Starting with watering the World Tree for otherworldly survival

Page 318

Legend has it that a hunter named Azure Star will appear. He will be the archenemy of the Nergigante, who balances the world's order and eradicates the source of chaos.

Both walk the earth, vanquishing and devouring all calamities.

Then, on the day their destinies intersected, the Azure Star and the Dragon Aspect of Extinction would face off in a fateful showdown.

That's good... fairly concise. The attitude of the Annihilator Dragon towards the "Azure Star" is also ambiguous. If she wanted to eradicate the Azure Star's legacy, she could simply kill the old hunter and be done with it.

—But in fact, the Azure Star has never existed in this world. This fully-formed Azure Star Katana was only forged within the last hundred years.

"A year? Hunter... no, dragon! Aren't you being a bit too arrogant?"

Given a dragon's lifespan, it would take at least one or two thousand years to reach the realm of godhood. Qin He, on the other hand, is just a baby in his early twenties.

Although he has energy approaching the peak of sainthood, does he really think he can catch up with the world-destroying dragon at the early stage of godhood within a year with this little bit of talent?

How do you expect to win? Are you going to find a nearly dead lava dragon, hug it, and just keep eating it until you reach the peak of godhood?

The Nergigante sister, standing nearby, was even more enraged after hearing Qin He's arrogant words. She had never seen anyone dare to speak to her sister like that before…

"You think you can beat my sister within a year? Don't dream! If you can beat her, I'll kill a Black Dragon within three months!"

Little Nergigante could not do that, and even her sister had to lower her head and tuck her tail between her legs when she saw a forbidden being like Alatreon.

The exaggerated metaphors used to mock Qin He, but the Annihilation Dragon began to have doubts.

The old hunter believed this guy was indeed capable of inheriting the destiny of Azure Star. Perhaps... he really does have a promising future?

"...I'll allow you to take the knife. But if you want to become the Azure Star, you can't do it without sufficient strength."

"If you can kill every single one of the Black Devouring Dragons here, I'll spare your life."

Seeing that the Annihilation Dragon was indeed curious about the destiny of Azure Star, Qin He continued to probe:

"Slaying all the Black Eclipse Dragons here—that does sound like a good idea. But in the end, those slain Black Eclipse Dragons will probably end up inside you two sisters' bellies. Am I right?"

“Killing all the Black Eclipse Dragons here wouldn’t be a problem. But I’m not the kind of person who lets others take advantage of me for nothing… If I do it… you, the World Annihilation Dragon at the peak of godhood, will have to do one thing for me.”

Originally, Annihilation Dragon intended to present Qin He with a difficult problem, hoping to discourage him from taking action.

Although he managed to reach the fifteenth level, which shows he has some strength, the Black Devouring Dragons gathered on the fifteenth level are far superior in both quantity and quality to those on the previous levels.

If Qin He fails to do so and is surrounded and killed by the Black Devouring Dragons, then the two sisters can continue fighting.

If Qin He succeeds, all the Black Erosion Dragons that died on the fifteenth floor will become their food reserves.

But now, Qin He has started to bargain.

"Aren't you afraid I'll kill you right now?"

Reverting to her original form, the Annihilator Dragon swung her massive, crystalline claws at Qin He. The sharp, menacing claws nearly pierced Qin He's chest.

"Go ahead and try, Miss Nerugigart! Azure Star won't die by your hand, and neither will I!"

Just kidding, the Annihilator Dragon wasn't as difficult to talk to as Qin He imagined. From the very beginning, this negotiation had only one outcome: success.

Furthermore, with the scales of three dragon kings protecting him, these two sisters, one big and one small, couldn't possibly harm him and Zhong Liuxiu.

"After I kill the Black Eclipse Dragon, you'll do me a favor. In return, these Black Eclipse Dragons will be yours. Otherwise, I don't mind... using some extreme measures."

As he spoke, Qin He took out the spatial scale.

"This is the highest-grade spatial scale, capable of easily containing a small country. From now on, I will use it to collect every Black Eclipse Dragon that is killed."

