"Not bad. Thanks."
Wang Yu happily accepted the vial of silver dragon blood. He could already sense the potent vitality and powerful magic coursing within the liquid.
"My sister's taken quite an interest in you," Sieg said with a wry smile. "I ntioned that you'd gained so unique power from my blood, and she gave a portion of her own blood to pass along to you.
"Blood is a renewable resource for us dragons," he continued. "And Aurelian's blood... well, it's undoubtedly far purer and stronger than mine. Hopefully, it'll be of use to you."
Sieg's tone might have been wryly self-deprecating, but he had co to terms with the state of his body long ago.
"I'll put it to the test. Better to convert potential into strength sooner rather than later."
He had no intention of saving the dragon blood for later. Sieg had been willing to sell his own scales; it was clear that such materials weren't considered particularly sacred to dragons. As long as they remained on good terms, Wang Yu figured he could ask for more blood if he needed it in the future.
Wang Yu cut into his increasingly resilient skin with his starsteel blade. Blood rose freely from the wound. He uncorked the vial and poured the glowing silver liquid onto the blood welling from his body.
Pain imdiately surged through his nerves. The silver dragon blood was not content to simply mingle with his blood—rather, it was devouring his reserves. Such was the nature of powerful creatures. Even a single drop of their blood retained an aggressive, vital force.
Wang Yu, already accustod to such biological domination, directed his own blood to swarm the foreign invader.
Despite the unique features of his blood, which was infused with fighting spirit and seed to contain a strange sentience, it was almost helpless against Aurelian's.
The silver dragon's blood rampaged through his veins. It wasn't just annihilating his own cells—it was even tearing through his blood vessels and rupturing his organs.
If not for his ability to consciously guide his blood, Wang Yu might already be suffering from massive internal bleeding.
His muscles and bones, too, were under siege. The dragon blood surged like a wild beast, rejecting all of Wang Yu's body. It tore through him as if trying to burst free.
He glanced down at his skin and saw a writhing bulge, an unsettling reminder of the battle waging within his body.
He vaguely sensed that it was ti to act. Though he couldn't fully suppress the dragonblood, it had at least blended into his bloodstream to so degree.
That ant he could now manipulate it with his bloodpool.
Wang Yu began the transfer imdiately. Aurelian's blood was engulfed by Wang Yu's bloodpool like a bubble of air in the sea.
The principle was simple: even ants could bite an elephant to death. Sheer volu could wear down strength. Though the dragon blood annihilated Wang Yu's own at a terrifying pace, there was barely any of it. Wang Yu's reservoir of blood, on the other hand, could endlessly replenish itself.
When the Banner of Triumph began to flicker, pulsing with renewed vitality, Wang Yu knew that the process was nearly over. His blood had begun to assimilate the silver dragon's essence and was starting to devour it completely.
And with that, the transformation began. Just as when he had previously absorbed vampire blood and Sieg's blood, his blood was now evolving. Its nature shifted in ways he couldn't quite define.
Eventually, the boiling reservoir stilled. The silver dragon's blood had been fully absorbed. The blood that flowed back into his body carried a new, unknown power.
"A strange change," Wang Yu murmured, rubbing his throat. "Feels odd... As if..."
"Professor," he said, turning to Sieg with a strange expression. "Before dragons use breath attacks, what do they feel? Is it, uh, sothing like... nausea?"
Sieg blinked. "Nausea? Not exactly. Dragonbreath isn't necessarily expelled through the mouth—it's just the release of condensed energy from within. It's convenient to exhale it, but that's not required."
He paused mid-sentence. "Wait. Are you saying...?"
Sieg had expected Aurelian's blood to strengthen Wang Yu's physique, but not in so dramatic a fashion.
"Yeah. I'm not entirely sure," Wang Yu replied. "But it feels like I could spit sothing out. Sothing... new."
Avia, Sieg, and Noelle stepped back, giving him space.
"Maybe I really can breathe sothing out now," Wang Yu mused aloud, clearing his throat. "Sothing like bloodfire... or maybe like the sulfur beams from Binding of Isaac?"
