Apotheosis

Zen was after two things. He had come all the way first for the crystal key. Second, the flood dragon spirit was also his target. The cyan dragon inside him was stirring—he could feel his hunger, hot and red and impatient.

"The flood dragon spirit is either bold or foolish," he chuckled, the sound filling his ears. "Since he's so eager to claim his abode in your body, let him enter. I'll be sure to take care of him well." Zen felt a rumble as the cyan dragon's arrogant voice coursed through his ears.

And so Zen kept still, letting the flood dragon spirit enter. His presence flashed inside him like white hot lightning.

"Ha-ha! This is all too easy! Foolish mortal. He dares face me without any protection," the flood dragon taunted in self-satisfaction. "Your body will be mine, mortal. I will leave not even a trace of your soul! You have a fine body, solid and strong. I'll start with your flesh and savor your muscles, until not even a fiber is in place. You will be my new shell, and then I will acquire all the refining heritage and arts of the sixth grade sect passed from the ancient time. No one can stop me now. I'll be the emperor! The only master of the whole world!"

After having been sealed for ages, the flood dragon had lost his control, his spirit turning crazed at the first taste of freedom. Without any obstacles upon entering Zen's mind, he grew more and more self-possessed. He roared in wild laughter, the sound piercing and devastating in the crevices of Zen's mind.

Zen was in an imminent danger. The flood dragon spirit was a much stronger soul than any human. He had to be careful. One mistake, and the dragon would take over his body as his new home. The dragon knew the disparity of their strength. There was no way for a weaker soul to guard itself against the attack of such a strong spirit. It could easily be forced out from the body it belonged to. The flood dragon spirit howled in his victory as he occupied Zen's mind.

However, his arrogance didn't last long.

The dragon's roar came to a sudden halt. The first thing he saw was a huge furnace, its embers smelting. Coiled around it were nine dragons, each one so vivid and lifelike that no one would have taken them a

.

The fiery dragon spirit was a fierce species with tremendous power. Tia had already been struggling with its attacks in its smaller form. How could they deal with it now when it had grown so large?

The fiery dragon spirit caught sight of the crystal key in Tia's hand. It let out a fierce roar and dashed towards her at a fast speed, its eyes fixed on the key.

"Back off, Zen."

Tia warned, her voice hard with seriousness. The lines of her face tightened as she prepared for the fiery dragon spirit's attack. Stretching out her arms, she formed an ice column between her wrists. It was about the height of a human. At its core, a tiny feather of ice phoenix gleamed in the confines of ice.

It was a real feather of the ice phoenix.

Tia had summoned a small ice phoenix when she had been fighting with the fiery dragon. It was a spiritual projection, a creature imagined through techniques of meditation.

Many warriors could create and give a physical form to various things and species from their minds. These creations dissolved once they were used. Some warriors, however, were capable of bringing creatures into actual being. It was a rare skill, made possible only with the strongest of minds. Tia had been meditating for a long time before finally summoning the ice phoenix, and she had given life to the spiritual creature. Like a familiar, the ice phoenix went wherever Tia would, and owned a power much stronger than other spiritual creatures.