The Thunder Dragon's Rampage

It looked as if a transparent giant’s hand had briefly manifested by borrowing the form of the dark clouds. That giant hurled a spear of blue-white lightning into the earth with the momentum of a falling meteor.

Within the explosion of light and deafening roar, the sight of the massive gate evaporating in a single instant was utterly surreal.

Metal instantly flared a vicious red and flowed like molten slag, while non-metallic substances could not endure the heat and either burst into ash or transformed into plasma, triggering violent discharge phenomena.

Naturally, by the time anyone registered the spectacle, every martial artist atop the gate and along the nearby walls had already perished without leaving so much as a trace.

With their deaths, the fighting spirit of those fortunate enough to survive was utterly extinguished as well.

Han Yujin rose leisurely into the air and settled atop the head of the thunder dragon he had created himself. In that arrogant stance, he passed through the ruins that could no longer be called a gate and advanced inside.

Boom—!

Rumble…!!

The thunder dragon was wreathed in flashes no ordinary internal energy could even bear to look upon and roars that would rupture the ears of anyone with similarly ordinary cultivation.

Perched on the dragon’s head as it swam through the sky, accompanied by swirling dark clouds and emitting ferocious growls that overwhelmed heaven and earth, Han Yujin calmly surveyed the interior of the Dark Shadow Demon Cult’s headquarters.

It was truly no exaggeration to call the place a fortress. Yet now that vast, splendid headquarters was completely suppressed by his presence.

The martial artists who should have poured out in waves to mount a defense simply stood there stupidly, at a loss, and could only watch as he rode the thunder dragon forward.

But people differed in nature.

Even within the Dark Shadow Demon Cult, there were those whose loyalty burned fiercely and whose personal convictions were utterly unyielding.

His twin swords were impressive enough that relevant information surfaced in Han Yujin’s mind automatically. With a casual thought, he pointed at the man. From various points along the thunder dragon’s body, dozens of savage lightning bolts erupted.

The world itself seemed to fracture under the terrifying flashes that exploded in rapid succession. Deafening roars reverberated across the entire area.

The Transformation Realm expert who had charged forward vanished completely within that lightning barrage, as though he had never existed at all.

There would be no further need to remember anything about him.

KABOOM—!!

That attack marked the turning point. The thunder dragon abandoned its leisurely advance and began hurling lightning in every direction without pause, shattering and incinerating everything that dared obstruct it.

As explosions and flames erupted everywhere, the Dark Shadow Demon Cult martial artists—who had been helplessly playing the role of spectators—scattered in all directions like a swarm of panicked grasshoppers.

It was a catastrophe.

And the one unleashing that catastrophe, Han Yujin, now held a Dragon Heart that had shrunk to the size of a fist.

The benefits gained from completing the Mind Refinement stage were immense. He could now draw upon even a tiny fraction of the power radiating from the Dragon Heart.

Thanks to that, the Thunder Dragon Emergence from Dark Clouds spell he had deployed now displayed the full majesty of the late Dharma Soul stage, and he felt no strain on his dharma power whatsoever.

‘At this point, I could cast the original version—Golden Lotus Nine Rotations Full Bloom—without any trouble.’

How long he advanced like that—appearing positively mythical by the standards of this martial world—he could not say.

Eventually, his eyes fell upon the most important-looking building situated at the very center of the Dark Shadow Demon Cult’s headquarters.

His reinforced divine sense stretched outward and wrapped around the entire structure, analyzing every detail. A cold sneer rose to Han Yujin’s lips.

The elite forces were inside, fully prepared and lying in ambush.

Nine Transformation Realm experts. Three Profound Realm experts. And the strongest presence of all—undoubtedly the cult leader, Dark Shadow Divine Demon Cheon Rajin—was also clearly detectable.

‘An ambush and coordinated assault inside a building constructed according to formation principles.’

Had he entered that building defenseless in the state he possessed when he first arrived in this world, he would almost certainly have died.

When the divine sense secret art of a Life-and-Death Realm expert came crashing down, supported by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a sturdy formation anchored to the building and a coordinated attack from three Profound and nine Transformation experts, the outcome would have been inevitable.

But that was no longer the case.

Even if he generously walked inside and fought them fairly, he had zero confidence that he would lose.

Simply detonating the thunder dragon he currently rode would likely annihilate them all. In such a confined space, the explosion of lightning would be even more devastating.

‘Should I just do it?’

After a brief moment of consideration, he shook his head. Killing them all would be convenient, but it might make extracting the Dark Shadow Divine Demon’s divine sense secret art considerably more difficult.

Instead, he descended to the ground and shrank the thunder dragon until it could coil around his body like a garment. He returned the Dragon Heart to his inner pocket, habitually stroked Mu-yong, and stepped into the building.

Of course, he did not enter quietly.

Boom—!!

From the mouth of the now-smaller but far more condensed thunder dragon, wrapped in brilliant light and thunderous roar, a bolt of lightning lanced forth. Empowered by the lightning attribute’s unique formation-breaking force, it pierced the building’s wall and efficiently destroyed the internal formation nodes.

Ptoo!

Mu-yong seemed to find the thunder dragon’s actions amusing; she spat out a streak of Light Metal Sword Qi in imitation and wriggled with excitement. Naturally, the sword qi accomplished little beyond punching a few holes in the wall.

“You really do live up to your name.”

Jjijik—! Jjik?

“It means you’re cute.”

While continuing to sabotage the formation nodes, he passed through the long, wide corridor, crossed two reception-like chambers, and even traversed a modest garden designed so that the open sky could be seen from the center of the building.

