Wizard: Grinding experience starting with Knight's Breathing Technique

Chapter 235 The Netherworld Dragon! (Long chapter, please subscribe and vote!)

Black-Patterned City.

A city built of massive black stones, it looks extremely retro, rugged, and exudes a wild atmosphere.

The exact date of this city's existence is impossible to verify.

The current city lord, Lord Black Pattern, defeated the old city lord a hundred years ago, led his tribe to take over the city, and renamed it "Black Pattern City".

The Ancient Holy Empire was actually the earliest name for the Ancient Holy Civilization.

At that time, the Ancient Holy Empire was a truly unified country.

The founder of the empire was the first ancient saint in the history of the ancient saint civilization, and later generations called him "the first ancient saint, Yuan Tuo".

It is said that before this "original ancient saint" appeared, the crawlers were just a group of weak creatures that were preyed upon by ferocious beasts.

Until the appearance of the "First Ancient Saint," who, like the protagonist of a novel, rose from a chieftain of a small tribe to conquer all directions and annex other tribes in a short period of a hundred years, eventually forming a unified "Ancient Saint Empire." The title of Ancient Saint was passed down from that time.

The crawlers believe that the "First Ancient Saint" is the "Messenger of the Holy Serpent," born in accordance with the will of the Holy Serpent, a divine being sent from heaven to save the crawlers from suffering.

In fact, regardless of whether the "original ancient saint" was the messenger of the holy serpent.

In short, after the emergence of the Ancient Holy Empire, the Reptile civilization continued to grow, eventually becoming able to contend with the ferocious beasts, instead of feeding on their blood.

The "First Ancients" established a unified crawler language and script similar to the common language of wizards, and transformed tribes into city-states.

Furthermore, it passed down many methods that lead directly to the ancient sage's path, and these methods are collectively known as the "Ancient Sage's Methods".

Based on the ancient sacred laws, the Reptile civilization can give birth to ancient saints who are comparable to the "ancient bloodline beasts," also known as "ancient beasts," in every era.

Thanks to the protection of these ancient sages, the reptilian civilization has been able to continue to this day.

At its peak in history, during the later years of the original Ancient Saints, there were a total of eighteen Ancient Saints of the same era as the Creeper Civilization, known as the "Eighteen Saints of the Empire".

The eighteen saints united around the original ancient saint. Under the leadership of this leader, they not only initially solved the problem of the "fierce beast" that weighed on the crawlers, but also took the initiative to expand their territory, conquering the south and the north!

However, with the disappearance of the original ancient saints...

The once unified Reptile Empire, like countless human empires throughout history, is now facing the fate of fragmented city-states and lords, and the chaos continues to this day.

After that, there was no more peerless powerhouse like the "First Ancient Saint" who could subdue numerous ancient saints, unify all tribes and city-states, and establish an absolutely unified "Ancient Saint Empire".

The fragmentation of the ancient empire into numerous city-states is the prevailing theme today.

Each city-state was a small, sparsely populated tribal society, whose lord held absolute power and could arbitrarily dispose of the city-state's inhabitants.

Today, the ancient empire comprises hundreds of city-states.

Some powerful tribes often establish their own city-states, and then divide up a territory centered on the city-state.

Non-tribal crawlers within the territory are all "outsiders," and outsiders have a lower status than natives within the city.

Since the disappearance of the original ancient saints, the city-states have been at war year after year, with no end in sight, and the people are suffering. Small tribes like those led by Chief Kaku can only risk their lives to eke out a living in the primeval forest where ferocious beasts roam.

Coupled with the invasion of ferocious beasts, and beset by both internal and external troubles, the ancient holy civilization has declined far beyond its peak.

Currently, there are only thirteen ancient saints, each ruling their own territory, making it difficult for them to unite. Furthermore, the ancient saint empire is facing the predicament of being surrounded by powerful enemies.

To the south of the Ancient Holy Empire lies a vast sea, in which many powerful civilizations, no less powerful than the Ancient Holy Empire, reside.

The most representative example is the "Magazine Empire" established by the "Ocean Crawlers". It was an empire established by several ancient saints of the sea crawlers who rebelled against the ancient saint empire. Relying on the rich resources of the ocean, they recuperated and thrived, and later rose to prominence, repeatedly invading the borders of the ancient saint empire.

