Chapter 59: Epilogue

“Still the same familiar ceiling.”

Looking again at the luxurious crystal chandelier, Li En felt much more at ease.

The heavy pressure and threats that had weighed on him were gone; even the same scenery now looked far more comfortable.

“Lana, don’t run! Why do you always insist on running around naked?!”

The familiar voice outside also lifted Li En’s spirits—but he’d probably have to wait a bit before opening the door.

"That's really exaggerated." Li En glanced at his body—he was bound so tightly he resembled a mummy.

It seemed that when he had emerged, the continuous bleeding from too many wounds had pushed his body to the brink of hypothermic death.

Healing divine arts have their limits; the human body cannot be catalyzed to infinite self-repair.

And the journey back was anything but smooth.

While Li En fought his desperate battle, the other battlefields never ceased.

Even Heike could call for reinforcements; when Maria and the Great Horned Stag went mad, the little beasts naturally summoned help.

They had repeatedly tried to interfere in Li En and Maria’s battlefield, but were held back by others.

When Li En stepped out of the battlefield, Dimon and Talia, in terrible condition, were still fighting desperately.

To prevent the rushing beast tide from disrupting Li En’s life-or-death struggle, they had blocked the door and fought to the death; Dimon, the only one originally unharmed, had become a bloody mess.

The second wave of reinforcements consisted of official mercenaries; their arrival was oddly timed, intercepted and ambushed by the frenzied beast horde, making their progress grueling.

Without guides, they spent most of their time wandering the labyrinth of the underground world, fighting to the death with the mad little beasts—essentially just played a supporting role.

But it seemed the death of the Great Horned Stag marked the end of everything; after Li En emerged, the monsters grew mild and weak.

Even so, the knight squad’s return journey still required constant fighting.

Along the way, Li En encountered Larry, who had switched to shinier armor and arrived riding a Great Sword Spider—truthfully, seeing the Great Sword Spider completely blocking the passage was a disaster.

The giant spider blocking the corridor, waving its limbs menacingly, made Li En deeply uneasy—he nearly overreacted and drew his sword.

Fortunately, Larry shouted from behind in time, preventing the battered knight squad from suffering another inexplicable life-or-death crisis—knights losing to their mounts was normal; the Great Sword Spider was a powerful rank-four monster.

After exiting the cave, Li En encountered Sallyman and the Radiant Guard holding the entrance.

Their appearance signaled direct official intervention—the situation had escalated completely.

What was once a serial killer case was now an official campaign against a cult and its evil forces of rebellion!

Once these people stepped in, the events inside had little to do with Li En and his group.

The remaining beasts were cleaned up thoroughly—rumor had it that the Radiant Guard and City Watch had sealed off the underground cave; no matter what remained inside, it would be cleared away completely after some time.

Their earlier guess was correct: there truly was a smuggling underground river leading to the subterranean ruins.

If Maria had followed that river, all hope would have been lost.

And the river, along with the small boat upon it, also conveniently solved one of Li En’s major problems.

“Thank goodness, the Hero’s Blood gems were all stored in the Codex’s space. The whereabouts of that bag of ‘gems’ should be blamed on the Beast Cult!”

Dead men owe no debts—everything can be dumped on Maria and his crew.

The cultists who came to assist were, from every perspective, perfect scapegoats.

It was said Sallyman and her group had happily set a very high bounty on them.

The lost bag of “Hero’s Blood” could also serve as motivation for certain people to hunt down villains.

Of course, the reason this matter was settled so quickly was because Li En was willing to sacrifice.

He tore off a small piece of Hero’s Blood and placed it on Heike’s corpse. Isn’t it natural for cultists to take a cut? He wasn’t some fearless holy knight.

What had been a casual setup earlier became decisive evidence during the post-battle cleanup.

“After all, the Ancient Beast Worshipers can’t possibly step forward and claim they didn’t take it.”

The knight group’s empty-handed exit completely cleared up the suspicion. Under normal circumstances, no one would suspect a holy knight of lying, especially when there were three of them present.

It was said that when Li En emerged, his face was as pale as a corpse’s.

Some even suspected he might drop dead at any moment.

He didn’t even know when he had passed out.

But now, Li En rubbed his chin and felt his condition was excellent—no weakness at all from massive blood loss.

