A Way Out

How had Li Ziran ended up saying something so against his heart? A man as steady as him should have been immune to this sort of flattery.

To be honest, he was genuinely moved by the little girl's innocence.

Ever since crossing into this fantasy world, he had believed that everything he encountered was wholly governed by the laws of nature. All anyone did was struggle to stay alive.

Thus, he could endure every evil, tolerate every conspiracy, carve organs from living creatures without batting an eye, and sell living beings as slaves with a clear conscience.

Helping Annie was unrealistic, but Li Ziran did not want to owe the girl a favor.

She had helped him open his Spirit World, taught him the Devouring Curse without asking for anything in return, and even told him how to use petrification to modify Great Dragon teeth at the most critical moment.

He could have buried his conscience and wiped away every one of those debts. After all, he was not afraid of this Medusa.

But he could not do it.

"I can give it a try!" Li Ziran did not make any promises. "But I'll need your help."

"Of course! I'm willing! What do you need me to do?" Annie said excitedly.

Li Ziran fell silent. He did not know either. "Well... what do you think we should do?"

"Me? You're asking me?" Annie asked strangely.

"Of course. We're comrades now, so naturally we should come up with a solution together. I need to pool our wisdom, hear your thoughts, and then formulate the most suitable plan of action," Li Ziran said against his heart.

"This... this..." Annie began muttering. "If it were me... I would... summon Lord Great Dragon."

"Summon Great Dragon?" Li Ziran asked in surprise. The thought had never crossed his mind. "You mean summon the Mud Dragon? Do you have a spell? Do you have a way?"

"No." Annie lowered her head dejectedly. "Even if we summoned him, it would not be much use. Lord Great Dragon is extremely old. He cannot even protect the swamp where he lives anymore. Soon, the Wasteland will swallow him. Forget Medusa—even Lord Great Dragon's corpse would probably be carved up by those people."

Old?

Li Ziran murmured softly. He was beginning to understand why this swamp existed.

Clearly, this was the dwelling space of the Swamp Mud Dragon.

On the Red Soil Continent, ancient powerful creatures could use their unique abilities to block the influence of the Elemental Tide, thereby creating spaces best suited for their survival.

These were called Derivative Spaces, also known as Minor Spaces.

Minor Spaces could draw beneficial elements from the Elemental Tide while perfectly isolating the effects of other elements. In doing so, they could maximize the creatures' abilities.

Yet the existence of a Derivative Space depended entirely on the abilities of the ancient creature. Once their strength declined, the Elemental Tide would regain the upper hand and tear those spaces apart until they were completely destroyed.

And reaching the end of one's lifespan was the primary reason these powerful creatures weakened.

Dragons were the most ancient creatures on the Red Soil Continent. Every adult Great Dragon stood at the end of the food chain. Yet even so, they could not attain immortality.

This space was dying a natural death. The ones suffering were merely the creatures living within it.

Such creatures often shared the same trait: unparalleled talent and pitifully weak ability to survive in the outside world.

Natural aging usually meant that the organs had reached their limit.

"Organs... organs..." Li Ziran kept muttering. This was his old trade. Perhaps he could make something of it.

"Annie, can you tell me more specifically about the Mud Dragon's condition?"

"Mm... Lord Great Dragon's skin is wrinkled and beginning to crack. He sleeps a lot—once he falls asleep, he can sleep for years. Also, his wings have fallen off, and in recent years, most of his dragon scales have fallen away too. Oh, and there are many blue-green points of light inside Lord Great Dragon's body."

Blue-green points of light?

That should fall under the realm of magic, right?

The more Li Ziran heard, the less confidence he had. The deterioration of the outer skin indicated natural aging. This miraculous species was already at death's door. If this Mud Dragon could still fight, the Slave-Catching Group before them would not amount to much at all.

After all, even an old dragon was still a dragon.

But how could they summon the Swamp Mud Dragon? That was difficult.

It was as hard as making a dying old man in his seventies run a lap around the courtyard.

Summoning the Mud Dragon was impossible.

"I have an idea. Perhaps I can take your tribe and escape." After thinking for a while, Li Ziran voiced his plan. "I know the Transformation Spell. I can turn them into frogs and take them out of this swamp, then find somewhere to settle them."

He had only said half of it, because even Li Ziran felt it was unrealistic.

He had transplanted Medusa eyes. It would be hard for him to earn Medusa's trust, let alone when he was human.

But more importantly, there was nowhere to settle them. From Annie's words, Li Ziran had already concluded that the Medusa were creatures parasitic upon the Great Dragon. Everything they needed to live depended on what the Great Dragon absorbed from the Elemental Tide.

