As the saying goes, strike the king before striking the bowman, shoot the horse before shooting the man.
Up to now, Zhang Ze has no choice but to advance, as in this Secret Realm, aside from Li, he's the only living person.
However, before Zhang Ze could think it through, a sense of Divine Sense separation exploded in his mind. Zhang Ze locked eyes with Village, and in that one-eyed Dragon Eye, his Divine Soul was touched.
He heard Village's voice, a chaotic mix with the whispers of instinct. Village wants to live forever, wants to eat everything.
Zhang Ze instinctively closed his eyes.
After no longer looking at Village's Dragon Eye, that unsettling voice disappeared along with it.
That's somewhat good news.
"Li, are you alright?" Zhang Ze's hand still gripped Li's hind leg tightly, not letting go.
"Not alright, you... wow!"
A dragon's roar rose; Zhang Ze didn't have time to open his eyes, and Li couldn't finish his sentence before they both—the man and the dragon—were soaring into the sky.
Propelled by Village's tail flick, sent flying.
The good news: they're not dead.
The bad news: they've become sandbags.
The Dragon Scale inside the Longevity Lock continuously emitted a gentle glow, protecting Zhang Ze from Village's harm.
In this manner, Zhang Ze, with eyes closed, holding Li's leg, was tossed around by Village from one side of the Secret Realm to the other.
Although not immediately dead, Zhang Ze wasn't entirely reassured; he was unsure how long this Dragon Scale would remain effective. Normally, such an item should be a one-time use or have a time limit.
However, during this brief period of being tossed around like a sandbag by Village, Zhang Ze suddenly recalled one thing.
That is, although he's never been to school, he truly knows Dragon Slaying.
The matter starts with Tang and Dragon Tiger Mountain.
Dragon Tiger Mountain indeed has a "Dragon Slaying Skill", and when Tang moved homes, he conveniently brought it to the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion.
This "Dragon Slaying Skill" is a Secret Manual left by the Ancestral Master of Dragon Tiger Mountain, but its status there is akin to the tables used by the Ancestral Master, the chairs he sat on, and other such items, something commemorative rather than practically useful.
Since the Taoists of Dragon Tiger Mountain couldn't find a dragon, they had no way to test the skill's authenticity, and the Ancestral Master never mentioned this book's origin.
Tang, judging by himself, suspected the book was a creation of the Ancestral Master's drunken imagination.
While the other Taoists hadn't publicly agreed with Tang, most held similar views.
The Ancestral Master wrote it for fun.
When a copy of this book fell into Zhang Ze's hands, he and Li got together and studied it carefully, but still couldn't judge its authenticity.
Although Li is a dragon, this "Dragon Slaying Skill" teaches slaying elongated dragons.
In the book, the critical points of a dragon, Zhang Ze only found two on Li and hit them twice with his hand; Li felt nothing besides a tickle.
And for the three most important vital points at the dragon's nape, Li had none.
Because Zhang Ze couldn't even figure out where Li's neck was.
After fruitless research, he tossed the book aside.
But today, it might come into play.
Zhang Ze opened his eyes, preparing to counterattack according to the book the next time he was sent flying.
But as soon as he opened his eyes, he encountered a second problem.
He couldn't look directly at Village.
"The eyes are the windows to the soul"; this saying is a reality with Village.
After attempting recklessly several times, Zhang Ze found that as long as he opened his eyes, and Village was looking at him, he'd be affected by Village.
Village's chaotic thoughts would flood into his mind.
Of course, Li wasn't affected.
Thus, after Zhang Ze and Li realized this, the man and his pet immediately understood each other and made a countermeasure.
Li climbed onto Zhang Ze's head, holding his head, acting as Zhang Ze's temporary eyes.
"I will attack in Zhang Ze's form!"
Unfortunately, this plan was doomed to fail midway.
Because Li wasn't a good driver, and Zhang Ze wasn't a good machine.
The Golden Core Stage Divine Sense Zhang Ze released was shattered by the death aura surrounding Village, and Li's commands were always a step behind danger.
"Right! No, left rear, front..."
Li didn't have time to issue the next highest command; Zhang Ze was already slapped into the ground by Village's claw.
Thankfully, protected by the Dragon Scale, both Zhang Ze and Li lived unharmed.
However, after being slapped, Zhang Ze's mind became clearer, and he figured out a crucial point.
At this moment, Village acts purely on instinct; it can't use many of its Divine Might, including the strange Dragon Eye. It might be more accurate to say that Dragon Eye is like a mirror.
Then as long as he can't see himself in the mirror, it would be fine.
Thinking of this, Zhang Ze immediately donned the Night Demon Emperor and, after his head became invisible, he opened his eyes to look at Village.
Sure enough, nothing happened.
"Merely a Dragon Eye, Li, let's go." Zhang Ze braced himself again.
With that, Zhang Ze operated the Heart Method, strapped the Sword Box on his back, drew the red Sword Qi Flying Sword Desolate Ancient, and with the Seven Steps of the Constellation dodged Village's sweeping tail, then turned into a sword light, charging straight for Village's dragon head.
According to "Dragon Slaying Skill", the first step in slaying a dragon is Dragon Ascending.
Zhang Ze proceeded according to the book, then unsurprisingly failed.
It didn't matter while being tossed around by Village in the sky, but now as Zhang Ze flew close to Village on his own strength, he noticed the peculiarity of that death aura.
That death aura not only isolated his Divine Sense; even the Spiritual Qi surrounding him was all absorbed by it, preventing him from flying.
In the ascent, in the moment about to be caught by Village, Zhang Ze pulled out his flying elderly fun from the Hundred Treasures Bag.