Chapter 194: Advancement of the Dragon Bloodline
The Star Alliance had established pathways to Long Lin in every City State. The numerous Spatial Channels connected the vast territories of the Star Alliance, allowing for exceptionally swift transportation of supplies and mobilization of troops.
On the same day the battle ended, the corpse of the Spiderfied Elf was delivered to Su Nan's laboratory. After some effort, Su Nan successfully extracted Divine Energy from the corpse.
"Eight standard units of Divine Energy! That’s much more than what I got from the Death Knell Striker and the Multi-Winged Monster," he remarked, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. After all, it was a God-Favored Creature, and the amount of Divine Energy within its body far exceeded that of an ordinary Divine Being. The only drawback was that this was a one-time extraction, unlike the Death Knell Striker and Multi-Winged Monster, from which he could continuously extract more.
It had its advantages and disadvantages. Overcoming his initial joy, Su Nan immediately synthesized the Divine Energy, purifying it of any faith contamination before absorbing it. After digesting the Divine Energy, he checked his panel and noted that his Spirit condensation had increased by 0.66%.
"Not bad; that's roughly equivalent to a little over two years of cultivation," he mused, a slight smile touching his lips. If every Spiderfied Elf could yield similar gains, then his rate of Spirit condensation improvement would undoubtedly accelerate.
"It seems I can’t take down Spider City so quickly," he thought. Even before learning about the Spiderfied Elf, Su Nan had vaguely contemplated the notion of 'sustainable development.' Now that it had been confirmed that the Spiderfied Elf significantly improved his Spirit condensation, he could put this idea into action.
Since the Spider God Queen was sending him supplies, it would be unwise to refuse them. He might as well treat Spider City as a treasure trove continuously producing Divine Energy, conducting ongoing harvesting.
Upon returning to his study, Su Nan immediately summoned Karolina.
"Send out the order: put pressure on the Dark Elves and squeeze out as much of their war potential as possible, but do not take down Spider City." He paused for a moment before adding, "Also, if you encounter any Spiderfied Elves, be sure to leave the entire corpse intact and send it to the laboratory immediately."
“Applying pressure without actually conquering Spider City; why is that?”
It was only after he heard the next sentence that the intelligent Sphinx noble finally understood, a hint of pity blooming in his heart for Spider City. It was being treated merely as a resource by its master.
“Yes, Master,” Karolina replied respectfully.
“Red Widow?” Su Nan inquired next.
“The First Legion's front has already advanced to the border of the Northwest Region. Lord Cole has requested logistical support, and Red Widow is currently coordinating rear operations there,” Karolina informed him.
Following its expansion, the Star Alliance now possesses two Medium Golem Legions: the First Legion led by Cole and the Second Legion commanded by Ethan, alongside Xie Man and A'Tier respectively. The First Legion is advancing toward the Northwest Region, while the Second Legion is heading toward Spider City.
The First Legion has mostly cleared out the indigenous forces along the border of the Southeast and Northwest Regions, officially moving the battlefield into the Northwest Region. In other words, the entire Underworld Southeast Region, with the exception of Spider City, has fallen under the control of the Star Alliance.
For millennia, the Underworld had never experienced such overwhelming power. It was said that the City-State in the Northwest Region appeared to have united, preparing to resist the Star Alliance.
“What is the situation in the Northwest Region?” Su Nan asked.
Carreiro replied respectfully, “Most of the City-States in the Northwest Region have united to form an alliance, naming it the Falling Star Alliance.”
Falling Star Alliance? Su Nan’s expression shifted to one of curiosity, but he quickly regained his composure. After a moment of thought, he said, “For now, let's concentrate our war efforts on the Northwest Region. We can take our time with Spider City.”
Since it was decided not to conquer Spider City at the moment, there was no need to station too many troops there. The focus could shift to the Northwest Region to deal with the so-called Falling Star Alliance first.
“Yes, Master.”
Karolina acknowledged the order and withdrew.
Xie Man and A'Tier swiftly received Su Nan's directives.
The two exchanged bewildered glances, confusion etched on their faces as they read the words on the parchment.
“Is this what it means to besiege without attacking?” A'Tier asked, bewilderment clear in his expression. “Why would we do that?”
Xie Man, seemingly deep in thought, murmured, "This must be related to the Spiderfied Elf. Perhaps the Spiderfied Elf is of great importance to the teacher, and he hopes to acquire as many corpses of the Spiderfied Elf as possible."
"But wouldn't it be more effective to conquer Spider City and eliminate all the Spiderfied Elf directly?" A'Tier asked.
The two of them were unclear about the birth process of the Spiderfied Elf, so they didn’t fully understand the implications of this order.