Without the Great Dragon as their living environment, they might not survive at all.

The Elemental Tide shaped different natural environments, and at the same time, it determined the dependence of the species within them.

Even slave traders understood this. They would never sell a Polar Bear Warrior worth three gold coins on the Ice Plains to the Elves' tropical rainforest.

If anyone truly did that, they would lose their shirt.

The Polar Bear Warrior's unique fur could absorb Fire Element and suppress Ice Element. Once it entered a tropical rainforest, the abundant Fire Element would literally braise it alive.

"Transformation Spell! Oh, wonderful!" Annie cried excitedly, not noticing anything off in Li Ziran's tone.

Li Ziran smiled awkwardly. Although the second plan was also unlikely to work, at least there was a sliver of hope.

"Now there's a problem. First, you need to make your people believe that I'm here to help them."

Annie instantly fell silent. Clearly, she had not considered this. A Medusa with weak petrification abilities convincing others to willingly turn into frogs was simply impossible.

Once they became frogs, it would be equivalent to losing their ability to resist. They would probably rather fight the Slave-Catching Group until fish died and the net tore than accept Li Ziran's suggestion.

"I'll find a way," Annie said firmly. "I swear on my bloodline that I'll make them believe us. Shall we act now?"

"No."

"Why?" Annie did not understand.

"It's simple. We need to shake off this Elephant first. Every hair on his body is as hard as a bayonet now." Li Ziran smiled bitterly.

It seemed Captain Cannon had sensed Li Ziran's reluctance. The hairs on his ears stood straight up, splitting into several sharp branches.

The underground space was also continuously reinforcing the Fire Elephant, as if it intended to surround Karen and the others.

This tiny underground space seemed on the verge of erupting into a storm of blood and gore.

"Do you want to learn the Transformation Spell?" Annie suddenly asked.

Li Ziran found the question rather amusing. His Transformation Spell was already quite formidable. Was this half-baked girl going to teach him?

"No need."

"No, I mean Snake Transformation." Annie seemed to have summoned immense courage. "Actually, we Medusa are the kings of the Snake Race, and we possess the power to command all serpentine creatures. That is why we can easily devour the souls of snake creatures. But no one knows that we possess the ability to transform every species into snakes. As long as our souls undergo Soul Weaving, you can easily gain this ability. Then we can deal with this Fire Elephant. We may not be able to turn him into a little water snake, but if we turn him into a great python, we can escape."

Li Ziran lowered his head to look at the enormous creature below, then felt the faint ripples within his Spirit World and began to hesitate.

Soul Weaving was a forbidden art.

If organ transplantation was the exchange of organs between different creatures, then Soul Weaving was the deeper replacement of Soul Fragments.

Li Ziran had heard of it, but only in legends.

After all, the soul was countless times more profound than the flesh.

"Have you tried it before?" Li Ziran lacked confidence. Instinctively, he wanted to avoid this taboo art.

"No." Annie's answer was calm. "Just as you said, everything has to be tried. Maybe it will bring a good result."

Li Ziran truly wanted to slap himself. This kind of chicken soup really could not be brewed recklessly.

Organ transplantation carried risks, along with significant aftereffects. He would only perform it when he was fully prepared.

Li Ziran had clear principles. Without complete preparation, he would never begin an operation. Secondly, he never operated on himself.

Yet now they had no preparation at all. His instincts told him the risk was enormous. After all, who knew how ancient this forbidden subject was?

For the sake of a Medusa girl, there was no need to gamble with his own soul.

"Are you afraid?" Annie suddenly asked.

"No!" Li Ziran retorted instinctively. "I'm just considering whether it's feasible, seeing if there are other methods."

"Are there?" Annie pressed without tact.

"Mm... well... if we think about it, there should be, right?"

"You're lying!" Annie directly exposed his lie. "I can feel you trembling."

Li Ziran smiled. "Fine, I admit I'm afraid. So what? Everyone gets afraid. Why can't I be afraid?"

The Spirit World fell silent again. This time, Annie chose to yield.

"I'm sorry." After a long while, Annie's apologetic voice came through.

Li Ziran smiled bitterly and scratched his head. Why was there no solution in this world that let everyone have their cake and eat it too? This girl was so adorable that she truly gave him a headache.

How long had it been since he had risked his most precious life?

"Come on!"

"What?" Annie asked.

"Soul Weaving," Li Ziran said.

"Weren't you afraid?" Annie asked in confusion.

"Who says being afraid means you don't do it? Is something wrong with your brain, woman? You completely can't understand what people are saying. Be careful during the weaving. If you carelessly turn me into an idiot, hmph, I'll make you serve me properly in your next life!"