The first thing that ca to mind was an image from a ga he had once played on Earth.
He closed his eyes and let his instincts guide him. He drew on the altered blood in his reservoir and allowed it to circulate through his body. As it neared his heart, sothing within the blood ignited—an alchemical shift.
The liquid beca formless energy. The energy surged up his throat, gathered—and exploded outward.
A thunderous bellow burst from his mouth. Nothing visible erged—no flas nor beam—but the impact was imdiate.
A shockwave tore across the ground in a wide cone. Stones, dirt, and even dead trees were blasted back by invisible force. Roots were torn from the earth and debris hurled skyward.
The blast ended. Silence fell, followed by a rain of detritus from above. Everything before him had been scoured clean, as if a hurricane had just passed through the area.
"Not quite what I imagined..." Wang Yu muttered. "Less like dragonbreath, and more like a strange wind-type draconic incantation."
Half his reservoir's energy had been spent in that single blast. He could still manage another if needed, but...
"It's much more taxing than my usual blood-based abilities. I'll take a while to recover. As for its strength..."
"Can you do it again?" Sieg cut in eagerly. "I've never seen anything like that. Try it on —I want to gauge its force directly."
Sieg's eyes were gleaming with curiosity.
"Got it."
Wang Yu nodded and turned to Sieg, who had transford halfway into his dragon form and had taken on a defensive stance, his arms crossed before him.
Wang Yu activated the altered blood again. Power swelled, rushed up his chest and throat, and then burst forth once more.
Standing ten ters away, Sieg heard the roar and was struck by a tidal wave of pressure. A deafening boom filled his ears, and the impact sent him flying through the air like a ragdoll.
As the impact subsided, Sieg hit the ground, skidding across the surface for several ters before coming to a halt about twenty ters away. Aside from his disheveled clothes, he appeared entirely unhard.
"It doesn't have much destructive power," Sieg reported as he walked back, "but the sheer force is considerable. Without sothing anchoring you in place, you'll be sent flying for sure. And that was at a distance of ten ters. Any closer, and it might rupture eardrums or even shatter bones."
Wang Yu nodded thoughtfully. "Very useful against physical spells like fireballs or projectiles like arrows and bolts. And if I spring it mid-fight with a knight, it might just create an opening for a finishing blow."
After two trials, he had a good grasp of this newfound ability. It lacked raw destructive power, but the force alone was formidable. It was more than enough to shift the tide in close combat.
"Fascinating," Sieg mused, shaking his head. "A human manifesting dragonbreath, and in a form I've never seen before. Still, knowing you, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised anymore. So, ready to leave the undead plane?"
Wang Yu shrugged. "More or less. Though, since we're already here, we might as well gather a few souvenirs before heading back."
He exchanged a glance with Avia. The thought was mutual: there were plenty of rare resources in the undead plane useful for alchemy, magical research, and even profit. There was no sense in leaving empty-handed.
"Fair enough," Sieg agreed easily. With Wang Yu, a knight immune to planar suppression, and Avia's cache of alchemical gear, there was little on this plane that could pose a real threat. It would be a waste not to harvest what they could.
And so, for the next ten days or so, the undead plane beca a hunting ground.
A notorious Abomination, renowned for its brutality, was torn to pieces by a knight even more brutal than itself. Avia collected its bloodstained iron hooks and cleavers, rich with necromantic energy, for later study.
A massive corpse-blossom was dragged from the earth by a dragon who appeared out of nowhere, then reduced to ash by Noelle's searing flas from where she stood atop the beast's back. The crystals left behind in its scorched remains were pri alchemical materials.
Elsewhere, a half-rotted corpse-bear awoke from its slumber only to find its lair had been replaced by a massive crater—the result of Wang Yu and company excavating one of the undead plane's unique mineral veins.
By the ti their harvest was complete, the Seed of Eden was brimming with spectral minerals and undead components. At last, the group returned to the spot where they had first arrived, activated the planar beacon, and departed from the undead plane. They returned to Skyborne City laden with spoils.
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