Starting with watering the World Tree for otherworldly survival

Page 321

Or, to be bolder, that young iron dragon has already been subdued by the girl!

"Look at her, she must be some kind of royal heiress. That legendary staff she's wielding alone is enough to buy the entire city!"

Upon closer inspection, Zhuang Daihua's slender and elegant figure, along with her dignified and graceful demeanor, certainly gave the impression that she was a daughter of a prominent family.

A white beret exuding girlish style, and a shawl covering her delicate body perfectly concealed the girl's full and shapely figure.

Only from the side can you see the true substance hidden beneath her shawl.

The elegantly cinched waist, paired with the long skirt, further accentuated her slender figure, making the young woman's overall silhouette even more graceful and captivating.

That slightly plain and simple long dress also exuded a unique girlish beauty in its understated elegance.

The slender, beautiful legs were slightly bound by a dagger pouch and matte black stockings, paired with stylish little leather boots.

She also gathered up her flowing, smooth long hair and tied it up in front of the calm river surface.

At the same time, a crossbow appeared out of thin air in Zhuang Daihua's hand. The enchanted steel balls for the crossbow, which she had obtained from the quest log, now had a purpose; the four steel balls, each with a knockback enchantment, flew past the tree branches!

"Hmph~ After dawdling for so long, I thought you were going to let these people off the hook."

Qin Lan leisurely wagged her tail, her forked tongue continuing to lick the fragrant roasted snake meat.

Looking into the bushes again, four adventurers had already been sent flying backward by steel balls enchanted with knockback.

"Who are you people? What are you trying to do by spying on me here?"

In front of the four adventurers, Zhuang Daihua loaded a piercing enchanted arrow into her crossbow. This immediately terrified the four inexperienced novices.

"No...Miss! Let's talk this out. We were just passing by...no offense intended!"

The four-person team offered their explanations in a flurry, while Zhuang Daihua raised the Staff of Molten Embers.

Fireball, and a very high-level one at that!

Four enormous fireballs appeared, like a collection of the concept of heat.

Fireball, as the most successful medium for magic, can be used all the way up to godhood.

Its spells of burning, exploding, and spreading are invincible on the battlefield.

Whenever Zhuang Daihua releases a fireball, an area within a radius of several meters will be reduced to ashes.

Seeing this, Qin He found it amusing. He sent a message through his magic communication terminal: "Miss Zhuang, don't worry. Whether you spare their lives or kill them, do whatever you believe is the right choice."

Since binding her power with Qin Lan, Zhuang Daihua has gained five senses far exceeding those of ordinary people. She had already heard every word of the conversation between the four-person team.

If Qin Lan hadn't met him, she might have been strangled in her sleep by these guys while she was in a deep slumber.

Then, what reason does Zhuang Daihua have to spare these people's lives for Qin Lan?

"Wait! You can't kill me, Dragon Slayer! I'm here on a commission from the Dragon Slayer family! They want to hunt down more dragons."

The monk revealed his buyer, hoping to use this backing to avert disaster.

Qin He was no stranger to the Longlu family.

Previously, Mana, the Snow Wolf Queen, and Luna, the Crystal Snow Bear, were protecting Farin in Death Canyon on the fifth floor. They were injured by the Dragon Slayer Mercenary Group.

Qin He, despite having led Yuehuang to wipe out the entire Dragon Slaughter mercenary group, still wouldn't let the matter of Luna being wounded by the ballista go unpunished.

He will personally destroy the Dragon Slayer family of the continent of Trahir.

However, before Qin He could even lead his troops to conquer, they had already extended their reach to the continent of Jotun...

Qin He was still pondering when he told Zhuang Daihua about the origins of the Dragon Slaughter Clan when the girl unleashed a terrifying fireball spell.

The four adventurers didn't even have time to cry out before they were reduced to ashes by the heatwave from the exploding fireball.

Chapter 387 Surrender

Zhuang Daihua immediately attacked, using a fireball spell to incinerate the four-person team on the spot. To ensure her victory, she even amplified the fireball spell to its maximum power using the Molten Embers Staff.

As a result, the adventurer team that came to capture Qin Lan was wiped out on the spot.

Although Qin He was surprised by Zhuang Daihua's actions, he did not consider them reckless or radical.

Firstly, this team already knows Qin Lan's true identity and plans to go back to get reinforcements. Zhuang Daihua doesn't have the leadership talent of Qin He, so it's hard to ensure that these people won't betray her for personal gain.

