On my second playthrough, they were full of malice towards me.

The training manual was Lena's doing. She could have just let Jiuyou accept Ba'er's soul fragments, so why did she include herself in it as well?

obviously.

This proves that Lena has found a way to complete the blessing ritual at a lower cost, and that this method requires his participation as well.

This was not unexpected for Liao Ji. After all, he was still the "Emperor of Ashes". Even though he had lost his level, such a special being should still have some prestige. Couldn't he just assist with a mere blessing ceremony?

So how exactly do we do it?

Liao Ji turned his gaze back to the text in the manual. After he told the Dragon Girl the four keywords "believe in Reina," it was as if a key had been unlocked, causing the text on the manual to change once again.

A completely new and improved version of the "blessing ceremony" was suddenly presented to them.

After a quick glance.

This method of lifting the curse of the subhuman race at minimal cost and building a beautiful dragon kingdom is very simple. Liao Ji read it carefully and found that the entire summary of what he needed to do to assist Jiu You was only three words long.

Dragon Knight.

Chapter 138 Styutia found out... Will she be angry?

Both "curse" and "blessing" rituals are essentially ways to share power with others; the former is pollution, while the latter is blessing.

To reduce the cost of rituals, there are many ways to do so, such as trying to avoid waste in "transportation".

To put it simply, if the ritual designed by Bar was a muddy country road, then the ritual improved by Lena is like a flat and straight highway.

But having a road alone isn't enough. Walking on Jiuyou is indeed much smoother than walking on the muddy path in Baer before.

The problem is that no matter how the road changes, the final destination remains the same: the vast population of the entire subhuman race. This is equivalent to a very long straight-line distance, still an incredibly long highway.

Continuing to walk the entire distance, which could be tens or even hundreds of kilometers, would likely lead to the same predictable outcome for Jiu You. Besides the physical exhaustion, it would cause irreversible damage to her body.

Downgraded.

So how do we continue to solve this problem?

The answer is quite simple.

Lena's method to help Jiuyou "save effort" was to teach the dragon girl how to change her power form, which was equivalent to building a "car" on the "road".

After transforming into the "Dragon Chariot," Jiu You will experience a qualitative leap in power conversion rate. Compared to before, she may only need to use a fraction of her power, or even a fraction of her power, to achieve the same goal.

After everything was optimized, the highway was in place, and the dragon train was ready; only one last thing was missing.

We need to find a driver for Jiuyou's "dragon carriage".

In other words, the auxiliary mediums needed for the ritual.

Moreover, this medium is quite special, with two special requirements. The first, of course, is that one must know how to drive this dragon carriage.

Secondly, the driver must be someone who carries their own "fuel tank".

This is crucial.

No matter how ingenious a car's design is, how high-tech it is, or how high-end the materials it uses, without "oil"—a seemingly ordinary, unremarkable substance naturally found in nature—even the best car cannot start and simply cannot run.

And obviously.

The only driver who can simultaneously meet the requirements of being recognized by the dragon vehicle, having the door opened for boarding, and also bringing their own fuel can is themselves.

According to the manual, Liao Ji's role in the ceremony, besides driving the dragon vehicle, also included constantly refueling the vehicle by filling the fuel tank with the fuel he carried, ensuring the vehicle always had power and could speed along the road without stalling due to the long distance.

Liao Ji's expression turned solemn and serious. It wasn't hard to see that he was a crucial part of the ceremony. The test and challenge he faced was secondary to his driving skills; the real difficulty lay in whether he had enough fuel to last. The manual specifically noted that because it was a Dragon Race brand vehicle, the fuel tank would likely be much, much larger than usual. Faced with such a huge fuel consumption, even Liao Ji began to waver and doubt himself. Could he possibly shoulder such a heavy responsibility?

"What the hell is all this stuff?!"

Liao Ji couldn't hold back and started cursing on the spot.

What angered him was that Lena was actually seriously trying to explain the working principle of this "new technique" to him, providing ample theoretical basis and technical references. She even transformed these complex and profound techniques into vivid metaphors that he could understand.

Even if he wanted to curse, he couldn't seem to find a reason to do so, since Lena had seriously and genuinely provided a feasible solution that could protect Jiu You to the greatest extent possible.

although

The "style" of the plan is very much like Rena's.

Lena could be understood by Liao Ji, and naturally Jiu You could understand as well. It was just that the metaphor was changed on Jiu You's side. For example, the "car" became her "beast transformation" into a real dragon, and the "driver" was Ash Lord as her rider, who also had to shoulder the important task of "feeding" her to replenish her energy.

Jiu You: "."

"No, Lord Ash, let Jiuyou handle this yourself. Everything that's happening in the Dragon Kingdom now is a result of Jiuyou's past mistakes. Let Jiuyou make amends for those mistakes alone. How can we let Lord Ash be put in danger as well!"

"In danger?"

Faced with Liao Ji's doubts, Long Niang hesitated for a moment, but still said with a serious expression, "Jiu You is afraid of Lord Ashes and can't hold on."

She didn't care about anything else, but if it caused any problems for Lord Ash's health, that was something Jiu Youjue couldn't accept, and that was why she was refusing now.

Unfortunately

These words took on a different meaning when they reached Liao Ji's ears on the other side.

Are you afraid I won't be able to hold on?

Liao Ji: "?"

Especially when he saw that Long Niang was not joking and seemed genuinely worried about him, Liao Ji, who had been a little hesitant and uneasy, was instantly filled with a sense of anger.

