Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

"I was indeed a human in my previous life, not some savage living alone in the wilderness. I once lived in a village, but I died here." The giant dragon continued forward without looking back, uttering a few simple words.

"As expected, teacher, you have your own story too..."

"Well, but if you're expecting something like a life-or-death struggle, a thrilling epic, or a heroic fate... my student, you might be disappointed." The dragon stopped and picked up Mr. Zhiyan, who, without external assistance, could no longer keep up with the two of them.

“My death was ordinary, like a speck of dust.” The dragon patted Lyle on the shoulder. “We’ll talk to you about the rest when we get home. I want to talk to you. Now let’s get going, my student.”

Your death was like dust, but it awakened Andrei's dragon, the chief professor of Bone Consecration, one of the Salvation Society's calamities.

Mr. Dragon's already imposing figure took on a touch of ethereal elegance in Lyle's eyes, just as he believed that, aside from matters of animal affection, Mr. Dragon was undoubtedly a respected elder.

After walking a few dozen steps, the view suddenly opened up, revealing a vast clearing surrounded by ferns. There was no vegetation taller than knee-high, and the ground beneath our feet felt firm and compact—a suitable place to live, only it was too large. The Dragon Mentor's "home" wasn't much different from his room in the Cup of Luxury; perhaps that room had been copied from here.

Piles of skeletons lay scattered, some half-buried underground, others exposed on the surface. Some had already acquired sentience, moving about as they had in life. The dragon hadn't created many aberrant creatures; he had merely awakened them from the earth, various natural beings forming the dragon's home in a skeletal and terrifying way.

This is a burial ground, not just for dragons; it is the final resting place for all beasts and spirits. The dragon is the only human buried here, which explains his peculiar love of animals.

“The power of the Gate of Bones will disturb them; they are just as timid and fragile as they were in life. But I cannot interfere with the climate-regulating array set up in the jungle, so we have to walk a bit to get home.”

“I understand your actions, mentor.” Lyle took a small step back, letting the frolicking skeletal velociraptor pass by.

The dragon laughed, turned around, and entrusted Mr. Zhiyan to take care of his little animals. He then led Lyle to the side to a house piled with bones. Inside was a simple square box, which looked like a replica of a small wooden house, but was empty inside.

Mr. Dragon sat with Lyle on the bone steps of the doorway, watching side by side as Mr. Zhiyan was chased by these skeletal beasts.

“Mr. Zhiyan is not good at dealing with them.”

“Zhiyan is good at observing people’s hearts, which is why he readily agreed to deal with the skeletal creatures that he is not good at.” The usually brave dragon seemed a little conflicted, which conflicted with his style of managing the Manu tribe, making Lyle a little worried that he might have been influenced by Krossis.

“Do you remember our plan, Lyle, the Dragon Project?”

“I remember, sir. With my power combined with the knowledge of the Rock-Holding One, we will transform you into a true dragon.”

Mr. Dragon clasped his hands together. "That's destined to be a rather difficult plan, not only in terms of power, but also because of some of my own dilemmas..."

"I will not regret the process of transforming into a dragon, but I have a premonition that once I become a dragon, something in my body will undergo a complete and irreversible change."

“Lyle, I want to talk to you. If possible, I would like to keep Mr. Dragon’s ‘humanity’ in your hands.”

“Even the most ordinary story needs a listener, I mean, if you’re willing, my student. Can you remember me now, no matter what I become in the future?”

Lyle opened his arms, drawing in the surrounding bone fragments with magic, which combined in his hands to form a bone flower. This was the bone necromancy technique taught to him by the dragon.

"It is quite difficult for me to forget you; your shadow is present in every spell I cast."

The dragon held its head in its hands, its body swaying back and forth slightly.

“Okay, at least I don’t have to worry about losing myself, but I still need to dig into my memories from before I died. Compared to my experiences after I died, my life seems quite pure. Let me search in my soul; that’s something from a very long time ago.”

The massive mountain wall at the edge of the field of vision guarded the dragon's home. Lyle sat on the steps, his consciousness gradually sinking into this wilderness, accompanied by the sound of bones grinding as Mr. Dragon swayed.

“I remember now, my life began in a hunter’s family.”

"This part is somewhat ironic, in retrospect."

Chapter 570 Death is Life

“When I was young, I showed differences from ordinary people. As you can see, I am very tall. Scholars have speculated that some of my bloodlines can be traced back to ancient humans, but I know that they are wrong.”

“My body is enormous, but my organs are those of an ordinary human. Even if I were a size larger overall, I couldn't move my body. I am tall, but weak; even doing simple housework makes me sweat profusely. Needing to take care of my daily needs, I naturally have little social interaction. My hunter father raised me like this until I was in my twenties. He was an excellent hunter, with a man's stubbornness and a naive dream. He believed my body was a gift, and that all I lacked was nutrition…”

“I grew up eating the flesh of deer, hares, and pheasants. By the time I reached adulthood, I was taller than the threshold of the hunter's hut, my massive body taking up a large portion of the space. So indoor meals became picnics, but picnics are dangerous. I know you'll find this absurd, my student, but it's true. The prey hunters get doesn't belong to them. The surrounding forests belong to those noble lords, and my father was a cunning poacher. He fed me with stolen meat.”

