Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

The devout Kolosis closed his eyes.

Lyle was indeed changing, but not in the way of the eldest son of a dragon ascending to become a dragon king; it was a true melting. His scalp had been melted away by the light of the dragon crown! The dragon crown was an artifact of dragon priests and dragons; it would not cooperate with evil gods, and was even their natural enemy. The light of the dragon crown completely revealed Lyle's disguise. Black sludge flowed within the gem-encrusted corpse, and the ominous, twisted, and deformed body was temporarily concealed by the intense light.

"Shield your senses, Klose!"

"Why, noble dragon?"

I want to give you a surprise.

"I understand." The Dragon Priest felt a little hopeful.

"Sing the number one hundred in your mind, Kolosis."

"Ok."

In the third second, realizing that Klose had truly blocked his senses, Lyle grabbed the dragon crown and ran for his life, not forgetting to grab Mr. Rock as he went. The Ominous Titan crawled on all fours on the ground. Now was the time to escape, faster!! Faster!!!

Lyle's blood boiled. The Dragon Crown! Hahaha!! I tricked the seven-locked dragon priest into stealing it!!!

One hundred seconds later, Klose opened his eyes.

He did see a surprise.

The gem-encrusted dragon skeleton, filled with the filth of the evil god, lost its support and scattered across the ground. The giant dragon's skull opened up and down towards him, its split jawbone seemingly emitting a piercing, maniacal laugh.

Your dragon is gone, and so is your dragon crown.

"No!!!!!!!"

Kolosis's scream echoed in Ashplink, like the roar of a dragon.

Chapter 563 The Sealed One

The charging black giant smashed through the protective runes of Ashplink Cave. Lyle was now exposed, so there was no longer any worry about infiltrating with restraint. All he needed to do was escape, charging swiftly towards the woodland with redwood shards.

The Ominous Giant's semi-shadowed body was incredibly swift, having already covered a third of the distance. Just then, Ashplink's cave exploded, and the Dragon Priest Chloesis, riding his jeweled dragon, smashed through the cave and flew towards Lyle.

"Damn evil spirit!!! I'll make you pay!!!" Krossis roared, the dragon magic transmitted through the roar affecting Lyle. The shadowy sludge was boiling, the ominous avatar was disintegrating, and to maintain speed, Lyle endured the scalding sludge sticking to his body, like being thrown into a pot of boiling oil. The power of a low-level evil god was no match for dragon magic, like a match about to ignite. He sped along, leaving trails of sludge from the ominous avatar.

First, it corrupted the flesh and blood tentacles absorbed by the entire mechanical city, causing them to disintegrate. What remained were branches as withered as tree spirits, and shadowy sludge constantly gushing from its body. Shedding its flesh and blood shell actually made the avatar a little lighter. Lyle, like a long-legged spider with slender limbs, charged forward with disordered steps.

But four legs are no match for wings, and the gem dragon approached at a speed that filled Lyle with despair. Moreover, Lyle sensed the malicious sludge returning, and this avatar was about to face its first exhaustion. Dragon magic had drained his power, and soon Lyle would revert to human form, a speed that, to the dragon, would be practically motionless.

The dragon priest's magical pressure must be diverted, even if only for a few seconds.

In the center of the gaunt incarnation, Lyle's outline was constantly being reshaped, and a tentacle pulled the rock-clawed creature in front of him.

"Zhiyan!!! Now you understand!!!"

The bombardment of the gem dragon's breath continued, and amidst the dazzling light, Mr. Zhiyan spread his hands.

"I don't have a choice either."

“That’s right.” Lyle snorted and stuffed Mr. Zhiyan into the mangled mouth of the ominous incarnation, swallowing him whole. Then he spat him out. Not only was Mr. Zhiyan unharmed, but he also had a ball of bright, sun-like silver light in his hand—it was the dragon crown.

The tentacles bound the shimmering Rock into a ball, pulling it horizontally to its limit. Then, using the crawling ominous figure as the center, it began a high-speed circular motion. Mr. Rock was already flung away by the tentacles, and the dazzling flash transformed into a halo surrounding Lyle. Then, Lyle released the tentacles.

Having received Newton's blessing, Mr. Zhiyan, having pushed centrifugal force to its limit, flew out, wearing a dragon crown, and rushed out at a speed that a gem dragon could not catch up with in a short time.

"Don't even think about it!" roared the dragon priest Klose. The gem dragon opened its massive maw, unleashing its long-concentrated dragon breath towards the flung Mr. Zhiyan. The gem dragon breath, compressed to its limit, created an explosive rain of lasers that shredded everything around Mr. Zhiyan. The blazing beams pierced through Mr. Zhiyan's body, some bones instantly disappearing within them. But it was all in vain; Mr. Zhiyan, clutching his dragon crown, continued to fly forward.

