novelMutated Dragon's Tongue
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Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The shadow of the Humerus Wyrm seemed to turn the entire world gray. Amidst the crazy wind was countless flying debris mixed with fallen leaves. When the blue ice flame came from the sky again, it was as if doomsday had arrived. Despite being level-18, the 10 Archmages from Dark Blade immediately became inferior to the Wyrm. None of them had the ability to battle the Wyrm by himself.
The gap between level-18 and level-20 was tremendous. It did not allow any chance for mistakes. They had to exert full powers to try to be on par with the Humerus Wyrm.
If that was the case for the 10 Archmages, the rest of the Adventures naturally fell out of the picture. In such a battle, people below level-15 were like cannon fodder. They would not be able to threaten the Wyrm in the slightest. The only thing they could do was to struggle and call for help while they were attacked by the ice flames...
The two forces that were still orderly a while ago were plunged into chaos at once. With that, the lightning speed at which Lin Li and Sendros were moving at did not matter anymore. Even if they were to stroll, they would be able to enter the nest of the Crimson Python with ease.
"The Crimson Python is really dead..." Lin Li commented after he cast the Illuminating Spell and saw the fresh blood on the walls of the cave. He brushed his fingers against it, and held them to his nose. It smelled like the blood of the Crimson Python he'd encountered at Black Clouds Town. From that, he could conclude that there was a high chance that the python in this cave had been attacked.
Lin Li surveyed the surroundings, but could not find the body of the Crimson Python. He was not surprised. Lin Li knew very well that even the dead the body of the Crimson Python was worth a fortune. Its skin could cost above a hundred million. Being durable and a natural insulator of magic, it would be ideal for it to be sewn into a leather armor. Its two fangs could also be used to enhance magical weapons. If a bit of its venom were to be smudged onto a Bandit's Dagger, the poisoning effect would be more deadly than the toxin of the Salamander...
Of course, the most important object was still the magical crystal of the Crimson Python. That was a Legendary magical crystal that would excite even a Lich like Ujfalusi. Being a priceless existence in the market, Legendary magical crystals had led many mages to bankruptcy.
Whoever had killed the Crimson Python—regardless of whether it was the Malfa Family or the Dark Blade—would never let such a massive fortune slide past them.
However, Lin Li's main goal was not the Crimson Python. While it was great to acquire the body of the python, his eyes were on the ultimate prize—the Dragon's Tongue. In fact, he still did not have the time to tidy up the body of another Crimson Python that he kept frozen in the Tower of Dusk...
In Lin Li's eyes, the value of a Dragon's Tongue Herb was 10 times greater than that of 10 Crimson Pythons.
The nest of the Crimson Python was very bizarre. The entrance of the nest was eccentrically narrow, making Lin Li doubt for a moment whether it was a space a huge Crimson Python could be lugged out from. This skepticism decreased when the space of the nest widened as they traveled deeper into the nest. The dimension of the nest was as wide as to house at least 10 Crimson Pythons after Lin Li walked for 700 to 800 meters into the cave. Throughout the journey, he saw many human corpses, and from the consistency of their blood, it seemed like they did not die too long ago.
"F*ck!" Lin Li gasped when his gaze landed on something other than the human corpses.
There were 10 human-sized python eggs within a hundred meters of the place where he was standing. However, the sight of the broken shells on the ground caused Lin Li to realize that they had all been intentionally broken by people. The egg whites and yolks were mixed together and emitted a pungent stench.
"How unfortunate..." Sendros commented in disappointment. The 10 eggs might not be that much of a deal to common people. However, to an Undead Master like Sendros, those eggs had the great potential to hatch Haunted Pythons. The power of 10 Haunted Pythons would certainly not lose to a Humerus Wyrm's. In fact, obtaining the eggs of the Crimson Python to hatch the Haunted Pythons was in Sendros' calculations when he agreed to accompany Lin Li here...
Unfortunately, the despicable deed done here had eliminated Sendros' hopes.
"This is weird..." Lin Li said frowningly as he glanced at the broken eggs. Usually, the eggs would be located where the Crimson Python rested. As the growth of the Dragon's Tongue should be activated by their presence, it would only make sense for Lin Li to spot them here. However, despite engaging the Warlock's Eyes, he was unable to locate any traces of the Dragon's Tongue...
