Boom!
The saber-tooth dragon was happily shooting energy blasts when suddenly its large eyeballs bulged, and its bloated belly deflated.
Yamiru's fist sank into it.
The dark golden mist swirled around his fist and arm, spinning like chains.
"Bad eyesight, huh? Then you better aim well before you attack, stupid dragon!" Yamiru murmured, twisting his fist inside the dragon's deflated belly.
The saber-tooth dragon hissed in pain, its energy blasts pausing for a moment. Its massive body staggered back two steps, but soon enough, a blinding light shot through its teeth, and a new, more powerful energy blast began to charge up.
Yamiru's eyes turned dark gold, his pupils looking like they were stained with blood.
He saw the dragon lower its head, hearing rumbling sounds from its throat. Thunder seemed to gather within the monster's mouth, and the pressure in the air reached its peak.
"Roar..."
The dragon had locked onto its human target below.
But in an instant, Yamiru's figure disappeared, and the saber-tooth dragon felt a massive shock under its jaw!
Boom!
Yamiru appeared under the dragon's chin, landing a powerful punch that sent shockwaves through the beast.
The energy blast that was about to erupt from the dragon's mouth exploded in its own mouth, forced to close by the blow.
Yamiru's punch continued, sending the saber-tooth dragon flying, tumbling in mid-air before crashing into the spikes of the abyss below.
He hovered in mid-air, the pattern on his face now resembling dragon scales.
The dragon rolled and crashed, its body snagging on several of the abyss's spikes. It opened its mouth and spewed out a cloud of black smoke, filled with the stench of sulfur. The blow had nearly roasted its mouth.
Yamiru quickly pursued, his flying technique giving him the edge.
His appearance became even more sinister. His pupils were bright red, the corners of his eyes became narrow, and the patterns on his face had solidified into real scales. His teeth grew sharper.
The saber-tooth dragon hadn't expected this human to suddenly grow so strong.
Its tail lashed out, but Yamiru caught it and, with a roar, tossed the dragon away.
Yamiru grinned wickedly, his fingers now resembling claws as he tore through a nearby spike, five streaks of white light flashing as the spike was severed.
He grabbed the broken piece of the spike and aimed it at the giant dragon he had thrown, gathering strength to throw it.
The saber-tooth dragon flapped its wings, adjusting its position in the chaotic wind.
Die!
Yamiru threw the spike with all his might. At that moment, the necklace in his collar flew out, appearing in his line of sight.
In the previously dark golden world, suddenly a flash of light burst through.
"..."
Yamiru's eyes, tinged with dark gold and blood red, momentarily grew confused. Despite this, the thrown spike shot upward like an intercontinental missile, aimed at the sky.
The saber-tooth dragon twisted its body to dodge the incoming spike, diving toward the human below.
Impact!
It was like a comet crashing into Earth—the massive dragon collided forcefully with Yamiru, who was floating at low altitude, crushing him into the abyss below.
The deeper they fell, the denser the dark golden hellish aura became.
Compared to the concentration of the demonic energy at the bottom of the abyss, the air environment was only a faint fraction of it, as if it had evaporated and dispersed. Areas further away from the Mount Five Elements, such as Liangjing Mountain and the Divination Old Woman's palace, had even thinner hellish energy.
However, even the energy in these ordinary areas was enough to turn beings with evil intentions into demons.
What about the abyss below?
As Yamiru descended, soaking in the increasingly thick hellish energy, a pained expression appeared on his face.
The dark golden energy seemed to want to flood into his body.
Yamiru suddenly realized that this stone path, behind the Five Elements Gate, was strikingly similar to the serpent path of the otherworld.
Beneath the serpent path was hell.
Below this stone path, it was as if hell itself lay in wait.
Even someone like Goku, with a heart as pure as a child and a celestial halo above his head, was warned by the ghost officials of the Yellow Springs not to fall down the serpent path, lest he be dragged into hell...
No!
Deep in Yamiru's crimson eyes, a golden light suddenly erupted.