It appears that Mr. Zhiyan has escaped the Dragon Priest's pursuit.

Kolosis revealed his hidden trump card.

"Roar!" The gem dragon roared, and its massive body vanished into thin air. Upon closer inspection, it became clear that it hadn't disappeared, but rather entered a crystal formed by the dragon's breath. This was the gem dragon's unique ability: crystal teleportation.

The beam of light that the Gem Dragon had previously unleashed not only shattered the Rock, but also created a massive number of crystalline portals around it. Right behind the Rock, amidst a shower of tiny crystalline fragments, the enormous dragon tail slammed solidly into its body.

The gem dragon, accompanied by the dragon priest, forced the flying rock-cutter to a halt.

The dragon's tail whip shattered his fragile bones, and Mr. Zhiyan crashed into a protruding rock. The flashlight he was holding fell off and landed not far away.

Zhiyan cracked and sprang to his feet. His lower body was shattered, his left arm was gone, and only the index finger bone of his surviving right hand remained. He looked worse than a tattered doll. A flickering flame of his soul burned within the hole in his skull. He looked at the ball of light that had fallen not far away and weakly reached out his hand.

“This is mine, you thief.”

In this short distance, the Rock and the light were separated by a giant dragon and a dragon priest. Kroxis glanced at the almost destroyed Rock, then reached out and grabbed the ball of light.

"My... dragon crown... ah!!! It's fake!!!!"

As the light fell to the ground and the magical support dissipated, the "Dragon Crown" turned into a pile of various ethnic scripts. It was a counterfeit created by Zhiyan, and anyone who touched it would have the information from these scripts implanted into their mind.

And the meaning of these words is...

"Flash! Flash! Flash! Flash!..."

Kroos lowered his hand. This kind of mental shock was not very harmful to the dragon priest, but it was extremely insulting.

"Do you like it, baby? My specially made sparkling bullet." Zhiyan opened his mouth wide, and his jawbone, which was broken in two, cracked loudly.

Mr. Zhiyan, the Ancient One with keen insight, inherited all the information of the dragon Kolanak. Knowing the unique crystal teleportation of the Gem Dragons, how could Lyle and Zhiyan not be wary? They split up, but Zhiyan was merely bait. As he had said before, Mr. Zhiyan was the perfect cannon fodder when necessary. Although Zhiyan personally hated taking the fall for others—"You're all stronger than me, why do I have to take the hit?"—this complaint was frequent. But besides being weak, Zhiyan had another identity: he was the Guardian of the Ancients (though self-proclaimed). He wouldn't allow the Manu race to become history.

"You! This! Damn bug!!!"

The enraged dragon priest climbed back onto the dragon and, before taking flight again, unleashed a breath of gem-encrusted dragonfire at the Rock.

Zhiyan chuckled, placed the finger bone he had bitten off earlier onto the middle finger of his right hand, and then, aiming at the soaring dragon and its dazzling breath, made the hand gesture. He roared, laughing and cursing.

"Hahahaha! You stupid dragon priest!! I, Zhiyan, am the nightmare of all dragon priests!!!"

"You just wait!!!! When I get out!!! I'll dig up your grave!!!"

Then, Mr. Zhiyan withdrew his eggs.

Damn it, I'm going to get tortured by the Dragon Priest again. Last time it was freezing, what is it this time?

As the beam of light fell, the skeleton of Zhiyan was sealed within the crystal.

Sealed within the bright red crystals, Zhiyan's skull cracked open with laughter.

Chapter 564 Teaching Time

The pressure on the dragon priest was momentarily relieved, and using the time gained by the Rock-Holding Hand, Lyle moved a considerable distance further towards the target woodland. He had infiltrated Ashplink at dusk; now, it was a dark night. The dim starlight in the sky couldn't compare to the brilliance of the gem-encrusted dragon's breath behind him, nor to the increasingly dazzling gem-encrusted dragon crown in Lyle's hands.

The dragon's power relentlessly scorched the ominous avatar, finally exhausting its twisted divine power. Its withered limbs snapped and vanished as it ran, and Nia's tentacles immediately rose to its feet. Without any protection, only Nia and Lyle remained running under the night sky.

The claws at the tips of the tentacles pierced the ground, using the stretching of flesh to propel the body forward. Once the main body surpassed the forceful tentacles, the front structure degenerated into soft flesh, reducing drag. Lyle had to squeeze out every last bit of his strength, because the jeweled dragon with outstretched wings had already let out a deafening roar, its glowing body swooping down towards Lyle.

There was still a third of the distance left, but even that last bit felt like an insurmountable barrier for Lyle.

