Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

"I've hit a bottleneck. Lately, I've been keeping an eye on tombs related to dragons, but after the dragons were slain by the Holy Light, their existence seems to have been erased. I can only glean fragmented knowledge about dragons from some ancient stone carvings and murals. Since 'that visit,' dragon research hasn't seen much progress. Most of the time since we parted has been absorbing the knowledge I gained from that visit, but it's just absorption. The knowledge I've collected is still too fragmented. I need more tombs of related races, but as you know, dragon priest tombs are hard to find, and who knows if a being as terrifying as that woman might appear there."

The Dragon Priest's Tomb? Lyle's gaze lingered on Mr. Zhiyan's face, where the lingering fear was genuine. This genuine fear was also reflected on Lyle's face.

“Mr. Zhiyan…you really did rob the dragon priest’s tomb!”

Lyle stiffly turned his head to face the dragon, who remained completely calm and composed.

"Dragon Mentor, the Scholar Teacher is a dragon priest. Have you even ventured into the tomb of his companion?"

"Yes, and quite a haul." The dragon's words were as simple and blunt as his bone staff.

Mr. Zhiyan seemed to recall those days, and an excited blush appeared on his face.

"That was shortly after I became a lich, before the dragon became the chief professor of necromancy. We formed a knock-on-doors duo, visiting many tombs. After a year of joint exploration, we found a gap about two people high on the cliffs of Melmosen. From the shore, it looked only about the size of a bowl, with sharp rocks below. With my keen intuition, I determined it was a hidden tomb, not the natural crevice the dragon had mentioned. Then... we figured out how to squeeze in. I must say, climbing up there is quite difficult even for a lich, but luckily your mentor, the dragon, is a monster in both necromancy and combat. And then we struck gold."

"The style of that tomb was completely different from any other tomb we had ever visited. The hieroglyphs carved on the walls, the burial objects with dragon wings, and the ancient runes that were still in effect showed us a new civilization. Then the dragon seemed to be possessed, showing a fascination with those ancient runes. It took me two days just to search my memory and decipher those ancient texts. Finally, I successfully deciphered the cryptic text."

Lyle expressed his curiosity.

"What's written in there? Ancient magic? Legends of evil gods? Or... buried treasure?"

"A love poem."

"..." Lyle imagined the tomb of a powerful dragon priest, who slumbered amidst dragons, possessing ancient abilities far surpassing those of humans. He was the leader of his clan, charismatic and wise. And then...and then he left a love poem in the tomb...

"How was that love poem... what did it say?"

"A poem about the separation of a loved one by death, quite cheesy, and with many typos, clearly the author's writing is poor and their understanding of human poetry is very shallow..."

The image of the dragon priest suddenly came to life, and Lyle became very interested in the content of the love poem.

How cheesy is it?

"So cheesy that the author immediately ran back and tore me, who had wandered into the tomb and was reciting love poems, into many pieces and froze me into an ice sculpture. She was quite a brutal and crazy woman."

"..." Lyle realized that the dragon priest hadn't climbed out of the coffin, but had run back from outside. "Who exactly is buried in that tomb?"

"The dragon priest's lover was an ordinary human. When the dragon opened the coffin and threw the bones on the ground, it took me three seconds to recognize that he was an ordinary human. My skull was frozen in a block of ice, and the frost magic had frozen my mind, otherwise I would have been able to identify him much faster."

A female dragon priestess falls in love with a human, an ice magic user...

Lyle looked at the dragon.

"Mentor, how bad is your relationship with the mermaid dragon priestess, Priscilla?"

"So bad that they demolished her husband's grave."

Chapter 544 Dragons and Dragon Priests

The tomb they broke into was built by Priscilla, the dragon priestess of the merfolk, as a grave for her lover. Although Lyle had not been there in person and only knew a vague outline through Mr. Rock's trembling narration, there was one thing he was very certain of.

Mr. Zhiyan and Mr. Julong are definitely in big trouble.