Fortunately, they didn't need to grasp every detail.
"Since this is the teacher's command, we simply need to follow it."
Xie Man retrieved a military map and spread it out on the table.
This map depicted the Southeast Region of the Underworld.
The Star Alliance had invested considerable manpower and resources to create such a detailed and comprehensive military map of this area.
During the Star Alliance's expansion efforts, this map had proven to be invaluable.
The map used colors to differentiate between two areas, illustrating the territories of the Star Alliance and the Dark Elf, respectively.
In comparison to the vast expanse of the Star Alliance, the territory of the Dark Elf occupied only a small corner.
Xie Man pointed and drew a circle around the outer reaches of the Dark Elf territory, declaring, "Although we cannot conquer Spider City outright, we can first take the City States on their periphery. This will alleviate some of the pressure we face and heighten the Dark Elf’s sense of crisis."
A'Tier recalled the part of the teacher's order that stated to "exploit the war potential of the Dark Elf," and nodded in agreement.
"Additionally, the teacher has requested we transfer some troops to support Cole's side."
"The City States we conquered before have mostly stabilized. Aside from the garrison troops, the rest can be redeployed. Let’s arrange for that segment of the army to provide support."
After a brief discussion, Xie Man and A'Tier quickly finalized their plan for the next steps.
With each order given, the massive war machine began to operate swiftly, advancing towards the Dark Elf territory.
Year of the Starlight Calendar, 1272, Spring Dawn Moon (March).
After nearly twenty years of Bloodline Refinement, Hidden Dragon finally completed the last step, evolving into a true Dragon Bloodline.
In Dragon Forest Area 3, Su Nan watched as Hidden Dragon soared and circled in the sky, a joyous smile spreading across his face.
Bloodline
After its sublimation, Hidden Dragon's body swelled again, its length exceeding fifty meters, and it even sprouted a pair of enormous wings.
Coiled up before him, it resembled a small mountain. Its head had transformed completely into a giant dragon skull, with curved, sharp horns jutting from its crown, while its scales had taken on a fiery crimson hue.
However, unlike typical giant dragons, Hidden Dragon retained its lizard-like crawling habits, lacking the short forelimbs and long hind limbs, and did not stand upright like most giant dragons.
To Su Nan's delight, Hidden Dragon had awakened two new abilities.
The first was a unique ability exclusive to Magical Pets—Spell Sharing. As its life level increased, the Magical Pet gradually awakened various unique abilities. For instance, when it evolved from a dragon lizard bloodline to a subdragon bloodline, Hidden Dragon awakened the unique ability of shared vision.
The Spell Sharing ability allows the master to choose, within a certain distance, for any spell effects applied to themselves to also apply to the Magical Pet, until the spell duration ends or they are separated beyond a certain distance. For example, when Su Nan casts a Lightness Spell on himself, the effect is also simultaneously applied to Hidden Dragon. This ability could enhance the Magical Pet's combat power significantly, making it quite practical.
The second ability was the long-anticipated Flame Domination ability. From the moment Hidden Dragon awakened the ability to spew flames, Su Nan guessed that after evolving into a giant dragon, it would likely develop the Flame Domination ability. The evidence proved he was right.
With Invisibility, Reality Shift, and Flame Domination, Hidden Dragon now possessed three types of spell abilities, all of which were highly practical. Coupled with the giant dragon's high spell resistance, strong physical body, flight capability, Dragon's Might, and Dragon Breath, Hidden Dragon's combat strength was already on par with that of a formal wizard.
Just moments ago, Su Nan and Hidden Dragon had engaged in a spar. Without using Engraved Gemstones or Wizard Artifacts, Su Nan could only barely suppress Hidden Dragon. This was still in the context where Hidden Dragon had just broken through and had not fully adapted. Once it stabilized its realm completely, Su Nan estimated that he would only be able to match Hidden Dragon on an even playing field without using any trump cards.
"Dragon Bloodline is truly blessed by the heavens," Su Nan thought, sighing with admiration.
It was a pity that after evolving into a Giant Dragon, the bloodline concentration in Hidden Dragon could no longer be increased.
Like most Giant Dragons, it primarily relied on the slow passage of time to gradually increase its power.
Even sleeping enabled a Giant Dragon to enhance its strength, though the process was incredibly slow.
However, this gradual increase was compensated for by the long lifespan of a Giant Dragon.
Even a low-level Giant Dragon, like the Five-Colored Dragon, had a lifespan exceeding a thousand years.
The longer a Giant Dragon lived, the stronger it generally became; this was common knowledge throughout the Multiverse.
Hidden Dragon naturally inherited these advantages as well.
