r18novel Chapter 58 The Mind Dragon? Wrong, it's a Silver Dragon!
Chapter 58 The Mind Dragon? Wrong, it's a Silver Dragon!
Chapter 58 The Mind Dragon? Wrong, it's a Silver Dragon!
"Finally, I've become a demigod."
Lu Xingchen clenched his fists, feeling the abundant power surging within him, a hint of relief and exhilaration flashing in his eyes.
Compared to the perilous advancement to the fourth level in the previous life, this advancement process was undoubtedly much smoother. Not only did he not show any signs of losing control of his consciousness, but the fusion of his powers was also more complete.
Sequence Four, often referred to as "demigods and demigods." From this moment on, the extraordinary have transcended the realm of mere humanity.
Whether in terms of physical strength or spiritual status, they have embarked on a unique path to becoming "gods".
Lu Xingchen could clearly sense that his life level was undergoing a qualitative leap. Every breath he took could draw upon the energy of the surrounding world, and his spiritual power was experiencing an unprecedented surge, with an increase far exceeding any previous advancement.
"Although his emotions are a little less intense than before, they remain generally stable, and there have been no abnormal delirium-like ramblings. Everything is normal."
He activated the core ability of the Audience Path, examining his own state from an observer's perspective. Only after confirming that the advancement had not brought any negative effects did he focus his attention on the new abilities awakened by the Sequence Four "Manipulator".
Consciousness manipulation, virtual personality, consciousness stroll, mental storm, mental plague, mental deprivation, mental breath, dragonification.
These eight abilities together constitute the core combat capability system of the "Manipulator".
The first seven items focus on manipulation and attack at the mental level, while the last item, "Dragon Transformation," is an amplification ability that comprehensively enhances one's own abilities, making it a landmark method for audience interaction.
The first is "mind manipulation," an ability that can be considered the ultimate enhancement of hypnosis.
With this ability, Lu Xingchen's consciousness can directly penetrate into the mental sea of others to conduct deep hypnotic guidance, not only altering the target's subconscious cognition but also reading their most secret thoughts.
It can also silently and imperceptibly drive targets to execute various commands without arousing any suspicion, from simple behavioral manipulation to complex decision-making influence.
The concept of "virtual personality" is even more sophisticated.
Lu Xingchen can split into multiple virtual personalities with independent consciousness. These personalities are the "guardians" of his mental world and can effectively resist external mental attacks and pollution.
At the same time, it is also a "spy" that infiltrates other people's minds—through daily conversations and exchanges, the virtual personality can quietly invade the target's mental realm without any warning on the surface, but can subtly guide the target to change their original thoughts and develop in the direction that Lu Xingchen expects.
"Consciousness walks" are similar to out-of-body experiences.
Mental storm, mental plague, mental deprivation, and mental breath are all attacks at the mental level.
Of the eight abilities, the most core and explosive is the last one, "Dragon Transformation".
This ability allows Lu Xingchen to transform into a "Mind Dragon," comprehensively enhancing his strength, speed, and...
Its defense and mental strength cause its combat power to increase exponentially.
Even more noteworthy is that during his transformation into a mental dragon, Lu Xingchen himself possesses a strong mental pollution level. If intelligent beings with insufficient mental pollution level look directly at his true appearance, they will lose their minds on the spot and fall into an irreversible state of madness.
This is similar to the "cannot look directly at the gods" setting in the Cthulhu Mythos. It may seem like just an additional effect, but it is actually a "small skill" that can clear a large area and play an unexpected role in group battles.
Just as Lu Xingchen was gradually getting used to his abilities, a strange feeling suddenly welled up in his heart.
He raised an eyebrow, his expression turning somewhat strange. He then raised his dragon claw and focused his mind, attempting to mobilize other powers.
The next moment, five elements—light, fire, a small tornado, lightning, and darkness—converged in his palm. These were abilities derived from the pathways of "Sun," "Tyrant," and "Hanged Man."
"You can't even do that?"
A hint of surprise flashed in Lu Xingchen's eyes. He discovered that after advancing to Sequence Four, he seemed to be able to easily utilize the basic abilities of the other four pathways of the "All Five Families".
Is it because of the "Chaotic Sea"?
He pondered for only a moment before realizing the key to it.
"I can easily control all five elements: light, fire, storm, lightning, and darkness. In that case, then—"
A peculiar idea popped into Lu Xingchen's mind, and he raised his right hand.
"Dragon Transformation!"
