by Zhuang Bifan
However, such experiences of the human Liches could not be applied to the Dracoliches at all. Although the Dracolich was constrained by the Death Energy and forever imprisoned in a dragon graveyard, during transformation, it'd inherit all the powers it'd possessed before death.
The strength of the Green Dragon King was already approaching the Sanctuary-realm; hence, the Dracolich of this graveyard would definitely be powerful too. A period of more than 1,300 years was neither long nor short. Even if the Lich only had the Legendary-realm strength of ordinary green dragons after transformation, it could still increase his strength by continuously absorbing the Death Energy in the dragon graveyard. Lin Li dared not imagine to what extent the Lich would've grown in the past 1,300 years.
Lin Li did not forget that the Dracolich he'd encountered back then had power of the Sanctuary-realm. Even if the Dracolich had yet to reach the Sanctuary-realm, it was probably not much worse than the Green Dragon King. Lin Li had just experienced the horror of the Green Dragon King back outside. The difference in power was truly despair-inducing.
However, Lin Li could not bear to leave just like that. Putting the dragon skeleton and the Legendary dragon crystals aside, the benefits to gain in this dragon graveyard went far beyond that. In particular, Lin Li also knew that there was an extremely precious herb that could only be found in places like dragon graveyards.
Now that the massive advantages and danger were juxtaposed with each other, Lin Li was stuck in a dilemma as to whether he should take the risk or not. It was a pity that after the transformation, the Dracolich would have lost its imprint. Perhaps even the projected avatar of the Dragon of Dream would not be able to do anything to it. More atrociously, the Dracolich was confined to the graveyard, thus leaving Lin Li with no chance to even invade by luring it away.
Lin Li frowned and thought about the countermeasures he could employ. He was unwilling to leave a treasure cave empty-handed because it was not like him to do so. Stroking his chin, Lin Li thought about the Dracolich he'd once encountered, and realized that although the Lich's strength had already reached the Sanctuary-realm, it had had its weaknesses too. He reckoned that its biggest weakness should've been the lack of detection abilities.
Generally speaking, a Dracolich was imprisoned in the graveyard with nothing much to entertain itself with. Hence, the only thing it could do was sleep. Slumber combined with the lack of acute senses would give Lin Li a possible chance of sneaking in and leaving quietly—as long as he was careful and refrained from making big movements.
After instructing his Undead servants to be careful, Lin Li walked into the dragon graveyard, making his footsteps as light as possible. He ignored the dragon skeletons as well as the Legendary dragon crystals. Instead, he searched carefully along the edge of the graveyard.
The graveyard was massive, but Lin Li fortunately also knew the exact environmental requirements for the growth of the herb. Although he could only search slowly, his efforts were not futile. It didn't take long for Lin Li to find a dragon's head that was half-buried in the ground near him. There was a shoot of grass that emitted a faint glow in the eye socket of the dragon's head.
Lin Li could not contain his joy when he saw the unassuming shoot of grass. It seemed that the experience he'd gained in the Endless World was very useful. He gently got through the dragon's eye socket, carefully dug out the small shoot of grass, and placed it inside his ring. He then finally heaved a sigh of relief.
That was the Dragon Soul Herb, which Lin Li valued more than the dragon skeletons and crystals. No one in Anril knew how useful the Dragon Soul Herb was; of course, it might well be that most of them had no idea that it even existed. However, Lin Li had memories from his time in the Endless World; hence, he knew that the grass that contained the condensed dragon's spirit and essence was more precious than the black lotus. Hence, it could be considered an absolute treasure.
In Lin Li's memory alone, there were at least five top-grade Guru-level potion formulas which required the Dragon Soul Herb. Of course, in Anril, the value of the Dragon Soul Herb would probably be maximized only in the hands of Lin Li.
Now that Lin Li had gained experience on how to infiltrate the graveyard safely, he did not waste too much time, though he still made sure to be very careful. In no time, he found several Dragon Soul Herbs, which was a huge gain for Lin Li. They might be useless in the hands of others, but when in Lin Li's hands, they might very likely be the key to his promotion to a Divine Smith.