“Mr. Plague Doctor, do you know what kind of sound ice crystals make when they grow inside your skull? It sounds like five or six rats grinding their teeth in your head, with the screams of rodents echoing everywhere. You might even think that being fixed in ice isn’t such a bad thing, at least you don’t have to worry about that throbbing sensation bursting your skull in the next instant…” Mr. Zhiyan put his right fingernail to his mouth and gnawed at it, making it impossible to tell whether the chattering was due to a habit of teeth grinding or simply fear.

Princess Principal left a very deep impression on Zhiyan.

"The woman stood at the entrance to the main burial chamber, with shimmering ice crystals floating behind her. A cold wind howled through the tomb, and in her hand, she held the frozen skull of Zhiyan, like a lantern. The chill emanating from her ethereal body made me realize she wanted to turn me into an ice lantern too." The dragon continued, taking over Zhiyan's narration. "So we had a brief exchange..."

"Teacher, you won?" It must be Mr. Dragon who won, otherwise, how could you all be alive and well until now?

The dragon shook its head. "We were at a stalemate. At the time, I was just starting out at level six, while Priscilla was a solid level seven in terms of both total mana and damage output. She was a dragon priestess and one of the pioneers of the dragon age. I was at a disadvantage in our first encounter, but the lich's composure quickly helped me find a way to restrain her. She could have annihilated me in one blow, but she was cautious and didn't let the rampaging ice crystals destroy any of the earth or stone on the wall."

That was the grave of Princess's lover, and of course she would do everything in her power to protect it. Lyle stared at his mentor, a magnanimous elder who, apart from his eccentricities, had no obvious flaws since he met him.

"Teacher, could it be that you..."

“I dismantled that victim’s thigh bone to use as a weapon. That woman didn’t dare to confront me at all, she just glared at me with murderous eyes… Plague Doctor, whether or not to use some despicable means is our personal choice, but you should put survival first. Although we are not afraid of death, high-ranking spellcasters have means that transcend death. If I hadn’t done that back then, perhaps I would have been frozen like Zhiyan, becoming a collectible from the depths of the sea.”

After calming down with his tea, Mr. Zhiyan tapped the table lightly. "To correct you, that woman intended to make us both part of her deceased husband's remains. So, we wouldn't be dragged down to see the mermaid, but rather spend the next eternal years watching that human skeleton until the end of the world." Mr. Zhiyan appeared relaxed, because the dragon's actions had completely aroused the wrath of the enraged dragon priestess. Even now, the frost mermaid only remembered that damned lich Andrei who toyed with her husband's remains, not the Zhiyan lantern that had been subdued from the start. "If you ask me, she definitely hates you to the core, dragon."

"She's only temporarily forgotten you, Zhiyan. If she recalls your mockery of her love poems, that madwoman will definitely freeze you again without hesitation. During my battle, you humiliated her quite a bit. Even ice couldn't freeze your mouth. You interrupted the spellcasting with your words. You're really something, ancient scholar."

"Even if I'm foul-mouthed, it's still better than you flipping someone's coffin lid, okay? I still remember the way you danced with that poor man's bones, the crazy woman's screams almost shattered the ice."

Lyle, seeing the two of them endlessly exchanging insults, could only interrupt them by asking a question.

"And then what happened, Mr. Dragon? How did you reconcile, or rather, temporarily cease the conflict?"

"The woman called out to her brother, another dragon priest, who is also a scholar." The dragon's eyes darkened as if he had thought of something terrible. "We met once at the academy, and that was the first time I met him as a dragon priest."

"Eight Locks, humanoid magic network nodes. The appearance of a scholar always leaves a deep first impression. A magical surge like an abyss..."

"The scholar was a dignified yet gentle man. As the mediator between the Dragon Priest and Andrei, he mediated the conflict between me and Priscilla."

……

“Brother!!! They are damned tomb raiders!!! If they break into your tomb and carelessly handle the remains of your wife, Quirai, will you negotiate with them!!!” Priscilla’s eyes were icy cold, and the tomb’s exit had been sealed with ice.

