Vol 2 Chapter 126: Dragon Eye Amplification Reinforcent
Inside the cavern, the two walked one after the other.
Lucas walked ahead, Sylutia followed behind, and both before and after them several undead creatures pieced together from white bones prowled, keeping watch and protecting them.
The miners from earlier had already fled, and now the place was especially quiet. Only the footsteps of the two and the bone creatures could be heard. Occasionally Sylutia would pick up the faint drip of water sowhere, likely seepage from the mountain into the cave.
"Sylutia, did you advance using the gardener manor secret thod?" The senior in front asked as they walked.
"Yes." There was little point in hiding it now.
"What about you, senior?" Sylutia asked back, curious.
"I chose the Dead Embers path of the Bone Stitcher progression," Lucas replied. "The advancent secret has so similarities to yours. It’s also about creating an environnt that can nurture undead creatures. Its na is 'Graveyard.'"
"'Graveyard' can house the undead I create and gradually repair and strengthen them. Besides that, it can also transform so corpses for better use," he explained as they walked.
These things weren’t exactly secrets; generally Transcendents paid little attention to the Bone Stitcher path. If Sylutia wanted to learn more, many libraries inside the Hidden Grove contained basic introductions.
"Do you know what’s most crucial when stepping from Third Tier into Fourth Tier?" It was rare to et a peer outside the Hidden Grove to talk to, so Lucas spoke more than usual.
"I don’t yet. I just advanced not long ago."
"You truly are new," Lucas said again, impressed by how quickly she had advanced.
"To step from Third Tier to Fourth Tier, you must continually refine the abilities you already possess until you fully master them and surpass the ordinary level."
"Generally, at Third Tier, raising an ability to Level Six is considered very good. But if you want to advance, you must push further, or even find alternative thods to elevate and refine that ability."
"For example, the White Bone Stitching I mastered at Second Tier was already raised to Lv.6 by Third Tier. At that point, pushing further becos especially difficult."
"Either I spend years of grinding and research—nearly a decade—gradually deepening my understanding until I break through to Lv.7."
"Or I follow suggestions within my sect and seek out rare dragon bones, transforming the ability into Dragon Bone Fusion, and rely on the Dragon Eye Aspect's powerful amplification to let the ability transcend."
"I see." Compared to a decade of hard work, the alternative was clearly much faster.
"Since you’re a gardener, your most crucial ability, the Dew Prayer thod, after reaching Third Tier you probably noticed it becos less effective. It still works on First and Second Tier plants, but for Third Tier plants it’s basically useless," Lucas warned.
"It does seem like that," Sylutia nodded.
Hearing the girl affirm this behind him, Lucas snorted a little proudly. Even with rapid advancent, this junior was still too green, lacking knowledge and experience.
"I know a way to elevate the Dew Prayer thod as well, again by utilizing the Dragon Eye Aspect’s amplification, converting Dew Prayer into Dragon Blood Irrigation."
"That ability, even at Fifth or Sixth Tier, is exceptionally powerful."
"Oh, there’s such a thod?" Sylutia blinked, a bit curious.
"Of course. Dragons are simply too powerful; many things from them are treasures."
Hearing that, Sylutia recalled the fad Dragon Hunt War. It was a major event of the Eighth Epoch—when the Silver Moon Dragon perished and the six law dragons all faded, dragons were at their weakest. Many organizations launched hunts on True Dragons.
Lucas’s words awakened Sylutia’s longing and desire for dragon remains. That way, when they later faced assaults from Anty forces, Sylutia might not flee so readily, and he could more easily get what he wanted.
What he painted for her wasn’t false—Dragon Blood Irrigation is indeed an extraordinarily powerful ability. But unfortunately, the dragon carcass in this cave had died who knew how long ago, and had even been picked over once before. Having any intact remains would be lucky; rare dragon blood suitable for converting and elevating an ability was unlikely to be found.
How true that was, however, only the girl behind him truly knew in her heart.
The two continued down the mine tunnel. The air grew turbid as the environnt shifted.
Walls that had been mostly dirt and stone now contained strange black rock, and the air faintly carried a singed sensation.
It wasn’t a sll per se, but a strange composite sensation across the senses, like the residue a blazing light leaves on the retina—after the light fades, a lingering visual afterimage remains.
"We should be getting close to that dragon's carcass," Lucas said, then slowed his pace, starting to observe the tunnel more frequently.
After continuing for dozens of ters, he stopped, produced a pale skull hidden in his sleeve, and then activated his ability.
Under Sylutia’s watchful eyes, a faint white mist drifted out of the skull. The mist, like modeling clay, moved under Lucas’s control and ford into vague humanoid shapes.
Before long, those humanoid specters spread out along the tunnel, scouting the environnt in all directions.
"Do you feel uncomfortable?" Lucas asked after finishing.
"A little, I think." The sensation was faint. Sylutia closed her eyes and tried to sense it.
"This is erosion left by a higher-tier Aspect. Just as the Distortion Aspect pollutes other beings, other Aspects at high tiers will also corrode and alter surrounding things."
"For example, places dragons inhabit are chronically tainted by the Dragon Eye Aspect and take on their aura. Special plants called dragon-breath grass can grow there. They carry a weak Dragon Eye Aspect and are often used by alchemists as a lower-tier substitute for dragon materials."
"I’ve heard of that, but my instructor said the strength of different Aspect erosion varies," Sylutia said.
"Yes. It’s generally accepted that Dragon Eye, Nightmare, and Dead Embers are the strongest erosive Aspects after Distortion. The weakest of the erosive Aspects is roughly Luminous Moon."
They exchanged what they had learned. Soon the scattered humanoid specters returned and reported the conditions of the tunnel branches to Lucas.
"Co this way." He seed to have discovered sothing, his expression becoming excited.
They moved forward again. Sylutia followed as they wound through the complex subterranean mine for nearly half an hour, finally arriving at a larger cavern.
Strange yellowed bones were embedded in several places on the inner walls, and around them lay so desiccated corpses. Judging by their condition, they seed to have been left within the past year; so still stank and hadn’t completely turned to white bone.
Sylutia covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve and scanned the surroundings.
The yellow bones embedded in soil and rubble held a faint Aspect force but were unusually violent in nature.
No doubt about it—this was Dragon Eye. Suddenly Sylutia felt a surge of clarity and even recalled distant mories.
She was a child again, rembering the girl she used to fight and play with. That girl had golden hair and occasionally an intense, strange pressure would radiate from her eyes.
Ilythia, the girl silently repeated the na in her mind, recalling her childhood playmate, the princess of the Sun Dynasty.
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