But this one taste was enough to get it completely hooked. It could no longer stand the sight of its beastly partners.
For hundreds of years, countless women became its playthings.
It had thought this life would continue forever.
However, an unexpected encounter over a decade ago changed everything.
She was an extraordinary human woman—beautiful and gentle.
In her presence, the millennia-old Giant Dragon felt its heart stir for the first time.
To its utter surprise, the woman became pregnant with its child. It was unclear if this was due to it devouring the corpse of that human Druid or because of the woman’s unique Physique.
As a member of the High-level Dragon Race, it possessed a natural ability to sense its own Bloodline.
Thus, there was no possibility of it being deceived into raising another’s child.
That human woman was Ville’s biological mother.
Knowing that Gass was a Giant Dragon, she still wanted to bear its child.
The outcome was no surprise at all.
Perhaps a mortal body was simply too fragile.
In the end, Ville drained all of her life essence from within the womb, reducing her to a withered corpse.
As for the Giant Dragon, a lingering affection for its deceased love, combined with the prospect of a unique half-human heir, led it to also scheme about grooming him as a pawn to infiltrate the human world.
That was why it had placed Ville in this village to be raised as a human.
But as time went on,
it slowly accepted Ville’s existence, and a hint of paternal affection began to grow.
In the eyes of the Giant Dragon Gass, this was a poignant and moving love story.
But in Hu Qi’s eyes,
this was nothing more than a trashy, absurd farce that trampled on all human decency.
It had no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
’This kind of interspecies romance is despicable! It’s damnable!’
Hu Qi shook his head.
All of this took a while to recount,
but Hu Qi processed the entire story in the span of a few breaths.
Back in the present, Hu Qi pulled out his longsword and took half a step back.
With that, the last of the Giant Dragon Gass’s Life Force ebbed away. Its massive body crashed to the ground, sending mud and water flying.
Compared to before,
the Giant Dragon’s body had shriveled and decayed,
looking as if it had been dead for a long time.
Seeing this,
Hu Qi turned to leave.
BANG!
The next second,
a tree stump thick enough for a man to wrap his arms around came flying and embedded itself diagonally in the ground before Hu Qi.
Muddy water shot ten feet into the air, and the splatter left several stains on his clothes.
The angled stump blocked his path.
"Sorry, but you can’t leave just yet!"
Amidst the pattering rain, a mocking voice suddenly pierced the downpour.
Hu Qi turned to look.
Not far off, a dark-skinned Young Man with dreadlocks stepped out from behind a collapsed wall.
Rain fell, but strangely, it slid away to the sides about a foot and a half above his head,
as if he were wearing an invisible raincoat.
At this moment,
the two long sabers at his waist were already unsheathed, held in a reverse grip. His posture seemed casual, but he gave off the feeling of a venomous snake ready to strike.
Clearly, he was the one who had thrown the stump.
"Let me introduce myself. I’m a Federation Agent from Cold Rain City."
The dreadlocked man’s gaze was firmly locked on Hu Qi.
His eyes shone with unconcealed malice.
"I’ll give you two choices: First, come back to the city with me obediently and explain what happened here.
Second, be beaten to death by me right here."
Coincidentally, he was originally nearby pursuing a Cultist. After noticing the commotion here, he rushed over immediately.
He had witnessed almost the entire process of Hu Qi slaying the Giant Dragon.
At first, he didn’t plan to show himself.
But when he noticed the ashen color on the Giant Dragon’s body, he immediately realized that Hu Qi had only defeated the Giant Dragon with the help of Fallen Dragon Liquid, not by his own strength.
At this realization, his mind started racing.
Although the Spirituality he exuded was only at Sequence Six, the unique nature of his Professional path placed him among the top tier of his rank.
As for the Spirituality fluctuations emanating from Hu Qi, they were merely Sequence Seven.
He couldn’t possibly be a match for him.
As for the choices he offered, no matter which one Hu Qi chose, cooperation or not, it would not end well for him.
Hu Qi only had himself to blame for killing a Giant Dragon and having the misfortune of being seen.
In response,
Hu Qi stood his ground, merely giving the man a calm glance.
