Chapter 372: No Wonder He

With Negrilis's words, a wave of fear surged; looking up, they saw An Ge's body ripple with scales, transforming into a two-meter-tall dragon-human.

This aura was merely powerful to others, but to Gari Gu, a dragon descendant, it was overwhelmingly terrifying—just smelling it made Gari Gu's courage shatter.

This was the aura of the Dragon God, a primordial hierarchical suppression, the might of the Dragon God!

Kaba Da, how could there be a Dragon God? A real Dragon God?

Gari Gu dared not swing his staff; he snapped it in both hands, and at least three spells exploded from the broken staff, his body vanishing instantly, leaving only a ruptured spatial ripple.

"Oh? A dimensional bomb? He really thinks this is spatial chaos? So he uses a dimensional bomb to clear a path, using the shockwave from the dimensional rupture to cancel out the spatial chaos and gain a window for teleportation?" Du Luo said in surprise.

Yet, barely had Gari Gu vanished when he reappeared at even greater speed, helplessly flung sideways, rolling several times across the street before finally stopping face-first, as if slapped back by some unseen force.

Negrilis turned to look—the large cat, once curled on the ground, had risen and was licking its slowly shrinking giant paw.

Damn, even a dimensional bomb plus spatial teleportation won't work against the big cat.

While Gari Gu was still down, An Ge charged forward and stomped on him several times; Gari Gu never got a chance to retaliate before passing out.

In unconsciousness, Gari Gu's three-meter-tall body slowly shrank, his scales falling off.

"See? This is better—pass out first, then transform, so you don't have to endure the pain twice," Negrilis said.

Du Luo frowned: "But then new scales won't grow."

Eventually, the shrunken dragon-man Gari Gu lay on the ground, skin torn and flesh split, sand and dirt caked into his wounds.

Once the skin heals, trapping the sand inside—then he'll really suffer.

"Forget it, wake him up. This is too painful to watch," Negrilis said, unable to bear it.

They stripped Gari Gu of all his gear, then slapped his face with a claw to wake him.

…

Gari Gu, bruised and swollen from the slap, was bound tightly to a post; Negrilis glared and demanded: "Name."

"Gari Gu·Ekabani·Gari Baga%#*$^…"

"Enough, enough—age."

"One hundred thirty-two."

"Gender?"

"Male."

"Where are you from?"

"The Eternal Path."

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

"Uh, our place is called the Eternal Path—the road forged by the Eternal Master's fiery breath."

"The Eternal Master? Breathes 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 sand-shaping technique?"

Du Luo walked over and casually tapped the ground; the sand rose as if gripped by an invisible hand, forming a shape that shifted freely.

Under Negrilis's relentless questioning, Gari Gu described the Eternal Master and the Eternal Path, and Du Luo shaped it from the sand.

The Eternal Master was a tall, thin black silhouette with an indistinct face, stepping upon waves of fire—highly abstract. Gari Gu admitted this was based on legend; he had never seen the Eternal Master's true form.

The Eternal Path was clearer: a long, narrow strip, no more than thirty to forty meters wide but seemingly endless in length, stretching like a thread.

"I don't know how long the Eternal Path is. I've never traveled more than a hundred kilometers from where I was born, but the Eternal Path is definitely longer than that," Gari Gu said.

Du Luo rubbed his chin, murmuring: "Thirty to forty meters wide, yet over a hundred kilometers long—possibly more. No wonder they call it a path—or maybe a thread? How did it form? And what can live on it?"

"Such a thin thing—does it even have air? Can anything grow on it? What do you eat?" Most people's curiosity was piqued; they gathered around. Hearing "grow things," An Ge also moved closer.

This was unheard of—even the Abyss Plane, however irregular, should be a solid mass with sufficient volume to retain air; otherwise, only air-independent life like undead could survive.

A plane shaped like a single thread couldn't possibly exist, let alone harbor creatures like the Aolong people—according to Gari Gu, multiple species lived there.

"Look at these spots—every so often, they widen. We don't notice it from here, but those thick sections are hundreds of meters wide, each enclosed by a barrier containing normal soil, air, rain, and sunlight—perfect for growing things."

"The air near the barrier diffuses outward, breathable enough. The farther you go from the barrier, the thinner the air becomes—until it vanishes. But we're used to it. My breathing rate is slower than my ancestors'. Even now, breathing too fast makes me dizzy."

Du Luo and Feiti exchanged a sharp glance, as if something clicked: "Barrier? Farm barrier?"

"Normal soil? So the soil outside the barrier isn't normal?"

Gari Gu described the ground outside the barrier; Du Luo immediately affirmed: "Obsidian and volcanic rock."

"Farm barrier. The Eternal Master is the King," Feiti declared firmly.

Negrilis finally understood: "You mean this Eternal Path was created by Your Majesty? The magma beneath the Danhai Plane?"

A flash of insight—everyone instantly connected all the clues.

At his final moment, the Undead King stepped through the Void Gate; before that, he released all the magma beneath the Danhai Plane.

The Eternal Path clearly wasn't natural—it was mostly obsidian and volcanic rock. Could it be the cooled lava expelled through the Void Gate?

If the magma erupted, cooled, and extended continuously, it could indeed form such a thread-like structure.

And only the King could create farm barriers spaced at intervals—he had the ones who knew how to build them.

"Then another question: if this path was formed by magma eruptions, where did these Aolong people come from? And where is the King?" Feiti asked.