"Even if you kill me, you won't get this place, or the corpses of the Black Eclipse Dragons higher up. I killed countless others before I got here."

"This is a deal that will definitely not lose you any money; you only need to do one thing."

Elder dragons don't appear every year, and even the Nergigante doesn't eat Elder dragon meat every day. This large-scale appearance of the Black Eclipse Dragons is a huge opportunity for them, like a gift from heaven.

The female Nergigantes still need energy to support their upcoming adult transformation, so the more high-quality prey like the Black Eclipse Dragons, the better for them.

Even more critically, no matter how powerful the Annihilation Dragon is, it cannot forcibly extract items from Qin He's spatial scales.

This highest-grade spatial scale is completely sealed after its owner dies. It can only be opened after its owner is resurrected.

If Qin He uses this ability to loot all the Black Corruption Dragon corpses within a certain radius, then the Extinction Dragon sisters won't get any benefit...

"Alright, let's see how you perform."

Chapter 385 The Bride Annihilates the Dragon

There are probably close to a hundred Black Devouring Dragons remaining on the entire fifteenth floor. If Qin He and Zhong Liuxiu rely solely on brute force, they will be exhausted to death before they can kill all these monsters.

However, contingency plans had been made for encountering a large number of Black Devouring Dragons. Qin He naturally had a way to deal with this situation, which is why he agreed to the World Annihilation Dragon's request.

"Qin He, Xiu Xiu... Good afternoon~"

As Queen Xuezhi gracefully appeared in the world shrouded in black haze, lifting her skirt, the eyes of the World-Destroying Dragon suddenly rippled.

"Hmm? What a big mushroom!"

As the younger sister, Nergigante had never seen a mushroom-man from the dark depths of the earth before. Let alone a Ring Queen like Yukie with such a special status.

Based solely on her predator-like sense of smell, she directly identified Xuezhi as a giant human-shaped mushroom.

However, because Nergigante preys on Elder Dragons and other large monsters, neither of the two Nergigantes made any rash moves.

"Fungi people?"

The Annihilator Dragon tilted its head, and its pair of massive horns, which gleamed with a hint of black, smashed the eaves of a nearby building.

Xue Zhi's power is only at the peak of the Saint Realm, even though Qin He brought in this "outsider." But how can the three of them possibly deal with so many Black Devouring Dragons?

"Xuezhi, it's up to you now. Next... Xiuxiu and I will fuse the serum and the venom that counters the Black Corrosion Dragon into your spores."

It turns out that Qin He and Xue Zhi's research these past few days has been about how to use poison and spores to solve the Black Erosion Dragon's calamity once and for all.

Immediately, visible points of light rose from the large noble hatbox above Xue Zhi's head. Within these points of light lay the "corrosive venom for the Black Corrosion Dragon" that Qin He and Zhong Liuxiu had prepared specifically for this moment.

Behind Xuezhi, a phantom image of a snow-white nine-leaf fairy mushroom gradually emerged.

If you didn't see her elegant pink dress, you might mistake her for a fairy from a fantasy novel who attained enlightenment through the cultivation of a lingzhi mushroom.

Logically speaking, this shouldn't be an ability that the mushroom people's existing power system can explain.

But whatever the case, Xuezhi is now releasing far more spores than before. These things, specifically designed to poison the Black Devouring Dragon, are scattering everywhere, frantically devouring the sky-covering scales.

Previously, the spores of the Snow Ganoderma would grow rapidly after consuming the scale powder. The principle behind this was that the spores forcibly consumed and absorbed the natural energy within the Mad Dragon scale powder.

Afterward, the spores grow into small, colony-like clumps that cannot be inhaled, and age rapidly as they fall from the sky.

When it falls to the ground, the snow fungus spores will return to the natural cycle, using the energy absorbed from the dragon scales to nourish the surrounding environment.

However, through joint research with Qin He, it was discovered that the new generation of spores not only do not age and fall off after absorbing energy to saturation, but also divide into more new spores on the original basis.

