Li Ziran bent down, pulled out a red rope, tied it around the hind leg, then hung it at his waist before finally letting out a long breath.
Necromancer's Rope and his blood formed a double layer of insurance. Once bound by those two measures, even the greatest figure would never escape the Transformation Spell's restraints.
Intermediate Mage.
At least two gold coins. But the true value was not in slave trading, but in organs.
Humans possessed the most developed brains. Their unusual cerebral development allowed them to decipher the elemental arrangements within the Elemental Tide, but what drew the fiercest pursuit in the slave market were the unique Magic Organs humans formed by drawing power from the Elemental Tide.
Elemental Gland.
Possessing an Elemental Gland was equivalent to opening the gate to spells, just as a wizard opened the Spirit World after obtaining the Devouring Curse.
There were simply too many races in this world that sought to peer into magic. Such fervent pursuit brought terrifyingly high prices.
An Elemental Gland from a Lesser Mage was worth three gold coins, while one from an Intermediate Mage fetched as much as seven.
Li Ziran stroked the Frog at his waist. This wealth made his palm tremble. Since surviving in the Wasteland, this was the most valuable spoils he had ever obtained.
After the initial excitement, he quickly calmed down. He had to leave this place. From Hogg's conversation, he had learned that Karen could use Mind Reading, which meant the other party had complete control over everything about him, including his thoughts.
Hogg's ability to lock onto him and withstand the Transformation Spell was clearly related to Mind Reading.
It could even be said that if he captured Hogg now, Karen would already know everything.
To verify his guess, Li Ziran turned and ran toward the place where he had hidden his spoils. When he saw that every Frog had vanished from the completely dug-open sandpit, he could not help but laugh.
All his efforts had been nothing but a wasted trip.
Whoosh!
A gust of cold wind swept past.
Li Ziran spun around sharply, afraid that Karen might appear behind him at this moment. Fortunately, there was nothing there.
"What should I do?" Li Ziran asked Annie in his mind.
This time, there was no response. Annie seemed to understand that all her conversations with Li Ziran could be read, so she chose to avoid speaking.
Li Ziran looked over the endless yellow sands, his eyes filled with resolve. He could die, but he could not become someone else's plaything.
Buzz!
At that moment, the ground suddenly trembled.
Before Li Ziran could recover, another violent vibration came from underground, followed by even more violent tremors spreading outward.
Woo! Woo!
The Bipedal Corpse Dragon roared excitedly, like a child who had found a toy, digging through the yellow sand more and more frantically.
In an instant, yellow sand filled the sky.
Yet at that moment, a strange azure glow appeared amid the sand, like a blazing sun emerging on a rainy day, clear and limpid as transparent lake water.
The azure light surged and struck the Corpse Dragon's head. Its hardest skull melted in an instant, exposing pale-red bones.
"Swallow it!"
Just then, a voice suddenly rang out, brimming with uncontrollable excitement.
It came from inside the Corpse Dragon. No, from the Corpse Dragon's mouth.
"Swallow it!"
The voice cried out again, even more excited than before.
The Corpse Dragon's skull was melting, but its mouth opened to the limit. Its claws pressed fiercely against the ground, as though it wanted to drag something out.
Tail kept lashing through the air, each blow sounding with endless bangs.
With every lash, the entire space seemed to crack once.
The Corpse Dragon held its mouth open, seemingly trying to swallow the abruptly appearing azure light. Yet no matter how hard it strained, it could not advance even half a foot.
"Sacrifice. Swallow it!"
The voice abruptly became grim and stern. Li Ziran saw the Corpse Dragon trembling, and the entire yellow plain trembling as well.
Along with that sinister cry, Fire Elephants crawled out of the earth one after another. But in an instant, black mist coiled around them, their flesh withered, their bones decayed, and they turned back into clumps of black mist that surged into the Corpse Dragon's body.
Fire Elephants, Fishmen, Snake Women—these creatures emerged from underground one after another, then perished like bubbles.
"Madness! Madness! Karen, this isn't yours alone!"
At that moment, an aged voice roared through the smoke and dust, as though trying to forcefully suppress that voice.
Li Ziran saw clearly. It was Rhine, the Rhine Lion from the Thornflower Slave-Trading Corps who had guarded the warehouse. He was desperately waving both hands and roaring toward the Corpse Dragon's head.
