sovbooks Chapter 78: The Severely Wounded Dragon Seed
Chapter 78: The Severely Wounded Dragon Seed
As soon as he uttered those three words, a layer of yellowish-brown stone armor crawled up Zhang Ping's body as if it were alive.
White light shone through the cracks in the palm-sized stone slabs. The armor was covered with dark blue patterns, eerie and uncanny, all converging at the chest and solidifying into a clear Black Tortoise pattern.
He clenched his fist slightly, and a look of surprise immediately appeared on his face.
"Such immense power!"
"This Xuanwu Armor not only boasts incredible defense, but it also significantly enhances strength!"
He could barely contain his excitement. Although there was no comparison, he was certain that his current strength was far greater than before!
The special fire attribute blood essence with superimposed black blood essence, plus this indestructible Xuanwu armor!
Even if we encounter that black tiger again, we can escape unscathed, even if we can't defeat it!
"My current level is roughly equivalent to a weaker Blood Essence Realm martial artist. My strength can improve once I become more proficient with Fire Flame and the Xuanwu Armor."
Zhang Ping pondered. Both Fire Flame and Black Tortoise Armor are growth-type beast patterns, and the benefits brought by proficiency are very direct.
"My mastery of the Water Divine Power is almost maxed out; I need to practice more. I hope the power I get after reaching perfection won't disappoint me..."
During this battle with Gui Tianhe, he mainly used the power of the Water God, and his proficiency increased rapidly. Combined with his previous hard training, it has now exceeded ninety.
At that time, their strength will undergo another transformation.
Having clarified his current power structure, Zhang Ping stopped lingering, pushed off the lakebed, and burst out of the water, landing on the shore.
thump!
The sound of water startled the succubi who were washing themselves by the lake. Seeing Zhang Ping suddenly appear, they instinctively grabbed leaves from the trees around them to cover their private parts.
The movements varied in speed, and many of the female demons were caught off guard, their white parts exposed to Zhang Ping's eyes.
Zhang Ping glanced at it a few times, then looked away.
These banshees were simply dressed, but they were not without shame; it's just that no one in the Western Poison Forest paid any attention to them. To humanoid races, especially humans, they were actually quite conservative.
"Zhang Ping! We have grilled fish here!"
When Mu Xiaoya saw Zhang Ping, she immediately raised the half-eaten grilled fish in her hand, her mouth surrounded by black, oily bits.
Zhang Ping smiled and said, "You're here." He strode over and sat down next to Mu Xiaoya.
Opposite her, Mu Ya casually stretched out her long legs. Beside Mu Ya, Mu Qing's voluptuous figure was outlined with undulating curves in the firelight.
"Were you cultivating at the bottom of the lake just now?" Mu Ya couldn't help but ask as soon as Zhang Ping sat down, her beautiful eyes looking at him.
Zhang Ping nodded: "Yes, my cultivation method is a bit different from that of ordinary humans."
"Oh," Muya responded, and then fell silent.
Mu Qing shook her head secretly. The clan leader was too young and spent most of his time cultivating, so he had little contact with the outside world, especially with humans, which was a first for him.
Mu Qing moved to Zhang Ping's left, her voluptuous body inadvertently pressing against him: "My name is Mu Qing. Young Master Zhang, may I ask what level your strength has reached?"
A soft, elastic touch came from his arm. Zhang Ping paused, his hand holding the grilled fish darting around. A thoughtful look flashed in his eyes: "Not high. It can handle the Bone Forging Realm."
"Young Master Zhang is a martial artist at the Essence Blood Realm?" Mu Qing's eyes lit up.
"More or less." Zhang Ping felt the pressure coming from his arm and a slight smile appeared on his lips.
Muya, who was listening intently nearby, had a sudden thought: Blood Essence Realm... just as she expected.
Mu Xiaoya exclaimed in surprise, clearly astonished by Zhang Ping's cultivation level, and said with her mouth agape:
"Zhang Ping, you're so strong, how did you get beaten up like that?"
"Uh..." Zhang Ping was taken aback by these words, and looked speechlessly at the innocent-looking girl. He thought she was going to praise him, but instead she asked him why he got beaten up.