Formed by magma eruptions just a thousand years ago—it couldn't have evolved naturally.

"How should I know? The Eternal Master came stepping on waves of fire—that's legend. I've never seen him. My ancestors were said to have been captured by him," Gari Gu said.

Well, it did sound like the King's style—but why would he capture so many people? And build them farm barriers? Afraid they'd die?

Clearly, Gari Gu couldn't answer these questions.

"Then why did you come here? And where did these monsters originate?" Negrilis asked.

Gari Gu hesitated, glancing at Negrilis.

"Why are you looking at me? Speak," Negrilis snapped.

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

Negrilis and the others exchanged glances.

…

Du Luo forged a soul lock ring and temporarily sealed Gari Gu's soul.

The moment the ring was placed on his forehead, Gari Gu's eyes went blank, lifeless, gray—as if his soul had vanished—yet his body remained alive, with heartbeat and breath, and would walk forward if pushed.

"Huh? This thing is useful—perfect for locking up mages," Negrilis exclaimed.

Capturing mages is always troublesome—ordinary mechanical restraints rarely hold them; you need a sealed prison cart and several guards.

With this soul lock ring, you snap it on and just lead them around—convenient and practical.

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

Everyone gathered, crouched in a circle on the ground; Du Luo used his gold rod to form a sand model of the Eternal Path, pointing as he spoke:

"If this dragon descendant isn't lying, the Eternal Path was created by Your Majesty. Though we don't know what happened afterward—he built farm barriers and captured so many creatures."

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

Here, Du Luo looked at Negrilis.

Negrilis continued: "This action shows that the gods' power affects the storm—the stronger the power, the greater the impact, even enough to cause the storm to fail."

"And the reason for this concern? Likely because the last storm failed."

Feiti raised his hand: "So can this dragon descendant be considered the prelude to the soul storm?"

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

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

"Impossible!" Negrilis immediately denied loudly: "It's a fake Dragon God! Didn't you see? The moment An Ge revealed his true aura, its bloodline collapsed—it's clearly been corrupted by a false bloodline, suppressed by the true one."

"I suspect that if An Ge hadn't suppressed it with his bloodline, even if we captured it, it wouldn't have survived long enough to reveal so much."

Du Luo's expression shifted: "The fake Dragon God left a backdoor? Bloodline collapse leading to death?"

"Yes—bloodline corruption, collapse. What does that make you think of?" Negrilis asked.

"Seyrius? The Serpent of Misfortune?" Du Luo hesitated.

"Yes—it's him! He's impersonating the Dragon God!" Negrilis snarled.

"Then what about these flea monsters? Also sent by him? Not insects?" Du Luo asked.

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

Negrilis and Du Luo spoke rapidly, Feiti occasionally raising his hand to add details—until, based on all known clues, they reconstructed the full picture.

Then everyone turned their gaze to An Ge, who had long since grown bored and was planting crops inside his space.

"Don't just think about planting! The situation is this—the storm's prelude has arrived. What do we do now?" Negrilis asked irritably.

An Ge stood up abruptly: "Eat crops. Kill them."

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

"Yes, kill them! Let's go! Gari 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 destroy it first," Negrilis said excitedly.

Turning around, Misha, waiting impatiently in the distance, immediately stood up: "Summoner Master, take me, take me, Misha!"

An Ge's group hadn't brought her to the meeting, so she had no idea what they were discussing—she'd only heard Negrilis shouting about attacking the enemy's base. How could she miss such an opportunity?

"What did you call me?" Negrilis asked, puzzled.

"Summoner Master," Misha said. "You summoned the Dragon God—you're a powerful summoner, right? I think?"

As she said "summoned the Dragon God," everyone else turned to her with "concerned" glances—even the weird guy looked at her like she was a child.

Negrilis forced a polite, awkward smile: "You're mistaken."

In the end, they took Misha along—she knew the terrain and had a full map of the swamp.

As for the hedgehog tribe native here, aside from knowing the way home, they couldn't even describe what existed in the swamp.

Confirming Gali Gu's location, it's not in the same direction as the Hedgehog People's village, so Negrilis simply told them to return on their own and stay alert, preferably taking their families away from the marsh for a while.

Ang, the little angel, the little zombie Negrilis, riding Hemer, Lightning carrying the big cat Du Luo Ken Fei Ti Lu Se, Misha clutching a broom… flew together into the depths of the marsh.

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

"It's innate. What's wrong with your broom? Why is it smoking?" Negrilis asked in confusion.

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

Ang waved his hand, a current of air caught her, preventing her from crashing into the mud, and he casually pulled the broom back.

Misha quickly thanked him, then examined the broom, sighing sadly: "It's broken. Probably worn out too long—the core array shattered."

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

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

She said a little shyly to everyone: "If the horseback is too crowded, try riding one of these—I've got more."

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

Negrilis couldn't help saying: "You're really rich, aren't you? I forgot to ask—what's your background? A Level Seven Mage, why are you alone in the marsh? Where are your followers?"

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

Misha scratched her head awkwardly: "Too many. I didn't know if they were following me or chasing me, so I slipped away from them quietly. Oh, by the way, I'm from the Mars Mage Tower—my father is the current Guild Master of the Mage Guild."

"Mage Guild? Mars? The Mars among the stars?" Negrilis's eyes widened—this Mage girl had serious connections, no wonder she was so rich.