Moroki's strange mask rippled with magical energy as his gaze lingered on the dragon kneeling on the ground, suppressed by magic.

“I will tear them apart without mercy if they do not have the ability to completely destroy the tomb. Mr. Dragon, could you please put down the bones in your hands and withdraw the seal that cast the Gate of Bones? We do not want things to get any worse.”

"Brother Morokui!!!"

“This is my judgment, Princess, Mr. Dragon is more dangerous than you think.”

"Ha, just because he's also called 'Dragon'?" Priscilla sneered, but still tossed the skull of the rock back to the dragon's feet.

"No, because his forbidden creation has just been certified by the Salvation Council, and Mr. Dragon has become a member of the Destroyer level. Your tomb is in grave danger, my sister."

Principes clenched her fists and remained silent.

The Blue Dragon Priest released the restraints from the Rock and the dragon, then changed the subject.

"But gentlemen, trespassing into a tomb is ultimately a disrespectful act. I hope you can apologize to my sister and offer some compensation..."

"I want them to be shattered to pieces!" Principes roared like a dragon.

"Shattered to pieces? No problem!" The dragon responded even faster than the blue dragon priest. Under the watchful eyes of the Rock-Holding Ghost, Principes' astonishment, and Morokui's silence, the dragon easily broke off each of its bones, prying out another fragmented skeleton of itself from the constantly regenerating skeletal structure.

"Do you want more? Any amount is fine."

Principes stormed off in a huff.

Moroki removed his mask, revealing a skull face like the dragon's. A black dragon emblem adorned the pin of his robe. The scholar extended his hand toward the dragon.

“My code name is Scholar, and I am also a member of the Salvation Society, the Archon. Mr. Dragon, congratulations on becoming a member of the Salvation Society. Although this first meeting was not perfect, just like you, I am also one of Andrei's faculty members, currently a magic professor. I believe we will have a lot to talk about.”

"By the way, I am also your supervisor, [Immortal]."

Chapter 545 The Past of the Dragon Clan

"A scholar is a good teacher and helpful friend, as I think you should know. I have become the chief professor of Bone Spirit Conjuring, and my tomb raiding career with Zhiyan has come to an end." The gradually awakening sunlight illuminated the dew on the white bone table, and the light tore apart the shadows of the trees, scattering them at Lyle's feet.

Mr. Dragon concluded his past with a playful joke. "Sometimes I wonder if the scholar befriended me to prevent us from opening a second or third dragon priest's tomb. But it doesn't matter, a dead dragon priest is no match for a living one. I've gained a clearer understanding of these legendary creatures, dragons, and I desperately want to become a member of the dragon priests, but those few initially refused to accept me."

Lyle noticed the dragon's subtle smile, like the twitching and pulling of muscles. An ordinary person would probably have just glanced at it, but the lich was a master of managing a cold, expressionless demeanor.

"Teacher, have they changed their opinion of you?" Before the dragon could even reply, Lyle's heart raced with excitement. Had the dragon priests made a new move? Had the guide of the previous era finally stopped hiding himself?

The times are about to change.

The dragon did not reply; instead, it turned its gaze to Zhiyan.

"Zhiyan, I need to know the exact progress of your dragon research."

Zhiyan nodded, then traced runes on the bone table with his finger and explained them.

"In that dragon priest's tomb, I came into full contact with dragon language runes. Later, in a series of tombs, I also saw descriptions of dragons from the perspective of the servant races. Some doubts were answered, and I gained a general understanding of the dragon races. The general history of the Dragon Age is the story of the dragon races as masters and the servant races that submit to them. The dragon priests actually appeared in the later period of the Dragon Age. Some mature dragons, disgusted by the bloody ravages of their brutal dragon fathers, took a group of unyielding inferior races as their protectors."

"Excluding those 'abnormal' dragons, the remaining dragons are generally bloodthirsty and brutal mythical creatures, among whom their leader, the Dragonfather Yemotar, is the most cruel. Yemotar was the first dragon in history and the founder of the Dragon Age. The King of the Age, the eternally raging devourer, the descriptions of dragons by the survivors after their deaths are all filled with terror and hatred. Yemotar would kill and devour any other races that did not obey him, and some ancient races were wiped out because of his gluttony, leaving only ancient tomb ruins."

