"Master, I wish to ask, how should my dragon-blooded identity evolve?" Li Xi looked at Demanga with longing, as this was his most pressing concern.
Initially, due to his ignorance and extenuating circumstances, the dragon blood he had absorbed was ordinary. However, after Demanga had strengthened him the last time, it had opened another path for Li Xi to improve his strength. This path did not rely on the system but depended entirely on himself, so Li Xi was naturally unwilling to let go of the opportunity to strengthen himself.
"This question is both simple and difficult. Only dragons of the fire element can help you evolve. By refining them and purifying their life essence to create the potion I gave you last time, you can achieve this. However, the process is quite complex."
"It's simple because as long as you have fire dragons, I can refine them for you for free. The complexity lies in the difficulty of hunting dragons, as you well know."
After speaking, Demanga looked at Li Xi with sympathy. In his opinion, it would be very difficult for Li Xi to hunt dragons to improve his strength, given their immense power. Even he had to sign a treaty. Many people in this world aspired to be dragon slayers, but apart from those sung about in legends, how many could truly succeed?
After hearing the requirements, Li Xi was not disheartened. As long as dragons existed in this world, his strength would eventually improve. He didn't believe that even with a mech, he couldn't hunt enough. At worst, it would just take a little longer. He was less than twenty years old now, with plenty of time.
"Thank you for your teachings, Master. I will remember them. When my strength is sufficient, I will certainly follow your example and strive to hunt dragons."
"Go for it, I believe in you." Demanga did not dampen Li Xi's enthusiasm but instead offered encouragement.
With the matter concluded, Demanga returned to his demiplane, and Li Xi prepared to depart.
However, just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered that dragons were inherently hoarders.
He formed hand seals, "Shadow Clone Jutsu."
"Bang, bang, bang."
Three shadow clones appeared. Li Xi immediately commanded them, "Search thoroughly and see where this dragon buried its treasure."
"Just watch, main body."
"Don't even spare a piece of dung."
The three shadow clones immediately searched the entire cave. With Li Xi, there were four of them. After searching for a long time, they finally unearthed a large chest from beneath where Stark was lying. No other items were found.
Li Xi impatiently opened it. To his surprise, it contained less than a hundred gold coins, a dozen silver coins, and even copper coins that Li Xi wouldn't bother with. Besides these, there were only a few low-level magic crystals.
"This is too poor. He's a dragon, after all. This is an insult to the title."
Li Xi disdainfully put the items into his spatial ring. The reason Stark was so poor was that he had only recently left his parents and was not yet an adult. Where would he get a treasure? The kobolds under him were the lowest of the low in the forest; they were lucky if they weren't eaten by other magical beasts, let alone dare to rob anyone. Disappointed, Li Xi came out of the cave and flew away directly, spreading his dragon wings.
Seeing Li Xi fly away, Kalifi, who had been hiding for a long time under a rock on a distant hillside, could no longer suppress his doubts. These past three days had felt like years. He had no idea what Li Xi and Stark had been doing inside. His greatest fear was that this dragon-blooded person named Li Xi would abduct Stark. If that happened, their nascent tribe would be ruined. The opportunity to have a dragon's protection was something that would never come again in his lifetime.
Kalifi, worried, quickly ran into the cave. Moments later, a heart-wrenching cry echoed from within. Stark was truly gone, and their tribe's hope was extinguished.
Li Xi naturally saw Kalifi's small actions but paid no mind to the kobold tribe's affairs. Not exterminating them himself was a sign of his mercy. Kobolds and goblins both belonged to the evil alignment. They never kindly offered help to lone humans. Instead, they would cook them in a large iron pot and eat them. Just as the Adventurers' Guild issued missions to clear out goblins, humans also issued missions annually to clear out nearby kobolds.
Flying in the air, Li Xi unhurriedly searched for his target. He had been in a hurry when he arrived and had no time to search. Now that he had time, he was determined to find the Mountain Giant Ape. When they parted last time, he had said that the next time they met, he would make the Mountain Giant Ape his spirit beast. How could a man go back on his word?
The territory of the blue dragon Stark was located deep within the Forest of Forgetfulness, more than two thousand kilometers from Cardo City. The number of magical beasts here was very high, and their strength was also considerable. However, for Li Xi's current strength, there were few who could even fight him to a draw.
Unfortunately, after searching for several days, he still could not find any trace of the Mountain Giant Ape. He had even searched all the places the Mountain Giant Ape frequented, but to no avail.
"Why isn't it here? This shouldn't be the case."
Li Xi was still bothered by their previous draw. Since he was on a mission here anyway, he couldn't miss this chance. He didn't know when he would be able to come here again.
He tried to think of a way to find the Mountain Giant Ape. Suddenly, he remembered that he was pursued by the Mountain Giant Ape last time due to his dragon blood. Now, he happened to have more than a dozen bottles of freshly brewed dragon blood.
Li Xi landed on a mountaintop and took out a bottle of dragon blood, pouring half of it onto the ground without hesitation, letting the scent of dragon blood spread. "Fishing, that's something I'm good at."
He recalled that his previous mission for the Agricultural Temple involved this very fishing technique. However, at that time, his opponents were just ordinary beasts and level one magical beasts, incomparable to the level six Mountain Giant Ape today.
Li Xi put away the remaining half bottle of dragon blood and found a good hiding spot nearby, waiting for the Mountain Giant Ape to come to him.
