Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 487 Crystal Poison (Third Update, Seeking Monthly Tickets)

It was a small crystal scorpion that looked like an ornament.

Despite being at least ten times larger than an ordinary scorpion, it didn't look ferocious at all. Its crystal-clear body resembled a natural crystal sculpture, and within its semi-transparent body, there was only a wisp of glowing black blood-red liquid running from its tail to its spinal cord.

The crystalline liquid circulated continuously within it, emitting a dangerous yet alluring starlight.

This scorpion, which looks like a lamp, is not only alive, but also extremely dangerous and rare.

"The Crystal Scorpion, it really is the Corroded Crystal Scorpion!"

The little guy was just born and couldn't even control his own body to stay stable, but he subconsciously wagged his tail at the people around him.

Those nearby quickly stepped back. The little guy looked cute, but if his tail pricked it, even a giant would howl in pain, and the consequences would be quite dangerous.

"The original strain of crystallization disease"

Some of the crystal-type monsters possess a special crystallization poison that transforms living things into crystals.

That kind of thing is terrifying; caves filled with crystal statues are a common feature in horror stories, but in practice, the effects are often quite subtle. It involves constantly crystallizing the body, requiring too much time and toxins.

To discuss toxicity without considering dosage is simply irresponsible.

Larry, being a crystal spider, also possesses crystal poison in his nails, but applying a layer of crystal skin to himself is his limit.

To poison someone, you would probably need to keep them still and slowly force them to drink the poison over several hours (mainly because they would need to produce the toxins themselves).

She actually used it to poison her sword, but the effect was more subtle, because although there was no explicit commandment for paladins that said "weapons must not be poisoned," very few people actually did it.

Besides, with the Demon-Slaying Slash, do we really need that little bit of poison? Swinging the sword will cause the regular poison to evaporate quickly, and the high temperature of the sword will burn it, completely eliminating the original poison.

This further demonstrates that her original training plan was to become a pure warrior. The crystal spider's high hardness is well-suited to complement the spider-man's relatively soft physique.

But once you embark on the path of bloodline, it's very difficult to change it at will.

Even so, the Crystal (Shadow) Spider, the source of her bloodline, is already considered quite poisonous.

"The Crystal Spider's most important ability is to weave webs and create crystal shields; the crystal poison is just a bonus."

This little scorpion's entire tail and spinal cord are filled with highly concentrated venom. When that venom penetrates, it doesn't directly turn a person into crystal, but rather into another crystal scorpion, or rather, a scorpion slave.

The humanoid crystal monster can create a chain of disasters similar to Resident Evil, causing massive damage in certain areas. As a result, it has been constantly eradicated by the main plane and is even suspected of being extinct.

"Yes, it's possible."

Its combat ability is extremely subtle; even creating hundreds of scorpion slaves wouldn't compare to this little guy, who is now being happily watched by a dozen or so archmages, who simply put him in a transparent cage.

At least dozens of potion recipes have become meaningless because this scorpion cannot be found, and several magic swords require its special scorpion venom.

"The key is that if this path is proven, we will no longer have to worry about not finding materials. Even if it consumes more materials, it will be completely acceptable."

Does the Grand Mage lack money and resources? Some materials cannot be bought even with money. Many people travel thousands of miles to come here, hoping to "stumble upon" precious materials.

This is the source of Radiant City's prosperity, but most people who come here leave disappointed.

Now that we can obtain materials in a targeted manner, even if the chances are very low, how can we refuse?

"Your Highness Dania, we have made up our minds and are very interested in your city-building plan. If possible, we will send a group of people over to help expedite the clearing of the monsters in that dark area."

Once they confirmed that everything was true, the foreign federal nobles immediately made up their minds and decided on the spot to increase their investment.

A well-designed PowerPoint presentation can make it difficult to commit, but providing a sample or a physical prototype, even if it doesn't guarantee stable mass production, gives people more peace of mind. Even if you're determined to scam funding, at least be honest and make a few samples by hand.

