For the two of them, the Merfolk’s Professional Path was valuable, but it was nothing compared to a Giant Dragon.
’I left a mark on it, so I can follow that person.
Even if it doesn’t work out, it’s no great loss for us. We can just sell the information that he might possess a Sequence Five Extraordinary Path. We can still make a tidy sum...’
Lilia said coolly.
As for the risk of being discovered, she wasn’t actually worried.
Because she herself was a Sequence Seven.
Moreover, her Extraordinary Path was one that favored physical enhancement and combat.
’If it comes to a fight, I’m confident enough not to fear him at all.
And with my brother’s help...
He’s just one person.
What kind of trouble could he possibly stir up?’
"That’s true..."
The blond man nodded.
But his words came to an abrupt halt halfway through.
Replaced by the sickening thud of a sharp blade piercing flesh.
Lilia looked up.
Her expression changed.
In the quiet, secluded courtyard, where the fine rain fell like mist,
a dark figure had appeared at some unknown point, standing silently beneath the eaves of a corridor, merging with the shadows.
The figure was like an incarnation of shadow itself, with no discernible facial features.
In that instant, it suddenly appeared behind the blond man.
A longsword plunged through the back of the man’s head, its tip emerging from between his eyebrows.
However,
what was strange was that
not a single drop of blood gushed from the wound.
Moreover, the blond man’s young, strong body shriveled and withered at a visible rate, turning into a desiccated, skin-and-bones corpse in the blink of an eye.
It was as if all the flesh and blood in his body had been devoured by some bizarre power.
"Kebu!"
Lilia’s face twisted in shock and rage.
Amidst her anger, she also felt a sliver of terror.
’He was able to sneak up on us without either of us noticing. This person is at least a Sequence Seven Professional, maybe even higher!’
At this thought,
the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.
The shadow of death crept up her spine, and the instinct for survival instantly overwhelmed all rational thought.
ROAR!
With a low wolf’s howl, her face twisted and contorted. Her red lips seemed to tear as they stretched to the sides, revealing vicious fangs.
Her slender body suddenly swelled.
Her dress was torn apart by bulging muscles, and thick silver fur rapidly covered her snow-white skin.
In the blink of an eye, a giant wolf nearly two meters tall stood in her place, its silver beastly eyes burning with a cold, savage light in the rain.
Now, she stared at the murderer of her own brother.
The fury in her eyes was about to erupt.
"Die!"
Lilia’s own Professional Path was that of a Beastman.
This Professional Path was unique; while in her transformed state, the physical enhancement was terrifyingly powerful, but it also came with a serious drawback.
After transforming, her rationality would be affected by her beastly nature.
This was why she hadn’t fled at the first opportunity.
However, before she could even make a move, a sharp pain lanced through her abdomen.
Her expression froze.
She looked down in disbelief.
A bloody gash had appeared on her iron-hard fur, nearly slicing her in half at the waist.
It was as if her defenses were made of paper.
At that moment, a massive amount of blood gushed from the wound.
However, none of the blood fell to the ground.
It was all absorbed by the figure’s longsword.
’How is this possible?’
Intense pain assaulted her brain.
In that same instant, she lost her balance and fell backward onto the ground.
Then,
she felt the aura of death descend.
Looking up,
she saw a flash of a sword plunging straight into her forehead, pinning her to the ground.
"Ugh..."
Lilia’s eyes bulged.
She stared fixedly at the dark figure before her.
She wanted to see the person’s face clearly, but no matter how hard she tried, all she could make out was a blurry shadow.
Then, her consciousness faded away.
Soon,
only two desiccated corpses remained on the ground.
The shadowy figure merely gave them a cool glance, picked up the parchment scroll that recorded the Merfolk Path, and tossed it onto Lilia’s body.
Then, two wisps of flame erupted from the desiccated corpses.
Strangely, the flames were completely unaffected by the rain; in fact, they burned even more fiercely within the downpour.
In just a few breaths, the two bodies and the parchment were reduced to fine ashes, which were then swept up by the howling cold wind and scattered without a trace.
