Chapter 370: Becoming a Frog

Dimensional Exile!

"Big Cat?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si gave a sudden start, looked up toward Lightning's head, and Seeing Ange tilted his head to look as well.

Seeing Seeing Ange look over, Big Cat suddenly pricked up the ears it had never once shown outside its fur and shook its head rapidly.

"If it wasn't it, could it be Xi Lu Di?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si muttered.

Far away in the United Stars Republic, Xi Lu Di suddenly sneezed, completely unaware she had nearly taken the blame.

Soon, her suspicion was cleared, for from another street emerged several creatures; the one at the head had a long neck, two short little arms, thick powerful hind legs, a long tail, and fine iron-grey scales.

Everyone couldn't help looking at Lord Nai Ge Li Si, who was also dumbfounded — apart from lacking wings and a big belly, and having a longer torso, this was the spitting image of a dragon walking upright.

"Dragonkin?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si said in shock.

Unfortunately, there wasn't a single dragon present; Lord Nai Ge Li Si was actually a lich, and had no way to sense whether the other party was dragonkin.

But the other party had also spotted Seeing Ange's group, and from the upright dragon's reaction one could read a few clues, because it too got a terrible fright, then shouted joyfully:

"Oh? A whelp? Heavens, wonderful — there's actually a whelp here? Grab it for me, drain its blood."

The upright dragon instantly tossed the Archmage matter out of its mind, jabbed a big finger at Lord Nai Ge Li Si, and shouted excitedly — clearly, drawing dragon blood mattered far more to it than any Archmage.

Four burly humans flanked the upright dragon; on hearing the order, the human at the very front grinned ferociously: "Lord Ao Long, as you wish — Ulas is at your service."

Hearing Ulas's words, the other humans looked a touch helpless, but still folded their arms and halted, apparently intending to spectate? Did they really think one human alone could flatten the enemies opposite and snatch away that 'whelp'?

The Archmage Phoenix had already divined that an Archmage was nearby — where did these fellows get such confidence?

Incredible as it was, these people really did think so; one could see Ulas stride forward alone, scales surging out over his body.

"Huh?" many on Seeing Ange's side were uncertain, and couldn't help glancing at Seeing Ange — wasn't this Dragon God Transformation?

Lord Nai Ge Li Si clearly heard everyone's puzzlement and hurriedly said: "Dragon-touched, it's Dragon-touched — Dragon-touched Transformation, be careful."

"Got it." Luther also stepped forward, solemnly pulling out a beet and crunching into it in big bites.

Misha found it baffling: "I said be careful, not eat — what's wrong with you? I don't date weirdos."

Luther gave a carefree smile, ran a hand along the Arbiter's Sword, and said: "My love belongs only to it — Dragon-Grain Steel Core & @*# Shatterer · Arbiter's Sword."

He spoke too fast; Misha didn't catch it clearly, and could only frown and confirm one thing — this really was a weirdo — then quietly took two steps to the side.

Duriken rested his chin on his hand, pondering: "If those are Dragon-touched, then is this upright fellow really dragonkin? Do you know it?"

Lord Nai Ge Li Si said awkwardly: "There are so many dragonkin, how could anyone know them all? I don't recognize it."

Duriken blinked, recalled the legends about dragonkin, and immediately showed a look of sudden understanding.

Lord Nai Ge Li Si gave an embarrassed laugh, too drained to explain anything, because the great dragons had done a truly terrible job with dragonkin — some lineages were a single thread of inheritance, and whether they would awaken or mutate was anyone's guess; only a ghost could sort out the genealogy of every dragonkin.

But no matter what kind of dragonkin, they inevitably carried the bloodline of the great dragons, and would possess rather outstanding talent — whether practicing magic or battle qi, or studying knowledge, they were far stronger than ordinary people.

This so-called Lord Ao Long was clearly a very powerful caster, not even deigning to look at an Archmage; who knew what level he actually was.

As for Dragon-touched, they were creatures tainted by dragon bloodline or aura — like Little Bu, for instance.

In terms of genealogy, Dragon-touched were even more chaotic than dragonkin, and the results weren't necessarily good.

Some creatures, tainted by the power of an ice dragon, were forever fearful of the cold — the moment the temperature dropped they got chilblains, suffering terribly.

Some creatures, tainted by the power of a red dragon, were forever complaining about the sun and heat, wishing they could hide in an icehouse and never come out.

Of course, where there were bad effects there were also good ones — some Dragon-touched, for example, were strong and vigorous, brimming with vitality, able to go seven rounds in one night and still be full of pep, and cultivated battle qi several times faster than ordinary people.

Or their magic training advanced at miraculous speed, more impressive than if others had eaten dragon fruit their whole lives.

