Swish!
The yellow-scaled monster's four limbs suddenly exerted force, pouncing down from a branch several meters high.
A hair's breadth from death!
A sharp glint flashed in Liu Qian's eyes.
Perfect, I'll use this beast to test my newfound strength.
Hoo—!
A low roar burst from his chest. Liu Qian did not retreat; instead, he advanced, facing the pouncing monster. He took a deep breath, and his chest visibly swelled!
"Dragon Flame Breath!!!"
Boom—!!!
An unusually scorching, reddish-red pillar of fire, as thick as a bucket, erupted from Liu Qian's wide-open mouth!
The pillar of fire instantly expanded upon leaving his mouth, transforming into a huge, scorching fireball with a diameter of over a meter, emitting a high temperature that pricked the skin and instantly evaporated the surrounding thick fog.
The yellow-scaled monster, which had pounced from mid-air, was completely engulfed by this violent, crimson fireball before it could even let out a complete shriek!
Hiss—!!!
A piercing shriek erupted from the center of the flames. The monster writhed frantically within the fireball, instantly turning into a rolling ball of fire.
Liu Qian continuously channeled his magic, maintaining the expulsion of the flames.
He could clearly feel the energy within him, called "magic," being steadily and continuously consumed.
The deep red flames greedily licked the air, emitting a roaring "whoosh."
Terrifying high temperatures spread wildly outwards from Liu Qian, scorching and distorting the surrounding air.
The already dry and brittle trees instantly ignited, and the fire rapidly spread, transforming this silent, dead forest into a raging inferno.
After a full five or six seconds, the monster's piercing shriek completely ceased amidst the fiery calcination.
Liu Qian slowly closed his mouth, the last wisp of flame dissipating at his lips.
On the ground, only a charred remnant remained, emitting wisps of smoke and a burnt stench. The carbonized limbs retained the posture of their death throes, a gruesome sight.
He concentrated his senses, waiting for several seconds, but the familiar, vibrant "Dragon Spirit" did not emerge from the charred corpse, causing him some disappointment.
The system description stated that magic units had a certain probability of producing a Dragon Spirit upon death. Clearly, Liu Qian was not so lucky this time.
"Ah—!!!"
A girl's terrified shriek suddenly came from the direction of the hot springs.
Liu Qian abruptly turned his head. He saw the silver-gold-haired girl, clearly startled by the earth-shattering flame explosion and soaring firelight.
She had hastily put on a gray-green robe and was frantically trying to escape from the other side of the pool.
However, her retreat was blocked by three scale-skinned monsters that had rushed over upon hearing the commotion.
These three monsters were larger and more robust than the one that had attacked Liu Qian earlier, with scales of a deeper dark green.
Their crimson vertical pupils were fixed on the girl, as if her blood was an irresistible delicacy to them.
The girl leaned against a jagged rock, tightly clutching a seemingly sharp bone dagger in her hand. Her body trembled slightly from fear, and her beautiful amethyst left eye was filled with despair.
Liu Qian watched this scene, pondering whether he should go out.
After all, in Valyria, one must be cautious.
What if this girl was an accomplice of the monsters?
However, when he saw the monsters' bloodthirsty gaze directed at the girl, Liu Qian dismissed that thought.
Then he had a change of mind. This girl appearing in the dead forest likely meant she was a survivor of Valyria. He might be able to get some information about the Valyrian Ruins from her.
Moreover, there weren't many monsters in front of him, and he could conveniently acquire Dragon Spirits.
Liu Qian hesitated for a moment but decided to save the girl first.
He stepped out from the edge of the burning forest, holding the steel sword stained with blood, and walked steadily towards the girl, vigilantly watching the three monsters radiating a fierce aura, while also warily appraising the girl in front of him, fearing she might pull a surprise attack.
Liu Qian spoke in the Common Tongue of Westeros:
"I am an explorer who stumbled into this place. Are you a resident of Valyria?"
Liu Qian's appearance clearly made the girl even more terrified.
She instinctively recoiled, pressing herself against the cold rock.
Then she quickly used her left hand to sweep a strand of silver-gold hair from her right cheek forward, trying to conceal the terrifying, scale-covered half of her face with her hair.
Liu Qian carefully observed the girl's actions.
He saw that the girl did not understand him but also did not show any threatening behavior towards him, so he relaxed. He decided to deal with the monsters first, then gather some information from her.
He was determined to make up for the regret of not getting a Dragon Spirit from the previous monster by taking it from these three monsters.
