Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3203: Chapter 3204: Dragon Hunter

Shi Zhong is indeed a Half-Blood Demon, but within him lies a bloodline that belongs neither to demons nor to Indigenous People.

This unique bloodline gave rise to the famous ’Dragon Hunter’.

As for the origin of this bloodline, it has to start with Shi Zhong’s background—

In terms of classification, Shi Zhong’s father, who belonged to that demon’s race, should be considered a Dread Demon.

Dread Demons belong to the lowest tier of Little Demons in the Abyss, but in the eyes of the Abyssal Natives, they are the most notorious and terrifying demons, bar none. This is because their appearance is too similar to ordinary Indigenous People, and their demon horns are small enough to be hidden with a hat and hair, allowing them to blend in with Indigenous People. Moreover, the favorite food of Dread Demons is the flesh of Indigenous People, and if a Dread Demon infiltrates a town of Indigenous People, it won’t be long before the town is completely consumed.

Dread Demons are also adept at disguise and learning, and they naturally possess the ability to manipulate the human mind, bringing their Art of Fear to the highest level.

Other demons, even if they kill Abyssal Natives, do so merely as an annoyance rather than with intent to hunt. Demons have their own pride; to them, Abyssal Natives are like reptiles, disgusting to behold. They do not mind erasing them but do not make it a deliberate pursuit.

Dread Demons are different; Abyssal Natives are their prey.

Therefore, Dread Demons are despised and feared by the Abyssal Natives.

And Half-Blood Demons mixed with Dread Demon blood naturally do not fare well either. On the side of the Indigenous People, they are loathed and even burned to death; on the demon side, due to the Dread Demon blood being too inferior and weak in power, they are further disregarded.

One could say that Shi Zhong’s childhood and adolescence were spent in this disdain and rejection.

Even his mother, described by others as a gentle Abyssal Native, held hostility towards Shi Zhong.

The only one who could bring warmth to Shi Zhong was his Dread Demon father.

However, Shi Zhong’s father, though a Dread Demon, was different from most Dread Demons; he did not feed on Indigenous People, but on demon blood.

As a child, Shi Zhong discovered that the more demon blood his father consumed, the stronger he became.

At that time, Shi Zhong did not understand what this meant until one day, his father fell while hunting a Curl-Horn demon and was trapped in a Demon Monastery. Shi Zhong had a hard time finding his dying father and escaping to a forest where demons dared not enter.

But ultimately, it was too late.

On his deathbed, Shi Zhong learned his father’s secret.

His father, though a Dread Demon, came from a mysterious place called: Land of Divine Birth.

Shi Zhong wanted to ask what the Land of Divine Birth was, but his father shook his head, offering no answer, only saying, ”The Land of Divine Birth is both the beginning and the end. No need to care, no need to ask, it is not our ancestral home.”

After saying this, his father remained silent about other information regarding the Land of Divine Birth.

He merely left a last word: ”Inside me, there is an indelible impurity, which is the Blood of Divine Wrath... I shouldn’t have let it remain, but I am unwilling to destroy it completely. Shi Zhong, the Blood of Divine Wrath is yours to decide, my dearest son. If possible, I hope you will not bear this dreadful bloodline.”

”But I fear that after I am gone, your situation will become extremely dire. Perhaps the Blood of Divine Wrath can help you through difficult times.”

”If you do not merge with the Blood of Divine Wrath, then dispose of it, do not let it fall into the hands of demons, especially Demon Lords.”

After his father’s death, Shi Zhong ultimately chose to integrate the ”Blood of Divine Wrath.”

Because he wanted to avenge his father.

And to exact revenge, he needed stronger power.

Upon merging with the Blood of Divine Wrath, Shi Zhong finally understood why his father called it an indelible impurity, because the Blood of Divine Wrath itself was the Demon God’s blood after being polluted.

The power able to pollute Demon God’s blood must originate from far beyond the Demon God itself.

And his father’s ability to strengthen himself by consuming demons was not due to the ability of Demon God’s blood; it was that polluted power.

Where the source of the impurity comes from, Shi Zhong didn’t know, but through merging with the Blood of Divine Wrath, he learned the true name of the impurity’s power: Lacrativira.

Lacrativira’s impurity is a curse.

You must continually offer high-energy-level blood to Lacrativira for it to pollute, otherwise it will pollute your bloodline.

And once your bloodline is polluted, death is not far away.

Though this is a curse, while it curses you, it also grants you part of the power from the blood you provide.

It’s as if while extracting from you, it does not completely extract you dry. It hits you with a stick but also gives you a piece of candy.

