Chapter 220: Choosing the More Troublesome

Chapter 220: Choosing the More Troublesome

When Zheng Yichen arrived at the place Dan Marina pointed out, he was so exhausted he could only gasp for breath. To reach the destination within a limited time, Zheng Yichen had pushed himself to the limit to fly this time. After calculating the effects of wind resistance and elemental resistance…

Zheng Yichen simply gave up on the Magic Shield. Overall, the elemental resistance was still higher…

Zheng Yichen looked at the area before him, feeling quite confused as he glanced around. The scenery here was quite nice, but where were the people?

“Let me tell you first, the Witch we’re looking for is a pure kind of Witch.” Instead of explaining Zheng Yichen’s confusion, Dan Marina started talking about the Witch, making Zheng Yichen raise his eyebrows.

“How so? Are there pure and impure kinds of Witches?”

“Huh? Believe it or not, with just a sentence like that from you, a bolt of lightning would immediately strike from the sky?” Dan Marina laughed exaggeratedly. “Let me put it this way: she doesn’t have those special abilities, like my Tracing Ability, Loris’s destruction, the Undying Witch’s soul, or Qin’s emotion ability. She doesn’t have abilities in these areas.”

“Then what kind of Witch is she?”

“That’s why she’s pure. She possesses the Witch’s Power, but doesn’t have any special abilities… Well, it’s not that she doesn’t have any; it’s just that her ability is somewhat unique. Unlike ours, which can affect people or things, her ability only influences Magic. To put it simply, we Witches have unique advantages in learning Magic, but she amplifies this advantage to the extreme.”

“Any Magic in her hands can be quickly mastered and then raised to an extremely proficient level. While others might take months or even years to reach that height, she only needs a few days.”

“I’m starting to get interested in this Witch you’re talking about.” Zheng Yichen grinned. He admitted he felt envious of such a Talent. Why did Zheng Yichen think Magic was convenient daily but troublesome in battle? Wasn’t it because of the proficiency issue!

If the proficiency problem could be ignored, Zheng Yichen guaranteed that every Spellcaster in this world could be considered an all-element mage, rather than being forced to specialize in one element due to energy constraints. Some Mages might spend their entire lives mastering no more than a hundred spells—some might not even reach a few dozen!

That’s because many spells had similar effects, with the main difference being a greater tendency in certain aspects. For example, some fire Magic had power ful instant burst effects, while another spell of the same level was more effective in continuous ignition. Others had large burning ranges or combined two of the three characteristics mentioned above.

The choice of these spells simply meant prioritizing certain developments early on. It was impossible to learn and master all of them just to pursue many effects. Otherwise, with so many spells, one could never achieve comprehensive mastery in a lifetime, and might even end up being mediocre in all due to the sheer number.

So, as Zheng Yichen gained a deeper understanding of Magic, he felt that using Magic in battle wasn’t very effective—except for bullying weaker opponents. In contrast, Magic was quite convenient in daily life. Wanting to take a bath? A water-based spell was enough, and he could even control the water flow from the spell to scrub his body in detail. After washing, no water stains remained on his Scales. How convenient!

Using such Magic in battle was just showing off…

So Zheng Yichen often thought, how great would it be if he had a Talent that allowed him to master spells immediately upon learning? At that time, wouldn’t he be able to create whatever Magic Arms he wanted? Wouldn’t max-level Magic Arms require others to grind proficiency?

Unfortunately, such thoughts could only be entertained in the Dreamscape. Now, Dan Marina was telling him about a Witch like this? Zheng Yichen felt envy and jealousy!

“Interested? Huh, aren’t you afraid the one at home will be unhappy? Let me tell you, Loris can be a bit petty…”

“I’m a damn dragon!” Zheng Yichen growled angrily, shaking his head and glancing at his body, his expression growing even more resentful. Damn it, I’m a dragon! A dragon! Does that mean in the future I can only find a Mother Dragon? Crap, even if his aesthetic sense was distorted, his body showed no signs of growth anymore. Barring any surprises, his physical limit was likely fixed.