Moreover, aura-taint could be controlled — over-tainted was a bad thing, but tainted just right was a tremendous blessing, sometimes even better than dragonkin.

The Ulas and his companions before them were Dragon-touched tainted to just the right degree — each one strong and sturdy, no obvious flaws on the surface, and able to trigger Dragon-touched Transformation at will.

One saw Ulas grow a size burlier, fine scales sheathing his vitals, arms and cheeks, layering defense together with his armor; then he drew the greatsword on his back, gripped it in hand, and qi-blades flickered unsteadily at the sword's tip.

Misha instinctively cried out: "Not good — a High-rank Sword Saint. Weirdo, step aside, let me handle this."

She whipped out a bottle of blue-glowing potion and was about to twist it open and pour it into her mouth, but before she could twist it open her hand went empty — the potion was gone.

She turned her head and only then discovered the potion had somehow ended up in Duriken's hand; he was holding the bottle, squinting at it half-closed as if studying it, murmuring: "Oh, a mana potion — I've heard before that someone had researched a potion that could replenish mana, and now I finally get to see one."

Misha couldn't help curling her lip, ready to retort — this little punk didn't look very old, but he spoke like an old fogey; mana potions had been invented over a thousand years ago, how could he never have had the chance to see one?

Poor is poor, but making excuses — forget it.

Thinking Duriken might be poor, Misha didn't snatch it back, and instead whipped out a second potion, drinking it as she turned her gaze back to the field — but what she saw nearly made her spit it all out.

Luther, wreathed in a half-ring of qi as solid as substance, had sliced off the enemy's head with one sword.

"Th-that… Ring of Truth? Sword of Truth?" Misha shouted in shock; she couldn't remember how many times she'd been shocked in this short span — first a mage who could be called a God of Flames, and now a Sword of Truth?

Misha turned her head, her gaze sweeping over Duriken, Feti, Big Cat Lightning, and Hermel — could these unassuming fellows all be powerhouses of this caliber?

The Ring of Truth was a conspicuous hallmark of a swordsman who had reached the Truth level; with every gesture, their battle qi could tear through space a step ahead, producing a shockwave-like radiance that to the naked eye looked like a half-ring of light.

"Yo-ho, this guy broke through?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si said in surprise.

"The beet's stimulation, probably," Duriken said, shaking his head.

"Still a breakthrough — when he used to crunch beets he never reached Truth level," Lord Nai Ge Li Si said.

Spurred on by the beet, Luther broke through to Truth level, splitting Ulas apart with one sword; he himself was also left panting for breath, and trotted back: "Can't… can't go on, worn me out, my muscles almost couldn't take it."

He finished by plopping down on the ground, pulling out a bottle of essence fluid and pouring it into his mouth.

Misha's eyes went round as saucers — as a female mage, she knew exactly what that bottle was: Concentrated Sacred Essence Fluid, originally priced at fifteen hundred magic crystals, now speculated up to eighteen hundred.

She had one bottle herself, and she already counted as well-off; normally she only patted a tiny bit on her face — and this dead man was actually chugging it from the bottle?

Looking again at the mana-recovery potion in her own hand, she instantly felt it lost its appeal.

Lord Ao Long was shocked too — not only an Archmage, but a Sword of Truth as well?

But looking at Luther's state again, it realized this strength had been forcibly boosted up and couldn't be sustained.

"That's a relief, otherwise it'd be a headache — all of you, go, stop playing around," Lord Ao Long said.

It was already regretting now — it should have gone all-out from the start; playing around and playing, it had actually played away a High-rank Dragon-touched Sword Saint.

Although it said all-out, only two Dragon-touched stepped out; the last one stayed put, guarding Lord Ao Long.

The scales on his body flipped up, and the two Dragon Thrall Sword Saints charged forward at a quick pace.

Seeing Ange said, "Everyone, let me perform a little magic for you."

As he spoke, he swept up his cloak; the cloak rapidly shrank inward, and then Seeing Ange vanished along with the cloak.

When he reappeared, first a puff of smoke rose on the left side of the two Dragon Thrall Sword Saints' charging path; before the smoke cleared, Seeing Ange had already flung out a light seal, accurately stamping it onto the left Dragon Thrall Sword Saint's body — Alchemy · Constant Art!

The Dragon Thrall Sword Saints froze violently, struggling with all their might.

Seeing Ange emerged from the smoke, smiling faintly: "Dragon Thrall transformation? I love the power of transformation the most. How about this — I'll transform you too—"

As he spoke, he raised his Midas Touch Rod and tapped the immobilized Dragon Thrall; with a sudden burst of smoke, the Dragon Thrall Sword Saint vanished, leaving only a green-skinned frog.

Taking advantage of everyone's stunned moment, Seeing Ange rushed forward and launched a big kick.

