Spellcasting Gods

For a moment, she was lost in reflection and self-reproach. After a good seven or eight minutes, she seemed to have figured something out, raised her head, and replied in a very firm tone: "Perhaps you are right. I am not a qualified ruler, I do not understand politics, and I have even made many fatal mistakes unintentionally. But I will not give up my original intention to liberate the slaves, nor will I give up to reclaim the kingdom that belongs to me. Finally, thank you for your guidance. I think I understand how to make amends."

The words had barely left his mouth!

The last member of the Targaryen family suddenly drew a dagger, made a small cut on his finger, and let the dark red liquid slowly drip down, filling the test tube in the blink of an eye.

Sensing the faint energy contained within his blood, Zhang Cheng's eyes revealed a hint of joy. He took the bag, quickly capped it with beeswax, carefully put it into his pouch, and then stood up and bowed slightly: "Thank you very much! As I promised before, if you ever lead a large army to land in Westeros, I will choose to stand on your side and will never break my promise."

"Ha! You're really a strange person. Just a few minutes ago you were criticizing my mistakes, and now why are you standing on my side?" Daenerys chuckled and raised her eyebrows, clearly confused by the other party's strange attitude.

"Does it matter to me whether you are a qualified ruler or not? No, it has nothing to do with me. What matters are the ordinary people living at the bottom of society, and what do I care about their lives? To be honest, even if you let the dragon slaughter unarmed civilians, I wouldn't care. There is only one thing I care about, and that is to conduct the research that interests me." After saying that, Zhang Cheng walked straight towards the balcony.

After all, they have already obtained clues about the Valyrian catastrophe, figured out what the Targaryen family's bloodline is all about, and even obtained a vial of "Mother of Dragons'" blood, so there is no need to stay and waste any more time.

As for whether the fate of the three cities of Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen would change because of his appearance, or whether Daenerys would mature prematurely, he didn't care at all...

Chapter 0151 The Truth Behind the Doomsday Catastrophe

After leaving Astapor, Zhang Cheng did not immediately return to Brightwater, but instead made his way to Dragonstone, located in the eastern part of Westeros.

Under the cover of night, he landed silently on the top of the tallest tower of the Stone Drum Tower.

Since Stannis has not yet given up on the island, there are still many guards patrolling and standing guard around the castle.

Fortunately, their recent crushing defeat had driven their morale to rock bottom, leaving them with no intention of diligently fulfilling their duties.

After all, Dragonstone is an island surrounded by the sea, and the only way for any enemy to invade is to use a large fleet to transport soldiers ashore.

However, if it were a fleet, it would be impossible to escape the eyes of the watchtower, so the guards' sentry duty and patrols were mostly just formalities.

Sensing the pervasive pessimism on Dragonstone, Zhang Cheng couldn't help but shake his head with a smile and sigh softly, "To be in such a predicament after just one defeat, it seems Stannis hasn't realized that the true strength he can rely on isn't those fickle lords, but Melisandre, this woman with her strange magical abilities. But it doesn't matter, I'm just here to collect information anyway."

As he uttered the last word, he gently patted Kuro Kerba's massive head, signaling the dragon to be quiet, and then climbed up the wall into the top-floor rotunda to find the bookshelf Daenerys had described.

Before long, he found a dusty, simple wooden shelf next to a huge table carved with a map of Westeros.

It's unclear how long it's been since anyone cleaned it. The wooden frame is covered from top to bottom with a thick layer of dust and cobwebs. Because it's close to the sea, the air is extremely humid, and some parts of the frame have begun to rot severely. It could collapse with the slightest push.

Zhang Cheng carefully took down the books one by one and quickly flipped through their contents. He found that most of these books were related to Targaryen history, especially the biographies of Aegon the Conqueror, which numbered as many as five and were of little value.

Finally, in the bottom corner of the bookshelf, he found an old book covered in mold. From the words on the cover, he could vaguely make out that it read—"Valiria in its Glory."

"Phew, looks like it's you." Zhang Cheng breathed a slight sigh of relief, casually found a chair to sit down, and began to seriously read the history recorded in the book. He was quickly captivated by the contents of the book.

As expected, Valyria was once a truly magical civilization, with many of its upper-class rulers possessing powerful supernatural abilities. In particular, the legendary Valyrian steel was repeatedly forged using dragonfire, spells, and magic, much like the enchanted weapons of Azeroth.

Dragons, now seen as symbols of power, are nothing more than tamed beasts in the eyes of the Valyrians, nothing to be surprised about.

