Chapter 372: No Wonder He's So Rich

As Lord Nai Ge Li Si spoke, a wave of fearsome aura erupted. Looking up, they saw Seeing Ange's body ripple with layer upon layer of scales, transforming into a two-meter-tall dragon-man.

To anyone else, this aura was merely powerful, but to a dragon-blooded being like Galigu, it carried an overwhelming, crushing terror. The moment he caught that scent, Galigu's courage nearly shattered!

This was the aura of a Dragon God — the suppression of innate rank — the might of a Dragon God!

Kuabadah, why is there a Dragon God? A real Dragon God?

Galigu didn't even dare swing his staff — he snapped it clean in two with both hands. At least three spells burst from the broken staff, and his body vanished on the spot, leaving only a rippling spatial disturbance behind.

"Oh ho, a Dimensional Bomb? He really thinks this is spatial turbulence? So he uses a Dimensional Bomb to open a path, then uses the shockwave from the dimensional blast to cancel out the spatial turbulence, seizing a gap to teleport?" Duroken remarked in surprise.

However, no sooner had Galigu vanished than he reappeared even faster, his body uncontrollably flying sideways, tumbling across the street for several rolls before finally braking with his face, as though something had slapped him back.

Lord Nai Ge Li Si turned to look — the big cat that had been curled up on the ground was now standing, licking its slowly shrinking large paw.

Good grief — in front of the big cat, even a Dimensional Bomb plus spatial teleportation didn't work.

Seeing Ange rushed over and stomped him a few times while he hadn't even gotten up yet. Galigu didn't even get a chance to fight back before he passed out.

While unconscious, Galigu's three-meter-tall body slowly shrank, and the scales on his body fell away.

"Isn't this nice? Pass out first, then transform — no need to endure the pain a second time," Lord Nai Ge Li Si said.

Duroken frowned and said, "But if he transforms like this, new scales won't grow."

In the end, the shrunken little dragon-man Galigu lay on the ground, his flesh torn open, with quite a bit of sand and dirt having gotten into his wounds.

Once the flesh heals, the sand will be sealed inside — he'll be in for a miserable time.

"Forget it, wake him up. It's too painful to watch — just looking at him makes me feel bad for him," Lord Nai Ge Li Si said, unable to bear it.

They stripped all the equipment off Galigu's body, then swatted him across the face with a paw to wake him up.

……

Galigu, slapped until his nose was bruised and his face swollen, was bound hand and foot to a pillar. Lord Nai Ge Li Si asked fiercely, "Name."

"Galigu · Ekbani · Garibaga%#*$^……"

"Alright, alright — age."

"One hundred thirty-two."

"Gender?"

"Male."

"Where are you from?"

"Eternal Road."

"I asked which plane you're from, not which road."

"Uh, our place is just called Eternal Road — a road paved by the Eternal Lord's fiery breath."

"The Eternal Lord? Breathing fire? What does he look like? Draw it for me."

"I can't draw."

"Then describe him. Old Du, Old Du — don't you alchemists have some kind of sand-shaping thing?"

Duroken came over and casually flicked a finger. The sand on the ground, as if gripped by an invisible hand, gathered into a clump that shifted freely.

Under Lord Nai Ge Li Si's repeated pressing, Galigu described the Eternal Lord and Eternal Road, which Duroken then shaped out of sand.

The Eternal Lord was a tall, thin black silhouette whose face couldn't be made out, striding upon waves of raging fire — very abstract. Galigu also said this was a depiction based on legend; he didn't actually know what the Eternal Lord looked like.

As for Eternal Road, it was much clearer — a thin, slender path, no more than thirty or forty meters wide, but its length seemed endless, stretching out like a single thread.

"I don't know how long Eternal Road is either. From birth to adulthood, I've never been more than a hundred kilometers from home, but Eternal Road is definitely longer than a hundred kilometers," Galigu said.

Duroken rested his chin on his hand and murmured, "Thirty or forty meters wide, but over a hundred kilometers long — maybe even more. No wonder it's called a road, or maybe a thread? How did it form? And can things actually live on it?"

"Such a thin, slender thing — does it have air? Can you grow things? What do you normally eat?" Most people's curiosity was piqued; they crowded around to watch. Hearing "grow things," Seeing Ange also came over.

This was truly unheard of. No matter how irregular an Abyss plane might be, it should still be a clump or a chunk, with enough volume — otherwise it couldn't hold air, and only beings that don't need air could survive there, like undead.

A plane shaped like a single line couldn't possibly exist — let alone one where something like dragon-men lived. According to Galigu, there was more than one species up there.

