Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3207: Chapter 3208: Dragon-Eating Sunflower

Angel awoke from his dream.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Laplace not far away with a furrowed brow, seemingly pondering something.

Laplace was deeply engaged in her thoughts, completely absorbed in her mind. It wasn’t until a sound came from Angel’s side that her thoughts were interrupted, and she looked up.

Angel nodded to Laplace, preparing to discuss the situation in the Crystal Origin of Dreams. However, before he could speak, Laplace asked first, ”Mist Isle Dragon Tomb, is this the fairyland that Shi Zhong is in charge of?”

Angel instinctively nodded but only realized something was off after nodding: ”How do you know about the Mist Isle Dragon Tomb?”

Laplace knew about the ’Dragon Tomb,’ but she shouldn’t be aware of the full name of the fairyland instance ’Mist Isle Dragon Tomb.’

Laplace said calmly, ”Little Laplace just logged off and informed me.”

At this moment, Angel also realized that the only way Laplace could know the name Mist Isle Dragon Tomb was if the Rabbit Girl had logged off and activated mind synchronization.

What surprised him was that the Rabbit Girl logged off so quickly.

He had just opened his eyes, and Laplace had already received the shared intelligence from the Rabbit Girl.

Laplace: ”Are there many statues in that Mist Isle Dragon Tomb?”

”There are...” Angel paused and looked at Laplace in confusion, ”Do you... know something?”

The Rabbit Girl could indeed share information with Laplace, but the premise for sharing is that she knows the information. Angel had not told the Rabbit Girl about the existence of statues in the Mist Isle Dragon Tomb.

So Laplace suddenly mentioning statues made Angel feel very puzzled.

”I do know some clues.” After pondering for a moment, Laplace nodded lightly, ”In Shi Zhong’s memory, there is information about the Mist Isle Dragon Tomb.”

”Are you saying... there is also a Mist Isle Dragon Tomb in reality?”

So, the Mist Isle Dragon Tomb in the Crystal Origin of Dreams is created based on a real-life prototype?

Angel couldn’t help but frown; previous instances like the World Grinding Day and Silver Coral Island were mostly self-created by Fairy Land. But the Mist Isle Dragon Tomb actually has a prototype?

Could this be another special feature of the ”Wonderland of Dreams” authority following Uriel in reality?

Laplace: ”I don’t know if a Mist Isle Dragon Tomb exists in reality, but in Shi Zhong’s memory, there is indeed such a place; however, Shi Zhong has only heard of it and has never actually been there, even doubting its reality himself.”

Laplace’s words made Angel increasingly curious and perplexed.

According to Laplace, even if the Mist Isle Dragon Tomb exists in reality, could it be a very mysterious place?

”The information on the Mist Isle Dragon Tomb was some brief images Shi Zhong received from the depths of the Blood of Divine Wrath, inherited from his blood origin, or rather the curse...”

Laplace briefly explained what she knew.

In short, Shi Zhong’s internal curse: Lactavila, is not only the name of the power of corruption but also the true name of a mysterious creature.

And the statue of this mysterious creature stands in the Mist Isle Dragon Tomb in the Land of Divine Birth.

Once, before Shi Zhong’s father escaped from the Land of Divine Birth, he inadvertently ventured into the Mist Isle Dragon Tomb and encountered many mystical statues there.

One of those statues was activated by him.

And that statue was—Lactavila.

Because of activating this statue, Shi Zhong’s father became infected with the power of corruption. Even though he went through great hardships to escape the Land of Divine Birth, this curse fused with his bloodline.

As Shi Zhong fused with his bloodline, he naturally inherited Lactavila’s curse, allowing him to glimpse a corner of the Mist Isle Dragon Tomb.

”That’s roughly the situation. I don’t know if the Mundane Dream’s Mist Isle Dragon Tomb and the one in Shi Zhong’s memory are related, but if it’s truly connected to the Mist Isle Dragon Tomb in the Land of Divine Birth, perhaps it’s an instance even more dangerous than World Grinding Day...” Laplace said this while looking at Angel with a curious gaze.

Though she didn’t speak, her meaning was obvious, wanting to know what Angel saw in the Mist Isle Dragon Tomb at the Crystal Origin of Dreams.

Angel didn’t play coy and slightly organized his words, explaining what he saw in the Mist Isle Dragon Tomb.

”...Baba Ragon’s experience is roughly like this. I can’t tell if the instance is as dangerous as you predicted, but it’s certainly unique. Even during the statue trial, it appears to be conducted in the consciousness space. I wanted to watch the specific trial, but there was no way.”

