A Super Strong Master Has Appeared! 2
"W-Wait a second... You already finished them all? My disciple, your master does enjoy a good joke, but..."
"It's true! Look!"
Juaran approached Lin with a skeptical expression, only to freeze in shock. The formations she'd doubted were now perfectly arrayed and humming to life.
Even seeing it with her own eyes, Juaran couldn't believe what was right in front of her. And why would she? What kind of art was formation arts? Among all the myriad arts of the immortal path, it demanded the most raw talent. Without grasping the meaning of every character and line woven into the formation, no one could ever make it work. And on top of that, you needed the dexterous hands to draw them precisely by hand. Formation arts had long been a domain reserved for a select few chosen geniuses—most didn't even dare attempt it.
'Of course, I've heard of rare prodigies who instinctively comprehend formation structures...'
But who could've guessed that prodigy was this adorably fluffy little disciple of hers? Juaran felt a mix of astonishment and bewilderment at the situation.
Meanwhile, Lin—who'd blithely completed the formation homework in one go—tilted her head curiously at the other arrays nearby.
'This... is kinda fun? If I touch the glowing parts, they move!'
For some reason, the formations looked like a starry Milky Way galaxy to Lin. Certain structures and sections glowed brighter than the rest, standing out from the ordinary lines.
'If I move this glowing part like so...'
Whoosh!
Just like that. She didn't really understand the principles, but it always worked this way. In fact, all the formations Juaran had assigned so far? She'd done them exactly like this. Whatever it was, she'd finished her master's task super quick! Hehe, good things were good, right?
Truth be told, Lin still had no clue what she'd actually accomplished.
"Hehe! Thank you, Master!"
Watching Lin's innocent grin, Juaran pondered the little dragonet's talent more seriously.
'Even for the pinnacle of beast and spirit clans—the dragon race—this is excessive. It's...'
Frankly, she wasn't even sure if this cute little disciple was truly a dragon. Juaran didn't know everything about dragons, but their fame meant she knew the basics: long, serpentine bodies. Yet her disciple looked more like a lizard, complete with mysterious wings sprouting from who-knows-where.
Of course, Juaran adored her lovable disciple's current form even more because of it...
'...She's definitely special. I'll need to keep a close eye on her from here on out.'
Raising her steadily would be endlessly rewarding, Juaran mused.
And so, after a minor mishap(?) with the formations—all the preparations for the Yo God ritual were finally complete. Juaran approached Lin.
"Offering the sacrifice to the Yo God, right?!"
"Oh no..."
"Yes!"
Unable to exert physical force in her thought-projection form, Juaran watched as Lin climbed to the altar's center and steadied her breathing. With the formations complete, all that remained was the ritual itself.
Hummm—
Following her master's instructions, Lin closed her eyes, focused her mind, and gently drew up her spiritual energy. Channeling it slowly—but not too slowly—along the pre-laid formation paths into the floor...
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a brilliant blaze of light erupted. A massive tremor shook the faded altar.
Rumble rumble rumble—!!!
"Eek, whoaaa—!"
It felt like an earthquake. Debris rained from the ceiling, and the shaking made it impossible to stand steady. And worst of all...
"L-Lava! Master, l-lava's rising!"
Waaahhh!
What kind of natural disaster was this?! Underground ruins shaking? Fine, ancient site and all. But sudden lava? That was cheating! Lin had never even seen real lava in her past life, let alone this one. In near-panic, she scrambled toward the summit.
Fwssh!
BOOM!!
Juaran swung a massive crimson fan from nowhere, unleashing a gale that enveloped Lin and herself in a towering barrier. It held back the surging lava—for now.
But it was only temporary.
"W-What do we do? Run now?!"
Fwoosh!
Suddenly, a warm, unknown energy wrapped around Lin, forming a translucent fiery membrane. It shielded her from the scorching lava's heat—now, even if it touched her, it did no harm. The lava even felt cozy and inviting.
"Ah! This is... N-No! Master!"
It wasn't some random surge from the depths—it was Juaran sacrificing her thought projection to protect her. From distant realms away, forcibly drawing on her dwindling projection power came at a cost: her form began to dissolve and scatter.
"Waaah... Master! Nooo!"
She'd phrased it dramatically, but it wasn't like her master had actually died—just a projection vanishing. No need to bawl over it. Right now, instead of collapsing in despair, escaping this lava sea before the barrier faded was priority one.
Splash!
'Ugh... Just a bit more! Higher!'
Shapeshifting made swimming the lava bog awkward, so she hurriedly reverted to her true form and kicked furiously. Higher! She had to follow this lava flow and escape!
Luckily, the lava surged upward explosively, letting her ride the current far more easily than expected.
Finally, the end of the lava tunnel.
Splish, splash?!
'W-W-Wait a sec! Don't tell me... the lava was rising because...?'
Grrrumble!
Rumble!
No way—this was a volcano?! So it was on the verge of erupting...!
And then—
KABOOOOOM—!!!!
A world-shaking explosion hurled Lin skyward with the lava at uncontrollable speed.
Squeee, squeeee—!!!
'WAAAAH—!!! Spare this dragon's life—!!!'
She'd hated roller coasters as a human; becoming a dragon only to endure worse was insane!! Her head spun wildly.
But as the saying goes: Keep your wits even in a tiger's den. Hurtling through the sky amid lava, Lin desperately fought to regain her senses.
Her surroundings sharpened: dense foliage, dim sky, ash and lava chunks filling the air... and a black sun.
A black sun?
Yes—the world had darkened. The sun hung in the sky, slowly devoured by some unknowable black shape. It stole light from the world, drowning everything in shadow.
A total solar eclipse, striking without warning in broad daylight.
Black sun.
Black sun...?
It looked like an eye. Someone—or something—was gazing down upon the world through the sun.
Overwhelming presence. Untouchable. Don't look at it. It... it...
Surrender to... the sun...
Sque!
'...Gasp!'
In that razor-edge moment, the message from StrongestFireChicken—Juaran—snapped Lin back to reality, freeing her from the hallucination.