Secondly, these four guys are just novices. Even if you were to press them about the Dragon Slaughter Clan, you wouldn't get anything useful out of these low-level thugs.

Weak and of little use, the Dragon Slaughter family would only try to fool inexperienced adventurers like them with prices below market value and deliberately omitted information.

"Qin He...I..."

The acrid smell of burnt ash reminded Zhuang Daihua that she had just killed four lives with her own hands. This was the first time Zhuang Daihua had personally killed an enemy who was also human since she came to this world.

"Don't overthink it. You didn't hold back just now. That's good. If these people had escaped, the dragon hunters would probably have gotten wind of it."

Qin He had long wanted to eliminate the Dragon Slayer Clan. They were renowned in the human empire as dragon hunters and national heroes, known for their slaying of evil dragons.

But in reality, these people were secretly carrying out indiscriminate dragon hunting. Angelica Dragonslayer, whom Qin He had killed before, had hunted down many innocent young metal dragons.

The banner of fighting against the dragons and protecting humanity, Qin He intends to personally tear down and destroy during the war to attack Trashir.

The Dragonslayer family is located on the continent of Trahir. Those appearing on the continent of Jotun are definitely members of a branch family or sent abroad.

Although the Dragon Slayer Clan's power and influence on the continent of Jotun are not as great as those of Trashir, they are still not something Zhuang Daihua can contend with at present.

The safest course of action is to take Qin Lan away from the city where the Longlu family is lurking.

Folding up her gleaming metallic wings, Qin Lan went to bury the charred ashes.

“The Dragon Slayer Clan… those dragon hunters, I will wipe them all out one day. For now, we need to destroy the evidence of these small fry.”

Qin Lan understood that if the dragon hunters discovered them, it would be no laughing matter. She immediately used her wings to pile up the four people who had been burned to ashes, and then used her burrowing expertise to soften the ground.

With Qin Lan's cat-like digging motions, the soil quickly buried and absorbed the ashes. After some stirring, the giant radial scorch marks left by the fireball spell were completely filled in.

Some silver coins were also melted by the fireball spell, turning into solidified silver blocks in the ashes.

"Don't look so sullen~ Let's hurry on our way. These people must be from the city, so let's go and see what the Dragon Slaughter family is up to."

If the Dragon Slaughter Clan were truly spending a fortune to hunt young dragons in this area, Qin Lan would have long since become their prey.

It's likely that the dragon hunters haven't been here long. At least, they haven't been here much longer than the time it took for the leading elven captain to find the dragon scale.

To be optimistic, it's likely that the Dragon Slayers simply lack the capacity to organize a large-scale search. Otherwise, discovering dragon scales wouldn't be something a few inexperienced adventurers would be expected to do.

"Well, let's go."

After resolving the "burial" issue for the four adventurers, Qin Lan transformed into a little girl without any dragon-like characteristics.

With her short hair that gleamed like white iron, unless one used magic to investigate, no one could possibly recognize Qin Lan's true form.

To avoid suspicion, she even altered her clothes into a maid outfit. The Iron Dragon Lolita successfully impersonated Zhuang Daihua's maid and bodyguard, while Zhuang Daihua played the role of the young lady who appeared in public.

If it weren't for some hotheads, given Zhuang Daihua's quiet and elegant aristocratic demeanor, very few people would be willing to provoke her.

"Actually, I might not be the only dragon here. If we encounter any other young dragons, why don't we capture them and use them as minions?"

Qinlan was hatched from a dragon egg that fell to the ground where she was born and was not taken away by the adult iron dragon.

Theoretically, the changeable climate here could also make it a birthplace for other young dragons.

Zhuang Daihua had just noticed that her staff had immediately attracted the attention of the four-person team. After all, the Molten Embers staff was a legendary staff, and such a priceless treasure needed to be disguised.

Fortunately, the Staff of Molten Embers possessed a disguise function. Under Zhuang Daihua's mental control, it quickly transformed into a luxurious noble staff that lacked the aura of a legendary staff.

After traversing the jungle and crossing the valley, they will reach the nearest city.

Shallowwater City is one of the countless border cities on the continent of Jotun. That group of adventurers and the Dragonslayer family must have set off from here, searching for traces of dragons.

"This is it, Shallow Water Canyon."

When Qin Lan first ventured out of the jungle, she was just as cautious as Zhuang Daihua.

