Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 170 The Beast King and the Horde

"Crunch." The wheels rolled over the stones, causing a slight bump, but they still moved forward steadily.

The minor incident passed quickly, and the convoy, which had been robbed, resumed its journey.

Surprisingly, the atmosphere in the caravan was quite pleasant; the merchants even asked the bards to sing cheerful songs. For them, the moment they were intercepted, they probably already thought of death, and being able to escape alive was already a great blessing.

Listening to the cheerful songs outside the carriage and looking at the other overjoyed merchants inside, Rean truly felt the complete difference between the two worlds.

Even in a peaceful world, encountering highway robbers can cause lifelong psychological damage, even if one is unharmed.

In this world, those who survive a plundering are mostly filled with joy.

They seem to be well-adapted to the storms and accustomed to forgetting.
"Ha, this is a world accustomed to plundering and being plundered. Not used to it? That's good."

The snake had somehow gotten onto Rean's shoulder.

He watched Rean flip through the book, trying to understand the new spells, and seemed quite interested.

"Scorching Ray? Not a bad spell, quite suitable for you."

Compared to the subtle effects of the first-circle Burning Hand, the second-circle spells are already quite valuable in actual combat, especially the Scorching Ray in fire magic, which is probably quite suitable for Rean's current needs.

This is a multi-stage fire damage spell that can fire three fire rays at the beginning to deal damage. Because the model is a "ray", it also has the practical advantages of fast casting speed and extremely fast spell flight speed.

The downside is that it can be blocked and defended against, and its single-hit damage is relatively low, especially vulnerable to elemental defense abilities.

"It's a pity that your abilities are underdeveloped, Suer. Otherwise, you could combine the scorching rays and the armor-piercing ability, which would be very effective at your stage."

"Hmm, that sounds great, but it's unrealistic."

Rean smiled. The big shots never know the suffering of new recruits. Only a soul power of Gold rank or above can attach it to magic (Sul possession state).

At that time, I was probably not far from becoming a Grand Knight.

"No, that's not right. My Thousand-Faced Dragon's Soul Ability, while it may reduce the effect of Heroic Soul Ability, can increase the Heroic Soul Ability by one level. So, Silver is enough?!"

[Heart Soul. Thousand-Faced Dragon (Original Stone): Allows you to link to and use other Lee Eun-suk's Heart Soul abilities, and grants a +1 bonus to species level, achieving 80% of the original's effect. Current link limit: 1.]

If it's gold level, then you need to be on the verge of becoming a Grand Knight (5th tier), but if it's silver level, you might be able to reach that with a 3rd tier Paladin!
That doesn't seem too far off! The gift from Suer is still there, and the new physical body is strong enough to support the needs of a third-tier paladin.

All that seems to remain is further ascetic practice.
"It actually works!" Rean looked at the snake with more gratitude in his eyes.

He left his upgraded Soul Ability to the Primal Stone Rank unattended, but the experience of the senior was enough to instantly analyze Rean's abilities and see where he could best enhance his combat power.

Rean then realized that the greatest treasure was right beside him.

Recalling the lich's recent triumph, Rean clenched his fists.
"So, do you want to specialize in mage or paladin first? To be honest, both take quite a bit of time." The snake flicked its tail, giving Rean another choice.

Rean paused for a moment before making his judgment.

"I want it all: physical training in the Paladin class, second-circle magic analysis through the second line of thought, and supplementation of magical knowledge."

Rean had expected his greed to be mocked by the snake, but instead he was met with a delighted smile.

"As expected of a greedy dragon. As the Thousand-Faced Dragon, you should be this greedy."

He seemed to approve, but perhaps a new, wicked sense of humor lurked in his snake-like eyes.

Seeing that the snake was in a good mood, Rean casually asked about the bloodline ability of his newly acquired "grafting".

He tried it several times, but it was completely ineffective.

This isn't a failure of the ability to "deceive others," but rather a fundamental lack of understanding of how to activate it.

