[{"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-272":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},2269918,4431,"Chapter 272: Pressure","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-272",272,"\u003Cp>As the unusual battlefield on the ground blazed fiercely, the support team below encountered their first opponents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were a squad of Liushoujiaotu ; they didn’t even last a minute before becoming piles of limbless “living intelligence.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hela acted too fast—her movements were precise and dangerous, as if she were holding her breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They’ve been gone for over three hours, but it’s still not too late. There are too many of them; they won’t be easy to clean up.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, some good news arrived: the pursued were not far away, and with so many civilians in tow, their speed was slow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The enemy clearly hadn’t anticipated pursuers this fast; they’d assumed it would take at least three days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That Ulda Niu Mo, as a fallen creation of the World Tree, might not be terrifying in combat while weakened, but its vitality was absurdly extreme.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This kind of being, in a sense, could be viewed as a manifestation of nature itself—nearly impossible to kill outright, its repeated resurrections could drive anyone to madness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The standard tactical procedure clearly required several failures first, to probe its abilities, then bring in specialists. Without prior intelligence gathering and without Guoguo as the specialist, Li En’s team would have had to follow this same process—possibly even seeking out a dedicated Archdruid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Cult of Beasts understood Huicheng; in their estimation, even if the royal family forcibly organized a punitive expedition, it would take at least one or two days to launch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The undying Niu Mo would grant the Cult ample time, and their plan didn’t even require dragging it out for two or three days—one day was enough. One day without rescuing the hostages would let their infiltrators further incite chaos, destabilize public morale, and even use this “failure” to directly strike at the royal authority.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time was precious, because it concerned the hearts of the people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unconsciously, Li En and his group had placed themselves at the pivot of the city’s fate—at least in Dainya’s eyes, Li En had already become an “hero.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Keep going,” Li En said; he could walk independently now, but he was still hardly fit for combat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The power of two-character “words” was still too early for him—even incomplete Dragon Language incantations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he was still deeply satisfied—not only had he experienced the overwhelming brilliance of the Light Blade, thoroughly enjoyed an ultra-super-super Holy Slash, but more importantly, he had obtained what he had long awaited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Dragonization: 11.6%】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, by harnessing such a powerful Dragon Language incantation, Li En’s Dragonization level broke past 10%.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Awakened Racial Talent: Dragon Wings (Fly Beyond the Stars)】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She’s guess was correct—the next awakened Dragonization ability was indeed Dragon Wings, which spared Li En from becoming “Xiao’s” target.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A racial talent, not a bloodline ability?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Spirit Codex’s prompt never wasted a word—Li En’s current race was “Dragonkin,” so all awakened Dragon abilities were racial talents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All Beast-related abilities were bloodline abilities. This meant the former were more like physical hardware capabilities, while the latter resembled supernatural occupational powers, merely sourced from “bloodline.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bloodline abilities weren’t unique to Beasts—in fact, Beastfolk carried many similar ones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t worry, they won’t die so easily—not until their head and heart are gone. Hmm, actually, even without a head they might not die, but lose the heart and they’re dead for sure. Be careful—they might have multiple hearts.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En was, in fact, hinting at something—even leaking essential knowledge about dealing with “Beasts” to ordinary soldiers beyond the camera.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bloodline abilities still followed basic principles: “Deer Heart” was the source of Deer bloodline.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their irrational regenerative ability persisted as long as “Deer Blood” remained—so shattering the heart was the fastest way to ensure stable death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“By now, that should be about ready…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En wasn’t worried the slave market raid would fail—the elite forces there had already been wiped out in two waves underground; even if reinforcements were needed, they’d require time and logistical coordination, which was now impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And their backer organizations—the churches, international bodies, noble houses—had all suffered attacks on their regional headquarters in Huicheng; naturally, they’d divert most of their strength to self-preservation, observe how things developed, and keep mobile reserves ready. At this moment, passive response was the most rational choice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If any church truly acted so aggressively by dispatching a Bishop to reinforce the slave market right now, then if he dies, he won’t be Yuan .”\u003C\u002Fp>",733,"2026-06-19T21:45:42.084Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","b591109d8f4c79cebdffb6d48cc107b93b32c8404a4a97160e0c6e1638401343","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-273","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-271",362,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-cover.jpg"]