Capítulo 918: Chapter 706: Dragon Bloodline Surge
Ice Sculpture Kingdom, outside the countryside.
In the divine country’s space within the cave, the Dragon-man youth is mobilizing the Blood Core.
A familiar scene plays out again, and a blood-red radiance envelops the White Dragon Claw.
Soon, the Golden Level White Dragon Claw dissipates into ashes, and the blood light returning to the Blood Core adds a slight share to the Dragon-man youth’s White Dragon Bloodline.
The Dragon-man youth contemplates for a moment, sighing slightly in his heart.
The target absorbed by the Blood Core is merely at the Golden Level, so the bloodline gain is not much. The main bloodline of the Dragon-man youth in this form is still his harvest from the Mysterious Monster Island—the Flame Dragon King’s bloodline, which is as high as the Legendary Level.
He has always wanted to collect Dragon Bloodline, to strengthen in this aspect.
The experience of leaving the group gave him a significant divine investment from the Charming Blue God, and the Bolang Fishman Bloodline rose prominently, surpassing the Dragon Bloodline and reaching the summit in one go.
“Without divine assistance, I have to collect bloodlines myself, which is quite arduous.”
“Perhaps, I could perform blasphemy prayers to some Dragon Gods and seek their divine blessings?”
The Dragon-man youth shook his head, suppressing this idea.
At this stage, he doesn’t want to do so yet.
It’s too risky.
The hidden problems of the Charming Blue God have not been well handled; this will inevitably erupt in the future. And in this current environment, blasphemy prayer is not easy to manage.
“If I could obtain a Duel Godhood, possess high-level power of my own, perhaps I could have more assurance with blasphemy prayer.”
“Currently, the group’s funds are quite ample, making it much easier to collect Dragon Bloodline than before.”
“Don’t take risks lightly. Although the rewards of taking risks are huge, after many times, you’ll inevitably meet setbacks.”
The Dragon-man youth self-reflects, discovering his mindset has become somewhat unstable.
There’s no help for it—with the treatment in the Ocean Nest being so excellent, with the personal guidance of the Charming Blue God. When it’s his turn to struggle on his own, there’s a noticeable high-to-low gap.
The Dragon-man youth adjusted himself in time.
Dragon Bloodline still requires vigorous collection.
Because on the surface, his identity as Long Fu relies on the massive boost provided by the Dragon Bloodline.
Since his goal is to contend for the Duel Godhood, the safest way for him to duel publicly is to use his Dragon-man identity.
Of course, he could also use the Fishman youth’s identity, and then obscure it with a few layers of Charming Blue Divine Skill, but doing so is ultimately risky. Encountering something like the Truth Stone Tablet could expose him.
Especially in the later stages of the National Ceremony’s grand duels, every round is a public duel, with many spectators, plus the high ranks of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom and formidable figures from outside the Ice Sculpture Island.
If mistakes occur amidst such, the Dragon-man youth’s efforts would be for naught.
Conversely, if he uses the Dragon Bloodline, just the ability of the Blood Core makes it extremely hard for the Dragon-man youth to be seen through. Because the appearance of this life form of his is originally like this; there’s no need to mask his visage or form.
As of now, the Dragon-man youth has two main ways to collect Dragon Bloodline.
One is through channels from the City Lord of Snowbird Port, acquiring contraband items like purebred dragons.
The second is by massively acquiring Dragon Beasts from the market. The Dragon Bloodline in Dragon Beasts is very thin, but as long as the quantity piles up, it is considerable.
The first channel is limited in quantity and high in risk, but the main risk is borne by the City Lord of Snowbird Port.
The second channel is large in quantity and low in quality, with virtually no risk.
The second channel is the primary one.
Mainly because the number of Dragon Beasts is enormous and market prices are low.
This is mainly because a sizeable White Dragon Clan has been living in the Ice Sculpture Kingdom for a long time. Dragons are inherently prolific, and the White Dragon Clan annually produces numerous Dragon Beasts. The reproductive ability of Dragon Beasts is often very high, to the extent that the Ice Sculpture Kingdom must organize a massive hunting event every few years to periodically cull Dragon Beasts, preventing them from becoming a disaster.
This time, the Dragon-man youth is absorbing not just the White Dragon Claw.
Since he left the group, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps has been actively acquiring Dragon Beast materials.
The intensity of such acquisitions is substantial, to the extent that Sanda, when funds were tight, once considered canceling this acquisition activity to ease the financial pressure on the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps.
When the Dragon-man youth returned, Dragon Beast materials had already piled into a small hill.
Absorb them all!
This is the advantage of having manpower and funds.
If it were him alone, gathering these materials would be quite troublesome, time-consuming, and laborious, with no such high efficiency.
Now, the quantity of Dragon Bloodline in his Blood Core has skyrocketed!
