Within a chamber of gold inlaid walls, countless cultivation arrays glimmered like constellations frozen in place.
Each inscription hummed faintly with power, resonating in harmony as Kaiser moved.
He was bare handed.
Yet every motion he executed carried the weight of ancient imperial authority.
The Martial Dragon Body Technique required no weapon.
The body was the weapon.
Kaiser swept his arm in a broad arc.
His spine rotated with perfect control.
The air trembled.
The next movement was sharp and brutal, like the strike of a beast.
Then came a final step forward, firm and grounded, like a sovereign placing his foot atop a conquered world.
One breath.
One movement.
One will.
An aura of domination formed around him, invisible at first, then slowly coalescing until it pressed outward from his body like a tidal wave.
The chamber seemed smaller beneath its presence.
Even the air grew heavy, bowing to something primal and regal.
The aura thickened.
Condensed.
Then a dragon’s silhouette flickered behind him.
Majestic horns.
Scaled coils.
Eyes filled with the calm possessed only by beings who ruled by birthright.
Not a raging beast.
Not a tyrant.
A sovereign whose mere existence demanded reverence.
BAM!
A shockwave burst outward, scattering loose motes of power and rustling the robes of the man standing a respectful distance away.
Kaiser lowered his hands slowly.
Sweat beaded along his brow, but his expression remained calm.
A faint smile touched his lips.
His breakthrough was not dramatic.
It was simply inevitable.
From behind him, a composed voice spoke.
“Congratulations to Your Majesty for stepping onto the Path of Power sooner than the Elders predicted.”
Kaiser turned slightly, his expression shifting into something quieter, more familiar.
“Your humor is not lost on me, Han,” he said.
The man named Han immediately lowered his gaze and bowed with flawless posture.
Every movement was precise and restrained.
Even his breathing seemed disciplined.
Kaiser let out a quiet chuckle and shook his head.
Han was a man of efficiency, reserved conduct, and relentless formality.
The kind of man who could stand within a storm and remain untouched.
The kind who would die before allowing his collar to crease out of protocol.
In other words, a man utterly incapable of banter.
“Relax,” Kaiser said as he wiped the sweat from his jaw.
“This is not the Throne Hall.
You do not need to stand like an ancestral statue.”
Han did not move.
Kaiser nearly sighed.
He redirected his attention inward, feeling the subtle changes within his flesh and marrow.
The Dragon Martial Body Technique had transformed.
What was once crude and foundational had become smoother, clearer, more instinctive.
His muscles responded faster.
His bones felt denser.
Even his stance carried a natural weight, not born from force alone, but from presence.
He had broken through.
Among the geniuses of the continent, this achievement was hardly worth mentioning.
In Godfall, there were prodigies born with divine veins already opened, heirs who stepped into the first stages of the Immortal Path before they could properly speak, and barbarian children who tempered their bones with beast blood before the age of six.
In a world where monsters emerged every generation, a breakthrough like this would not stir even a whisper.
Still, Kaiser allowed himself a faint smile.
He had not fallen behind.
If anything, he had moved ahead of schedule.
His breakthrough into the First Layer of Qi Refinement had originally been estimated for the following month.
That was the recognized path of the world, the Immortal Path upheld by sects, scholars, and empires alike.
Yet his body had advanced first.
Not through luck.
But because of the descent.
The World of Beasts and Mutants.
Kain, as he was known within the World of Gersla, had stepped onto the Path of Beast Mutants.
It was a path utterly unfamiliar to him in his previous world.
Yet here, it formed the foundation of civilization itself.
Every village, every city, every battlefield revolved around the existence of Beast Mutants.
To Kain, the principle behind it was simple.
The Beasts of this world, referred to by humans as Mutant Beasts, resembled the Demons of his old cultivation realm.
These creatures thrived by devouring the blood of Mutants.
Meanwhile, Mutant Humans strengthened themselves by refining the Beast Cores harvested from slain Beasts.
Thus, the cycle of existence became locked in violent balance.
Beasts hunted Mutants for blood.
Mutants hunted Beasts for cores.
Kain now stood in the middle of that reality.
No longer an outsider observing from afar.
The Path of Beast Mutants demanded blood, instinct, mutation, and evolution.
It was savage, primal, and brutally direct.
Yet beneath that savagery, Kain sensed something deeper waiting to be uncovered.
Humans in this world were not born as Mutant Warriors.
They possessed no natural claws, no scales, no wings or monstrous physiques.
So long ago, during the First Era recorded in human history, mankind created something extraordinary.
A potion.
It resembled the super soldier serums spoken of in fiction, yet its effects surpassed them entirely.
The elders of White Willow Village had taught Kain its significance, its glory, and its cost.
The potion allowed a human to assimilate the Bloodline of Beasts into their own body.
After consuming it, the blood of the chosen Beast fused with marrow, nerves, and flesh.
Bones bent.
Flesh tore apart.
The spirit itself trembled beneath the transformation.
And if the person survived, they would rise as a Mutant Human.
That was only the beginning.
The Bloodline needed to be tempered, trained, and stabilized.
Only after the blood settled could another potion be consumed to deepen the mutation, pushing the Beast Blood toward awakening and evolution.
This was the Path of Beast Mutants.
Across all recorded history, only seven individuals had reached the pinnacle known as Rank 9 Mutant Warrior.
The legends still spoken by mankind included:
The First Emperor of Mankind.
The Third Emperor of Mankind.
The Beast Saint of Mankind.
And the Sect Masters of the Blood Beast Sect and the Dragoon Sect.
Their names were remembered with reverence across the Human Clans.
Yet humanity did not rule this world.
Four Rank 9 Beasts still walked the land.
The Four Winged Thunder Dragon.
The Fire Phoenix.
The Devil Ape.
The Night Terror Tiger.
And unlike humanity’s paragons, they still lived.
Their existence shackled mankind.
While the Beasts retained living Rank 9 creatures, humanity had none remaining.
Not even one.
So humans survived by clinging to scattered fragments of the world.
Kain looked toward the distant forest and finally understood the truth of this world.