Chomp, chomp, chomp.
The sound of sothing munching.
Or rather, the distinct sound of a lizard munching on grass.
Chomp, chomp.
While my main diet is at, it doesn’t an I can’t eat plants. You could call an omnivorous lizard.
That said, don’t expect to eat leaves or bark. But I can manage human-edible greens without much fuss.
I tore into the al that Cho-Do had prepared for .
Seriously, serving salad to your guest just because you’re a herbivore?
No wonder the Bicorns were always slling like chlorophyll.
I had grown used to it, and surprisingly, the taste wasn’t bad, so I ate without complaining.
Chomp, chomp.
“Hmm, perhaps because you’re a spirit beast that governs the energy of the neck, you seem to enjoy it. It’s not quite to my taste, though.”
“Geck?”
You can’t even eat anymore.
I held back the retort.
“Oh, right. If you ever have the chance, do visit my domain. I’ll serve you the best al you’ve ever had.”
Steel Mountain, pretending to be a rocky mountain?
“You won’t forget the taste of those great boulders once you’ve tried them.”
“Geck, geck.”
I’ll pass.
I an, why eat rocks? Even earthworms wouldn’t touch those.
Co to think of it, how is that place being managed?
I left the snow mountain under Cheoldooryong’s care, but I can’t exactly make Gongbok, trapped in the fox orb, rule over it.
There are spirit beasts like the Red Dragon and Baekrang who could handle the Dragon Gate, but...
The Red Dragon is busy, and Baekrang needs to stay with .
Even if the Red Dragon returned, sending him there alone feels wrong.
The other spirit beasts are still too inexperienced to govern the Dragon Gate.
Argentavis and the Snake Queen have their own territories, so they can’t co over casually.
Sigh...
Where can I find an ally who’s strong, loyal, and unemployed?
Maybe an elder with a long snout, a dazed expression, who dances and cackles a lot…
If I et the Compy elder soday, I’ll try to persuade him.
Though he’ll probably refuse at first, if I keep asking, he might consider moving.
Sure, he might poke with his pointy snout out of annoyance, but I can already picture him cackling in delight once I bring him there.
Unlike Argentavis or the Snake Queen, who dominate half of their respective jungles, the Compy’s nest is small because his kin are tiny creatures.
Giving him the Dragon Gate would be like gifting an apartnt to a father-in-law.
The Dragon Gate’s power is currently sealed within Gongbok, or rather the fox orb, which is even better.
The elder might resist, but his subordinate lizards would likely fall to the Dragon Gate’s allure.
Even monstrous creatures like the Magnosaurus lose their minds, so it’s better if the Dragon Gate’s power stays dormant.
Having a good son-in-law sure cos in handy.
I can already picture my father-in-law grinning.
…
Wait, why am I so naturally calling him my father-in-law?
I an, technically, the Snake Queen, Fasir, and I are married on paper, but…
Ugh, whatever.
Chomp, chomp, chomp.
These greens are surprisingly addictive.
If seasoned right, they might taste even better.
Should I take so back to share with the others?
Tang Soyeong is human, so maybe she can whip sothing up.
She did make that Crocodile Tail Soup pretty well.
Now that I think about it, there are also the Bicorns.
Even if I bring back an armful of greens, they’d devour it in a minute, making cooking pointless.
As I finished eating, Cho-Do, now visibly lighter and more relaxed, gave a polite bow.
“Dae-hyeop, now that your al is over, would you accompany for a short while?”
“Geck-geck.”
Accompany?
That just ans more training.
“Nenoooooom…”
Your brother’s getting the wrong idea.
“Chaos.”
Slaaash!
A massive frog, which Cho-Do called Chaos, bound Gongbok with vines.
“Hmmph… Hrmph!”
“Ribbit!”
From my perspective, Cho-Do looked like her na was written as Cho-Do, but Chaos must be a nickna of sorts.
The frog subdued Gongbok and placed the fox orb on its back.
