Chapter 304: More Terrifying Than the Abyss

Hearing these words from Ma Ma Kusi, the amethyst eyes of Yi Fu dimmed slightly.

She set down her teacup, shifting her gaze from Ma Ma Kusi to the emerald leaves swaying in the breeze outside the window.

"Ma Ma Kusi..."

Yi Fu's voice was very soft, light as a feather brushing across the surface of water.

"You were never just some appendage. At least, not to me."

Ma Ma Kusi's body trembled slightly.

She did not answer, merely lowering her head.

But Luo En noticed keenly that the half-dragon maid's tightly clenched hands had slowly relaxed.

"When I was little, whenever my 'Magic-Eater' symptoms flared up and left me in agony, you were always by my side."

Yi Fu continued, her voice filled with tender memories.

"You would hum those ancient lullabies to lull me to sleep, and you would secretly prepare those herbal teas that could soothe the pain..."

She turned her head, her amethyst eyes locking onto Ma Ma Kusi's.

"Back then, there was never any 'duty' or 'obligation' in your eyes, only genuine concern."

Ma Ma Kusi looked up, her usually rigid and stern face softening significantly.

The corners of her mouth lifted slightly. "The Princess still remembers those lullabies..."

Her voice held an unmistakable sense of comfort and warmth.

"Of course I remember."

Yi Fu chuckled, the sound as crisp as silver bells.

"Especially that one, 'The Grass Flute and the Seed Turtle.' You would always hum it softly on the nights that were hardest to bear. Even though I never understood the lyrics in the dragon tongue, the melody always accompanied me as I grew."

"The lyrics to that song..."

Ma Ma Kusi's voice was strained, but she quickly regained her composure.

"It tells of the tree spirits humming on grass flutes, guiding the lost seed turtles through the darkness so they could safely return to their kin."

Yi Fu's eyes reddened, but she strove to maintain her elegant posture. "Thank you."

A moment later, the young lady cleared her throat, pulling herself together.

"Alright, let's get back to business..."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The half-dragon maid had by now tucked away her rare display of emotion, steering the topic back.

"The screening criteria for the 'Seed-Preserving' families are, in reality, far more brutal than they appear on the surface."

Yi Fu rose and walked toward a special cabinet in the corner of the room, where a strange device Luo En had never seen before sat.

The device was composed of complex geometric shapes made from dozens of different colored crystals, each pulsing faintly as if breathing with a life of its own.

"This is the 'Historical Projection Device,' co-developed by Grand Wizard You Yu Te Er and the 'Eye of Observation.' It is one of the treasures of the Wang Zu clan."

Yi Fu carefully adjusted the various crystal modules on the device.

"It can capture and reconstruct the residual imprints of certain significant historical events, allowing us to understand the past in a more intuitive way."

As she operated it, the device began to emit a soft silver light.

The air in the room grew thick, as if time itself were flowing slowly.

Luo En could feel an ancient and profound energy fluctuation gathering.

The sensation reminded him of the strange feeling he had when linking to the 'Hermit Star,' his entire being enveloped by the vision.

"Let us start from the beginning."

Ma Ma Kusi began to explain.

"At the end of the Second Era, when the erosion of the Abyss reached its peak, the entire world trembled."

The silver light condensed, and a massive three-dimensional projection appeared in the center of the room.

The scene was exactly as recorded in the books.

The sky was a sickly deep purple, thick like congealed blood, and the earth was scattered with countless bizarre architectural ruins.

Even more terrifying were the twisted, deformed biological remains everywhere in the broken city ruins.

They had once been powerful dragon-kin, but now they were nothing more than horrific remains eroded by the Abyss.

"Do you see those ruins?"

Yi Fu pointed to a massive, half-collapsed building in the projection.

"That was once one of the most glorious dragon cities of the Second Era, home to various dragon species and their kin."

The projection began to move, as if an invisible observer were traveling through the ruins.

Luo En saw hair-raising details:

The walls of once-magnificent palaces were covered in desperate claw marks;

The streets were littered with massive skeletons, some clearly belonging to adult dragons, yet all twisted into unnatural shapes by some indescribable force.

"This level of destruction..." Luo En whispered, shock flashing in his eyes.