To the north of the Ancient Holy Empire, within the vast and endless "Intis Mountains," lies a newly emerging and powerful empire.

The "Wind God Empire" was established by the "Feathered People." According to the crawlers, the Feathered People were born later than them, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the Feathered People are descendants of a mutated crawler.

However, almost all of the Feathered People possess the ability to fly. Relying on their aerial advantage, they have rapidly risen in the Intis Mountains and are now also harassing the northern border of the Ancient Holy Empire.

Within the Ancient Saint Empire, apart from a few powerful Ancient Saints, the only ones capable of effectively harming the Feathered Race and engaging in aerial combat are the Flying Lizardmen led by the "Ancient Saint of Broken Sky".

Inside Black-Patterned City.

Li Wei and Kaku were sitting in a tavern.

They drank the incredibly bloody "Blood Demon Wine" brewed by the crawlers.

I listened to an old man talk at length about the history of the ancient empire and the current situation.

The old man's name was Kane, and he was one of the few cultured people in Blackstriped City.

He was once the librarian of a city-state where an ancient saint resided. Later, because that ancient saint perished in war, the city-state was destroyed, and the library was burned to the ground.

Kane became a slave to foreigners, wandering from place to place until he finally arrived in Blackstriped City. Because of his education, he became one of the stewards of the city lord's mansion.

In his spare time, he would come to the tavern to drink, boast, and show off his knowledge. Gradually, he became quite well-known.

"Lord Kane, where did the Old Ones go in the beginning?" Levi asked.

Kane followed the sound and glanced at Levi, whose crimson scales caught his attention.

Because the fire lizard race holds a relatively high position within the Ancient Holy Empire.

Even in foreign cities, the Salamander Clan need not worry about being discriminated against because they are foreigners.

After all, who would dare to discriminate against a powerful race that gave birth to ancient saints?

Moreover, as is well known, the original Ancient Saints were born into the Salamander race, which has given the Salamander race a relatively superior status to this day.

Therefore, in Kane's view, the pair of Levi and Kaku is like a noble young man from the Salamander clan, traveling and adventuring with his Green Salamander servants.

"The exact date of the First Ancient Saint is unverifiable, as historical records have been interrupted by years of warfare. The lifespan of an Ancient Saint was only about five hundred years, and some extremely powerful ones might have lived for a thousand years, but compared to the long history of the Ancient Saint Empire, this is just an insignificant ripple... So, the First Ancient Saint, alas, has most likely perished." Kane sighed. Of all the many Ancient Saints recorded in history, the First Ancient Saint was the one he admired the most.

"If the original Ancient Saint were still alive, would the Wind God Empire and the Azure Dragon Empire dare to act so arrogantly in front of the Ancient Saint Empire? The original Ancient Saint alone would be enough to suppress these traitors of the crawler civilization!" Kane said indignantly.

"Lord Kane, are there any other countries north of the Intis Mountains?" Levi asked.

"I don't know either. No one can cross the Intis Mountains alive. Those winged people who hover high in the sky and look down on the earth are not to be trifled with." Kane shook his head.

Li Wei pondered to himself, "Now it seems that there are three maps that have been explored in this plane."

Ancient Saint Empire, Wind God Empire, Azure Dragon Empire.

The three great empires share a common origin, tracing their ancestry back to the reptilian civilization, only now they have gone their separate ways.

The common problem plaguing the three great empires was the "ferocious beasts".

"If the two neighboring empires can rival the Ancient Saint Empire, then there must be quite a few Ancient Saint level experts. Judging from this, there are dozens of Ancient Saint level experts comparable to fourth-ring wizards on the map I currently know of."

In the wizarding world, even ordinary mid-level wizarding organizations wouldn't be able to muster so many level four experts. The difficulty of conquering this plane is greater than I imagined; we must proceed slowly and methodically.

Fortunately, these thirteen ancient saints are not a united front. Perhaps I can sit back and watch them fight it out, supporting an absolute dictator similar to the original ancient saint as a puppet. This way, I can control the entire ancient saint empire, rule this country from behind the scenes, and then annex the Wind God Empire and the Azure Dragon Empire to explore the wider borders of this world.

