I will eventually become a god through sheer hard work.

"Roar--!!"

The crested dragon suddenly panicked, its entire body swelling up, transforming from a slender form into a fat, comical shape.

Upon seeing this, the person in the mirror immediately said, "Retreat!"

Without hesitation, Xue Jing controlled the giant Buddha to stop the beating, released the flower crown dragon, and leaped backward.

The moment the giant Buddha left, the Flower Crown Dragon rapidly expanded, swelling into a huge sphere. Countless golden electric currents began to emanate from its body, and then with a loud 'bang,' its entire body exploded.

Golden lightning flashed and exploded, forming a ball of lightning that covered an area of ​​tens of meters around it. Rivers were evaporated, soil was destroyed, and anything the lightning touched was pulverized.

The surging electric currents touched the giant Buddha, scorching cracks into its Shadow Flame Armor, but Xue Jing quickly filled them with black flames.

"This is a self-destruction that uses its physical body as fuel for dragon lightning... Its physical body should have burned out by now, leaving only its core organs."

The person in the mirror spoke quickly.

The golden lightning continued to explode. Xue Jing controlled the giant Buddha to take a slight step forward, but the golden electric current immediately burned away the armor on his body, forcing him to retreat repeatedly.

"It will take some time for it to regain its physical form... This is a good opportunity."

"If we can get past this dragon lightning and capture its core organs, we might be able to kill it without using our claws!"

The words of the person in the mirror rang in his ears, and Xue Jing's eyes narrowed slightly.

He thought for a moment, then controlled one of the giant Buddha's arms, causing it to grow and extend, approaching the golden ball of lightning.

"Whoo-"

However, the moment his arm touched the ball of lightning, it immediately melted and was burned by the intense dragon lightning.

"No, it's too difficult to get close; even the roots and stems of the Dragon Thunder Plant can't withstand it."

"In this case……"

With a thought, Xue Jing drew the black armor from the giant Buddha into black flames, which then swirled and converged onto his main body, transforming into a protective armor.

Then he disintegrated the giant Buddha, controlled all the dragon thunder plant seeds, and attached them to various parts of his body.

Countless roots, thorns, vines, flowers... all wrapped around his body, forming a second, thick layer of golden wood armor.

This time, he didn't even leave any openings for his eyes or nose; it was a true full-coverage armor with no gaps whatsoever.

In this situation, almost all of the body's senses—sight, hearing, smell—are blocked, and one can only act based on a vague impression in the mind and instinct.

But Xue Jing did not hesitate at all. Relying on the large amount of oxygen he took before the armor was sealed, he channeled his energy with the Whirlwind Thunder technique, and spiral indentations spread across his legs.

Then, he stomped his foot hard on the ground, shattering the earth, and shot towards the ball of lightning like an arrow, creating spiraling white waves of air along the way.

It only took a moment.

Xue Jing entered from one side of the lightning ball and emerged from the other side in less than a second, passing right through it and piercing the ball of lightning.

When he came out, he was holding a huge ball of flesh that was taller than a person in his arms.

The fleshy ball throbbed continuously like a heart, and granulation tissue constantly grew and expanded on its surface, making it grow larger and larger.

As for Xue Jing himself, his golden wooden armor was tattered, with only a few remnants remaining on his thighs and shoulders. His Shadow Flame Armor was also missing pieces here and there, and his entire body was wrapped in golden electricity that kept running wildly around him.

"Bang!!"

He landed on the ground and couldn't stop himself, so he knelt down, causing the ground to tremble and creating a crater several meters deep.

The force of gravity, dozens of times greater than normal, caused his flesh and bones to tremble uncontrollably.

Xue Jing gritted his teeth and drew out countless streams of black energy from the surrounding shadows, which transformed into black flames that continuously replenished the armor binding his body and extinguished the remaining dragon lightning currents on his body.

The armor kept breaking and being repaired, and it took a long time before the golden currents were finally completely worn away.

His body suddenly felt lighter, the dozens of times the gravity dissipated, and his flesh and bones stopped trembling. Only then did Xue Jing breathe a sigh of relief.

"...Impressive, you actually dared to do that?"

The person in the mirror exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh right, you're a martial artist... That's strange. Most of the martial artists I've met are like you, impulsive and reckless."

"Alright, there's no time to lose. It only has its core organs left and can't resist. Quickly cut off the flesh from its body!"

Upon hearing the words of the person in the mirror, Xue Jing realized that the enormous ball of flesh he was holding in his arms had grown to several meters in diameter.

