Ascending Dragon, Iai, Aegis!

"Luo Jieer, I understand your reasoning, but could you please stop carrying the Curse Frog around all the time?"

In the Zane Dungeon, Caelid, Si Telan looked at Luo Jieer with a helpless expression and said:

"This kind of thing will bring back bad memories for everyone."

Back when everyone first explored the Zane Dungeon, they were thoroughly annoyed by the dense swarms of Curse Frog and Mushroom Man inside the Great Hollow. Even now, people still feel a strange sense of fear and resistance when they see these things.

"Keeping them all inside the ball will affect our relationship." Luo Jieer said, rubbing the Curse Frog's smooth skin with a look of enjoyment.

Si Telan's lips twitched, and finally she turned to the person beside her and said:

"I'm sorry, Mr. Jon, it seems we've brought a strange person into the group."

"It's alright, it's alright. On the contrary, I think the stranger someone's behavior is, the more powerful they are. Many masters have their own quirks."

The burly man named Jon laughed and waved his hand, completely unconcerned.

Judging from his perfectly shaved buzz cut, the marks on his nose from wearing sunglasses for so long, and his formulaic smile that has become completely unchangeable through training.

This guy is the bodyguard that Lan Le sent out to find the Great Dragon Feast Church.

He managed to contact Si Telan's team and Luo Jieer in a short time, which proves that Jon is not only good at bodyguard work, but also has exceptional social skills.

Although she often hangs out with Wei En Ma and the others, the original team of Si Telan, the Morning Wind Squad, is still in operation!

Not only did it not disband, it also underwent a comprehensive upgrade.

Sword and Shield Warrior Xiu En seamlessly transitioned into a one-handed swordsman, and mage Ai Li is now a dual-wielder of magic and swords. As for the former assassin Dan Ya...

He has now become a master of the katana, just like Lan Le aspired to be.

The Morning Wind Squad is still active, though not as well-known as Leon's Strategy Team. They are quite famous within a specific circle of Sun Warrior.

As for why Luo Jieer followed.

When Jon found Si Telan based on a friend's recommendation, Stern happened to be discussing a commission with the Morning Wind Squad. After hearing Jon's request, Stern followed him.

Since it doesn't cost any money, let Luo Jieer accompany us for a while. He doesn't seem like the kind of person who knows nothing about adventure and would be a burden.

As for the commission that Luo Jieer and Si Telan discussed, Jon didn't hear it clearly, only remembering a few words.

For example, things like "Help me capture monsters and then I'll tame them," "Give me a demonstration when I give my next lecture," or "Be a mood-maker during my speech in a couple of days."

It all sounds like some trivial chores. Why would we need to hire her for such low-value work?

However, according to Jon's intelligence network...

The unshaven man in front of me, who exuded the aura of someone who had spent a lot of time with monsters, was clearly a hidden big shot.

This guy and his animal friends have sparked a craze for "Poké Ball" in the Warrior Country!

On the day the Zane Dungeon connected the Warrior Country and the Arnor Kingdom, Luo Jieer and the Beast Tamers made a dazzling appearance that amazed countless people, because those strange-looking yet friendly monsters were actually their companions!

Some people began to investigate Luo Jieer, but before they could find any results, Luo Jieer and the beast tamers became famous in Black Rock City.

They became famous because their Snorlax ate all the food on an entire street in one day, and still seemed to want more!

After eating its fill, it even slept in the street, causing a major traffic jam. When the fully armed captain of the guards went to chase it away, he was almost slapped to death by Snorlax in its sleep.

In addition, the Incineroar is intimidated and causes chaos wherever it goes, Khezu are banned from entering red-light districts, and Female Fire Dragon poisons and wipes out all the wyverns that come to court.

These animal trainers and their animal friends became famous overnight.

After becoming famous, Luo Jieer started a training program.

Their main business is training new trainers, explaining how to use Poké Ball, how to get along with your animal friends, and even some hardcore monster science.

