Chapter 28 Azure Sky Immortal Dew
The taste wasn’t great, but its efficacy was worthy of being called the Azure Sky Immortal Dew.
Greatly enhances the performance of random skills.
This was quite a big deal.
It truly lived up to its name.
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【Skills】
「Dragon Claws」「Soaring Dragon’s Ascension Step」「Minor Heavenly Circuit」「Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity」「White Orchid Heart Technique」「Gecko Kung Fu」
「Tail Cutting LV9」「Sprint LV8」「Crisis Detection LV7」「Tail Cutting LV2」「Eyes of the Wild LV2」「Cold Blood LV1」「Predation LV1」「Gourmet LV2」「Tough Skin LV1」 …….
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Enhancing performance was akin to leveling up.
Great enhancement implied going from level 1 to 10.
There might even be evolution in some cases.
But what if it enhanced a martial art without a skill level?
Skills showed improvement through levels.
However, martial arts were different. Without levels, it was hard to measure their strength systemically. It was difficult to gauge their power compared to skills.
If a martial art’s performance greatly improved in such a situation?
It would be a massive jackpot.
I knew what I needed to do.
I clasped my hands together.
With a reverent heart.
I prayed.
Please, let it be a martial art.
Not something like Tough Skin.
… If it gave me Tail Cutting again, I’d really be prepared for it.
Enhancing Minor Heavenly Circuit would make it quite useful.
If the path to Major Heavenly Circuit opened, I could expect tremendous growth.
Soaring Dragon’s Ascension Step was the same.
It was already useful, so any improvement would be welcome.
Being a leg technique, it had the potential to develop into a kicking technique later.
White Orchid Heart Technique wasn’t bad either.
It was the only internal energy technique I had.
A technique like a white egg.
It could lead in any direction.
However, the best option would still be Dragon Claws.
My main technique, Dragon Claws. I sacrificed my size and evolved into the Crocodile King Lizard because of this martial art. It was already quite deadly, but if it got enhanced, I would literally become the king of lizards.
Ding.
A message popped up on the status window.
Something spun wildly like a slot machine.
Please.
Please!
Only martial arts!
[「Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity」 evolved into 「Immune to All Poisons」.]
Fold.
A martial art discarded.
…….
Such bad luck.
Why did it have to be Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity?
Though this too was a skill without levels….
Still disappointing.
Increased poison resistance wasn’t a bad thing.
But the immediate utility was the issue.
Other martial arts would show immediate improvement.
A false promise of good fortune.
[「Immune to All Poisons」 reacts to 【Crocodile King Lizard】.]
Huh?
[You acquired 「Poison Fang LV1」.]
This changed things.
「Poison Fang LV1」
Fangs release poison. Poison can be continuously sprayed, but MP is continuously consumed.
MP consumption: 5.
My eyes sparkled.
Honestly, it didn’t seem like a particularly great skill.
It felt like the first skill granted on the poison tech tree.
But even that was welcome.
I needed such a skill.
It gave meaning to this overflowing MP.
MP consumption for Tail Cutting: 1.
MP consumption for Sprint: 2.
Total MP: 50.
I had to cut my tail 50 times to fully use my MP.
HP showed immediate improvement, but MP hadn’t changed much since I was a gecko lizard. No matter how much it increased, there was no way to use it.
It felt like a waste, but with such a skill, I could use it effectively.
Moreover, it was a poison skill.
My species was the King Lizard.
Now I was a poison-using King Lizard.
Almost like a Komodo dragon.
It was a bit disappointing.
If I had learned Poison Fang before evolving, I might have evolved into a Komodo dragon.
Of course, if I had come to this place before evolving, I might have been controlled by those mushrooms.
Should I try it?
I brought my fangs to the relatively intact corpse of a centipede.
Crunch.
As I bit into it, poison flowed from my fangs.
MP consumption was 5 initially.
Then it consumed MP gradually over time.
So that’s how it worked.
Not bad.
Really not bad.
I could activate it at will when biting, or even use Poison Fang in the air.
Sss.
The green liquid dripping from my fangs evaporated as soon as it touched the ground.
It seemed to leave a slight dent on the ground. The power wasn’t bad.
I wasn’t sure what kind of poison it was, but it would be very helpful in capturing the Piranha Caiman.