"Look at these spots — every so often it gets a bit thicker. Looking at it like this, it doesn't seem like much, but actually these thicker sections are several hundred meters wide. There's a barrier there, and inside is normal soil, with air, rain, and sunlight — you can grow things."

"The air near the barrier seeps out from inside, so you can breathe normally. The farther from the barrier, the thinner the air gets — even none at all. But we've gotten used to it. My breathing rate now is slower than my ancestors'. Coming here, breathing faster gives me this dizzy feeling."

Duroken and Feiti suddenly locked eyes, as if something had clicked: "A barrier? A farm barrier?"

"Normal soil? Does that mean the soil outside the barrier isn't normal?"

Galigu described the ground outside the barrier, and Duroken immediately confirmed, "Obsidian and volcanic rock."

"Farm barrier — the Eternal Lord is the King," Feiti said with absolute certainty.

Only then did Lord Nai Ge Li Si catch on: "You mean this Eternal Road was made by Your Majesty? The lava beneath the Light Sea Plane?"

A flash of inspiration — everyone instantly connected all the clues together.

At the very last moment, the Undying Monarch stepped out through the Void Gate. Before that, he had released all the lava from beneath the Light Sea Plane.

And Eternal Road clearly wasn't naturally formed — its main components are obsidian and volcanic rock. Could it be the magma released through the Void Gate, cooled and solidified?

If it erupted, cooled, and extended all in one go, it really could produce this thread-like shape.

And farm barriers — the kind you can pull out at intervals — only His Majesty the Monarch could do that, because his subordinates know how to make them.

"Then another question — if this road really was formed by erupting magma, where did these dragon-men come from? And where did the King go?" Feiti asked.

Formed by erupting magma, and only about a thousand years ago — they couldn't have just sprung from the ground, right?

"How would I know? The Eternal Lord came striding upon waves of fire — that's a legend. I've never seen the Eternal Lord. As for my ancestors, I heard they were captured by the Eternal Lord," Galigu said.

Well, it really does sound like Your Majesty's style — but why would His Majesty capture so many people? And build farm barriers for them? Afraid they'd die?

Clearly, these questions wouldn't find answers from Galigu.

"Then what was your purpose in coming here? And where did these monsters come from?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si asked.

Galigu hesitated, glancing at Lord Nai Ge Li Si.

"What are you looking at me for? Speak," Lord Nai Ge Li Si said, surprised.

"By the order of the Dragon God, before the storm arrives, cut off the main plane's food supply and sever the gods' source of power," Gali Gu said.

Nai Ge Li Si and the others exchanged glances.

…

Du Luo Ken forged a Soul Lock Ring and temporarily sealed Gali Gu's soul within it.

The instant the ring was fastened to his forehead, Gali Gu's eyes went blank, lifeless, gray—as if his soul had vanished—yet his body remained alive, with heartbeat and breath, and would stumble forward if pushed.

"Huh? This thing is useful—perfect for locking up mages," Nai Ge Li Si exclaimed.

Capturing mages is sometimes troublesome; ordinary mechanical restraints rarely hold them, requiring a sealed prison cart and several attendants each time.

With this Soul Lock Ring, you just snap it on and lead them around—convenient and practical.

Du Luo Ken shrugged: "It's made specifically for locking up mages."

Everyone gathered close, crouched in a circle on the ground, and Du Luo Ken used his Rod of Gold to conjure a sand table of the Eternal Path, pointing as he spoke:

"If this dragon-blooded creature isn't lying, this Eternal Path must have been created by Your Majesty. Though we don't know what happened afterward, he built farm barriers and captured so many creatures to take there."

"Now, the creatures along this path, under some force's command, have come to the main plane, attempting to destroy crops and starve part of the intelligent population, thereby reducing the number of believers. This action reveals several things."

Here, Du Luo Ken looked at Nai Ge Li Si.

Nai Ge Li Si continued: "This action shows that the gods' power affects the storm—the stronger the power, the greater its influence, even enough to cause the storm to fail."

"As for why this concern exists, it may be because the last storm failed."

Fei Ti raised his hand and asked: "Then, could this dragon-blooded creature be considered the prelude to the Soul Storm?"

"Mm, the prelude to the storm," everyone agreed this description was apt.

"Then who is this Dragon God? Could the Dragon God still be alive?" Fei Ti asked.

"Impossible!" Nai Ge Li Si quickly denied loudly: "It's obviously a fake Dragon God. Didn't you see? The moment True Ange appeared, its bloodline collapsed—it's clearly been corrupted by false bloodline, suppressed by the true one."

