69 Heritage Ring (1/2)
”I imagined a dragon arm,” Xue Wei said while frowning. ”I saw something, but I can't recall what it was.” He shook his head.
”A dragon arm?” Lan mused for a bit of time, but then he shook his head. ”Don't worry about it,” he said after a bit of consideration.
”I will show you what a dragon arm looks like,” he said, and a book suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
It was clear that Lan had a storage treasure of some kind, and Xue Wei was curious about what it was.
Seeing his curious demeanor, Lan chuckled, but he did not explain anything. Instead, he opened the book on a certain page where there was an azure dragon.
”Azure dragons,” he introduced, ”are the kings of dragons, a type of beast that one has to respect for their strength and also upright behavior.”
”A Primordial Beast can have an upright behavior?” Xue Wei asked curiously, and Lan smirked. ”Just because they are beasts does not make them that much different from humans.”
”They kept us as livestock and slaves for centuries, so I would not consider that upright behavior,” Xue Wei frowned, but Lan just laughed at him again, something Xue Wei had gotten very used to over the past few days.
”They are as upright as humans,” Lan snickered. ”Don't you use Diviners to enslave beasts now? Don't you eat Fierce and Primordial Beast meat whenever you get the chance? Use their silk and hide to make clothes, their bones and cores to make weapons, lights, and other necessities?”
Xue Wei suddenly gasped. He had never thought about it like this before; what the beasts had done to the humans, the humans were now doing to the beasts.
”This needs some consideration,” Xue Wei said with a thoughtful expression. He had always thought their cause had been righteous in his mind when he wanted to become a Primordial Beast Hunter, but these beasts were in fact also just forced to act the way they did by their nature.
”It won't change anything,” Xue Wei finally sighed. ”I am a human, so obviously I should side with the humans, protect them, and defeat as many Primordial Beasts as possible. The only thing is that I will now be more realistic about them. I cannot hate something that just follows their nature like this, since I am not different from them.”
Lan nodded his head in praise at how easily Xue Wei accepted the mentality of the beasts, but he said nothing more and handed the book to Xue Wei.
”Look at this dragon and tell me what exactly it looks like,” Lan ordered and Xue Wei nodded his head.
”It looks like a dragon. Dragons have many shapes such as turtles and fish, but the majority of them are snake-like with four legs, two front legs, and two hind legs.”
Xue Wei said what he had read about dragons in books, but then he looked at the picture. There was a snake-like dragon.
”Azure scales,” Xue Wei was deep in thought, and as he thought about the front legs, or arms, of an azure dragon, azure scales started to sprout from his skin, coming from within the skin and breaking through, layering themselves all over his lower arms and fingers.
His fingers also changed, as claws emerged on the fingertips in lieu of simple nails, becoming thicker and merging into only three claws.
His arms grew in size, and Xue Wei could feel how he became much stronger than before. The Qi that flowed through his veins became denser, purer, and seemed to completely change its nature, while his physical strength alone rose to double or triple of what it had been before, and this was after only transforming his arms!
Xue Wei stared in shock at his arms. It had been so simple to transform them; it was as if it came naturally to him to switch to the dragon arms.
”This is because of your Azure Dragon Scripture,” Lan praised. ”Although it should not be very difficult, you are quite skilled to be able to do it as fast as you did.”
Xue Wei felt a hint of pride in his heart and was very satisfied with his accomplishments.
”You know, you have to be careful and only use this in life and death situations,” Lan warned him. ”Although many would assume that you are just a Wayfarer or cultivating some sort of beastly scripture, some will notice it as being dragon arms, and then you might be captured for the sake of stealing your scripture. It is very rare and incredibly powerful after all.”
Xue Wei nodded his head after musing over Lan's advice. It was true that he was not unique when it came to being capable of transforming part of his body into that of a Primordial Beast, but the ability of being able to completely transform into an Azure Dragon had to be kept a secret.
”Well, don't look that troubled,” Lan grinned. ”Here in the Genius Camp, even if you only rely on your Shattering Mountain Palm, your Azure Light Finger, your Forbidden Rush, and your Sacrificial Stab, you are still above the others.”
”You have not fought anyone since you became an Earth Warrior, so we do not know how strong you are compared to the other geniuses, but don't forget that you just broke through to the Earth Warrior rank.”
”You have the ability to unlock the Heritage Ring once more, and then you will be able to get your hands on new techniques.”
”Do you want to open your heritage ring now, or do you want to wait until tomorrow and we do it early in the morning, and look through the skills available and pick a few to train?”
Xue Wei contemplated and then looked at Lan. ”Let us do it now,” he said, incapable of hiding the eagerness in his voice and the excitement in his eyes.