Chapter 714 - 677: Release the Dragon Back to the Mountain
Now, the dizzy and seriously injured Earth Dragon had no strength to fight back, nor any means to escape, fully becoming a trapped beast, meeting all the prerequisites for taming a wild creature. The comparison of the military forces, morale, and skill levels was not even worth mentioning. Da Fei and Elena already had Master-level Leadership Skills in diplomacy, and Anlicia and Selvia had Master-level Leadership Skills too. Importantly, this Earth Dragon wasn’t a boss, so the chances of taming it with the whole team’s effort were incredibly high!
—System Prompt: You attempted to use the Master-level Leadership Skill "War Intimidation" on the Volcano Earth Dragon, but the skill failed!
—System Prompt: ... Skill failed!
...
Failure after failure, but Da Fei didn’t give up and continued to try. Each skill usage consumed a certain amount of stamina, and finally, Da Fei’s stamina was nearly depleted.
Damn it, even divine creatures like Earth Element bosses could be tamed by me, not to mention that Unicorn met in the tournament. Is there any troop I can’t tame? Why can’t I tame a non-boss unit? Could it be the Dragon Clan’s arrogance? It’s just a carrion-eating Earth Dragon, what’s with the arrogance? Even if the taming difficulty was like that of a boss, shouldn’t there be some movement?
Reluctantly, Da Fei had to sit down to recover his stamina. At this time, the star icon rotating above the Earth Dragon’s head began to slow down and dim, with the dizziness effect about to wear off.
Anlicia frowned and said, "Lord City Lord, this guy is about to recover soon, I’m afraid——"
Da Fei gritted his teeth and said with great reluctance, "I’ll try one more time after recovering stamina; if it doesn’t work, we’ll have to kill it."
Elena also added, "It’s worth a try. In my opinion, surrender usually happens in moments of extreme fear and desperation, and right now, this Earth Dragon is completely in an unconscious dazed state, perhaps not even aware of its situation. If it becomes clear-headed, the situation might turn around."
Da Fei’s eyebrows twitched, seeing the reason in her words.
Anlicia exclaimed, "But as soon as it regains consciousness, its first reaction will definitely be to break away and escape, right?"
Da Fei gritted his teeth again, taking out two Holy Vine Seeds, "Then let’s prevent its breakout! Miss Tamilia, can we plant two seeds on these two dragon corpses to bind it, any issues?"
Tamilia frowned, "Time might be too tight; it takes a while for the seeds to germinate."
Tachius sighed too, "My Vine Jungle skill is still cooling down, and accelerating the growth isn’t possible."
Damn! Only now did Da Fei realize the prerequisites for taming weren’t established! He began to regret not bringing ropes or similar things on this march. Even if there were giant wooden stones or something, Da Fei’s troops wouldn’t be able to perform such intelligent actions. After all, the intelligence of soldiers without production skills was highly limited, only capable of fighting and nothing else—completely incomparable to those dwarf NPCs rescued from the prison.
Da Fei could only sigh, "I’ll try one last time once it regains consciousness; if it fails, we’ll kill it immediately."
Just then, Elena suddenly exclaimed, "Speaking of which, I once saw Miss Tamilia transplant 20 Holy Vines onto the Ancient Tree Fortress, and manipulated them deftly. How was that achieved?"
Tamilia replied, "Because the Holy Vine Seeds’ nature is parasitic, and vine plants parasitizing trees is quite common."
Elena smirked, "In that case, can’t we plant the Holy Vine Seed onto this Earth Dragon?"
"Parasitize on a living Earth Dragon?" The entire group was stunned.
Elena laughed, "Yeah, once the seed sprouts and grows, won’t the Earth Dragon obey? Even if it escapes now, it shouldn’t get too far. Even if the Earth Dragon couldn’t withstand it and dies, there would be no loss, would there?"
Da Fei was even more shocked, staring wide-eyed! Damn! Truly deserving of a Dark Elf, so sinister and ruthless! Back in the day, when Little Li was a child, I used to scare her with a joke that swallowing beans would cause them to sprout in the stomach. Now thinking about it, that joke isn’t funny at all!
Da Fei hurriedly asked, "Is it possible? Can it be done?"
Tamilia, shocked, shook her head repeatedly, "Never thought of planting seeds on a living animal, no idea if it would work!"
Elena pointed to the bleeding wound on the Earth Dragon’s back and said calmly, "We can take advantage of its current lack of resistance and plant the seed in that wound, just treat it as a tree or a corpse—what do you say, Lord City Lord?"
Da Fei was suddenly startled, damn it! Isn’t it obvious? The Holy Vine Seed hadn’t mentioned not to plant on living creatures—if successful, Tamilia would essentially gain a new skill, and it could be treated as training a subordinate! Moreover, the battle had reached this point, as long as it was a bit reliable, it was worth trying!
Da Fei immediately took out a fourth-grade seed with a serious expression, "I think Miss Elena’s idea is very creative and worth a try! To ensure success, I’ll use a fourth-grade seed, do you think it could work, Miss Tamilia?"