"After Yemotar, as the father of dragons, took control of the era, the dragon race rose to power. However, the increasingly intelligent mythical creatures began to deviate from their primitive instincts of eating raw meat and drinking blood, which led to the birth of the dragon priests."

"The Dragonfather's cruelty also sowed the seeds of future trouble for his people. Yemotar loved to eat people. I once saw an ancient scroll describing the Dragonfather in a tomb: 'His wings brought thunder, flames fell like rain from the clouds, and his roar was accompanied by a storm that swept up earth and stones, swallowing my people and our land whole... I was lucky enough to escape after he had eaten his fill, but my legs were corroded by the saliva he left behind. In my destroyed home, only I was left alone.' Humans, as a race that reproduces quickly and whose individual strength is weak, became the most delicious food for dragons."

"Until the Holy Light descends."

"During the Crusades, the paladins wiped out the dragons completely. The paladin leader killed the dragonfather Yemothal and then used an unknown spell to make the entire race pay with their leader."

“All the dragons are dead, and the dragon priests, who were already on the fringes of the dragon herd, have also disappeared.”

Lyle held his breath. The history Mr. Zhiyan presented was quite different from what he had imagined. The scholar, as a dragon priest, had given him a humble impression, leading Lyle to regard dragons as sacred and noble creatures, especially with Mr. Long's encouragement. But now, Lyle discovered that the masters of the previous era weren't so gentle after all. Society is always crueler than one imagines.

"Most dragons are scoundrels, terrifying predators to us. But there are good among the bad. Those dragons who nurtured the dragon priests and bestowed wisdom upon them are like lotuses growing from mud. They defied the will of their dragon father, protecting the weaker races and helping them grow stronger. These dragons, seen as traitors by the dragons, are precisely the dragons most revered by the dragon priests. If it weren't for the powerful intervention of the Holy Light, I suspect the original course of history would have been the story of the dragon priests rising up and rebelling against their dragon father."

"Most of the tombs are about historical records. I learned a lot about the structure of the dragons themselves from the tomb built by that woman, but most of the records are in the tombs of the paladins who participated in the Crusades. Their records are very detailed and they have some understanding of the dragons' form and weaknesses."

"Dragons are generally giant reptiles with a vertebral structure similar to that of snakes. They have a pair of wing bones in their forelimbs, perhaps because they need flesh and blood to support powerful wings that propel them into flight. Therefore, dragons' forelimbs are relatively small and lack physical lethality. However, as powerful spellcasters, those slender forelimbs become their strongest magical organs. Moreover, that location is close to their reverse scales, behind which lies the heart, defined in mysticism as the 'core.' The magical power gathered in their hands can be quickly transmitted to the core and transformed into deadly breath."

"This is the information I have, but it's only a rough estimate. To break through this constraint... you'll have to get me some dragon bone fossils to interpret."

Mr. Dragon tapped his fingers on the table, looking at Zhiyan with his eyes narrowed into slits.

"If you were given a complete dragon skeleton, to what extent could you accumulate knowledge?"

Mr. Zhiyan froze for a moment, his eyes glazed over, and then his body began to tremble violently. His handsome face appeared sinister in his smile. He clenched his fists and answered arrogantly.

"As long as it's intact, regardless of any damage, I will deduce every single scale on its head for you."

Lyle was still processing the dragon's meaning when the dragon's question shifted to him.

"My student, if you possess complete information about a living being, how much of your evil god creation could you accomplish?"

Lyle gasped and answered after a moment.

“I might… perhaps be able to… create his body, but only a body, because it’s difficult to create a soul that fits the creation through soul science, and my soul science is terrible. If I let Omen handle it, the result might be very… distorted.”

The dragon stood up, its towering figure blocking out the sun.

"That's enough. I only need that physical body."

"...Teacher Dragon, what are you trying to do..."

"Become a dragon."