A massive ice dragon coiled through the air, dancing with unrelenting fury.
The two Transcendent-level captains had already been rendered powerless, leaving only the Hall Lord to hold his ground.
His attacks nevernded on Baek Seolhwa, but his efforts weren’t entirely fruitless.
She had been forced to reveal her true strength, undoing the disguise technique she had maintained.
"And to think… the Saintess of the Heavenly Demon Cult was using Ice White Divine Art… Even our intelligencework never uncovered this…"
ck Cloud Hall was known for gathering elixirs, but it also collected information.
Being stationed on the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, they had naturally gathered intelligence on the Heavenly Demon Cult.
They knew about the Saintess of the cult.
But they never knew that she was a master of disguise, or that her constitution mirrored the Ice Pce Lord’s.
"If I had known I was facing someone this dangerous… I would’ve used a different strategy."
BOOM.
The Hall Lord shook off the frost umting on his body.
Seolhwa didn’t even acknowledge his words.
What did it matter if her identity had been exposed?
The Hall Lord wouldn’t be leaving this ce alive.
And even if he did, it wouldn’t matter.
If he ran to the Ice Pce Lord with this information, she would take care of things herself.
"You do realize it''s toote for regrets, right?"
"Kh… You really are a monster. To withstand an attack from someone of my level and two Transcendent warriors without so much as a scratch…"
Seolhwa scoffed.
Someone of his level?
The difference between an entry-level Flower Realm master and a mid-level one was far greater than the gap between Transcendent and Flower Realm.
"But, Saintess of the Heavenly Demon Cult… you don’t understand ck Cloud Hall’s true power."
His tone changed.
No longer was she just an unknown spy—she was now the Saintess of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
"Of course. You must have something hidden. Otherwise, you wouldn’t dare settle in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains."
Seolhwa had always found it odd.
How had a group like this managed to establish themselves here?
Yes, they had one Flower Realm master, but that wasn’t enough to survive in thisnd.
Even if the Heavenly Demon Cult didn’t exist, the mountains themselves were a death trap.
A passing snake could be Flower Realm-level.
There were even ck-and-white patterned lizards that danced in strange ways and wielded power on par with them.
This ce was crawling with spirit beasts.
Even if they could handle weaker creatures, their military force alone shouldn’t have been enough to maintain control here.
There had to be a deeper secret keeping them alive.
But Seolhwa had no intention of letting them reveal it.
CRACK—CRACK—CRACK!
Two ice dragons twisted around each other, hurling toward the ck Cloud Hall warriors.
At the same time, the Hall Lord pulled something long and cylindrical from his robes.
Fwoosh.
A surge of intense heat radiated from the object.
The moment Seolhwa saw it, she redirected the ice dragons.
She immediately recognized it as a Thunderbolt Bomb.
If it were a normal one, she could easily withstand it.
But if it was a trump card, she had no way of knowing its true power.
Testing it on her own body would be an idiotic mistake.
Her decision was textbook-perfect.
BOOOOM!
A thunderous explosion erupted.
But despite the grand disy, the bomb didn’t even shatter one of her ice dragons.
Fweeeeeee!
Its true purpose wasn’t power.
It was light and sound.
A shbang.
A modified version, crafted to buy time against any spirit beast.
But what could he possibly aplish with a few seconds?
Even with that brief reprieve, he couldn’t melt her ice.
Escape was impossible.
"All of you, swallow the Dragon Elixirs!"
At the Hall Lord’smand, the fallen warriors trembled as they reached into their pouches.
Gulp.
The shbang had only served one purpose—
To give them time to consume the elixir.
Crunch.
"AAAAAAAAHHH!"
Seolhwa’s expression twisted in disgust.
As the Saintess, she could sense it immediately—
Something was deeply wrong with these pills.
A horrifying aura surged from the warriors.
It was simr to the essence of a spirit beast’s core—but corrupted.
As if their cores had been… forcibly created.
These were not natural spirit cores.
These were refined using ughter.
The Dragon Elixirs were made from ground-up spirit beasts—
Artificial cores, designed to forcefully enhance power.
CRACK—CRACK—CRACK!
"AAAAAAGHHH!"
The warriors screamed as their bodies swelled.
Dark, shadow-like energy seeped from their flesh.
"HAHAHAHA! What do you think, Saintess?! This is His blessing!"
The Hall Lordughed wildly as he watched his subordinates transform.
These special Dragon Elixirs were far more potent than the ones they had used before.
Even though they had only taken a fragment of the full dose, the results were spectacr.
The Hall Lord hadn’t consumed his own yet, but seeing this power, he was convinced—
Even his warriors alone would be enough to kill her.
"ck Cloud Hall… you’ve crossed a line."
"A line? What line? And tell me, how long do you n to look down on us?"
The transformed warriors drooled uncontrobly, saliva dripping from their twisted jaws.
Seolhwa''s eyes narrowed in disgust.
What she was looking at…
Was no longer human.
One warrior had the head of a bear.
Another had tiger ws.
One’s lower body had turned into that of a wolf.
