Chapter 615: Chapter 584: Saving Great Dragon Sio (2/3)
The damaged pillar in the middle, Ian didnât even have to guess, it was certainly the âHumansâ, or rather the âTerra Peopleâsâ spirit...
So, could Lubeck not be considered a human?
What was special about him that he could be bound here not in the form of a spirit, but in the flesh?
"This is really strange."
Ian couldnât figure it outâbut he had one good habit, which was not to overthink things he didnât understand.
He raised his hand, the Silver Chip began simulating the director-level permissions taken from the Azure City Laboratory.
To remove the soul from the Soul-Binding Pillar, naturally, permissions were neededâIanâs copied permissions from Director Idemaâs Attached Brain were precisely for use in this place.
He approached Sio, that is, the âpillar of the Dragon Soulâ, used the permissions, and began to communicate with Sio.
Communication in the spirit world.
And in that instant.
Ian saw a âdragonâ so weirdly indescribable.
Could that really be called a dragon?
Silver-gray scales were growing erratically, exuding a disorderly charm.
As the dragon in front of Ian gradually took shape, he saw a head disproportionately large compared to its body, so much so that it seemed deformed. Horns twisted atop its head like decaying coral reefs, and the gaps between its dragon scales were interspersed with bizarre, thorn-like tissues that penetrated the flesh and bulged out from the skin and scales.
The cruel thorns even spread over the Deformed Dragonâs eyes, preventing it from closing them to see, a pair of dull golden eyes like a sculpture, giving off a deathly non-lifelike stillness, while hollow indentations riddled its mouth.
It didnât even have teeth.
Ian felt a sinking feeling in his heart; he had psychologically prepared himself, knowing Sioâs true body might not be in good condition, but he had never imagined it to be this severe... What kind of monsterâs poison could render a True Dragon beyond healing?
Could it be a super entity behemoth, similar to a Void Spawn...
Speculation was futile.
But he still lifted his head, exhaled, and observed his friendâs body seriously.
The Deformed Dragonâs body was underdeveloped, two sizes smaller than its head and very thin, its skeleton visibly too fragile to support the abnormally developed head.
Its wings were like a petrified withered tree with intricately crisscrossing bones barely forming something that looked like wings... And the tail was utterly devoid of flesh and blood, merely a cluster of sharp bone spikes joined together.
It was hard to imagine what kind of creature could poison a descendant of a True Dragon to such an extent.
Yet Ian took a deep breath; he touched Sioâs soul with his own spirit.
And then, he sensed.
[Sio (Deformed Dragon·Damaged Individual·Extremely Weak Status)]
[Third Energy Level·Soul·Keystone·Innate Intelligent Organism·Self-Adaptive Cosmic Life Form·Spirit Energy Awakening]
[Titan Level cosmic creature, mother was injured, absorbed part of the Void Poison, leading to a distortion and deformity in the innate Origin Structure. Should have been stillborn, but due to the motherâs all-out treatment, it survived misshapenly, and with careful nurturing, its brain developed rapidly due to bodily compensation, gaining powerful Spirit Energy abilities]
[Adapting to the living environment, it can advance to âDragon of the Illusionary Realmâ, âQing Steel Dragonâ, and âHeavy Core Abyss Dragonâ]
[Contained Primordial Essence: 521.4572 Keystone Units]
[...]
Honestly, with the experience of encountering a Void Spawn, Ian wasnât too surprised when he saw Sioâs original soul data.
But the feeling was still quite thrilling.
"Titan Level cosmic creaturesâit already sounds ridiculously excessive!"
Is this the original identity of the True Dragon lineage? Ian thought, a special âcosmic creatureâ... an âAlienâ?
No wonder True Dragons always refrain from participating in the conflicts between humans On Terra, because they originally have nothing to do with Terra...
But thereâs more.
Definitely more than that.
