Chapter 344: Offspring?

Chapter 344: Offspring?

A tearing wind howl erupted from Windwhisper Valley. A Purification Magic spell prepared by the Sanctuary Church had not even reached Windwhisper Valley before it was shattered by a wind blade. That’s right… a wind blade. It made the Spellcasters who had prepared for so long feel a pang of sorrow.

Their Purification Magic, prepared for half a day, was just destroyed by a single wind blade!?

And it was taken out so effortlessly. If it had held out for a bit, it would have been somewhat comforting. Couldn’t it have been a little less straightforward?

In any case, this wind blade served as a warning to everyone. Don’t think about entering Windwhisper Valley through normal means. Even Saintess Deya would choose to avoid such intense wind blade attacks rather than face them head-on. Of course, avoiding them wouldn’t be simple either. That wind blade might have shattered the magic easily, but considering the Wind Dragonfly’s Innate Ability, it could easily perform a 360-degree spin.

“We need to find a way to deal with those Wind Dragonflies first…” Achille thought. The Wind Dragonflies were a huge problem. Hidden by the gray mist, he didn’t know how many had taken action just now. When Windwhisper Valley was intact, the Wind Dragonflies were scattered. Every part of Windwhisper Valley could produce Windhowl Stones, and a single Windhowl Stone was enough for a Wind Dragonfly to digest for a long time.

So they didn’t compete much with each other and remained dispersed. Back then, dealing with them one by one was easy. Now, Achille estimated that all the Wind Dragonflies in Windwhisper Valley had gathered together. Anyone trying to break in would face ruthless, lethal attacks.

Those things were the perfect Guardians.

There must be something the Undying Witch valued deeply here, something that couldn’t be moved!

As Achille pondered, another report came in. The contents gave him a headache. The idea of entering Windwhisper Valley from underground was also out of the question. The underground Wind Element Vein seemed to have been stimulated by something and became extremely unstable. While it wasn’t on the verge of collapsing, it couldn’t withstand much disturbance either. Moreover, this Wind Element Vein was extremely pure…

As for why no one had mined here before? Simple—the Wind Dragonflies were watching. Make even a slight move, and the consequence would be a full-scale assault from a swarm of Wind Dragonflies. Who would dare to mine under the constant threat of natural disasters?

With the Wind Element Vein now raging, tunneling was no longer an option. While digging, one might accidentally strike a violent Wind Element turbulence with a single shovel, potentially triggering the Leyline?

Well… this was a Wind Element Vein, not a Fire Element or Thunder Element Vein. It couldn’t be detonated so easily. Triggering an explosion here would be genuinely difficult, and the consequences would be severe. If an Elemental Vein detonated cleanly, the local terrain would simply change. If not cleanly?

Then it would be like an area struck by a Nuclear Bomb—unless you were unafraid of nuclear radiation and willing to live there.

In terms of detonating Elemental Veins, Fire Element Veins were the least likely to leave residues. Next were Earth Elemental Veins, followed by Water Element Veins.

Wind Element and Thunder Element Veins were the most troublesome. When a Wind Element Vein detonated, it wouldn’t explode in the traditional sense but would cause the Wind Element Power to go completely berserk. This frenzied state would “blow away” most other elements in a large area. An over-concentration of a single element’s power would lead to frequent natural disasters of that attribute in the area.

These disasters weren’t just strong winds or hurricanes, occasionally spawning tornadoes and such. Often, the wind might seem normal, but it would be infused with berserk Elemental Power. Ordinary people couldn’t touch this solidified Elemental Power—it was like “nuclear radiation” to them.

As for Thunder Elements… well, they would simply turn the area into a thunder pool… So the Undying Witch really picked a great place. The idea of triggering an explosion had crossed Achille’s mind. At most, it would require evacuating everyone from Kaja and nearby towns.

However, the likelihood of implementing this was minuscule. The Empire would not easily give up a large territory. After detonating an Ore Vein, the area would be unusable for at least a hundred years.

Better to figure things out slowly. First, understand the activity patterns of the transformed Wind Dragonflies to find a way to counter them. At the very least, they needed to lure them out one by one, reducing their numbers to a safe level before sending the Saintess in to wreak havoc.

Without the Wind Dragonflies, exploring Windwhisper Valley would be much easier. As for the buried Ore Vein underground… triggering that type of Ore Vein was difficult. Achille analyzed that if they really wanted to detonate the Ore Vein, the key still lay with the Wind Dragonflies. Their abilities resonated with the Wind Element Vein, forcing it to explode.

