Chapter 1348: The Dragon Breaking its Shell

"It really works!"

Xia De finally let out a sigh of relief, then fiercely kissed the head of the cat in his arms: "Mia, you were a huge help this time. When we get back, I'll take you to eat something delicious!" Only then did the cat realize it had been kissed by Xia De, and it stretched out its claws, intending to scratch him.

Just now, he had traded one tube of pigment for the golden needle, but this time, he had to trade away two tubes of blood before finally seeing the serial number and location of that dragon-shell book.

Xia De covered Mia's eyes and mouth, entered the art gallery again with the cat, found the giant stone slab that was half a person tall, used a chain to strap the slab to his back, and carried it back.

This eggshell fossil came from the First Era. As Xia De carried it back, the miracle 【Ancient Sound】 was triggered.

【The original ancient dragons of the First Era had a lifespan approaching ten thousand years, and the powerful ones among them could exceed ten thousand years. When the First Era ended, the age of the dragons was affected not only by the deterioration of their own bloodlines but also by the changing of eras. No ancient dragon was able to successfully live into the next era.】

It was a casual description, but the reality was quite cruel. Xia De still did not know what the changing of eras actually meant, but every time an era changed, it was a systematic, species-wide extinction for the dragons.

"So, just how powerful were the ancient dragons of the First Era..."

He held the cat and carried the stone slab back to Fiona's side, and he was able to read the strange characters used on the slab thanks to his ability to understand all languages.

Although the number of letters that could be recorded on the half-person-tall stone slab was limited, the amount of information in these strange characters was extremely vast. Xia De only took a rough glance at the ancient knowledge regarding dragons before he felt a long-absent throbbing headache from reading knowledge.

So he could only skip the descriptions of the dragons' sexual knowledge and reproductive details and look directly at the content regarding dragon sleep and growth. After a great deal of effort, he finally found the method for using a ritual to shorten the time of sleep and growth. And after reading it in its entirety, the voice in his ears immediately reminded him:

【Outsider, you have gained insight into "Dragons."】

The ritual recorded on the stone slab required extremely complex ritual materials. Although Xia De carried some miscellaneous things on him, he certainly did not have the items recorded on the slab.

But fortunately, this miracle was intended for the true dragons of the ancient eras, and since Fiona was a dragon of the Fifth Era whose bloodline had deteriorated again, and a half-breed dragon at that, Xia De believed that using lower-quality ritual materials should not be a big problem.

Moreover, his grades in Alchemy and Ritual Studies were quite good, so he could make some changes to the ritual without affecting the final result.

"Let me see, 【Dragon Saliva Grass】... a special herb born in a dragon's nest, said to be nourished by the saliva of a dragon in its sleeping stage, which is rich in ether and spirit."

Xia De rummaged through his pocket and found a celery leaf, took some saliva from the corner of Fiona's mouth as she slept soundly, and smeared it on. He also smeared on the bloodstains from her that were on the small knife from earlier. Doing it this way still seemed a bit too sloppy, so Xia De chipped off a small piece of residue from the eggshell fossil, ground it into powder, and applied it to the celery leaf.

"Next is, 【Sacrificial Bronze Vessel】, requiring dragon patterns."

Xia De rummaged through his pocket and found a metal wine cup, filled it with blood wine, and raised the cup in a remote toast to the Old God he had only heard the name of—the Dragon of Radiant Light. Afterward, imitating the stick-figure drawing of the big-tailed dragon maid he had seen on a slip of paper while eating at the Night Spirit Temple a few days ago, he used his small knife to carve a cute stick-figure dragon maid onto the wine cup.

【Isn't this a bit too sloppy?】 "She" asked with a chuckle.

Xia De agreed deeply, so he selected a passage of prayer from the eggshell fossil stone slab and carved it on. "Also need 【Strong One's Blood】, requiring the blood of a powerful prey comparable to oneself."

He looked around and confirmed that there was only Fiona, Mia, and himself here. Fiona's blood definitely couldn't be used, and although Mia had recently learned to charge up a small flame with its tail, it was still just a weak little animal.

"I can only use my own blood."

This was also something that couldn't be helped.

【Think carefully.】

"She" reminded him gently. Xia De blinked, and suddenly realized:

"When we left the clock shop, we got 1 ounce of 'Time Sand soaked in dragon blood' (Chapter 1339)!"

Those sand particles were being carried in Fiona's small bag. It was just that Xia De couldn't separate the dragon blood from the Time Sand. He hoped that the Time Sand participating in the ritual wouldn't cause any problems.

Of course, worried that this blood wouldn't be enough, Xia De finally took some of his own blood and mixed it into the Time Sand. During the process of taking the blood, that cat, as expected, ran over and licked Xia De's wound a few times.

