Red Dragon Monster Hunter Template.

Silver Knight, Guardian of the Kingdom, Vampire in the Moonlight, Demon Who Devours Living Beings—these diametrically opposed descriptions all point to the same monster—the Silver Dragon.

The existence of such contradictory statements necessitates mentioning another ancient dragon, the Nether Abyss Dragon.

In the world of Monster Hunter, the Abyssal Dragon, which should have been living underground, stumbled into the territory of the Silver Dragon while digging a hole one day, and the two immediately engaged in a great battle.

In the end, although the Silver Dragon drove its opponent away, it was infected and parasitized by a parasitic creature called the Gnawing Worm, which caused a drastic change in its personality. It then began to live by absorbing the life essence of other monsters.

…………

Thor stared at the prompt before him, a sense of surprise washing over him. He had actually drawn this monster.

Based on its appearance in the game, the Silver Dragon should be considered an unlockable monster, so why is it appearing in the Ancient Dragon gacha pool?

After carefully examining the icon, he suddenly realized that it was an individual template whose strength had declined after being parasitized.

It was originally an ancient dragon with a standard four-legged, two-winged configuration, about twenty-five meters long, covered with shimmering silver scales, with golden horns rising from its head, wings like giant shields, and the end of its tail evolved into a trident shape, like a knight of noble character.

After being parasitized by grubs, a tuft of red hair, resembling a blood-red scarf, grows on its chest. The inside of its wings is also stained blood-red, like a vampire's cape. Fingers-like collars grow on both sides of its neck, making it look remarkably like Count Dracula from legend.

These strange life forms, parasites, not only allow the parasites to plunder the life energy of living beings, but also constantly erode its body. Its carapace gradually becomes brittle, its physical condition continues to decline, and its overall strength greatly diminishes.

But Thor was even more delighted by this result.

He valued the monster template itself, not the readily available energy that came with it.

If an ordinary creature were to load the Silver Dragon panel, it would likely suffer the same troubles caused by the parasites. But with his current strength, how could he be troubled by these parasites? He might even have the opportunity to completely turn them into his own.

After all, in the world of Monster Hunter, there are indeed monsters that are infected by parasites, but who overcome the swarm through their own willpower, complete the transformation, and greatly increase their strength.

The list includes monsters such as Chameleon, Kushala Daora, Teostra, Astral Dragon, and Astral Dragon. Coincidentally, the templates for all these monsters have already been loaded.

This means that at the very least, he could completely absorb all the energy that the parasites possessed and overcome the anomaly; but if conditions allowed, he would prefer to preserve this ability system intact.

It's important to know that the Netherworld Dragon, as a monster that has been unleashed, derives the vast majority of its power from the Gnawing Worms.

There's even a joke circulating among players: it's not that the Abyss Dragon possesses the Gnawing Worm, but rather that the Gnawing Worm possesses the Abyss Dragon.

If the Netherworld Dragon loses its Gnawing Worms, it will be difficult for it to survive; however, once the Netherworld Dragon dies, the Gnawing Worms may still find a new host to continue to live.

If the abilities of the Gnawing Worm can be fully preserved, it would be equivalent to obtaining the power of both the Primal Silver Dragon and the Abyss Dragon by consuming only one copy of the Ancient Dragon Template's essence.

Recalling his previous experience loading the Star Dragon template, which was also parasitized by the Star Rain Butterfly, Thor judged that this was highly feasible.

The only thing that bothered him at this moment was whether the excessive energy flowing in after loading the template would cause him to fall into a deep sleep prematurely.

But this happy trouble only lingered for a moment before he forgot about it.

Firstly, this is merely an ancient dragon-level monster template. Even with outstanding growth potential, its inherent primal energy is ultimately inferior to that of a true unlocked monster template.

Secondly, as the mighty Red Emperor, the Sun King, and the supreme overlord of the North, he could sleep whenever he wanted, so why should he worry about the consequences?

The thought crossed his mind, and he simply tapped his finger in his head to confirm the withdrawal.

Ripples spread across the void like water, and crimson moonlight slowly rose. A noble and elegant figure emerged from the halo of light, surrounded by countless blood-red butterflies.

Upon closer inspection, one can see that those creatures that resemble butterflies are actually like menacing lampreys, and their so-called butterfly wings are actually broad and outstretched fish fins.

Before the ancient dragon spirit could react, Thor, whose body was over two hundred meters long, opened his huge mouth and impatiently lunged forward to bite.

A familiar warm current surged through his body. Although it wasn't overwhelming in quantity, its texture was exceptionally rich and smooth. It slowly seeped into Thor's muscles, bones, and scales, flowing through his limbs and bones, continuously fine-tuning and reshaping his body.

As time slowly passed, one could see that the already enormous scales on his wings, which far exceeded those of ordinary red dragons, became even thicker and more solid, like layers of giant tower shields overlapping each other.

The speed of nerve signal transmission is increased, and the muscles are like high-intensity gunpowder, harboring terrifying instantaneous explosive power.

