"Shit!" Jin Yun, who was about to leave the cave, saw a pair of terrifying pupils.
The fire dragon stood before him.
"I took too long." He regretted wasting time.
The dragon, which had been frantically chasing Huo Lie moments ago and had lost sight of him, realized then that it had been tricked.
"Roarrrrrrr!" A terrifying roar erupted from its mouth. The cave, still intact, collapsed under the impact.
Clack!
Jin Yun, who was close, had his eardrums ruptured. He couldn't hear anything.
The oyster in his hand remained intact; he had protected it with his spiritual energy.
This sight made the small oyster, which disliked Jin Yun because of the contract, whimper.
Slish... slish... It opened and closed its shell with a sorrowful expression.
"I'm fine." Jin Yun reassured it. Even without hearing anything, he could still see. "I hope you can return the favor, little one."
He hadn't saved it for free. He needed the oyster.
After this brief exchange, he looked ahead. The dragon had stopped roaring and was now staring coldly at Jin Yun.
Without wasting time, it opened its mouth and spat out a swarm of flames, scorching the air as they shot toward him like an incinerator.
Jin Yun, seeing the danger approaching, unsheathed his metal sword.
'A chance. If I fail, I'm dead.'
With that thought, he glanced upward, searching for an opening.
Staying there could mean death.
Not because of the dragon, but because of the lava, which had the power to melt his body.
'Seventy percent of my spiritual energy...' He did the calculations.
That was the result of the crimson sunflower restoring his energy.
Which was still being refined by his spiritual root.
The next second, he closed his eyes, feeling everything around him within a three-meter radius.
Using his sword senses, which were at the entry level.
Feel your sword.
It was his most powerful attack and his primary defense. Once he fully understood it, intent would form.
Jin Yun was still far from that level. He had only been practicing for three years.
Reaching his current level in such a short time wasn't something just anyone could do.
He only fell behind those born with exceptional sword roots.
"Now!"
Opening his eyes, Jin Yun saw the flames thirty centimeters away.
Raising his sword above his head, he slashed downward when they were ten centimeters away.
As the blade touched them, a red energy was released.
The two forces collided, but the red energy, a result of multiple manifestations, prevailed and dissipated the flames.
Seizing the moment, Jin Yun grabbed the oyster and leaped upward before the dragon could react.
The reptile stood there, bewildered.
That moment of astonishment was enough for Jin Yun to escape.
Recovering, the dragon gave chase.
...
Emerging from the pool, Jin Yun let out a temporary sigh of relief.
Placing the oyster on the ground, he prepared for the dragon's next attack.
His instincts screamed as soon as he reached solid ground.
Looking at the lake cautiously, he saw a tail emerging from it.
Before he could react, he was struck.
Boom!
Colliding against the rock behind him, he spat blood and felt his spine fracture.
But that wasn't enough to leave him defenseless—he had felt this pain many times before.
Standing up, he saw the lizard emerge from the water with a murderous expression.
"Hahahahah!" Jin Yun laughed. That expression was truly exhilarating.
His suppressed Blood Qi began to spiral out of control.
The dragon, seeing the human laughing, grew even more enraged.
That smile was infuriating.
Forming wings on its back, it shot toward Jin Yun.
He had no time to react before being seized by the claws and dragged into the sky.
Upon reaching the peak of their ascent, he was thrown. From afar, he saw the dragon's face twist into a grin.
"Laugh now?"
Jin Yun, who couldn't hear and didn't understand beast language, deduced what it had said through his mind.
"Kekeke!"
He began to laugh. It was exhilarating, especially with the wind whipping against his face and his hair fluttering wildly.
For fun, he started absorbing the energy in the air through his pores.
This gave his body temporary balance in the sky.
Grabbing his sword, he spun his body backward at high speed. And cut through the air.
The motion propelled his body to the left, toward the dragon.
Which, once again, was confused.
This human is abnormal!
That only strengthened its resolve to kill the bastard who had deceived it.
In the sky, the dragon lunged at Jin Yun.
With its tail, it attempted another strike, intending to hurl him to his death.
But too bad...
A trick doesn't work twice.
Jin Yun, seeing the dragon's tail, slashed it with a simple blade strike.
It carried no visible Qi manifestation—all of it was contained within the sword, turning it crimson.
This was a purely physical battle.
The blade struck the scales and pierced them.
The dragon howled in pain. It shook its tail, trying to shake the sword loose.
The motion launched Jin Yun even higher.
This time, the dragon no longer played around.
It unleashed its full peak Origin Condensation cultivation.
And activated its Celestial Ability: Climatic Transfusion.
It could slightly alter the weather to its advantage.
With this ability, it gathered all the surrounding air and unleashed the mightiest roar of its life.
"ROARRRRRR!"
A massive air sphere shot upward.
Jin Yun, observing everything, felt an intense thrill.
Up until now, he had been wondering how to fuse the Infernal Fire Pearl.
This was the perfect opportunity.
A free energy source for body refinement, a perfect impact to shatter his bones... and insane adrenaline to force the fusion speed.
Taking the pearl from his storage ring, he pressed it against his bare skin and activated the Metal Fusion Technique.
After these preparations, which took no more than five seconds, the gigantic sphere arrived.
Opening his arms, he braced for impact.
At the first strike, his skin was torn apart.
The sphere engulfed him, pressing his body to the brink of destruction.
But it couldn't destroy him.
Because he was absorbing it.
What should have annihilated his body was instead slowly dissipating.
Jin Yun's blood trembled, his entire system working at a frenzied pace.
He got what he wanted.
He had forced his body to its limit, pushing it into a frenzy state.
His metal sword, which was merging with the pearl, began pulling it in.
With force, he shattered it into fragments, which were drawn into the blade.
On the outside, Jin Yun felt pain in every possible way—mentally, internally, externally.
He was in his own personal hell.