Well… To put it simply, Zheng Yichen had always been mistaken for a Juvenile Dragon. In reality, he was only the same size as a Juvenile Dragon. Without having gone through a hibernation period, strictly speaking, Zheng Yichen was still a Young Dragon!

“If not a dragon, would you want to be human?”

“Do I have such a chance?”

“Of course not!” Dan Marina said bluntly. “Do you think any existence can bear a Soul strong enough to drive a Dragon Body? Other Souls would be distorted by the Dragon Body, but that doesn’t mean a normal body wouldn’t be distorted by a Soul…”

Zheng Yichen curled his lip and immediately understood what Dan Marina meant. It was just like the effect of force—whichever side was stronger could exert greater influence on the other. Speaking of which, his Soul could drive a Dragon Body… In every sense, he wasn’t ordinary, was he?

Thinking this way, he felt quite impressive?

“Soul distorting a body… What would that look like?” Zheng Yichen asked curiously.

Dan Marina didn’t beat around the bush and replied directly, “Think of it as using pure force to mold a hard stone into another shape.”

Zheng Yichen understood instantly. Using pure force to mold a stone—ordinary people definitely couldn’t do it, but Zheng Yichen could easily mold it. However, since it was a hard stone, forcing it into another shape would just turn it into rubble. It was stone, not soft clay!

“Can’t I find a clay block?”

“There’s no such thing as a clay block in this context—only stones.” Dan Marina affirmed. “Unless you find a stone you can’t mold and that can’t overwhelm you, otherwise either you’ll be unlucky or the carrier will be harmed. Of course, if that balance is broken one day, something will still go wrong.”

Her words made Zheng Yichen a bit worried. Could his current situation be like what Dan Marina described? Was his Soul unharmed simply because the Dragon Body wasn’t strong enough to crush him? Was the Dragon Body unharmed because his Soul Strength wasn’t strong enough to distort this body?

He really wanted to describe his situation and learn more about his own condition from Dan Marina in detail, but this woman… Forget it, he’d ask Loris later. After all, she knew his background, and asking her wouldn’t be stressful. The woman before him was different.

Seeing Zheng Yichen deep in thought, Dan Marina slightly curled her lip. Indeed, the Little Dragon still didn’t fully trust her—at least not as much as he trusted Loris. Otherwise, Zheng Yichen wouldn’t be puzzled; he’d ask directly.

“Let’s not talk about this. Since we’re here, how do we find her?”

“Well, just wait here. This is her home, after all. How could she sit still after you brought the Fate-Killer here and it caused problems? Just wait… Oh dear?”

As soon as Dan Marina finished speaking, a bolt of lightning struck beside her. Zheng Yichen saw clearly that this thumb-thick bolt of lightning wasn’t intentionally off-target; it was diverted by some force. Its initial target had been the top of Dan Marina’s head!

This was also Dan Marina’s passive skill in her normal state—Dodge Max. It wasn’t that she dodged; attacks targeting her actively “avoided” her. With such an ability, it was impossible for others to sneak attack her unless their power was strong enough to ignore this passive of hers.

This was also why Loris’s simple attacks, those dark red dots, all missed earlier. It wasn’t until she used an unavoidable attack that it took effect. Even then, Dan Marina only ruined one piece of clothing.

Overall, this woman might not have strong frontal combat power, but her survival ability was top-notch.

“See? She’s already out to welcome us.”

“…” Zheng Yichen silently looked at the crystallized part of the ground, a result of the lightning strike. The power of this lightning was evident—it was clearly aimed at smashing Dan Marina’s skull. How hated was this woman that she received such a “welcome” everywhere she went?

“Leave this place.” A gentle female voice came from all directions. Lily looked around in confusion.

“Where’s the voice coming from?”

“Here, this way.” Dan Marina casually pointed in a direction.

“…” The mysterious atmosphere created by the voice coming from all directions instantly vanished with Dan Marina’s casual pointing. After all, her action made Lily feel, “Ah, so it was found so easily. It’s nothing special after all.”

