38.1 The Mercenary a.s.sociation
Having said this, Xi La De’s eyes couldn’t help but show a sorrowful expression. With a soft sigh, he continued to speak, “The Dragon G.o.d truly descended. As one of the main G.o.ds, the Dragon G.o.d’s first task was to punish the traitor to the dragon race. At the same time, it ordered the dragon king to lead the dragon race to follow it back into the divine realm, to forever become members of the divine realm. But the dragon king refused to let go of the dragon race that had existed on the Yang Guang continent for thousands of years. With its request, the dragon G.o.d permitted one of each attribute of greater dragon to remain living on the continent, but they could no longer partic.i.p.ate in wars on the continent. Because my ancestor had saved the dragon race, the dragon G.o.d specially bestowed upon us the t.i.tle ‘Guardian of the Dragons’. It permitted one of the most outstanding of the kinsmen in a generation to sign an equal contract with one of the greater dragons remaining on the continent and to also keep watch over the remaining seven greater dragons remaining on the continent.
“When it came to my generation, I signed a contract with the wind divine dragon you saw just now, Khaldrhys. As a mature greater dragon, it is already over five thousand years in age. From a human’s point of view, it is almost impossible to defeat. Except for descended G.o.d spells or peak martial G.o.d qi, nothing can wound it. The seven attributed greater dragon each reside in a different corner of the Yang Guang continent. Besides themselves, know one knows the whereabouts of other greater dragons. The dragon G.o.d did not a.s.sign them any things to do, so on the continent, besides not being able to partic.i.p.ate in wars, they are completely free.”
“Daddy, I know all this already! Get to the important part.” Mao Mao urged impatiently.
Nian Bing’s heart was like a mirror. He knew that Xi La De told him these secrets to repay the present he had given to Mao Mao. To him, these histories were especially precious. When he heard Mao Mao interrupt Xi La De, he quickly said, “Mao Mao, behave. Do not interrupt; let Senior finish speaking.”
What was strange that Mao Mao, who normally would not even listen to what her parents said, actually closed her mouth obediently at Nian Bings words. Not only did she not talk again, but there wasn’t even a hint of dissatisfaction in her expression.
Xi La De’s eyes contained a profound smile. He continued to speak, “Then I will go right away to the topic at hand. In our continent, there are very many different systems of belief. There are some who believe that dragons are the strongest beings, and they they themselves makeup the dragon people race. To outsiders, they call themselves dragonkin. They take the remaining greater dragons on the continent as their totem and strive to cultivate themselves, hoping that one day they can obtain the acknowledgement of the greater dragon. From what I know, the greater dragons are quite pa.s.sive, but they harbor an intense disgust towards humans. Up until now, there are very few of the dragonkin who have truly obtained the acknowledgement of a greater dragon, just as the totem of the phoenix clan is a phoenix. Greater dragons are incredibly valuable.
“There are also people who believe the exact opposite of the dragonkin. They are called the Dragon Slaughter Warriors, but there can only be very few of these people. Not to mention that they haven’t even found any greater dragons, but only the dragonkin could make them look good.”
Nian Bing was somewhat doubtful when he spoke. “Senior, could it be that greater dragons are truly only vulnerable to G.o.d-descended spells and martial G.o.d divine qi? If i
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t’s like that, then if greater dragons wanted to cause harm to humans, the legendary dragon G.o.d wouldn’t care, and as a result wouldn’t mankind suffer a calamity?”
Xi La De laughed and replied, “In theory that is very possible, but the actual chance of it happening is very small. Although dragons are powerful, they do have their own weak points. If you have less than the strength necessary to battle a dragon, it’s possible to just go find a dragon-slaying weapon and you can succeed. However, dragon-slaying weapons are extremely uncommon, as that kind of item belongs to the curse magic items cla.s.s and are almost completely nonexistent. Okay, that’s all the information we need. Regarding the golden-backed land dragon, I don’t know if you were out of luck or had too good luck, but the golden-backed land dragon that was attracted by Na Na today is not only an evolved form of the iron-backed land dragon, but a golden-backed land dragon king. I learned from my spiritual exchange with Khaldrhys, that this golden-backed land dragon king is over a thousand years old. An ordinary land dragon can’t live longer than two hundred years and if it has a special opportunity, it can evolve to live to over three hundred years. Then there is a twenty percent chance it can evolve into a golden-backed land dragon king. Whether it’s in attack or defense, the golden-backed land dragon are far above ordinary iron-backed land dragons. This is why your Ice and Fire Magic Source couldn’t injure it.
