Chapter 179: Masked Dragon Knight

The serpent appeared unusually enthusiastic and honest in trade.

In fact, judging solely by traders' reputations, his was quite good—generosity and attentive service were his trademarks; most traders eventually became victims of fate, ultimately self-destructing after their own moral decay.

As for his corruption, whether it stemmed from trading with the serpent and inflating desire and ambition, is another matter entirely.

"What a picky customer—this won't do, that won't do—but rest assured, Serpent Serpent loves customers like you." The serpent grew even more delighted; the more picky the customer, the more he could manipulate.

Within the realm of the extraordinary, the serpent had witnessed countless ages and histories—his vision far surpassed that of mortals.

He knew too many secrets from the Primordial and Ancient eras, even how to synthesize and utilize them, and where to acquire key resources.

"Dragons are absurdly hardy—massive bodies, rigid flesh, bone, and hide—they love to brawl directly with other lifeforms. But if you think you're a true dragon and try to endure attacks with your flesh and blood, you're not a true dragon—you're just a fool."

In the serpent's view, armor as external protection was always superior to flesh and blood.

It wasn't because steel was hard enough—many extraordinary beings had skin and flesh far tougher than steel—but because direct, force-on-force combat inevitably caused injury.

"Whether the injury is to armor or to flesh makes all the difference."

If your armor is damaged, you repair or replace it—it's infinitely better than healing wounded flesh, bone, and muscle, especially since many curses, poisons, and magics inflict penetrating, lasting damage that cannot be easily purged once inside the body.

The serpent's intelligence was worth far more than its price—not only did it solve the problem, it expanded Li En's horizons, offering valuable insight for constructing his own combat system.

"An otherworldly pact or otherworldly oath—find a great being and have it grant you a fantasy armor—that's the most practical approach."

Like the pixie's "Fairy Armor," these "pact items" are actually manifestations of higher beings' power—they can be regarded as illusory entities that don't exist in reality, fabricated from otherworldly forces. This bypasses fundamental physical limitations, constituting the first exploit.

"But it has many flaws—you know, sorcerers. Easily restricted or enslaved by higher beings, and those higher beings are all stingy: they give you little power, and it lacks growth potential. You might enjoy your illusory armor now, but soon you'll find it inadequate, then you'll return to the otherworldly lord—and he'll demand a new price."

The serpent of course wouldn't simply say this path was impossible—he was subtly hinting at the unreliability and traps of otherworldly pacts: offering small favors early to hook you, then constantly raising the price once you're committed; by then, it's too late to back out.

Most sorcerers are unfortunate souls who signed pacts with demons and devils of the lower planes, and their final fate is almost always becoming "residents" of the lower planes—or turning into soul currency, or becoming demons themselves.

"So—is there a higher being who is both generous and free of charge, and can craft a personalized armor upgrade system just for you?" The serpent gleefully went mad again.

His self-talk made Li En sigh and clap politely to encourage him.

"Does such a good person really exist?"

"Of course—he's your invincible Uncle Serpent."

So after all that, you're just trying to trick me into signing a pact with you? Li En's eyes brimmed with suspicion—he truly hesitated.

In stories, those who twist and turn to trick you into signing pacts are always the shadowy masterminds and main villains—and no one fits that role better than the serpent.

If the serpent truly revived because of this, it would be ten times more troublesome for the entire world than the revival of the underground deer.

"Relax, relax—I never intended to live, or I would've risen long ago. After all, I am but one face of the Thousand-Faced Dragon. Signing with me is equivalent to signing with the Thousand-Faced Dragon—I can make it so."

Li En was baffled. He understood every word, but what did they mean together?

". et your elder give you a lesson. The only one you can truly rely on is yourself—so sign a pact with yourself."

The serpent's implication was clear: sign a pact with him, and he would twist his own abilities to make it appear as if Li En had signed with the Thousand-Faced Dragon.

Sign a pact with yourself? Is that even possible?

"Does the Thousand-Faced Dragon possess some special power?" As the master of demonic oaths, one could grant power—but only if one had assets. "Uh, how much do you have? You're asking me? You are the Thousand-Faced Dragon—no extra factors needed. Stop testing me. Your rank is high enough to enter an otherworldly covenant. And you won't refuse your own oath."

Li En fell silent—he certainly wouldn't refuse his own covenant.

But what could a penniless man offer? His own flesh and blood?

"Yes—it's precisely your flesh, bone, and blood I want. Don't look at me like that—I don't cheat in trade; that's too uncouth. Aren't you a multi-headed dragon? Kuku, that kid's impressive—truly an excellent evolutionary design. I've already seen its infinite potential—except—"

The serpent sighed slightly. Li En's luck was good—both Su Er and Kuku were rare "conscientious" souls among the heroic spirits, excellent at mentoring newcomers.

This multi-headed dragon design also perfectly matched the Thousand-Faced Dragon's nature—high growth potential and stable evolution—yet—

". uku never really thought about using bloodline and flesh for combat."

Kuku was utterly incompetent in combat. Even as a theorist or planner, if you asked him to turn technological products into weapons, he could do it—but his methods were clumsy.

Those who play PvE building mode truly don't understand PvP.

Probably, Kuku only imagined the multi-headed dragon's multiple minds, slightly increased elemental affinity, and a few extra draconic abilities—like breath, wings, and so on.

"Wasteful. Such potent bloodline abilities, yet almost zero combat development—relying only on instinct to bite and breathe."

The serpent spat out a stone talisman.

It was a "conceptual module" he'd borrowed from an old friend last night—containing the curse of "flesh materialization."

"Sign a pact with yourself, summon your black dragon body, and transform it into armor and equipment you wield."

"This won't just enhance your defense—it'll let you truly use black dragon power in combat."

"Using Kuku's primitive combat template, you'd just duplicate the red dragon component—wasteful redundancy."

As previously mentioned, the "magical girl" Zhiyemozu is also a form of "divine maiden" or "sorcerer"—a special being borrowing beast power.

The creator and namer of this profession—well, unsurprisingly—is the serpent himself.

Humans and beasts make pacts, sharing one existence, mutually restraining and balancing each other.

Now twist it: use this "flesh materialization" ability as the core, mimicking the ancient elves' system of forging otherworldly and elemental power into divine equipment.

The serpent specially crafted a unique "Self-Pact Demon Pact-Maker (Sorcerer)."

This allows Li En to draw upon his own power and manifest it in ways suited to his style.

"Your flesh, your dragon veins—they'll transform into combat accessories you excel at using. And as your power and bloodline grow, these 'armaments' will possess near-infinite growth potential."

The serpent beamed with pride—he'd drunk heavily last night to acquire this knowledge and module.

Yes, he'd known all of this all along.

Youngster, thank your elder's painstaking efforts.

Gukahaha—I'm such a good person.

"This… actually works?" Li En was surprised.

"Of course it does—no theoretical issues. Then I'll make it happen. By the way, since you're using armor transformation and wielding dragon power, you'll be called Masked Dragon Knight. Don't like it? Then borrow from the popular 'Magical Girls'—call it Magical Handsome Dragon Boy." The serpent went mad again.

"Dragon Pact-Bearer—that's the name!" Li En reacted instantly, desperately avoiding any fate of being mocked by weirdos or laughed out of the room at registration.

(End of Chapter)