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BAAAM!

Before they could continue speaking, the formation Yoomyung had placed suddenly shattered as a powerful strike blew the door open. A figure entered the room amidst the smoke, followed by three smaller figures.

"Who dares...?!" Yoomyung roared, standing up in fury. "I am in a very serious meeting with an old friend!"

The smoke cleared, revealing a slightly younger old man with black and gray hair, sharp red eyes, and a cocky smirk. His beard was as sharp as a blade, and his eyebrows matched, giving him a distinctly sinister appearance.

He wore the same robes as Yoomyung, marking him as a member of the White Mist Sect—yet his Aura was far stronger, overwhelming the room with pressure.

"First Elder Fang Sheng?!" Yoomyung exclaimed. "The Sect Master said there must be no animosity between Elders! How could you do this?! Are you courting death, you fool?!"

"Hahaha! Yoomyung, you've grown far too comfortable in this palace, enjoying the luxuries our master provides while doing nothing," Fang Sheng laughed. "Not only did you fail to apprehend these bandits, but you invited them into our divine palace and fed them like family! Worse, you brought that bastard Wu, who abandoned his sect and let it be destroyed. He has no authority in the Thousand Mountains—he doesn't even deserve kindness!"

"W-What?! My sect...! It was destroyed?!" Elder Wu gasped. "Yoomyung, what is the meaning of this?! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to, once you had calmed down. I knew it would hit hard, and I didn't want to break the news while you still needed rest," Yoomyung sighed, glaring at Fang Sheng. "These players are Wu's friends. They saved his life. They are not—"

"You're a traitor, Yoomyung!"

Fang Sheng roared, his fists glowing with red and black energy. The mist around him surged as he unleashed an explosive fist technique, striking Yoomyung with a barrage of punches that blew away the food and half the room.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Nngaaah! W-What...?!" Yoomyung struggled to defend himself. His strength had once matched Fang Sheng's, but now the First Elder had somehow surpassed him, as if he had ascended to a new realm.

Yoomyung's arms were bruised and bleeding. His White Mist Barrier had barely held against the blasts.

"Since when...?! How did you become so strong overnight?! Just yesterday you were—!"

"The Sect Master demands your capture at all costs!" Fang Sheng declared. "You've been deemed a traitor and so has Wu for disappearing from the Alliance! You and your band of beggars will be executed by the Sect Master's divine will, as the Murim Alliance demands!"

"What nonsense are you spouting?! You're just using this to stir chaos and gain power for yourself—"

"Silence, traitor! The Murim Alliance shows no mercy to those who flee!"

Fang Sheng moved like a shadow soaked in blood, closing in on Elder Wu. His fists surged forward, aiming to pierce Wu's heart with a devastating technique.

"Aaagh!"

Elder Wu raised a barrier of Blood Energy shaped like a massive shield, bearing a bat-like emblem. But Fang Sheng's fist shattered it instantly, slamming into Wu's stomach and sending him flying.

BOOOM!

Maria watched calmly, finishing her cup of wine. She glanced at Elder Wu, now vomiting blood, and Yoomyung rushing to help him.

She stood up, and so did Lucifer, Jonathan, and Partner—the ones most likely to leap into battle for her.

"You've ruined my night. How do you plan to repay me for this?"

"Hm? Heh. And who do you think you are?! Bow down and beg for forgiveness, filthy outsider—"

But before he could finish, Lucifer appeared in front of him, moving faster than Fang Sheng could react.

"Don't you dare speak to my wife like that!"

CRAAASH!

"Gaaaah?!"

Lucifer's fist struck Fang Sheng's chin with such force that his jaw shattered. The blow launched him into the ceiling, smashing through it and sending him soaring into the sky.

Fang Sheng was stunned, dizzy, and confused as he plummeted back down.

His jaw broken, he still managed to swallow a pill from his pocket, beginning to heal the wound.

"What was that?! How could that bastard hit me like this?!"

RUMBLE!

As he prepared for battle, a golden explosion of white flames erupted from the palace, tearing through the structure even more violently.

"What?!"

His eyes widened as a massive, white-scaled dragon rose from the ruins, blazing wings spread wide, illuminating the night sky above Kunlun City.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"Aaahhh!"

Fang Sheng screamed in horror and disbelief. A real dragon—flesh and blood—was charging straight at him.

In the tower, dragons were rarer than any other intelligent species. After nearly going extinct in Yggdrasil, they had become mythical entities in most worlds. A player who was also a true dragon was...

Something no one could have predicted.

"Damn it! Don't underestimate me, beast! I am the First Elder of the White Mist Sect!"

He tore off his robes, revealing a muscular torso covered in crimson blood tattoos. They began to glow, releasing waves of blood energy.

"{Shadow Blood Seal Release}!"

The tattoos surged with power, enhancing his body and Aura. His Ki fused with the White Mist Step and Fist Technique, and the Blood Energy of the Shadow Path.

"R A A A A H H H !"

Lucifer's blazing claws descended, several times larger than Fang Sheng's body. The elder met the attack with his fists, unleashing an explosion of blood energy, shadows, and white flames. Their Auras clashed violently, neither giving the other a moment to breathe.

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

"Hm, he's strong," Maria said, watching the battle through the ruined ceiling. "But that power doesn't feel natural. What do you think it is, Wu?"

"Haaa... There's no doubt. That's Vampire Blood Arts," Wu muttered, as Celes and Alma healed him, while Emeraldine tended to Yoomyung. "But they're far more potent than what we were given. Were the techniques from the Yggdrasil Vampires too weak in comparison?"

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