“Golden-backed land dragons can normally live for five hundred years. The one you saw just now definitely ate some heavenly treasure of a spirit medicine, or it somehow used its low intelligence to comprehend a gateway to cultivation. For it to actually have lived over a thousand years, it must definitely be a golden-backed land dragon king. Perhaps you felt that it was not that strong. That was because you did not battle it head on. It possesses such ability that an entire thousand person heavy cavalry definitely can not fight against it, but its weakness is that it cannot fly, and it has an innate fear towards things that are flying. So it’s amazing that you could hold out against it for that long.”
Nian Bing asked, “When it was changing appearance, Mao Mao called it an evolution? What sort of special characteristics does a golden-backed land dragon king have after it evolves?”
Xi La De said, “There is a saying pa.s.sed down from ancient times that you might’ve heard of. It is, ‘An encounter with chance may change the worthless golden scaled fish into a dragon.’ This is saying that a fish can possess the bloodlines of the dragon race. This fish, if it can grasp the opportunity to acc.u.mulate the dragon bloodlines within itself, by the energy of heaven and earth it can remove the impurities from its body and can become a true divine dragon. The golden-backed land dragon king you saw just now was in that situation. On the continent, there are many organisms who possess a small portion of dragon bloodlines; this species of land dragon is just one of them. But I never expected that this land dragon lived up to one thousand years old. Underneath my spiritual magic prison, it entered into the final stage of becoming a dragon. The changes you saw were the process of it becoming a dragon.
“But whether it can become a true dragon is yet unknown. I summoned Khaldrhys not to deal with it, but to help it become a true divine dragon. By admitting loyalty to Khaldrhys, it can obtain the a.s.sistance of a true divine dragon so that its evolution will become perfect. In case it becomes a divine dragon, it’s no longer part of the scope of land dragons. To find out what attributes it will possess will be seen after the evolution is completed. The evolution process might take at least a year. I told Khaldrhys to tell it that if it pledged to serve our clan for a hundred years, we would help it become a dragon and formally enter the ranks of the dragon race. With no other alternative, it could only agree. Based on its tale dividing into nine and the spear-shaped fins on its back, I am thinking about it calling it the nine-speared dragon. I want it to sign a contract with Mao Mao, so that girl can run around, and I won’t have to worry.”
“Daddy is the bestest of all daddies.” Mao Mao was ecstatic, embracing XI La De’s neck and bestowing a kiss on his face.
Xi La De deliberately schooled his facial expression and said, “Don’t be too pleased with yourself. Do you even have the spirit power to make a contract with a divine dragon? If you want to become a dragon summoner, then when you go back you will have to cultivate spirit magic with me. If you cannot grasp onto this opportunity, then you will no longer be called my, Xi La De’s, daughter.”
Looking at her father’s stern demeanor, Mao Mao giggled and stuck out her adorable little tongue. “I know; I will go back and cultivate hard. Daddy, can we bring Nian Bing back with us? The food he makes are really tasty. Mao Mao is lonely all by herself. If I have Nian Bing with me, then I guarantee I will not run off.”
Hearing Mao Mao’s words, XI La De’s face could not help but undergo a great change. This time, he seemed to be really mad. A strict voice said, “You haven’t been fooling around enough? So you dare try to bargain with me. Little Qing.” A red light flashed and that green, large bird appeared in the air once again. Through an exchange via spirit power, it understood Xi La De’s intentions. It lowered itself and supported Mao Mao on its back.
Mao Mao eyes were rimmed red. “Daddy is so bad, so cruel. Big Brother Nian Bing, it seems that we will really be parting. I will leave you with one of the musk deer teeth. When you look at it, then you will think of Mao Mao. Relax, Mao Mao will definitely not come looking for you.” While saying this, she tossed the musk deer tooth to Nian Bing.
Xi La De’s eyebrows crinkled and his eyes were filled with a cold light. The large green bird immediately flapped its wings and flew away with Mao Mao.
Nian Bing said, “Senior, Mao Mao is still a kid. She just craves to play a bit. Don’t blame her.”
