[{"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-328":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},2269974,4431,"Chapter 328: Burning Fireball","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-328",328,"\u003Cp>“I’ve asked my sister; she checked the records from the past thirty years and found no reports of Deepsonic Dragon sightings.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet even after the dark elves mobilized their resources and consulted the Divine Messenger, the answer remained negative.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“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.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Well, though I didn’t have high hopes—sapphire dragons and crystal dragons—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There are some in the Prime Material Plane, but very few.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En sighed; it seemed his hunt was now nearly impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Acquiring one isn’t out of the question, but without the “Dragon Soul,” Li En’s evolution would be severely diminished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And even if you find a young dragon, slaying it is still extremely difficult.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The most suitable for Li En right now is clearly the hatchling among the three—but that’s just pure luck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Understood. How’s your condition lately?” Li En set aside that issue and asked something more practical.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Still catching up on lessons. If I embarrass myself, please don’t laugh.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I won’t. Having even a priest is already good enough. You know how my relations with certain churches stand.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As expected, Aleknei was also Li En’s designated future teammate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to inserting an unfamiliar high priestess, Aleknei—with her divine lineage and Valkyrie status—was clearly the best choice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a goddess-touched one, Aleknei understood well that if she benefited from divine favor, she must pay the price.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En even needed to improve himself, lest he be overshadowed by his future teammate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How are you progressing with other candidates?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“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.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Actually, we also have great mages,” the dark elves clearly sought to expand their influence, but Li En only smiled and shook his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>",656,"2026-06-19T21:45:42.084Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","1f2d2c2d973f6d62693647c5f73eed6c411a2bf5f45d74519597e9b5fb8283ad","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-329","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-327",362,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-cover.jpg"]