At this moment, with countless living beings sacrificed, the Corpse Dragon obtained abundant death energy. That death energy gathered above its head, and its completely rotten skull seemed about to regrow.
Rhine's cries received no reply. No, he received an answer.
His body began to wither, shriveling at a rate visible to the naked eye. His eyes opened to their limit as he screamed desperately.
"No! Karen, you can't do this!"
His voice finally stopped. Like the other creatures, he became a clump of black mist and drilled into the Corpse Dragon's body.
Li Ziran watched in terror. Those living creatures had gone from appearing to being destroyed in a single instant.
Fire Elephants, Fishmen, Snake Women, and that precious Rhine Lion.
Li Ziran seemed to see precious gold coins after precious gold coin turning into black mist.
What an enormous investment.
The Corpse Dragon had already swelled to twice its size. Its huge mouth could nearly swallow a small island. As it opened and closed, it finally clamped the clear azure beam in its jaws.
But the light was like steel. It simply could not be bitten through.
Suddenly, streams of black light began to seep from the Corpse Dragon's teeth. It was the Black Nightmare Light Li Ziran knew so well.
The Black Nightmare Light wrapped around the outside of the clear azure light. With a bang, it forcibly compressed the beam by a full ring.
Anesthesia and suppression.
Li Ziran suddenly thought of the Black Nightmare Fang's special ability.
At this moment, Karen was using that acquired pressure against the abruptly appearing Clear Azure Light.
It seemed quite effective.
So this clear azure beam was his true objective.
"Was all this really necessary?"
Li Ziran laughed inwardly. If I'd known you were after this, we could have cooperated. Why go through so much trouble?
In the blink of an eye, the azure light began collapsing inward. Other colors appeared within the blue, and yellow and black could vaguely be seen. The two beams continuously collided, then fused into new azure light.
The instant yellow and azure appeared, the Corpse Dragon's two enormous feet stomped directly onto the azure light, as though it intended to force it into its belly.
Buzz!
At that moment, the entire ground began to shake.
Just when Li Ziran thought another earthquake was coming, the sand beneath him suddenly tilted. His entire body rose abruptly, and when he came back to his senses, he found himself atop a mound of sand as high as a dozen-story building.
Following the yellow sands with his gaze, he saw an enormous mountain ridge dropping straight down at the horizon far in the distance.
Roar!
This roar was even more violent, making the space hum and tremble.
Li Ziran looked toward the source of the roar. It had actually come from within the yellow sands, which had now piled high into the clouds.
What was going on?
The Wasteland had stood up.
"It... it is Lord Great Dragon. He has come alive!" Annie cried excitedly in his mind.
Dragon?
Was this a Dragon?
It was far too huge. It was practically an entire mountain.
But before Li Ziran could recover from his shock, he saw the Corpse Dragon's two claws plunge straight into the deepest part of the yellow sands.
Roar!
The roar was agonized.
Rolling heaps of sand fell from the sky. Mixed amid countless grains of yellow sand, Li Ziran plunged straight toward the ground.
At this rate, even if he was not smashed to death, he would be buried alive by the yellow sand.
[Transformation Spell · Snake]
Li Ziran transformed himself into a Yellow-skinned Snake. His snakeskin scraped against the sand as he kept climbing upward.
Bang!
He finally hit the ground. The immense rebound hurled him high into the air before he crashed back down again.
He coiled his snake body, borrowing the yellow sand to finally steady himself. When he stopped, he found that the dune beneath him was already half a mountain thick.
The sand stopped falling away, and he finally saw the full form of the Wasteland rising upright.
Thick limbs like mountain pillars supported an enormous cluster of mountain ranges. Hill after hill extended skyward in waves, and at their peak formed a towering, long, pointed mountain range.
Like a lighthouse.
The top of the lighthouse seemed crowned. Beneath that crown stood rows of slender, pointed teeth like mountain awls.
Great Dragon!
He had seen a Dragon, but it was nothing like he had imagined.
Its body was not covered in thick scales, but in wave-like dunes. It had no enormous dragon wings of the sort he had imagined, and it did not even have eyes.
There were only those sharp dragon teeth and a belly as large as a mountain range.
Terrifying.
