I Became an Evolving Lizard in a Martial Arts Novel

Chapter 77

You can evolve from 【Komodo】 into:

【Saltwater Crocodile】 (Faith, religion disappears)【Titanoboa】 (Faith, religion disappears)【Stupendemys】 (Faith, religion disappears)【Salamander】 (Faith, religion disappears), (consumed Thousand-Year Fire Root, Ten-Thousand-Year Golden Spirit Fruit, supreme-grade beast core (yellow))【Komodo-Rania】 (Faith, religion retained), (consumed "Dog God Death Beam", Ten-Thousand-Year Golden Spirit Fruit, supreme-grade beast core (yellow))

Let’s exclude the options I’ve already considered.

The only ones left are choices 4 and 5.

Let’s start by checking out the Salamander.

【Salamander】

A massive lizard covered in scales resembling flames. It possesses complete immunity to fire and can manipulate flames. It is a divine beast with the potential to become a dragon.

This was even better than I had expected.

A divine beast like the Komodo.

And on top of that, it has the potential to become a dragon.

A lizard engulfed in flames.

It could even be seen as a mythical creature, like a fire spirit.

Of course, blindly trusting the status screen’s description isn’t the wisest decision.

It says it’s “massive,” but there’s no exact size mentioned.

In the worst-case scenario, I could end up as small as a gecko.

Still, the potential to become a dragon and the ability to control fire are incredible advantages.

It doesn’t seem like one of those misleading creatures with a grand name but little substance, like a Bearded Dragon or Green Basilisk.

Even if I set aside the dragon potential, the ability to manipulate fire is an enormous advantage.

I could work around size or other physical traits if necessary.

But special abilities like that are irreplaceable.

And it’s not just any ability—it’s the power to manipulate flames.

The benefits of fire are immense.

Even if I were stranded in the jungle with nothing but a torch, my chances of survival would increase exponentially.

Beyond maintaining body heat and lighting up the darkness, fire itself is a powerful force.

Animals instinctively fear and avoid fire.

While this might not work as well on spirit beasts, no creature can entirely erase its primal fear of fire.

The Salamander, which can freely control such flames, is an incredibly tempting choice.

If I become a Salamander, I could sleep out in the open, scratching my belly on the plains, and no one would dare bother me. And if they did, they'd end up roasted.

So far, so good.

There’s really no reason not to choose the Salamander.

But there’s a significant downside.

The problem is that by choosing this, I would lose my faith and religion.

I haven’t actively used faith and religion up to this point.

But I’m well aware that these aren’t ordinary abilities.

Even the Dilophosaurus that used the Ten-Thousand-Year Flower didn’t have faith.

The faith I’ve seen includes the Dog God Faith and the Snake Queen’s faith.

Only two in total.

It takes someone on the level of the Snake Queen to possess faith.

Even she couldn’t reach the level of religion. It was clear that Dog God Faith and Dog God Cult were highly unusual.

Only four people, if we include someone like Jang Bong, believed in it.

So, is my faith and religion useless?

Not at all.

It’s thanks to faith that I accumulated divinity.

And with that divinity, I gained the skill Dog God Death Beam.

It’s not a skill I can use freely, of course.

Dog God Death Beam is an imitation of the destruction ray, amplified by divine power.

Though I can’t use it often, its destructive power is immense.

It’s an advanced version of the destruction ray.

And the reason I can use such a powerful technique is thanks to the divinity I’ve gathered.

The divinity I’ve accumulated, combined with the faith Jang Bong brought in, allowed me to wield this technique. Despite the limited amount of faith, the power I could unleash was that immense.

So, what would happen if I accumulated more divinity?

The thought is tantalizing.

As much as I want the power of the Salamander, giving up faith and religion would be a painful loss.

The potential of faith and religion is vast.

I haven’t been actively recruiting followers, but once Jang Bong leaves the Ten-Thousand Mountain, the number of people who believe in the Dog God could increase dramatically.

Word of my feats could spread, and people might flock to the Ten-Thousand Mountain just to see me.

...Of course, they’d probably end up getting knocked into the afterlife by a punch from Yeon-Yeong.

But a faction that worships me could naturally form.

In other words, I could accumulate divinity and experience points just by sitting still.

I couldn’t give that up.

I mean, was it even fair to become this strong after just one evolution?

Enough admiration. Time to get to work.

Graaahh!

Chomp.

I quickly gobbled up the massive cocoon that had encased me.

After devouring it in an instant, I saw a blood-soaked hunk of meat before me.

Of course, it was the Snake Queen’s doing.

She was always thorough.

Graaahh!

Crunch.

After sating my ravenous hunger, I noticed the messages from my status screen.

[Dragon Scales’ level has increased.] [Dragon Scales’ level has increased.] [Dragon Scales’ level has increased.] ...

The Dragon Scales had leveled up five times!

[「Cold Blood LV1」 has evolved into 「Dragon Blood LV1」.]

Dragon Blood?

I need to check that right away.

「Dragon Blood LV1」 The blood of a dragon flows within you. It helps you maintain composure at all times and grants high resistance to mental attacks. At your will, your blood can become either poison or medicine. You can infuse your inner energy into your blood to change its properties.

I had gained an advanced skill from Cold Blood.

The ability to maintain composure remained the same as before.

But the real focus was on the role of my blood.

It could become either poison or medicine.

Depending on how I infused my energy into it, I could change its nature.

It didn’t take long for me to understand what this meant.

The Thousand-Year Fire Root and the Thousand-Year Frost Ginseng Wine I had consumed.

It meant I could now infuse both the fire and frost energy into my blood.

This was an incredibly flexible skill.

A skill that perfectly complemented my fighting style by allowing me to create variables in battle.

【Skills】 「Dragon Claw」「Minor Dragon Ascension」「Small Heaven Circuit」「Hundred Poisons Immunity」「Hundred Orchid Mental Technique」「Jade Tiger Step」「Ancient Dragon Kick」 「Dragon Scales LV10」「Reverse Scale LV1」「Poison Creation LV7」「Poison Gathering LV4」 「Dragon Blood LV1」...

My skill list was quickly becoming dragon-themed. At this rate, would I actually turn into a dragon?

While I was lost in those wild thoughts...

Thump.

Something bumped into my body.

I looked up to see a familiar, adorable creature.

“Hiiieeeeeek!”

Little Shik Shik was wiggling about.

...Wait, was Shik Shik always this small?

“Huh. You’ve changed more than I expected.”

The Snake Queen had shrunk too.

...No, that’s not right.

They hadn’t shrunk.

I had grown.

And grown a lot.

I was so large now that I couldn’t leave the temple on my own.

If I had to guess, I was around 8 meters long now?

I had really become a creature close in size to the Megalania.

Shik Shik tried to measure my size diligently, but with its tiny body, it couldn’t even come close.

“Princess, with that size, it would be difficult to handle you unless I used my true form.”

“Piiiiiiaaaaak!”

Right.

To measure me properly, I’d need something as big as a basilisk—

...Wait, did she just say something really dangerous?

“Gegegegegek!”

No true form!

“I might be able to manage like this...”

But that form isn’t fine either!

Though, when I look at her upper body, it doesn’t seem too bad...

No, what am I even thinking?

This is driving me nuts.

Is there no way to shrink back down?