Li Wei said to himself.

He already had a preliminary plan in mind.

"Salamander boy, if you're interested in the original Ancient Saints, you can visit the city-states where they reside if you have the chance. Black Striped City is just a small place."

After a hearty meal and drinks, Kane patted his belly, flicked his forked tongue, and leisurely left the tavern.

He and Li Wei hit it off very well; it had been a long time since he had met a young crawler like Li Wei who was willing to listen to his eloquent talk.

"Thank you, Lord Kane," Levi said with a smile.

Inside the tavern, Li Wei and Kaku continued to drink.

"My lord, where shall we go next?" Kaku asked.

"The City Lord's Mansion," Li Wei said calmly.

……

City Lord's Mansion.

On the training ground.

A burly lizardman covered in gray scales and clad in bone armor wielded a greatsword. The gust of wind generated by the sword's swing caused sand and stones to fly across the training ground, and an invisible heat wave permeated the area, creating quite a spectacle.

This was none other than Monka, the Lord of Black-Patterned City.

The members of the Black-spotted Tribe are all members of the "Black-spotted Lizard" clan, which are among the strongest reptiles. Black-spotted lizards have extremely strong defenses, are naturally powerful, and are all brave and skilled warriors.

"Lord Monka, a salamander tribesman is requesting an audience outside," a servant announced as he entered.

"A fire lizard?" Monka frowned slightly. "Let him in."

Not long after, a fire lizardman covered in red scales walked in, accompanied by a very ordinary green lizard reptile.

"Greetings, Lord City Lord," the fire lizardman said respectfully.

"What business do you have with me, the city lord?" Monka asked.

"I want to...become the city lord." Li Wei smiled slightly.

Monka's expression changed.

The next moment, Li Wei's body shot out, the true form of the fire dragon appeared, blazing with flames and flashing with power runes.

Monca raised his greatsword and slashed at Li Wei. His blood began to boil, white smoke billowed into the sky, and scorching flames spewed from his mouth, turning the greatsword red-hot.

"Crimson Heart-Burning Slash!" Monka roared in a low voice, his face contorted in pain. He knew the newcomer meant no good, so he attacked with all his might from the start.

Li Wei neither dodged nor evaded; his scaled fist slammed into the scorching hot sword. The sword trembled violently, cracking Monka's palm, and the greatsword flew away, landing some distance away.

The red-hot greatsword scorched the ground black, turning it into scorched earth flaming with flames in a short time, demonstrating the extreme temperature involved.

In contrast, Li Wei's fist was unharmed, only slightly emitting white smoke.

"Too weak."

In a flash, Li Wei appeared behind Monka, grabbed Monka's neck with his large hand, and pressed down hard.

Monka fell to the ground with a thud, his face hitting the ground with a thud, raising a cloud of dust.

"With just a little effort, you'll be dead," Li Wei said calmly, his eyes cold.

Monka was pinned to the ground, unable to move.

The city lord of Blackpatial City was weaker than he had imagined. He felt that his strength was not even as good as that of the likes of Bo Gang, let alone comparable to a senior wizard of the third ring.

"Who are you? Among the thirteen ancient saints, there is no one like you!" Monka asked in fear.

The outcome was decided in a single move.

The gap between him and his opponent was too great; the opponent was definitely a powerful figure at the level of an ancient saint.

You must understand, he was at least a powerful Ancient Serpent-level expert. In this Ancient Saint Empire, only an Ancient Saint could easily defeat him, Monka.

Monka is familiar with all thirteen ancient saints, and the one closest to the one before him is undoubtedly the Burning Heaven Ancient Saint.

The problem is that the Ancient Saint of Burning Heaven usually stays in his own Burning Heaven City, so how could he possibly come to his small Black Pattern City?

Could it be that the fire lizard clan actually has two ancient saints?

"Who I am is not important. What is important is that if you don't obey, you will die." Li Wei's voice was indifferent. He revealed a trace of ancient saintly aura. The majesty of the ancient saint swept over like a tide, engulfing Monka.

"What...what do you want to do?"