Seeing the gradual ascent of the green bird, Xi La De’s eyes held a hint of concern. “Honestly speaking, killing you right here is the best option. But I have already spoken, so consider yourself lucky.”
Nian Bing was blank for a moment. Seeing Xi La De’s face that had changed so suddenly, he did not quite understand his meaning. “Senior, you……”
Xi La De snorted coldly, saying, “I hope that you will never meet my daughter again. If not, the next time you see each other I will not let you off so lightly. We are null people, and can only marry null people to preserve the purity of our bloodlines. Especially my daughter. If she does not marry a null person, then how can the divine dragon protector be inherited?”
Hearing this, Nian Bing did not know whether to laugh or cry. “Senior, I think you are mistaken. Did I not say before that Mao Mao and I had only known each other for a few hours? I only see her as a little sister; it wasn’t possible for anything to happen!”
Xi La De’s eyes exuded a profound light. “I understand my daughter the best. You may regard her as a little sister, but she, who does not understand the relationship between men and women, has taken you as her older brother. But everything that you have done has left her with a profound impression. From now on, who can say what will happen? Mark my words. If you want to further develop the Ice and Fire Source magic, if you want to live peacefully, then never have any relationship with my daughter.” Just as he said those last few words, Nian Bing felt an intense spiritual power rage through him. A biting pain exploded from his brain. His whole body shuddered, and he immediately lost consciousness.
When Nian Bing came to, his surroundings had fallen dark. A feeling of weakness came from a dizziness that was making his brain fuzzy. Concentrating his attention, he recalled everything that had happened after he had lost consciousness, which, up till now, he still kind of could not believe it. Observing his surroundings, he could only see the leftover roasted musk deer meet here. It seemed that everything was true. Mao Mao’s father was actually that strong of an existence. He couldn’t help but find it hard to understand why the girls he met after leaving Peach Blossom Forest had fathers that were each stronger than the last? A summoner who could summon a divine dragon, perhaps even his own newly minted teacher Long Zhi could not be his match. After all, without the strength of a descended G.o.d, spells could not harm a greater dragon. It seems that the path he had to walk to avenge his father and mother was very, very long.
He used both hands to prop up himself and walked over to sit on a tree to the side. Although Mao Mao and her father had brought Nian Bing not just a little bit of trouble, as well as danger, the tales about dragons from the summoner Xi La De made him very interested. Currently, Nian Bing somewhat envied null people. If he could summon a dragon, then what would be the point of practicing magic?
Forcefully casting such fanciful ideas from his brain, Nian BIng opened his s.p.a.ce ring and took out three of his few magic scrolls. He spread them out in front of him and used a simple trigger magic array to fuse them together. Although they were only rank 4 scrolls, they were able to deal with an ordinary wild beast. As long as it wasn’t some kind of land dragon, there would be no problem.
These scrolls could eliminate the need to chant the spell. They were extremely convenient. Nian Bing had just calculated the cost of all the scrolls he had used earlier, and just wanted to throttle himself for acting. How many purple-gold coins was that! Never mind, anyways he would have to make less scrolls later. To rely on these might slow down the speed of his magic increase dramatically.
Just as his mood had gradually calmed, Nian Bing shut his eyes, sensing the magic element in the air round him. He entered a state of meditation. The most important thing now was no doubt to recover his strength. With Mao Mao gone, he could recover freely. Although it was lonely alone, Nian Bing really liked being alone.
With the help from the Flame G.o.d’s Stone and the Ice and Snow G.o.ddess’ Stone, a night of meditation had recovered eighty percent of Nian Bing’s Ice and Fire Source, and it wouldn’t be long till he recovered fully. For the scrolls that he had used, he did not have any means of replenishment right now. He could only by blank scrolls in a big city and create some more. It was a shame that he had given not just a little money to Mao Mao. He might have to buy the most plain white scrolls, then he would buy some low-rank magic scrolls and sell them and then buy better ones.
After using a simple Flame spell to roast the leftover musk deer to eating, and eating a block of ice with the ice spell, Nian Bing once again returned to tread along the road.
Walking alone was probably quite lonely for an ordinary person, but there wouldn’t be anything that happened to Nian Bing’s body. After confirming the direction he walked while recalling the magic knowledge he had memorized in the library. Using his own style to try to comprehend, the road was not lonely at all.