Dragon Saliva Bloodline 18.3%: Dragons with this bloodline often possess more powerful Dragon Breath abilities. The characteristic is drooling while sleeping.
Dragon Claw Legacy Bloodline 9.6%: The Dragon Claw will be sharper and more resilient. The inheritance probability of this bloodline is very high; as long as one parent of the Dragon Bloodline possesses it, the offspring are almost certain to show its traits.
Frost Hair Bloodline 21.5%: The fur of the Dragon Beast seems to be covered with a layer of white frost, not only keeping warm but also absorbing and accumulating external frost elements, erupting in critical moments to cause damage.
Dragon Wings Dynasty Bloodline 2.7%: Dragons and Dragon Beasts with this bloodline have extremely wide dragon wings and strong flying abilities.
Ice Triangle Bloodline 33.7%: Dragons and Dragon Beasts possess powerful head horns, often three. The dragon horns are extremely sturdy, with formidable power upon impact. When the bloodline concentration reaches 70%, natural runes will appear on the dragon horns, with constant frost spells (specific spells depend on the dragon).
Cold Tracker Bloodline 41.6%: Can successfully hunt in the coldest environments with footprints disappearing silently in the snow, providing deadly ambushes to opponents.
Second Heart of Ice Bloodline 68.8%: This bloodline is most common in Dragon Beasts, while true Dragons are rare. A bloodline concentration of 50% forms a second heart. This heart is similar to the Heart of Ice, entirely made of ice crystals, completely transparent, and the blood flows within, visibly clear from the outside.
Heart of the Dragon Herd Bloodline 24.9%: The beast kings of Dragon Beast herds often possess it, with a natural leadership ability over the Dragon Beasts.
Cold Bone Bloodline, Cold Wind Bloodline, Glacier Fang Bloodline, Winter Tail Bloodline, Cold Wing Bloodline…
The depth of the Dragon-man youth is skyrocketing!
Due to the ecological environment of Ice Sculpture Island, Dragon Beasts survive in this environment, and thus the collected Dragon Bloodline usually shares two major characteristics: a dragon trait and a frost trait.
“It’s a bit troublesome. Outwardly, I display Flame Dragon traits, orange-yellow Dragon Eyes, and crimson Dragon Scales, many bloodlines cannot be used openly.”
“However, they are still quite useful.”
For example, the Dragon Saliva Bloodline is a common Dragon bloodline. If the Dragon-man youth uses it secretly, it can increase the power of his Dragon Breath.
Also, the Second Heart of Ice bloodline can be used covertly, without visible signs externally, forming a second heart within his body, skyrocketing frost resistance. If the concentration is higher, magic-like abilities will even arise.
Similarly, the Cold Bone Bloodline can be utilized in this way.
However, the Ice Triangle Bloodline and the Dragon Wings Dynasty Bloodline cannot be. These would bring about significant changes to the Dragon-man youth’s appearance, arousing various suspicions.
The lower the concentration, the more precious the bloodline.
Clearly, the most valuable bloodline here is the Dragon Wings Dynasty Bloodline. It is only 2.7%.
The advantages of flying abilities are immense. When the bloodline concentration reaches 10%, flight magic-like abilities arise.
In the main plane’s history, during the age when the Dragon Clan dominated, the most glorious ruling period was called the Dragon Wings Dynasty. Back then, the shadow of the Wings of the Dragon Herd was said to cover both the continent and the sea.
Now, however, the Dragon Clan is rare, and the Dragon-man youth can only glimpse at the divine power of the ancient Dragon Clan through these various bloodlines.
The Dragon-man youth experimented with all the powers of the Dragon Bloodline, gaining initial insights into their use and developing many new ideas.
“It’s a pity that there are so few in the Dragon Clan who believe in the Charming Blue God.”
“Otherwise, the various experiences I’ve gained from the Divine Blessing would be even more useful.”
“Perhaps I really should ‘believe’ in a Dragon God?”
The Dragon-man youth continued to watch the magic images.
These images recorded the combat scenes or training scenarios of duelists from past and current editions.
None were Silver Level; all were Golden Level.
As the Dragon-man youth returned this time, with the intent to take on the Duel Godhood, he naturally needed to know himself and his enemy well.
After watching for a while, the Dragon-man youth gained a deeper understanding of the National Ceremony duel.
“No Holy Domain Level participant has been involved in such duels.”
“Golden Level is the main focus in the later stages of these duels, while Silver Level is still a bit low.”
“Most of the Transcendents participating in the duels come from the Ice Sculpture Kingdom’s mainland, but a few are renowned visitors from outside the island.”
The Dragon-man youth saw many Golden Level duelists, each with their unique skills, quite striking. Dealing with some of them would be rather troublesome even for him.
