Another Master

With just a single glance, a bone-chilling dread surged up Bai Xiaodu's spine and straight into his brain.

When humans faced massive creatures, they would always subconsciously exhibit fear.

Even more so when it was a fully grown dragon beast!

Its breathing was heavy and coarse, and its ferocious fangs were bared, stuck with shreds of meat, carrying an incredibly sharp and pungent stench of blood.

Bai Xiaodu frowned, feeling a wave of nausea wash over him.

This dragon beast had claimed it was going to the dining hall to eat, but who knew what it had actually consumed?

Was there any other meat to eat in this godforsaken library besides those monks?

Calming his racing heart, Bai Xiaodu couldn't help but marvel at how well-made the game 《Myriad Worlds》 was.

There was never a need for reasons, nor was there ever a need for excuses.

He had to cast aside useless kindness and pity, along with any bullshit thoughts about the enemy having some tragic backstory or hidden plight.

Monsters were monsters, and the mere fact that they shamelessly treated humans as livestock was enough.

They stood in absolute opposition to human civilization and deserved nothing less than complete eradication!

His fists quietly clenched, but Bai Xiaodu's voice betrayed none of his anger.

He still bowed deeply.

“My lord, all preparations are complete. Please follow me.”

Oter snorted a cloud of foul, noxious gas, blowing against Bai Xiaodu's slender, frail figure and making his robe flutter.

He spoke slowly.

“Very well. Go wait by the cage now. Once I fly down to the arena, release that human immediately.”

Bai Xiaodu maintained his bow.

“Yes.”

Oter said nothing more, and his golden dragon eyes vanished from the crack in the door.

The sound of rushing wind echoed, and Bai Xiaodu estimated that the beast had likely flown out through a window or something similar.

Taking a few deep breaths to steady himself, he quickly returned to where Lingxin was.

The latter now had her hands pillowed behind her head, looking half-asleep. She was actually quite good at pretending to be asleep, and she looked beautiful doing it.

All that was left now was to wait.

Bai Xiaodu sat cross-legged, calming his mind and focusing his thoughts as he channeled the spell rune in his sea of consciousness.

【Gust】

During their casual chat earlier, Lingxin had shared a few tips and rune shapes for using this spell.

Bai Xiaodu patiently refined his control, continuously etching the details in his mind.

His initial training had indeed fallen into a misconception—【Gust】 was not limited to being cast only from the hands and feet.

Any joint, like the knees, as long as it was used to exert force, could be used to rapidly construct the spell rune.

He could use it to propel himself in the opposite direction to dodge or attack.

In that case, could he utilize the explosive burst of 【Gust】 by placing it on his knuckles?

If he constructed it the instant he made contact with an enemy, could he deliver a swift and devastating punch?

The more Bai Xiaodu thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. The passive effect of 【Heart of Iron】 was to speed up spellcasting, which perfectly complemented this idea.

Standing up, he patted the dust off his clothes and prepared to test it.

But...

A faint, barely perceptible sound—like something clawing against the wall—reached his ears.

A bird?

No, a bird wouldn't try to mask its chaotic footsteps!

Alarm bells instantly rang in his mind, and Bai Xiaodu reacted immediately.

Without a moment's hesitation, he slammed his palm against the cage. The gathered wind elements erupted, violently propelling his body several meters away!

At the same instant, a black boulder half the size of a person hurtled through the air, roaring like a meteor as it crashed down precisely where Bai Xiaodu had been standing!

Clang!

The immense force generated a terrifying impact, instantly shattering the tiled floor to expose the concrete underneath, carving out a massive crater.

Bai Xiaodu stared at the scene with lingering dread. If that thing had hit him, he probably would have been forced to log out of the neural-link capsule on the spot.

Motherfucker, what a despicable sneak attack!!!

Fortunately, his Perception attribute had come through for him yet again.

Combined with his cautious nature, he had barely managed to survive.

He whipped his head around to look at the source of the boulder, which was the massive glass window high above.

A golden dragon eye was staring down coldly at him.

Seeing that Bai Xiaodu had reacted in time and avoided being crushed into meat paste, disappointment flickered in Oter's eyes.

Bai Xiaodu panted heavily, his eyes blazing with anger.

“You win. But I'm certain my acting was flawless and my voice imitation was perfect. How did you figure it out?”

Sneering, Oter crushed the glass window with his massive body, thrusting half of his ferocious, golden draconic form inside.

“Actually, I wasn't sure. It was just that your bowing posture was slightly off. It wasn't quite the same as usual.”

“You weren't sure? Over such a tiny anomaly, you used a lethal attack to try and kill me? Did you ever consider what would happen if you were wrong?”

Oter burst into laughter.

“If I was wrong, I'd just find someone else to organize the ceremony! Who did you think that guy was to me? My friend?

Fox-kin, are you joking?

When did you ever think these lowly humans could be my friends?

I kill them when I want, and I eat them when I want! Do you understand?!”

Amidst the rising dust, Lingxin slowly revealed herself. Her exquisite face was grim as she glared up at the gold dragon perched high above.

Just now, Bai Xiaodu had not only used 【Gust】 to escape, but his sudden movement had also served as a warning to Lingxin, who had been pretending to sleep in the cage.

This was going to be troublesome.

This dragon beast was far craftier than they had anticipated, and it was brutal enough to match.

Bai Xiaodu stared irritably at the mocking dragon beast before turning to ask.

“Is there any way to kill him now?”

Lingxin's face was solemn as she gently shook her head.

“It's hard to say. As you know, my strength is currently restricted to Rank 0.9. Although I can fly, I can't afford to waste my limited spell slots on flight.”

“But we're not in a desperate situation yet. If he dares to attack us like this, even if he holds the high ground, I have enough confidence to kill him.”

The mockery in Oter's eyes deepened.

“Hehehe. You filthy monkey, did you think I hadn't considered the possibility that your spells might be stronger than mine, or that you might specialize in counter-killing me?

“I have long been prepared!”

Just then, several more stones hurtled through the air. The two quickly scrambled for cover, only to realize that they weren't the targets.

The staircase leading down had been blocked off!

Then, Bai Xiaodu twitched his ears. His sharp Perception picked up a sound from further away.

It was coming from the floor below—someone was chanting.

The cadence was highly familiar to Bai Xiaodu. It was a prayer and chant of praise to the Dragon God.

It was the ritual. Oter was about to complete the final day of the forty-nine-day sacrifice ritual!

He had summoned a large number of monks. Judging by the sound waves rising from below, he had probably gathered every single monk in the entire library!

Standing high above, Oter slowly pulled out a small whiteboard.

A sinister, almost human-like smirk curled on his snout.