"Tsk tsk tsk, no matter what, this is a spell, a talent or ability. You lack the foundation in this area, perhaps you can find some tricks in the psionic profession, at least know how to release mental energy to interfere with the opponent." The snake replied cheerfully, which was indeed the truth. The psionic profession could indeed help Rean understand the use of the "transfer" technique.

However, the root cause of Rean's complete inability to use it is actually that he lacks the bloodline ability of "Snake's Whisper".

Only by first learning to amplify/minimize the other person's subconscious and desires can one further learn how to mislead and correct their consciousness.

Snakes, however, will never admit that they are to blame.

"Perhaps you're not very talented and need some extra skills."

Rean scratched the back of his head, sighed, and, reflecting on his talent for magical training, he accepted it.

Incidentally, due to the snake's unusual circumstances, it did not possess Rean, so his mental strength was at a normal level, which resulted in some difficulties in his professional training.

But the existence of snakes did indeed reveal many secrets to Rean, especially those related to beasts.

He didn't hide the "difference between the Seven Beasts and the Ten Thousand Beasts" that the snake had mentioned before. He teased Rean for a bit and then said it directly. However, knowing these secrets did not increase Rean's beast transformation level.

"No, you increased it. Otherwise, how could you exceed 10%? Awakening through grafting."

Well, it's actually possible to get on the bus first and then make up for it later, raising the level of bestiality first and then explaining the reasons for it. This characteristic of reversing cause and effect may also be the essence of snakes.

“I see. You are the Snake King, but not all snakes, but Elsena (the deer) may be all deer.” From the snakes, Rean gained some “common sense” from ancient times.

The "species" of a herd are not entirely fixed. In fact, there are already very obvious differences between ancient beasts and beasts. Evolution is not limited to humans.

However, their attitudes toward "evolved species" are quite different.

"Reproduction is always the first instinct of the beast king. How would a beast king driven by bestial instincts treat the cubs of other powerful beasts in the herd?" the snake said smugly. This matter seemed simple, but it was one of the key factors in the outcome of the civil war back then. In the natural world, many beast kings, such as lion kings and deer kings, monopolize the opposite sex.

Driven by their instincts, they often regard only their direct descendants as offspring of the herd.

Therefore, if a new beast king emerges in a beast pack, the bloodline of the old beast king may be killed. Being expelled is considered friendly, and the best outcome is becoming a marginal member of the pack.

The gap between beasts and beast packs is even greater, with the beast king often viewing himself as the only correct path of evolution for his pack.

How will they treat evolved and mutated species within their group, and those that might threaten their position? If they all follow their own path, they will not only prove themselves right, but also make it virtually impossible for them to surpass themselves.

"Mutants have no right to reproduce. Most of them are simply wiped out. Being banished is already considered a kindness from the beast lord. Those that secretly reproduce and create new branches of the beast herd basically die a very tragic death."

The beast is the king of the tribe, but according to the instincts of beasts, it should be said that the beast king owns the beast tribe.

It is not responsible for the herd; the herd should contribute to it, especially since many herds are the result of the herd king giving its own blood. As the only parent, they feel entitled to everything.

"I am actually the second generation of Snake King. The first generation was also an old stubborn one." Even in the natural world, the fighting methods of snakes have branches such as pythons and venomous snakes. The differences between the branches of various beasts should be huge. If we do not actively curb them, there may be thousands of branches in a few hundred years.

Therefore, in order to maintain the stability of the herd, newly mutated species might be killed off directly.

Under such circumstances, the succession of the Beast King is extremely difficult and rare.

But often, the first thing a newly emerged beast king does is to completely transform the beast horde into its own shape.

Many mutated species and those that evolved along other paths were wiped out by the herd. Those that survived were often very good at hiding themselves.

Upon hearing this, Rean suddenly realized that there was no essential difference between beasts and beastmen. Since beastmen had a wide variety of evolutionary paths, there was no reason why beasts wouldn't have one as well.

Or, from another perspective, the evolutionary path of beast-like humans might also be the evolutionary path of beasts.

