Oblivious to whatever was going on in the sect or with Bahamut and Alana, Gabi sat in the pool of poison with his eyes closed. Sweat flowed like a dam from his body, making it glisten. The dark green pool of poison had gone down, leaving only a small portion that was dark purple. This part of the poison was the deadliest, and Gabi’s master, Elder Baset, had tried to stop him from continuing with it, but for the first time... Gabi acted with stubbornness.

He chose to continue cultivating in it. After asking him if he was sure, Elder Baset left him to cultivate but lingered around in case of anything.

Elder Baset was almost dozing off when his sharp bestial instincts picked up a faint rumbling in the earth and a change in temperature in the atmosphere. He stood up in an instant, his golden eyes flickering towards the green-haired lizard-kin seated in the pool of poison with a determined expression.

"Don’t tell me..."

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The air around Gabi exploded powerfully as his body released a deep and powerful glow. His body floated up on its own and showed no signs of stopping. Elder Baset reacted quickly. He raised and activated a mechanism in the chamber, forcefully teleporting Gabi out of the chamber, before the first lightning strike destroyed the place. And he was fast as the moment Gabi appeared outside, the lightning hit him, right after the thunder strike sounded.

CRAAAACK! BOOOOOOOM!

Once again, the sect was thrown into chaos as everyone was forced to witness another ascension. Although this one seemed to be less intense than the earlier two, everyone could tell from the first lightning strike that if Gabi survived, he would become one of the strongest. He was already being called the rank 3 among the Strong Eleven. That position was unofficial, but after this... that is, on the basis that he survived and ascended successfully, he would become the official rank 3. But that wasn’t important now, not when he was literally getting deep fried by lightning as if it had a personal grudge with him.

The first strike did not fade quietly. It lingered still, clinging to Gabi’s body like a living thing, crawling across his skin in violent arcs of white and violet, digging into flesh, into bone. His body convulsed midair, muscles tightening and releasing uncontrollably as the poison within him reacted violently.

The remnants of the dark purple toxin surged outward from his pores, hissing the moment they met the lightning. Steam rose, and the air warped. A nauseating, metallic scent spread across the entire courtyard as poison and lightning clashed in a grotesque dance.

Gabi’s eyes snapped open. They were no longer the dull green of before. They glowed. A deep, venomous gold.

"GRAAAAH!"

His scream tore through the sky, raw and feral, echoing across the sect as the second lightning strike formed above. This one was thicker and heavier. The clouds churned unnaturally, spiraling inward as if dragged by an unseen force, gathering power not just from the sky, but from the very atmosphere itself.

Elder Baset’s pupils shrank.

"He’s not stabilizing it... He’s provoking it."

CRAAAAACK!

The second strike fell. It didn’t hit cleanly; it exploded. A massive discharge engulfed Gabi, turning his floating figure into a blazing silhouette of destruction. The ground below cratered from the impact alone, stone cracking outward in jagged patterns. And then something moved within the light.

A ripple.

No...

A coil.

From behind Gabi, space distorted, not like Sel’s or Bahamut’s. This was ancient. The air thickened as something vast began to take shape, its presence alone forcing the surrounding wind to still. Even the lightning hesitated for the briefest moment. A massive form began to emerge. It was long and endless.

Its body coiled behind Gabi, scales overlapping like layered armor, each one reflecting a dim, eerie sheen of green and black. Faint veins of purple light pulsed beneath those scales, like poison flowing through a living river. Its head rose slowly. Majestic and terrifying.

Green eyes, identical to Gabi’s, opened. They were cold, ancient, and hungry. It was a serpent. It was not merely large, but impossibly vast. Its body stretched so far into the sky that it seemed to vanish into the clouds themselves, as if the heavens could not fully contain its length. Its existence alone made the lightning tremble.

"A projection..." Elder Baset whispered, his voice tight. "Another defiance... and this is truly..."

The third strike formed instantly, cutting Elder Baset from his loud thoughts. It descended like a divine judgment, but this time, the serpent moved. Its body coiled tighter around Gabi, not touching him, but encasing him within layers of its presence. Then its head lunged upward and met the lightning head-on.

BOOOOOOOOM!!!

The impact shattered the air. A shockwave rippled outward, flattening nearby structures, forcing even distant disciples to their knees as pressure crushed down on them. The serpent’s body trembled. Its scales cracked in several places, glowing poison leaking out like molten venom, but it did not retreat.

Instead, it opened its mouth and swallowed the lightning. The entire bolt: it consumed it all. Silence followed: a brief, suffocating silence.

The sky roared. The heavens responded with fury. Multiple strikes began forming at once, layering over each other, intertwining into something far more violent than before. The clouds darkened to near black, pulsing with streaks of violet and white as if enraged by the defiance below. It seemed as if the heavens had had enough of the defiance. First Bahamut, then Sel, and now Gabi.

Gabi’s body jerked again. Blood now poured from his mouth, from his ears, from his eyes, but he didn’t fall.

"Not... enough..." he rasped, voice hoarse, barely audible even to himself.

Below, Elder Baset clenched his fists.

"You stubborn brat..."

The fourth, fifth, and sixth strikes fell almost simultaneously. It was a storm: a full barrage. The serpent lashed out. Its massive body moved with terrifying speed for something so large, coiling, twisting, intercepting the lightning before it could fully reach Gabi. Some strikes it devoured. Others slammed into its body, exploding against its scales, tearing chunks away in bursts of energy and venom.

Each hit left damage, visible damage. The projection flickered, its form destabilizing for brief moments before reforming, but it did not disappear. It endured. Gabi’s aura surged inward. The poison he had cultivated began reacting more violently than ever, no longer just clashing with the lightning, but adapting to it, absorbing it, and refining it.

The air grew toxic. Even those far away felt it, a creeping heaviness in their lungs, a subtle dizziness that made their vision blur.

"He’s merging it..." Baset muttered, disbelief creeping into his tone. "He’s using the lightning to refine the poison..."

The seventh strike came, much deadlier. This one was aimed directly at Gabi. The serpent reacted instantly, throwing its body forward to intercept, but it was too slow. The lightning pierced through its coils and struck Gabi directly in the chest.

CRAAAAAAAAACK!!!

His scream didn’t come this time. His body arched violently, ribs visibly cracking under the force, skin splitting as energy surged through him uncontrollably.

The serpent froze for a second, then roared. A deep, thunderous sound that didn’t belong to any normal creature. Its body surged forward again, faster, more aggressive. It had turned feral, just like Gabi when he was threatened with death. It wrapped around Gabi completely now, no longer just protecting, but binding him.

The next strikes came faster. They were relentless, but each one was met with resistance. Each one pushed the serpent closer to breaking. Cracks spread across its entire body now, glowing venom leaking freely, its once majestic form now riddled with damage. But its eyes never wavered.

The storm above reached its peak, and the final strike began forming. This appeared larger than all the rest combined. The sky itself seemed to split around it, unable to contain the sheer magnitude of what was being summoned.

Below, silence fell across the sect. Everyone felt it: that strike, that was the final judgment. Elder Baset’s expression hardened.

"This is the last one."

Above, Gabi’s body trembled violently. He was barely holding on, but still... still refusing to fall. The serpent coiled tightly around him one last time, its massive, broken body gathering what remained of its strength.

The final lightning descended like the end of everything, and the serpent met it head-on.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

"Hahaha! I knew he was the real deal!" Bahamut laughed from the stream as Alana looked at him in surprise. "Things just got more interesting... Hahahahahaha!"