‘Hand over Lin Zichen?’

Facing the hunchbacked masked man’s demand, Yuan Dongzhi gave no verbal reply.

Her response was to sacrifice her own blood essence, over‑activating the aberrant beast genes within her to further increase her strength.

As her blood essence was devoured, her body’s mutation deepened.

Her brown eyes dulled to yellow, her rounded pupils lengthened, radiating a majestic aura.

At the same time, the dragon horns atop her head grew by half again, her scales thickened and a powerful dragon tail sprouted behind her.

In the blink of an eye, the aloof beauty had become a beastly dragon woman.

“To sacrifice your future, to lock your ceiling for the sake of two unrelated outsiders… insane.”

Seeing the heavily mutated Yuan Dongzhi, the masked man couldn’t comprehend it.

She had pushed her flood dragon gene too far, forcing deep fusion with her main genes.

If she couldn’t suppress it in time, once it fully fused, she would be forced to coexist with it, never again able to accept another aberrant beast gene.

The flood dragon’s ceiling would be hers—no further evolution possible.

“Lock my ceiling?” Yuan Dongzhi said coldly, “My ceiling was already locked. By talent alone, my path ends at Rare‑Tier.”

Her voice was icier than ever.

The deepening mutation drained her humanity, dulling emotion, replacing it with rising beastliness.

The masked man still sought to dissuade her, “Talent is important, but choice can matter more. With enough resources, any ceiling can be broken. The flood dragon you fused with is weak—it carries ‘dragon’ in its name but doesn’t deserve it. Its ceiling is low. If you had a true dragon gene, reaching Epic‑Tier would be easy.”

He pressed on, “While your mutation isn’t beyond control, suppress your aberrant beast genes. Join the Divine Plant Cult, walk the correct path. There, you’ll have the chance to fuse with a true dragon gene. The seat of elder in the Main Sect is guaranteed for you.”

He smiled the whole time, sincerely inviting her to join.

Around them, cyborgs and the mecha prepared to strike at any movement.

But Yuan Dongzhi felt no temptation, only loathing.

She spread her spiritual power, sensed their positions, then let it surge explosively!

In the next instant, the calm sea erupted into a colossal tsunami!

Waves became dragons, rising from the water, opening jaws wide enough to swallow sun and moon, engulfing the enemies and crushing them.

It all happened in a flash.

None of the cultists reacted in time—all were devoured and dragged into the sea.

“You two, go!”

Yuan Dongzhi flung Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan away, to spare them from the clash.

After tossing them hundreds of meters clear, she plunged into the depths, slaughtering the cultists.

Meanwhile, Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan didn’t hesitate. As soon as they hit the water, they swam at full speed, fleeing without pause.

They covered hundreds of meters in moments.

Boom—!

Behind them, the masked man burst from the sea, water‑walking at blinding speed in pursuit.

But after barely two seconds, a hundred‑meter water dragon exploded upward beneath him, swallowing him whole and dragging him down.

Boom—!

He burst up again, racing after Lin Zichen.

This time Yuan Dongzhi emerged too, astride a dragon, with the ten‑meter Shanhai mecha close behind.

The cyborgs were gone—reduced to bloody scrap metal at the seabed.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Missiles streaked from the mecha’s back toward Yuan Dongzhi.

She sensed them and simply commanded her dragons to intercept them.

The pilot, realizing missiles were useless, stood the mecha upright over the sea. From its waist flared a blazing light, releasing terrifying heat.

A half‑meter energy beam lanced out, piercing the dragon and striking Yuan Dongzhi.

She tried to dodge but was engulfed in searing light, flesh corroded by heat.

For several seconds, the beam evaporated seawater, carving a trench.

When it faded, she reappeared—charred, hair and clothes gone, stinking of burnt flesh.

Thanks to her scales, though her clothes were destroyed, her body was not exposed.

“Only lightly injured?!” the pilot muttered, horrified.

That was the mecha’s strongest attack.

Yet she endured it.

‘One shot’s not enough—then another!’

He reached for the trigger, but a dragon slammed the mecha into the sea, tearing at its plating.

At the same time, another dragon surged up and crashed into the masked man.

Yuan Dongzhi hovered above, remotely commanding both dragons to batter mecha and man alike.

Meanwhile, her wounds healed fast—burnt skin reformed, hair regrew. Apart from her destroyed clothes, she was whole.

Boom! Boom!

The masked man erupted from the depths, bleeding and scarred.

The mecha followed, nearly ruined, its weapons useless.

Even outnumbered, Yuan Dongzhi held the upper hand, crushing them.

The masked man glanced ahead. Lin Zichen was escaping his range.

He burst his vitality, racing after him, shouting a final order back to the pilot, “Self‑destruct! Detonate the backup hidden energy and hold Yuan Dongzhi—or your family dies!”

The pilot froze, despair etched on his face.

He was young. He wanted to live. But not at the cost of his wife and daughter.

With no choice, he triggered the hidden core’s self‑destruct and charged toward Yuan Dongzhi.

She dove for the sea—but too late.

Kra‑boom!

The explosion lit the ocean, vaporized water and burned trees to ash.

At its heart, Yuan Dongzhi was shattered—scales destroyed, arm torn, part of her head gone. She floated, half‑dead.

Still, with the living dead slug gene, as long as she drew breath and had energy, she could regenerate.

But time was against her—Lin Zichen was about to be caught.

She sacrificed more blood essence, feeding her slug gene to accelerate recovery.

* * *

Elsewhere, the masked man closed on Lin Zichen.

He succeeded only because Shen Qinghan slowed him, exposing their trail.

Lin Zichen had Natural Camouflage to hide his aura.

She did not.

Underwater, he sensed pursuit. Without hesitation, he deactivated Natural Camouflage and split away to draw the enemy.

Shen Qinghan, afraid to burden him, instantly veered aside.

Bang, bang, bang!

Vines lanced into the sea—half after Lin Zichen, half after Shen Qinghan.

Moments later, she was caught, dragged into the air, bound fast.

Lin Zichen, using Lord of the Forest and Advanced Mind, slipped free time and again.

The masked man didn’t care.

What he wanted was Shen Qinghan.

“Lin Zichen, come out! Or I’ll kill her—drag her to the Cult for humiliation!”

He gagged her to silence desperate pleas, demanding Lin Zichen surrender.

Splash—Lin Zichen surfaced and with a calm face said. “I’ll go with you. Let her go.”

Though his tone was even, his heart was full of regret.

He’d thought Yuan Dongzhi could hold them back. He’d never have fled with Shen Qinghan otherwise.

But regret was too late.

Buzz...

Blood‑red vines bound him, hauling him up. True to his word, the masked man released Shen Qinghan.

He had no wish to feud with Lin Zichen—such talent would soon rise within the Cult.

“Boy, when you reach our Main Sect and see the Source God, you’ll thank me.”

He smiled, then left swiftly with Lin Zichen.

Behind them, Shen Qinghan screamed, tears falling as she chased in vain.

“Xiao Chen! Xiao Chen! Xiao Chen!!”

Just then, a voice whispered ancient and weary in her ears.

“God... violation... God... punishment...”

At once, beneath the calm sea, a terrifying energy surged upward...