"Stop struggling, offer up a wisp of your soul, and voluntarily sign a contract with me. I will guarantee not to kill you, otherwise..." Li Wei took out a contract stone tablet and threatened.

Lizardmen are also humanoids, so theoretically the contract on the contract tablet should also be effective against them, but only if the other party voluntarily offers up their soul.

Monka saw the stone tablet in the man's hand. Although he didn't know what it was, there was no doubt that it was at a disadvantage for him.

But in the current situation, with such a huge disparity between the enemy and ourselves, he seems to have no other choice.

"I will do as you say..." Monka sighed and said.

"Don't worry, I always keep my word," Li Wei said with a squinting smile, sending chills down one's spine.

Monka felt as if a calamity had struck him from the sky. He had no idea where this ancient saint had come from. He was really in for a world of trouble.

Ultimately, Livy and Monca signed an unequal treaty.

After signing the contract, Monka felt as if there was some kind of constraint on his soul. He feared that if he violated the terms of the contract, he would suffer a terrible fate, which made him feel utterly hopeless.

"Once I reach level fourteen in my Crimson Dragon Breathing Technique and add another contract slot, I won't need to go through all this trouble," Li Wei thought to himself.

He currently holds two positions in the Crimson Contract, one given to Baron Baghdad of the Deep Sea and the other to the vampire Skearn. Both are quite important to Levi, and he cannot break the contract.

Outside the door, the guards seemed to have heard the commotion and rushed in.

"Lord City Lord, are you alright?" the guard asked.

"It's alright, you can step back. I just sparred with this fire lizard friend," Monka said calmly, though inwardly he felt bitter. This wasn't a sparring match; it was a one-sided crushing defeat...

"What does the Ancient Saint want to do? You might as well tell me frankly. I, Monka, am just the lord of a small border town with limited abilities. With the Ancient Saint's discerning eye, I suppose you wouldn't even look at a city-state in such a remote place as mine?" Monka sighed.

"You are very smart and pragmatic. A wise man is one who is pragmatic. My goal is simple: to unify all the city-states and make the Ancient Holy Empire great again," Li Wei said, looking very serious.

"My Lord Ancient Saint...forgive my bluntness, but this matter should also be the goal of the other thirteen Ancient Saints. However, since the first Ancient Saint disappeared, no one has been able to unify the Ancient Saint Empire," Monka said.

"How will you know if you don't try?" Li Wei said confidently. "You can continue to be the city lord. I was just joking. I'm not interested in your position. I just need you to do things my way from now on."

Li Wei wasn't sure if he had the strength to defeat an Ancient Saint, otherwise he would have gone to the city-states where the Ancient Saints were located and taken them down long ago.

To be on the safe side, it's better to control an ordinary city lord first, and then gradually make contact with those ancient saints after gaining a deeper understanding of this world.

In the days that followed, Li Wei settled down in Blackstriped City.

It has to be said that as the lord of Black-Patterned City, Monka knows far more than Kaku.

Through Monka, Li Wei gained a deeper understanding of the situation of the thirteen ancient saints, and he also obtained the "Ancient Saint Method" that he practiced from Monka.

Inside a mansion in Blackstriped City, Li Wei sat at a desk, on which lay a rough sheet of paper that appeared to be made of animal hide.

The writing on the parchment is the common language of the Reptile civilization, which Li Wei has mastered. In addition, there are all sorts of actions and postures.

After he finished reading it, he fell into deep thought.

"This seems similar to the Knight's Breathing Technique inheritance diagram. The only difference is that this ancient sacred technique only has a small figure pattern, but not the black serpent holding a candle like in the Black Serpent Breathing Technique... Is it a censored and modified version of the Knight's Breathing Technique?"

According to Monka, the practice of the Ancient Sacred Method is based on the incantations, key points, postures, and movements recorded in the Ancient Sacred Method. It involves devouring large amounts of the flesh of specific ferocious beasts to obtain energy, modify the lizardman's body, and ultimately continuously achieve physical evolution.

It transforms from an insect into a lizard, the lizard into a snake, the snake grows old and ancient, and finally becomes a saint.

These are the four stages of ancient sacred practice.

The ancient sacred magic that Monca gave to Livy was obtained by him from the ruins of an abandoned ancient sacred temple, and it is called the "Flame Blood Ancient Sacred Magic".