My plan to catch it was almost complete.
All that remained was to further enhance my own power.
A new body and new skills.
I had to research a combat style that matched these and level up as much as possible.
I was in a place where that was possible.
Since the Titanoboa died, no one had stood atop the Silver Dragon Cave.
That unbearable vacancy was now over.
I would stand atop the Silver Dragon Cave.
Residents of the Silver Dragon Cave.
A poison-using Crocodile King Lizard.
How will you stop me,
*
A week passed.
A lot happened during that time.
Facing two snakes using Snake Fist still made my heart race. Their Snake Fist complemented each other, attacking from both sides. The exquisite coordination took me by surprise several times.
Especially the final moment when the two intertwined and used Double-Handed Snake Fist was something that still startled me.
If I were the Green Basilisk, I would have been defeated without a fight.
Snake Fist was defeated by my Dragon Claws.
The giant mantis using Praying Mantis Fist wasn’t easy either.
Its giant scythe-like arms, bigger than my feet, wielded freely reminded me of a martial arts master. Coupled with its wings for agility, it was not an easy opponent.
Overwhelming and fierce violence. If I hadn’t lured it to a low-ceilinged area, I would have been its prey.
Praying Mantis Fist was defeated by the leg technique I adapted from Soaring Dragon’s Ascension Step.
There were many opponents as strong as them, but the most memorable was the giant scorpion.
Its two pincers, wielded like dual swords, were challenging enough, but its venomous stinger tail, pressuring me like a spear, was even worse.
On top of that, its exoskeleton was so tough, it felt like fighting a martial artist in armor.
I swore the first time I faced it.
It was huge, armored, had sharp front legs, and used poison?
What kind of opponent was this?
Of course, it must have thought the same.
A huge, armored, sharp-legged, poison-using lizard.
That was me.
【Crocodile King Lizard LV5】
HP: 312/312
MP: 75/75
【Titles】
「Beloved by Spiders」
「Master of the Silver Dragon Cave」
Look at this incredible spec.
I felt emotional.
I remembered when I was a Green Gecko lv1.
Back then, I was busy running away from a single Oviraptor.
Even as a Green Basilisk, I couldn’t dare fight it.
But now, if it appeared, it would become a meal.
Dinosaur meat supposedly tasted like chicken; I was curious.
I got a new favorite title under Nephila Jurassica’s top one.
Yes. The Master of the Silver Dragon Cave.
「Master of the Silver Dragon Cave」
You conquered the cave where a dragon hides, the Silver Dragon Cave. Creatures in the Silver Dragon Cave will no longer attack you first. The effect of Intimidation is enhanced, and various resistances are boosted.
I succeeded in conquering this lair.
This medal was earned by defeating numerous strong foes in succession.
If I could brag, I would.
Honestly, I was a bit puzzled to receive this title.
I seemed to have gotten it because the Titanoboa died, but the gap between first and second place was huge. I thought there would be at least one creature with half the strength of Titanoboa.
…Baek Yeonyeong, that woman must have done something.
Seeing her take the Titanoboa’s core, did she also capture all the strong beasts here?
It was a mystery. It had nothing to do with me anyway.
What mattered was that I got this title.
I had become the undisputed master of the Silver Dragon Cave.
Even if I flipped onto my back and slept, no one could touch me.
…Not that I planned to scratch my belly here.
I trained as much as I could in the Silver Dragon Cave.
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【Skills】
「Dragon Claws」「Soaring Dragon’s Ascension Step」「Minor Heavenly Circuit」「Immune to All Poisons」「White Orchid Heart Technique」「Gecko Kung Fu」
「Tail Cutting LV10」「Sprint LV10」「Crisis Detection LV7」「Poison Fang LV5」「Tail Cutting LV2」「Eyes of the Wild LV2」「Cold Blood LV1」「Predation LV1」「Gourmet LV3」「Tough Skin LV3」 …….
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I had definitely gotten stronger.
Though a head-on fight with the Piranha Caiman might still be tough.
I definitely lacked in size.
However, I didn’t feel like I would lose.
I looked at the artificial items at my feet.
A straw doll and colorful strings,
And the new poison skill I acquired.
These were the keys to capturing the Piranha Caiman.
Everything was ready.
Now it was time to go up.
Caiman.
Your adversary has returned.