"Oh?" someone in the depths of Mount Five Elements spoke in surprise, "I didn't expect that, just a few years, and he's already..."
---
No one!
I will not let my will be twisted!
Yamiru floated within the hellish mist below the abyss, the dragon scales all over his body starting to fade.
Heat surged, and the necklace hanging from his neck swayed, its reflection spreading in the blood-red pupils, merging with the golden hue.
The dark golden mist was expelled from his body, as Yamiru struggled against the evil thoughts magnified by the hellish aura, with his unwavering will.
From the beginning until now.
The hesitation about whether to live as an ordinary person.
Or to firmly pursue the martial path in his heart.
It was always driven by Yamiru's own will.
"Don't you think so, Golden Veil?" Yamiru suddenly raised his head. His eyes had turned golden, and his unyielding will blazed fiercely in his glowing pupils, burning away the demonic scales that had covered his body.
He tore through the thick hellish aura at the bottom of the abyss.
Yamiru flew upwards, heading towards the shadow of the giant dragon. But just as he emerged from the abyss, a massive finger, as large as a sky pillar, descended from above, blocking his path.
What!?
Yamiru was caught off guard, raising his hand to resist the massive finger.
"So it's you bullying my little dragon..." A thunderous voice echoed from the sky, and upon closer inspection, it sounded like someone was speaking, scolding Yamiru, the mere mortal, for his rudeness.
With just a finger, Yamiru had no choice but to fight with all his might. He was in shock. How could such a massive entity approach without him sensing it at all?
"Go down."
The giant's voice rang out again. This time, the entire hand opened, pressing down like a mountain, engulfing Yamiru completely.
"What a joke..." Yamiru muttered.
However, giving up was not in Yamiru's nature. Gritting his teeth, he used all his strength to activate his flight technique, trying to resist the pressure of the giant hand.
But the giant hand moved without resistance, effortlessly pressing Yamiru back down into the abyss.
"I'll see how you handle this," the giant said, retracting her hand and revealing a heroic figure—a massive female warrior.
With a gesture, her five fingers clenched.
In an instant, the already dense hellish aura at the bottom of the abyss began rapidly gathering towards Yamiru, who was falling.
The dark golden demonic aura flooded over him.
His golden eyes flickered like a candle in the wind, on the verge of extinguishing.
"Ahhh..." Yamiru let out a painful low growl. The evil thoughts magnified in his heart were essentially a part of his own soul, and resisting them was a painful process.
The scales of the dragon, even more densely covering his body than before, quickly spread.
His teeth sharpened.
The curve of his ten fingers became unnatural, almost like beastly claws.
Suddenly, a tail covered in scales shot out.
Yamiru threw his head back, releasing a roar of unwillingness.
Half of his face twisted, his mind consumed by the overwhelming evil thoughts that almost entirely took over his brain, leaving only a tiny fragment of his original rationality to hold its ground.
In his mental world, the massive, evil dragon-like version of Yamiru looked at the human Yamiru in the corner, grinning wickedly. "Why bother? Don't you realize how powerful I am now? Isn't this what you've always wanted?"
"Always wanted?" Human Yamiru sneered, though he was cornered and smaller than the dragon's foot, he still looked down on it. "How dare you say such things? You think you can control my body? Stop dreaming. Die!"
As his words fell, the sky in the mental world shattered. A golden dragon howled and soared in, enveloping the human Yamiru's body.
"How is that possible?!" The massive evil dragon-like Yamiru exclaimed in disbelief.
"Stop talking like that, you're embarrassing yourself," Human Yamiru stepped forward.
The golden dragon that had been circling his body suddenly flew out, biting down on the massive evil dragon-like Yamiru. Boom! The evil dragon Yamiru let out a terrified roar, but his entire body was absorbed by the golden dragon.
The golden dragon swirled elegantly, coiling around human Yamiru.
Outside, amidst the hundredfold denser hellish aura, Yamiru opened his eyes.
They were normal eyes—clear whites and brilliant golden irises.
But when he looked at his hands, the terrifying dragon-scale claws… they were still there.