His arms, having been in constant contact with the fleshy mass, have now been largely 'devoured' by the proliferating flesh.

Take a deep breath, channel your energy, and pull your arms out of the flesh.

He then gripped it with both hands, and a ball of black flame transformed into a jet-black longsword in his hands.

"Next, it's time for the slaughter."

Xue Jing whispered.

……

"Shuashuashua——"

He swung his sword dozens more times, slicing the giant ball of flesh in front of him into dozens of pieces.

Xue Jing watched as the chunks of meat on the ground kept wriggling and converging towards the center, and wondered:

"How much longer will this cutting take?"

The person reflected in the bracelet sat on Xue Jing's shoulder and said leisurely:

"That's how life-type dragons are."

"Especially for these guardian dragons that are only below the pure-blooded dragon species, without specific methods to deal with them, we can only slowly wear them down."

Xue Jing stretched out his right hand and snapped his fingers.

Black flames burned, covering the chunks of flesh on the ground. The black flames, capable of annihilating matter, were hindered by the life force constantly emanating from the flesh upon contact. Although they continuously eroded the flesh's life force, the flesh's life force showed no signs of running out even after the black flames finally burned out.

"Don't waste your divine power, just keep cutting. There's still one guardian dragon to deal with," the person in the mirror said.

Upon hearing this, Xue Jing could only scratch his head, pick up the long, black knife, and cut the core organ of the Flower Crown Dragon into smaller pieces of meat.

More than half an hour later, as Xue Jing continued to cut, the speed at which the core organs reassembled and recovered became slower and slower until it came to a complete stop.

[Slaying a special creature possessing divinity grants +336 divinity]

[Currently holding Divinity: 387]

[...Fitness experience points +1066]

[...health preservation...]

The panel displayed the divine gains and a long list of experience points. Xue Jing looked directly at the end.

Aiming skill upgraded to Lv9 (533/8000)

[Fighting skill upgraded to Lv9 (798/8000)]

Two more regular skills have been upgraded to Lv9!

Xue Jing's spirits lifted.

His pupils suddenly contracted, and the focus kept shifting.

Everything in the field of vision, which was already extremely clear, became even clearer, as if another filter had been removed.

The bones throughout his body emitted a subtle tremor, and the various structures inside his body underwent another subtle change.

His body was already extremely perfect, and his master Li Qi praised him as the most balanced and perfect template of the human species.

At this moment, he is changing in a direction that transcends the limits of the human species.

Xue Jing took a deep breath, channeled his energy, and a true dragon emerged from his body, emitting a dragon's roar as it darted about.

Smooth, smoother than ever before.

His body was as if it had been lubricated; the flow of energy within him was incredibly smooth, without the slightest obstruction.

"The speed at which the energy is circulated... has increased by at least one-third."

Xue Jing closed his eyes and sensed it for a moment, then sighed softly.

"and……"

He silently channeled his energy, simultaneously activating the 'Golden Scales' and 'Whirlwind Thunder' techniques.

Fine, delicate dragon scale marks began to appear on his skin all over his body, and at the same time, spiral indentations extended from his right arm.

Immediately afterwards, his pupils also suddenly changed, turning into dark gold vertical pupils.

Intense pain began to appear on his body due to the conflict of energy, but Xue Jing's eyes were filled with joy.

"The triple kill is complete."

We're one step closer to the ultimate technique of "Five Kills in One"!

Xue Jing waved, and the Shadow Flame Crow, clutching its backpack, flew over.

He then reached into his backpack and took out a map showing the distribution of dragon species. He then marked one of the two remaining red dots on the map with an X.

"This is the last one."

He tapped the last red dot on the map with his finger, thought for a moment, and then said:

"Speaking of which, I've almost wiped out all the dragon species in this border area, so why is that pure-blooded dragon species not reacting at all?"

The person in the mirror sat on Xue Jing's shoulders, swinging her little feet:

"Pureblood dragons are known as true dragons. They never regard dragons other than purebloods as their own kind, even those they themselves gave birth to."

"However, the death of the Guardian Dragon will still cause it to react... but you acted too quickly."

"It's only been less than half a day, and you've already killed two. The third one is coming soon. It's probably sleeping and hasn't realized what's happening yet."

Xue Jing raised an eyebrow: "Is that so?"

"In that case, let's finish this quickly and go find the next one."

The person in the mirror: "Don't you want to rest for a while and recover your divine power?"

It regards Xue Jing's divine skills as the recipient's 'secret arts', which require consuming 'divine power' to activate.

"It's not too late to rest after killing the last one."