allendalepharm Page 323
Page 323
Under the rule of the Purple Dragon, at least it didn't have to worry about being killed by its own kind because of its inferior race. The Purple Dragon would not allow its dragons to kill each other.
The bad news is... Shiryu is an evil and tyrannical ruler, and working under her, it will probably not be easy to accumulate a treasure belonging to an adult dragon.
In terms of intelligence and charisma, no matter what the competition is, the degraded Iron Dragon could never beat the Purple Dragon.
This means that even if it reaches adulthood and possesses power at least at the seventh rank, it will still be difficult to escape Zhuang Daihua's control.
"And you, will you submit or die?"
The energy blade had already grazed the rusty neck, and the degraded iron dragon, whose strength was only slightly greater than that of a white dragon of the same age, was simply unable to withstand such an attack.
"I...I'll listen to you!"
The savage mind couldn't afford much thought, and Red Rust lowered its head. It could accept any outcome as long as it wasn't killed by the pure-blooded Iron Dragon beside it.
The degraded Iron Dragon's intelligence is at most equivalent to that of a carnivorous beast. Its ability to acquire this knowledge during its youth is entirely due to the Iron Dragon's legacy.
Even as a lesser species, as a member of the sub-Iron Dragon clan, it will inherit the legacy of the Iron Dragons. Naturally, it will learn about other dragon species.
This inheritance is like an instinct, like the ability to breathe from birth. The lineage of the Atheron is formed by the transmission and connection of each great dragon.
They are born recognizing many things, which allows the degraded Iron Dragons, even if they are not very intelligent, to acquire knowledge in the environment where they are fed by the Gnolls.
Zhuang Daihua cast an appraisal spell, and the degraded iron dragon in front of her had long been in its adolescence. It had only grown to its current size of over six meters under the almost lavish care of the gnolls.
"Hmph~ You're lucky, you inferior wretch. I won't kill you; I was just playing with you."
The inferior Iron Dragon is not without a future; as long as its bloodline potential is tapped, it can still regain the power of its bloodline.
Red Rust also knew that he was able to hold out for a while without being killed in a fight against his own kind with pure blood.
It's like a white dragon and a red dragon fighting hand-to-hand on land; the only explanation for this outcome is that Qin Lan deliberately held back.
After some integration, this gnoll tribe was not small, with over four hundred people. Inspired by Chief Yeno's voluntary surrender, they were all willing to submit to Zhuang Daihua.
"Very good, pack up what you can. From now on, everyone move into my demiplane."
Zhuang Daihua's words left both the gnolls and the Red Rust speechless. They couldn't comprehend what a demiplane was.
Fortunately, Qin He had prepared a highly versatile excuse for Zhuang Daihua in advance.
"Foolish hyenas, lowly inferior dragons! Listen up, I am the Purple Dragon from the Netherworld Kite Clan of the Nine Hells!"
"You worthless trash are fortunate enough to bow your heads and grovel at my feet!"
Having taken the identity of the young dragon heiress of the Purple Dragon family from Volper, Zhuang Daihua first gave him a severe dressing-down before transforming back into human form.
Interestingly, Volper did indeed hold a very high position within the Purple Dragon's Dark Phoenix Clan.
The jackals understood that the Purple Dragon before them was a pampered young lady, above all dragons in the Nine Hells. Her coming to the Prime Material Plane was purely for experiencing life.
As light emanated from the girl's fingertips, all the gnolls and corrupted iron dragons present were drawn into the demiplane.
While they were staring in disbelief, Qin Lan didn't forget to deliver the final blow:
“Fools, this is a demiplane ring! In addition to its spatial storage capabilities, it also contains a creation spell that opens up a small world where your kin can rest and recuperate.”
Here, the dog-headed people have already established basic rivers and vegetation, and have begun to develop agriculture, including planting and animal husbandry.
The jackals live in demiplane rings, so their food supply is not a problem for the time being.
If all else fails, Zhuang Daihua will release them when it is time to hunt.
The addition of these four hundred or so new recruits will not actually consume too many resources.
[New Familiar]: Subdue the Gnoll tribe as a new familiar (1/1).
Mission reward: 100 War Wolves (absolutely loyal to your side).
[Survival of the fittest]: Defeat the degraded Iron Dragon and capture it (1/1).
Quest Reward: 1 copy of the "Skin Carving Dragon" advanced class training manual.
A notification popped up indicating that the mission was complete, but Zhuang Daihua did not rush to claim the dire wolf.
Qin He told her that their current retinue was almost full, and with the addition of these hundred dire wolves, the dry rations and meat they had previously purchased from the Palico chef would not be enough.
There's no need for the gnolls to ride their war wolves and fight other enemies yet. For now, it's enough to let them stay in the demiplane ring.
The dire wolf is right there; it won't starve or disappear even if she doesn't claim it, so there's no need to rush.
Next, the most useful method is the advanced training method for the Carved Skin Dragon after subduing the degraded Iron Dragon.