Chapter 634 - Dracolich
Although the venture was very rewarding, Lin Li dared not explore the center of the graveyard. He knew that while there were higher-quality Dragon Soul Herbs there, there were probably also Dracoliches hibernating nearby. Although the death aura spread through the entire dragon graveyard, it was stronger closer to the epicenter. Since the Dracolich was on its own territory, it would obviously sleep wherever it was comfortable.
After obtaining the Dragon Soul Herb, he returned to the dragon graveyard and stared at the dragon skeletons and crystals in front of him. They made him begin to hesitate. He could be careful and gentle with picking herbs, and he reckoned that nothing should go wrong if he were to be careful despite the fact that the dragon skeletons and crystals were large. Most importantly, he could do his best to avoid the epicenter. Anyway, the skeletons and magical crystals around the area were at least of the Legendary level, and even if they were only level-20, they were still treasures.
After making up his mind, Lin Li got ready to continue scouring carefully. However, Ujfalusi began stuttering at this moment. "M-Master, I need your permission for something, and… and I also need your help."
Ujfalusi then waited for his reply. Actually, the last thing a servant should do was to trouble his master. However, he needed help for something that he could not manage on his own.
Lin Li glanced at the many dragon skeletons in the dragon graveyard, seemingly having understood Ujfalusi's intentions. The Humerus Wyrm was the most important component that decided the strength of a Lich—in addition to its own level. The reason why a Legendary-realm Lich was terrifying to others was that facing a Legendary Lich meant facing a Legendary Humerus Wyrm. Therefore, the real strength of a Lich should be derived from himself and the Humerus Wyrm that he had summoned. Ujfalusi probably wanted some skeletons of wyrms in order to strengthen his body.
"What's the matter? Do you want to change Crimson's body? Don't look at these skeletons anymore. Aren't there still those green dragons that Norfeller had s.u.c.k.e.d dry? They may not be alive anymore, but the bodies are still complete. At least, it could help increase your Crimson's abilities by at least half a level. It's much more durable and useful compared to these skeletons." Of course, it was not that Lin Li could not bear to lose the skeletons, but rather that he wanted to give Ujfalusi a better suggestion.
Lin Li had initially heeded Connoris' suggestion and used the corpse of the Crimson Dragon that he had obtained from the underground palace to reshape his Humerus Wyrm, which now was much stronger than before. Although it could not compare to an actual wyrm of the same level, there was definitely a huge difference.
The Humerus Wyrm summoned by Ujfalusi inherited a powerful dragon crystal which was much stronger than Lin Li's Humerus Wyrm's. If it were to be reshaped by the complete corpse of the wyrm, there would definitely be a great improvement in strength. An increase by half a level would be an understatement.
Ujfalusi had always been envious of Lin Li's Crimson Dragon, but wyrms were hard to find in this world. The Lich was naturally thrilled to hear Lin Li's promise. If the Humerus Wyrm had flesh, it would really deserve to be called a wyrm.
However, that was not what Ujfalusi wanted. After some hesitation, he said, "Master, I was referring to something else, it's about my own power."
Ujfalusi was now at the peak of level-20. To put it nicely, he was a step away from Level-21. However, he might never reach level-21 if he did not find a way to break through the bottleneck.
Although he managed to return to the Legendary-realm based on his current experience, it would be much harder to advance further.
Lin Li was aware of Ujfalusi's situation too. However, he did not research or have much knowledge about Necromagic; hence, he could not come up with a solution. Although he had had quite a few conversations with Sendros before, Ujfalusi had yet to encounter such a problem at that time. Besides, most of those conversations had consisted of him answering Sendros' questions about pharmaceutics and addressing some rumors about Anril.
When Ujfalusi returned to the Legendary-realm and hit the plateau, Lin Li did not have the time to go to the Darkness Shrine to look for Sendros. Upon hearing Ujfalusi saying that he finally had a solution, Lin Li immediately felt interested. Who wouldn't wish to have a strong subordinate? If he had to do everything himself, it would be pointless for him to have servants.
