Chapter206 – Enlightenment
“You’re… truly alright?” he asked carefully.
Edmund shot him a look over his shoulder.
Dante immediately shut his mouth. “…Then please.”
“Mm.”
Silent Fang walked them to the outer barrier, looking deeply worried. “Ancestor, should I send some of my younger brothers and sisters with you? For protection?”
Edmund didn’t even pause. “No need.” They’d only get in the way.
White watched them leave with visible reluctance.
After they were out of sight, she muttered unhappily, “He said he’d teach me alchemy. He didn’t.”
Silent Fang blinked. “What?”
“That human. He said he’d teach me alchemy. But he just sent me back.”
“Wasn’t it Miss Lauren who told him to?”
“…Yes.” White sighed dramatically.
Silent Fang ruffled her hair. “Don’t learn that stuff. We’re demon beasts, not humans. What’s the point of alchemy? Mishandle a furnace and you’ll blow your face off.”
White considered this very seriously. “…You’re right. I’ll listen to you.”
......
When Edmund returned, Lauren went straight to him. “You’re back. Are your injuries healed?”
“Mm. I’m fine.”
“That’s good.” She relaxed slightly. “The Sect Leader thinks those three were probably killed by the Demonic Cult. If that’s true, we can breathe for now. But—”
She suddenly noticed Dante staring at Edmund strangely. Head tilted. Eyes lingering.
“Dante?” she asked. “What are you looking at?”
“Ah? Nothing. Miss Lauren, I’ve delivered him safely. I’ll take my leave.”
“Thank you.”
Once they were alone, Edmund’s appearance seemed completely normal. The dragon scales were gone. His skin looked flawless.
Dante had seen the earlier state with his own eyes. He understood.
Edmund had concealed it on purpose. He didn’t want Miss Lauren to know how severe the damage had been.
Dante hesitated. Should he say something?
Edmund’s gaze flicked toward him once—cold and unmistakable.
Dante swallowed his words and left. He glanced back several times before disappearing.
Lauren frowned. “What’s wrong with him? Why was he staring at you like that?”
“How would I know?” Edmund replied flatly.
“…Right.”
She let it drop. Then her expression turned serious.
“The Sect Leader says more powerful people might descend. The Far North is unstable. My master says it’ll be soon. You say it’ll be soon. Everyone says soon—but no one knows when.”
She exhaled. “If the next group comes and we’re not ready… what then? I’m already at late-stage Spirit Severing. I don’t even dare go into seclusion to attempt Spirit Transformation.”
Edmund looked at her calmly. “What are you afraid of?”
She blinked.
“Didn’t you say before—you’ll deal with whatever comes? Even with a one-in-ten-thousand chance, you can still make it a hundred percent certain?”
He tilted his head slightly. “You’re afraid now?”
Lauren stared at him. You actually believed that nonsense I said? She waved him off irritably. “Forget it. You’re useless.”
Edmund: “…”
She turned away, already thinking ahead. Her cultivation was high enough to begin comprehending a domain.
But she had too many distractions. Too many loose ends. If she wanted any real chance—
She needed to get stronger. Fast.
......
The Thunder Sect’s mountain peaks never changed with the seasons. Snow or shine, storm or calm, they stood as they always had.
To help disciples cultivate and comprehend their domains, the sect had even created specialized environments.
The frozen wasteland where Lauren now sat was one of them—built specifically for cultivators with the Immortal Ice Root.
She had been meditating here for half a month.
Enlightenment was strange. In some ways, it was simple. In others, it was maddeningly elusive.
Sometimes insight struck in a single breath. Other times, you could sit there until the glacier melted beneath you and still grasp nothing.
At first, Lauren had been irritated—frustrated that she couldn’t seize that faint, slippery feeling. Now, her mind was calm.
Gradually, the ice beneath her stopped melting and began to harden.
The biting cold no longer touched her. Instead, she felt as though the glacier itself was her body. She could sense every snowflake landing on her shoulders, every inch of frost spreading across the surface.
Two months passed in the blink of an eye. Even with her eyes closed, she could clearly perceive everything around her—and that perception kept expanding.
From one foot, to two. Ten. Twenty. Dozens of feet.
Without her realizing it, the original iceberg had long since disappeared beneath something else. It was now enveloped within the domain she had unconsciously released.
But she remained in meditation, unaware. All she knew was that this iceberg felt familiar. Comfortable. Like her own flesh and blood. Completely under her control.
Far away, on the opposite mountaintop, Edmund and Briar watched the spiritual energy radiating outward from her, silent astonishment in their eyes.
“God Venerable,” Briar murmured, “she comprehended it so quickly.”
“Two months. So-so,” Edmund replied flatly.
Briar twitched. “Master Tarot said just the other day that without one or two years of meditation, you can’t even touch the threshold.”
“That’s for the less intelligent.”
“…Is that so?”
“Of course.”
“Oh.”
Briar didn’t really understand domains anyway. In its prime, it could spread its branches across thousands of miles—its natural presence alone forming a territory no one dared invade.
Edmund, however, was different. He was born with every attribute.
Because he carried all elements within him, his domain could blur reality and illusion so perfectly that even seasoned cultivators would fall into it without realizing they’d been trapped.
That was true terror. Thinking of this, Briar cast him a look filled with admiration.
Not long after, Lauren opened her eyes. Across the distant peak, a massive red flowering tree swayed its branches enthusiastically at her.
Lauren smiled and flew over. “Hey,” she said lightly, landing beside them. “I think I got a bit of it.”
Edmund nodded. “Being able to release it unconsciously during meditation isn’t enough. You need complete control.”
“Alright. I’ll try again in a few days.” She brushed the snow from her sleeves. “I’ll check on my senior brother first. I wonder how his injuries are.”
.....
Back at Starfell Summit, she found Tarot.
He looked much better. At the very least, he no longer needed someone standing outside the bath waiting to assist him—much to the relief of both his apprentice and Briar.
Several days later, without warning, the sect’s Mountain Protection Array activated. Normally, it remained dormant unless something catastrophic occurred.
In all the years Drake had overseen it, the array had never once been triggered.
Lauren’s expression darkened. “Something big must’ve happened,” she said quietly to Edmund. “Stay here. I’ll go down and take a look.”
“Okay.” She hurried down the mountain.
On the training grounds, Gerald and several senior disciples stood staring at a thick cloud of black mist pressing against the outer boundary of the array.
The moment Lauren saw it, her heart sank. That oppressive demonic energy. That was the Demonic Lord’s domain. So he really had dealt with those three.
For a split second, Lauren almost wanted to shout, The Demonic Lord is a fucking legend!
Then reality hit. Right. He’s here to pick a fight.
“It’s you.” The Demonic Lord’s voice boomed from within the black mist, his bloodshot eyes burning with rage.
Lauren touched her nose and stepped forward, looking harmless. “It’s me. What’s wrong?”
“Hmph! You brat still dare to ask what’s wrong?”
He pulled out a dragon scale and held it up. “Where is that Demon Dragon?”
“What Demon Dragon?” Lauren blinked, wide-eyed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t know anything about a Demon Dragon.”