Polikance did not understand Li Xi’s bizarre actions. He thought Li Xi had lost interest in rescuing them. He hesitated, stammering for a long time without uttering a word.
The shadow clone, with a grim expression, thought, *You’re the young master, and I’m a beggar girl. No one would be happy about this.* “Let’s go. Tell me when we’re close; they’ll be back by then.”
“Yes, sir.”
…
Another short period passed on the bed. Li Xi’s furthest excursion was from one end of the bed to the other, and from the bed to the floor.
Feeling Avril’s warmth, Li Xi asked with his eyes closed, “You’ve absorbed so much divine power. What’s your strength like now? Level seven, eight, or nine?”
Avril, resting on Li Xi’s chest, rolled her eyes at him. “Still seven or eight? Even though I absorbed so much divine power, unlocking memories took a lot. Then I had to save a certain dying little man. My current strength is only a little bit stronger than Sister Aisi’s. To you, I’m still a weakling.”
“But…”
“But what?”
“But even though my power isn’t strong, there seems to be some fundamental attribute. In the past, no matter what happened, I could turn disaster into fortune and be loved by everyone. It must have been influenced by that.”
“That means you’re a lucky charm.”
“Then why were you avoiding me at the very beginning?” Avril punched Li Xi’s chest. The force was not even enough to tickle him.
This was a topic Li Xi wanted to avoid. Back then, everyone who saw Avril would have fallen over themselves. In his right mind, he would have wanted to stay as far away as possible from such a strange scene. Of course, if it weren’t for the past, there would be no present.
As for now…
“The dwarves have reached their destination. We should go.”
When faced with unexplainable questions, changing the subject was always a man’s best option.
Inside a low volcano, orange lava gurgled, spitting bubbles. When it broke, it released hundreds of degrees of heat, scorching the air and distorting the sunlight, creating a wavy visual effect.
A black dragon, nearly twenty-five meters long, had half its body submerged in the lava. Its huge dragon eyes were slightly closed, as if enjoying the afternoon sun. It occasionally used its tail to flick away lava that splashed onto it.
At the crater, Polikance and his group were reporting the results of the past few days to the black dragon Amandla. “My lord, two powerful individuals were fighting there. By the time we arrived, they had vanished. We searched for a long time and only found a piece of torn flesh.”
Polikance handed a thumb-sized piece of torn flesh to the crater. The black dragon Amandla’s two nostrils, large enough to be passages, sniffed lightly. From the torn flesh, it detected a strong energy aura. Such pure energy was hundreds and thousands of times greater than its own.
Since reaching adulthood, her strength had been that of a genuine level six powerhouse. Other races would need at least level seven to defeat her. Yet, from this piece of torn flesh, she felt a sense of terror. Such a powerful being was beyond her ability to fight; even her parents, who roamed the abyss, were far inferior.
Amandla understood. She slowly buried her body deeper into the lava and then cautiously commanded, “All your work for these few days is suspended. Do not move around, do not make any noise. You will even have to shit in your pants. Anyone who defies my will will have to take a day-long bath in the lava.”
Polikance knew that the black dragon Amandla was scared and had chosen to be a turtle in its shell. He wondered if the words spoken by the other lord’s clone before disappearing were correct. To be safe, Polikance agreed calmly, promising to be as quiet as the dead, and then returned to the mine below the mountain.
Here, over a hundred of his kin were working overtime, transporting the yellow sulfur ore dug from the mine and pouring it into the crater. The sulfur content could accelerate the black dragon Amandla’s strength improvement. The daily improvement was almost negligible, but the accumulation of time had allowed Amandla to mature earlier than her siblings. Of course, this was built upon the countless corpses of dwarves.
As soon as Polikance entered the mine, he ordered the clan members to stop their work. A strong young dwarf with three braids tied to his beard walked over.
“How did it go this time? Any accidents?”
Polikance, unable to contain his excitement, gathered all his kin and whispered, “Clan leader, we encountered two humans from the surface this time. They are willing to help us deal with the black dragon.”
“Is there such good fortune? Aren’t they con artists?”
“The black dragon Amandla is so powerful. If they aren’t peak experts, they won’t be her match.”
The clan leader, with three braids woven into his beard, asked, “What conditions did they propose to help us deal with the black dragon?”
Polikance and the others exchanged glances. No one answered. Finally, Polikance said with guilt, “I promised them one hundred years. If they help us deal with the black dragon Amandla and take us to the surface, our entire clan will acknowledge them as masters and serve them for one hundred years.”
As soon as this was said, other clan members immediately objected.
“We dwarves will never be slaves, let alone for a hundred years. I absolutely refuse.”
“Polikance, you are a disgrace to the dwarves. You are a shame to our Copperbeard tribe.”
“Do you live up to the expectations of your kin and ancestors? Dwarven god above, please bestow your divine punishment upon this person who has betrayed the dwarves!”
