Mirror Dream Tree

Merin, mid-leap into the ocean, feels his legs transform into fishtails, and as soon as he hits the water, he dives straight down to intercept the Dharma-realm fish.

With his mental domain spread, he sees the fish clearly—it looks like a shark.

By the time they meet deep beneath the surface, gills have already grown along Merin's neck, allowing him to breathe with ease underwater.

The shark's hide is covered in deep purple scales, its size at least ten times Merin's, and its presence is utterly unfamiliar; Merin cannot recall seeing a beast like this in any book or experience.

That makes sense — the ocean is full of mysteries most will never discover.

The shark spots Merin as well, and it wastes no time before surging toward him at full speed, jaws gaping wide as if to swallow him whole.

Merin feels the massive pressure and, without hesitation, expands his body to match the shark's size, gripping its monstrous head with one palm.

Despite the shark's violent thrashing, Merin's fishtail melts back into human legs as they crash into the ocean floor.

The impact of their struggle shudders through the waves overhead.

The waves churn into towering swells that rock the ship far above.

As the sharks and lesser fish scatter in terror, Merin sends a quick mental message to Yanli and the others to escape immediately.

Although they scramble to get the ship away, the turbulent sea slows them.

Cui Li and those capable of flying rush to lift the vessel into the air so they can drag it to safety, knowing every heartbeat they remain risks the crew's life, and also holds Merin back from using his full strength.

Once the ship disappears into the distance, Merin hauls the shark upward, intending to fight without endangering anyone.

The shark senses his plan and suddenly shrinks in size, slipping from his grasp like a slick eel before surging back to its monstrous scale and clamping down on Merin's thigh.

Merin grits his teeth through the pain as the shark's teeth dig in, then rains punches on its skull, each strike infused with the artistic conception of strength to cut through water resistance.

After five devastating blows, the shark finally releases him and darts away, its body shuddering.

As Merin's wounds close, he senses a strange energy left writhing inside his leg — a chaotic foreign power tearing at him from within.

He shatters this invading energy before locking eyes on the shark once more and throws a thunderous punch at its skull, this time lacing the blow with both the artistic conceptions of strength and thunder.

Merin's thunder-wrapped fist crashes into the shark's skull, an explosion rippling through the water as the shark reels back in pain.

Yet Merin's brow creases — the thunder, though powerful, doesn't seem to leave a scratch on the shark.

Realising this, he doesn't hesitate to unleash his trump card — a sleep spell — but the instant the spell finishes, he's forced to twist aside as the shark strikes back.

The spell fails.

Over the next few exchanges, Merin weaves several more spells into his attacks whenever he has an opening, but none of them take hold.

The deep-purple scales shimmer with an eerie glow, negating every magical strike.

That leaves him one option — brute force guided by the artistic conception of strength.

He surges forward again and manages to catch the shark in his grasp, summoning extra arms and twisting his transformation skill into coiling ropes of flesh that bind it in place.

With a surge of power from his legs and shoulders, he pushes off the ocean floor.

Water explodes upward as Merin's head breaks the surface, the shark pinned across his shoulders.

He spreads the Rule Body's power through himself to hover above the waves as the ocean drops away.

Though Merin towers dozens of meters into the sky with the shark thrashing madly against him, the beast can only bellow in frustration — up here, it cannot draw upon its full strength.

In contrast, Merin's own power surges without water to hinder him, his crushing grip tightening until the shark's scales begin to groan.

Suddenly, the shark emits a deafening shriek and a pulse of dark-violet energy explodes from its body like a spear.

That energy rockets into the sky, then shatters into countless beams that rain straight down onto Merin.

Each searing bolt slams into his back, drawing a hiss of pain as his hold wavers.

Seizing the moment, the shark slips free, lunges with its massive jaws, and clamps onto Merin's foot before hauling him back into the ocean.

Before Merin can brace himself, the shark drives deeper into the ocean's shadowed depths, dragging him faster than he can regain control, the crushing currents swirling so fiercely that his attempts to twist free do nothing.