“The Dragon-man form is not like the Fishman Form. In front of crowds, if I don’t risk using blasphemy prayer for disguise, I can only fight using fighting energy.”
The persona of Long Fu is publicly known as a fighter and has shown a few magic-like abilities.
The Frost Aura of Ice Calamity has, to some extent, solved a major problem for the Dragon-man youth, which is how to make the public accept that a Silver Level suddenly became Gold Level.
But even with this reasonable explanation, it cannot help the Dragon-man youth convince others to acknowledge: I not only advanced to Golden Level but am also a matured and experienced spellcaster and divine officer.
In the Dragon-man form, the youth’s combat power is limited and cannot be fully exerted.
Using this form to duel, facing a few Golden Levels is challenging.
“And this Long Meng, truly powerful!”
The Dragon-man youth witnessed some imagery of Long Meng’s duels, shocking his heart slightly.
In every duel, Long Meng possessed substantial advantages, handling battles efficiently and decisively.
“He definitely hasn’t exerted his full power!”
“With only a portion of his strength, he holds a tremendous advantage. His combat strength is considerable, his tactical execution flawless, and emotionally steady without any weakness or shortcoming.”
“No wonder he’s the biggest favorite for this edition’s National Ceremony duel!”
The Dragon-man youth couldn’t even predict Long Meng’s upper limits.
This feeling was akin to when he used the Fishman Form against the Snowbird Port City Lord, Tan Mo.
“What if I battled Long Meng using my Fishman Form?” The Dragon-man youth bore a trace of solemnity between his brows.
He couldn’t calculate it.
Everything had to be resolved through direct confrontation.
Because there was too little crucial intelligence.
“Therefore, for the whole Mercenary Group, intelligence is a significant weakness that needs addressing.”
The Dragon-man youth recalled understanding the situation from Zi Di, hearing about her perilous encounter in the Purple Vine Shop at the Royal Capital, making him break out in a cold sweat. Even now, remembering still fills him with lingering fear.
The lack of intelligence capabilities had long been a consensus among the survivors, including Zi Di and Zong Ge, to build intelligence institutions.
Now, the Dragon-man youth greatly agreed with this idea.
“Intelligence is extremely important.”
“Not to mention other things, take the present situation. If I had a powerful intelligence capacity, I could discern the strengths and weaknesses of Golden Level opponents, allowing me to take targeted precautions.”
“Some Golden Level duelists, especially outsiders, often possess unique means to win by exploiting weaknesses or turning adversity to advantage.”
These methods pose a threat to the Dragon-man youth as well.
When Zi Di returned from the Royal Capital, the Dragon-man youth had been practicing combat skills.
Since advancing to Golden Level fighter, the Dragon-man youth always lacked time for practice.
The identity of Long Fu mainly relied on using combat skills. His previous combat skill arsenal was reasonable for Silver Level, but in Golden Level, it needed upgrading.
The first priority was long-range combat skills.
Golden Level fighting energy can condense outside the body, thus at this stage, the attack range of Golden Level fighters expands rapidly, and combat skill effects become varied.
The Dragon-man youth chose Dragon Claw Strike as his primary long-range attack method.
Then the focus was on – flying combat skills.
For the public, flying combat skills are rare. But for the Dragon-man youth, he had many options.
Thanks once more to the War Merchant!
The Tower Spirit’s database held a vast collection of flying combat skills.
The Dragon-man youth slightly practiced the new combat skills and stopped after a taste.
“My rate of improvement is too fast, I can’t keep practicing.” The Dragon-man youth sighed, troubled by his rapid progress.
Zi Di approached, “The rumors we’ve spread have had an effect; this time, the Jingxiang family has proactively sent an invitation.”
The Dragon-man youth gave only a glance, “The time is ripe, spread the word, that the Jingxiang family is bullying, and I, Long Fu, am dissatisfied, will challenge Mifang, with the duel outcome deciding the negotiation results for both parties.”
The previous rumors were just to provide an explanation to the public. The Dragon-man youth never intended to abandon the Lijian family to join the Jingxiang family.
Collaborating with the Jingxiang family still meant sharing profits with others.
Why can’t we operate independently? Why can’t we enjoy the profits from mount magic potions alone?
The Dragon-man youth possesses Golden Level peak battle power, substantial prestige, and can leverage the divine might of the Charming Blue God.
As a top-tier noble force in the Ice Sculpture Kingdom, even the Clan Leader of the Lijian family is just Golden Level!
The Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps now possesses the qualification to control the interests of mount magic potions!
The issue now is that others do not see the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps as having the qualification to monopolize such profits.
Heh.
Then display great power, strike them hard, awaken them, and make them realize who is strong and who is weak!
Negotiating with the likes of the Lijian family or the Jingxiang family?
That has to wait until after defeating them.