"I suspect that if not for Ange's bloodline suppressing it, even if we captured it, it wouldn't have survived long enough to reveal so much information."

Du Luo Ken's expression shifted: "Did the fake Dragon God leave a backdoor? Death by bloodline collapse?"

"Yes—bloodline corruption, collapse. What does that make you think of?" Nai Ge Li Si asked.

"Seyelius? The Serpent of Misfortune?" Du Luo Ken asked hesitantly.

"Yes—it's that one! It dared impersonate the Dragon God!" Nai Ge Li Si snarled.

"Then what about these flea monsters? Also sent by it? Not insects?" Du Luo Ken said.

"No, when we saw its reproduction method, we automatically assumed insects—but actually, there's another creature that reproduces this way: snake lice."

Nai Ge Li Si and Du Luo Ken spoke over each other, Fei Ti occasionally raising his hand to add details—until, based on known clues, they reconstructed the entire chain of events.

Then, everyone turned their gaze toward Ange, who had long since grown bored and buried his hands in his space to farm.

"Don't just think about planting things—the situation is this: the prelude to the storm has arrived. What do we do now?" Nai Ge Li Si asked irritably.

Ange stood up abruptly: "Eat the grain. Kill them."

Hmm, well, no need for all this analysis—just the fact that these snake lice eat grain seals their fate.

"Yes, kill them, kill them! Let's go! Gali Gu established a base deep in the swamp, using eggs to breed these snake lice, and recruited some swordsmen, forcibly enhancing their power through corruption. Let's first destroy that place," Nai Ge Li Si exclaimed excitedly.

Turning around, Mi Sha, who had been waiting impatiently at a distance, jumped up at once: "Summoner Lord, take me, take me, Mi Sha!"

Ange and the others hadn't brought her to the meeting, so she had no idea what they were discussing—she'd only heard Nai Ge Li Si shouting about attacking the enemy's base. How could she miss such a good opportunity?

"What did you call me?" Nai Ge Li Si asked, puzzled.

"Summoner Lord," Mi Sha said. "You can summon the Dragon God—you're a powerful Summoner, right? I think?"

As she said "summon the Dragon God," everyone else cast her "concerned" glances—even the weirdo—like they were looking at a child.

Nai Ge Li Si forced a polite, awkward smile: "You're mistaken."

In the end, they still took Mi Sha along—because she knew the terrain well and had a full map of the swamp.

As for the Hedgehog People, native to this place, aside from knowing the way home, they couldn't explain what else existed in the swamp.

After confirming that Gali Gu's base was not in the same direction as the Hedgehog People's village, Nai Ge Li Si simply told them to return home themselves, to stay alert, and preferably evacuate their families from the swamp for a while.

Ange, Little Angel, Little Zombie, Nai Ge Li Si rode Hemer; Lightning carried the big cat Du Luo Ken, Fei Ti, and Lu Se; Mi Sha clutched a broom… all flying toward the swamp's depths.

Mi Sha couldn't sit steadily on the slender broom, enviously watching Hemer and Lightning, and couldn't help asking: "Why can they run across the swamp?"

"It's innate. What's wrong with your broom? Why is it smoking?" Nai Ge Li Si asked, puzzled.

Mi Sha turned her head and saw the broom indeed spewing black smoke—she panicked instantly, lost control, and tumbled headfirst from the sky.

Ange waved his hand; a gust of air caught her, preventing her from crashing into the mud, and casually pulled the broom back.

Mi Sha hurriedly thanked him, then inspected the broom, sighing: "Broken—probably from overuse. The core enchantment shattered."

Du Luo Ken chimed in: "The craftsmanship is quite refined. Let me see if I can fix it."

"Oh, oh, thank you so much! Even if you can't fix it, it's fine—I've used it a long time anyway. I have more." She handed the broken broom to Du Luo Ken, then pulled out two identical brooms from her storage space.

She said apologetically to everyone: "If the mounts are too crowded, you can try riding these—I have extras."

Du Luo Ken rolled his eyes and tossed the broom aside.

Nai Ge Li Si couldn't help saying: "You're really rich, aren't you? I forgot to ask—seventh-level mage, why are you alone in the swamp? Where are your followers?"

A poor mage might be alone, but a wealthy female mage like her should have dozens of followers—how could she be here alone?

Mi Sha scratched her head sheepishly: "Too many. I didn't know if they followed me or pursued me, so I quietly slipped away from them. Oh, by the way—I'm from the Mars Mage Tower. My father is the current head of the Mage Guild."

"Mage Guild? Mars? The Mars among the Stars?" Nai Ge Li Si's eyes widened—this female mage had serious connections. No wonder she was so rich.