Angel shrugged, ”But I’ve already talked to Kukurus. After it completes the statue trial, regardless of success or failure, it will log off and inform Luigi of the specifics.”

Laplace: ”No.”

Angel: ”No what?”

Laplace slightly frowned, ”The statues are incorrect. In Shi Zhong’s memory, the Mist Isle Dragon Tomb statues in the Land of Divine Birth were nearly deity-level statues. But you said the first statue trial Baba Ragon encountered was a juvenile pink stork dragon... that doesn’t meet the deity standard.”

Angel thought for a moment, then said, ”Perhaps the Mist Isle Dragon Tomb instance is just a borrowed name from Wonderland of Dreams authority, and the actual content is entirely unrelated... it’s been magically modified.”

Laplace: ”If it’s really just a borrowed name, then its danger level might not be high?”

Angel didn’t know how to respond, so he said, ”Let’s wait for news from Luigi’s side.”

Laplace nodded, understanding that only once Kukurus logs off will the specific situation be clear.

...

During the wait for Kukurus to log off, Angel and Laplace chatted about various other topics, such as the first statue Kukurus encountered in the Mist Isle Dragon Tomb: the Dragon-Eating Sunflower.

Previously, when Angel saw the statue was actually a ’sunflower,’ he felt very puzzled. How could such a common plant be among the statues?

If Angel hadn’t intercepted the fairyland prompt, he wouldn’t have known this sunflower was actually a type of Demon Plant called ”Dragon-Eating Sunflower.”

From its name, could it be a sunflower that feeds on dragons? If that’s the case, wouldn’t this Demon Plant be even more terrifying than the pink stork dragon?

Faced with Angel’s inquiry, Laplace pondered for a moment before saying, ”The Dragon-Eating Sunflower, I’ve seen this in the Sea of Void Mirror.”

”Your guess is correct; it’s indeed a Demon Plant that feeds on dragons. But it’s not as terrifying as imagined because it has a very significant drawback...”

The Dragon-Eating Sunflower, as of now, has only been seen in the Abyss by Laplace, so it is tentatively considered an exclusive species of the Abyss.

It is not a real Demon Plant, but rather a half-demon plant half-magical beast.

The reason it looks like a ”sunflower” is just a facade.

The true body of the Dragon-Eating Sunflower is divided into two halves. The upper half is a demon plant, appearing like a sunflower; the lower half has a jellyfish-like form, usually buried underground.

The Dragon-Eating Sunflower has almost no long-range combat capabilities, but in close-range combat, its multidimensional attributes are almost maxed out.

In fact, even magical creatures at the official wizard level have almost no ability to resist when faced with the jellyfish tentacles of the Dragon-Eating Sunflower emerging from the ground.

It is a king of close-range combat.

However, non-dragon species need not worry too much about the Dragon-Eating Sunflower, because even if they get close to it, as long as they don’t provoke it, it won’t bother them.

That’s because the Dragon-Eating Sunflower’s favorite food is indeed dragon kind.

The Dragon-Eating Sunflower contains a trace of dragon blood, which it uses to emit a pure bloodline aura, attracting dragon species close, and then launching a fierce attack.

However, this ”dragon fishing” method has its drawbacks; it is not very effective on actual Abyssal Dragons, and can even be said to have no effect. Abyssal Dragons are not attracted by the emitted bloodline aura, and along with that, the Abyssal Dragon’s bloodline is inherently a high-rank bloodline, which oppresses this disguised pureblood of the Dragon-Eating Sunflower, making its powers ineffective against Abyssal Dragons.

However, for draconic beasts, which are hybrids, the Dragon-Eating Sunflower is a perfect lure. The intelligence of draconic beasts is usually low, and they have almost no resistance to the allure of dragon blood.

In short, the Dragon-Eating Sunflower is indeed powerful but limited only to close-range combat, and it prefers catching draconic beasts, showing little interest in non-dragon species.

Therefore, in terms of threat level, the Dragon-Eating Sunflower is not considered high.

”So it seems, the Dragon-Eating Sunflower and the Pink Heron Dragon aren’t all that different?” Angel murmured softly.

Laplace nodded: ”In terms of energy level, the Pink Heron Dragon is actually a bit stronger. However, a newly born Pink Heron Dragon is not much different from the Dragon-Eating Sunflower.”

Angel: ”Baba Ragon is facing a statue of a young Pink Heron Dragon... The first statue trial in the instance of the Mist Isle Dragon Tomb appears to be of similar difficulty.”