To practice this ancient and sacred method, one must use the flesh and blood of a creature called the "Flame Beast" as a foundation and consume it over a long period of time.

By absorbing the unique "Flame Blood Energy" from the flesh and blood of the Flame Beast using ancient sacred methods, and using this "Flame Blood Energy" to transform the entire body, refining the filth and tendons, cleansing the marrow and tempering the bones, and changing the blood, one becomes an ancient saint.

The stronger the fire beast, the better the effect.

Reaching the highest level of cultivation allows one to rival the king among the fire beasts.

Ancient Beast: Fiery Blood Frenzy Dragon.

This is a powerful entity that lives underground and is often accompanied by magma.

The Fiery Blood Berserker Dragon contains "ancient bloodlines".

The so-called ancient bloodline is said to be the bloodline left behind by a few "ancient kings" who stood at the top of billions of living beings at the beginning of the world's creation.

Sky King Otherus, Forest King Deussis, Ocean King Ernest, Underground King Mobius.

The four ancient kings, representing the elements of earth, fire, wind, and water in creation, each ruled over one of the four ancient kingdoms.

Legend has it that the four ancient kings were all under the command of the supreme Holy Serpent, who followed the Holy Serpent's will to create this world and maintain its order.

At that time, neither the Feathered People nor the Creepers had been born.

Only the ferocious beasts of different factions, commanded by ancient kings, roamed the skies, forests, oceans, and even the earth.

Therefore, whether it is the Ancient Saint Empire, the Wind God Empire, or the Azure Dragon Empire, they all have great fear of the ancient bloodline.

Later, the powerful ancient empire seemed to fall apart overnight, and the four ancient kings perished one after another.

The flesh and blood of ancient kings were devoured by surviving ferocious beasts, giving birth to the first ancient beasts. The reptilian civilization most likely emerged around this time.

These are all legends and stories, some true and some false, that Li Wei obtained from old man Kane during this period.

Li Wei had a vague feeling about "ancient kings," "the first ancient sages," and "the ancient sage's law," etc.

All of these things are inextricably linked to the ancient wizard who entered this place.

"Who entered this place, and what is their purpose in doing all this?"

Li Wei gazed at the blueprints that recorded the ancient sacred methods, lost in thought.

……

The next day.

Li Wei gazed at the fire beast meat that Monka had sent.

This is a large piece of meat that looks very ordinary, weighing about 100 pounds. It is very solid, and even though it has been dead for so long, its surface is still radiating high temperatures. This should be the so-called "flame blood energy".

Li Wei took a small amount of blood and placed it into the Lorraine Crystal.

[Crimson Serpent bloodline 56%, Red Lizard bloodline 68%... Netherworld Dragon bloodline 1.5%]

Upon seeing this, Li Wei's expression changed.

"A demon dragon?"

His database does not contain information about this type of dragon.

"If I have the chance in the future, I'll have to find out what kind of dragon the Netherworld Dragon is."

In this world, Li Wei has found the bloodline descendants of two dragon races.

Emerald Dragon, Netherworld Dragon.

During this time, Livy studied the supreme sacred serpent worshipped by the reptilian civilization.

According to the records and descriptions of the sacred serpent that have been left behind, it is an ouroboros with its head and tail connected. It coils around in the sky, constantly rotating, radiating holy light, dispelling darkness, and illuminating believers, just like the sun.

From this perspective, the sacred serpent and Livy's family crest, the black serpent, share similarities.

However, Livy did not see the most prominent feature, "holding a candle," so he could not be certain that the sacred serpent was the black serpent.

Now, he has discovered the bloodline of the Netherworld Dragon within the body of a ferocious beast containing ancient blood.

According to legend, the ancient bloodline consisted of the bloodlines of the four kings under the command of the sacred serpent.

"The Netherworld Dragon, could it be the Candle-Holding Black Serpent...? Could the Black Serpent be a general under the Holy Serpent? Or perhaps, a disguised form of the Holy Serpent..."

I'm stuck on the word count; I only managed 6,000 words today.

Sorry, I really can't write anything more in a short time. I'm already on the high-speed train for a business trip.

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(End of this chapter)