However, Su Nan did not intend to let Hidden Dragon rely solely on natural growth for power enhancement.
Although the bloodline concentration could no longer be increased, using Dragon Blood for biological modification would still facilitate the improvement of Hidden Dragon's strength.
He could fully synthesize Dragon Blood and then use it to bolster Hidden Dragon's power, accelerating its growth.
While synthesizing Dragon Blood required a significant amount of Subdragon Blood, this was precisely what Long Lin currently had in abundance.
Su Nan turned to look toward Zone 2.
The Dragon Forest Zone 2 modification and Sub-Dragon Species bloodline enhancement plan had already commenced and completed its initial groundwork.
Now, Zone 2 had been reactivated, housing nearly a thousand high-level Sub-Dragon Species.
Since they were not true Giant Dragons and the number of creatures was relatively small, Zone 2 did not consume a large portion of the energy cycle.
Its optimal energy cycle ratio was only 28.33%.
At present, Long Lin still had less than 10% of its energy overflowing, but Su Nan chose not to utilize this portion, as it might be needed for future experiments.
Every day, high-level Sub-Dragon Species were brought to the laboratory to undergo bloodline refinement surgery.
Although the increase wasn't substantial, the overall bloodline concentration of the Zone 2 Sub-Dragon Species tribe was steadily rising.
Su Nan estimated that in four or five hundred years, a true Giant Dragon might emerge from them.
In contrast to the slow progress of modification and evolution, another recent event had captured a significant amount of Su Nan's attention.
Just three days ago, the Prosperous Star Empire declared war on the neighboring Snow Lion Duchy, and their army crossed the border for a large-scale invasion.
This action immediately provoked strong reactions from neighboring countries.
Even though the Prosperous Star Empire had only attacked one Snow Lion Duchy, it was like kicking a hornet's nest, triggering a backlash from nearly all the nations in the Southeast Region.
These countries did not hesitate to unite in resistance against the Prosperous Star Empire.
Thus, a war erupted that engulfed the entire Southeast Region.
This conflict was on a larger scale than the previous war between the Azure Gold Empire and the Prosperous Star Empire, with almost every nation involved.
It was clear to everyone that the Prosperous Star Empire's goal was to dominate the entire Southeast Region.
If they allowed the Prosperous Star Empire to defeat them one by one, all countries would eventually be consumed.
No nation wanted to see that happen.
They understood the principle that “if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold.”
However, there was one exception among them.
At the same time as the war broke out, the Thorn Flower Principality declared its allegiance to the Prosperous Star Empire, becoming yet another duchy within the vast empire.
The actions of the Thorn Flower Principality took many by surprise, but Su Nan appeared deep in thought upon hearing the news.
"Is Rose manipulating things behind the scenes?"
Only Rose could have persuaded the Thorn Flower Principality to surrender.
Perhaps it was after joining the Star Alliance that she recognized the immense strength it possessed, prompting her to convince the Thorn Flower Royal Family to submit and preserve their bloodline.
Only those who were truly involved in the Star Alliance, held a certain status, and had access to deeper levels of information could comprehend the terrifying power and potential of this behemoth.
Su Nan had inquired about this with Rose, and her answer was that she had simply made the right choice.
"Indeed, it is the right choice."
Su Nan smiled slightly.
The Prosperous Star Empire already possessed enough power; it no longer needed to borrow the Golem Legion from the Star Alliance. It had the strength to sweep away all obstacles and unify the Southeast Region on its own.
From the moment the conflict erupted, the outcome of this war was already set in stone.
"Roar!"
A resounding dragon's roar interrupted Su Nan's thoughts.
Looking up, Hidden Dragon spread its wings and soared, swiftly gliding over the Academy.
The loud roar and the large shadow it cast quickly caught the attention of many students, and a series of exclamations echoed throughout the Academy.
After circling a few times in a flashy manner, the Hidden Dragon finally seemed satisfied. It left the airspace above the Academy and landed next to Su Nan, lifting its head and calling out a few times.
Su Nan chuckled, "I know you're happy, but take it easy. Otherwise, it will take a long time for you to recover."
As a creature of a high life level comparable to a Wizard, the Hidden Dragon was naturally affected by the environment of the Starlight Continent. Its strength had noticeably diminished, and it took a long time to recover after overexertion.
Even in Long Lin, where Energy Particles were relatively abundant, the effects were not completely alleviated—only somewhat better than outside.
The Hidden Dragon let out a low cry, signaling its understanding.
Su Nan smiled and said nothing more, teleporting back into the Dragon Bone Tower's Laboratory.
Calculating the time, the new Spiderfied Elf corpses should be arriving soon.
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