Unfortunately, it wasn't long after the dragon blood dripped onto the ground that the Mountain Giant Ape was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a level three Battleground Demon Fox appeared silently.
The Battleground Demon Fox, not much larger than a dog, cautiously surveyed its surroundings with its small, beady eyes, constantly peeking out from behind trees and rocks.
Despite its cute and docile appearance, the level three strength made it a top predator.
However, with just level three strength, Li Xi no longer paid it any mind. He formed hand seals, "Shadow Clone Jutsu."
"Bang."
A shadow clone appeared. Without a word, Li Xi threw a greatsword at it, "Go, store all the prey you catch for yourself, as your secret little treasury. I'll return it to you next time. Other shadow clones don't get this treatment."
The shadow clone didn't believe Li Xi's words. Believing him would be as likely as believing a male pig could give birth. Nevertheless, it obeyed and set off to complete the task assigned by the main body.
The shadow clone instantly appeared behind the Battleground Demon Fox. Before the demon fox could react, its head was severed by a sword.
He extracted the magic crystal and, fearing that the smell of blood from the corpse would interfere with the dragon blood's effectiveness, threw the Battleground Demon Fox's body far away.
With the shadow clone's intervention, no magical beast below level five stood a chance. Li Xi casually lay on a tree trunk, contemplating his future life.
As the scent of dragon blood spread further, more and more magical beasts were attracted. Among them, there were no level one or two magical beasts. Level one and two magical beasts would flee at the mere smell of dragon blood, let alone dare to approach. All that arrived were level three and above. There were no level five or above, only level three and four.
Dealing with such magical beasts was more than enough for the shadow clone.
After the shadow clone had been hunting for a while, it discovered that it wasn't the only one hunting magical beasts. The magical beasts were also not living in harmony with each other. Whenever they encountered each other, if neither surrendered, they would fight until one was defeated. Therefore, the shadow clone also became smart, only attacking solitary beasts and not those in pairs.
The battle continued until the middle of the night. Li Xi would occasionally fly high into the sky to observe if there were any signs of the Mountain Giant Ape. However, by the next morning, there was still no discovery.
"It seems this place isn't suitable. I should try another location."
Li Xi even collected the soil stained with dragon blood, intending to use it in the next location.
So, when Li Xi flew away, the magical beasts finally successfully occupied the mountain, only to see a large pit with not even a drop of blood. They roared in anger towards the sky, hating the person who stole the dragon blood.
Li Xi flew for a while and landed again over a hundred kilometers away, then continued to lure the Mountain Giant Ape into his trap.
After another day and night of battles, he had accumulated over thirty magic crystals, but still, there was no sign of the Mountain Giant Ape.
He had no choice but to keep changing locations.
Time slipped away as Li Xi frequently changed his location. Ten days later, Li Xi sat tiredly on a rock on a mountaintop, watching the shadow clone fight below. This was already the sixth location he had changed to, and he had consumed three bottles of dragon blood. According to Li Xi's estimation, each change of location would agitate magical beasts within a hundred-kilometer radius. No magical beast could resist the allure of dragon blood.
Now that he had changed six locations, it meant that magical beasts within an area of six hundred square kilometers could sense the dragon blood. This large area was equivalent to one-fifth of the Forest of Forgetfulness. Could he really be this unlucky, with the Mountain Giant Ape in the remaining four-fifths of the area?
Li Xi waited and waited, almost growing his eyebrows down to his feet, transforming into a long-browed hero. Finally, a familiar roar that shook the heavens and the earth echoed from the distance.
Li Xi maximized his vertical pupils and clearly saw the sturdy figure carving a path through the forest.
"Disperse."
The shadow clone, which was fighting magical beasts, disappeared, and all its strength returned to Li Xi.
"Swish."
Li Xi's dragon wings spread, and he excitedly grabbed his beheading saber and charged towards the Mountain Giant Ape.
Before signing a spirit beast contract, he had to defeat it.
The current Li Xi was no longer the Li Xi of before. His lightning-fast speed created violent tremors in the air. The Mountain Giant Ape heard the sound from afar, cautiously stopped, and stood up its twenty-meter-tall, powerful body. Seeing the familiar figure in the air, its anger immediately erupted.
Li Xi had not forgotten it, and it had not forgotten Li Xi either. It pounded its massive arms against its chest, and a deafening drumbeat resounded across the land. With just a roar directed at Li Xi, countless birds were scattered.
It reached out and pulled up two large trees, facing the rapidly approaching Li Xi defensively. Although it wished to tear Li Xi to shreds, Li Xi's powerful impression from last time forced it to be cautious.
As the distance between them closed, the powerful aura caused sensitive small animals to flee in all directions.
Li Xi's figure had not yet arrived, but his booming laughter echoed, "We truly are fated. You will belong to me today."
Li Xi's taunt was met with a tree-sized javelin hurled towards him.
Only a colossal monster like the Mountain Giant Ape could use trees as javelins. Unfortunately, this powerful attack, which could bring down dragons, was like a blind man lighting a lamp – a wasted effort when facing such a minuscule target as Li Xi.
Li Xi dodged three whistling trees in succession and, with overwhelming power, descended from the sky.
The Mountain Giant Ape clasped a thousand-year-old ancient tree with both hands and swung it at Li Xi like a baseball bat, just as it had last time. However, the current Li Xi was no longer the same person.
A thunderous blade light cleaved the ancient tree in two without hindrance, the blade light charging towards the Mountain Giant Ape like an unstoppable force.
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