In an instant, gray dragon scales spread rapidly down his wrist, covering his entire palm, and his originally slender fingers transformed into ferocious and sharp dragon claws, the nails gleaming with a chilling luster.
"Gray dragon scales?"
Lu Xingchen stared at the dragon scales in his palm. He tried to mobilize his spiritual power. With a slight thought, the gray dragon scales in his palm gradually began to fade, and a dazzling silver light shone from the depths of the scales, like moonlight falling.
In the blink of an eye, the gray dragon scales completely disappeared, replaced by a magnificent and dazzling silver dragon scale.
The scales, layer upon layer, refracted a crystalline luster, exuding both the majesty of a dragon and a mysterious and noble aura, far more dazzling than gray scales.
"It really works."
Lu Xingchen smiled, in high spirits. "Very good. From today onwards, my dragon transformation ability will be in the form of the Silver Dragon bloodline."
Mythical creature forms are not static, and the audience approach is particularly unique in this regard—the mythical creature forms in this approach are essentially the embodiment of spiritual power and can imitate any known creature form.
The so-called "dragon" form is merely the initial setting of the highest-ranking person. As long as one's rank is high enough, one can change the form at will.
The "dragons" of the mind can transform into a phoenix with outstretched wings, a giant beast of the deep sea, or even imitate the forms of mythical creatures from other sources, using corresponding extraordinary abilities.
Its core principle is: "If the enemy believes that this is a real form, then it possesses the corresponding power; if no one witnesses it, the change in form exists only in its own mental realm."
With the Chaos Sea at his disposal, Lu Xingchen is, in a sense, the "highest-ranking person" among the current audience.
Although he cannot fully transform into other mythical creatures for the time being, changing the color of the dragon scales and making minor adjustments to the shape details is a piece of cake for him.
The Silver Dragon King can control the seven elements, while Lu Xingchen can now transform into the form of a silver dragon and easily control the five elements of light, fire, wind, thunder, and darkness.
If he were to display his dragon transformation ability in public in the future, coupled with these dazzling silver dragon scales, he could completely disguise himself as a special being with mutated silver dragon blood.
Lu Xingchen's lips curled up slightly: "Afterwards, we'll go to the Spirit Pagoda to observe those creatures with silver dragon bloodlines, so that our disguise will be even more perfect."
This is not unfounded. In addition to the Silver Dragon King, there are indeed other Silver Dragons in the Douluo Continent, according to the Soul Guidance Network.
More than 13,000 years ago, the predecessor of the Federation, the Sun Moon Empire, killed a real silver dragon and obtained a large number of rare materials from it. These materials later became an important foundation for the rise of the Sun Moon Empire's soul-guided technology.
Besides that silver dragon, there are also many creatures in the Soul Beast Realm of Douluo Continent that have inherited the silver dragon bloodline, so it is entirely feasible for Lu Xingchen to disguise himself as having the silver dragon bloodline.
(PS: In the novel "Douluo Continent II: The Peerless Tang Sect", it is mentioned that the Sun Moon Empire once hunted down a silver dragon, and later Huo Yuhao extorted a lot of silver dragon scales from it.)
As for why he disguised himself as having the bloodline of a silver dragon?
It's probably because it's so interesting that the real Silver Dragon King is no match for the fake Silver Dragon bloodline. That sounds pretty interesting.
"Now that we've reached Sequence Four, we can be bolder in our actions and don't need to be timid anymore."
Lu Xingchen retracted his dragon form, the silver dragon scales slowly faded, and his hands returned to their original shape, but the surging power within him and the sense of control on a spiritual level were real and tangible.
He took out "0-02", then stood in front of the mirror in the lounge, used the identification on himself, and the next moment, a series of information appeared on the lens:
[Name: Lu Xingchen]
[Race: Human/God? (Audience Sequence 4: Manipulator)]
[Martial Soul: Gem.]
[Cultivation Level: Level 20 Quasi-Great Soul Master]
[Mental Strength: 46,000 points (Advanced Spirit Realm)]
"My normal mental strength has already reached the Spirit Realm. If I use the mythical creature form, my mental strength should be able to continue to improve."
Lu Xingchen nodded slightly. This was within his expectations. Given his current strength, it was too early to say that he would "not eat beef," but it at least gave him more confidence in his future actions.
"Next, only the blacksmith youth group competition remains. After the competition, use '0-01' to search for rare and precious materials with dark attributes."
Although he had been promoted to demigod, Lu Xingchen still planned to continue participating in the competition and then take care of the soul problem after the competition.