After all, these Wind Dragonflies had lived in Windwhisper Valley for years, feeding on Windhowl Stones to grow. Their Mana was very similar to the Wind Element Vein in this area. Only they had the potential to trigger the Ore Vein’s explosion in a short time.

“Did you make this?” Inside Kaja City, Annie stared at a glass container Zheng Yichen had placed before her. The container was filled with a pale green liquid brimming with vitality, sustaining the activity of what was soaked inside.

It was a pair of red eyes. Around the pupils was a black ring with nothing additional on it. However, Annie could tell something else was hidden within that black ring. She couldn’t discern its function—or perhaps it had no function at all!

“Ah~ It took a lot of effort.” Zheng Yichen nodded. For this related design, he had struggled for a long time to complete the “Mountain Stronghold·Functionally Deficient·Auto-Activating·Insight Eye”…

“What does it do?” Annie examined the two eyes, which closely resembled human eyeballs. The outer layer showed no traces, but subtle marks on the surface revealed clues. Inside, there were many obvious joint lines, but the joining technique was good, and the fusion was seamless without conflicts. With a carrier to use them, the joint marks would likely smooth out in about two to three months. If she had made them, there wouldn’t be such flaws.

For a beginner like Zheng Yichen, this was quite impressive.

“Superior Dynamic Vision and Insight, capable of finely capturing subtle movements of living creatures. Additionally, element vision to see the flow of Elemental Power.”

“…” Annie fell into deep thought. She had already guessed what materials Zheng Yichen used. After a long while, she stared straight at Zheng Yichen. “Although I never considered it, with some special methods, even with a dragon, one could produce offspring…”

Crack—

The ground beneath her feet split open with a flash of black lightning, leaving no dust behind from the destruction.

“It’s not about mating. No need to get so worked up, right?” Annie looked down at the new gap in the floor, meeting Loris’s gaze from the lower level.

“What’s special about him is his Soul. Your idea is meaningless.” Loris said coldly.

“The body can influence the Soul, and the Soul can influence the body. Otherwise, how could the offspring of some heroes inherit their Talents?” Annie spoke in a professional tone. “I recall he also hatched from a Dragon Egg, right? Even as a Cursed Dragon, it only meant he couldn’t inherit some things from the Dragon Clan, not that his body couldn’t inherit certain traits from him. So my idea is feasible.”

“Stop talking. Even if it’s feasible, you might not live to enjoy it.” Zheng Yichen noticed Loris’s expression growing colder and rapped Annie on the head to stop her.

“Let me tell you, if anyone else dared to do this, I would’ve turned them into a specimen long ago!”

“I’m not Human anymore.” Zheng Yichen rolled his eyes and grabbed the container beside him. “If you won’t listen, I’m leaving.”

“We’ll discuss offspring another day. Let’s focus on the present.” Annie nodded seriously. The reason she had such thoughts was that she genuinely felt it was unfair. As a beginner, modifying a Magical Beast’s eye to make it compatible with another species—even if you didn’t consider how much of the original traits were retained, just making it functional would be considered outstanding talent.

But now Zheng Yichen had produced eyes with triple characteristics. A monstrous genius? Well… if that were truly the case, she wouldn’t have other thoughts. The key was this guy’s aptitude was average, yet he managed to create something even experts in the Life Domain would struggle to produce.

It wasn’t exceptional talent; it was purely due to his ability. Such capability made her not just envious but eager to obtain it! Desire? Only the weak hide their desires. She had no need for that. Of course, desires must be restrained. Indulging in everything only makes one a puppet of desire.

“How much of the original traits do these eyes retain?”

“Huh? Do we need to consider how much is retained? I don’t think I tested that…” Zheng Yichen scratched his head.

“…Let me see your research notes first.”

Annie took Zheng Yichen’s research notes and quickly skimmed through them. The notes weren’t meticulously organized, but she was a professional. Even if messy, they were easy to understand. “Apart from the core parts of the eye, other seemingly unimportant parts also have core characteristics. You casually removed them, leaving only the core. Probably about eighty percent of the original traits remain. Generally, fifty percent is good, seventy percent is excellent, and perfect retention is over ninety percent. But that requires more delicate techniques. You’re not at that level yet, and there’s no need to learn such skills—too troublesome…”