Merin sits cross-legged on the broad back of the mammoth.
Night spreads across the valley where the army has decided to set camp.
The mammoth itself lies quietly on the ground, its massive body half buried in snow and frost as it sleeps.
Its slow breathing sends clouds of warm mist into the cold air.
Around the valley, soldiers set up tents and fires.
Some stand guard along the slopes.
Others rest beside the flames, their armour loosened after the long march.
But Merin does not rest.
His eyes remain closed.
His mind is focused inward.
During the journey, he has completed the creation of the Fourth Chapter of the Virtual Body Technique.
The technique has reached another turning point.
When the Third Chapter was completed, a new structure formed inside his body.
A Virtual Life Source.
This life source exists within his Life Origin.
Yet the two are not completely fused.
They exist together but remain separate.
They can still be divided.
The goal of the Fourth Chapter is to unify them.
To merge the Virtual Life Source completely with the Life Origin.
But such a transformation cannot be achieved through raw energy alone.
Changes to the body must be controlled with precision.
Runes.
Arrays.
These are the best tools for such a delicate transformation.
So the Fourth Chapter requires something new.
Runes must be drawn across the body.
Not randomly.
Each rune must connect with the others.
Together they form a structure.
A formation.
The Virtual Transformation Array.
Merin slowly draws the first rune across his skin with strands of violet virtual energy.
The rune glows faintly before sinking beneath the skin.
Another rune follows.
Then another.
Each rune connects with the previous one.
Gradually, a network begins to form across his body.
When the array is complete, its power will activate.
The transformation will begin at the smallest level.
From the tiny particles that make up his skin.
Then deeper.
Through the muscle.
Through blood.
Through marrow.
Until it finally reaches the bone.
This is the purpose of the Fourth Chapter.
The Fifth Chapter will continue the transformation.
It will start from the bone.
Then spread outward through the entire body.
When that stage is complete, the body will fully evolve into what the technique calls the Virtual Divine Body.
For now, Merin continues engraving runes slowly and carefully.
The night passes.
Even when the sun rises, he does not stop.
The camp awakens.
Soldiers begin preparing for the next march.
The mammoth slowly rises to its feet.
Its huge body shifts as it wakes.
The army begins moving again.
Merin remains seated on the mammoth's back.
Still cultivating.
The march continues.
Another night arrives.
Snow-covered mountains surround the army as they move closer to the territory of the Red Boar Tribe.
When the army prepares to camp again, Ziqi approaches.
He rides quickly through the camp before stopping beside the mammoth.
"My lord."
"There is no one inside the Red Boar Tribe settlement."
Merin slowly opens his eyes.
Ziqi continues.
"From the traces left behind, the Red Boar Tribe has moved toward the Raven Tribe."
Merin nods slightly.
He had expected something like this.
The three tribes will not wait to be defeated one by one.
They will gather together.
The Raven Tribe's territory offers the best defensive position.
Merin speaks calmly.
"Continue the journey."
Ziqi bows and rides away to deliver the order.
Merin closes his eyes again.
He feels certain the Snow Moth Tribe has also gathered there.
All three tribes.
Waiting.
That is exactly what he wants.
Defeating them separately would take time.
Defeating them together will end the conflict completely.
The key to victory is simple.
Destroy the strongest warriors first.
Once the powerhouses fall, the rest will either surrender or die.
The army continues its march.
Several days pass.
Eventually, the soldiers stop again.
This time, the camp forms at the base of a massive cliff.
Merin sits atop the mammoth and looks upward.
The cliff rises like a wall of black stone.
Thousands of ravens perch along the cliff face.
Their dark wings cover the rock like shifting shadows.
Above the cliff lies the Raven Tribe.
The tribe has chosen a perfect defensive location.
There is only one path to reach them.
Climb the cliff.
Or fly.
Or attempt to cross the freezing lake that surrounds the other sides of the plateau.
The water is deadly cold.
Even strong warriors would struggle to survive long inside it.
For two days, the army remains here.
Resting.
Preparing.
At the same time, scouts spread across the surrounding land.
No one is allowed to leave the Raven Tribe.
Not by land.
Not by air.
Not by water.
Two days later, the army forms ranks before the cliff.
Rows of soldiers stand ready.
Weapons gleam beneath the pale sky.
Merin remains atop the mammoth.
Then he rises slowly.
Power begins gathering around him.
Violet energy surges outward.
The phantom of a colossal virtual dragon forms behind him.
Its body coils through the sky.
Its scales shimmer with violet and bronze light.
The dragon opens its mouth.