Polikance wanted to speak in his defense, but the enraged clan members surrounded him, their spitting saliva almost drowning him.
“Quiet down. I believe Polikance must have his reasons for doing this.” The clan leader finally stepped forward. Polikance held a significant position within the clan, as evident from his rare two-braid beard.
Such a dwarf would not readily agree to such harsh conditions without reason. It was the clan leader who restrained the agitated clan members, otherwise, Polikance would have been torn to shreds by the incensed crowd.
Polikance looked gratefully at the clan leader, feeling somewhat wronged. “You don’t know who we encountered. They killed an eighth-level expert and hung the expert’s corpse on the ground to display their might. Their oppressive aura was unparalleled. If we don’t offer conditions that move them, such powerful beings won’t even spare us a glance.”
“Also, you say dwarves will never be slaves. Then what are we now? Workers? Tenants? Or partners?”
Wherever Polikance directed his questioning gaze, clan members lowered their heads with guilt. They spoke more forcefully than anyone, but in reality, weren’t they slaves to the black dragon, slaves who had endured for three hundred years?
If these two humans could indeed kill the black dragon as Polikance claimed and rescue them, it would merely be a change of masters. The only difference would be whether this master would drive them to exhaustion day and night like the black dragon Amandla, until they dropped dead.
Everyone knew the situation. The clan leader said, “When will they make their move?”
“According to them, within the time of one hourglass.”
“Alright, we will act as if nothing has happened now. We will see what happens after they make their move.” Although the clan members were young, they were elites cultivated with great effort over generations. Compared to other clan members, he was more rational and foresighted.
After all, the promises Polikance had made earlier were verbal, and they were not made by him, the clan leader. If things went awry, he could easily shift the blame, saying it was Polikance’s personal decision to go back on his word. This was not cold-bloodedness; for the sake of the greater good and the tribe, it was sometimes necessary to sacrifice a few to preserve the many.
Just as the dwarves unified their thoughts, a whistling sound came from outside. A dwarf ran in in a panic to report, “Outside, a man and a woman are flying towards the crater.” Sudan Novel Network.
“It’s them,” Polikance said with a relieved smile.
“Let’s go, we’ll go out and see together.”
With a rush, nearly two hundred dwarves ran to the cave entrance. They were still some distance from the crater and could not hear what Li Xi and the others were saying. Due to the large amount of lava, it was brighter here than elsewhere, almost reaching the level of a cloudy day on the surface. With the red lenses, the dwarves could see the situation at the crater clearly.
Seeing that Li Xi and Avril did not attack immediately but were conversing with the black dragon, all the dwarves’ hearts tensed. This feeling of their entire clan’s fate resting in someone else’s hands was humiliating. The lament of the weak went unheard.
At Li Xi’s location, he and Avril arrived at the crater. According to Polikance, Amandla lived here. However, there was no sign of the black dragon inside the volcano now. They could only sense a strong life force beating at the bottom of the volcano.
Clearly, it was feigning death. Knowing that unwelcome guests had arrived, it pretended to be deaf and mute in the lava, showing no intention of resisting the intruders.
When Li Xi and Avril arrived, Amandla felt a tremor of fear. This feeling made her bury herself even deeper. If she could have gone any deeper, she would have endured the high temperature below. Amandla was willing to sink into the earth’s core.
Amandla silently prayed to all the gods, hoping these unwelcome guests would not find her and would quickly take something and leave. Unfortunately, her prayers were likely rejected by the gods; her wish failed.
Then, she heard a man’s voice from outside, so loud it pierced through the lava, “Wife, have you seen this black dragon? I heard dragon meat is very nourishing. You’ve been tired these past few days; I’ll cook you a pot of dragon bone soup to replenish your energy!”
Then came a gentle voice, but to Amandla’s ears, it sounded like vipers and scorpions. “Husband, you’ve worked hard these past few days too. I heard there’s a saying in the Eastern world, ‘you are what you eat.’ A black dragon’s kidneys should be extremely nourishing. Let’s take one or two today. I guarantee you won’t be able to leave the room for ten days after eating them.”
Man: “Then I’ll make you a hot pot with dragon brains. I guarantee you’ll find it incredibly flavorful and unforgettable, even better than your cooking.”
Woman: “Such good food, we must invite Sister Aisi too. The three of us can enjoy it together.”
Man: “Alright.”
Woman: “I heard dragon wings are also very good, full of toughness.”
Man: “You’ve had them before. The blue dragon wings I brought back last time were roasted by you.”
Woman: “Really? Husband, you’re amazing.”
“This cruel, perverted couple.”
For some reason, tears welled up in Amandla’s eyes. These were clearly repeat offenders, and they had come for her today. Didn’t she hear them say they had already eaten a blue dragon?
‘Dragon god above, has your radiance no longer favored me today?’
Woman: “But husband, he’s hiding underground like a mole. How do we catch him?”
Man: “Watch me.”
“Earth Style: Earth-Shattering Dig!”