I Became an Evolving Lizard in a Martial Arts Novel-Chapter 327:

I Became an Evolving Lizard in a Martial Arts Novel-Chapter 327:

“The final gate is called Galdokmun,” So-Yeong said proudly, puffing out her chest.
I almost gave her a little smack on the butt, but with so many eyes on us, I held back just this once.
Most of the newly joined followers of the Gae Gak Sect were venomous creatures, meaning they’d naturally fall under So-Yeong’s command.
Unbelievable as it was, she was going to act as a kind of general.
So I had to preserve her authority a little in front of her future subordinates.
“...Hmm? Something feels missing,” she muttered, staring straight at my tail.
Hey, you’re not Tus or Pus—why are you looking at my tail?
“Ahem! Anyway! That means the next opponents will be scorpions!”
Scorpions!
I had a bit of romantic admiration for scorpions.
It was different from the way I admired dinosaurs and lizards.
It was more like... the desire to try a giant golden steamed scorpion at least once?
Ideally with a salad-munching vegetarian watching nearby.
“Oh, scorpions. Yes, they’re quite delicious,” Mother-in-law agreed.
“Scorpions... tasty,” Cheongsa chimed in as well.
Apparently, even among venomous creatures, scorpions were considered a delicacy.
“Kiooo...”
Look at them drooling.
Didn’t we just feast after taking Ogongmun?
How are they still hungry?
Makes me realize that growing the number of followers isn’t always a purely good thing.
Resources are limited, after all.
Sure, in my case, I have more than just one mountain with a nest—I've got other territories.
I can spread them out a bit, so it's manageable.
But resources aren't infinite.
I can supply plants with my power, but I can’t magically produce meat.
I glanced at my tail.
Will I have to cut it off again for the followers if a famine hits?
At this rate, I’m going to turn into a fire lizard someday.
As I kept walking and thinking silly thoughts, we arrived at a gate far more massive than any we’d seen before.
“They had the resources to build a gate this huge but treated our Jidokmun like that?”
Mother-in-law sounded exasperated.
She’d said earlier that the support from the central side had been absurdly lacking—and now she was seeing it firsthand.
Before I could even say anything, she looked about ready to blow Galdokmun away.
“Yubin Poison Flower! Do not come any closer!”
From inside the structure—not a gate, more like a fortress—a man’s voice rang out.
Just as I suspected, they thought So-Yeong was our leader.
“Ohohohot! Venom Gates! Knowing the horrors you've committed, how could I possibly stop now?”
So-Yeong was fully immersed in her role as the boss.
“I won’t even need to lift a finger! My faithful minions, Lady Miji and Lady Wanji, are more than enough!”
“Ki, Kiong!”
“Ki, Kieng!”
Sweet Tus and Pus played along with So-Yeong’s performance.
“I suppose I’ll simply observe for now. You there—lizard! Come here and massage my shoulders!”
...She is acting, right?
“Ohohot!”
Or is this just an excuse to live out a personal fantasy?
“Grah! Stop them!”
“We mustn’t let them break through!”
The humans on the gate walls shrieked in a panic.
Oddly enough, there were still no scorpions in sight.
“Hmph. Looks like they placed the spirit beasts at the front and pushed the humans to the rear. They’re using the spirit beasts to handle the danger while the humans hide safely behind. No wonder we haven’t seen any scorpions yet.”
“Cowards.”
The Venom Gates were more despicable than we imagined.
They didn’t care whether the spirit beasts lived or died—no wonder they were treated so poorly.
And here these humans were, hiding behind such a sturdy fortress.
Should I just wipe them all out?
Slaughter them so thoroughly they can't even open their mouths to scream?
“Gekgekgek...”
Whimper whimper.
My tail was weeping.
“So, what now? Should I make a path of ice? That gate looks tough,” Baekrang said, tail swishing.
That gate really did look absurdly durable.
Of course, it’s not enough to withstand the Gae Gak Death Beam.
Even without maxing out the output, I could blast right through it.
But that gate doesn’t belong to the Venom Gates anymore.
Soon, it’s going to be the main gate of the ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) Gae Gak Sect.
I couldn’t just wreck it carelessly.
Which made Baekrang’s suggestion all the more appealing.
If we made a path of ice and crossed in fast, we could subdue the defenders quickly.
Minimal damage to the gate.
“My son-in-law, you can rest. I’ve got a few techniques to teach the girls—and it’s time I rewarded the man who accepted my spider kin.”
Mother-in-law stepped forward.
“Kiong?”
“Kieng?”
Tus and Pus watched her carefully.
Right, she’s a spirit beast on par with the Serpent Queen—this kind of situation should be easy for her.
As she said, it would be good for Tus and Pus to watch and learn.
...And for me, it’s a great chance to spy and copy her technique with Reverse Scale later.
“Gekgekgek.”
Swishhh—
Anansiv began to transform.
It was similar to the Partial Spirit Transformation that Hoya had taught me.
But also somehow... different.
Rather than a full human or a basic shift, she transformed into something akin to Arachne, like Nephila.
Nephila’s transformed form has a spider’s lower half and a human upper body.