Ancient dragons are often a concrete microcosm of the laws of the world, and the vast majority of ancient dragons control a certain type of elemental energy or special abilities.

However, there are a few ancient dragons who can rival their peers with their pure physical strength alone.

One example is the Nergigante, which relies entirely on brute force; while the Silver Dragon is even more pure – it doesn't have the Nergigante's super-fast regeneration, nor does it have hardened thorns that can be launched in all directions, yet its combat power might be even greater.

Its strength lies in its powerful physical body, its scales that can withstand the direct breath of an ancient dragon, and its explosive charging ability that is like teleportation; it has almost no obvious weaknesses.

Thor's scales had been repeatedly modified by countless monster templates, leaving almost no room for further enhancement; this was merely a minor polishing and adjustment.

However, he clearly sensed a strange power of rules attached to the scales, which originated from the laws of the world and belonged to the power of the guardian realm.

The already exaggerated physical strength, combined with the talent for instantaneous bursts of power, caused the air to shatter with a mere flick of the claw, leaving behind a continuous trail of afterimages.

A blood-red butterfly-shaped shadow floated down from the sky, but it did not merge into Thor's own body. Instead, it flew straight toward the elytra sleeping between the gaps in his scales.

This scene surprised him slightly, but upon reflection, it made perfect sense. The original body belongs to the original body, and the symbiotic system belongs to the symbiotic system; it should be this way.

Originally in elemental form, the elytra spirits involuntarily revealed their physical form after being fused and imbued with the essence of the gnater.

Hundreds of alluring women appeared out of thin air, their originally fair skin flushed with a rosy hue, their eyes sparkling with a blood-red luster like rubies, and their fairy-like translucent wings covered with crimson patterns, exuding an eerie and beautiful allure amidst their bewilderment.

Through the connections between them, Thor discovered that his understanding of life energy had deepened, and he had gained more ability to manipulate life energy.

At the same time, a line of light blue subtitles flashed before his eyes one after another: [Shield Wings], [Life Drain], [Shadow Burst]... and many other abilities came into view in turn.

Chapter 471 Life Absorption

The same item can have vastly different values ​​depending on who owns it.

For starving poor people, a handful of high-quality seeds is far less valuable than a bag of fine rice, but the big landowners thought completely differently.

Because landlords have ample capital and time, they can cultivate a handful of seeds into more grain, while the starving and freezing poor cannot wait for the seeds to sprout and will starve to death.

For Thor, the monster template of the Silver Dragon was such a high-quality seed, which not only contained all the abilities of the Silver Dragon itself, but also included complete information about the Gnawing Worm.

As for the enormous energy required to load these abilities into himself and allow them to fully develop, it was utterly insignificant to him.

The basic elements of earth, water, fire, and wind swirled around him, transforming into rainbow-colored clouds that filled the entire Crimson Flame Palace. The primal magic flowing within the magic net poured down like a funnel hanging from the sky.

As time slowly passed, all the changes gradually stabilized. The enormous dragon slowly rose from the throne platform, shook its body, and its joints erupted with a series of clanging sounds like metal clashing.

At this moment, Thor felt his entire body brimming with power, an endless and boundless force.

This is not a pure increase in brute force like in weightlifting or bench press, but a more flexible explosive force, as if the entire body has transformed into a giant bouncy ball.

The dragon-attribute energy within his body is highly condensed and compressed within his muscles, ready to explode outwards with a mere thought.

A dark aura suddenly erupted from Thor's body, and his enormous body, which resembled a mountain range, vanished from its original spot in an instant.

The air in front of him was compressed at an extreme speed, shattering like glass, and ring-shaped Mach clouds spread outwards, with streaks of crimson afterimages flashing in the air.

The next instant, his body appeared on the square outside the hall. The whole process was like a frame drop in a movie, almost like teleportation.

This is even more terrifying than teleportation, because teleportation is merely a spatial crossing, while mass acceleration generates enormous kinetic energy.

If his previous extreme speed relied on the powerful thrust brought by the eruption of dragon energy, it was like a comet streaking across the sky or a supersonic intercontinental ballistic missile breaking through the air.

At this moment, the physical explosive power granted to him by the Silver Dragon template allows Thor to transform into a highly skilled and unparalleled assassin, enabling him to maneuver and move swiftly within a limited space.

Unfortunately, the assassin was simply too large.

It's hard to imagine what an enemy would look like when a giant dragon, over two hundred meters long, crashes into their face at a terrifying speed that's almost instantaneous.

Even without relying on various special abilities and energy methods, Thor felt that he was now virtually invincible within the Prime Material Plane.

Simply by launching his indestructible body like a cannonball, he could solve more than 99 percent of the world's problems.

Indeed, in the face of absolute, pure numbers, all techniques are nothing but illusions.

The dragon combat techniques that circulated in my mind now seem to have lost their original meaning.

…………

Only then did the air, torn apart by Thor's charge, finally produce a belated, deafening roar. The surging evening wind swept over his crimson-gold scales, causing the elytra dwellings on his body to chuckle like silver bells.