"I always remember his small figure carrying his hunting bow as he walked into the mountains. Almost every time he went out, he would say goodbye to me, or rather, leave a message: 'If I don't come back, don't hate them; we were just taking what we needed.' Hunting is dangerous; even the most experienced hunters fail. Brown bears or jackals—those beasts with scars on their faces are always more dangerous. Looking back now, I may have misunderstood that man's meaning. Because he wasn't killed by a rebellious beast, but by the lord discovering his poaching. When the twelfth maple leaf fell, that man was hanged on the village's execution platform."

"I have completely lost my pillar of support, and my enormous body has only brought me pressure. I don't remember my name from when I was alive, because no one calls me by it anymore. Humans did not accept me, and I was driven out of this little house, to forage for food in the wilderness and perish on my own." Mr. Dragon patted the door frame of the skeleton building, perhaps in remembrance.

"The lessons I learned from hunting stories didn't help me survive for long. Some wild fruits and vegetables couldn't satisfy my appetite, and I wandered on in a daze, suffering from hunger and cold... Then, I encountered a black bear."

"A bear?" Lyle thought of the bear spirit he encountered in Levisel; this enormous, incredibly strong carnivore hadn't left him with a good impression. Nia, on the other hand, immediately licked her serrated teeth and giggled.

“I could have intimidated the black bear with my size, made him feel threatened and leave… if I was even in the mood. The situation was that I was starving, my trousers were covered in moss, and I was crawling through the jungle almost paralyzed. Then I saw the black bear, saw the wound from an arrow in his right ear, he was staring at me fiercely, and I could smell the stench coming from his mouth.”

"So I carefully... pried a chanterelle mushroom off the side of the bear's paw, and immediately put it in my mouth to chew. While swallowing, I stared at the black bear with my big eyes."

Lyle was stunned. Was the dragon mentor so fierce and calm in his lifetime?

"I've just decided to die a full-bodied ghost, at least to ensure my esophagus is stuffed when I die. My chances of survival are already slim, so it would be foolish to complain to life." Mr. Dragon removed his dragon priest mask, relaxed his shoulder blades as if searching for that feeling, and two streams of magic entered the cavity of his nostrils, guiding the soul flame in his head to burn even brighter.

Liches don't need to breathe, and Lyle believes this is the dragon's way of letting him understand his profound shock.

“Animals also have their own wisdom and their own souls. At least I saw his soul in the eyes of the black bear.”

"He didn't kill me, but slowly turned and walked away."

“I had a special feeling at the time, like I had awakened some kind of druidic talent. I understood what the black bear meant, so I followed him.”

“My intuition was right. That black bear really did become my companion. He led me to new food, some food storage places that only wild animals knew, and several streams rich in aquatic life.”

"A black bear accepted me, accepted the monsters of the human world."

"At that time, my mouth was covered with fish scales, and my throat tasted blood and the deliciousness of fish. I had never felt so real, as if I had been reborn."

"Then I died."

"..." Lyle was getting a little annoyed by Mr. Dragon's dramatic story. He had originally thought that Mr. Dragon would live a life of seclusion among the wilderness and wild beasts, becoming a human druid, accumulating knowledge, and truly rising to prominence after death. But after being reborn? He just died again?

"Nature is both kind and cruel. When I encountered the black bear, my body had become a melting pot of natural infectious diseases. I was not surprised when my calves were covered with mushrooms one morning. Forest fever and fungal inflammation were gnawing at my mind, and I, in my weakness, ultimately did not survive."

If only I had a healthy body.

"I must have had this last wish when I died, otherwise I would have been born as I am today."

“Immortal and indestructible, bones that will never perish.” Mr. Dragon pointed to the area below the experimental platform in the center of the open space. “When I was resurrected as a lich, I was brought here, piled up among the bones of wild beasts, indistinguishable from them. The black bear was nowhere to be found, leaving only bite marks on my leg bones. This was the grave he chose for me, and it also became the place of my resurrection.”

"In the beginning, I was very fragile. My bones were as fragile as biscuits, but I already had unlimited resources. At first, I was excited. I manipulated this skeletal body to run and climb through the woods, until the lich's emptiness extinguished all my enthusiasm."

"I wander aimlessly in the wilderness..."

"Then I saw one of my lich kin awaken another skeleton."

“That was the Dean. He extended an invitation to me and told me the name of the power that awakens companions.”

"Spirit Summoning Technique".

"I began to delve into this power in order to revive the skeletons that slept with me. When I came to my senses, I had become Mr. Dragon, the chief professor of Andrei Bone Consecration."

"As I said, my life is very bleak, as is that of my students."

"But after I die, I believe I will be no less than anyone else."

Mr. Dragon put on the dragon priest mask again.

"Next, I will become a legend."

Chapter 571 Ideals and Allies

"The prerequisite is that you pass the final exam for your Bone Spirit Consecration Studies, my student."