Ian narrowed his eyes; he noticed many doubts, for example, if True Dragons really were Aliens... then with their capability to reach the Third Energy Level, and strong individuals directly to the Fourth Level, the Calamity of Heavenly Fall should not be able to affect too much.
Where are the traces of their civilization?
Why do most True Dragons live like wild beasts without society, without civilization?
Even if they have wisdom, it doesnât seem to be the kind that communicates with each other...
There are just too many puzzles behind all this.
Although some answers are known, it turns out there are even more unknowns.
However, Ian was clear that now was not the time to ponder these puzzles.
What he needed to do now was to awaken the dragon before him.
"Wake up, Sio."
He said softly, "If you still want to leave this place, if you donât want your mother to be ashamed, friends worried, then wake up."
And so, Sio woke up.
"Ian?"
The first thing Sio did was recognize Ian, but this was not because Ianâs disguise had been seen through again; rather, Ian had no intention of hiding.
In the realm of psychic communication, he still appeared as a white-haired youth.
"Iâve come to rescue you from this place."
In Ianâs eyes, a blue halo was reflectedâhe slightly frowned, because beyond the light red that signified danger on Sioâs body, there was also a faint silver light.
It was the same silver light identical to that of the Frost Butterfly and Miles.
â Could Sio really be receiving similar benefits? No, what exactly were those benefits... the frequency of their occurrence had reached a suspicious level.
With this thought, Ian urged Sio, "To be honest, you really got involved in a big messâso much so that all this was caused because you were captured, yet I never imagined rescuing you would be this simple."
Despite Ianâs words, he knew that the journey had been anything but simple.
If he wasnât a Prophet, basically no one would be able to defeat the Nightmare Spawn from the Spirit Wisdom Institute, and the Huai Guang Rescue Team would have suffered heavy losses.
If he hadnât quickly deduced that the Deceased Monarch was attacking the researchers at the Duke of Solinâs side, and if Viscount Awak hadnât lured away the guards of the Thorn Plains at this very moment...
Nothing would have been this simple.
This was the âsimpleâ difficulty only a Prophet could achieve!
But Sio wasnât contemplating all that much.
He stared blankly at the youth before him, seemingly trying to discern something from his eyes.
But he saw nothingâno disgust, no fear, no pity, and no compassion or revulsion.
Ian looked at him as if he were looking at a dragon.
Just an ordinary one.
"Youâre not afraid of me..."
He asked softly, and Ian was momentarily stunned before he realized that Sio was still hung up on such a trivial matter, and he couldnât help but chide with a laugh, "The scale you gave me is enough for me to understand you."
"Listen, Sio, youâre a dragon, and a good one at that. Besides, donât you have a synthetic body? I saw your Projection of the Phantasmal Realm outside, and I have to say, itâs very beautiful, regardless of gender."
"Although Anfa is likely to be angry, I still have to say, that face of his would not be out of place in a skirt, and after your adjustments, you look even more attractive. This proves you have an extra talent for beauty, and the Fae will definitely like you a lot."
Sio couldnât keep up with Ianâs train of thought. To be honest, hardly anyone on Terra could.
By the time he finally understood, the Deformed Dragon showed an indescribable expression: "So... youâre here to rescue me? What about Mom, Anfa, and Man Cliff?"
"Their team should also be in the Avak Domain now."
Ian recalled what he had seen in the surveillance room of the Spirit Wisdom Institute, indeed there had been a team of Mountain People with characteristics of the Dragon Worship Cult, he nodded and said, "But I am the fastest oneâright, after I rescue you, you must not tell anyone it was me who saved you."
"Remember, it was Knight Mahdi of the Secluded Valley who saved you, not Ian! Got it?"
"Understood." Sio nodded blankly, evidently confused from being in captivity for so long, not yet clear on what was happening: "Just a different identity, Iâm good at that... But, but..."
After hesitating for quite a while, he finally uttered, "Wasnât I ambushed in the Western Territory, defeated in battle, and then passed out?"