Although the power you gain from the polluted blood is not much, the energy trickling through the cracks also allowed Shi Zhong’s father’s strength to surpass the limits of a Dread Demon.

And after inheriting the Blood of Divine Wrath, Shi Zhong naturally acquired this curse as well.

To gain strength, Shi Zhong had to provide blood within fifteen days of integrating the bloodline.

It’s important to note that once the type of sacrificial blood is determined, it cannot be changed; for example, Shi Zhong’s father chose to sacrifice demon blood, so he only hunted demons thereafter.

And at that time, Shi Zhong could not even defeat the weakest Ghostly Floating Little Demon, let alone an Indigenous People warrior.

Under these circumstances, Shi Zhong had no idea how to provide blood to the Blood of Divine Wrath.

Perhaps Heaven never seals off all paths; during his darkest moments, Shi Zhong finally encountered a suitable sacrifice: a juvenile Draconic Beast with thin blood.

The place he was in at that time was a territory of an Abyssal Dragon, which was why other demons dared not enter. And this Draconic Beast juvenile was a child of one of the Abyssal Dragon’s servants.

It had just been born not long ago and, filled with curiosity about the outside world, secretly ran out of the dragon’s lair and was then discovered by Shi Zhong.

After sacrificing the Draconic Beast juvenile, from that day on, Shi Zhong began his journey of hunting ”dragons.”

After thousands of years, he finally became the renowned Dragon Hunter.

The above is a general account of Shi Zhong’s experience.

The reason he became the ”Dragon Hunter” was not because of hatred towards the Abyssal Dragons, but because the curse of the Blood of Divine Wrath was at work.

From Angel’s perspective, he didn’t know how to judge this curse. It seemed good since it brought new life to Shi Zhong; but ultimately, it also led him to destruction.

Thus, it is difficult to evaluate the good or bad of this curse.

However, Angel was quite curious about this curse. It can even pollute the blood of a Demon God; what exactly is this Lacrativira?

Angel couldn’t help but look toward Laplace.

As Angel raised his head, Laplace seemed to guess what he wanted to ask and directly spoke, ”I don’t know. I’ve never heard of such a curse, nor a similar name.”

Angel was slightly disappointed. He thought for a moment and asked again, ”Have you heard of the Land of Divine Birth?”

Laplace again shook his head.

Seeing this, Angel shrugged and didn’t ask any more. Although he didn’t get an answer, he still had some guesses in his heart.

Because Angel had heard of the term ”Land of Divine Birth.”

He learned of this name from the offspring of the Lord of the Flameless, as mentioned by Aoluxiya.

In Aoluxiya’s words, the Land of Divine Birth refers to the ultimate place he seeks—Asgard.

Angel didn’t know if this ”Land of Divine Birth” is the same as that ”Land of Divine Birth.” If it is, then Shi Zhong’s father might be a demon who escaped from Asgard.

If Aoluxiya knew about this, he would probably be very excited. Unfortunately, since leaving the Abyss, Angel hasn’t returned, not even contacting Fafnir of the Abyssal Dragon, let alone Aoluxiya.

Setting aside these unwarranted thoughts, Angel turned his gaze to Laplace: ”What is Shi Zhong’s personality like? Does he have ’unique characteristics’ like Mushroom Concubine?”

Angel really wanted to ask if he was difficult to handle. But considering that Shi Zhong was Laplace’s prospective temporal body, he chose his words carefully.

Laplace: ”In his memory, apart from enhancing his strength, he hardly does anything else.”

In other words, this is a person who pursues strength and prioritizes strength above all else.

This surprised Angel somewhat, because, in his view, the Rabbit Girl hastily went offline to report, probably because Shi Zhong was difficult to handle; moreover, Laplace’s eyebrows were tightly furrowed just now, clearly indicating something was amiss.

It turns out Shi Zhong doesn’t seem to have any major personality issues?

Perhaps guessing Angel’s thoughts, Laplace said calmly: ”His personality isn’t important, what’s important are his methods of enhancing strength.”

”—Dragon Hunt.”

And Baba Ragon is a dragon.

This is also why the Rabbit Girl was so urgent, because if late, Baba Ragon might not survive.

”Thinking this way, indeed some attention is needed.” Angel paused: ”However, Baba Ragon being able to go offline shouldn’t pose major issues.”

”Moreover, NPCs like Maggie and Mushroom Concubine, besides inheriting the characteristics of the temporal body’s personality, seem to not inherit the real-world identity and memory but are given new identities by the Immortal Realm.”