"The terrifying thing about Abyssal erosion is not its destructive power, but its 'activity'."

Ma Ma Kusi's voice sounded exceptionally heavy against the backdrop of the projection.

"It does not simply destroy everything; it converts everything into a part of itself."

"According to the oldest records preserved by the Wang Zu clan, these dragon-kin were, in fact, refugees from across worlds."

Yi Fu adjusted the projection, and the new image displayed a more grand and terrifying scene:

Countless massive figures traveling through the void. Their forms were majestic, yet their eyes were filled with despair and fear.

Behind them, some indescribable darkness was in pursuit.

It was neither matter nor energy, but a pure 'nothingness' that caused space itself to vanish wherever it passed.

"They knew that forcibly crossing world barriers would lead to existential instability and a slow decay."

Yi Fu's voice grew exceptionally low.

"But they made that choice anyway, because the entity invading their original world was even more terrifying than the erosion of the Abyss."

In the image, the moment the dragon-kin crossed the world barrier, their bodies began to show obvious signs of decay.

Their once-perfect scales lost their luster, and powerful energy began to leak, as if precision instruments had been forcibly transplanted into an incompatible environment.

"This is what is known as 'Exogeneity'."

Ma Ma Kusi added.

"Any existence that crosses world boundaries faces this fundamental problem.

Their Master Mo De of existence conflicts with the basic laws of this world, leading to continuous decay and instability."

Luo En quickly analyzed this information in his mind.

If the dragon-kin were indeed refugees from across worlds, then the instability of their bloodlines was not a simple hereditary issue, but a more fundamental existential flaw.

This also explained why even the most powerful dragon-kin appeared so fragile in the face of Abyssal erosion.

"According to the materials I've seen, it is said that the original breathing techniques started with the dragon race, and were later improved by wizards and blood knights into versions suitable for humans. So, did the dragons create breathing techniques to solve this problem?" he asked.

"Partially correct, but it was merely a futile attempt.

The creators of the breathing techniques were not the most powerful Dragon Kings, but those relatively weaker yet wiser dragon scholars."

Yi Fu explained.

"They realized that pure power could not solve the fundamental existential flaw; only through precise self-regulation could the process of decay be delayed."

In the image, parts of the dragons began to show obvious changes:

The once-violent energy fluctuations became calm and stable, and the scales that had lost their luster regained a faint glow.

"The final stage of every complete breathing technique corresponds to a specific Star Ring bloodline; this is no coincidence."

Ma Ma Kusi took over the topic.

"These breathing techniques are essentially a set of complex biological regulation systems. Through specific breathing rhythms, muscle control, and mental power guidance, they suppress the violent, uncontrollable factors in the bloodline while activating and stabilizing beneficial hereditary traits."

Luo En thought of the 'Corona Breathing Technique' he was practicing.

That complex and precise energy regulation method did indeed seem designed to solve some fundamental problem.

"This also explains why practicing breathing techniques is so difficult."

Yi Fu continued.

"It requires not only powerful willpower and precise control, but also a perfect match with a specific bloodline.

The wrong combination is not only ineffective but can lead to bloodline collapse."

"But this effort ultimately failed."

Yi Fu's tone grew extremely heavy as well.

"When Abyssal erosion reached a critical point, even the most ingenious breathing technique could not fully resist that fundamental contamination."

The image turned to the final moments at the end of the Second Era:

The sky was torn open by countless cracks, and from them poured not light, but even deeper darkness.

Those once-powerful Dragon Kings fell one after another in the erosion.

Their bloodline advantages appeared so powerless in the face of that contamination that transcended understanding.

"It was in this desperate situation that human wizards proposed the 'Seed-Preserving' project."

Ma Ma Kusi's voice carried complex emotions.

"Rather than watching all dragon bloodlines disappear, it was better to choose the parts with the most hope of continuing, maintaining the heritage through artificial protection."

The projection switched to another scene:

In a massive laboratory, dozens of black-robed wizards were working around a complex rune array.

In the center of the array, a dragon was bound to a special platform, surrounded by dense pipes and probes.

Its eyes were filled with despair, yet it could not make a sound.

"The screening process was extremely cruel."