They possess powers even greater and more advanced than those of the Children of the Forest, capable of altering terrain and landforms as needed.

Unfortunately, most magical civilizations, once they reach a certain level of development, tend to exhibit a strong tendency toward self-destruction.

Just as Valyria was entering its most glorious phase, a man named Vesa finally realized that the energy permeating the entire world actually originated from the crimson comet in the sky.

To ensure the continuation of civilization and prevent the periodic disappearance of various magical powers, he made a bold decision: to wait for the comet to pass by again briefly and then dig out a meteorite from it.

It must be said that this plan was quite bold and risky, but the rulers at the time chose to support it for some reason.

Without any hesitation, Vesa quickly made the necessary preparations and, the instant the crimson comet streaked across the sky, initiated a powerful magical ritual.

A metal sphere, over ten meters in diameter and made entirely of Valyrian steel, rose into the air and crashed violently into the surface of the crimson comet.

Due to the violent impact, a meteorite the size of an adult's head fell to the ground.

For a moment, everyone who knew about it watched with delight as the red light descended from the sky, and no one realized its danger.

Just a few seconds later, the meteorite struck the ground and suddenly released a blinding red light.

next second...

The terrifying energy was released directly, and everything within a radius of tens of kilometers—people, buildings, poultry, and livestock—was torn apart by the invisible shockwave, turning into a rain of blood and dust, even the dragon was not spared.

With a single strike, the city center of Valyria was completely razed to the ground!

No screams!

No wailing!

All that remained was relentless destruction!

Before the remaining Valyrians could even react to what was happening, a volcanic eruption, earthquake, and tsunami followed, almost instantly engulfing the magical civilization.

Ultimately, less than one in ten thousand survivors made it out, and the Targaryen family was among them.

As for what the fallen meteorite actually looked like and where it was hidden, nobody knew, and nobody dared to look for it anymore—at least the Targaryen family had no such plan.

"I see..." Zhang Cheng closed the last page, a look of ecstatic joy on his face.

If he wasn't mistaken, this fallen meteorite should be an energy crystal formed through forced compression. Even a tiny leak of energy could create terrifying destructive power comparable to a nuclear weapon. If he could obtain it, it would undoubtedly greatly improve his eyesight, and he might even be able to create several incredibly powerful magical items.

Just as he began to ponder how to find this treasure buried in the ruins of Valyria, a petite figure appeared in the hall without him noticing.

"Are you... are you reading a book?" A childish girl's voice came from the shadowy figure.

Zhang Cheng turned around warily and saw a little girl whose face was covered with black dead skin on one side.

She had long, golden hair and wore a white silk nightgown. Her two deep blue eyes blinked, seemingly both curious and a little scared.

Celine Baratheon, Stannis's daughter.

Zhang Cheng confirmed the other party's identity with almost no effort.

It's worth noting that she's the only one in the A Song of Ice and Fire universe who has survived gray scale infection, and with her signature hardened dead skin, it would be hard to mistake her for someone else.

Clearly, this little guy, trying to relieve his loneliness, sneaked out of his room in the middle of the night to take a book from the bookshelf, and happened to bump into Zhang Cheng, who had come to find the truth about the Valyrian catastrophe...

Chapter 0152 Celine Baratheon

They stared at each other, wide-eyed!

The two stared at each other for about a minute before Zhang Chengshi couldn't help but laugh, replying between laughs, "That's right, I'm reading. What about you? Aren't you asleep yet, so late?"

“I…I can’t sleep…” Celine Baratheon tugged at the hem of her skirt, squeezing out a voice barely audible from her throat.

Because she was imprisoned in a closed environment for a long time, she became very introverted and would get nervous if a stranger spoke to her.

"So you sneaked out to find a book to kill some time?" Zhang Cheng teased with interest.

Perhaps because he had been under too much stress lately, he suddenly wanted to tease the little guy in front of him, who was not even ten years old, and relax a bit.

"Hmm..." The girl nodded gently, while glancing at the moldy old books on the table out of the corner of her eye.

Zhang Cheng undoubtedly noticed this, casually picked up a copy of "Aegon the Conqueror," and asked without looking up, "What, you're also interested in the history of the Targaryen family?"

“No, I just enjoy reading the stories. Who are you? My father’s vassal? Why have I never seen you before?” Celine Baratheon blinked curiously.

She clearly had no idea that the person standing in front of her was one of the culprits who had personally pushed Stannis into the abyss of failure.

