dmims Page 270
Page 270
"It probably won't participate, but I'd better be honest with you. Because that cub named Dust Rust is the most ferocious bronze dragon..."
Some information about the Bronze Dragon that had reverted to its ancestral form was passed on to Qin He by Yuehuang.
Dust Rust is also approaching its adolescence. Despite not being a large dragon species, it has grown to over five meters tall due to its rapid growth.
Once, ten blue dragon cubs were severely injured by Dust Rust alone. Now, those blue dragons have grown into teenagers and left the Dragon Cub Garden.
Rust harbors a desire to kill all the rainbow dragon cubs. Bronze dragons are inherently ruthless and capable of using any means necessary for justice, and Rust embodies this perfectly.
Bronze dragons enjoy eating shark meat and the Shahua fish-men, whose texture is similar to shark meat. In the Bronze dragons' view, the Shahua fish-men have been expelled from the list of humanoid beings and will be used by the Bronze dragons for cooking.
Dust Rust slipped out of the Young Dragon Garden, and by the time the brass dragons found it, four or five warriors of the Shahua Merfolk had already been torn to pieces.
Those Shahua fishmen also tamed Demon Soul Sharks of around level four, but there were already as many as seven Demon Soul Sharks torn apart by Dust Rust!
Listening to the series of achievements, Qin He roughly understood the characteristics of this young dragon:
— They are ruthless and decisive, and will take the initiative to strike for their own "justice".
Aside from his unwavering stance of eradicating evil creatures, the rusty dragon is an absolutely dangerous young dragon.
These young dragons participating in the competition, and encountering the chromatic dragon cubs... who knows how much trouble they'll cause?
Bronze dragons are particularly adept at naval warfare. If they were to launch a surprise attack along the river, even if the Colored Dragons had eighteen black dragons on their side, they might not be able to stop them.
After all, if Dust Rust were to participate in the war, it would undoubtedly be accompanied by a nine-headed bronze dragon...
"If Dust Rust participates in this competition among the young dragons, it could very well harm the young dragons on the Color Dragon side."
Qin He could understand this, after all, the struggle between these two dragon species was built up from an ancient hatred.
"There's one more thing... Huang Ying is a very planned young dragon. Although golden dragons are inherently intelligent and powerful, she is clearly more calculating than golden dragons of the same age or even teenagers."
What Yuehuang said was also what Qin He had been paying attention to. Huang Ying had been leading the metal dragons in search of a winning opportunity until now.
For the Colored Dragons, without Qin He's intervention and Deng Liu's participation...
In the end, it will likely turn into a battle of kings against kings and soldiers against soldiers, with the remaining colorful dragons defeated by the metal dragon's powerful retinue and well-coordinated command.
"I really like this baby dragon."
Upon hearing Qin He's words, Yue Huang, like a kitten, burrowed under his clothes and gently rubbed her forehead against his chin.
"Your Highness Qin He...you said that a future where all dragon species can freely soar under the same sky...is that really possible?"
Qin He nodded and said:
"I will make it happen."
……
It's time to put aside the memories and focus on the present.
The spores released by Xuezhi can, to some extent, envelop the critical slime mold. Just as it absorbs nutrients from the Black Dragon Scale Powder, it devours the raging natural energy within the critical slime mold.
After consuming a certain amount of energy from the critical slime mold, the spores expand and envelop the critical slime mold, acting as the first buffer against its explosion.
Although the rate at which spores are consumed is not yet as fast as the rate at which critical slime molds are activated and explode, she can still weaken the explosive power of critical slime molds.
Not only do they combat slime mold and the mad dragon virus, but the spores of the bacterial community's will also have a restraining effect on organisms that rely on their body tissues to drive natural energy.
Unless the final battle with the Explosive Brachydios reaches its limit, pushing its core shell to its limit and unleashing a barrage of powerful punches to activate the geothermal heat beneath its lair, causing all the slime to burn and creating a molten hell.
Otherwise, even in an extremely dangerous, fiery red state, critical slime molds cannot directly burn the spores parasitizing them.
Inside the Explosive Dragon's body, the organ known as the "Indestructible Core Shell" can completely control the slime mold during a life-or-death battle.
It can cause all the burning critical slime mold in the entire cave to be mobilized and explode simultaneously under the roar of the Exploding Dragon.
If that time really comes, the destruction caused by the Explosive Brachydios is simply unimaginable.
If the goal is simply to restrict growth, Xuezhi can even inject sufficient nutrients into the released spores beforehand, allowing them to grow to their limit in the shortest possible time to envelop the target.