"Everything else is easy to handle. The last missing ritual item is 【Prayer Ointment】. After putting the materials from earlier into the cup and mixing them with the ointment, write the ritual symbols on the dragon's body... Prayer Ointment."

This kind of ointment generally requires preparation by clergy, and it itself only has a slight effect of dispelling curses and plagues, but it is often used as one of the components of other more complex healing potions.

Although Xia De could bring holy water into the past, he couldn't do the same with prayer ointment. But he thought about it, the preparation process for "Nightfall Pigment" used the method of prayer ointment (Chapter 1343). Except for adding minerals and twilight dust, and replacing holy water with "Elf's Purified Water," the difference between the two wasn't large.

Xia De had brought a total of three tubes of pigment. He used one to trade for the golden needle, and now two remained. So he dissolved one of them with holy water and then added the dust of the eggshell fossil again.

After doing all this, Xia De began to perform the ritual.

The ritual was not complex. After preparing the materials, the most important step was to write the ritual symbols on the dragon's body using the mixed ointment.

Although Xia De had a fountain pen in his pocket, he didn't have an oil painting brush. He originally thought about using the cat's tail to paint, but Mia's violent resistance made Xia De give up the idea, and he could only use his own fingers to paint.

And the symbols didn't need to be written all over the body; they only needed to be written on four parts: the forehead, throat, back, and tail. The forehead, throat, and tail were easy to handle, as these were areas directly exposed. When it came to writing on the back at the end, Xia De hesitated for a moment, used his small knife to cut a small opening in the clothes on Fiona's back, first released her two newly grown small wings with red skeletons, and only then wrote on her snow-white back.

"Mia, you have to testify for me. I did this as a last resort; I'm not a bad person who just tears girls' clothes."

He didn't forget to say this to the cat watching the fun on the side.

After doing all this, Xia De held Mia and knelt at the entrance of the tent, watching as the ritual symbols on Fiona's skin gradually lit up with her even breathing. Afterward, light traces flowed across her body until they overwhelmed the red moonlight generated by 【Moon Dream】.

In just half a minute, her entire person was wrapped in a translucent eggshell made of light currents. The small flame at the tip of her tail gradually filled the inside of the eggshell, causing Fiona's entire body to be scorched by the sun's flames. Although her clothes and Xia De's coat were not burned in the fire, they had become tattered, but fortunately, her body was intact.

This phenomenon was even better than described on the stone slab; perhaps the "Sun Fire" that had not been fully absorbed also played a catalytic role. But at the same time, this also showed that the "inferior version" of the ritual Xia De concocted was actually useful.

He didn't wait long before the raging flames inside the eggshell faded bit by bit, and finally, even the flame at the tip of the tail disappeared, which meant that the sun's flames had been completely absorbed by Fiona.

Afterward, he only heard a "crack~" sound of breaking shells. The girl curled up inside the translucent eggshell wriggled, and then Xia De heard a "Hmm~" sound of sleep-talking.

As the eggshell facing Xia De broke open a small hole first, reddish-gold, charming eyes stared directly from inside the eggshell at Xia De, who was smiling:

"It really succeeded! I told you, my basic ritual studies were passed with a very high score; it really works like this!" Xia De was as excited as if he had just acquired a new special-rule Luo De card.

Fiona, as if she hadn't heard Xia De's happy voice, thrust her two fair arms, which were hanging with cloth strips, through that thin layer of eggshell, and then hugged Xia De and pulled fiercely, directly pulling the unprepared Xia De toward her direction.

The eggshell shattered completely, and Xia De fell into the layers of bedding in the tent along with the girl whose whole body seemed to be glowing. The passionate girl kissed him, and her body temperature, which was higher than a normal person's, brought Xia De a very different feeling.

Fiona's arms hugged him tightly, not wanting him to get up. The two wrestled for a full five minutes before Xia De, amidst Mia's meowing, wiped his lips and struggled to sit up:

"Fiona, there's not much time left, we have to leave here quickly!"

The girl lying in front of him, while panting heavily, looked at Xia De above her with reddish-gold eyes: "Long time no see, Xia De."

"Long time no see, hurry up and change your clothes, let's set off immediately. I only have twelve minutes left."

Xia De calculated the time and said anxiously. The red-haired girl nodded with pursed lips, but she didn't sit up herself. She stared at Xia De, then opened her arms upward. Seeing Xia De looking at her, she shook her hands with dissatisfaction.

Only then did Xia De understand. After bending down slightly, he let Fiona hug his neck, and only then did they sit up together in that pile of bedding.

Mia was still meowing on the side.

Fiona didn't stand up immediately but continued to hug Xia De, stretched her head toward Xia De's neck, and took a deep breath, as if she were sniffing something. ===== CHAPTER 1349 =====