“I am not your father’s vassal; on the contrary, I am his enemy. Let me introduce myself again. My name is Mason Aspen. I believe you have heard of me, haven’t you?” Zhang Cheng smiled and slightly bowed, placing one hand on his chest.

Celine Baratheon was clearly frightened and quickly took several steps back before turning and running away.

But for some reason, she stopped and turned around after running only a few steps, asking in a uncertain tone, "How did you get in? Where are the guards outside? Did you kill them all?"

“Hehe, don’t worry, I came in through the window and didn’t kill anyone. Also, I suggest you don’t alert the guards or servants, otherwise…” Zhang Cheng deliberately dragged out the word, placing his hand on the hilt of his sword, the implication being self-evident.

“Please…please don’t hurt them! I swear I won’t tell anyone you were here,” Celine Baratheon said, biting her lower lip.

As a kind-hearted girl, what she least wants to see is someone getting hurt or dying, and she doesn't want innocent people to be implicated.

Seeing that the little guy was no longer trying to escape, Zhang Cheng released his hand from the sword hilt and pointed to the chair next to the map table: "Sit down. Since you can't sleep, why don't you chat with me for a while? Anyway, there are still several hours until dawn."

Despite being a little scared, Celine Baratheon obediently sat down.

Because she was so short, her two small, white feet dangled in mid-air, swinging back and forth. As for her shoes, they had long since been kicked away somewhere in the chaos.

Fortunately, the temperature on Dragonstone Island is still above 20 degrees Celsius, so even wearing just a thin nightgown won't make you feel cold.

Just as the girl was about to open her mouth to say something, Zhang Cheng suddenly reached out his arm without warning and touched the hard, gray dead skin on her face.

"what!"

Celine Baratheon jumped up from her chair like a startled rabbit.

After all, from childhood to adulthood, almost everyone has been disgusted by the scars on her face, not even her own parents. Let alone such intimate actions, many people would feel disgusted just by looking at her.

"Can you still feel these hardened dead skins?" Zhang Cheng asked softly.

The girl nodded first, then shook her head: "Most of the time I don't feel anything, but occasionally it gets a little itchy. Aren't you afraid of catching my gray scales?"

"Fear? Why should I be afraid? Perhaps in many people's eyes, gray scales are an incurable disease, but in my eyes, it is no different from other infectious diseases. I even have a way to completely cure it." As he spoke, Zhang Cheng took out a bottle of potion radiating strong divine energy from his waist bag.

Without any hesitation, he pulled out the stopper and dripped a drop onto Celine Baratheon's half-face.

moment!

A golden light illuminated the entire hall!

The hardened dead skin around the eyes quickly peeled off, revealing bright red muscle and blood vessels underneath.

In about two or three seconds, the area around the eyes returned to normal almost completely. Except for the newly grown skin, which was still very tender and somewhat transparent, there was no trace of gravidarum.

Celine Baratheon bent down to pick up the dead skin that had fallen to the ground, exclaiming incredulously, "You...you cured greyscale? This...how is this possible?"

"Why is it impossible? Here, this is a mirror, see for yourself." Zhang Cheng grabbed the mirror next to him and handed it over, a meaningful expression on his face.

Through the mirror, the girl could clearly see that the dead skin above her nose had completely disappeared, but a large patch of hard, gray dead skin remained below her nose.

Stroking the newly grown tender skin, she finally realized that what had just happened was not an illusion, and quickly raised her head, staring at the medicine in the bottle with longing eyes.

"So? Do you believe me now?" Zhang Cheng smiled and shook the bottle in his hand, which was emitting a golden light.

In fact, what he used was not some rare and precious magic potion, but rather the Blessed Water that any Church of the Light in Azeroth would sell.

Its function is quite simple: to expel most diseases, curses, and toxins that are harmful to the body. It is loved by the general public, but it has limited effect on damage caused by magic.

Clearly, gray scales are just a common infectious disease and have nothing to do with magic; otherwise, they could not have worked so quickly.

“Thank you…” Celine Baratheon bowed in a standard ladylike manner.

Although the girl didn't know why her father's enemy would heal her, and only halfway through the treatment, she still felt she should express her gratitude.

“Don’t be shy. Now, just answer a few questions for me, and I’ll cure the rest of you. Tell me, have you read this book?” Zhang Cheng held up “Glorious Valyria” and waved it around.

Celine Baratheon nodded without hesitation: "Yes, I've seen it."