The spores can even envelop and limit the destruction of the dust that causes combustion and explosions on the bodies of Teostra and Lunastra.
Monsters like fire dragons can have their internal fire sacs controlled simply by inhaling spores. It's fair to say that Xuezhi was born to be a hunter.
But even this talent couldn't suppress the explosive combustion of slime mold at the last moment.
Qin He planted the Demon Extinction Blade into the ground with his right hand, and Yu Lan, as the sword spirit, held the sword herself, ready to fight alongside Qin He.
At the same time, Qin He will also have to use all kinds of means and weapons.
The Thunderbolt Black Gold Mace, the Bloodthirsty Reaper, the Hundred-Refined Divine Forged Spear, and most importantly, the Ring of the Beginning of Demons.
With Shadow Sharp's ability to absorb surrounding demonic energy and constantly regenerate, Qin He could command three peak-level demonic war beasts to launch suicidal attacks.
If the slime on the surface of the Brachydios is attacked continuously or washed by water-type energy, the slime on its body will be knocked off.
Furthermore, simply staying away from the slime mold that has landed on the ground can avoid most of the threats.
Chapter 352 Clearly, these were two happy things...
"Miss Zhuang, I'm about to face a crucial battle. If you encounter any problems there, I might not be able to reply."
"But you don't need to worry too much. Just explain the situation. I'll find an opportunity to issue missions during breaks in the battle to help you get rewards."
In fact, the lineup around Qin He had already completely contained the Fierce Dragon.
With Zhong Liuxiu and her Ice Curse Dragon Greatsword, plus Xuezhi's weakening effect on slime mold, and the auxiliary effect of spore healing.
While this doesn't mean we can let our guard down, it's more than enough time to issue a new quest. Meanwhile, after completing the bonus quest to kill the black dragon, the door to the next level has changed.
Two of them were purple combat rooms that exuded completely different atmospheres.
The third type is a regular green event room.
"Qin Lan...which one should we choose?"
Based on my understanding of similar games, purple rooms, which symbolize high-difficulty battles, should offer higher rewards than regular red rooms.
As expected, Qin Lan replied:
"Purple rooms, which are dangerous and challenging, will definitely have a reward that can be taken out of the maze. Green rooms in the first-tier maze usually consist of unproductive puzzles or dialogues."
"Now, in these two purple rooms, what kind of trials we will encounter depends entirely on luck."
In regular battle rooms, rewards that can be taken out of the dungeon are only available if there are additional missions. Otherwise, the only drops are in-game buffs.
In other words, there will be an optional settlement reward in the next room.
Under Qin Lan's personal handling, the enchanted crossbow bolts that had been corroded to varying degrees by the corrosive aura have been successfully recovered.
With the power boost from the Claw of Power and the Power Binding Stone, Zhuang Daihua felt invincible, possessing 80% of Qin Lan's power.
But upon entering the second room, Zhuang Daihua and Qin Lan encountered a huge problem—
"What?! Damn it..."
The two, one human and one dragon, chose one of the high-difficulty purple battle rooms, but they didn't expect that as soon as they opened the door, the fierce wind and snow of the icy world would blow in!
"Ah—! So cold—!"
Not only Zhuang Daihua, who was dressed in thin clothes, but even Qin Lan, the young dragon with fire-attribute magic energy, was frozen and curled up.
For young dragons, harsh environments can be terrifying.
Young white dragons like Deng Liu need magical items like Frost Jade Dragon Scales to cool them down in hot regions.
The excessively high temperatures have a significant impact on the cold-type dragon subspecies that inhabit cold regions. Only after acquiring a certain level of spellcasting ability can they overcome the effects of the environment.
To put it bluntly, they're treated like newborn babies, pampered and protected until they grow up.
Coincidentally, Qin Lan is also a juvenile iron dragon. As a fire-attribute dragon subspecies, she was also tormented by blizzards when she was young.
"Quick, quick, let me hide inside your demiplane ring for a bit! Ugh—"
Due to the influence of magical elements, the blizzard was also mixed with hailstones imbued with ice magic. This kind of treacherous weather could cause considerable damage to young dragons simply by being in it.
To make matters worse, Qin Lan's scales were burned through in several places by the black dragon's vicious corrosive aura. She was already suffering double the damage from the cold, and now her scales were also damaged.
Now, Qin Lan needs to hide away immediately to recover her strength. In addition, Zhuang Daihua is only wearing a thin dress.
If she doesn't hide inside the demiplane ring soon, she'll probably freeze to death before Qin Lan does.
"Ah! How could this be? I already got the Claw of Power and the power of the baby dragon! These are supposed to be two happy things, so why does combining them make me feel so miserable?!"