Black Eclipse Dragon can absorb energy from the Mad Dragon Scale Powder to enter the Mad Dragon state, and the new generation of spores, which have undergone targeted improvement and evolution, have the same effect.

After abandoning energy saturation, it undergoes rapid decay in order to give back to the environment.

Simply letting them float out will allow the dragon scale powder to be absorbed with maximum efficiency. The energy extracted from the dragon scale powder can further support the spores in releasing more offshoots.

Therefore, the process of Xuezhi fully releasing spores will not exceed five minutes.

Black Eclipse Dragons are blind unless they evolve into adult Sky Returning Dragons or become Chaos Black Eclipse Dragons that have failed to molt.

Otherwise, they can only identify information through the horns on their heads, which resemble the structure of tentacles.

They use their tentacles to sense the scales and powder to determine the heat of living creatures and their surrounding environment.

By the time the Black Eclipse Dragons realized that the scales had disappeared in large quantities in mid-air, it was already too late.

Instead, what they perceived were fluorescent spores. The dazzling radiance continued to devour the dragon scales.

The firefly-like spores gradually spread, swell, divide, and give birth to more new spores. They also contain a potent toxin specially developed by Qin He for the Black Erosion Dragon.

The Black Eclipse Dragon's body does not reject spores; it actively absorbs them as if they were scales. The moment the toxins completely circulate within the Black Eclipse Dragon's body is the moment it loses its ability to move.

With Qin He and Zhong Liuxiu's abilities, combined with a god-level artifact like the Nidhogg's Bite, they could certainly unleash a more powerful venom than they currently possess. Even if the Black Devouring Dragon were to ingest it, it would suffer a agonizing death—

However, the venom is carried by the spores of the Snow Ganoderma. If the venom is too strong against the Black Dragon, the spores will be poisoned the moment they take off.

What the spores contain now is the limit of the toxicity they can withstand.

Zhong Liuxiu held Qin He's hand to transfer demonic energy, while Qin He was responsible for transferring the venom, allowing Xuezhi's spores to be filled with Nidhogg's poison.

The Black Eclipse Dragons, unaware of what awaited them, roared and charged toward the source of the spores. But through absorption, as natural as breathing, the spores that entered their bodies began to circulate.

"Hmph, well done. Within five minutes, the entire fifteenth floor will be completely covered by spores, and none of the Black Devouring Dragons here will be able to escape!"

Qin He was using poison.

Annihilation Dragon was not an innocent young dragon; she immediately understood that Qin He's actions had given him complete control over the Black Corruption Dragon horde.

The reason is simple: the Black Eclipse Dragon inhaled poisonous spores. The spores released their toxic effects within the Black Eclipse Dragon's body, ultimately leading to its death at Qin He's hands.

Although Qin He said his venom was something that could counter the Black Eclipse Dragon, the Black Eclipse Dragon was still some distance from the life level of an ancient dragon because it had not yet molted.

But since this stuff can poison Black Devourer, creatures with Ancient Dragon blood could also be affected by the toxicity of these spores.

If Qin He were to kill all the Black Eclipse Dragons on the fifteenth floor in this way, then the dead Black Eclipse Dragons would be equivalent to poison.

Perhaps, given the Nergigante's vitality, consuming one or two Black Eclipse Dragons wouldn't be a problem. However, if the indigestible toxins accumulate within the Nergigante's body through its prey Black Eclipse Dragons…

"Enough... Stop! Don't release those poisonous spores anymore! Didn't you say that these Black Devouring Dragons belong to my sister and me? If you kill them with poison, how are we supposed to eat them?"

As the Black Devouring Dragons flew towards them, their bodies began to sway precariously after inhaling the spores. Their outer shells, brimming with a deep purple color and poised to transform into berserk dragons at any moment, began to glow strangely with a white light!

These black dragons, their bodies gleaming with white light, lost their balance mid-air. Unable to adjust their flight, they crashed to the ground above the already dilapidated fifteenth-floor complex!

The ruined city was quickly destroyed by the black dragons that rained down like cannonballs. Fortunately, the remaining adventurers had already taken refuge underground.