Yi Fu's voice turned cold.

"Wizards needed to conduct thorough bloodline analyses on every candidate family, including genetic stability, hereditary purity, reproductive capacity, and so on. Those who did not meet the standards were directly executed or used as experimental materials."

Luo En looked at these images, a chill rising in his heart.

Even though he was already accustomed to the cruelty of the wizarding world, this systematic racial screening and control still made him uneasy.

"What's even more terrifying is that this screening was not a one-time event."

Ma Ma Kusi added.

"Every few generations, wizards would re-evaluate the value of each Seed-Preserving family.

Those whose bloodlines began to decline or whose reproductive capacity dropped were ruthlessly eliminated."

The projection showed another scene:

A once-prosperous dragon-kin town turned into scorched earth, with traces of wizard spells still visible on the remaining buildings.

Large amounts of bones were scattered on the ground, clearly belonging to members of a dragon-kin family based on their size and features.

"At the beginning of the Fourth Era, the 'Ghost Face Clan' was ordered to be purged by the Wang Zu clan because they failed to produce a qualified bloodline awakener for three consecutive generations."

Yi Fu's voice was devoid of emotion.

"The entire family, including the elderly and children, was executed. Their bloodline samples were collected and used to squeeze out the final research value."

"The existing Seed-Preserving families all survived this bloody screening."

Ma Ma Kusi's voice held bitterness.

"We must not only maintain the purity and stability of our bloodlines but also prove our value at every moment.

Once we lose our utility, the fate of the Ghost Face Clan awaits us."

Luo En quickly calculated the scale and impact of this system:

"What is the status of the Ka Du family you mentioned among the existing Seed-Preserving families?"

"We are considered medium-scale," Ma Ma Kusi answered truthfully.

"The existing Seed-Preserving families are by no means just our branch.

In every corner of the Huan Yuan Continent group, there are at least seven or eight similar bloodline heritages, each corresponding to different types of Star Ring bloodlines, though dragon-kin undoubtedly occupy the dominant position among them."

The projection turned to a more detailed distribution map of the Seed-Preserving families:

The entire Huan Yuan Continent group was marked with various colored regions, each color representing a different Seed-Preserving family.

"The 'Frost Scale Clan' located in the northern ice plains preserves the bloodline of the Frost Giant Dragon. Their clansmen can live normally in environments below minus sixty degrees, and can even briefly resist the erosion of Abyssal Ice Curses."

"The 'Deep Tide Family' of the Endless Sea Islands inherited the legacy of the Deep-Diving Dragon. They can not only move freely in the deep sea but also master special abilities to control marine life."

"The 'Blazing Sun Bloodline' deep in the great desert possesses an affinity for solar energy second only to the Fa Lu Ke family, but they chose a completely different path of development—merging with elemental creatures in the desert to form a unique symbiotic relationship."

As each family was introduced, the projection displayed corresponding video clips:

Frost Scale Clan warriors walking on flat ground in a blizzard, covered in a layer of natural ice armor;

Deep Tide Family clansmen swimming gracefully in an undersea palace, surrounded by various obedient marine creatures;

Blazing Sun Bloodline members dancing with fire spirits in the desert, surrounded by rings of scorching energy.

"The relationships between these families are extremely subtle."

Yi Fu explained.

"On the surface, we are allies, sharing the mission of bloodline preservation.

But in reality, we are also competitors, all fighting for limited resources and the attention of our protectors."

"The secret gathering every thirty years is nominally for technical exchange, but in reality, it is more like a covert contest."

Ma Ma Kusi's tone was somewhat helpless.

"Every family must showcase their latest achievements and bloodline progress while secretly evaluating the strength and value of other families.

Those who perform poorly often 'accidentally' disappear before the next gathering."

Even protected Seed-Preserving families must fight for survival at every moment.

"Then why wasn't the Fa Lu Ke family chosen? As far as I know, their bloodline source is also quite powerful."

Luo En asked this key question at the right time.

"Of course, that is the question I am about to answer for you. I remember you are from the Fa Lu Ke Kingdom."

With Yi Fu's adjustment, the projection screen immediately switched to a new scene:

A tall figure clad in armor stood in the center of the battlefield.

(End of Chapter)