This type of canyon terrain makes it quite easy for small settlements of barbarians or other humanoid creatures to ambush them.

……

In the distance, at the top of the canyon.

"Something's up! Report this to the chief immediately."

Gazing at the scene within the canyon, a gnoll turned to report.

These robust and powerful demi-humans all have heads that are a mixture of hyena and jackal features.

Aside from kobolds and lizardmen, gnolls are the dragons' most frequently chosen subjects.

These creatures possess an innate instinct to admire the strong. If a red dragon were to stand before them, these jackal-men would likely immediately surrender with courtesy.

Some gnolls will even migrate their entire tribe with their families, just to be able to join the notorious dragon.

Compared to ordinary kobolds and lizardmen, jackals are stronger, fiercer, and more skilled in combat. They are also a species that reproduces very easily.

As the supreme god who controls life and death, Heraheim distributes different numbers of offspring to different races to increase their numbers.

For example, the Schnauzer rabbit, which is at the bottom of the food chain, will be released into a large number of offspring at once by Helaheim. A litter of newborn rabbits can easily contain a dozen or twenty offspring.

Similarly, gnolls can welcome seven or eight cubs at a time at their birthplace. This is just the number of cubs from a single mother; the young gnolls only need two or three years to learn to speak, stand, and even fight.

With this ability to survive, the gnolls can live by raiding. Unless humans wipe them out completely, gnoll clans can thrive again within a few decades.

Furthermore, gnolls also raise hyenas. The leader of a gnoll clan can feed the prey they kill to the hyenas through certain mysterious rituals.

Then, the hyena will gain demonic power and be transformed into an adult gnoll.

What the dragon needed were precisely these bloodthirsty, warlike, and resilient servants. Furthermore, the gnolls' plundering nature meant they could easily amass a considerable fortune for their master.

That's how it should be.

But this gnoll chieftain was no ordinary creature. Scales with a metallic gray sheen had sprouted from its neck!

That was a symbol of being transformed into a half-dragon and possessing dragon veins. The gnoll chieftain possessed the abilities of a half-dragon, and his size swelled to nearly three meters.

Beside the gnoll chieftain lay a young dragon with equally iron-gray scales.

"Report! Chieftain... A human adventurer has appeared outside the canyon. She appears to be a noblewoman from some aristocratic family. Should we...?"

True to the gnolls' usual practice, such matters wouldn't normally require reporting. At this point, they had already gathered and launched a coordinated attack.

Was that human woman special?

The gnoll chieftain's eyes lit up. If a noble lady from somewhere really fell into his hands, capturing her alive would surely bring him considerable benefits.

“She… I can’t describe her, Chieftain. But she is very likely a mage.”

The gnoll chieftain's eyes sharpened at the thought that the other party might be a spellcaster.

"Let's go and bring the monk back."

As soon as he finished speaking, the young dragon slowly crawled out of the shadows.

"Yes."

The current gnoll chieftain, Yeno, left the canyon alone for a period of time after personally defeating the previous chieftain.

The gnolls who were dissatisfied with the new chieftain were all filled with admiration after seeing the monster Yeno brought back.

—That was an iron dragon, a powerful dragon species that was said to be no less powerful than the red dragon.

Yet, this very young dragon was tamed by Yeno. A feat almost impossible for any gnoll, Yeno successfully tamed an iron dragon.

Moreover, it was bathed in dragon blood and possessed the blessing of a half-dragon bloodline.

"You guys get ready first, I'll grab that human at the crucial moment."

……

Qin He felt something was off about this valley and instructed Zhuang Daihua to carefully observe the surroundings.

As some homemade smoke bombs were thrown down from above the canyon, the jackals gathered around.

"Hmph... little dog, your way of greeting people isn't very polite!"

Qin Lan couldn't contain herself any longer. Seeing that the canyon was empty, she immediately reverted to her original form. The ten-meter-long iron-gray dragon then turned around and "surrounded" the gathered jackal people.

Even in the canyon terrain, which is not conducive to flying, Qin Lan was still able to fight against the gnolls with her hypnotic breath and burrowing expertise.

She is already a young dragon, and she is at the age where she wants to show off her power and train her familiars.

For Qin Lan, these jackals were high-quality dependents who had come to her door willingly.

In contrast, Zhuang Daihua did not use her Purple Dragon form for the second time today. Her crossbow was already loaded with enough enchanted steel balls, ready to fire at any moment.

"A dragon?! That little one is a dragon too!"