"Tell me, what's the matter?" Lin Li asked curiously.
"Here's the thing, Master. I know of a secret solution that can help me break through the bottleneck now and let me advance to level-21. However, I would need a powerful skeleton and soul." Ujfalusi then glanced at the dragon graveyard which contained dragon skeletons that were undoubtedly the best material.
It turned out he just wanted the skeleton of a wyrm. Lin Li smiled, and said, "That's easy. There are so many skeletons here. Pick one that you think is suitable, and you may keep it. However, be careful not to get too close to the center, even though the skeletons there may be better."
"Master, I can collect the dragon skeleton on my own, but I'll need your help with collecting the soul," Ujfalusi said with an awkward expression. If it were the soul of another powerful magical beast, it would be no problem for him to collect it with his own ability. However, the soul of a dragon was too powerful, and it would take him a long time even if he could collect it.
Lin Li now had the level-21 Vampire Norfeller as his servant. If Ujfalusi successfully advanced to level-21 too, in addition to the two wyrms that he and Ujfalusi could summon, he would have massively powerful henchmen. The Dark Blade could become the largest force in the Breezy Plains precisely because of their three Legendary leaders. With Lin Li's power, even the Dark Blade would have to be wary of him.
Hence, no matter what, Lin Li had no reason to turn down his request. What was the harm in having better servants? Not to mention, this servant of his had already signed the Soul Contract, and thus would not turn on Lin Li. Moreover, Lin Li did not intend to let go of the dragon souls in the dragon graveyard. Although he did not know Necromagic, there was more than one use to the dragon souls.
After asking how he could help Ujfalusi collect the dragon soul, Lin Li deliberately chose a location that was far away from the center, and then took out Holy Light, one of the pieces of the debris of the stars. Although Lin Li decided to use Holy Light, he did not want to stimulate all of its power, and just wanted to suppress it using his own power instead. Otherwise, the power of the Holy Light alone would be enough to overwhelm all the dragon souls in this graveyard, and it would then be very likely to wake up any sleeping Dracolich.
Lin Li held Holy Light in his hand and suppressed its strength, after which Holy Light emitted a light that was faint and not dazzling. However, under the light, the death aura around it seemed to begin twisting and moving subtly. Those were shadows—the dragon souls hidden in the death aura. Although they had already lost their sentience, they were still extremely afraid of Holy Light, hence their attempts to escape.
It was said that after the death of the ancient wyrms, all of their remaining spirits and consciousness would be condensed into dragon souls and enter a dragon graveyard hidden somewhere in endless time and space. However, the current dragons were not qualified to enter the real graveyard of ancient dragons. Moreover, due to genetic differences, all of the condensed dragon souls were obviously far inferior to those of the ancient wyrms. Their consciousness was faint too. In fact, it could be said to be a spiritual aggregate without much awareness.
Lin Li gently waved Holy Light to see the dragon souls that could not escape in time. They had lost their mobility, and could only struggle beneath the light. Although Lin Li could not maximize the power of Holy Light with his current abilities, he could manipulate it to his d.e.s.i.r.e. Hence, he was now just restraining the dragon souls without doing any damage to them.
After receiving Lin Li's instructions, Ujfalusi quickly took a step forward and rapidly chanted a spell while suppressing his fear of Holy Light. Finally, a bunch of dragon souls was dragged away from the envelope of Holy Light, flying towards Ujfalusi's magic staff. In the blink of an eye, they entered the grayish-white gemstone on the top of the magic staff.
Lin Li naturally wouldn't waste the remaining dragon souls in the beams of light after helping Ujfalusi collect some. He planned to collect the remaining ones for future use in case he needed them after creating Black Front Fortress.
However, at this moment, a massive pressure suddenly descended in the area outside the envelope of light created by the Holy Light. Before Lin Li could react, the beam burst like a bubble under the pressure.
Next, there was an extremely chilly gust of aura flying towards Lin Li's face, making his heart skip a beat. It was the aura of a curse; someone was clearly attacking him.
