Chapter 71
Dragon Training Ceremony
Matthew frowned as he looked at the Crystal Beast King before him.
According to the encyclopedia, the crystal behind the Crystal Beast King should be dark purple and its size should be much larger, but this one clearly does not.
"It looks like a newly evolved Beast King."
According to the habits of the Crystal Beasts, after the old Beast King dies, the strongest Crystal Beast in the group will automatically evolve into the Beast King.
However, before Matthew could think any further, the Crystal Beast King had already launched an attack on him.
Suddenly, it lunged forward, cracking the ground and sending countless stones flying.
Then, it swung its tail, which was covered with hard purple crystals, and slammed it down heavily on Matthew.
Matthew reacted quickly, rapidly gathering magic power within his body and unleashing the [Rock Body] technique.
As he chanted the incantation, heavy earth elements gathered around him, forming hard, grayish-brown rocks.
The next instant, rocks covered his entire body, and Matthew turned into a stone man.
He threw a heavy punch, meeting head-on with the Crystal Beast King's massive tail.
"Boom—" The rock collided with the crystal, producing a deafening explosion.
The rock on Matthew's fist remained undamaged and incredibly hard, but the crystals on the Crystal Beast King's tail shattered inch by inch. Fragments flew everywhere in the massive shockwave.
Its eyes blazed with fury, and it flicked its tail, sending the tiny crystal fragments flying off.
It took a deep breath, and a cold, blue flame began to brew in its mouth.
The next moment, it suddenly spewed forward, and a vast expanse of blue flames surged toward Matthew like a sea.
However, the blue flames had no effect on Matthew's rocky body, and the hard rock remained intact.
The ferocity in the Crystal Beast King's eyes intensified, and it roared to the sky.
Immediately afterwards, dozens of crystal beasts leaped into the air, buried their heads in their bodies, curled up, and the crystals on their backs rose high as they crashed down on Matthew.
The [Rock Body], which can be optimized by the system, has a defense rating of up to 300 degrees.
The attacks of these crystal beasts were like eggs hitting a rock.
Matthew neither dodged nor flinched, letting them rain down upon him.
"Bang—bang—bang—"
With dozens of loud roars, the crystals on the crystal beasts shattered, turning into countless crystal fragments that covered the ground.
The crystal beasts were also shaken by the huge impact of the collision, their bones shattered, and they fell to the ground unable to move.
Upon seeing this, the Crystal Beast King's eyes revealed terror.
Its body slowly retreated, trying to get away from the terrifying human in front of it.
At that moment, Matthew lowered his body and exerted force with his legs, instantly appearing in front of the Crystal Beast King.
He unleashed several punches in quick succession, slamming them hard into the scales on the Crystal Beast King's abdomen.
"Roar!!!" The Crystal Beast King let out a series of miserable howls as its body was blasted far away.
Matthew flashed to the Crystal Beast King, which was flying backward, grabbed its thick tail with both hands, and used centrifugal force to spin it around and fling it away.
"Boom—"
The Crystal Beast King's massive body collided with the hard rock wall, causing the underground space to tremble.
Its keen magical instincts told it that death was imminent.
At this moment, all it wanted was to escape, to escape as far away as possible.
Ignoring the intense pain in his body, the Crystal Beast King suddenly stood up and burrowed into a hole not far away without looking back.
Seeing this, Matthew did not kill him.
According to his estimation, this group of crystal beasts should number over three thousand.
The underground space in front of us is too small to accommodate so many crystal beasts, so this should not be the crystal beasts' real lair.
He placed a magical mark on the Crystal Beast King and let it escape.
Matthew had a premonition that if he continued to follow them, he would eventually discover the anomaly of these crystal beasts.
He skillfully opened the system and quickly searched the underground space, storing all the useful magic ores into his storage bracelet.
Then, he darted into the cave where the Crystal Beast King had escaped.
The Crystal Beast King was badly injured, so it couldn't escape very quickly. Matthew soon found it in the tunnel.
Matthew followed behind it at a leisurely pace, occasionally putting pressure on it and forcing it to run away in fear.
……
Inside a hidden underground cave.
With his head full of white hair, Amon stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the strange monster in front of him with hopeful eyes.
This strange monster looks a bit like a wyvern, but it has huge stitches on its body, and its organs and limbs are messy and look like they were forcibly sewn together.
At this moment, it was in an altar, its entire body bound and imprisoned by rune chains.
Amon slowly turned around and asked the middle-aged man kneeling on one knee, "Did you bring all the materials?"
"I brought them." Draven nodded respectfully and took out more than a dozen knight corpses from a storage space.
Amon surveyed the pile of corpses on the ground, his eyes sharpening as he questioned them with displeasure.
"Why is there so little, and all of them are knights' corpses?"
Draven lowered his head, not daring to look the other person in the eye, and answered with a look of fear on his face.
"Reporting to grandfather, the mid-level apprentice of the school recently eliminated a large number of crystal beasts in the mine, which greatly reduced the casualties of the kingdom's knights."
"Left with no other choice, I ordered my men to search for a powerful physical body elsewhere."
"With that mediocre apprentice around, I didn't dare make things too obvious, so all I could find were some knight corpses..."
"Hmph..." Amon knew he should keep a low profile, but with the experiment almost complete, an unexpected incident occurred, which inevitably made him feel irritable.
"Damn it, if I had just one more legendary knight's corpse, this synthetic dragon could be fully developed..."
Draven couldn't help but show regret upon hearing this. He had originally intended to take advantage of the King's banquet to bring the Earl of Snow Ridge over.
With his body, which is that of a legendary knight, he should be able to complete the last bit of training materials.
Unfortunately, Earl of Snow Ridge, that old fellow is quite cautious.
After arriving in the capital, he never left his residence except to attend banquets.
At this moment, Amon stared intently at Draven, a thoughtful expression on his face.
Draven felt uneasy under the opponent's gaze, and his legs trembled involuntarily.
He glanced fearfully at the strange, stitched-together monster, then recalled the scene of him swallowing the eldest prince, Evan, whole; the terrifying chewing sound still echoed in his ears, and he couldn't help but shrink back.
Despite his past as a powerful lord, this legendary knight is as vulnerable as an infant in the face of true supernatural power.
Draven's face showed terror, and he spoke in a trembling voice, "Grandfather, I'm your own grandson..."