[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces":3,"chapter-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-241":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Dragon of a Thousand Faces",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2269887,4431,"Chapter 241","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-241",241,"\u003Cp>As the waves were about to crash, Li En wished for at least a small fortress, a tiny shelter to shield from wind and rain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps this was also why the Many-Faced Dragon didn’t truly need any main quest—simply to survive, one naturally strives to acquire more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How’s your condition? Can you keep going?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes.” Dimon took a deep breath; his wounds had already healed over half during combat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had grown at least a head taller than before, his muscles bulked up another circle; standing beside Li En, he was almost looking down on him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Prolonged use of the Giant’s Gloves seemed to have granted him partial Giant traits. This was the poor man’s cheat—using cursed items to piggyback on high-tier bloodlines—but the side effects were obvious: evolution inevitably skewed, and the bloodline became muddled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The strongest bloodline I can access still can’t match the weakest Giant. At least in the early stages, I can borrow a bit more.” Dimon didn’t seem to think it mattered much.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En had ordered him to stop using it, but whether he listened was his own business.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Considering his Classical Knight’s high-tier oaths granted strong resistance, overall, the risks were manageable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m fine too.” Larry was in the best condition—her gear was absurdly durable, and now her crystal pupils were even more pronounced, as if signaling her “race” had advanced further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Give me some time.” No one expected the former strongest member of the squad had now apparently slipped to the bottom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The recent battle left Talia gasping for breath; she was unharmed, merely exhausted from prolonged combat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a Golden-blooded Assassin, her endurance was already impressive—yet…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“All three monsters were still wearing heavy armor.” Compared to the Knights, her condition was indeed poor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Talia sighed, preparing to adjust her combat approach; perhaps her main contribution to this squad had become guiding and tracking—they no longer needed her direct combat support much.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En’s expression toward Talia was subtle—the gap between a true Spirit Heritage bearer and a backdoor user (ordinary warrior) was glaring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After that incident, the Knight squad received the Heritage (Larry gained bloodline enhancement and Law Knight blessings); each of their growth rates had skyrocketed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Talia was indeed progressing too, but the others were so absurdly fast that she appeared to stand still—yet her progress was still quite rapid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Any reaction?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“None… Is that a good thing?” Li En glanced at the map and “compass” in his hand—no noticeable response.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course it is.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This impromptu reunion of classmates wasn’t just for gathering and chatting—the tavern upstairs suited that far better.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En had specifically come to the docks to attend this “appointment.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Knights at the docks had entered the underground ruins via a tunnel beneath the Ship Graveyard, and now the “magic item” in their hands was measuring the distance to the newly established underground town of Huicheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Currently, there was no reaction—which was likely a good sign, indicating the current area lay beneath the underground town, meaning this tunnel held higher economic value.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ugh, these minotaurs—minotaurs deserve to die!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The group they had just cleared were a band of underground minotaur monsters—a species vaguely resembling the Minotaur folk, yet entirely distinct on the evolutionary tree.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were said to be descendants of an ancient deity from the Infernal Realm, natural labyrinth guardians—with absurd muscle strength and labyrinthine scent-tracking, they easily became killers of newcomers in underground dungeons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In narrow dungeon corners, a muscular minotaur would suddenly block the path, forcing you into a trade-of-wounds, head-on clash—newbies died quickly under such pressure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tch, broke bastards.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For Li En’s group, these elite minotaurs, averaging at second- to third-rank strength, were merely time-wasting obstacles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now Dimon and Li En were efficiently looting the corpses, but sadly, these minotaurs seemed to have been born only recently—no valuables on them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Some Minotaur folk, dwarves, and gnomes collect horns—but Minotaur folk only value horns older than ten or thirty years as arcane materials; dwarves use large horns for horns and cups; gnomes collect juvenile horns for crafts—but the purchase prices are tragic.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the squad’s only “veteran,” Talia still used her experience to aid her companions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah, so they’re losing out?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not necessarily. These minotaurs may be newborn, but they look like they’re over thirty. This underground ruin is insane—they’re born already in prime adulthood.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching Dimon and Li En happily harvesting materials, Talia shook her head—the Knights were growing too fast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the time one could handle opponents of this level, such loot identification knowledge should have been common sense from countless adventures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She looked up at the four-meter-high ceiling, feeling an inexplicable oppression—even after growing accustomed to Shadow Walking, the utter darkness of this underground maze still unsettled her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From her experience, this place was already deep enough to be unsuitable for recruits below third-rank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The aura of dangerous creatures is abundant all around.”\u003C\u002Fp>",814,"2026-06-19T21:45:42.084Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","613b56f4b4272bfbc7fe52cbc46d9f4bec2843444665a2803046f82b17e76228","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-242","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-240",362,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-cover.jpg"]