Lin Lei's entire body convulsed with pain, his spine trembling from end to end. Spike after spike slowly emerged along his spine, piercing through the surface muscles and gradually growing outward.
This agony forced Lin Lei to let out low, guttural howls. Sweat poured from every part of his body, and as it did, black scales continuously surfaced across his flesh. Each scale was shaped remarkably like those of the Spike-backed Iron Armor Dragon — the only difference was that they were smaller.
Lin Lei clenched his teeth, low sounds escaping his throat as a small outlet for the searing pain, while simultaneously channeling the techniques of the Dragon Blood Secret Manual with overwhelming willpower.
Under the ceaseless erosion of the Dragon Blood Warrior's bloodline, the dragon crystal continued to shrink, while the bloodline devoured the astonishing dark energy contained within it. The speed of his body's transformation actually accelerated again — "Psssh~~" A blood-streaked tail covered in black scales slowly emerged from the base of Lin Lei's spine. It was like a steel whip.
"Why? Why is this happening?" Lin Lei felt the changes coursing through his body — especially the spikes on his back and forehead, and the black scales. All of it left him utterly stunned.
According to the records in the Dragon Blood Secret Manual, Dragon Blood Warriors possessed three forms — The third form was the Complete Dragon Transformation. In this form, the Dragon Blood Warrior's entire body would be covered in azure dragon scales, and a dragon horn would even appear on the forehead. This form represented the Dragon Blood Warrior's most powerful state. Yet Lin Lei's current appearance was nothing like what the Dragon Blood Secret Manual described.
Lin Lei's body was covered in black scales, not azure ones. The spikes on his back weren't supposed to be there either. Lin Lei couldn't help but think of the Spike-backed Iron Armor Dragon.
The second form was the Half-Dragon Transformation. Weaker in combat power than the third form, it involved a partial "dragonization" of the body.
The first form was the normal human shape. Under ordinary circumstances, Dragon Blood Warriors always remained in this form, which was also the weakest of the three.
According to the Dragon Blood Secret Manual, upon first mastering "Dragon Battle Qi," the body would uncontrollably enter the "third form." This first transformation was extremely painful, but it only happened once — subsequent changes would not cause pain.
Inside Lin Lei's body — A deep cyan, almost black liquid spread throughout his body. Every muscle and meridian continuously absorbed this energy, and Lin Lei's physical attributes were skyrocketing at a terrifying rate. This rapid advancement was equally agonizing.
"Damn those dragons," Lin Lei cursed inwardly. "It has to be you. Otherwise, the ancestors would have recorded the consequences and precautions of drinking live dragon blood in the books."
The more Lin Lei thought about it, the angrier he became.
The Dragon Blood Secret Manual of his family clearly contained a contradiction. The book stated that no one in the family had ever succeeded in using live dragon blood — so why did the manual passed down to descendants confidently claim that this method was certain to work? It was a glaring contradiction.
What his family had truly been like four or five thousand years ago, Lin Lei had no way of knowing!
"It must have been those dragons who pressured the ancestors into omitting the method for transformation through drinking live dragon blood." Lin Lei had no idea what to do now.
His "dragon transformation" was obviously different from the orthodox "dragon transformation" achieved through the step-by-step method described in the book.
"My willpower is too damn strong — just let me pass out already." Lin Lei actually prayed to lose consciousness, knowing that passing out would bring him relief.
"Ahh~~"
Lin Lei's body suddenly shuddered again. The ten fingers of both hands and all ten toes of his feet ached to the bone. The tip of every finger grew sharp, like a miniature version of dragon claws. The pain of claws forcibly sprouting nearly made Lin Lei lose all feeling.
A wave of dizziness surged into Lin Lei's head. His eyes closed, and his consciousness sank into complete sleep in an instant.
"Boom!"
Lin Lei's entire body crashed to the ground.
"He's passed out." Derinkoort stood beside Lin Lei, studying his current appearance, and clicked his tongue in amazement. "How remarkable. I never imagined Lin Lei's ancestor '
Derinkoort furrowed his brow and muttered to himself, "Come to think of it, it's strange. Besides the Dragon Blood Warriors, there are supposedly three other Ultimate Warriors. During my lifetime, none of these four Ultimate Warriors existed. Yet not long after my death, all four appeared simultaneously."
Even with Derinkoort's thousand-plus years of wisdom and experience, he could hardly fathom why such a thing would happen.
"Being able to kill the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor, Lin Lei's ancestor 'Baruch' was surely no weaker than myself — most likely stronger." Derinkoort knew full well the power of the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor. The Nine-Headed Serpent clan was a terrifying race, and every Serpent Emperor throughout history had been a peak Saint Realm expert.
Even he himself had no confidence in killing a Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor.
"That little Shadow Mouse is no ordinary creature either." Derinkoort turned to look at "
Derinkoort couldn't help but be astonished.
He even began to suspect...
"Could it be that this little Shadow Mouse isn't actually a Shadow Mouse, but a Stone Devourer Mouse?" Derinkoort wondered.
The two great rodent clans among magic beasts — the Stone Devourer Mouse and the Shadow Mouse. Stone Devourer Mice were far more numerous; the weakest were merely first-level magic beasts, while the strongest could reach the seventh or eighth level. Shadow Mice ranged from a minimum of third level to a maximum of seventh or eighth level.
Shadow Mice excelled in "speed and razor-sharp claws and fangs." Stone Devourer Mice excelled in "defense and razor-sharp claws and fangs."
"Stone Devourer Mice are small in size, yet their defense is the strongest of any magic beast at the same level. An eighth-level Stone Devourer Mouse's defense probably rivals that of a ninth-level Spike-backed Iron Armor Dragon!" Derinkoort understood all too well how terrifying the Stone Devourer Mouse could be.