"Are we too late?" Lin Li asked anxiously. That was the first thought that came to his mind. Although there shouldn't be more than 10 Pharmacists who would know the effects of the Dragon's Tongue in the entire Anril, Lin Li could not rule out the possibility that there might be some lucky ones who picked it anyway, thinking it was a normal herb.
Furthermore, the intense battle earlier claimed more than 100 lives from the two forces. What if they had destroyed the Dragon's Tongue in the process?
The thought of such possibilities made Lin Li turn pallid.
"What is it?" Sendros asked in concern. He could sense Lin Li's uneasiness.
"The Dragon's Tongue might not be here..." said Lin Li. Just as he was about to explain further, he noticed something unusual with the cloudy substances ahead...
The mixture of egg whites and egg yolks from the 10 broken eggs covered a few dozen meters. At his first glance, Lin Li did not pay much attention to the pythons that died prematurely due to the disastrous scene. However, Lin Li realized very quickly that the spillage that had initially covered a few dozen meters appeared to be smaller in surface area as compared to before.
At the start, Lin Li thought he had seen it wrong. However, he realized very quickly that the coverage of the sticky substances was decreasing at a speed visible to the naked eye. It was as though there was a gigantic sponge that was soaking up those substances!
"Could that mean..." Lin Li gasped. The unusual sight hinted at another possibility...
The Dragon's Tongue was a very rare herb. Although Lin Li was well-versed in pharmacy and herbalism, he only knew that the growth of the herb had to be enhanced by one female and one male mutated Crimson Python. They would be providing the herb with the energy necessary to grow, and the Dragon's Tongue would only mature after the female Crimson Python laid her eggs. However, he knew nothing about the mechanics behind the phenomenon.
Hence, when he saw that scene, he could only make wild guesses.
Could the gigantic sponge be the true form of the Dragon's Tongue Herb?
It was very easy to ascertain that hypothesis. Lin Li engaged the Warlock's Eyes and flew it above the cloudy mess. What he saw was a Dragon's Tongue with 10 leaves, covered in the mixture of egg white and egg yolk...
However, the Dragon's Tongue before him seemed to be a little... eccentric. Its 10 leaves were huge and plump, twice the size of the regular Dragon's Tongue's leaves. When covered by the egg mixture, it squirmed like 10 lobes of lungs. What stunned Lin Li was how quickly the cloudy substance got absorbed while the leaves squirmed. A huge patch of substance was absorbed for every breath Lin Li took.
"Goddammit, is this the legendary making of a spirit?" Lin Li asked with his mouth agape. Despite being a Guru in five series, Lin Li was like an illiterate. He had absolutely no idea what implications the phenomenon was going to bring about...
Lin Li could only stand still and watch the 10 squirming leaves in a daze.
The Dragon's Tongue submerged in the sticky substance was really like a huge sponge. It soaked up all the substance around it entirely, and turned the moist and wet ground dry. When Lin Li walked towards it, he deliberately stomped hard on the ground, and discovered that it was definitely all dry and hard under his shoes. If not for the broken eggshells strewn all over, Lin Li might have thought that what he saw a while ago was just a hallucination...
"Nasty..." Lin Li cussed.
How strange for the Dragon's Tongue to be able to absorb the contents of 10 python eggs so efficiently!
At the same time, something abnormal happened. The already plump leaves grew bigger, reaching the size of a palm. Its green pigments disappeared. What replaced it was a satanic shade of red. At a glance, it looked like a burning flame.
Lin Li could not sense the supposed Dragon's Tongue anymore. Instead, he detected a menacing and scorching feeling. It was as though he was standing under the afternoon summer sun, where he exposed his skin to toxic light rays. Lin Li knew that it was not the Dragon's Tongue he knew anymore...
Lin Li could not explain the situation. He only knew that the magical energy from the monstrous shrub was thrice what the normal Dragon's Tongue could produce. If he were to use it to create the Rune Potion, he might not produce something as simple as level-15 Archmages...
Of course, that was on the condition that he had the ability to control the properties of the herb.
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