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墨書 Inktalez
The red dragon and similar creatures possessed an innate ability to search for living beings. Their sense of smell was fundamental, and their hearing was remarkably acute. Upon hearing the sound of stones, the red dragon swooped down towards the waterfall, soaring above the trees while slowly sniffing the air for lingering scents to locate its enemy.
"Thank you," the female doctor said softly.
"If something happens to you, I worry Uncle He will come after me," Cui Ming replied, then tossed the female doctor outside, making his escape. Look how easily he discarded her without a second thought; for his own survival, he had to sacrifice her. He had even told her to be quiet, yet she still thanked him. Did she think those big ears of hers were just for show?
Would she live or die? Cui Ming had already calculated this while speaking. The first possibility was that if the Lich did not intervene and he didn’t throw the female doctor away, she would die, and he would use his ultimate move to escape. The second possibility was that if the Lich intervened, he would survive, and so would she. Thus, whether he threw her or not would lead to the same outcome.
So why throw her? First, it was a habit formed from spending too much time with Feng; he felt overly confident and worried that the female doctor might develop some emotional attachment to him. Objectively speaking, after experiencing a life-and-death situation together during the red dragon's attack, she would likely have a significantly altered impression of him. Secondly, by throwing the female doctor away, the chances of the Lich intervening increased. Thirdly, Cui Ming liked his two attitudes from earlier. The first attitude was that in a safe situation, he would fight for the Lich and protect the female doctor. The second attitude was that in a dangerous situation, he would resolutely abandon his promises to the Lich and discard the female doctor. This was human nature; while the Lich might not appreciate such self-serving behavior, people like Cui Ming who pursued their own interests were easier to manipulate than those with high moral standards. If Cui Ming were someone willing to sacrifice his life to save the female doctor, it would only deepen the Lich's distrust because nothing the Lich did could be considered moral.
To be precise, this wasn’t just Cui Ming’s ability to adapt on the spot; during his flight through the forest while being chased by the red dragon, he had already devised a plan to escape and calculated his survival odds. On his way back, he considered the possibility of being pursued by the red dragon along with the female doctor. However, Cui Ming had to admit that he hadn’t anticipated her thanking him; it all happened too quickly. Should he commend her moral character or scorn her for her untimeliness? Of course, it wasn’t entirely her fault; after all, she had never encountered such a large creature before.
The Lich appeared, standing between the red dragon and the female doctor. A surge of power sent her safely to the ground while a faint green light bound the red dragon in midair. The dragon struggled and roared as the Lich remained unfazed; waves of green explosions erupted from its body with soft 'pops,' like gentle kisses on its skin but occurring in rapid succession until they formed a continuous sound. In four seconds, the red dragon's body exploded into blood, bones, and flesh that turned into powder, blooming into a beautiful crimson flower in midair before drifting downwards. The water below was instantly stained red.
Impressive—just as expected—Cui Ming felt no shock and knew this wasn’t even the Lich’s true power. Watching Zhir transform into sunlight and battle against a Mage was where true mastery lay.
The Lich turned and saw Cui Ming. "Recently, large creatures have been entering my Shadow Island; you should be careful."
"Thank you, Uncle He."
The Lich appreciated Cui Ming's attitude and nodded before leaving without further comment.
Cui Ming dragged the trembling female doctor away from the water, her fear evident. The earlier fire had been extinguished by Dragon Blood, and Cui Ming rekindled it. After a while by the warmth of the flames, the female doctor finally regained her composure and looked at Cui Ming, suddenly raising her hand to slap him.
According to Script One, he would get hit, leading to a conflict between them, followed by an argument, a forceful kiss, and rolling in the dirt. In Script Two, the man would grasp the woman's hand, gazing intently at her; she would struggle but ultimately yield, resulting in a passionate kiss and rolling in the dirt.
Cui Ming was following a third version. As the female doctor swung her hand toward him, he intercepted it with the back of his hand, her palm hitting it like it was striking iron. "Could you not treat the village chief like this? You have no right to hit me," Cui Ming said. He didn’t explain that it was because she had thanked him that the Red Dragon had discovered them. There was no need for such explanations; he had no intention of getting entangled with her. Besides, if they were to become entangled, there was no need for explanations either. The only outcome of explaining would be an argument.
Cui Ming climbed a tree and settled down among the Dragon Blood plants. It was said that Dragon Blood could dispel wild men’s effects, but after tests by the Alliance, it turned out to be pure nonsense. Some claimed that only high-grade Dragon Blood would be effective; after all, a famous practitioner from a thousand years ago had said that Dragon Blood had such properties—surely it wouldn’t be baseless. But was the Dark Flame Dragon high-grade? The Arrow God’s encounter with it hadn’t yielded any healing effects on wild men either.