He has now become a lecturer, based in Black Rock City, and travels to surrounding cities every day to give speeches and promote his work. He is responsible for bringing students to Black Rock City, where the animal trainers will then teach them.

Driven by their actions, the profession of animal trainer, which was gradually disappearing, has once again attracted attention and become very popular.

Although Luo Jieer's business is still in its early stages and his fame is currently limited to Black Rock City and the surrounding cities, his reputation will eventually spread far and wide as time goes by!

The reason they didn't do this in the Arnor Kingdom was twofold: firstly, because the kingdom was underdeveloped at the time, and secondly, because the Warrior Country a special existence called Dragon Knight.

If someone dares to ride a dragon, then they must be able to accept a beast tamer!

"My Curse Frog has gone through countless battles and challenged enemies many times stronger than itself. I now call it Veteran King Curse Frog!"

Luo Jieer sat on the Curse Frog and said with considerable confidence and pride.

Upon closer inspection, the Curse Frog was indeed as unique as he had described. The pair of large eyes on its head, which were often mistaken for eyes, now shone like light bulbs, while its real pair of small eyes also emitted a terrifying gleam. Its smooth skin seemed to have an even more hardened feel.

He's really managed to raise these Curse Frog quite well!

The monsters in the Zane Dungeon remain exactly as they were in the dungeon; they won't change much unless a certain dungeon lord modifies them.

However, once you leave the dungeon and come into contact with the strange things in the outside world, unknown changes may occur.

When adventurers bring these mutated monsters into the Zane Dungeon, Gong Qiying can still receive data on these monsters!

As the city lord, he was also surprised when he discovered this situation. After all, the monsters in the dungeons in the past had not stayed in the outside world long enough to mutate, so naturally, this situation would not be triggered.

But no matter how you look at it, this is a good change, meaning that as long as the monsters in the Zane Dungeon are released, there is a possibility of updating the monsters and keeping the dungeon alive.

Therefore, Gong Qiying was quite supportive of the adventurers' behavior of throwing away Poké Ball indiscriminately in the dungeon.

Unfortunately, people seem to have little interest in raising monsters and prefer straightforward battles in dungeons. Gong Qiying also forgot to promote Poké Ball, resulting in related content remaining lukewarm.

Now we have Luo Jieer who generates electricity out of love, which is pretty good.

"I just hope you don't let him near me," Si Telan said softly, for elves are naturally averse to anything ugly.

After some lighthearted banter, they finally managed to calm the group down and, based on the information provided by Jon, headed to the possible location of the Great Dragon Feast Church.

"My information is just speculation and may not be accurate."

Jon, as was his habit, walked slightly ahead of the others and said, "The place we're going to is on the edge of the Aeonia Swamp, where a white dragon dwells."

"White Dragon?"

The white dragon's name was "Egkith, the Corruptor," a dragon that You Fei and her companions had dragged into the attack on Red Lion City. Because of its pale appearance, it was called the White Dragon.

But if you take a closer look, the details on Aegis's body might make you want to vomit on the spot.

"If you run along these brick and stone roads on the ground, Aegis is right by the roadside on the way to Red Lion City, and you should be able to find him easily."

Jon said, "According to my information, there is a rather large, dilapidated building next to it. There are many similarly dilapidated buildings in Caelid, but there are very few that big."

"Some people tried to explore, but each time they couldn't get to the edge of the building, they would be suddenly discovered by Aegis. Even invisibility was useless, and they were forced to fight the dragon."

"So this time, my idea is for you guys to hold off Aegis while I take the opportunity to go inside that building and find out what's going on."

"Since Aegis seems to be guarding that place, it must be related to dragons, maybe even to the Dragon Communion."

These are all Jon's speculations, but for now, they can only be speculations.

Knowing their mission, the men, after galloping for some time on their Torrent, spotted their target, Aegis, at the edge of the road.

