Chapter 35:
The red dragon's tail struck Li Ji's chest with overwhelming force, breaking through his defenses. The impact sent a shockwave that caused the air to spiral around them, but Li Ji fought to regain his balance. Before he could fully recover, the dragon's claws grabbed him, pinning him down with terrifying strength.
"Ah!" Li Ji screamed in frustration, struggling against the dragon's grip, but his efforts were futile. The red dragon had grown significantly stronger after absorbing magma power. Though Li Ji's own strength was increasing, it was still not enough to break free from the dragon's grasp.
The dragon's voice echoed, mocking him. "A little stronger, but still not enough. It's time to end this." With that, the red dragon dived into the magma, pulling Li Ji along. The molten rock surged up to envelop his body. For a moment, the red dragon seemed to hesitate, unsure if the heat was sufficient. He let out a stream of dragon fire into the magma to raise the temperature even further.
Li Ji's body floated in the lava, his arrogance barely shielding him from the intense heat. His body was burning, but the claws still held him down, preventing any chance of escape. He could feel the unbearable heat seeping into him, making him weaker by the second. In the background, the red dragon looked down at him with cold eyes.
"You should have failed the assessment by now. Logically, you should have been expelled from the realm," the dragon commented, almost to himself.
"Forget it. You're talented enough. In six months, you'll pass easily," the red dragon added with a sigh.
Li Ji closed his eyes slowly, unable to respond. His arrogance was still struggling to protect him, but it was weakening. The heat from the magma grew more intense, eating away at his strength. Yet, his spirit remained unbroken, despite the toll it was taking on his body.
The red dragon muttered to himself, "Why does he disgust me so much? His talent, his personality... everything about him should be ideal, yet I can't bring myself to want him to succeed."
Li Ji's body, though protected by his arrogance, was becoming increasingly frail. His skin was drying out, and his lips cracked under the unbearable heat. He wasn't aware that the Phoenix Force fragment in his pocket had melted into a syrup-like substance, seeping into his body.
The power of the Phoenix was far more intense than the magma surrounding him. As it seeped into his body, the heat became overwhelming. Li Ji's thighs began to burn, the flesh almost carbonizing. But his pants, strangely enough, remained untouched. It was as if the Phoenix Force was protecting him in ways he couldn't understand.
"Still resisting after all this time?" the red dragon asked, his voice tinged with irritation as he watched Li Ji's body almost disintegrate. The dragon then fired a volley of fireballs, intensifying the assault on Li Ji's already fragile form.
The pain was overwhelming, yet a female voice suddenly echoed in Li Ji's mind, clear as day. "Kunlun, all the pain I have suffered will be recovered one by one."
Li Ji's consciousness snapped back into focus. "What happened? Why am I in the magma?" he thought, confused. The voice continued, but he couldn't fully grasp what it meant. Despite the destruction around him, something was stirring deep within.
As Li Ji began to recover, he noticed something strange. The heat, which should have been suffocating, didn't feel as intense as before. He touched his face and found it dry and cracked, but it didn't burn. "What's going on? Am I hallucinating?" he wondered, his thoughts fragmented. It wasn't until his arrogance disappeared that the heat returned, but even then, he didn't feel it.
The Phoenix Force was already beginning to awaken within him, spreading through his veins. The power coursed through his heart, burning through him with intense fire, but somehow, the heat from the magma no longer mattered. The Phoenix Power was now his, and it filled him with vitality, strength, and a burning desire to survive.
Li Ji's aura began to shift. The air around him shimmered with a fiery brilliance, and his body glowed with a sacred and noble red light, like a phoenix reborn from the ashes.
The red dragon, witnessing the transformation, became visibly agitated. "No... It's Phoenix power!" he muttered, realization dawning on him. "That's why I've felt disgusted. The Phoenix is behind this."
In a sudden moment of desperation, the red dragon's resolve hardened. He had no choice now. "I can't let him merge with the Phoenix. If he does, there's no telling what might happen." His voice was full of urgency. "The only option is to kill him!"
A surge of energy rippled through the secret realm, and it felt as though the very atmosphere had changed. The battle was far from over.
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