Chapter 328: Burning Fireball

“I’ve asked my sister; she checked the records from the past thirty years and found no reports of Deepsonic Dragon sightings.”

“The Goddess” Aleknei Tarabal said with a sigh; it was rare for a partner to make a request, and she truly wished to fulfill it.

Yet even after the dark elves mobilized their resources and consulted the Divine Messenger, the answer remained negative.

“This dragon is simply too rare. First, purple dragons are already rare in this plane; and to find one that has long dwelled in the Underdark and been corrupted—I did find a few well-known Deepsonic Dragons, but frankly, taking them down would require national-level force, and might anger a dragon nest and even a deity.”

Ancient dragons and young dragons are not on the same level; those bearing titles like “Elder” or “Primordial” are beyond the reach of mortals to trouble—they can casually hurl ninth-ring spells as if they were common tricks.

“Well, though I didn’t have high hopes—sapphire dragons and crystal dragons—”

Though the Gem Dragon line is called the third major dragon lineage, their actual numbers are far behind those of the Color Dragons and Metal Dragons, the first and second.

Tending toward neutrality, they long ago withdrew from their kin’s “War of Good and Evil,” and most now live in relatively peaceful other planes.

There are some in the Prime Material Plane, but very few.

“There are some in this regard, but still rare—and far away.” The lairs of crystal and sapphire dragons are either high mountains or underground; sightings may exist, but few are brought back alive.

Li En sighed; it seemed his hunt was now nearly impossible.

Acquiring one isn’t out of the question, but without the “Dragon Soul,” Li En’s evolution would be severely diminished.

“And even if you find a young dragon, slaying it is still extremely difficult.”

This is reality: even the weakest of the three, the sapphire dragon, is an expert ambush predator; a full elite squad might be wiped out by a young or adult one.

The most suitable for Li En right now is clearly the hatchling among the three—but that’s just pure luck.

“Understood. How’s your condition lately?” Li En set aside that issue and asked something more practical.

“Still catching up on lessons. If I embarrass myself, please don’t laugh.”

“I won’t. Having even a priest is already good enough. You know how my relations with certain churches stand.”

As expected, Aleknei was also Li En’s designated future teammate.

For the “officially designated team,” Li En needed a dark elf’s signature—and ideally, a priest of the Mirror Goddess En. In truth, there were few good options.

Compared to inserting an unfamiliar high priestess, Aleknei—with her divine lineage and Valkyrie status—was clearly the best choice.

As a goddess-touched one, Aleknei understood well that if she benefited from divine favor, she must pay the price.

Team up with a familiar face like Li En, and it would be safer and more reliable. But as a high priestess, she still needed massive study; she wouldn’t advance significantly in the short term—by ability alone, she was likely at the bottom of the high priestess tier.

Yet her advantages remained her divine lineage and Valkyrie power: such a high priestess needed no extra bodyguard and could instead serve as an excellent combat asset herself.

Li En even needed to improve himself, lest he be overshadowed by his future teammate.

“How are you progressing with other candidates?”

“If Larry can’t join, I’ll need an additional great warrior—preferably one leaning toward defense. For the great mage, we could invite a half-elf; my mentor can help with the introduction.”

“Actually, we also have great mages,” the dark elves clearly sought to expand their influence, but Li En only smiled and shook his head.

If his team included more than two members of the same outsider race, it would feel overly “outsider-heavy,” and that was unacceptable right now.