Tamilia frowned, "If it fails, Lord City Lord will lose a precious seed."
Da Fei laughed heartily, "No worries, I still have eight."
Tamilia took the seed and said seriously, "Since it’s Lord City Lord’s wish, I’ll go all out."
With that, Tamilia gently flew above the Earth Dragon’s wounded back, and with a wave of her hand, scattered the seed wrapped in specks of light into the bleeding flesh. A flash of light, and the seed disappeared.
Did it succeed?
Everyone waited, their eyes fixed, as the Earth Dragon twitched, suddenly waking up, letting out a roar that shook the valley!
Damn! Da Fei reacted and immediately used his skill!
—System Prompt: You successfully used the Master-level Leadership Skill "War Intimidation" on the Volcano Earth Dragon! The Volcano Earth Dragon was extremely frightened and started to flee!
Damn, succeeding when it was conscious, and the success caused it to flee?! If it couldn’t escape, would it surrender?
Roar! At this moment, the Earth Dragon burst forth with hidden power, galloping away, causing dust and rocks to fly in the valley. In an instant, the red dot of the Earth Dragon disappeared from Da Fei’s radar, with echoes reverberating throughout the valley.
Just ran off like that? The whole group was bewildered, while Da Fei was dumbfounded, his heart filled with mixed emotions. Anyway, considering the final outcome, everyone’s opinions seemed true, so the Holy Vine plan shouldn’t be wrong, right?
Da Fei then asked Tamilia, "Miss Tamilia, how do you feel?"
Tamilia continued watching the direction the Earth Dragon disappeared, murmuring, "The seed still bears my life imprint, and the seed still exists."
Tachius remarked, "As long as the seed exists, it means we haven’t failed, and we can track the runaway Earth Dragon through the life imprint."
Tamilia said solemnly, "The Earth Dragon has now burrowed into the volcanic sand."
Da Fei nodded, "I see, let’s wait and see what happens next then."
There wasn’t much else to say now, so let’s test if the hundred-plus Forest Goddesses, along with the three Angels, could haul these two corpses up the mountain. As for Serbia, of course, his tasks would involve continuing attempts to revive the troops.
For once, the system didn’t disappoint Da Fei. Although the Earth Dragon’s body was as huge as a bus, this very enormity meant there were many parts to grab and pull, allowing Da Fei’s entire force to help with the transport.
Especially the long tail covered in spikes, with each spike equivalent to a handhold. So, the three Angels and half of the Forest Goddesses held the tail, while the remaining Forest Goddesses carried the limbs and the spiky back. The truth is, only the Flying Army could manage to push and pull from the back.
As for Da Fei himself, being a man, he couldn’t idle at such a crucial time, pushing the Earth Dragon’s foul-smelling head from the rear. Billbo was even more cunning, placing rocks all along the way to support the Earth Dragon’s belly to prevent sliding.
In summary, although progress was excruciatingly slow, it was at least moving and climbing up. Meanwhile, directed by Tamilia, several vine-like appendages stretched from Corpse Mountain to catch the slope. Indeed, Tamilia was getting increasingly adept with the use of the Holy Vine.
However, the situation remained grim; the army’s stamina consumption was immense. It was highly likely they’d have to halt before reaching the Holy Vine’s support site, at which point, the corpse would certainly slide back down. With so many rocks padded by Billbo, sliding all the way to the foot was unlikely, but the frustrating prospect of taking three steps forward and two steps back was quite expectable. What if they encountered another enemy attack in the midst of transport?
Damn it! Da Fei was so vexed he dared not think further! After all, there were too few hands for heavy labor! An enemy attack? Fine, as long as next time there aren’t Earth Dragons, if Agou and Amao or something show up and get entangled by the Holy Vine, rest assured I’ll find a way to tame them! I simply refuse to believe that if I can’t tame an Earth Dragon, I can’t tame Agou and Amao. Just as Da Fei was pondering this, a system prompt dings with a chime:
—System Prompt: Your Vice Hero Selvia used Master-level Light Magic "Resurrection Technique" on the dying Forest Goddess Army, resurrecting one member of the Forest Goddess Army.
—System Prompt: Your Vice Hero Selvia received information on God-level Light Magic.
Da Fei was jolted, only resurrecting one? Information on God-level Light Magic?
Obviously, how many came back wasn’t important; what mattered was that Selvia had succeeded! In other words, resurrecting one soldier in this hellish place meant reaching a God-level standard, and if she revived all of them, her skill would progress to God-level?!
Wahaha! At such trying and frustrating times, receiving this notification was no less than receiving heavenly bliss! Indeed, God-level skills are always born in the most testing of environments; at this moment, Da Fei’s frustration instantly faded, invigorating him to muster all his strength to push up the mountain!
And just then, the Blood Eagle Radar suddenly lit up with red lights, as several red dots appeared near Da Fei!
Gah! Da Fei spat milk in shock! I surely had wished for this! Damn it, talk about wishful thinking! Alright, rest assured this time, I guarantee not to kill you! This time I mean it.