Anansiv’s form was similar... but not the same.
“Kyaaaa!”
Her lower body was spider-like—but she also had a full spider head attached to it.
“I don’t particularly enjoy this form...”
There was a human torso growing above the spider’s head—like an Arachne with an added spider face.
Basically, she had two heads.
“But when it’s necessary, it must be done.”
Swaaaaaaaah!
A massive surge of inner energy gathered in the spider’s mouth.
It radiated an energy similar to the Serpent Queen’s destruction beam.
...Wait, huh?
“Gekgekgek?”
That’s not okay!
She can’t fire that thing!
“Don’t worry. I don’t intend to use it.”
No, but seriously—it looks like a destruction beam!
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
Even if the color’s slightly different!
Kwagagagagagagak!
Condensed inner energy shot out toward a single point.
If the destruction beam was a technique that erased everything in a straight line, then this one seemed to focus all its power into a single strike.
...Though the end result was likely the same.
“Stop it!”
“He didn’t even flinch!”
Could they stop that?
The moment it hit, that gate would be obliterated—
—or so I thought.
Fwooooosh!
The compressed inner energy burst outward in an instant.
Shhhhhhkkk!
What formed next was a massive surge of spiderwebs.
“Argh! Cut it down!”
“S-Swords won’t work!”
The web, impossible to cut even with steel, spread in every direction.
Only then did I understand what her technique truly was.
A single attack that instantly turned the entire battlefield into her domain.
“A path’s been laid. The ones on top of the gate won’t be able to move.”
It was a large-scale technique, perfectly suited for this situation.
As a lizard, even if I used Reverse Scale, I probably couldn’t copy it—but it’d be a great model for Tus and Pus to learn from.
“You fools! Cut down the bridge first!”
“I-It won’t cut, and there’s too much of it!”
The enemies were thrown into chaos.
Now all we had to do was stroll right up the web and climb the fortress gate.
...As long as my feet didn’t get stuck in the webs!
Just as we began to charge up the spiderweb path—
Psssshhhh...
The thick, solid threads began melting in an instant.
It started with a single web dissolving... and quickly spread to all the others.
Even seeing it with my own eyes, it was hard to believe.
Anansiv’s webs... were melting that easily?
“Tsk. I should’ve realized the moment they asked for my threads.”
Anansiv clicked her tongue.
It wasn’t brute force that neutralized the webs—it was a planned countermeasure against them.
...If they had venom like that, why the whole performance earlier?
Clearly, that person up there was the real leader.
“Th-This poison...!”
The answer was simple.
It wasn’t the people here who had melted the webs.
“Greetings, Lady of the Gate!”
A bronze-skinned woman with long purple hair stepped into view.
Clad in a sky-blue ceremonial outfit, she looked down at us with lofty crimson eyes.
Yeah, it’d be weirder if she didn’t show up at this point.
Four of the five gates had already fallen. Waiting in the main keep until all five were overrun would just be stupid.
She probably also realized that the more gates we conquered, the stronger we became.
“...Venom Gate Lord, Dan Hwa-Yeon!” So-Yeong growled through clenched teeth.
Dan Hwa-Yeon.
The pressure coming off her was no joke.
Even just her base martial skill felt like it was at the Flower Realm. And that’s without accounting for her venom and her control over venomous beasts—her real strength was likely far beyond that.
According to the snakelings and Mother-in-law, the strongest beasts were stationed at the central hall.
Dan Hwa-Yeon raised a hand.
Shhhhhhkkk!
A massive toxic veil unfolded before us.
It cloaked the entire area, shrouding her forces and the fortress in a poisonous haze.
To control venom at this scale...
It was a completely different realm compared to just amplifying power output.
“So many guests have come.”
Dan Hwa-Yeon began walking toward us slowly.
“I am the Greatest Venom Master of the West.”
How arrogant could one person be?
She didn’t rely on subordinates or beasts—she used venom to isolate herself completely.
Did she truly believe she could defeat all of us on her own?
“The Greatest Venom Master under Heaven.”
Her red eyes locked onto Anansiv.
Anansiv glared back without flinching.
“The Greatest Venom Master in All History.”
Saying that, she turned her gaze toward Tang So-Yeong.
Anansiv. The gathered spirit beasts.
And the prodigy of the Tang Clan who had subdued them—Tang So-Yeong.
Her confidence in facing all of us alone was palpable.
Her gaze, sharp like a snake’s, finally landed on me.
My body tingled from the sheer pressure radiating from her.
This... this is what it means to be a Gate Lord!
Her body shifted slowly.
What will her first move be?
Will she throw hidden weapons from a distance?
Or will she use palm techniques infused with venom?
Fwhoooom!
But what she did next was something I hadn’t predicted at all.
Her figure vanished in an instant.
Did I just... lose track of her movement?
Dan Hwa-Yeon... Are you telling me you’re the strongest even in close combat?
“H-However... for now, I am but a third-rate...!”
As I lowered my gaze slightly, what I saw was the Venom Gate Lord, Dan Hwa-Yeon—
—in full-body prostration, trembling uncontrollably.

Chapter 327: