Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 363 Visitors
"I see, that's truly excellent craftsmanship."

Miss Emma laid the scraps of materials on the waterproof fabric, and those seemingly unrelated materials were arranged into a "ring".

"The Ring of Origin" is what Miss Emma calls it. According to her, it is a description of the essence of the world and a ritual that "creates the cycle of life and soul."

With slender fingers lightly touching each material, nothing seemed to happen in the magical field of vision, but Rean felt as if the materials had come alive.

This is a completely unknown technique.

"It should be considered shamanic magic, but it came about after the emergence of the eight magic systems of the new era, which relegated some scattered spell systems to primitive magic. In reality, they have many merits. This is actually the hunter's 'bloody plunder' totem magic, but it has probably been forgotten."

Emma was demonstrating a spell that Rean knew nothing about, but after drawing it clockwise, the necklace made of bones seemed to come alive.

Rean seemed to see the soul of a Tyrannosaurus Rex roaring at him.

The system's ability seems to bind the soul to its "materials," transforming them into naturally enchanted objects.

For some reason, Rean felt a sense of familiarity.
"Isn't this the power I gained from absorbing the dragon's soul?"

Looking at the inferior bone chain, Rean subconsciously swallowed; he even felt he could take a bite out of it.

"Want to learn? I'll teach you."

Rean nodded quickly. Putting aside everything else, the ability alone was quite useful for making "bento boxes".

Rean's evolution requires "Dragon Soul Devouring," which only reacts to powerful dragon souls. Only those powerful true dragons that he absorbs for the first time can provide the nutrients for evolution. However, weak dragon souls, such as the most common sub-dragons, although they have some benefits, are not very obvious.

However, Rean had previously discovered another benefit: after absorbing a dragon soul, physical strength, magic power, and injuries could be restored at a great speed. Other things could be restored with potions, but magic power originated from the soul, and only a few expensive ways could restore it to some extent.

If you can create some inferior "Dragon Soul Necklaces", you can obtain extra supplies during difficult battles.

Rean's gaze toward Emma grew increasingly subtle. This ancient skill, coupled with unfathomable power, was clearly abnormal.

"Sometimes the way she looks at me, and that familiar way she talks to me, I can't sense any hostility from her." She doesn't even bother to hide it, it seems like she's already got me figured out (actually she is, she is, but she's too bad at this and has given up on herself).
With a sigh, Rean naturally wouldn't refuse since the other party had kindly offered this set of knowledge and system.

"I studied."

The next moment, the huntress touched Rean's brow with her slender fingers, and a faint silver light covered his body, as if something had changed.

[Received a special blessing: The Soul Hunter's Legacy (No Level Required)]

[You have obtained the Soul Trial: Conqueror of Beasts. Hunt down a beast/dragon/giant of level seven or higher within 24 hours.]

[This trial has been revised by the inheritor Emma and has been passed directly.]

Emma: Why make it so complicated? Just approve it directly.

Rean is stunned. Is this how things are supposed to go? This power that transcends the "rules"—are they even going to stop acting?
"I have granted you the qualifications of a hunter, but you had better do as many as you can tonight. Souls generally dissipate rapidly after one day, are reduced to half after three days, and are completely gone after seven days."

As she spoke, Emma took out a pile of broken bones, all of which were her haul for the day.

"Just practice more, it's actually very simple."

Rean seemed to understand something. He started using the products he obtained, but they were all "inferior bone necklaces" or similar items. Their spirituality disappeared at a visible rate, and they would probably be completely ruined in half a month.

"You must pay attention to circles, construct a circular loop, and let the soul flow within it."

From time to time, she would remind Rean of specific techniques and even provide some precious jewelry recipes.

Rean then realized that simply collecting materials from a monster and turning them into soul materials was only the beginning of this system.

Its true strength lies in the "fusion" of certain monster materials, which can even create magical-like items without enchantment.

"This seems to be a method used to create magical items before the enchanting (alchemy) magic system became popular."

Li Engang is still learning and can't quite pinpoint its strengths and weaknesses, but it seems to be much more profound and complex than expected, making it even more difficult to master.

As Emma herself said, this is "the leisure of the strong." The materials will lose all their spirituality before long, so only the hunter can make efficient use of this resource.

While learning, they chatted idly. Rean tried to find out where the other person came from, but he was easily fooled. Contrary to her seemingly silly and naive appearance, the smiling hunter was not only very talkative, but also very good at fooling people and changing the subject.

Ironically, what she said really interested Rean.

"Sapphire Dragon. Actually, it's a typical gem dragon. Dragons that manipulate psychic abilities are generally not normal. I wasn't talking about you. Your psychic abilities are so weak that I can't even feel them."

This was the first time Rean had ever heard such a casual assessment of a true dragon from someone.

It was as if those dragons were not monsters with strong vitality who were skilled in both magic and martial arts, but just some large lizards that were slightly difficult to catch.

"The three major dragon systems are not the entirety of true dragons. In fact, they are degenerate species of ancient dragons, variants adapted to the current low-magic environment. Compared to their ancestors, their reproductive capacity and desire have been greatly enhanced, but their individual strength has been significantly reduced. They cannot even use pure dragon language magic before reaching the ancient dragon stage." Seemingly noticing Rean's interest in her, her analysis of the dragon race became more detailed.

"Since the goal is to hunt dragons, combat strength isn't the most important factor. Of course, basic combat strength for direct confrontation with dragons is necessary, but that's just the foundation."

Rean rubbed his eyes; this basic level seemed a bit too difficult to achieve.

Dragons vary greatly with age and progress in their training, but Rean probably couldn't even beat the most basic eighty-year-old young dragon right now.

In the eyes of an experienced hunter like Emma, ​​the most important thing in dragon hunting is to exploit the dragons' inherent weaknesses and set traps that will make them willing to fight to the death.
"Colored dragons are crazy, metallic dragons are stupid, and gem dragons are sick. They are all quite easy to deal with. Of course, it's a different story when the ancient dragons have started to revert to their ancestral forms."

In Emma's words, the three dragon types at the youth level are just a dish.

Rean initially felt something was off, wondering if the other person was exaggerating, but when Emma explained it clearly, he realized that the other person had seen through him.

"The three major dragon types are more difficult to deal with than ordinary wild dragons, mainly due to their higher intelligence and combat methods that combine with their racial abilities. However, intelligence itself may also be a deadly poison."

The reason why colored dragons are crazy is because they are the most human-like of the three major dragon types. Rean thought the other party was talking nonsense, that evil dragons had no humanity at all, but the more he talked, the more it sounded like the truth.

"Colored dragons can be seen as the embodiment of desire; they possess all the traits of greed, irritability, arrogance, and vengefulness. The different colors simply have varying degrees of these traits. To deal with a green dragon, simply place a trap with an enemy—even someone you cursed at hundreds of years ago—and it will come. Red dragons are even simpler; just give them the middle finger and they'll fight you to the death. The more troublesome ones are the weaker adult white and black dragons. Black dragons are genuinely cowardly and love to run away; they only play when they're winning and are notoriously bad at taking risks. White dragons are too stupid; they won't fall for most targeted traps."

In Emma's eyes, colored dragons are the most human-like dragons, even though they are full of negative emotions. They are like mortals with inflated desires who can do whatever they want. Although they are difficult to deal with, they are relatively easy to identify, and traps targeting their personality traits will be extremely effective.

"Metal dragons are persistent. They are the most idealistic or driven dragons. Their excessive purity makes them seem mechanical, cold, and inhuman. They are also easy to catch. Many benevolent dragons have a strong martyr impulse. Just go along with it."

In Emma's eyes, metal dragons are just a bunch of silly prey, the easiest of the three dragon types to deal with, and it's easy to force them into a fight to the death.

Whether they are protecting mortals, upholding order, pursuing pleasure, or pursuing art, the more persistent they are, the more obvious their character weaknesses become, making them easier to hunt than colored dragons.

For example, you could let a silver dragon establish a friendship with a village for decades, and then attack and destroy the village. Emma said this with a matter-of-fact expression, and it was clear that she really didn't care.

"What about gem dragons, especially sapphire dragons?"

Rean immediately stated his purpose for the trip; he genuinely wanted to hear how to deal with their opponents.

"Oh, they're all a bunch of mentally ill people, the incurable kind."

They are more intensely attached to what they are obsessed with than colored dragons, and more extreme and unwavering than metallic dragons. In Emma's eyes, the gem dragons who manipulate psychological abilities are a group of incurable psychopaths.

"The Crystal Dragon's favorite thing to do is to steal white dragon cubs and raise them into benevolent dragons to prove that life is not inherently evil. But isn't your act of stealing cubs evil enough?"

Gem Dragons are willing to spend hundreds of years or even several generations to prove something that seems insignificant to outsiders.
"Dragons are all beings with deep desires and strong obsessions, and there is no difference in essence. However, the sapphire dragons are mainly sick in a very peculiar way. Their brain circuits are incomprehensible to normal people and normal dragons, such as the sapphire dragon."

Emma looked up and smiled, as if she were referring to something.

You mean him?

"Well, based on the current intelligence, he doesn't actually have much interest in hunting those druids."

Rean sensed something was wrong; why was this guy blocking the druids' escape route?

"War game, war game. Sapphire dragons are all fanatics of war games. Since you druids have taken the initiative to attack my lair, it means you have declared your participation in this war game of attack and defense. How can you run away before the outcome is decided?"

At that moment, Rean fell silent.

These hunts, these deaths, were not for hatred or profit, but merely for the outcome of a war game where "I am smarter and better at fighting than you."
That guerrilla-style interception wasn't a declaration of certain death based on personal grudges; it was merely to prevent other players from escaping the battlefield.

"Well, if a druid is smart, he'll just raise the white flag now and end it. He'll just have to pay some compensation. Maybe if the sapphire dragon has a good time, it won't only refuse to pay compensation, but it might even give you some gem collectibles as souvenirs. If the sapphire dragon isn't done having fun, it'll get angry."

Emma shrugged. "Gem Dragon's logic is something anyone who tries to understand is not far from going insane."

“Then, can’t we negotiate?” Rean’s spirits lifted.

It's certainly a good thing if we can avoid fighting, as challenging a fully grown dragon will result in the deaths of many people.

"No, no, no," Emma shook her finger, laughing happily.

Do you know what gamers hate most?

"The other side cheated; they can't afford to play."

"Someone deliberately sabotaged his game, making it impossible for him to continue, so he came."

With calm words, Emma looked up at the sky, and then sapphire wings descended, covering the entire sky.

"Enemy attack!!"

(End of this chapter)