. Despite the flood dragon's attempts to evade, several strikes inevitably landed.
Sword scars marred Yellow Sand Dragon King's scales, leaving him battered and humiliated.
"Roar!"
Yellow Sand Dragon King charged forward, slamming Xu Ming to the ground and pinning him down with a massive dragon claw.
The flood dragon raised his head, gathering dragon breath in his mouth.
Sensing the danger, Yuan Yu prepared to intervene. But then she felt the sudden, violent surge of Xu Ming's blood energy, a sensation that reminded her of the time she had fought him in the Baiwa Secret Realm.
Back then, she couldn't discern what technique Xu Ming had used, only that his strength had skyrocketed as if he had become a completely different person. It felt as though, no matter who faced him, he could drag them into mutual destruction.
"Boom!"
Xu Ming threw a punch that struck Yellow Sand Dragon King squarely on the jaw.
The flood dragon's head snapped upward, releasing the gathered dragon breath into the sky.
Seizing the moment, Xu Ming gripped his sword tightly and heaved, prying the massive dragon claw off his chest.
Flood dragons naturally lacked claws. This one had conjured them for convenience and to make himself seem more like a true dragon.
Xu Ming leaped into the air and drove his sword toward the flood dragon's head.
Yellow Sand Dragon King recoiled, narrowly dodging. But a piercing scream followed—the sword had left a deep gash on the flood dragon's head, from which dragon blood now flowed.
Flipping onto Yellow Sand Dragon King's back, Xu Ming plunged his sword into the dragon's body and followed with relentless punches.
Each strike thundered like war drums, growing more ferocious with every blow.
One by one, the flood dragon's scales were torn off, as if they were fish scales being scraped away. The dragon's spine was nearly shattered under the onslaught, and Yellow Sand Dragon King writhed on the ground in agony.
While dragonkind was known for its powerful regenerative abilities, the Dragon-Slaying Formation drastically suppressed this capability. The formation also hindered the flow of spiritual energy within the flood dragon, leaving Yellow Sand Dragon King unable to unleash his full strength.
Seeing that the situation was turning dire, Mo Zhuer quickly retrieved her magical artifact and rushed forward to intervene.
If this continued, Xu Ming might very well beat the flood dragon to death.
And whether the flood dragon lived or died—what did that have to do with her, anyway?
Mo Zhuer knew one thing for certain: Xu Ming had to die.
Even more so now that she was trapped within the formation and couldn't escape.
If this wretched flood dragon died, she wasn't confident she could defeat Xu Ming on her own. But once this battle concluded, if she managed to kill Xu Ming, then dispatching the heavily wounded flood dragon afterward would be a simple task. She could then extract its tendons and bones to sell for a handsome profit.
The black silk ribbon in Mo Zhuer's hand whipped toward Xu Ming, aiming to bind him.
Xu Ming frowned. First, he delivered a punch to the flood dragon beneath him, then slashed upward with his sword, slicing the black ribbon apart.
Mo Zhuer's eyes shimmered like blooming flowers, a kaleidoscope of patterns spinning within them as she tried to pull Xu Ming into an illusion.
Unfazed, Xu Ming met her gaze with his Dao Pattern Eyes, locking eyes with her directly.
"Those eyes again!" Mo Zhuer's frustration surged. She knew her illusions were utterly ineffective against him.
Two sharp spikes appeared in her hands, each about half a meter long, with handles capped by round loops at the end.
With an eerie, serpentine movement, Mo Zhuer closed the distance in an instant, her spike already thrusting toward Xu Ming's throat.
Xu Ming tilted his body to evade it. The spike grazed past his neck as he released the grip on his sword and slammed a punch into Mo Zhuer's chest. The soft sensation beneath his fist registered briefly, but there was no room for such thoughts in a life-and-death struggle.
This was a fight for survival—there was no time for distractions.
Mo Zhuer dissolved into a black shadow that scattered like smoke. When she reappeared, another spike was already stabbing toward Xu Ming's neck.
Once again, Xu Ming dodged. Grabbing her wrist mid-strike, he pulled her forward and delivered a punch directly to her face. Yet, once more, she dissolved into black mist.
She continued appearing and disappearing around Xu Ming, her shadows forming and dissipating while circling him in waves. Xu Ming struck whenever possible, and even managed to land a few more punches on the flood dragon while at it.
Suddenly, over a dozen shadow clones of Mo Zhuer appeared, attacking from all directions with spikes aimed at Xu Ming as if trying to turn him into a pincushion.
With his Dao Pattern Eyes, Xu Ming saw through the assault. He leaped backward, causing Mo Zhuer's thrust to land on the flood dragon beneath him instead.
Just as she was retracting her spikes, Xu Ming grabbed her hands and used her momentum to drive the spikes deep into Yellow Sand Dragon King's body.
"ROAR!!!"
The flood dragon let out an anguished howl as the spikes pierced into it.
Taking advantage of the moment, Xu Ming delivered a fierce kick to Mo Zhuer's stomach, sending her flying several meters away. She crashed into the ground, looking utterly disheveled.
Xu Ming then turned his attention back to the flood dragon, locating its reverse scale. With a forceful yank, he tore it out.
The flood dragon's body convulsed violently before it crashed to the ground, kicking up clouds of sand and dust.
Seizing the opportunity, Xu Ming drew his sword and plunged it into the area where the dragon's tendons were located. Tightening his grip, he began to cut downward with relentless precision.
The flood dragon's entire back was split open under Xu Ming's merciless strikes.
Reaching into the exposed cavity, Xu Ming grabbed hold of the dragon's tendon and yanked it out with a single pull.
The massive tendon coiled in his hand, writhing like a whip as it snapped through the air with a resounding crack.