Way of the Devil

“Bam!”

Suddenly, the magic puppet before Ansaifei punched his nose.

Ansaifei wailed. He staggered and flew backward.

“I’ve forgotten to tell you that if your art doesn’t pass and the magic puppet is unhappy with it, it would give you guys a lesson,” Yati said drily.

Unfortunately, it was already too late for her to tell them about this.

The three young dragons were chased around the cave by their magic puppets. The difference in strength between the young dragons and the magic puppets was too huge. Compared to the magic puppets which were invulnerable to physical attacks and the elements, anything they used—besides rank-1 fire elemental arts—would be of no use.

When the three young dragons were beaten up, Lu Sheng notified Yati and he left the place.

Yati could already see the end to this ordeal.

Throughout the next five days, Lu Sheng gave his magic puppet one charge, while the other three young dragons were still running away from the magic puppets which were keen on giving them a beating.

Soon enough, on the fifth day, Lu Sheng’s magic puppet was fully charged. It did not show any signs of going berserk.

Yati was a responsible dragon. She kept her word and brought Lu Sheng to look at her collection.

Although Yati found Lu Sheng’s actions of only taking a single look at every single object strange, she liked this young seven-colored dragon who was quiet yet smart.

As a reward, she even gave Lu Sheng a set of books on rank-2 art module construction theories. Also, she gave him an exquisite old art book.

Lu Sheng was not interested in the former, but he was very satisfied with the latter.

The greatest use of an art book was for the user to record his own art in it.

When the art within the user’s memory had been unleashed, the user would be able to swiftly use the art book and reinsert the unleashed art into his memory.

The art books of every art user were pivotal to the establishment of their own art releasing structure.

A good art book could even increase a Sorcerer’s art quota and might.

After obtaining the art book, Lu Sheng quickly went into memorizing mode.

Currently, he had mastered dozens of arts. However, picking the right combinations for his own fighting style was not as easy as it sounded.

Throughout the process of remembering the arts, Lu Sheng noticed something. The realization made him doubt the might of the arts.

It was about the density of the elements.

***

Within the dark dragon cavern.

“Puh.”

A ball of orange flames lit up and vanished in an instant.

Lu Sheng stood silently before the simple experiment workbench he’d built. He looked at the Artifact he’d made which was constantly spewing out flames like a flamethrower. He was lost in thought.

‘The fire element has been converted into flames. Within an hour, if someone in the vicinity of this cave instantly unleashes 10 shots of rank-3 fire elemental arts, the fire element’s concentration around here will be reduced by eight percent.’

Lu Sheng could already see the limits the elements’ concentration imposed on the art users.

There was a fatal weakness to the arcane arts. They relied on external elements to unleash powerful might.

Once the elements in the surroundings became too thin, the might of the art released would certainly decrease.

‘This is a problem. There’s also the deities behind the magic net. They’re a problem as well…’ Lu Sheng sighed.

‘Initially, I didn’t want to rely on Deep Blue this time and climb up the ranks with my own effort. However, I’m left with no other choice now…’

He was feeling depressed.

However, the circumstances gave him no other option. If he did not derive a new path and continued on this one, he would certainly be limited by the deities in the future. He would also be influenced by the environment.

This was not a path that he wanted.

‘There’s always someone forcing my hand. All I wanted was to work hard, fair and square, for once. Why can’t I even have this opportunity?’

Lu Sheng felt helpless. He truly did not want to activate Deep Blue anymore.

Deep Blue almost made him lose interest in improving. This was a poison. It could even be akin to an addiction.

That was why he decided to cut down on that in this world. However, he did not expect that…

‘Forget it. I should first think about any way to overcome these two problems. Can I bypass the magic net and utilize the elemental energy directly? If I can, I’d be able to avoid the magic net.’ Lu Sheng put his earlier notion aside and started to think.

‘As for the problem of the concentration of the elements, perhaps I can refer to the dragons’ respiratory organs. I might be able to compress the elements and store them inside my body in another form. Then, I can spit them out when needed.’ He quickly found the direction in which he could derive.

When he thought of a way, Lu Sheng immediately put it to the test.

“Deep Blue.”

He light blue interface immediately popped up before his eyes.

‘Let’s try to modify something I’m skilled in, say, Dragon Fire.’ He extended his right claw and started constructing Dragon Fire’s art module with his mind power.

Because he was no longer using the magic net, Lu Sheng had to complete the subsequent steps himself.

Without the help of the magic net to save him time, Dragon Fire, which he could have activated instantly before, had taken him a dozen minutes just to create one shot.

At the very least, he succeeded.

“Fuh!”

A ball of red flames danced on his hand.

Lu Sheng sighed in relief.

‘As long as it works. I was worried that I won’t be able to form a frame if the fireball doesn’t materialize.’ His gaze quickly fell onto the end of Deep Blue’s interface.

A new frame gradually appeared there.

“Primeval Dragon Fire, Initiation. (Special traits. Continuous Burn.)”

This was a standalone frame of the art. In truth, throughout the years, Lu Sheng had noticed that the frames which appeared in Deep Blue were based on individual arts.