Knowing her hiding spot was exposed, a girl wearing a large hooded cloak stepped out from invisibility. The large hood covered most of her face; all Zheng Yichen could see was a strand of deep blue hair spilling out from her hood… See her face? Honestly, with Zheng Yichen’s several-meter height, he’d probably have to press his head against the ground to see the face of this girl who was less than 1.6 meters tall.

But what would that mean? Asking for trouble. Since he had gained a clearer understanding of a Witch’s power, it was better not to act recklessly around a Witch he wasn’t familiar with and whose temperament he didn’t know. It was better for everyone.

“Dan Marina, what are you doing here… and bringing such a troublesome thing?” Knowing the identity of the Witch before her, the girl didn’t continue her mysterious act. She directly pulled down her hood, revealing a pair of golden eyes that emitted a faint, misty glow when opened. She looked up at Dan Marina with dissatisfaction and questioned her.

“There’s something I want to ask of you.”

“No!” The girl flatly refused without even wanting to hear more. Dan Marina wasn’t surprised. She reached out and patted Zheng Yichen’s calf. “In that case, we’ll have to reluctantly stay here for ten days or half a month. After all, you can’t drive us away.”

Zheng Yichen saw intense resentment on the girl’s face.

“Speak. What do you want?”

“Help me open a Magic Barrier.”

“That’s very troublesome.” The girl frowned slightly and glanced at Zheng Yichen… or rather, at the small Fate-Killer he was holding. Even though she didn’t know much about that thing, she had good judgment. If the Fate-Killer erupted here, this place where she had lived for years would instantly become a forbidden land. It wouldn’t necessarily affect the environment, but clearly, no one could stay here. Anyone coming here would be caught in strange, inexplicable events—definitely not good. This was why she strongly opposed Dan Marina bringing such a troublesome thing here.

Of course, Dan Marina herself was also partly to blame. As for others who accidentally wandered here, she would only use discreet means to quietly transfer them out. They wouldn’t remember anything about this place.

Although she lived in seclusion, she wasn’t completely ignorant of outside events. She knew about the previous Witch Hunt, the dragon who influenced the Witch Hunt, and even the secret matter of Dan Marina breaking free from the Sanctuary Church’s control. Recently, the reappearance of the Undying Witch was no secret either; it was very easy to find out.

But what did that have to do with her? If there was any connection, it was only with Dan Marina. That connection was something Dan Marina had shamelessly established back then. In truth, the girl often didn’t care about it. Since the connection existed, it was fine to keep it. Dan Marina was very annoying, but her ability might be needed someday.

“Troublesome or not, as long as it’s doable.”

“The question is, why should I do it?” The girl’s golden eyes met Dan Marina’s gaze, still looking up…

“Ha, do you want me to squat down and talk to you slowly?” Dan Marina chuckled softly. Zheng Yichen keenly noticed that after Dan Marina said this, the girl’s deep blue hair seemed to brighten slightly. Sensing carefully, Zheng Yichen didn’t know what to say. Was that hair? It was practically ultra-high-concentration Mana Crystal! Zheng Yichen had no doubt that if the girl before him plucked a single strand of hair, it could be used like a Magic Core or magic crystal from a Magical Beast.

No, no, it might even be more exaggerated. Witches—each one was so special. Although the Dragon Clan was full of treasures, the girl before him had hair this powerful; it seemed even more impressive.

“No reason. We can simply pretend you never appeared and stay here for a few days. Which do you think is more troublesome: driving us away or helping out?”

“I choose the more troublesome one.” The girl said coldly.

“Pah! I never knew you were so tough before. How about this: afterward, this dragon and the Fate-Killer will be available for you to study, okay? You’re very interested in that thing too, right?” Dan Marina said, winking at Zheng Yichen.

Zheng Yichen was slightly taken aback and barely held back the words he almost spat out. You’re treating me like a commodity!

“…Fine.”