Li Ziran was certain this was not the Swamp Dragon's original appearance. Judging from its shape, it should once have been even larger than what he saw now. But its lifespan had run out, and beneath the Wasteland's unique Elemental Tide, its powerful body was turning into sand.
It was terrifying, yet also tragic.
This was a Dragon!
Even a creature that had evolved to its ultimate limit could not escape falling in the end.
Although the yellow sand in the air was still under control, as time passed, more and more sand would fall away.
"Sacrifice! Everyone, sacrifice yourselves to me!"
The mad cry drowned out everything. It was Karen's voice.
The instant he saw the Dragon appear, he was not afraid. He was excited.
At this moment, Li Ziran felt a strange power pulling at him, as though it wanted to turn him into air and draw him into the Corpse Dragon. He hurriedly wrapped himself in mental power.
Buzz!
The Frog soul at his waist emerged and, in an instant, drifted into the Corpse Dragon.
That was Hogg's soul.
Li Ziran felt his scalp go numb, yet at the same time he could not help admiring Karen's audacity.
Though they were enemies now, he had used the sacrifice of an entire slave-trading corps to capture a dying Dragon. Such boldness was not something an ordinary person could possess.
If he could survive this disaster, Li Ziran would definitely develop Karen into one of his VIP clients.
A person like this was simply too suited for friendship.
At this moment, the Necromancer's figure appeared atop the Corpse Dragon. He cried unwillingly, "Karen, I want to control the Corpse Dragon. Spare me."
Such pleading received no response at all. What he got in return was Karen's even more frenzied voice.
"Baturu, I'm sorry. You saw it. It has reached the end of its road. I need the final strength. Don't worry, I will summon you. I will resurrect you. I won't forget everything you've done for me."
"No, I don't want this!" The Necromancer shook his head desperately, but his body was turning to vapor and could not be controlled. Amid unwilling cries, he became a stream of air and surged into the Corpse Dragon.
At this moment, the Corpse Dragon's size had expanded to the limit. Yet compared to the Great Dragon, it was still far too small.
The Great Dragon twisted, and the entire sky shook violently.
The Corpse Dragon's claws were wedged in the sand heaps, ready to fall at any moment.
But its mouth clenched that clear azure light tightly, Black Nightmare energy spraying continuously between its teeth.
At this moment, the Black Nightmare energy had completely liquefied.
"No, it isn't enough!" Karen cried madly.
Along with his cry, the Corpse Dragon's Tail began to vaporize, forming a stream of air that drilled into its head. Then came its enormous body and two wings. In the end, even the claws embedded in the Great Dragon's body melted away.
Only two rows of teeth and a mechanically crafted stomach remained.
Creak! Creak!
Mechanical parts meshed desperately, while the glow of Magic Stones circulated frantically.
Among those parts, tiny Dwarves busily injected all kinds of lubricants and Mithril. Yet even they gradually turned into streams of air.
At this moment, Li Ziran was instead worried for Karen.
The Dwarves turning to vapor was equivalent to letting the Teleportation Array operate on its own. If it still could not succeed, then it truly would be a case of all previous efforts going to waste.
Instead, he did not want to see Karen fail.
It was not sympathy, but mutual appreciation.
He could not bear to watch an ambitious man stake all his abilities, only to be met with failure.
He liked success.
Even more, he liked getting to know those with the ability and the qualifications to fight for success.
Karen's figure finally appeared at the Corpse Dragon's gums, where Li Ziran had once brought him.
His eyes had been entirely replaced by madness. His former control, wisdom, and calculation had vanished without a trace, replaced by unshakable focus.
At that moment, Li Ziran seemed to see himself performing surgery.
"Eat it!"
"Eat it! Swallow it!"
Cry after cry came from Karen's mouth.
The Black Nightmare Light no longer flowed. A shrill squeaking sound drifted across the Wasteland.
The azure light grew less and less, while black and yellow light grew more and more abundant. Finally, the yellow light naturally condensed to the left, the black light gathered to the right, and with the Clear Azure Light as the boundary, the two lights formed a Dragon Heart of alternating yellow and black.
Thump!
The sound was extremely soft.
Yet this sound, so easy to overlook at any moment, tugged at every nerve.
The black-and-yellow heart-shaped object passed through the neck, slid into the stomach, and vanished within a hazy gray beam of teleportation light.
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