He had originally planned not to use Lena's method so easily, but to take the dragon girl to the Holy Kingdom to find Styutia. Although the nun was a "priest" and not as specialized in spells as the "psychic," she was still a magic-based profession. He wanted to see if Styutia had any other methods and compare the two.

but now

Liao Ji had no such thought at all.

He felt greatly humiliated by the dragon maiden.

What do you mean?

Do you doubt your own abilities?

After taking a deep breath, Liao Ji said directly, "Jiuyou, do you know anything? Let's go to the altar now."

"But Lord Ashes..."

"No buts!"

Seeing that she seemed to have accidentally said something wrong again, which made Lord Ash very irritable, she didn't give her any chance to speak again and directly grabbed her hand and walked towards the depths of the forbidden area.

Whether as the pinnacle of the Vanguard five hundred years ago or as the Empress five hundred years later, she only exudes a domineering aura. Yet now, in front of the even more domineering Lord Ash, she seems to be nothing more than a meek lamb, obediently submitting.

When they arrived at the depths of the forbidden area, in front of the altar left behind by Bal, just as they were about to step into the pool with Lord Ash, the Dragon Girl stopped again.

"Lord Ash, I'm still a little worried."

Seeing that the young man opposite her seemed about to get angry again after she spoke, Long Niang quickly shook her head.

"No, Lord Ash, what I mean is, I made a promise to Stuttia and have a contract with her. I... I can't do these things with you."

"Now that we're like this, will Styutia be angry with me if she finds out?"

Chapter 139 Dragon's Roar

The dragon girl asked cautiously. After fighting with the nun in the sealed city, Jiu You realized how much Sciutia "hated" her. They had only just reconciled through the "alliance," and Jiu You didn't want to be hated by Sciutia again because of her "selfishness."

"Don't worry, Jiu You, you did it for the entire Dragon Kingdom and for the future of the demi-human race. Even if Sciutia finds out, she definitely won't blame you. Besides... never mind."

What Liao Ji didn't actually mention later was that he was hoping that the so-called lousy alliance would break down and collapse as soon as possible!

With Ash Lord's comfort, Jiu You's uneasy heart calmed down a little, but the sense of betrayal was still there. After all, this was different from the "training" in the tent that night. This time, it was a real "betrayal" of the alliance.

although

Styutia had already "betrayed" them first.

Following this line of thought, if she also "betrayed" the alliance, it would mean that she and Sthitia would be back on the same starting line, which would be equivalent to neither of them "betraying" the alliance.

Upon realizing this, Jiu You's eyes lit up, and the last trace of worry in her heart disappeared.

"Lord Ash, I am ready!"

Now, all that remained in Longniang's heart was to make amends to the demi-human race and, with a serious and responsible attitude towards the entire Dragon Kingdom, to hold hands with Liao Ji and step into the pool of water at the altar.

As the two of them finished preparing, Lena's manual floated to the very center of the altar, where the skull claw had originally been.

The manual flashed with a pink light and absorbed the cursed jade, which had been on the skeletal hand and served as the core of the previous altar but had been drained of its power and shattered into several pieces by Liao Ji, into the manual and disappeared.

After this step was completed, the manual replaced the cursed jade and became the new core of the altar. Strings of obscure incantations and runes were projected from the manual onto the altar in reality, causing the entire altar to shimmer and begin to dominate the ritual.

Jiuyou groaned and felt the power within her body begin to flow out under the influence of the ritual. In reality, the altar pool water that had surrounded them began to boil. Then, as if it had been completely ignited, the entire altar pool transformed from black water into raging flames.

The flames enveloped Liao Ji and the other person in the pool. Whether it was the reflection of the red light of the surrounding flames or the fact that the Dragon Girl's face was already flushed red, when it was time for Lord Ash to start assisting her, Jiu You recalled that the manual specifically stated that the faster she entered the state, the more power she could save for her.

Liao Ji was unaware of the contents of this manual; it was clearly written by Lena specifically to "instruct" the Dragon Girl.

Therefore, Jiuyou's motivation wasn't just to enhance the ritual's effectiveness, but also to avoid being demoted and to continue staying by Ash's side.

The Dragon Girl was going all out.

Subhumans are actually different from humans. Each subhuman race has its own sensitive areas. Touching these areas will bring a much stronger stimulation than usual, causing the body to immediately enter a state of high arousal. Of course, even within the same race, these areas may vary slightly due to individual differences.

However, in the minds of most subhumans, these are private secrets that should never be spoken of, and are considered shameful. Only some very perverse subhumans would deliberately tell their partners about such positions in private in order to pursue greater excitement.

Jiuyou has always been a very traditional demi-human, so even to Lord Ash, she carefully hid this secret and never told Lord Ash.

but now

"Lord Ash, could you... could you... could you put your hand on my... my horns?"

"horn?"

Is that so?

"Just a little bit lower down there."

"here?"

This time, Long Niang did not answer Liao Ji, or rather, she was unable to speak at all. She had already given her answer with her body, which had suddenly become many times more tense.

A series of resounding dragon roars echoed within the altar at that moment.

These dragon roars were absorbed by the Rena Manual at the center of the altar, and after being processed through the spells on it, they seemed to spread throughout the entire Dragon Kingdom.

Every person from the Dragon Kingdom stopped what they were doing, because in their minds, with the sound of the dragon's roar, a series of images appeared.