The three dark green monsters, seeing that Liu Qian, their "prey," had not fled but instead actively stood in front of them, were completely enraged.
Their scale-covered beast faces twisted into even more ferocious snarls, fangs bared, and low hisses rumbled in their throats.
Without any further probing, the three monsters simultaneously pounced on Liu Qian from different directions.
Liu Qian's eyes narrowed. He did not retreat; instead, he advanced. Just as the three monsters were almost upon him, and the foul stench was already assailing his face, a Dragon Flame, even hotter and more violent than before, once again erupted from Liu Qian's mouth.
The flames not only contained terrifying high temperatures but also carried a powerful Impact force, sweeping out like an angry fire dragon.
The two monsters charging at the forefront bore the brunt, being violently thrown back by the raging torrent of flames and shockwave, crashing into the burning dead tree trunks, and instantly being engulfed by the blaze.
Their desperate howls were heart-rending.
The third monster, a step slower, was also scorched by the edge of the flames. Half of its body caught fire, and it writhed and shrieked in pain on the ground, soon losing its breath in the raging inferno, transforming into three twisted, charred remains emitting a burnt stench.
Thick smoke billowed, and the firelight illuminated Liu Qian's calm face and the girl's still-frightened purple eyes.
From the three charred corpses, three wisps of cold yet pure life essence silently ascended, instantly merging into Liu Qian's body.
Liu Qian's heart rejoiced. He immediately delved into the depths of his consciousness to perceive the changes in his bloodline and magic.
Dragon Bloodline Purity: 0.17%.
Magic: 554 / 1740
Adding the 800 Dragon Spirit points obtained during his "cooperation" with Gillian and others, and the 300 points contributed by these three monsters, his bloodline purity had quietly risen to 0.17%.
At the same time, his magic capacity had reached 1740 points.
However, the speed at which he absorbed free magic from the environment to replenish himself was much slower than the speed at which he gained Dragon Spirit through killing to increase his capacity, resulting in his current magic reserves still being low.
Those two Dragon Flame Breaths, in human form, consumed relatively less, only 1 magic point per second, totaling only a little over twenty points, which was within an acceptable range.
But he couldn't overcome the fact that his magic absorption efficiency was too low.
Liu Qian frowned slightly.
The recovery rate of this magic was like a trickling stream, far from sufficient to support him in more dangerous situations, let alone use the hugely consuming ultimate skills.
He urgently needed to find a source that could quickly and massively replenish his magic, otherwise, with only a high capacity but no "ammunition," he would be no different from a lamb to the slaughter in this ruin.
He collected himself and looked at the girl.
The girl had somewhat calmed down from her fright, but her amethyst-like left eye still held residual fear and intense curiosity, as she timidly looked at him.
Liu Qian tried to make his expression appear gentle and harmless, and spoke again in the Common Tongue of Westeros, slowing his pace: "Hello. My name is Liu Qian. I come from the distant East, Yi Ti. I am an... explorer."
The girl blinked her beautiful left eye, her long silver-gold eyelashes like butterfly wings.
She clearly did not understand, and a confused expression appeared on her face.
She opened her mouth and spoke rapidly in a language with complex and rhythmic syllables, while gesturing with her hands, trying to convey her meaning.
The language sounded mysterious and profound, completely different from the Common Tongue of Westeros or any other language Liu Qian had ever heard.
Liu Qian helplessly spread his hands, indicating that he could not understand at all.
The language barrier, in this perilous place, became the biggest obstacle to communication.
Seeing this, the girl seemed to make a decision.
She took a step forward, and to Liu Qian's slight surprise, extended her slender, pale hand, which had a slight callus, and gently grasped Liu Qian's left hand.
Then, before Liu Qian could react at all, she gently but firmly pressed his left hand against her chest, over her heart.
His hand met a soft, smooth sensation. Through the rough robe, he could clearly feel the girl's rapid and strong heartbeat.
Two shy blushes instantly appeared on the girl's left cheek, like rosy clouds reflecting on snow.
She raised her beautiful, deep purple eyes, gazed at Liu Qian, and with slightly parted cherry lips, spoke softly.
Her voice gently brushed against Liu Qian's ear, carrying a strange magic.
The moment her voice entered his ears, in Liu Qian's mind, like a stone dropped into water, her intended meaning clearly "emerged," transcending the language barrier and directly affecting his understanding:
"Through touch and thought, I can communicate with you. My name is Janice, and thank you for saving me."