Chapter 65: Making Solid Progress, Hunting the Tier Five Flying Eagle

"Gale Technique, Molten Steel Dragon Breath."

The two new Skills were Gale Technique, which came from the faint Stormy Leopard Bloodline, and Molten Steel Dragon Breath, an Ability that the Dragon Race naturally developed as they matured.

Gale Technique was a type of area-of-effect Skill, very useful on a large-scale battlefield. It could even have other unique effects when combined with the Earth Spike Technique.

As for Molten Steel Dragon Breath, it was essentially a breath attack.

Of course, this breath attack needed to be charged, a process similar to taking a large gulp of Magic Power and then releasing it through the Rock Steel Giant’s newly formed spell-casting organs.

The process didn’t produce fire, water, or ice. After all, its Attribute was Earth, so it would instead spew a powerful, corrosive stream of earthen energy.

This corrosive force possessed immense Earth Attribute Power, capable of corrupting any material or hostile unit, turning them into a Rock Steel-like substance. Then, with just a thought, these Rock Steel structures would instantly disintegrate into a cloud of metallic dust.

For both Skills, Lince only needed to close his eyes and feel for a moment to clearly receive the Inheritance Information from his Bloodline.

’Bigger is better, and massive is mighty!’

’A large Body Type might make me a target, but since I have the Transformation Technique, that’s not a concern, is it?’

’I hope I made the right choice!’

Lince muttered to himself.

’Alright, next up, I need to make the most of this game time.’

’Time to get moving. I have to find a Wind-Attribute Middle Tier Magical Beast for York!’

’I need to raise York’s strength as soon as possible. Otherwise, as we expand and grow so aggressively, his inadequate power will leave him struggling to manage things, both internally and externally.’

In this world, a bloodline infusion ritual didn’t necessarily have to be performed right before Breaking a Tier.

It was just that the success rate was slightly higher when performed close to Breaking Tier.

And there were many other factors that could increase the success rate.

For instance, one of the most crucial factors was that when a Transcendent underwent a Blood Exchange, they had to choose an Upper-Rank Bloodline of the same Attribute for the infusion.

Otherwise, if they attempted a cross-Attribute Blood Exchange, the success rate would plummet by sixty to seventy percent from its base value.

Additionally, using a Demon Core of a matching Attribute as a catalyst and Magic Beast Heart Blood as a medium would also maximize the chances of success.

Of course, there could be no negligence in the layout of the Array for the ritual either.

Even if all this was done perfectly, the success rate for a Middle Tier bloodline infusion was still less than thirty-five percent.

When it came to a High Tier Blood Exchange, the success rate would drop even further, to less than ten percent.

Above High Tier, every Blood Exchange was essentially a pure gamble on willpower and luck.

If the success rate were any higher, wouldn’t this world be overrun with Middle Tier and High Tier Strong Persons from the Human Race?

This was also why Bloodlines were so important to a family in this world.

Because if an ancestor had reached High Tier or even higher, the probability of their descendants directly awakening a High Tier Bloodline was greatly increased.

Therefore, in this world, the Bloodline Nobility families of the Human Race were all extremely arrogant.

Because the chances for Commoners to rebel against this Bloodline Nobility were practically zero!!!

In this Extraordinary world, the Nobility of the various Human Race Kingdoms had a near-monopoly on all knowledge and resources. Thus, the solidification of the class system was far more terrifying than one could imagine.

They didn’t have to worry about rebellions from Commoners or even slaves. They only needed to be wary of their own internal enemies and, of course, external enemies from the Alien Races. That was all.

Therefore, if Lince wanted the Swamp Territory to become truly powerful, he had to prioritize cultivating York. After all, if York became stronger, the children he fathered would naturally have better aptitude.

Of course, in the best-case scenario, he also needed to cultivate York’s primary wife, Lucia.

Because in this world, Human Race Transcendents were most fertile only when they were still Low Tier.

Once an individual entered the Middle Tier range, it became difficult for ordinary women to conceive their children.

For a Middle Tier individual to conceive, they had to have a partner who was Low Tier or Middle Tier. Even then, the probability of pregnancy would drop significantly, several times lower than that of normal mortals.

And above High Tier, conceiving a child was even more difficult. It could take thirty to fifty years to have just one. For long-lived species like High Tier Magical Beasts and Elves, the gestation periods were even more exaggerated.

Therefore, at this stage, Lince was very pleased with York’s decision to take a ’concubine’ after discussing it with his wife.

At the very least, this would ensure that when Lince raised York to Middle Tier, the Smith family of the Swamp Territory would have a sufficient number of a new generation.