Lyle pondered the connection between Mr. Dragon's legendary status and his own exam results.

"You mean the Dragon Creation Project?"

Mr. Dragon rubbed his hands excitedly, “Zhiyan has thoroughly analyzed the information of the Gem Dragon Bone, which means he possesses all the physical data of the Dragon's eldest son, Kolanak. And you, my student, your power of creation will help me become a skeletal dragon, a true dragon skeleton. My forbidden creation, the Sea of ​​Bones, and I will provide you with the raw materials, and all you need to do is twist my bones into dragon bones according to the information provided by Zhiyan.”

My Bone Conjuration Studies graduation exam consisted of dismantling and transforming my mentor, twisting his body structure into a legendary creature, a dragon.

No matter how much Lyle had mentally prepared himself, he still felt strange when he learned that his graduation exam would involve "killing" his tutor.

"This is a completely new path, Master Dragon, a crazy plan, a forbidden transformation that no one has ever accomplished before."

The dragon chuckled and gently patted Lyle on the shoulder.

"Therefore, you will be the first, my student. When you succeed, everyone in Andre who studies spirit possession will remember your name. Andre's pioneer of dragon transformation."

"What if I fail?"

Mr. Dragon suddenly turned his head and looked at Lyle with a deep gaze.

“Then I will become your nightmare. I will become a giant skeletal monster that you created, I will become your shame, a stain on your lich career! And believe me, I will never hide myself, you will be labeled as a master-killer and continue your lich life... It seems, it's not such a big deal, hahaha, so don't feel pressured, my student.”

Mr. Dragon's first thought wasn't about his own future or safety, but rather the negative impact he would have on Lyle. Although the lich's disregard for death was one factor, Lyle was still deeply moved.

"I will do my best, Master Dragon."

The dragon stroked Lyle's head with satisfaction.

"Of course you have to give me your all, or I'll beat you to death."

Lyle felt that the dragon's grip was a bit too strong. Under this pressure, his mind began to work at lightning speed, thinking about the details of the plan.

"But, Master, your talent is [Immortality]. Putting aside your physical strength as a master of Bone Spirit Conjurer, even if we modify your skeleton, won't it revert to your original form the next moment based on your talent?"

The dragon's talent can instantly repair his combat damage. Let alone a comprehensive, large-scale modification, even if you just thin a layer off his finger bones, it will return to its original state.

"Don't worry, I've already found a solution to the talent issue. The method to counter [Undying and Immortal]... How much do you know about Bone Marrow Fluid, my student?"

"A magical liquid extracted from highly magical bones can help liches repair their bodies and strengthen their bones, turning fragile death spellcasters into warriors with physical strength comparable to demons."

"Your studies are still outstanding, even though you haven't even undergone a single bone-forging ritual. Marrow fluid can absorb the essence of bones and also reveal some of the bones' innate properties. For example, the marrow fluid extracted from my bones is a highly effective healing medicine. I've been wanting to recommend it to you in class, but you haven't even lost a single little finger." The dragon expressed his regret and continued.

“I sought the help of scholars and exchanged secrets with journalists. Finally, I found a way to temporarily conceal my talent through an ancient ritual. Using that method, I created some dead marrow fluid. This special fluid, transformed from my talent [Immortality] into [Destruction], can temporarily eliminate my talent.”

"Just before this marrow cools, Lyle, you must transform my bones into dragon bones. There can be no mistakes; once it cools, the new talent will shape my body into that twisted form."

"You only have one chance, my student."

“But as long as there is new bone marrow fluid, can’t we start your transformation again, teacher?”

“There won’t be any new ones.” The dragon took a small bowl of black liquid from its pocket; it was dissipating, emitting dangerous magic. “The [Destruction] property of the dead bone marrow fluid affects itself; it’s decreasing every moment. And the raw material for this special fluid is my forbidden creation. The Sea of ​​Bones is different from my inexhaustible bone products; we share the same origin. Perhaps these materials can regenerate, but I can’t wait any longer. Neither can they.”

Mr. Dragon used his forbidden creations as raw materials to produce these special marrow fluids. He consumed more than half of them, and the remainder was used to build the dragon bones. In other words, regardless of the outcome of the dragon-making project, Mr. Dragon's strength will decline. His ability to imprint bones will disappear, and if he hadn't inherited the Manu clan, he wouldn't even be able to satisfy the needs of the four locked clans.

Lyle couldn't help but ponder, willing to give up everything he had for the sake of the dragon's body.

Is it really worth it?

“Of course it’s worth it, because of love, because of passion. I would become a dragon at any cost, for myself…” The dragon hesitated for a moment, “and for the dragon priests, for my friends. They are already suffocating under the Holy Light, they have lost their purpose, like empty liches, and they cannot find a way to salvation…”

"Then I would become their dragon out of selfish desire. Zhiyan, in his pursuit of antiquity, could wander eternally in tombs... Scholars, to protect their people, would kill their mentors, their own dragons... Raymond, that guy, became Andrei's nemesis for the sake of humanity..."