Normally, Zhuang Daihua, as a human, wouldn't suffer double the damage from the cold. However, because she shared the characteristics of the baby dragon with Qin Lan through the Power Binding Stone, she also became sensitive to the cold.
Without a word, the man and the dragon entered the demiplane ring. The anchor point also remained in place, turning into a tiny pebble.
"Damn it... We've encountered an ice field right from the start... How awful!"
The tasks inside the maze have no time limit, so Zhuang Daihua and Qin Lan have plenty of time to rest.
"Let me... uh—! Let me see what treasures that damn black dragon has."
Stroking the scales on her body, perforated by the corrosive aura, Qin Lan was furious. Zhuang Daihua wanted to find some medicine for her, but the young dragon wagged its tail and refused, saying it wanted to see the treasure first.
As the kobolds submitted, one of their elders ordered his people to go to the bottom of the water and retrieve the black dragon's treasure.
She was clever; she knew the Iron Dragon would definitely order the kobolds to retrieve the treasure. So, she took the initiative and retrieved the coins and other treasures from the swamp.
A significant portion of these items were elven ornaments. They emitted a pungent, acidic odor due to being soaked in the mud of the Black Dragon's Lair.
Needless to say, it was the lizardmen's job to clean these treasures and remove as much of the black dragon's ominous aura as possible.
The muddy marks on the exquisite shawl embroidered with gold thread and fine silk had disappeared thanks to the lizardmen's purification spell.
Qin Lan glanced at it briefly before quoting a price:
"One hundred and forty gold coins."
Stunned by Qin Lan's pricing skills, Zhuang Daihua carefully examined the beautiful shawl. Then, remembering that the black dragon had stolen it from the elves, she couldn't help but frown.
Based on the skeletons found in the black dragon's lair, it can be determined that this was a four-person elf team. They were robust and burly, probably the muscular female elves.
"Hmm... I thought all elves were stunning beauties. Turns out some are this... fit?"
Qin Lan gave him a strange look:
"Is it strange? It's not unusual for a few ugly elves to appear."
Next up is a gold ring set with rubies and exquisitely crafted.
"This is good, worth 2,500 gold."
Qin Lan's eyes lit up when she saw the ruby ring. The ruby was the size of a pigeon's egg, and its quality would make even a fully grown red dragon smile.
"Hmm... Qin Lan, then you can have this ruby ring."
Zhuang Daihua knew, of course, that the ruby ring was equally attractive to Qin Lan. She then attempted to give it to the young dragon as a reward.
"Hmph~ This ring should have been mine to begin with. If I hadn't held that damned black dragon back, your face would have been burned off like these scales!"
When it comes to wealth, no dragon is immune to being disliked.
However, upon hearing Zhuang Daihua "sensibly" offer the ring, Qin Lan happily wagged her tail and slipped the gold ring onto the tip of her tail.
However, Qin Lan's words also make sense. The reason why the Black Dragon was defeated and the kobolds were persuaded to surrender was because there was an Iron Dragon nearby.
"The elf's wooden bow... was shattered by acid spray, fifty coppers. Inside is a silver ball with a golden bell... the craftsmanship is quite good, thirty gold."
A large scallop contains twenty fairly plump pearls. Its price fluctuates between twenty and thirty gold coins.
Qin Lan disdained to price other items such as coral pieces, ordinary scimitars, and hand axes.
Next came two helmets, one of which was a silver-plated helmet engraved with defensive runes and with a chainmail-like structure on the outside, worth three hundred gold coins.
The other one is an elven silver battle helmet adorned with feathers, which is much more exquisite and ornate, and costs five hundred gold coins.
Then, the young dragon turned its gaze to the several piles of gold and silver coins that had been divided up.
"Thirty-six thousand taels of silver and two thousand taels of gold. For a black dragon, that's a pretty good collection."
Then, Zhuang Daihua and Qin Lan were about to reach an agreement on the distribution of the treasure.
These purified coins, along with other multicolored gems, can be used by Qin Lan to build her nest. However, Zhuang Daihua has the right to use these coins to purchase items when money is needed.
Next, the black dragon was dismembered.
Although many of her scales had been eroded through, and she had just been attacked by a blizzard, Qin Lan still had the energy to dismember the black dragon.
"I'm here to help too!"
The most dangerous part, the neck, will be handled by Qin Lan. If handled properly, the black dragon's acid won't burn Zhuang Daihua. As for cutting open the scales, she can do that with her Fire Dragon Dagger.
"Be careful, keep control of that knife."