‘As I expected… Well then, shall I try and derive it?’ Lu Sheng gave it some thought. He slowly pushed the modifier’s modify button.

**********

“Swoosh.”

Several seven-colored dragons beat their wings and flew away from the mountain range.

Their bodies were only the size of sesame seeds when seen at an altitude of several thousand meters. They seemed insignificant.

The wind roared. The temperature dropped drastically from when they were closer to the ground.

In a pine forest several kilometers from the White Jersey Mountain Ranges.

Several strong-looking silhouettes in black cloaks looked up at the leaving seven-colored dragons.

“It’s time. This group of seven-colored dragons always go out hunting at this hour. The seven-colored dragons that travel outside are the most powerful ones, while the old and frail are left behind. At most, there would be some younglings and young dragons. Now is our chance!”

A big and tall man could hardly contain his excitement as he spoke.

“The old seven-colored dragons aren’t easy to deal with.” Another person in a dark green cloak lowered his head while cleaning a twisted and thick wooden longbow.

“Even 10 times our collective strength won’t hold a candle to the old dragons’ power,” the person continued. “However, there are always changes and loopholes in all situations. I’ve got word that a red dragon in the area is very dissatisfied with the seven-colored dragons for having established their territory too close to his. That red dragon will also aid us in our current mission.”

“Are you certain!?”

“A hundred percent,” the person continued.

“Can that red dragon deal with an old seven-colored dragon?”

“Who knows? As long as we’re able to snatch a few young dragons during the commotion, it’ll be our greatest gain.”

“You’re right. Ever since the War of the Hundred Tribes, the seven-colored dragons’ prices have risen again. If we can get our hands on two of them, we’ll be able to kick back and relax for the rest of our lives,” the largest and tallest man who’d spoken in the beginning said in his deep voice.

“The seven-colored dragons are the quickest in sensing elemental magic power. Is the element-isolating Beast Tooth Chain ready?”

“Of course!”

“Then, any time now…”

His voice barely faded when all of them looked up at the skies.

Right above their heads, a mammoth red dragon more than 30 meters long was slowly beating its wings and flying toward the White Jersey Mountain Range.

“It’s the red dragon Jelir!”

“Let’s go! Here’s our chance!” The leading man straightened his body and dashed toward the seven-colored dragons’ nest.

***

“They’re out! They’re all out!” Ansaifei was scratching his own head in frustration.

“This is frustrating! Why can’t we go out!?”

Suddenly, a voice in the darkness asked, “Do you want to go out that badly?”

“Of course! But with the elder looking over us, I can’t run away at all!” Ansaifei answered reflexively.

“Really? But there aren’t any elders right now.” The voice suddenly let out a sharp snicker.

“Ansaifei! Run!” Suddenly, Sari’s scream reached him from outside the cave.

Ansaifei’s expression froze for a second. He did not even have the time to react when a large piece of black cloth descended upon him.

At the same time, a dense bewildering fragrance invaded his mind.

Shortly after, he lost all strength in his limbs. He did not even have the strength to stand. He could only fall limply to the ground.

“Hehe, we’ve got another one! This is too easy!” said one of the black figures with a snicker.

“Pick up the pace. Fortunately, the red dragon is helping us deal with the ancient dragon,” said another deep voice.

Ansaifei felt his own wings being pulled on as he was tied upside down on a metallic rod. Sari and Bog were also bound.

‘These… These humans! Their jobs must be at least Gold rank-10!’ As he sensed the powerful energy waves from these black figures, Ansaifei’s heart shuddered.

“Teacher… Teacher! Where are you guys!?”

“There’s another one in a cave further away. Quick!”

“Be careful of the ancient dragon!”

“I know!”

The black figures carried the three young dragons that resembled great lizards. They quickly charged toward the cave of another young dragon.

With a veteran among them, hunting seven-colored dragons was not a difficult thing to do.

***

“Original Dragon Fire +999, Complete. (Special trait. Continuous Burning. Accelerated Release.)”

Lu Sheng stroked his chin as he looked at the rank-1 art in the frame with a frown.

When he was upgrading the art, he had gotten used to inputting Mental Energy units by the thousands before this. Hence, this time, he inserted 1,000 Mental Energy units as well…

When he realized what he had done, it was already the scene before him…

This art… Its might had far surpassed his expectations.

‘Is the strengthening by Mental Energy merely an addition of the number of arts? How do I go about overcoming the problem with the elements’ concentration, then?’

Lu Sheng quickly discovered the solution Deep Blue gave him.

He noticed a bump on his chest.

It was a fleshy lump the size of his claw. Fire elemental energy equivalent to 1000 shots of Dragon Fire was surging within it. He could see the dark red elements flowing within through his skin.

‘One lump for one shot. I’ll have to recharge it every time I use it up, is it?’ Lu Sheng instantly understood Deep Blue’s solution.

He looked at his own chest. He imagined what he would do if he was fighting against an enemy.

‘This is practically modifying the art into a cultivation method…’ Lu Sheng was feeling completely helpless.

Deriving one art left him with one lump. If he derived 10 arts, would he not be left with 10 lumps?

If he derived 100 arts, there would be 100 lumps!?

Lumps that grew on his chest…