【Biological Rank: Raw Stone, Status: Strength 8, Physique 9, Agility 6, Spirit 8 (18)】

It wasn’t an illusion—he had apparently undergone a transformation during sleep.

He reviewed the records above and felt something increasingly odd.

【Dragon Sleep Initiated, Main Material: Dragon Soul Fully Digested, Auxiliary Evolution Materials Being Searched.】

【Silver-Rank Material: Lion’s Tear (Sun) Confirmed, Silver-Rank Material: Dragon Soul (Volcano) Confirmed, Dragon-Type Materials Being Decomposed and Merged, Sun-Type (Flame) Materials Being Integrated.】

【Race Talent: Dragon Flame Enhanced.】

【Dragon Sleep Completed, Current Biological Rank: Raw Stone.】

It seemed certain materials stored in the Codex had been consumed.

“Sorry, Lana—your wedding fund seems to have been used by me…”

During this Dragon Sleep, the Spirit Codex consumed some materials, helping Li En fully break through the Raw Stone rank.

So, as a Dragonkin with base stats far exceeding ordinary beastmen, it seemed normal.

After all, dragons are famed for their superior base stats; reaching Bronze or even Silver levels at Raw Stone rank isn’t unusual.

Li En unconsciously rubbed his chin again—he felt something was off.

“Uh… scales?!”

This time, touching the hard object on his chin, Li En was utterly stunned.

He found a mirror and noticed faint red scales on the lower sides of his cheeks!

“. This could actually help me disguise better as a lizardfolk… but a red dragon?”

Dragonkin are descendants of dragons, but dragons have too many branches; the faint red dragon scales during his Dragon Claw transformation had hinted at Li En’s bloodline origin.

“No wonder I awakened Dragon Flame and the Holy Flame Halo so easily.”

A profession’s path is often directly tied to one’s innate talent.

Since Li En was now a fire-aligned Red Dragonkin, awakening the rare fire-based divine arts of the Holy Knight class was perfectly logical.

“Uh, Dimon’s first awakened ability should’ve been Minor Healing—he has a natural talent for healing knight? Or does it hint he’s actually a kind soul who dislikes fighting?”

And since he was Red Dragon bloodline, digesting fire-aligned Dragon Soul, Volcano, and Sun-type materials during evolution also seemed normal.

He nodded, thinking everything made sense—but who in their right mind uses Silver-Rank materials at Raw Stone rank?! Who dares feed Sun-tier flame materials to a juvenile dragon?!

Lacking relevant knowledge, he merely sighed in relief at his advancement and didn’t think much further.

He stared at the mirror for a long time—these scales would greatly aid his disguise.

“Next time I meet the Dragon Hunter girl, I’ll find a chance to ask how she hides her Dragonkin identity—whether she also walks the False Dragon path.” If he remembered correctly, that girl was also a Red Dragonkin.

Red Dragonkind truly lived up to their reputation as the dragon among dragons, the evil dragon among warriors—spreading their blood everywhere without hesitation.

“Click.”

At that moment, the door opened.

Li En looked up—huh, everyone was here.

Talia rushed in first, followed by Dimon, and Larry was there too.

“Hey, did you sleep well last night?” Before he finished speaking, Li En saw three faces filled with delight.

Before Li En could react, a wave of sweet fragrance rushed at him—he was embraced.

Talia threw herself at him; he even saw joyful tears in her eyes.

“Hey, is it really that serious?” Li En was puzzled—it was just a nap, right?

“. Lie down right now.” The woman wiped her eyes, said nothing more, and acted immediately.

Without another word, Talia carried Li En back to bed—he caught a glimpse through the doorway: the serpent woman was staring coldly at him, then snorted and walked off.

“You slept for at least thirty hours—your breathing stopped several times. The doctor said you might not make it,” Larry said, sounding deeply uneasy about yesterday’s events.

The doctor had nearly said outright that he couldn’t be saved; the priest had declared the healing divine art had already reached its limit.

So this was why Talia and the others were so emotional.

Li En hadn’t slept just one night—he’d slept through an entire day and two nights!

After a moment’s thought, Li En sat up, smiling.

“Thank you—and rest easy. As I promised before, I’ve returned safely.”

(End of Chapter)