Morning arrived draped in gold and silk, with a breeze so gentle it seed to hum with peace.
One of those rare dawns that made even overworked disciples pause and breathe.
Shan Yifeng stirred beneath his blanket, stretched lazily, and let out a long yawn.
He rolled out of bed, tied his sash, and stepped outside into the courtyard where a few early-rising disciples were already moving about.
"Good morning, Senior Brother!" a round-faced, chubby disciple called out, jogging up to him with a bright smile.
Shan Yifeng raised an eyebrow and patted the boy's shoulder with a smirk. "You've been slacking off on training, haven't you? Look at all this fats."
The boy stiffened. "G-Gulp—no, Senior Brother! I swear I've been doing double! Triple, even! I swear I'm not cutting corners with my training."
"Oh, is that true?"
"Yes! Grand Elder Lily saw training once, she scolded hard, and… and then she doubled my regin! I've been sweating buckets every day!"
Shan Yifeng gave it a mont's thought, then burst into laughter, clapping the boy on the back. "Good, good! Keep it up. Work hard and you'll be strong one day."
The boy lit up, nodded fervently, and dashed off down the path like a boulder on legs. "Okay, Senior!"
Still chuckling, Shan Yifeng watched him go, the mont lifting his mood.
"Ti to get so work in," he murmured with a grin.
When he arrived at the hill, the atmosphere felt chilly the closer to the top he approaches.
When he stepped out to the clearing, he saw Angie sitting annoyed, staring at him.
"You're late," Angie said coldly, arms crossed and clearly unimpressed.
Before Shan Yifeng could even offer an excuse, she lunged forward, no warning, no rcy.
A flash of crimson light followed her strike as her palm connected with his chest, slamming him into the ground with a resounding boom.
But the mont her hand t impact, Shan Yifeng vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Too close," his voice muttered from above as he reappeared mid-air, twisting for a counterattack.
His leg ca down in a sharp arc, a precise, rapid kick aid straight for Angie's head.
But she was faster.
Just before the kick could connect, Angie blurred. One breath, and she was gone from his sight.
"Behind—!" The thought barely ford before her fist drove into his side.
Crack!
Shan Yifeng was sent flying like a ragdoll, crashing through one tree, then another, until the third finally stopped his montum. Bark exploded.
Leaves scattered.
He groaned as he slid to the ground, coughing out dust.
"Still too slow," Angie said, already walking toward him, her expression calm but demanding.
Shan Yifeng groaned, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and stood up once more. His eyes narrowed, not with frustration, but focus.
Then, he dashed forward.
Angie braced herself but it wasn't a frontal assault.
Mid-sprint, Shan Yifeng scooped a handful of fallen leaves scattered from the trees he had crashed through.
With a flick of his wrist, he threw them toward her.
The leaves shimred faintly in the morning light.
Snap!
In a sudden flash, the leaves burst into glowing sigils midair, and chains of pale-blue energy erupted from the sigils, whipping forward like vipers and locking onto Angie's limbs and torso with uncanny precision.
Angie didn't move. She just smirked.
"Well, well," she said, eyes glinting. "Now you're using that brain of yours. I was starting to wonder when you'd stop charging like a beast and start using your formation skills. Because—"
She lifted one arm and flexed slightly.
Snap!
The chains reached her and in that sa instant, they disintegrated into a fine dust, as if burned away by an invisible fire.
"—I've been itching to use my dragon superiority this entire ti," she finished smugly.
Shan Yifeng's eyes widened.
Even his reinforced chains, inscribed with soul-binding runes and mountain-locking seals, hadn't lasted a breath.
"Tch..." he exhaled, crouching low again. "Then I'll just have to do better."
Angie vanished, faster than a blink, and reappeared mid-air.
Crack!
Her heel dropped like a falling star, slamming into the earth with enough force to make the trees recoil.
The impact echoed like a thunderclap. Dust and leaves exploded outward.
But it wasn't blood that spattered the ground.
Poof.
The figure shattered, revealing itself as a wooden clone. Splinters flew.
From behind her, the air shimred.
Shan Yifeng stepped out from the void, panting lightly, a grin stretching across his face. "Haha, that was fun… but now, you're trapped."
He raised his hand.
Lines etched into the earth pulsed to life—glowing like molten gold. A massive formation blood out beneath them, reaching beyond the tree line.
The ground trembled slightly from the sheer density of spiritual energy.
A prison of runes. Seamless. Imposing.
Angie turned her head slightly, amused.
"Oh?" she said, her voice smooth as silk. "Impressive… really. But let take this mont to teach you sothing."
Her leg shifted.
From her foot, a shadow stretched, thick, endless, and alive. It slithered out like ink on water, drowning the light itself.
In monts, the formation lines began to dim, their brilliance swallowed.
The sun vanished from overhead.
The training ground fell silent, eclipsed by the weight of a dragon's true presence.
"This," Angie said calmly, "is dragon authority."
TEN MINUTES LATER.
"Shan Yifeng lay sprawled in a crater, limbs twitching, his robes torn and scorched.
One eye was swollen shut, the other just barely open. His whole body looked like soone had used him to test the durability of several rocks.
On a nearby rock, Angie sat elegantly with her legs crossed, lazily chewing on a stalk of herb.
Her tail swayed behind her in slow arcs as she watched younger disciples train in spear forms under the watchful eyes of other elders.
Shan groaned. "Not… fair…"
Angie raised a brow.
He wheezed, "We're both peak legend rank… so why's the gap so, so damn huge?"
Angie tilted her head back and laughed. "Because, little half-blood... you're still just using strength."
She leaned forward, golden eyes glowing faintly.
"A dragon doesn't just fight. We rule."
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