The green-skinned frog was kicked flying far away, tracing a parabola toward the swamp outside town; mid-air, the transformation power faded and he reverted to human form, but his tendons were severed and bones shattered, on the verge of death.

Everyone froze in place, stunned by Seeing Ange's bizarre methods, until he bowed, slowly retreated, and finally vanished into his rolled-up cloak — only then did everyone come back to their senses.

"Kuabada, the Alchemy · Constant Art I can let slide, but how can you turn him into a frog? Do you know how many variables that involves? How could you do it? You're not a god." Lord Nai Ge Li Si grabbed Seeing Ange's collar as he retreated, roaring and questioning him.

The Alchemy · Constant Art — pinning down a high-rank Sword Saint was already inconceivable, but that could still be understood; after all, Seeing Ange was the wielder of one of the Four Great Vice-Halls, ranked even slightly above Locke.

Earlier it was because he had just been reborn, his soul unstable, so he seemed weak; but after such a long period of recovery, his strength had already returned to about half, and pinning a high-rank Sword Saint wasn't very difficult.

But turning someone into a frog was absurd — that involved elemental conversion, requiring an enormous amount of energy; he's not Seeing Ange, he has no divine power to use, so how could he do it so easily? Does he really think this is a magic trick?

Seeing Ange leaned over and whispered: "Borrowing the power of his own Dragon Thrall transformation, I just gave him a little push — it's equivalent to using his own power to turn him into a frog, which is far easier than interference from someone else's power."

Lord Nai Ge Li Si was so shocked he didn't know what to say; don't be fooled by how casually Seeing Ange spoke — it certainly involved a great deal of skill and variables, and wouldn't be as simple as he made it sound.

But what does it matter? No matter how many tricks Seeing Ange used, the result was he did it — impossibly using magic to turn a high-rank Sword Saint into a frog.

However, this clearly wasn't easy to do either; after transforming one, he retreated, leaving the other Dragon Thrall Sword Saints standing there at a loss.

Using abilities beyond normal comprehension easily frightens people.

Seeing the opponent stunned, the little zombie stepped forward and unleashed a big move!

The Death Breath Shockwave slammed into the Dragon Thrall Sword Saint; the black light faded, and the Dragon Thrall Sword Saint actually didn't die — he held his hands as if gripping a battle qi long blade in front of him, barely blocking the Death Breath Shockwave, his entire body smoking.

The Aolong Mage's eyes already showed a look of horror — among these unknown fellows, any one pulled out at random actually possessed such formidable strength; he had originally thought the other side only had one Arcane Mage, which he was best suited to counter.

At this rate, they'll lose.

The Aolong Mage hurriedly tapped his staff; with a series of ripping sounds, spatial rifts kept splitting open in front of him, and flea-monsters poured out of the rifts.

The surging flea-monsters leaped violently, crashing toward the injured Dragon Thrall Sword Saint, their upper-body limbs stabbing forward fiercely.

The injured Dragon Thrall Sword Saints forced out a breath, reversed his blade to cleave through a flea-monster's body, then side-leapt and slashed, cutting off the second flea-monster's head — but was tackled to the ground by the third flea-monster, its sharp limbs piercing into his body.

The Dragon Thrall Sword Saint let out an angry roar, battle qi erupting and blasting the flea-monsters off him; but his injuries were too severe, his movements inevitably slowed, and he was finally tackled and gnawed by the flea-monsters arriving one after another.

The flea-monsters that surged up afterward immediately pounced on the dead members of their own kind; only when there were no more corpses did they shift their targets to Seeing Ange and the others.

Lord Nai Ge Li Si quickly analyzed: "No friend-or-foe distinction, they won't even spare their dead kin — the top priority is feeding. These creatures aren't here to fight, nor even to reproduce, because they'll gnaw their own young. These aren't insects — what the hell are they?"

Misa turned her head, blinking blankly: All anyone does is talk — is no one going to attack? The Huang Tong Dragon hasn't made a move yet — is it its turn?

They're all strong; mixed in with them, the Huang Tong Dragon definitely isn't as weak as it looks on the surface — is it really not going to attack?

Then should she make a move herself? Better not — she's so weak, so embarrassing, she doesn't want to show herself up.

Just as Misa was conflicted internally, Seeing Ange's cannon emplacement roared; the compressed bursting fireball let out a boom of compressed air, giving off the feeling of being squeezed and blasted out.

This greatly increased the fireball's speed, and the explosion upon hitting the target was even more violent; the flea-monsters were blasted stumbling backward, swallowed by fireballs in their staggering, and not a single flea-monster could cross Seeing Ange's line of fire.

The big cat, which had been perched on the Lightning Skull Gate all along, suddenly stood up and leaped lightly and silently to the ground.