The dragon’s throat swelled as if it meant to spit. Pei Jing raised his guard. The beast let the breath go without firing, braced its claws on the shattered rim, and twisted. Half the creature seemed to turn with it. A long barb at the tip scraped the broken wall.
It swept the tail three feet above the floor. The air boomed. The barb struck the west wall halfway through the swing and cut a groove in the rock. Sparks followed it as it bounced toward Pei Jing.
The sweep closed the last six paces too fast for him to get clear. A jump would leave him in the path of the tail with nothing beneath his feet.
Pei Jing dropped his hips and set his heels into the granite. He crossed his bracers in front of his chest, keeping the Cloud-Splitter in his right hand.
Iron Cloth Body. Tier Four.
Iron Skin hardened the surface of his body. Iron Cloth carried the force of a blow through the muscles and down to his feet. He needed both now.
Gang Qi surged through his blood. The Chaos Root sent earth and metal qi into his shoulders, forearms, and back. His muscles tightened together. Years of training had brought him to this, and the Earth-Stalactite Milk beneath Ghost-Eye Mountain had hardened his bones until they could take a blow that would have broken an ordinary man.