After doing all this, the dark figure did not linger.
Its form dissolved like ink, silently melting into the shadows in the corner of the wall, leaving no trace behind.
「A short while later.」
Several masked figures suddenly appeared at the location.
They were the Law Enforcers who had heard the commotion and rushed over.
They searched the area, but unfortunately, they found nothing—not even a trace of blood.
They only detected a faint fluctuation of Spirituality lingering in the air, confirming that Professionals had been fighting here earlier.
Faced with this situation,
these Law Enforcers didn’t linger long before turning and leaving.
The Law Enforcers were only responsible for maintaining order.
As long as these Professionals didn’t engage in large-scale slaughter of ordinary people, they couldn’t be bothered to investigate.
...
「Not long after.」
In a dark alley three streets away,
a dark figure silently emerged.
The shadows covering its body receded like a tide, gradually revealing clear facial features.
It was a Young Man with red hair and red eyes, a longsword on his back, his expression calm.
This person was none other than Hu Qi.
He had long since noticed the tracking mark they had left on the item.
On a normal day, he wouldn’t have given such a cheap trick a second thought and might have even played along with the two of them.
But in this Ten-star Novel World, with his own strength not yet fully recovered, he had to be exceptionally cautious.
Any potential threats had to be nipped in the bud.
If they had leaked any information and attracted prying eyes—or worse, the attention of the Federation or the Seven Gods Church—the consequences for him would have been endless.
Since they harbored ill intentions, there was naturally no reason to let them live.
Dealing with those two was merely a trivial interlude for Hu Qi.
He took out the vial of Sub-Dragon Blood he had obtained from Lilia.
He squeezed his five fingers lightly.
CRACK!
The next second,
the glass vial—made of a special material to prevent the Sub-Dragon Blood’s Spirituality from dissipating and as hard as diamond—shattered.
However,
the blood within did not spill.
Instead, it gathered in his palm, forming a crimson sphere.
Finally, it solidified, resembling a glass bead.
Hu Qi held this bead.
As he infused a trace of a Blood Swordsman’s Spirituality into it,
an arcane sensation immediately appeared in Hu Qi’s mind.
It was as if an invisible thread stretched out from the Blood Bead, leading to some unknown location.
Seeing this, a glint appeared in Hu Qi’s eyes.
’So, there really is a Giant Dragon still alive!’
This was precisely why Hu Qi wanted to obtain the Sub-Dragon Blood.
The tracks of a Giant Dragon are hard to find.
However, Blood Swordsmen possess the Ability to trace blood to its source, so he had nothing to worry about.
As long as he had blood as a medium, he could find the Giant Dragon that was its source.
This was all thanks to the lustful nature of dragons, which meant that even though Sub-Dragon creatures were hunted by Professionals, there were still quite a few of them around.
Otherwise, finding one would have been a real hassle.
Thinking of this,
his figure blurred into motion.
He sped off in the direction he perceived.
Before long, the towering walls of Cold Rain City were left far behind.
The uneven, rain-soaked road was like flat ground beneath his feet, having no effect on him whatsoever.
Passersby could only feel a gentle breeze brush past them; Hu Qi’s figure was completely invisible to the naked eye.
Before long,
Hu Qi, who had been speeding along, came to a halt.
He appeared on the branch of a tree.
Lifting his gaze,
not far ahead was a village shrouded in a thin mist.
A few wisps of cooking smoke curled up from stone chimneys.
A peasant woman wrapped in a coarse cloth cloak was carrying a wooden bucket toward a cowshed, while the CLANG, CLANG of a blacksmith’s hammer echoed from the distance.
’Interesting...’
Hu Qi narrowed his eyes, his fingertips stroking the Blood Bead in his hand.
’I originally thought the Giant Dragon would be hiding in an underground labyrinth or some cave.
But I never expected it to be lying dormant in a village.’
Just then,
his gaze seemed to be drawn to something.
A flash of surprise crossed his face.
’Hm? What’s this...?’