Otherwise, given the immense force of the Black Devouring Dragon's descent, enough to destroy streets and alleys, the creatures inside those buildings would hardly survive.

"Hmph~ Annihilator Dragon... Miss Nerugigart—did I say I was going to give you all the Black Eclipse Dragons?"

Although Qin He is not a dragon, he would not treat such an important strategic resource as the Black Eclipse Dragon as a snack to feed two Nergigantes.

Qin He wouldn't easily give away at least this entire floor with nearly a hundred Black Corrosion Dragons.

As the saying goes, things easily obtained are often not cherished. If the World Destroyer Nergigante were to perceive him as an easy-going, foolish hunter, rather than a cunning and shrewd dragon...

So... Qin He's cooperation with her will only become more and more passive in the future.

Qin He intended to use these Black Devouring Dragons as bargaining chips in his upcoming negotiations, to make the Annihilation Dragons understand his capabilities.

Trying to gain anything from Qin He won't be easy. If the two Annihilator sisters can't sincerely cooperate with him, they won't be able to eat these Black Devourer Dragons even if they get them.

"Besides the task I asked you two sisters to do for me before, afterwards... you'll need to stay by my side. Otherwise, you won't get to eat a single one of these Black Devouring Dragons."

As he spoke, Qin He also took out several bottles of ancient dragon blood, which were blood samples he had collected from the Ice Dragon, Namielle Dragon, and Sky Comet Dragon for record-keeping purposes.

"The pure blood of an Elder Dragon is why I was able to develop a poison specifically for the Black Dragon. And I know that even the most powerful Nergigante, which flows with the same type of blood, is still an Elder Dragon."

"If you ingest this poison, I can't say what will happen next. You might lose your proud super-fast regeneration, or your original diamond thorns and black thorns might degenerate into the weakest white and become unable to harden..."

"If I'm unlucky, I might die!"

The Black Erosion Dragons on the fifteenth floor kept flying in, trying to kill the source of the spores, but they quickly lost their ability to move after inhaling the spores and fell into the city.

Annihilation Dragon knew she couldn't risk harming these Black Devouring Dragons. Unless…

"Unless I can personally extract the toxins from their bodies, every bite you two eat of these Black Devouring Dragons could be your last meal on this earth!"

"What's going on, ladies? Do you want to turn around and leave, or cooperate with me?"

Realizing that Qin He truly possessed a trump card against the Black Corrosion Dragon, and that he might also use the same toxin to threaten her and her sister...

Anyway, Qin He needed her help, and his methods with poison were too conspicuous. If she sensed something was wrong, she could just take her sister and run away.

After a moment of silence, the Annihilating Dragon bowed to Qin He and said:

"Tell me, what do you want me to do? Kill an ancient dragon? Or more?"

Although the World Destroyer Dragon was very strong, she couldn't understand why Qin He wanted to see her.

I've heard that the Steel Dragon and Teostra on the tenth floor have recently been locked in combat, resulting in the deaths of many adventurers. Perhaps what Qin He wants her to do is kill these evil ancient dragons?

"It's not an ancient dragon, but an ancient shadow dragon at the early stage of the peak of godhood. Although it possesses various kinds of magic, with your strength, you can easily twist it into pieces like a pretzel."

To be honest, the Shadow Dragon is a relatively weak dragon species with not much magic... As long as Qin He can find a way to assist, the Annihilator Dragon can easily tear the Shadow Dragon apart once it gets close.

Looking across the world, how many dragons can actually engage in close combat with the Annihilator?

The Annihilator Dragon wasn't stupid; she knew roughly what the strength of a Shadow Dragon at the early stage of the Godhood realm was. With her power, she could probably repel it with minor injuries.

To kill the opponent directly would likely require a much greater cost. However, compared to hundreds of Black Devouring Dragons, these costs are insignificant.

It's worth noting that it's rare for more than a dozen Black Eclipse Dragons to appear. This time, with over a hundred Black Eclipse Dragons appearing, it's not exactly unprecedented, but it's a feast that happens only once in a thousand years.