One had ram’s horns, his body grotesquely erged.
Their auras had skyrocketed beyond anything they had before.
Because the spirits of the ughtered beasts had invaded their bodies, drawing out their full potential.
The dead spirits didn’t care what happened to their hosts.
They only craved destruction.
Seolhwa staggered slightly.
It wasn’t just that their raw power had increased—
It was the nature of the Dragon Elixirs themselves.
She could feel the lingering hatred of the spirits consumed.
As the Saintess of the Heavenly Demon Cult, her body was far more sensitive than most.
The agony of the ughtered spirits.
The rage of their stolen lives.
The resentment of being devoured.
All of it came crashing down on her at once, trying to disrupt her very existence.
*
I stared at the warriors, their faces frozen in shock.
Despite their coordinated attack, their swords had bounced offpletely, leaving them visibly rattled.
To be fair, I was just as surprised.
Wait… weren’t they supposed to be Transcendent-level warriors?
Did I mishear something?
No. They were definitely referred to as captains, which meant they were the three Transcendent-level warriors of ck Cloud Hall.
And yet, this was the result?
I hadn’t expected them to cut deep, sure.
I knew my dragon scales were incredibly tough.
But not even a scratch?
Just what the hell had happened to my body?
At this level, my defenses were approaching the level of Gongbok—
A defense so absurdly imprable that no sword aura could pierce it.
An absolute fortress. Unbreakable. Indestructible.
And I hadn’t even used my full power yet.
If I did, I might even surpass Gongbok’s defensive ability altogether.
I had already surpassed him in offense long ago.
…Maybe all those elixirs I had consumed were starting to pay off.
At this rate, unless they brought out a Flower Realm master, I wouldn’t take a single hit.
After all, I had endured Akbulhwi’s sword strike—there was no way a bunch of Transcendents could do better.
"Th-This is impossible…"
There was an old saying—three warriors could take on one of a higher level.
Even if there was a difference in realms, three Transcendents should have been able to handle a single Flower Realm opponent.
But that only applied if their attacks actually worked.
If their swords couldn’t even pierce me, then it wouldn’t matter if they outnumbered me.
Maybe if they targeted a weak point, they’d have a chance…
But I was also immune to poison, thanks to my Thousand Venoms Immunity.
Then again, I had three Dragon Gates—not just one—so maybe this level of strength was only natural.
The spirit beasts around me were already absurdly strong, and my teacher was someone I aspired to surpass.
Maybe I’d just gotten used to being surrounded by monsters.
In reality, I was probably a monster myself.
Besides, I had barely absorbed any of the elixirs I’d eaten—most of them were stored in my tail.
If I actually used them, my power would be even greater.
…But those were for my teacher. I wouldn’t touch them.
"How… how is this even possible?!"
This strength alone would be enough to finish things.
CRACKLE!
Blue lightning surged into my left hand.
I could just crush them with my bare hands…
But that’d be too gruesome.
Better to fry them with thunderfire—
At least that way, they might survive.
Just as I swung my arm—
BOOOOM!
A blinding explosion shook the entire building.
RUMBLE—!
What the hell? Did they bring a bomb?
No… not strong enough to be one.
A shbang.
Ah. So they were buying time to escape.
Fair enough. That made sense.
I opened my eyes again, just in time to hear—
"All units! Swallow the Dragon Elixirs!"
The captain’smand echoed through the room.
The defeated warriors, who had lost all hope, suddenly took out white pills and shoved them into their mouths.
Wait. What?
Swallow what?
Dragon Elixirs?
So that’s what they looked like?
Damn. Should’ve checked the corpses earlier.
I just didn’t feel like searching through men’s clothes.
Still… what could one elixir possibly do to change this situation?
CRACK. CRACK.
…Okay, maybe this was something.
Their bodies were swelling.
Their forms were twisting.
They were no longer human.
"Th-This power…!"
"Khahaha…!!"
They were either drunk on power or the elixir’s effects were messing with them.
Either way, they were drooling uncontrobly.
Their auras had skyrocketed.
And it was obvious—
This was not a normal elixir.@@novelbin@@
It was self-destructive—the kind of thing that burned life force to amplify strength.
"If we have this power, we can even—!"
"Yes! HAHAHA! Dragon! We have surpassed you!"
The captains raised their swords once more.
SHIIIING!
WHOOSH!
Their sword energy erupted, far more intense than before.
CLANK!
Even the weaker warriors unsheathed their weapons, flooding the room with sword energy.
"Surrender quietly!"
The White Gale Captain lunged forward.
Oh, right. His clothes were white—must be him.
"We have transcended humanity! No, we are no longer human—we are beyond them!"
Yeah. I figured.
If one pill could boost their power this much, there was only one exnation.
These elixirs were made from grinded-down spirit beasts.
They weren’t human anymore.
BOOOM!
I smashed my front leg down, crushing the charging warrior into the ground.
"Wh-What—?!"
Congrats. You’ve been disqualified as a human.
"Krurrrrrrrr…"
Good.
Now I didn’t need to hold back anymore.