Analytical Eye displayed a line he'd seen online: "Darkness is also a kind of light, just with a different hue."
It was time again to learn Dragon Language Inscription from Pagliu. Athena seemed to have something going on and hadn't shown up for two days, so Chen Rui used gathering herbs as an excuse, rented a Triangle Rhino, and set out for Blue Wave Lake early in the morning.
When he reached their usual spot by the lake, Chen Rui had already prepared himself to deal with Poison Dragon's amnesia. He'd even brought ingredients for hot pot so the guy could try something new. But Pagliu was nowhere to be seen. Only the dried-up chessboard remained, with little stones scattered all over the ground.
Chen Rui was startled. Had something happened? He and Pagliu were now bound together in life and death. If anything happened to Poison Dragon, he'd be in trouble too.
Just as Chen Rui was searching along the lakeshore for Pagliu, a whirlpool suddenly appeared in the water. A huge head slowly rose from the lake. Its yellow-brown shape resembled some kind of carnivorous dinosaur, with a row of short horns on top and fin-like appendages on its cheeks. Its appearance was fearsome, its teeth sharp, and its dark golden eyes gleamed with a terrifying light as they fixed on Chen Rui.
This... must be Pagliu!
Every hair on Chen Rui's body stood on end. Afraid that Poison Dragon might attack in this terrifying state because he'd forgotten who Chen Rui was, he kept the Aurora Blast in his hand ready to unleash at any moment.
"Damn you, Chen Rui!" Poison Dragon suddenly spoke, putting Chen Rui at ease. At least he still remembered him.
"Pagliu, change into another form. People might spot you like this." Chen Rui breathed a sigh of relief. "I have something to tell you."
Pagliu angrily flung his enormous head, sending a sheet of lake water splashing toward him, clearly intending to drench him. Chen Rui reacted quickly, springing backward six or seven meters and dodging it.
"Huh?" Poison Dragon's voice held a hint of surprise. Before Chen Rui could feel pleased with himself, the dragon's head suddenly vanished, and a figure appeared overhead in an instant, bringing a foot down in a chopping kick. Chen Rui couldn't dodge in time and raised his arm to block, but the descending foot impossibly changed angle and appeared behind his waist.
Thump! A great force swept Chen Rui across the buttocks. After a brief sensation of flying through the clouds, he reenacted the classic move of landing flat on his face with his butt in the air, ending up covered in mud.
"Pagliu, what the hell was that for?" Chen Rui felt a burning pain in his backside. Fortunately, he wasn't injured. He scrambled to his feet and cursed.
Pagliu was even angrier. He charged forward, grabbed Chen Rui by the collar, and snapped, "What happened to you? You almost got me killed!"
"How did I get you killed? If you die, I'm done for too!"
Poison Dragon snorted and let him go. Only then did Chen Rui notice that the dragon's formerly yellow-brown face had turned pale, and he looked much more haggard.
"What's wrong?"
"You should be asking yourself that!" Pagliu grumbled. "It was probably the night after you took the venom. The Symbiotic Contract suddenly went haywire and started devouring my life force and power. I've got only half my lifespan left now, and my strength has been greatly reduced!"
"How could that happen?" Chen Rui thought it over carefully. The Master Challenge Tournament had ended that day, and the Super System had activated. Then... the marrow cleansing... Right, that initial evolution!
Back then, it had said it had detected high-purity life energy and converted it into spiritual energy to advance. So that had been the power of the Symbiotic Contract. No wonder he'd become a Star-Wielder so quickly! It seemed his Poison Dragon buddy had really taken a heavy loss this time.
"Let's get something to eat first, and talk while we do." Feeling a little guilty, Chen Rui decided to placate Pagliu with good food before saying more. He immediately went to where he'd tied up the Triangle Rhino to fetch the ingredients, then quickly started preparing a simple hot pot.
"This stuff is delicious!" After trying a few slices, Pagliu couldn't stop praising it and quickly set about devouring the food.
Seeing that Poison Dragon was in a better mood, Chen Rui tentatively began, "Well, my Grandmaster inheritance has officially been activated..."
Chen Rui pinned some of the Super System's functions on the Grandmaster inheritance. He said the inheritance had changed, giving him the corresponding powers, and that those powers would continue to grow stronger.
"So you were the one devouring my power, you damn bastard! If this keeps up, my lifespan will keep getting shorter!" Seeing that Pagliu was about to flare up again, Chen Rui hurriedly explained that the activation of the inheritance had consumed the power of the Symbiotic Contract, but there would be no further need for it. So Poison Dragon shouldn't have felt any more strange changes in the contract over the past few days.
Chen Rui had been disappointed that the "high-purity life energy" hadn't appeared again during the initial evolution, since it would have given him more spiritual energy. Now, though, he realized that even if the message appeared, he wouldn't dare act recklessly. Life was the most important foundation of strength. If he could live for only one second, what use would being invincible be?
After hearing Chen Rui's explanation, Pagliu finally relaxed. The Dragon Race had incredibly long lifespans; even with only half left, he still had tens of thousands of years. If he remained sealed in this awful place, though, bad luck might mean he'd be killed before even a few thousand years had passed. As for his strength, he could gradually recover and cultivate it again. The important thing was that Chen Rui's abilities could genuinely grow stronger, which would help him escape sooner and reduce the chance of an untimely death. It wasn't a bad trade after all.
The two had already signed a Symbiotic Contract, so there was no point in arguing over it now.
Before long, the hot pot's delicious aroma had dispelled some of Poison Dragon's resentment. When he heard that Chen Rui had also inherited an attack technique from a Grandmaster, he grew interested again.
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