The Carved Skin Dragon is one of the advanced classes that Lawful Dragons can choose.
Purple Dragon is a chaotic and evil dragon species, but Zhuang Daihua's natural alignment is lawful and neutral. Therefore, she might also be able to advance in that direction.
The Skin-Carving Dragon grants dragons various resistances and reduces damage from spells.
To cultivate into a dragon with etched skin, one needs to inscribe runes on its scales using magic, granting the cultivator incredible magical protection.
Most creatures that can become Carved-skin Dragons are true dragons. This is because many dragons, land dragons, wyverns, and other dragon-like creatures lack the thick scales necessary for acquiring profession rune carving.
As for the types of monsters such as flying dragons, beast dragons, toothed dragons, and ancient dragons, they are completely unable to use magic, so they are not suited for this training method.
Among the many dragon species, the Iron Dragon happens to possess scales suitable for becoming a Leather Dragon. Their scales are larger than those of the Red Dragon and Silver Dragon.
Even beginners can quickly enjoy the benefits of the Carved Skin Dragon. Upon reaching level two, Qin Lan will gain the additional feat of suppressing weaknesses.
This means that she can try to fight even if she faces an opponent with ice magic or natural energy.
Similarly, upon advancing to level two, her resistance to various poisons will also significantly increase.
When Qin Lan reached the third level of cultivation, she was able to select two energy forms that she was not immune to, resistant to, or vulnerable to, and thus gain a certain degree of resistance.
The available resistance runes are fire, acid, sonic, cold, and lightning; she can choose two from these five.
Iron Dragons are immune to fire, but take double damage from cold. Aside from fire and cold, which are inherent to their element, they are vulnerable to acid, lightning, and sonic attacks; they must choose two of these resistances.
The dragons that use sonic damage are the Sapphire Dragon and the Emerald Dragon. As gem dragons, they have a fairly good relationship with the Iron Dragon, and can even become allies.
Therefore, Qin Lan can blindly refer to some of the ways that Golden Dragons choose to become employees and choose to obtain acid corrosion resistance and lightning resistance after reaching level three.
The profession of Carving Skin Dragon is basically a great help in fighting evil dragons. For dragons with sensitive identities like Iron Dragon, learning this profession is absolutely beneficial.
Upon reaching level four, Qin Lan will also receive a boost to her mental abilities. She can gain resistance to bewitching spells through runes, and her own defensive capabilities will also increase significantly.
Furthermore, once she reaches level five, she can reduce a certain percentage of regular damage.
At level six, she can even choose to be immune to a type of damage for which she already has resistance.
For the other type of damage that you have resistance to, you can choose to double that resistance. You will also gain some resistance to the remaining third type of energy.
Regarding the choice of this third energy source, the fire-type dragon subspecies cannot choose cold, and the cold-type dragon subspecies cannot choose fire.
Following the most standard advancement path for the Golden Dragon, once the Skin Carving Dragon reaches level six, she will become immune to lightning damage.
The acid resistance rune will advance to the second tier, and at the same time gain the first tier sonic resistance rune.
Reaching level seven in the Skin Carving Dragon class grants a reward for overcoming weaknesses. This means that dragons with elemental weaknesses, such as Gold Dragons and Iron Dragons, are best suited for the Skin Carving Dragon class.
At level seven, Qin Lan can cast a self-defense barrier. This spell can negate instant-death effects and some energy drain effects.
In other words, if Qin Lan were to face a Calamity Dragon in real life, having cultivated to the seventh level of the Carved Skin Dragon, she could simply charge in and beat the opponent to death.
Even if she triggers the Calamity Dragon's instant-death curse, she can successfully avoid it.
After cultivating to the ninth level of the Carved Skin Dragon, she can also gain the self-healing magic ability of the Primordial Body.
Qin Lan can use this ability to heal her wounds, and the damage she can instantly repair is quantified as "health points". Every day, she can use her ability to repair damage equivalent to three times her current health points.
Furthermore, she can quantify the energy used for each repair.
This ability to instantly recover from a thought is a life-saving skill for dragons. In the heat of battle, only ancestral dragons can gain the same regenerative ability by burning their bloodline.
Burning true blood will also affect the dragon's bloodline. It is difficult for a primordial dragon to squeeze out more than three drops of true blood, but a Primordial Body does not have to worry about this.
At level ten, the Carved Skin Dragon becomes immune to all poisons in the human world, except for Nidhogg and certain beings far exceeding the power level of dragons.
When a dragon reaches the highest level of the Twelfth Grade Carved Skin Dragon, its resistance and immunity will be enhanced once again. Second-tier resistance runes will directly become third-tier immunity, and first-tier runes will become second-tier.
Among the five types of damage, you can also choose an attribute for which you do not have resistance and obtain the last resistance rune.
After reaching level 12, Qin Lan will be able to obtain a Tier 1 Cold Resistance rune that reduces damage by 10%.