With his leg still locked in the shark's bite, Merin thrashes, but the creature's grip is unyielding, and he can feel the pressure from those deep-purple scales defying every effort to loosen them.

Finally, Merin reaches a hard, grim decision.

With a surge of will, a blade of condensed natural energy forms in his palm.

He knows he cannot cut the shark — its scales have already proven too strong — so instead, gritting his teeth, he brings the blade to his own leg.

In one swift motion, he slices cleanly through his ankle, the pain immediate but fleeting.

Freed from the shark's bite, he is left drifting in its turbulent wake as it powers onward.

By the time the beast realises its catch has vanished, Merin's severed foot is already being swallowed.

Merin summons the artistic conception of strength until his muscles thrum with energy, his power surging fourfold, and he slams into the shark like a living comet.

The shark meets him head-on, teeth bared and fins slicing like razors, its dark-purple scales gleaming as they rake across Merin's skin.

Merin's fists crash into its snout and sides, feeling like hammers shattering stone, while his legs whip in brutal kicks whenever the beast tries to twist away.

They trade wounds without pause: Merin's claws gouge deep into its flank, and in return, the shark's tail fins lash across his ribs, its jagged teeth scraping furrows into his arms.

Blood clouds the water as they spin, surging up and down through the dark currents, but Merin's Rule Body heals him as fast as the damage comes, flesh and sinew knitting themselves back together in an instant.

The shark's injuries take a few breaths to close, its scales sealing more slowly every time, its attacks losing their sharpness as exhaustion creeps into its vast frame.

And Merin, feeling his strength surge endlessly through the vitality-infused Rule Body, continues to batter it with crushing fists and brutal knees, determined to end the fight before the beast can regain its advantage.

A faint glow pulses around the jagged wound on Merin's leg as the lost limb begins to regenerate, bone and muscle knitting together rapidly in the deep water.

The shark wheels around with Merin's foot disappearing into its gullet, its gaze locking onto him once more — dark, furious, and hungry for the rest of him.

And Merin matches its stare, newly whole, already summoning a surge of strength into his fists.

Without another thought, they launch at one another again, two titans colliding deep beneath the ocean's surface in a furious explosion of water and power.

Merin surges through the water like a streak of light, muscles bunched and veins pulsing with the endless strength of the Rule of Vitality, his hands locking onto one of the shark's dorsal fins as they twist together in a spray of dark bubbles.

The shark bucks violently, jaws snapping back toward Merin's face, tail whipping through the depths like a hammer; Merin drives a fist into its side and then claws deeper into its fin with his other hand.

Its dark-purple scales grind against him, each flex an attempt to throw him off, but Merin's grip only tightens as he concentrates the Rule of Strength into his hands until they feel like iron clamps.

With a savage, wrenching pull, he tears the massive fin loose, water roiling with their mingled blood as the shark shrieks through the ocean and shudders away.

The shark is dharma realm, its intelligence as sharp as Merin's own, and it knows that the tide of the fight is against it; one last dark look into Merin's eyes and it vanishes into the gloom, abandoning the fight before Merin can lunge again.

Merin lets it go without pursuit, knowing the fight could stretch forever with neither able to kill the other, and already sensing that they've drawn other curious, dangerous beasts from the distant ocean shadows.

He holds the torn fin easily despite its size, the jagged edge leaking dark ichor into the water, and with a thought, his body shrinks back to its normal size, the fin now towering over him.

Kicking his feet in a practised rhythm, he breaks toward the surface and explodes into the cool night air, spiralling up into the clouds with the shark's trophy in hand.

He glides across the ocean with long, effortless strokes of flight, searching the horizon for the shape of his ship, when an inexplicable prickling on his skin draws his attention west.

Merin frowns into the darkness, feeling a gaze burning into him from some unknown presence hidden beyond the rolling waves.

He holds the shark fin close and steers toward the last direction Cui Li and the others had carried the ship, senses sharp and wary as the wind carries him onward through the moonlit skies.