"These mutated and evolved species are actually necessary for the strength of the race. The ability to accommodate differences is what makes human society truly brilliant." The snake was unusually serious.

Animals in nature should be more diverse, otherwise they would easily perish due to the environment. However, when the beast king became highly intelligent, it rejected this change.

They were unwilling to see the herd evolve away from them, unwilling to see their kingdom be better off without them. At this moment, the greed and selfishness of their animalistic nature actually hindered the potential of their tribe.

"When humans see other babies, they find them cute and instinctively want to get closer to them. But many animals can instantly recognize the young offspring of their own kind and then eliminate them without hesitation."

For those beast kings and their packs, this might simply be a necessity to maintain genetic purity.

Humans, like animals, have a reproductive drive, but the ability to control their instincts and animalistic nature is the essential difference between humans and animals.

The pursuit of diverse ethnic evolution versus the pursuit of stable reproduction for thousands of generations naturally led to a divergence between the two groups.

The immortal king, seemingly an immortal calamity, rejected any path of evolution other than its own, as well as the possibility of other paths leading to mutation.
"Heh, the internal war between beastmen and beastmen is naturally not just between beastmen and beastmen-humans. In the 'War of the Seven Beasts,' besides us seven beasts, the mutated, evolved, and ancient species among the other beast groups are also the real main force."

Now, Rean understood completely.

For many evolved and mutated species, whether they possess humanity is not important; what matters most is their ability to survive.

Ultimately, war is about interests. Those mutated species, fighting for their right to survival and reproduction, may be even more fanatical than the Seven Beasts.

Compared to the incomprehensible nature of human nature, escaping the Beast King's control is probably more valuable to them.

At this moment, Rean fell silent. He recalled what Purple Rose had said earlier: those deer princes in the Kingdom of Beasts wouldn't come to save their ancestors' root. If the "deer" had truly emerged, it would probably purge the beast herd immediately.
"One hundred percent. So many years have passed, the deer herd is no longer 'pure,' and the other herds are the same. Otherwise, why would they allow their ancestors to be sealed away? Of course, there are also pure-blooded ones, and quite a few of them."

Knowledge from ancient times helped Rean understand the current situation.

"So, the Kingdom of Seven Beasts..."

"Yes, there are more than just the Seven Beasts there; there should also be some mutated species from other beast groups. Unfortunately, most of the ancient mutated species from other beast groups perished in the Seven Beasts' Rebellion, and their numbers should be small now, since the internal war between the two sides has never really stopped."

Now Rean understood why the two magical girls had been urgently brought back to the country.

Perhaps within the Seven Beasts Kingdom, we can find two more deer and form contracts with them?
"No," the snake said, rejecting the possibility.

"Finding two deer mutants with compatible souls is too difficult. It would be better to find two 'horses' of the same age, call a deer a horse, and make do." Horses are also members of the Seven Beasts Alliance.

"Haha." Rean laughed. This Earth joke was really good.

But the snake didn't laugh; it just watched him silently.

"Uh, are you serious?"

"It's true. They're distantly related, but essentially quite similar. I can confuse them with my abilities. Heh, you can look forward to new racehorse girls." Clearly, Lee Eun-suk has played his fair share of games.

"Click." At that moment, the carriage came to a stop.

They had unknowingly arrived at their destination, but engrossed in his knowledge of beasts, Rean hadn't noticed that the caravan was already among the groups heading into the city.

He instinctively opened the window, but the first thing he saw was the knights leaving the city.

The person at the very front instantly attracted all his attention.

Fully armed, Dania rode beneath the battle banner, her golden hair shimmering in the sunlight.

In an instant, Rean went numb; he remembered his "promise."

“Go hug her, lift her up high, make up for her lack of fatherly love in her childhood. Or perhaps you want to break the promise and lose your paladin abilities?” The snake, knowing Rean’s “oath of keeping,” laughed happily.

Rean fell silent. So this is what you were waiting for me to do!
But at this point, is it possible to get a refund?
Rean gritted his teeth, jumped out of the car, opened his arms, and rushed toward the princess!
(End of this chapter)