The first soul spirit, the Holy Light Cross, is a genuine pregnant woman. To make it give birth to a baby cross, it needs to be nourished by dark and evil energy.
"So, does that mean I was throwing a pregnant woman at someone before? Ugh, why would I have such a strange thought?"
Lu Xingchen shook her head, shaking off the strange thoughts in her mind. Besides, even if the cross was pregnant, it didn't necessarily mean that the baby would be a little cross.
Speaking of dark and evil energy, a figure inexplicably flashed through Lu Xingchen's mind: Nanali. She was an evil soul master, so she should meet the criteria for evil attribute, right?
"Achoo!"
Inside Tianhai Stadium, a slender figure who was hopping around suddenly sneezed for no apparent reason.
With the conclusion of the final Soul Master duel in the junior group, the clamor of the Tianhai Alliance Tournament did not diminish with the change of the competition stage; on the contrary, it burned even more fiercely, like a raging fire fueled by more firewood.
The entire city of Tianhai seemed to be enveloped by an invisible heatwave. Discussions rose and fell in the streets and alleys. In teahouses and taverns, people put aside their fascination with the young geniuses and turned their attention to the new battlefield that was about to begin.
Competition for youth groups aged 15 to 20.
This is the true core chapter of the Alliance Grand Tournament, bringing together top experts of the same age from all regions. The fierce duels of Soul Masters and the precise control of Mech Pilots—every event is enough to captivate the hearts of countless people.
However, this highly anticipated and bustling event had nothing to do with Lu Xingchen, who had just finished his journey in the Soul Master Junior Group.
For him, the journey of the Alliance Grand Tournament was not over, only the battlefield had changed direction - he was about to step into the Blacksmith Youth Group arena, which was the most challenging in terms of mentality and skill among the four professions.
The next day.
Lu Xingchen walked out of the hotel and headed towards Tianhai Stadium. After all, if there was money to be made, he would naturally participate.
The champion of the Blacksmith Youth Group has two prizes: five million Federal Credits and fifteen different types of standard rare metals specially provided by the Association.
The term "standard rare metal" specifically refers to a regular square block that is one foot in length, width, and height. This is a universally recognized standard unit in the forging industry.
Don't underestimate this small size. Rare metals are a scarce strategic resource on the continent. Whether it's forging battle armor, manufacturing soul-guided cannon shells, or replacing core components of mechs, they are indispensable.
Based on current market prices in the Federal Reserve, a single piece of ordinary rare metal is worth over 700,000 Federal Credits, and the total value of fifteen pieces has already exceeded 10 million.
If it contains top-grade rare metals such as Dragon Pattern Steel, Star Silver Ore, or Deep Sea Gold, its value can increase several times over. Such a reward is like sending charcoal in snowy weather, or adding icing on the cake for a blacksmith.
Laymen often assume that blacksmiths, wielding heavy hammers and crafting priceless artifacts, must come from wealthy families.
Only those who have truly entered this field know that the path of forging is inherently a costly and arduous one.
For advanced blacksmiths, failure is a common occurrence when forging metals and creating battle armor.
The purity of the metal, the control of the heat, and the injection of soul power—any deviation in any of these aspects could lead to the scrapping of the entire batch of materials.
If a commissioned task fails, not only will the blacksmith not receive any reward, but all material losses will also have to be borne by the blacksmith himself.
To hone their skills, blacksmiths need to spend their days working with metal, consuming vast amounts of both common and rare metals in their practice.
A single failure could mean the loss of months' savings. Many blacksmiths spend their entire lives worrying about scarce metals, and some are even ruined by a single major failure.
For this reason, the blacksmith competition of each Tianhai Alliance Grand Tournament attracts blacksmiths from all over the alliance, from experienced veterans to fledgling newcomers, all for the generous rewards and hoping to change their destiny through it.
Incidentally, the rewards for the one-on-one Soul Master youth group competition that Lu Xingchen previously participated in were also quite substantial.
Three million Federal Dollars in cash, plus ten tickets to the Beginner Ascension Platform.
The Primary Spirit Ascension Platform is a special facility of the Spirit Pagoda that can effectively enhance a Soul Master's combat experience and also increase the age of their Soul Rings.
A single ticket to the Beginner Spirit Ascension Platform is worth as much as 500,000 Federal Credits on the market, so ten tickets would be worth 5 million.
More importantly, tickets to the Ascension Platform cannot be bought with money alone; one must also have a certain level of influence or background.
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