Since Shi Zhong told Baba Ragon that he is the Tomb Guardian, this identity is probably arranged for him by the Immortal Realm.

Angel also didn’t understand why a dragon hunter, after entering the Crystal Origin of Dreams, would be arranged by the Immortal Realm to become the guardian of the Dragon Tomb.

This indeed sounds like magical realism.

Although Angel personally thinks there’s no problem, to be cautious, Angel is still prepared to come online and take a look.

Laplace didn’t follow Angel online, instead staying where he was to guard.

Angel closed his eyes and directly entered the Ability Tree, starting to search for keywords through control of the Fairyland Authority.

The first search is: Shi Zhong.

Soon, part of the information started to feedback.

Judging by the intensity and output of information, it would take at least half a day to search entirely. Angel couldn’t possibly just wait for half a day here, so he simply glanced at the basic information and exited the search.

From basic information, it was clear that Shi Zhong is indeed a special Gifted People, and the Immortal Realm instance he is in is called: Mist Isle Dragon Tomb.

And Shi Zhong’s identity is the sole Tomb Guardian of the ”Mist Isle Dragon Tomb.”

After confirming the identity is accurate, Angel started searching for the second keyword: Mist Isle Dragon Tomb.

The first thing to determine is the location of Mist Isle Dragon Tomb.

Since the Mist Isle Dragon Tomb has been activated, searching is relatively easy, soon finding its location as well as its manifestation conditions.

As Angel guessed, the manifestation conditions of Mist Isle Dragon Tomb are twofold: The surface of the Crystal Origin of Dreams and Dragon Bloodline.

Baba Ragon moved from the Earth Cavern’s Rabbit Town to the surface Gathering Land, satisfying the first condition; and Baba Ragon himself is a Multi-headed Dragon, which counts as a dragon bloodline, satisfying the second condition.

At this point, Mist Isle Dragon Tomb could be considered semi-online.

And the true online opportunity for the Dragon Tomb is when Baba Ragon agrees to Shi Zhong, the Tomb Guardian, to enter the Dragon Tomb.

As for the location of Mist Isle Dragon Tomb, this is not fixed. It’s like the entrance of Silver Coral, it can move anytime.

However, the current entrance of Mist Isle Dragon Tomb is where Shi Zhong appeared before, which is... the surface Gathering Land.

It’s just that the entrance to Mist Isle Dragon Tomb is hidden by Shi Zhong, causing others not to see it.

After confirming this information, Angel closed the search... although he could search to find out the details of Mist Isle Dragon Tomb, it would probably take another one or two days.

For now, it can be temporarily set aside, and further information can be discussed after personally seeing the Dragon Tomb.

Angel’s thoughts exited the Ability Tree, then logged into the Crystal Origin of Dreams through Nightmare Illusion.

Location selection was near the Gathering Land.

As soon as Angel appeared, he saw a white figure jumping to his side.

The newcomer was the Rabbit Girl.

Following the Rabbit Girl were two relatively mini Cave Dragons. The three-meter Cave Dragon was Kukurus, which Angel recognized; the slightly shorter Cave Dragon, emitting a creamy white light all over, Angel was seeing for the first time.

”You are... the human who came here with Luigi just now?” Kukurus was a bit surprised. He already learned from the Rabbit Girl that she went offline to seek help.

According to Kukurus’s guess, the person she sought for help was probably Luigi or Glaipnir, but who knew the one who came wasn’t these two, but rather an inconspicuous human as it seemed to him.

Angel slightly bowed and saluted: ”That’s me.”

”She... didn’t she go to seek help?” Kukurus pointed to the Rabbit Girl, then stared at Angel with a distrusting questioning look.

The Rabbit Girl frowned, stepping forward from behind Angel: ”It’s the main body who let me come to seek help from Master Angel!”

The Rabbit Girl particularly added a respectful term after Angel’s name and mentioned the main body.

Angel understood well that this was the Rabbit Girl offering him backing.

Kukurus didn’t know the Rabbit Girl’s intent, but hearing her respect towards Angel, he exchanged a look with Luskania, both seeing the confusion in each other’s eyes.

Who is this human?

Why would they earn the attention of that great being?

Even their temporal bodies also need to address them as ’Master’?

This series of doubts couldn’t be voiced at the moment, so they were temporarily buried in their hearts. However, due to the Rabbit Girl’s words, Kukurus’s attitude towards Angel underwent a change.

He no longer questioned Angel nor made any comments about Angel’s actions. He and Luskania simply stood silently on the side, watching Angel’s moves.