The corners of his mouth turned up slightly, revealing a gentle smile.
"Is that so? But I don’t want to choose either of the options you gave me."
Hearing Hu Qi’s words,
the dreadlocked man’s expression turned cold, and he was about to retort.
However, Hu Qi’s figure in the distance suddenly blurred and then dissipated on the spot.
No, it wasn’t a disappearance.
It was the visual afterimage created by a body breaking the sound barrier!
What remained was merely Hu Qi’s afterimage.
The moment he understood this, the dreadlocked man was suddenly overcome by a fatal sense of crisis.
’When...?!!’
The dreadlocked Young Man’s pupils contracted violently.
Instincts honed from years of life-and-death battles reacted before his thoughts could.
He crossed his two sabers before him, simultaneously bending his knees to brace for impact.
CLANG—!!!
The next instant,
the explosive clang of metal on metal shattered the curtain of rain in a fifteen-foot radius.
Sparks erupting from the point of impact drew several long golden trails in the rain.
The ground beneath the dreadlocked Young Man’s feet caved in instantly. A circular shockwave spread out, atomizing the surrounding puddles into a fine mist.
—Aaargh!
The Young Man’s eyes looked ready to pop from their sockets, veins bulged on his neck, and his entire face was a mask of utter terror.
Less than three feet away, Hu Qi’s figure had appeared like a phantom.
His expression was calm, his eyes glowed with a strange Crimson light, and he pressed down with his sword in both hands, a violent gale sweeping out to both sides.
To the Young Man, the sword felt impossibly heavy, like a mountain crashing down on him.
’This power... it’s impossible for a Sequence Seven!’
A terrifying thought exploded in the Young Man’s mind.
’Has he been hiding his strength all this time?’
As he thought of this,
the fear of death coiled around his heart like a venomous snake, sending shivers down his spine.
"Stop! You can’t kill me, I’m..."
Before he could finish, the piercing shriek of snapping metal filled the air.
CLANG!
The pair of long sabers in the Young Man’s hands, sharp enough to cut iron like mud, snapped in two.
At the same time, a blinding white light flashed past his eyes, so fast it almost transcended the limits of time.
PATTER! PATTER!
The rain continued to fall.
Only this time, the rain was no longer blocked and fell all over the dreadlocked man, soaking his clothes and leaving dark patches.
Hu Qi sheathed his sword with an indifferent expression and turned to leave.
His back receded into the rain, as if everything that had just happened had nothing to do with him.
SQUELCH!
The sound of tearing flesh was particularly piercing amidst the quiet rain.
Only then did the Young Man’s lips tremble slightly.
"Such... such a fast sword..."
Before he could finish his sentence, his body suddenly shattered like porcelain.
The gushing blood was drawn by an invisible force before it could hit the ground and was completely absorbed into the scabbard on Hu Qi’s back.
In the rain, only a withered corpse in two halves was left to fall heavily into the mud with a dull thud.
Suddenly,
as if sensing something, Hu Qi paused and looked up at the sky.
In the vision of the Eye of Tempered Blade,
a figure like a meteor was tearing through the clouds, rapidly approaching his location.
He keenly sensed that this was at least a Sequence Five Professional.
Seeing this,
Hu Qi’s figure flickered and instantly sank into the shadows on the ground, fleeing into the distance.
While fleeing,
a thought crossed his mind.
He called up the Crimson modification panel.
His gaze fell directly on the ’Godslayer Sequence’ column.
...
Back at the scene,
no more than three breaths after Hu Qi vanished, another figure suddenly appeared.
"Hm?!"
The newcomer froze upon seeing the scene.
This was a young man dressed in armor, with long, loose hair and a slightly androgynous appearance.
His gaze swept around.
Then he precisely locked onto the direction in which Hu Qi had fled.
His face, with its soft, almost feminine features, showed no trace of emotion.
"You dare kill a Federation Agent? You’re not getting away!"
Before the words had faded,
an extremely cold Domain suddenly unfolded, enveloping the area.
Hu Qi, who was traveling through the shadow space, suddenly froze.
The shadow space abruptly collapsed,
and he was forcibly ejected in that instant.