This time, York’s wife, Lucia, had not come for an audience. The reason was that she was nearly seven months pregnant with her second child. With the birth so close, she couldn’t make such a forced march.

Lince offered his reassurances about this and held no blame.

In any case, Lince was currently quite satisfied with all aspects of the Swamp Territory.

The only things he was dissatisfied with were York’s strength and the quality of his subordinates.

However, Lince believed that after the next Inference Day began, the Swamp Territory would once again be transformed.

’A five-hundred-day inference... I’m probably going to get flamed to death for this, aren’t I?’

’The game forums are probably going to be wailing in misery again.’

’But they can’t blame me for this. One step ahead means every step ahead. You have to fight to win in a game. It’s just a matter of ’better you die than me’, that’s all.’

Lince gave a wry smile to himself, and then with a thought, his Giant Dragon form suddenly changed.

A Tier Five Stormy Leopard appeared.

Its feathered wings were more beautiful and sleeker than an Eagle’s, with a wingspan exceeding eight and a half meters.

Its body was over five meters long, and it stood a little over two and a half meters tall.

Overall, compared to the Giant Dragon, it seemed far less conspicuous.

And so, controlling his new body, Lince immediately took to the skies.

This time, Lince also flew at a low altitude, trying to reach the foot of the Demon Beast Mountain Range as stealthily as possible.

Soon, he arrived at the Unihorned Demon Bear’s territory.

"ROAR!! ROAR!!!"

The moment the Unihorned Demon Bear saw Lince’s Demon Leopard form appear, the creature was stunned for a second. But in the next instant, it snapped back to its senses and ran toward Lince’s landing spot, its eyes filled with fawning adoration.

Although the Demon Leopard’s appearance was vastly different from the one the Unihorned Demon Bear knew, it naturally knew who had arrived through the senses of the Blood Covenant.

Besides, Lince had already informed it that he would be coming soon.

Moreover, from the posture and Magic Power fluctuations of Lince’s second form, the Unihorned Demon Bear could clearly tell that the Rock Steel Giant had grown even stronger.

Thus, it prostrated itself on the ground and said excitedly, "M... Master..."

"Congratulations... on becoming... even stronger!"

"Can, can Bear, see... your original Dragon... Giant Dragon’s even more magnificent... form?! Bear is... really... curious."

Lince landed on the ground and nodded slightly, looking at the excited expression on the big bear’s face.

"Of course, you can."

Lince deactivated the Transformation Technique, instantly reverting to his massive Giant Dragon form, over twenty-one meters long. As he raised his head, he was nearly as tall as a four-story building.

"Whoa!!! Master, you’ve gotten so big... so big!" (The stuttering is omitted from here on.)

"This is great, just great! In the future, Master will definitely be more powerful than those Overlords in the depths of the Demon Beast Mountain Range."

The Unihorned Demon Bear was startled, and instinctual fear made it shrink back involuntarily.

But once it recovered, its eyes began to shine.

Although the Unihorned Demon Bear looked big and foolish and didn’t understand much, it could still distinguish between simple good and bad.

While it didn’t currently know what made Lince so special, the Giant Dragon’s rapid improvement still gave it a strong sense of security.

The source of this security, naturally, was its joy at having found a powerful backer with a terrifying growth rate.

Its happiness was only to be expected.

Lince didn’t want to say much more about it; after all, the bear probably wouldn’t understand even if he did.

So, he got straight to the point:

"I accept your praise. Now then, big bear, do you know where I can find a Wind-Attribute Middle Tier Magical Beast nearby?"

"Perhaps I should grant you another piece of territory as a reward for your loyal service last time."

Upon hearing this, the Unihorned Demon Bear’s expression immediately became excited.

’Territory? Another piece of territory? Even just expanding my current one would be great! My cubs and grand-cubs would have more room to grow.’

’This is good! This is a great reward!!’

So it said without hesitation:

"Master, to the east! There’s that Tier Five great Eagle. It used to bully me all the time, always coming to my territory to hunt just because it could fly."

’Tier Five... a Flying Eagle?’

Lince’s eyes lit up. ’A worthy opponent.’

’I’ll take it on!’

’But I can’t just charge in. I’ll have to get this big oaf of a bear to lure it out and draw its aggro. It would be best if I could win in a single blow; after all, making a big commotion wouldn’t do me any good either, right?’

So, Lince stared intently at the Unihorned Demon Bear with a contemplative gaze.

That stare was enough to give the Unihorned Demon Bear a strange case of goosebumps all over...