Way of the Knights

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Contrary to what was expected, the fight between Vendrick and the Infernal Dragon didn't happen. 

Well, he initially thought that he would need to fight it but when he arrived, he discovered that the enemy was calm and wise. He thought that the God did something to this Dragon that warped its wisdom and intelligence but it turns out that it didn't, the Dragon remained cognizant and acted like how a Dragon would. 

This made Vendrick lower his vigilance. Dragons are one of wisest creatures ever to exist in this universe. Their awareness allows them to understand many elements of the world and have a close connection to it. 

The Eastern Continent overlord was a young Dragon. Its humongous size can be deceiving but in truth, this dragon no over than a 100 years old. For creatures that can live for 100,000 years at base, this one is no less than an infant really. 

Still, this doesn't mean that the Dragon was stupid.. Give it time and it will eventually understand what's wrong with this world. By talking to it, Vendrick just shortened that time. 

See, Vendrick's words might sound cryptic and confusing for others but to a Dragon? It's very clear what he's trying to achieve and what was his purpose of coming here. Heck, the young dragon even managed to see that he's just borrowing someone's body so how can it not understand the meaning behind his arrival and actions so far? 

Knowing this, the Infernal Dragon made an exclusive decision. It didn't hesitate to assist Vendrick with his mission even though it spells death for the beast. The Dragon chose to fuse its physical existence to Vendrick, allowing his bloodline to become more powerful. The young dragon also passed down the talent of Infernal Flames to him. All of this, just to restore the balance of this world and continue its natural trend.

The pride of Dragons didn't allow them to die a meaningless death. The young Infernal Dragon knows that even if the two of them fought, it'll just end up losing anyways. What's more important to the young dragon was to make sure that the balance was restored so that this world continues to exist. This young man is powerful, even without its assistance he will do just fine. Well, the dragon didn't want a meaningless death so it might as well give some assistance to the young man. 

Vendrick truly admired the Dragon. He didn't refuse its assistance, in fact he welcomed it with open arms. With its help, the time it would need for him to finish his purpose here will be shortened greatly so why not? 

With his fusion with the Infernal Dragon, Vendrick's bloodline was once again upgraded. In addition to that, he also got access to the Infernal Flames, a unique property that the young dragon was blessed with. This flames can reach frightening temperatures and can neutralize and regenerative properties. Meaning that any damaged inflicted by the flames can't get healed easily.

Unlike with his Lightning Laws, the Infernal Flame Law came naturally to him. The young Dragon was kind enough to pass all of its knowledge to him without holding anything back. After a couple days of practicing, Vendrick should be able to familiarize himself with the element to the point that its instinctual to him. 

The fusion lasted for a three days in total. During that time, he remained amongst the remains of what was once the tallest mountain on the east. Luckily nothing disturbed him during this time. 

When he woke up from the fusion, Vendrick was a bit spent. Even though the young dragon willing fused its existence with him, it doesn't mean that the process was easy. It was painless but not easy. 

After he stabilized himself, Vendrick decided to have some rest. He didn't continue practicing for now since it would be counter-productive. Additionally, he will have to spend some time here anyways. 

Thanks to the memories of the Dragon, he now has a clue about the last opponent he has to face. 

The young dragon had never seen the god but it felt its overwhelming presence, its natural instinct told the dragon that this one was incredibly powerful and dangerous so it stayed away. With the fusion of its memories with Vendrick, he too felt the presence of that God and he managed to squeeze out some clues that allowed him to measure just how much gap there is between him and that thing. 

In short, Vendrick is not yet ready to face that thing. To do so, he'll need to reach the Archdragon Stage. 

Archdragons are ones that have lived for at least an eon. They are extremely powerful dragons that can ignore the Heavenly Laws. Their mere thoughts can give birth to worlds, their movement can influence laws and their words can determine the trend of a world. Archdragons are highly respected and even amongst their race, only a few managed to reach this stage. 

Well, Vendrick is still essentially human. Even if he's cultivating something that can give him access to the power of dragons, it doesn't mean that he was a genuine one. If he wanted to do the things that Archdragons could, it would take him thousands of years to do so, and this is at the bare minimum. He just doesn't have much time. 

Thankfully, that's not a requirement for him. The cultivation technique he's practicing is ultimately a Body Tempering Art. Meaning that he just needed to temper his body to be as tough as that of an Archdragon. As for the laws and other stuff, those will come naturally to him even if he didn't want it. 

With careful planning and dedication, he will be able to shorten the amount of time needed to bridge the gap between him and that God.

For now though, he needed to rest since the fusion took a toll on him. 

---

Time passed by, Vendrick was accompanied by a long term friend: Loneliness.

He spent a year and three months in the Eastern Continent. He didn't go back to the tribe since there's no need to.

During this long term seclusion of his, he managed to do many things. 

First and foremost, his assimilation with the Infernal Dragon was complete and thorough. He mastered a new element to his arsenal, the Infernal Flames. Along with his Lightning Tribulation, his destructive capabilities reach a frightening degree but that's nowhere near enough so he kept going. 

Using the Crystalized Bloodstones he received from the Imperial Fairy, he repeatedly refined his bloodline which allowed him to transform continuously. He had lost count on how many times his scales fell off to make room for new and better ones. 

Wings and tail grew out because of his bloodline refinement. It was confusing to get use to them at first but he managed. Eventually, everything came instinctual for him. He didn't transform into a full fledged dragon, in fact that's just straight impossible so this wings and tail in addition to the scales and limbs were everything to it for him. 

That of course doesn't mean that he became weaker, oh no. Assuming that will he a terrible mistake. 

Vendrick's raw physical strength was mind-boggling. He can pulverize a mountain with a flick of his finger, he can run laps around the continent within a second, so on and so forth. All of this was thanks to his bloodline refinement. 

In addition to his physical strength, Vendrick's law insights grew at an alarming pace as well. He already has Creation, Destruction, and Lightning on his arsenal before coming here. With his fusion with the dragon he gained the Infernal Flames which also gave him insights to Fire Laws. 

During his seclusion, he improved his insights to the things he already has and mastered them completely. But that's not the end of it. 

As what was previously mentioned, he's training to reach the Archdragon stage. He only needed to focus on his body but it doesn't mean that the insights will stop there. No, it won't stop there, in fact it would grow even more. 

Spacetime, Karma, Extreme Yang, Elusive Yin...eventually, he understood the Heavenly Laws itself. 

On the day he understood the Heavenly Laws, Vendrick's ascension began. Numerous shackles shattered from his body. Divine Light poured from above, drenching his body, cleansing all mortal filth away and transforming him into something that is beyond understanding. Something beyond this world. 

The Heavenly Laws cam after him, it sent a frightening tribulation to test him but...well, he mastered the use of Lightning Tribulation so that was nothing but a relaxing massage for him. 

Vendrick was drunk to feeling of ascension, granted that this isn't him in the end, the process still remained extremely valuable to him. 

It was absurd really, it took him only a few years here to ascend from the very bottom to where he is now, while in reality he's struggling. Still, make no mistake. 

Using the power scale of the Divine Realm in this place, what he achieved is simply the Empyrean Knight Stage not the Divinity. 

Still though, this much should be enough to get rid of the last obstacle chaining him to this place...

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