The beam of light had already crashed down, and Nia, anticipating it, shifted her position, the debris from the exploding ground only two meters away from Lyle. The flying crystals hurtled towards Lyle's face like bullets, but Nia stepped in front of him to shield him.

"Gulp!" Pain struck both of them simultaneously. Lyle endured it, adjusting his body angle to use the impact as a propulsive force. Nia curled up to swallow the crystal that had pierced her flesh, chewing and digesting it quickly, making sure not to leave any mirror surface for the crystal to transmit.

But all of this was in vain; Nia's speed of digesting the crystals could never match the speed of the dragon's breath bombardment.

"I told you, I'll make you pay the price!!!" Kroos, who had already gone mad, roared. The body of the gem dragon disappeared once again, and when he reappeared, he was right behind Lyle.

The dragon's skull emerged from the crystal, facing the skinny thief in front of it, its jaws wide open.

Lyle's shadow had already appeared in front of him; it was the light of the gem dragon shining on his body from close range.

Gritting his teeth, Lyle didn't turn around. The dragon's mouth was closing, its hard teeth already piercing the resisting tentacles, and in the next moment it would plunge into Lyle's abdomen, tearing him in two.

With a snap, the dragon's snout closed, but amidst the fangs, only twitching, broken tentacles and tentacles remained.

"How could this be! I clearly moved to the correct distance precisely." Klossis was puzzled, but soon he found the reason. Beside the dazzling light of the gem dragon, a faint glow, an inconspicuous yet undeniably present voice, was striving to emit its own firefly-like light.

It was a gem manu, whose slender and tall body was insignificant compared to the dragon, but the dazzling magical light in his hand drew all the crystals to gather around him.

“You cannot approach our guests, Mad King Klosis.”

“You’ve taken away our hope once, and there won’t be a second time.”

A roaring dragon breath blasted the gem Manu into crystalline fragments, and Kroos roared in fury.

"You shameful traitor! How dare you defy me!!"

"It's not me, it's us!" One by one, the gem Manu crawled out of the ground, forming a starry sky in the night, their faint light like a galaxy, illuminating Lyle's path ahead.

Kate and Marcelo supported the crystallized Destan, as the frail bodies of the Manu faced their mad king.

"We will be your stumbling block, Klose!"

The dragon priest's rage nearly set the night ablaze.

"Gestain! You pathetic traitors who can't see the future!!!"

Destan didn't answer. A bright purple light enveloped each of the Gem Manu, transforming them into highly efficient crystal absorbers. Every crystal created by the Gem Dragon's Breath was drawn to the Gem Manu, interfering with crystal teleportation and causing Krossis's pursuit to always lag behind Lyle. And when Krossis abandoned teleportation and prepared to fly in pursuit, the Gem Manu would create a fragile crystal barrier, layer upon layer, blocking the dragon priest's path. When the enraged dragon priest destroyed them, the despicable thief had escaped a little further.

The dragon crown was the most important thing, so Kolosis gritted his teeth and smashed through every barrier built by the Manu tribe, relentlessly following Lyle.

"Run! Coward! I will find you! When I catch you, I will turn you into a crystal, grind you into powder, and adorn my dragon crown with it!!!"

Few of the Manu tribe survived, and Kroxis eventually broke through their defenses, relentlessly pursuing Lyle.

A long-awaited dragon's breath suddenly erupted, the splashing earth and rocks causing the exhausted Lyle to stumble. He lost his balance, tumbling several times with Nia before finally crashing headfirst into a broken red cypress tree stump.

Kolosis let out a triumphant roar.

"Why did you stop running! Thief! Face me! Face your defeat!!!"

Lyle rolled over and leaned against the tree stump. He first reached up and touched the top of his head, where a large bump had swelled up from the impact. He touched it out of curiosity, and Lyle winced in pain.

"It hurts!"

"Nia, pat me!" The thoughtful Nia wrapped her tentacles around Lyle's head and poured a numbing mucus over Lyle's head.

The dragon priest was furious at the dragon's arrogant attitude. The gem dragon stretched out its forepaws and plunged them into the sand. Lyle placed the dragon crown on his lap and carefully blew away the sand stuck to it.

"Are you ready to face death calmly, thief? I must say, you are the only low-level spellcaster who has been able to hold out against my pursuit for so long. Heh, to be able to steal my dragon crown, you are quite remarkable... However, a rough gem is still a rough gem."

Lyle smiled sheepishly, as if the dragon priest standing in front of him were an old friend.

"Coincidentally, my teacher often says the same thing."

"Hmph, I will tell your teacher what an overconfident student you are. When I rule the world."

The gem dragon opened its massive jaws, preparing to deliver the final blow.