Cui Ming had anticipated Lich's strength; however, it was somewhat inferior to Zhir's. The Red Dragon was among the lowest tier of dragons; Zhir could probably defeat Lich with just one glance, yet Lich still took some time. Lich didn’t use his ultimate techniques but exerted all his strength. Based on assessments, Lich’s strength was less than Zhir’s; of course, Lich currently had only seventy percent of his power left. No matter how weak the Red Dragon was, it was still a dragon. Apart from Wandering, who had a record of defeating a Black Dragon in single combat, there was no one in the Alliance who could face off against a Red Dragon alone.
Could the Crow do it? If it had both wings intact, it might stand a chance. The Crow had created a vicious cycle for itself—injury, restraint, torment, blood-sucking—whether it could defeat the Red Dragon depended on whether it could recover from its injuries. It was all about Strategy; why couldn’t he create a vicious cycle as well? A form of immortality.
How to create this cycle? Restraint was established; torment equated to damage. He possessed enhanced flying cards. Next came absorbing Force… he had that too; although not as powerful as the Crow’s ability, he still had ways to siphon others' Force. However, it felt too limited and theoretical because as long as his restraint card's effect didn’t end, he couldn’t draw upon others’ Force.
Yet theoretically, it seemed possible: using Card Play's second divine card—Creation from Nothing. This card could conjure three Card Plays simultaneously. The first card would restrain and immobilize an enemy; the second would absorb Force continuously; and the third would turn the tables on them. The last card was a buff card that allowed him to draw another Card Play immediately after using it on himself. If he drew Creation from Nothing again… Haha! He couldn't keep being friends with Wind; Cui Ming slapped himself on the forehead.
Creation from Nothing was one of the divine cards, which meant its draw probability was extremely low. Moreover, Cui Ming's success rate for drawing most Card Plays was nearly ninety percent under current circumstances; thus he couldn’t expect to draw divine cards like Flawless at this time. In dangerous situations, he couldn’t gamble on random draws—that wasn’t gambling; that was courting death.
Random draw: I draw, I draw… An hour passed without success. If he could guarantee drawing Creation from Nothing and then conjured three more of them… then nine… twenty-seven… Wind, go away! I’m cutting ties with you! As a rational person with a brain, he found himself getting sidetracked into daydreaming.
Rationally speaking, relying solely on Card Play for a vicious cycle wouldn’t work at all; after all, the Crow had also trained in enhancement techniques—a fact Cui Ming had already begun learning himself during his time in Silent City when he faced off against spiders. He grasped Force Soft Armor and had been researching and practicing it since then; he gained considerable benefits as his protective Force gradually strengthened like enhancement techniques did—though not as quickly as those who specialized in enhancement techniques—but he still felt significant effects. Training in enhancement techniques allowed him to withstand more damage when facing Lich.
Strategy could immobilize an opponent and absorb Force but required sacrificing one for the other. He didn’t know any other methods to absorb Force nor felt any inclination toward them unless he practiced Blood Magic—which wasn’t something to joke about; it could make him a wanted criminal and might lead to an insatiable thirst for blood. As someone who hoped to live comfortably, he wouldn’t go down that path. There was only one other way: rely on Card Play to absorb Force while finding other means to immobilize opponents. Restraining and binding weren’t optimal Control Methods; they could even be considered among the worst Control Methods available—if there were Unconsciousness or Seduction involved, that would be perfect. Even without those options, fear could work too.
Binding, Deceleration, and Unconscious all belong to the Control Method, but Unconscious is quite difficult to achieve. The principle of Unconscious involves a powerful explosive Force that attacks the target as a whole. The shockwave compresses the target's protective Force from the outside, causing it to be forced into the pores for a brief moment, ultimately leading to Unconsciousness. The prerequisite is a significantly strong amount of Force; it is said that Mi Xiaona can accomplish this by utilizing the explosive power of shells to suppress individuals with much lower Force levels into an Unconscious state.
None of these three Cui Ming methods seem feasible. What about Seduction and Fear? Seduction likely won't work either, as I have never possessed the ability for it. Seduction is generally an innate ability, typically learned by practitioners of Spiritual Connection who have considerable potential. Therefore, the only possibility left is Fear. Fear is a typical manifestation of Spiritual Connection and is far more common than those who can use Seduction. Cui Ming, Card Play, and Fate Card all carry certain shadows of Spiritual Connection. However, Fear is not ideal because those who are frightened tend to flee aimlessly, making it difficult for me to bind the target and absorb their Force.
How does one learn Fear? The principle involves transmitting the user's fearful mindset through Force to the other party. If I completely don't understand this, it means I have no chance. Practitioners often grasp many principles, but to learn something in this area requires a sense of familiarity. This strategy of Cui Ming is especially true; everything lies within the cards, yet there are no cards related to Fear at all, making it impossible for Cui Ming to materialize.
So after going in circles, I can only resort to Card Play. But truly, there are none; even if I were to conjure something from nothing, I cannot guarantee what cards would manifest, let alone produce three specific cards that I need. Creating something from nothing relies entirely on luck. (To be continued.)
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