Wooong, wooong.
The fox orb trembled slightly, as if enjoying the situation regardless of Gongbok’s will.
It looked like soone enjoying a ride at an amusent park.
“Ribbit.”
When Chaos lowered her head, Cho-Do climbed on naturally.
“Dae-hyeop, please board as well.”
I tilted my head.
Board?
Sure, this frog was enormous.
But I’m not exactly small, either.
Back at level one, I weighed about three tons. Now, I’m much heavier.
If I climb on, it’s going to be a burden.
…Still, I won’t say no.
“Ribbit!”
Chaos let out a resentful croak.
By the way, the na Chaos is oddly feminine.
“Ribbit…”
Thud, thud.
With every step Chaos took, the earth shook.
She must weigh at least ten tis more than , so it’s only natural.
Co to think of it, I’ve never seen Cho-Do’s true form.
I thought this giant frog was Cho-Do, but apparently, it’s just her subordinate.
What does her real form look like?
Probably not that big.
“…Dae-hyeop? What’s with that look?”
Cho-Do, looking much lighter and carefree, tilted her head at .
It makes sense she’s small in stature.
With idle thoughts like these, we arrived surprisingly quickly.
After all, we were already within Cho-Do’s domain, and Chaos’s strides were enormous.
“You’ve done well, Chaos.”
Cho-Do stroked the frog’s head, making it purr as it lowered its head to let her dismount.
The place was different from where we trained before.
This was another forest, dense with countless trees.
“Co, follow .”
Slaaash!
At a wave of Cho-Do’s hand, the dense trees that seed to block the path parted naturally.
The grandeur was awe-inspiring, though it briefly made think.
I should avoid fighting guardians within domains like this.
Not just within the Dragon Gate—entering the domain of any powerful spirit beast was dangerous.
No need to look far. Thinking about my battle with Gongbok proves that point.
I only managed because it was in my territory. If it had been in his, I would’ve been helpless.
Sure, I’m at the Supre level now, so the outco might be different, but the risk would still be imnse.
“Hmph… Even my dear brother has not seen this place. Who knows what treasures it holds.”
Having sohow freed himself, Gongbok didn’t bother hiding his irritation.
“If my brother had asked, I would have shown him. Though it would have just been directions.”
And with one word from Cho-Do, he was freed.
“Ah, to think my sister loves so much!”
…Is that love?
It just sounds like she didn’t want the hassle of guiding you.
From my observations during training, I could deduce Cho-Do’s personality.
She’s a recluse.
She despises leaving her domain.
But she didn’t show that side to .
Why? Because I’m the heir of Gomodo.
Had it not been for that, she would’ve likely retreated into Chaos’s flower bud to nap.
Or maybe she just pretends to avoid Gongbok. If so, that’s kind of sad.
“This is the place. Dae-hyeop, can you identify what this is?”
Cho-Do pointed at a massive boulder.
It was covered in vines and moss, evidence of long neglect.
At her gesture, the plants parted as if bowing, revealing the true form of the giant rock.
Mysterious, unreadable inscriptions covered its surface.
Understood, I’ll use Gomodo consistently in the translation moving forward. Let revise the text accordingly:
The illustration depicted several key elents:
A representation of human movents.
A carving that reached the pinnacle of the rock.
Finally, a sword mark etched at the topmost point.
"This is said to be a trace left by the Heavenly Demon," Cho-Do explained.
A trace left by the Heavenly Demon? The revelation sent a thrill down my spine.
"The humans living in the Ten Thousand Mountains refer to it as the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. While he never called himself the Heavenly Demon, it seems there’s no better na for it."
Even my master referred to it as the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, though the Heavenly Demon never explicitly claid that title. Clearly, its original na exists, but even Cho-Do seed unaware of it. Perhaps only the Heavenly Demon himself, the True Dragon, or the previous Gomodo would know.
"If you learn the martial art of the Heavenly Demon, it might be fitting for you to na it yourself," she suggested.