He shook his head and then asked, "Do you know about that demon city to the east?"
The demon city where the Black Tiger resides is located on the edge of the Western Poison Forest, and its territory has already encroached deep into the forest. Given the arrogant nature of that poisonous dragon, it shouldn't stand idly by.
"That Tiger Demon City? I've heard of it, but it's far from here, so I don't know much about it. I heard it appeared about two months ago."
This time, it was Muya who spoke. As the clan leader, she sometimes visited other female demon tribes and was the most well-informed. Her face was solemn:
"Tiger Demon City appeared out of nowhere, and as soon as it was built, it kept attacking the Western Poison Forest. The tribesmen living in the east were all forced to move away."
"Didn't the Poison Dragon do anything about it?" Zhang Ping asked curiously.
Poison Dragon, the overlord of the Western Poison Forest, is rumored to be the only dragon species in the world. It is hard to tell if this is true or not, but that is what the outside world says.
"How could we ignore it? Half a month ago, Lord Dragon King led the beastmen from the Western Poison Forest to attack Tiger Demon City. The specific details are unclear. Yet, Tiger Demon City is still standing there unharmed."
Muya shook her head, her tone tinged with helplessness. This was one of the reasons why she and Muqing were so eager to establish relations with humans. If even the Dragon King couldn't handle the demons, and they couldn't be stopped in the future, they would need someone who knew their way out.
"I've heard a little about this," Mu Qing interjected.
"It is said that the powerful beast warriors who went there did not suffer much loss, but the Dragon King fell into the trap of that demonic tiger and was seriously injured. He is now recuperating in the dragon's lair."
"I see..." Zhang Ping nodded thoughtfully. No wonder he didn't encounter any strange beasts when he entered the Western Poison Forest from that direction. It seems they were either all killed or escaped into the depths of the forest.
That black tiger was only at the Blood Essence Realm, while the Poison Dragon, as the overlord of the Western Poison Forest, was definitely a top-tier existence at the Marrow Infusion Realm, yet it was severely injured and forced to retreat?
It seems to be the effect of that black stone.
Fighting against a plus version of yourself, even a dragon wouldn't be able to withstand it; escaping is already quite an achievement.
However, Zhang Ping suddenly thought of something and frowned, asking, "Since the demons are so strong, why not take the opportunity to hunt down the Poison Dragon?"
That's a dragon seed, every part of it is a treasure, and it's also a top-tier food source for demons!
"I don't know. I heard that even the powerful beasts dare not venture deep into the forest when they discover demons. It seems they're preparing for a second attack recently." Mu Qing was only a Refining Realm cultivator in the mid-level female demon clan, and most of her information came from hearsay.
Zhang Ping did have some guesses.
He recalled the Battle of Ghost River, how Lieyun Mountain dared not step into Ghost River after seeing the stone cube; and the current behavior of Tiger Demon City. "The stone cube probably has a limited range of use; it becomes ineffective outside that range. And there are probably not many of them."
Zhang Ping felt that this conclusion made much more sense.
If the stone space had no restrictions, the demons would have swept everything away long ago. They would have pulled any experts into the stone space instead of slowly eroding it like this.
How is the scope of use determined? He didn't know. This thing was useless to him, so there was no need to fear it. The only thing to worry about was whether the demons would lose control because of this.
"The Dragon King is injured, so what will happen to our Western Poison Forest?" Mu Xiaoya asked suddenly, sucking on her fingers and widening her eyes.
Muya smiled helplessly and gently patted her head: "The Dragon King is only seriously injured, he will recover."
"What if the injury is too serious? Wouldn't you die?" Mu Xiaoya was a little unhappy after being hit.
Hearing her words, Muya and Muqing both chuckled and shook their heads. There was no sun here, and nothing was off-limits. They laughed because dragons had extremely strong vitality; even if they were seriously injured, they could slowly recover.
Of the four people present, Zhang Ping suddenly fell silent.
He was slightly lost in thought, only one sentence echoing in his mind.
"The only dragon of our time...severely injured...?"
What would it look like if purebred dragons were used to brand animal patterns?