She is immune to fire damage, becomes immune to lightning damage starting at level six, and becomes immune to acid after level twelve.
It also has Tier 2 sound wave resistance runes and Tier 1 cold resistance runes.
For each level of the Carved Skin Dragon profession that Qin Lan possesses, she gains one point of spell resistance. The highest level, Carved Skin Dragon at level twelve, directly provides twelve points of spell resistance.
Of course, if the Carved Skin Dragon were easy to advance, then all the metal dragons in the world would be covered in runes.
This thing is expensive... incredibly expensive! It requires a lot of magical materials!
Unlike the Investiture of the Gods, which restricts age and level and requires cultivators to consume all their possessions, this one does not.
However, the profession of carving skins is the kind that requires years of spending a lot of money to develop.
Those who advance to become god-level dragons are either like Chassa, a powerful dragon with lofty ambitions and unparalleled strength in the world.
Or they are mediocre people who have reached a certain age, realize they don't have much time left, and want to prolong their lives by relying on the characteristics of the Investiture of the Gods Dragon.
When death is imminent, it's possible that one might grit their teeth, close their eyes, and devour their own treasure trove.
As the saying goes, a short pain is worse than a long one. Besides, to become a dragon of gods, the total value of the treasure troves that need to be devoured only needs to be over 100,000 gold coins.
This means that a dragon nearing the end of its life can simply grit its teeth and squander all its life savings.
Whether it was recruiting soldiers or indulging in lavish feasts, at least they had their fill of pleasure.
The skin-carved dragon is different; playing with this requires a long-term investment of money. For dragons, who have an innate, morbid thirst for treasure, it's equivalent to taking on a mortgage.
The gold coins you painstakingly hoard disappear from your lair every year. Who can stand that?
Moreover, carving runes on scales... While this is a different concept from tattooing, the process of adapting to resistance runes is no joke.
When carving runes, she experiences corresponding pain. She suffers electric shocks, acid corrosion, sound waves penetrating her eardrums, and all sorts of other hordes of discomfort…
Therefore, Qin Lan, as a cultivator, does indeed need to possess sufficient willpower.
Although she had restrained her instinctive desires for treasure and killing since childhood, it was clearly not enough.
Those who can cultivate into a dragon with carved skin are all seekers of the Dao among dragons. From today onwards, she must find a way to diligently hone her will.
As for the magical materials needed to inscribe the runes, and other financial expenses... Qin Lan has no worries. With such a rich woman like Zhuang Daihua around, how could she lack gold coins?
With Qin He assigning tasks, obtaining these advancement materials will be a piece of cake.
Qin Lan held the advanced technique for carving the dragon's hide, eager to learn it immediately. Unfortunately, her willpower was still lacking.
After all, asking her to spend her own gold coins to advance is practically impossible. If she can't advance to a higher level, she might as well not advance at all.
Most metal dragons who choose to become skin-carving dragons share this idea.
After all, there are so many experts in the world. Even if they mastered an advanced class like the Carved Skin Dragon, what could they possibly do?
It is tougher, stronger, and harder to kill than other dragons, but that's about it.
Even a max-level, god-like dragon like Chassa is only immortal, not indestructible. Although she can live for endless years, she can still be killed.
Zhuang Daihua herself wasn't interested in any of that; she could use a summoning opportunity to remotely control the purple dragon body inside the Dragon Ring to fight outside.
Of course, remote control is not as flexible as her own operation.
If Zhuang Daihua is willing, she can train the Purple Dragon, which has a similar Druid transformation mechanism to the Secret Dragon Ring, to an extremely abnormal level.
For her, Shiryu's form is more like Ultraman to a human host or Gundam to a pilot; Shiryu is just a trump card in her hand.
There is never just one way to become stronger, so she doesn't need to worry about that right now.
The jackals moved their animal-hide tents into the demiplane ring, and Zhuang Daihua, after considering the number of tents she had purchased, decided to let them live in the animal-hide tents.
—The harsh conditions lasted only a few days. Qin Lan used cement and bricks cut from stone to quickly build a habitable house.
After entering the demiplane, the jackals, with Zhuang Daihua's approval, built a new lair for the degraded Iron Dragon Red Rust.
Having been worshipped by the gnoll tribe for so long, Red Rust had almost forgotten the fact that it was of inferior race. After meeting Qin Lan, it was completely awakened.
With a body and intelligence similar to the White Dragon, Red Rust was almost no match for Qin Lan's claw.
Even more shameful is that it is much weaker than the half-dragon gnoll created by its own dragon blood.
From the gnolls, Zhuang Daihua learned the exact location of the nearest city.
Shallowwater City is a great place for novice adventurers. While it's not incredibly wealthy, it's still a pretty good city.
The gnolls were unaware of the "Dragon Slayer Clan," indicating they were not currently undertaking any major operations. The dragon-hunting commission was likely only circulating among a select few.