There was indeed a dilapidated building next to Aegkis.

The other person appeared to be asleep, but Si Telan's senses told her that this guy was constantly watching what was happening over there.

"Mr. Jon, you should hide behind the rocks over there. Once we start fighting, you can slip in during the chaos."

Staring at the dragon's head, Si Telan instinctively reached for her left bow.

However, the strange feeling in her arm from overusing the left bow on the day of the Battle Festival had not completely disappeared. She paused for a moment, and finally took out the normal large bow.

"Aegis is strange. If you get close to a building, it will wake up immediately, but if the target is not a building but itself, it will fall asleep until you attack it." Jon said the last sentence and hid behind the rock.

"Yeah?"

Upon hearing this, Dan Ya suddenly perked up. He left with a "wait a moment" and hurriedly rode away on his horse. A few minutes later, he returned excitedly, covered in blood. Upon closer inspection...

The blade of the katana he was carrying was actually reddish.

He looked at his companions one by one with pleading eyes, and they all smiled helplessly and nodded.

So Dan Ya drew his katana and crept closer to Aegis, who, as expected, did not wake up.

The thought of what he was about to do made his hand grip the katana tremble slightly. He took a deep breath, kicked Aegis in the head, and leaped high into the air, shouting with fervent passion:

"Ascending Dragon!"

Ascending Dragon, one of the most beloved moves by longsword users, is a super stress-relieving Weapon Skill that uses the monster's body to leap into the air and then Heavy Chop, releasing all the power accumulated in the longsword in one go!

There is one minor drawback.

"Huh?"

Aegis woke up immediately after being kicked, his head snapping up.

"Bang!"

Suddenly, a dark shadow descended from the sky and slammed down in front of it. The loud noise startled it for a moment, and it looked down.

A man wielding a katana was seen crashing to the ground.

"I knew it."

Si Telan covered her face and shook her head. She drew her bow and shot an arrow with a whoosh. The explosive arrow rang out near Aegis's nose, and its roar immediately echoed through the smoke.

"Mr. Jon, now is the time!"

She shouted a warning and then pulled out several arrows with different effects, aiming them at Aegis.

The rotten dragon soared into the air, staring fiercely at them, seemingly about to pounce!

"I'll do it!"

Dan Ya wiped the blood from his nose and got up, striking a stylish iaido stance facing Aegis.

"Even if I fail to Ascending Dragon, my iaido has never been defeated!"

Iaijutsu, one of the core selling points of the katana, is a technique where an iaijutsu is executed when an enemy attacks. If the timing, force, and angle are all just right, the iaijutsu can directly counter the enemy's attack, achieving the same effect as a weak parry and protecting the user.

A successful iaido (traditional Japanese esoteric practice) can bring immense joy and comfort!

Therefore, the katana, a strange and unprecedented weapon, quickly became popular among adventurers, becoming the most popular weapon in the Forest Area with a very high degree of popularity.

"Come on, Agkith!"

Dan Ya roared at the dragon with considerable force!

"Aww!"

Aegis suddenly opened his mouth, a surge of red mist erupting from it. Dan Ya's blade flashed with a sharp light as he swiftly launched an Iaijutsu attack—

Miscalculation struck. Instead of lunging forward, Aegis spewed out red smoke, but the overwhelming red smoke was cleaved in two in a flash of light!

Dan Ya broke through the encirclement seemingly unharmed, gracefully raising his hand to sheathe his sword with a smile on his lips.

"He actually succeeded in the iaido technique?" Xiu En's face was filled with disbelief, but then he showed a genuine smile of happiness for his friend.

"Well done, Dan Ya!" Si Telan didn't hold back her praise.

Dan Ya turned around, smiled, and gave everyone a thumbs up.

Then his body swayed.

He fell to the ground with a thud.

The cheers were suddenly silenced.

If this were Yugi, several large characters would probably appear on his body:

[Scarlet Corruption!!!]