In that case, it might end up being sothing like the Divine Art of the Lizard King.
It wasn’t my first ti encountering traces left by the Heavenly Demon. I had seen similar carvings before, in the Silver Dragon’s Cave and in the dwelling of my friend, the Utahraptor.
In the Silver Dragon’s Cave, I had only managed to learn one of the Shaolin martial arts, the Dragon Claw Technique. At the ti, as a re small lizard, I couldn’t afford to explore beyond the imdiate utility of the technique. Survival demanded imdiate skills.
In the Utahraptor’s dwelling, I encountered a martial art created directly by the Heavenly Demon: the Roaring Dragon Kick. Among its techniques, I frequently used the Earth-Shaking Dragon Step, which allowed to mimic the motions of a dragon crawling across the ground, especially when combined with Reverse Scattering Montum. It was a versatile technique, particularly effective when my feet were on the ground.
Yet, even that was said to fall short of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. It was a technique crafted by the Heavenly Demon, but it didn’t bear the title of Heavenly Demon. If even sothing that powerful wasn’t worthy of the na, just how formidable must the true Heavenly Demon Divine Art be?
I had witnessed its might firsthand when my master used it against Tae-Se’s forces, crushing them with a single strike. It was nothing like the Roaring Dragon Kick. If I were to na it, it would have to be sothing grand, like Heavenly Demon’s Supre Domination Step. Yet my master had admitted that even his rendition was incomplete. The true art left behind by the Heavenly Demon must be incomprehensibly profound.
In the past, my abilities were too underdeveloped to fully understand the carvings. The only concept I had grasped was thanks to the Utahraptor’s wall painting: "Alone Above All, Heaven and Earth" (천상천하 유아독존). It had baffled at the ti—why would a phrase associated with Buddhist teachings appear there? Yet, understanding that the Heavenly Demon was not inherently evil shed so light on it.
That realization alone had been enough to enable , in my injured state, to strike a critical blow against the monstrous Kaichal Goa-Thal, empowered by Tae-Se’s influence.
Even so, there was no guarantee I could fully interpret the carvings before now. However, I had already gained the Dragon Claw Technique, the Roaring Dragon Kick, and the enlightennt of "Alone Above All, Heaven and Earth" from past encounters. Surely, I could learn sothing here.
Moreover, now I had sothing I hadn’t possessed before: the Dragon Eye. Surely it would reveal sothing to .
I lifted my gaze and saw sothing truly strange.
The sword mark was carved at an incredible height, far above my line of sight, yet its length was surprisingly short. I didn’t know much about swords, but even I could tell that the technique used to carve that mark shouldn’t have been possible.
Initially, I thought the Heavenly Demon might have been a being akin to a spirit beast. After all, so of the sword marks I had seen before had been in places no human arm could reach. In this land, it wasn’t uncommon for spirit beasts to speak and wield martial arts.
But then I learned the Heavenly Demon was human.
So how was such a mark even possible?
The trace reached the pinnacle yet remained astonishingly short. It resembled the slash of a dagger wielded by a giant. Even if I could understand the motion, it didn’t seem applicable to .
My arms were long—this had always been the case, even when I was a small lizard. I had favored techniques that involved sweeping strikes with my limbs. Over ti, I had adapted to moving and fighting in ways that mimicked humans, with their upright stances and dexterous use of arms.
Even when wielding a sword, my approach would differ. I had drawn a blade against Gongbok solely to manifest a sword aura, as my master had briefly demonstrated for . That demonstration had required a weapon to replicate—not my claws, but an actual sword.
For , my tail was effectively my blade. And my tail was anything but short. There was no reason for to adopt a movent as confined as this.
Yet, I couldn’t take my eyes off it.
My heart pounded as I stared.
What was it about this mark that stirred so deeply?
Even as I acknowledged it didn’t suit , I couldn’t suppress the overwhelming excitent it evoked.
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