Finally, he blasted the door of what could be called the main hall apart with the thunder dragon’s lightning and stepped inside.

“We’ve been waiting for you, Golden Lotus Martial Sovereign!”

“I’ll make you regret this reckless assault!”

Along with several rather clichéd shouts, the experts he had already detected with his divine sense launched their condensed qi along predetermined trajectories. At the same time, one of them scattered a powder that was almost certainly an extreme poison.

In response, a golden radiance even more brilliant than the shrunken thunder dragon erupted from Han Yujin’s body. The dragon itself focused on defense, intercepting the incoming sword energies with dozens of lightning bolts.

At the same time—

Han Yujin, standing with his back to the Six Paths of Reincarnation and enveloped in backlighting, appeared like some mysterious, exalted being whose features could not be distinguished at all.

A young and beautiful female elder of the Profound Realm—undoubtedly the Black Blood Fiend Woman—suddenly burst into mad laughter, then gouged out her own eyes with both hands and detonated her qi to commit suicide.

Another Profound Realm expert’s eyes bulged blood-red as he roared incoherently and charged straight at the cult leader, Dark Shadow Divine Demon Cheon Rajin. The third fell to his knees with an expression of having lost the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠entire world and began to wail uncontrollably.

The Transformation Realm experts fared no better. Some killed themselves, some turned their fury on one another, some discarded their weapons in perfect satisfaction as though nothing in the world mattered anymore, while those swallowed by ultimate despair simply collapsed and forgot everything around them.

Only the cult leader, relatively ensnared by ordinary human desire, managed to defend properly against the charging Profound Realm elder.

“It’s his Heart Sword! Snap out of it—!”

The shout infused with profound internal energy proved completely useless.

Flashes of light and explosive shockwaves erupted from the exchange between the cult leader and the elder. The sparkling fragments of qi tore apart the nearby defenseless martial artists, sending blood spraying and chunks of flesh flying.

At that exact moment, a golden beam of light flew in and instantly decapitated the roaring, frenzied Profound Realm elder who had been attacking the cult leader.

Cheon Rajin involuntarily turned to look at the source of the attack—the Golden Lotus Martial Sovereign.

There, amid the total blackening of backlighting, he met a pair of eyes ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠harboring an eerie violet glow.

Immediately afterward, the bone necklace he wore crumbled into dust.

“...Huh?”

Han Yujin let out a short, puzzled sound as the Dream Illusion Mind Snatching Art was blocked far more easily than expected.

At that moment, cult leader Cheon Rajin—his reputation as a figure who shook the Jianghu now meaningless—became completely terrified and immediately attempted to flee. It was partly the influence of the Human Desire path, but it was also a glimpse of his true nature.

For a Life-and-Death Realm expert, his speed was astonishing.

The Dark Shadow Descent Step, a technique only the cult leader could learn, strangely expanded the surrounding darkness and allowed him to melt into it for high-speed movement. It was a truly remarkable divine art, similar to a pursuer’s evasion technique.

“This bastard…?”

Han Yujin immediately borrowed the thunder dragon’s power and began pursuit, continuously deploying lightning evasion arts.

Boom—! Rumble—!

Flash! Bang—!

With each thunderclap, light flashed and mercilessly ripped apart the surrounding darkness.

Just before he was caught, Cheon Rajin smashed through the floor of a side chamber and vanished into the pitch-black underground.

Han Yujin appeared directly in front of the underground passage a split second later, eyes narrowing.

‘I didn’t sense this at all?’

Until the man had broken through the floor, his divine sense had detected no trace of the passage.

‘These Dark Shadow Demon Cult bastards really are hiding something.’

The suspicion he had felt while examining the Yin-Yang Gu earlier seemed to be slowly revealing its true form.

Fortunately, once the passage was revealed, there was no interference in examining its interior with divine sense. He sent the slightly shrunken thunder dragon ahead and descended the stairs.

The depth was considerable, yet even at a relatively cautious pace he traversed the stairs in an instant.

The deep underground chamber he reached was a truly unpleasant hemispherical space.

Undried bloodstains covered the area, and a sticky darkness that faintly interfered even with divine sense lay thick across the floor. The bloodstains gave off a horrific metallic stench, making it clear they were no mere decoration, while the darkness itself seemed to carry faint whispers.

At the center of that hemispherical space, Dark Shadow Divine Demon Cheon Rajin—cult leader of a mighty faction and a proud Life-and-Death Realm expert—prostrated himself and begged desperately. The sight was utterly at odds with his rough, ferocious appearance.

The object of his pleading was something suspended by a rope of condensed darkness, swaying ever so slowly in the air.

‘…Human skin?’

Creepily enough, it was indeed a complete human hide.

The skin dripped bright red blood from its entire surface as though it had been alive only moments ago. From its empty, dangling interior, a darkness that seemed almost materialized flowed out alongside the blood, then dispersed into the air and vanished.

“Ancestor… please save me…! Save me from that horrifying man…! I will offer sacrifices… I will offer them continuously…!”

Cheon Rajin slammed his head against the ground repeatedly, performing one humiliating obeisance after another toward the human skin.

Suddenly, Han Yujin realized the blood flowing from the skin was not random.

It was emerging from a densely inscribed series of dharma texts and incantations.

At that exact moment, his gaze met the darkness-filled eye sockets of the human skin.

The skin’s head clearly moved, turning to look directly at him.

The voice was extremely faint, yet impossible to ignore. It repeated the same plea, as though that was the only thing it could say. One of the skin’s fingers twitched.