A deafening roar spreads across the valley.
At the same moment, the army shouts its war cry.
Their voices echo against the cliff walls.
High above them, the Raven Tribe trembles.
Inside the tribe's sacred grounds stand three totems.
The Raven Totem.
The Red Boar Totem.
The Snow Moth Totem.
As Merin releases the power of the dragon, the three totems react.
Their runes glow.
The laws within them awaken.
The dragon's aura carries fragments of their own laws.
The totems feel it.
They sense something familiar.
Something that belongs to them.
Yet also something that threatens to consume them.
Three enormous phantoms rise into the sky.
A massive black raven spreads its wings.
A colossal red boar roars.
A giant snow moth releases waves of frost.
Merin's dragon faces them in the sky.
The dragon roars again.
Then, under Merin's command, it charges forward.
Inside the Raven Tribe, warriors gather.
The people watch the sky in confusion.
They feel the aura of the dragon.
It carries the scent of their own totems.
For a moment, they cannot understand.
Is it their totem?
But their leaders shout orders.
The warriors begin cheering for their own totems.
The three tribal phantoms surge forward.
The dragon dives.
The sky trembles.
The four colossal beings collide.
The impact shakes the sky.
Waves of power ripple outward as the virtual dragon slams into the phantoms of the Raven, Red Boar, and Snow Moth totems.
The clash of laws distorts the air.
Black feathers scatter across the sky.
Scarlet fire bursts outward.
White frost spreads like drifting snow.
Merin stands upon the mammoth below, his eyes calm as he controls the dragon.
He does not rush the battle.
The dragon moves in careful defence.
Its massive claws block the descending strike of the Raven phantom.
Its tail sweeps aside the charging Red Boar.
Its wings beat against the freezing gusts released by the Snow Moth.
Each movement is controlled.
Measured.
When the raven dives, the dragon shifts.
When the boar charges, the dragon absorbs the impact and redirects it.
When frost spreads, the dragon's scales deflect the cold.
At the same time, Merin's mind continues analysing.
Fragments of law flow into the dragon.
Each clash reveals more of their structure.
Each collision exposes another pattern.
The dragon learns while fighting.
Merin studies every detail.
Then the moment arrives.
He feels the laws clearly.
Enough.
The dragon suddenly changes.
Its defensive rhythm disappears.
It strikes.
Its claws seize the Raven phantom before it can retreat.
The dragon's jaws tear through its wings.
The phantom shatters into fragments of dark energy.
Before the fragments can escape, the dragon devours them.
The Red Boar roars and charges.
The dragon twists.
Its tail crashes into the boar's skull.
Then its claws tear open the phantom's chest.
The boar explodes into red energy.
The dragon swallows it as well.
The Snow Moth tries to flee.
But the dragon moves faster.
Its wings cut through the air.
Its jaws close around the moth's frozen body.
The phantom dissolves.
The dragon devours the last of its aura.
Then it roars.
The sound rolls across the valley like thunder.
The dragon returns to the sky above Merin.
Below it, the army erupts into cheers.
Victory cries fill the valley.
At the same moment, the soldiers feel something else.
Power.
A faint current flows through their bodies.
Their cultivation techniques resonate.
Merin has already comprehended the laws of the six tribes that joined him earlier.
His direct army cultivates the Virtual Warrior Technique.
Their source of power is displayed through the dragon.
Merin could directly infuse the soldiers with power.
But he chooses not to.
Instead, he lets the dragon act as the medium.
Their faith will flow toward the dragon.
Faith is powerful in this world.
But faith is also poison.
Merin will not allow that poison to gather within himself.
The image of the dragon will carry it instead.
One day, he will create a physical form for the dragon to hold that faith.
Above the valley, the dragon's shadow spreads across the battlefield.
But inside the Raven Tribe, the reaction is very different.
The three wounded totems roar within their shrines.
Their anger spreads through the tribe.
The totems send a single command.
Attack.
They want the dragon devoured.
If they consume it, their injuries will heal.
They will grow stronger.
The command echoes through the tribe.
Some warriors resist.
Their willpower holds them still.
But many cannot.
The weaker members lose control.
They rush toward the cliff.
Some begin climbing down the sheer rock face.
Others leap directly into the freezing lake below.
Above them, the ravens take flight.
Thousands of black birds dive toward the valley.
Seeing the chaos, the stronger warriors sigh.
They know the battle cannot be avoided.
Many leap from the cliff.
Six figures rise into the air.
The strongest warriors of the three tribes.
They fly toward Merin.
Below them, Merin rises from the mammoth and soars into the sky.