A group of alluring fairies adorned with exquisite jewelry danced around him. Their wings, which were originally narrow and elongated like those of a dragonfly, had transformed into wide, butterfly-like wings under the influence of the rodent template.

These creatures, which should feed on pure magical elements and energy, now had a bloodthirsty glint in their eyes.

Just then, a dragon-blooded kobold heard the commotion and rushed over from a distance to investigate. Suddenly, a red shadow flashed before its eyes, and a series of sharp pains shot through its entire body.

It felt as if all the life force in its body had suddenly vanished, its legs went weak, and it uncontrollably collapsed to its knees.

In less than a second, most of its life energy was plundered, and its body surface was covered with dense, fine wounds, like those left by piercing swords.

Fortunately, as a dragon-blooded creature, it possessed remarkable vitality. Furthermore, being a fellow member of Thor's retinue, the elytra did not kill it outright, but merely gave it a taste of its own medicine.

It will recover after a period of rest, but its lifespan will be shortened by several days.

…………

The life energy within a single dragon-veined dog-headed human body is naturally insufficient to supply hundreds or thousands of elytra.

After tasting the fresh vitality of life, these spirits became increasingly restless, uttering soft, pleading sounds.

But Thor would never allow these goblins to wreak havoc on his subjects, after all, all his people were the source of his spiritual essence.

These "hens" that should be producing eggs continuously will see their output sharply reduced for at least a few months if they are drained like this.

These guys are practically enhanced versions of vampires, possessing super-fast movement, energy-based bodies, the ability to drain life, and are completely immune to sunlight.

If they are allowed to run rampant, the destructive power they cause will be no less than that of a terrible natural disaster.

Strict rules must be established. Sol can ignore other creatures, but he must not allow them to harm the people within his territory.

After a brief moment of thought, he immediately issued an order requiring that the elytra spirits not absorb more than one percent of the total life energy of the target life form each time, and that the interval between two absorptions should not be less than one month.

After saying that, he let them fly away in all directions, their excited laughter turning into a sky full of crimson streaks of light.

Thor's gaze fell again on the unfortunate dragon-blooded kobold on the ground. He didn't mind showing a little mercy to these loyal little creatures.

He extended a dragon claw and gently pointed forward, using the life energy he had just gained to control the power, and projected a wisp of his own life energy as a point of light.

This loss was nothing to Thor, not even comparable to a mosquito bite for an ordinary person; it was a mere drop in the ocean.

The kobold, limp on the ground, felt as if a volcano was erupting inside him, the surging power almost tearing his body apart, his blood boiling and burning like molten lava.

Endless power surged from the depths of its body, propelling its form to rapidly transform, and the red dragon bloodline hidden within it was continuously purified and sublimated.

Its body grew taller and taller, and the tiny scales on its surface transformed into palm-sized, sturdy scales. Winding horns stretched from its forehead to the back of its head, and its broad dragon wings tore through its shoulder blades and spread outwards.

In just a short while, this ordinary dragon-blooded kobold completed its ultimate transformation, becoming a half-dragon.

Their strength has also undergone a tremendous leap, so it can be considered a blessing in disguise.

Overwhelmed with ecstasy, it knelt down in excitement, its eyes burning with fervor, and repeatedly bowed and worshipped Thor.

The great Red Emperor naturally wouldn't care about the gratitude of a mere kobold with dragon veins. Even though it was already outstanding enough, one in a million among the kobolds.

Thor ruled over the entire Northlands. With his fame spreading far and wide, coupled with the stable living environment of his territory and the kobolds' naturally high reproductive rate, the number of kobolds under his command was enormous.

Such exceptionally talented individuals are naturally countless. Gold shines wherever it is placed, but if it is placed in a treasure trove full of precious gems, it will not stand out.

Thanks to the various privileges that Thor bestowed upon the kobolds, the race's numbers in the North have skyrocketed.

Even the kobold god Kurtumak, who was in Afonas, the first level of the Nine Hells, saw his faith and divine power increase accordingly.

Thor felt that if he ever met this deity again, the deity should kowtow to him.

Chapter 472 The Fairy's Wine

After a day's work, Lyren lay down on his wooden bed, but he couldn't fall asleep no matter what he did.

He stared at the simple ceiling above him, his thoughts already drifting to distant places.

As a carpenter with decent skills, he lived a relatively stable life. He not only had no worries about food and drink, but also owned his own detached house. He could even save up some money on weekdays, which he could then spend at the tavern every now and then.

But the monotonous, repetitive daily life gradually made him feel bored.

When he listened to adventurers from afar recount their experiences in the tavern, a sense of longing would always arise in his heart.

But whenever he expressed a desire to become an adventurer, his father, old Lyren, would turn grim and give him a stern reprimand.

What follows is a long, rambling lecture, admonishing young people not to be unaware of how hard-won their current lives are, and to be grateful to the great Dragon Lord, and so on.

In his father's words, the outside world was dangerous and cruel, full of terrifying monsters, as well as vicious lords and unscrupulous merchants who only cared about profit.

They would devour ordinary mortals from every angle, leaving no trace, not even a corpse.