Lin Li quickly put Holy Light in front of his c.h.e.s.t to form a huge shield of light around him, blocking the attack. Lin Li then looked forward and saw that there was a twisted shadow rising slowly from the ground. There seemed to be a person who was shrouded in a magic robe composed of dense dark green fog. It was also emitting powerful magical aura. As the figure appeared, the death aura in the dragon graveyard instantly trembled vigorously, and a chilly aura filled the entire graveyard.
"Damn it, we've alarmed the Dracolich…"
Chapter 635 - Double Death Dragons
Lin Li's heart wrenched up. No one knew better than he did. Although the figure seemed to be a human mage, it was what the Dracolich looked like when it cast magic spells. When the Dracolich used the talents and abilities that it had when it was a wyrm, it would become a wyrm again. Although its body looked a bit illusory, both its aura and menace were the same as that of a real wyrm. They could also deal massive damage.
Lin Li was lamenting in his heart. He was clearly already in such an obscure corner. How did he end up alarming a Dracolich? Did Dracoliches in Anril like sleeping near the edges of the graveyard?
However, Lin Li soon found the answers to his questions. It was because on the other side of the graveyard, there was an extremely strong Undead aura that overwhelmed him instantly.
At this moment, Lin Li was no longer just lamenting—he was yelling miserably how unlucky he was. This is just a green dragons' graveyard. God knows why I'm so unlucky. Not only do I have to face a terrifying Dracolich, I also have to face two of them in one go.
Double Death Dragons! How could the Double Death Dragons appear here!?
Lin Li couldn't believe his eyes at all. The awakening of the Dracolich had taken him by surprise, but he had never imagined that there would be two in the low-level green dragons' graveyard. I'm so far away from the middle, yet I still alarmed the Liches. Could it be that these two things haven't been sleeping in the center at all, and were both sleeping at the edges?
It wasn't impossible to have more than two Dracoliches in one dragon graveyard, but the appearance of the Double Death Dragons did not mean that there were only two of them.
The conditions for the emergence of the Double Death Dragons were extremely harsh, and their appearance was even said to be possible only in theory because the Double Death Dragons had to be twins, which was very rare for dragons with their extremely low reproduction ability. Next, the twin dragons had to rest in the dragon graveyard at the same time, and there could be no difference in the time of their deaths.
Besides, after those conditions had been satisfied, all local conditions had to be the same when the twin dragons qualified to become Dracol
iches. However, even identical twins would grow up to be different from each other due to some external factors that they were exposed to during adolescence. Once there was a single difference, two Dracoliches would be formed, and not the special Double Death Dragons.
If this were to happen to humans, perhaps it wouldn't be too surprising, since the human population was so vast. However, wyrms had a low reproductive ability even though they had many descendants1. Hence, it was almost impossible for there to be twin dragons that'd then become Double Death Dragons, even if it were arranged by deities.
Hence, even though Lin Li had experienced so many things in the Endless World, the Double Death Dragons were still a myth to him. Compared to ordinary Dracoliches, the Double Death Dragons enjoyed a tacit chemistry that could not be developed with mere practice.
The Double Death Dragons could cast spells seamlessly—once one of them was interrupted, the other would finish. They could also split up and disintegrate half a portion of a powerful spell each. Together, they would be able to destroy spells stronger than themselves. They were two individuals, but also a whole at the same time. That was what made them terrifying and difficult to deal with.
Lin Li could clearly sense that the two Dracoliches were definitely the legendary Double Death Dragons. Their auras were identical, and they were so similar that Lin Li almost thought that he was hallucinating because he could not differentiate between them.
The only thing that made Lin Li feel a little comforted was that the power of the Double Death Dragons was not as terrifying as that of the Dracolich that he had encountered in the Endless World—they seemed to be only level-22. However, that did not mean that they were easy to deal with. Back in Roland City, he'd battled Vidas who was also level-22, yet the latter managed to drive him to despair. Moreover, the power of the level-22 Double Death Dragons was definitely beyond level-22.