Now that this "sample" is presented to everyone, it naturally excites those Federation members who were already hesitant. "Yes, welcome. We need all our combat power here."

Dania did not refuse. Time is always limited. Only by conquering the Underdark as soon as possible can they reach the true Lower Level.

The road ahead will be even more difficult, so the more time we have now, the better. We should eliminate those high-level monsters as soon as possible, and also allow the underground ruins to extract the beasts' abilities to prevent them from reviving.

This is also why Dania had no intention of hiding this "secret technique" at all; having more people hunt the monsters here would be of great help.

The stronger the being, the more powerful the monsters they need, and the greater the drain on the ruins they create.

In that dream, the emergence of this technology even attracted many powerful individuals to participate, creating a so-called boom. People thought that it might be possible to seal the beasts and revive the kingdom. However, subsequent events such as the Beast Order caused a series of disasters, completely destroying the environment and making exploration impossible.

As more and more people began to doubt whether the project could continue, and as underground exploration reached a bottleneck, leaving the ever-deepening underground labyrinth still uncharted, naturally many deserters emerged, leading to avalanches in various senses.

Recruiting powerful individuals, sparing no effort to recruit them to reinforce the seal of the underground ruins, remains the top priority.

"What is important now has become the 'gathering place of life'."

Basic materials alone are not enough to specifically catalyze monsters in this way.

Having seeds is not enough; a suitable soil environment is also needed. In Dania's memory, high-value monsters are needed to spawn, requiring a large number of "production sites" that can give birth to powerful monsters to try one's luck. According to the current law, this land, whether underground or above ground, is always in the hands of the owner of this land.

"Knights and mages, take turns guarding this area, focusing on the known areas where monsters frequently spawn."

As for the specific locations, further research and summarization are needed, but it is foreseeable that most of the monster hatching grounds in the shallow areas will be in the hands of the royal family.

The increase in land value naturally brings more wealth and power to local owners.

But would those nobles and the church really allow the royal family and the faction that controls Radiant City to swallow all of this?
"Take it slow, there's still a fight to be had."

Seeing that Dania remained calm and simply kept issuing commands, Rean breathed a sigh of relief.

She is much stronger than she expected; hopefully, this "premonition" will eventually bring a good outcome.

"Lord Rean, is the news that you intend to hunt the Crystal Dragon true?"

At this time, Larry approached Rean.

Crystal dragons are very tempting to all beastman paladins on both sides, but adult crystal dragons are generally not hostile to paladins.

After all, intelligent beings also have good and bad, and factions. A paladin cannot wield a sword against the innocent, even if it is a monster in some sense. The premise is that it possesses intelligence and leans towards order and goodness.

If the crystal dragon was born from this underground ruin, it would probably be a beast without inheritance or self-awareness, just like the black dragon before it.

Perhaps if left to hunt and grow for several decades, they could gradually become true dragons, but clearly, that time is not being given to them now.
"Yes, of course, that is, on the premise that they can actually hatch. After this hunt, I may need to rest for a while."

Rean didn't hide anything; to be precise, the reason they were discussing this matter here and passing on the message was precisely because of their openly discussed plans.

When assassins feel they only have one chance, they will naturally act without hesitation. The key to fishing is to prevent the fish from overthinking.

Rean is now proactively handing this opportunity over to his competitors, urging them to make a decision as soon as possible.
While calmly chatting with Larry and planning the new members of the "Dragon Slayer Squad," Rean was also looking forward to seeing just how many people would be involved in this incident.

I should act close enough with Dania; this will increase my chances of catching a big fish.

For some ambitious individuals, the relationship between Rean and Dania is quite an eyesore.

On the other hand, they seemed to have another reason to kill Rean as soon as possible.

"The town of Dania, that outpost of the underworld, will also have greater value. It cannot fall into the hands of the royal faction!"

(End of this chapter)