Laplace: ”That should be the case, and both the Pink Heron Dragon and the Dragon-Eating Sunflower contain dragon blood in their systems. And the entry threshold of the Mist Isle Dragon Tomb limits it to dragon kind. I surmise all subsequent statues are related to dragons.”

Perhaps the statues in the early stages will be draconic beasts, dragon plants... Afterwards, who knows, real Abyssal Dragons might appear.

Angel also agreed, nodding: ”Relating to dragons, the rewards for clearing it probably won’t be weak. It’s just a pity that the threshold for the Mist Isle Dragon Tomb is too high...”

The reason for this sentiment is because Angel now has a rough understanding of the situation of the Crystal Origin of Dreams.

The two authorities of the Wilderness of Dreams, ’Energy Level Limitation’ and ’Energy Selection’, cannot be reproduced in the Crystal Origin of Dreams, which means that the energy system in the Crystal Origin of Dreams is difficult to replicate the conditions of the Wilderness of Dreams.

Currently, the only energy system manifested in the Crystal Origin of Dreams is the various items and abilities produced in the Fairyland Duplication.

Of course, the Crystal Origin of Dreams certainly has more than one energy system, just like the Wilderness of Dreams has the Mist of Sin system and the virtual magic system, but the new system cannot be found at present, so the Wonderland of Dreams can only serve as the sole system for now.

In the current system, strength is linked with duplication rewards.

The Mist Isle Dragon Tomb sounds quite grand, and since it’s related to dragons, the rewards are bound to be substantial. If it could be spread among the indigenous people, it might quickly enhance their strength and, in turn, positively impact overcoming other instances.

Unfortunately, the threshold for the Dragon Tomb is too high, and there are currently no indigenous people who meet the requirements for the Dragon Tomb instance.

After his musings, Angel temporarily set aside these convoluted thoughts and began discussing the special NPC ”Shi Zhong” with Laplace again.

So far, Shi Zhong seems more normal than the Mushroom Concubine. If possible, maybe they could try to interact with him?

But then the question arises: How to approach Shi Zhong?

They can’t enter the Dragon Tomb, and although Shi Zhong can leave the tomb to the outside, as the tomb guardian, he doesn’t seem to leave often, which greatly increases the difficulty of contacting him...

...

While Angel and Laplace were discussing, outside the barrier, Khuntela was also having a casual chat with Aor Shanzhuo.

Just as they were engaged in conversation, Aor Shanzhuo suddenly turned his head, looking towards the entrance of the great hall.

Khuntela followed Aor Shanzhuo’s gaze and saw that the barely open door was slowly being pushed open, and a fluffy, cotton candy-like ice-blue cloud floated in.

The cloud had distinct facial features, clearly a strange creature.

After seeing the cloud, Khuntela let out a soft snort and turned away without further attention; but Aor Shanzhuo’s eyes lit up with joy, staring intently at the cloud, and even subconsciously gulping as though swallowing saliva.

The ice-blue cloud also caught Angel’s attention.

Though they were within the barrier, it did not hinder them from seeing the outside situation.

”What is that thing?” Angel curiously pointed to the cloud with facial features and asked.

Laplace glanced at it and said blandly, ”A gaseous creature, skilled in ice abilities, not native to the Mirror Domain, mostly fished out of the Sea of Void Mirror by the Ancient Tooth Fairy.”

In simple terms, this cloud is somewhat similar to the Empty-hearted People; both are commodities of the Ancient Tooth Fairy.

Its presence here clearly means it was purchased by the Hundred-Dragon Divine Kingdom.

But what use does the Hundred-Dragon Divine Kingdom have for buying such gaseous creatures?

Angel’s curiosity soon found an answer.

For that ice-blue cloud drifted over to Aor Shanzhuo, then pulled out a bottle made of transparent ice crystal from within itself.

The bottle contained an unknown liquid, shimmering with an amber-like glow under the overhead light source.

After handing the bottle to Aor Shanzhuo, the cloud leisurely floated away.

Once the cloud disappeared, Aor Shanzhuo excitedly unscrewed the cap, from which wafts of white icy mist erupted, forming a thin fog in the air.

Aor Shanzhuo inhaled deeply, drawing the mist into his nasal passages.

In an instant, a rose blush spread across Aor Shanzhuo’s cheeks.

He opened his dreamy eyes, preparing to drink in one gulp, but suddenly thought of something and turned to Khuntela: ”Blue Noble Wine chilled for three days, would you like to try some?”