Extraordinary Voyage-Chapter 685 - 589 Activated Skin: Upper Sea Emperor Dragon

Late Spring, Early Summer.

The annual rainy season of the New Continent has begun to show its power. Even as a prelude, it's nothing to be underestimated. Over the Black Sea, the wind howls and waves churn, mixed with rolling thunder, while the storm cascades down from the sky.

Rumble, rumble, rumble...

Three thousand meters above the sea, the overcast, heavy rain clouds have become another continent in the sky. The top of the tower-like cloud layer almost reaches six thousand meters, carrying strong winds, thunderstorms, and lightning, unleashing its divine power without restraint.

In such weather today, it's not only humans' sailing ships that would avoid setting out. Even the swifts, reputed to battle storms, would never utter, "Let the storm rage on even more fiercely."

They would just shout, "Sorry for disturbing, I'm leaving!" or "I'm not going, get lost!"

However.

Ao——!

Roar——!

In the midst of the rolling thunder that couldn't cover the loud chant, two massive shadows entangled in this thick, dark cloud sea engaging in a fierce "battle."

Suddenly, like rockets, they shot upward, breaking through to above the cloud sea, basking in golden sunlight. Then they tumbled back down through the several thousand-meter-thick clouds, nearly touching the sea, before soaring back up.

Undoubtedly, these are two powerful beings at the pinnacle of extraordinary creatures — giant dragons!

One of them is over eighteen meters long, covered in deep blue shimmering scale armor, with eight sharp horns extending backwards, forming a crown shape. Wild winds always whirl around its scales. This is a young pureblood storm dragon.

The other one.

Relatively smaller, only about sixteen meters long, the emerald body glows like ocean waves in a streamlined shape, its sharp spiral long spear-like horns point forward from its forehead. This is a sea emperor dragon, shrouded in a layer of aquatic radiance.

Boom!

The two facing each other beneath the cloud bottom abruptly turn towards each other. In a mere flash of crossing paths, their claws and tails collide, and the impact between their iron-like dragon bodies is akin to siege hammers clashing, with every movement infused with boundless power. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Then they swiftly bank and separate, only to cross again, repeating this cycle.

The white trails they leave behind as they shatter the storm resemble two giant serpents, proceeding forward while fighting, reminiscent of scissors maneuver in aerial combat.

Each beat of their powerful wings shakes the sky, stirring up terrifying storms. Their mighty roars seem capable of rolling back the waves.

At this moment, they dominate the sky and sea, with the catastrophic storm merely playing a supporting role.

Suddenly.

The smaller sea emperor dragon, instead of playing by the rules as it passes by, opens its large mouth and unleashes a searing hundred-meter-long icy stream towards the storm dragon lodged beneath its side.

Instantly, the rain beneath the sky nearly turns into hail.

[Magic-like Technique: Frost Dust Breath]

Without hesitation.

A hurricane bursts from the storm dragon below, executing high-speed maneuvering like a cobra. The relentless ice stream barely nips at its tail, with not even a scale on the tip being touched.

The storm dragon meant to leverage its agility to retake the upper hand and counterattack.

But suddenly, the sea emperor dragon, which was displaying great might just moments ago, shrinks instantly, transforming into a tall human female, plummeting towards the sea like a stone.

Whoosh——

The storm dragon quickly pivots to catch her steadily with its large head, erecting an atmospheric barrier to fend off the torrential rain.

Lying on Aiven's head, Anita, with a dragon scale belt around her waist and utterly exhausted, is soaked in sweat. Her heaving chest rises and falls dramatically, breathing heavily without grace:

"Huff...Huff... Transforming into dragon form is extremely taxing. Even with my inherent lower sea dragon vein and having long reached the Tier 3 senior grand knight level.

Additionally, there is the matching breathing technique of [Dragon-Slaying Swordsmanship], adept at locating the inherent frequencies of various dragon types, resonating with them, and then striking them down with a sword.

If it were a regular Tier 3 grand knight, let alone fight, just wearing the activated dragon skin and standing there they might be drained dry by it in less than three minutes."

Evidently, this formidable sea emperor dragon is none other than Anita, who acquired the [Activated Skin: Sea Emperor Dragon].

At this point, the once dragon-slaying maiden has finally become the evil dragon.

Upon his return to the New Continent, Aiven informed Anita about the impending turmoil in Ilya, a matter the sister certainly couldn't ignore.

This war isn't just about deciding the future of the Ilya Kingdom, but also ties deeply with the Galliot Clan's quest for revenge. As the clan's eldest daughter, how could Anita possibly miss it?

No matter his busy schedule, Aiven dedicated a large portion of his efforts preparing this powerful new equipment specifically for his sister.

In fact.

Transforming someone at their root into a giant dragon, from the Vitalist School's theory, it's entirely feasible. At that point, the dragon form would be the body, and the human form just a manifestation.

However, completely eliminating the influence of the bloodline origin, the Jet Black Dragon, while achieving a balance of power and grace proves exceedingly difficult.

Moreover, Aiven's [Genetic Theory] is only in its nascent stages, and the [Talent Magic: Bloodline Plugin] is still at the "know the existence but not its essence" stage. Transformation involving Tier 4 dragon-level bloodline has far exceeded Aiven's capabilities.

He could only extract purified bloodline from the Sea Emperor Dragon-man Andreas, the leader of the Great Oasis, fostering a living upper-rank sea emperor dragon.

However.

In essence, dragons are a form of intelligence that surpasses humans. Within just a month, they were violently forced into their adolescent limits like a duck being force-fed, by the "Flesh Altar" and "Bronze Talisman," with their souls having no chance to keep pace with the growth of their bodies.

Just like knights completely losing control, dominated entirely by the "id" rooted in their bodies, nothing else exists in their minds except desires for destruction, slaughter, and possession.

Fortunately, this situation does not affect turning them into [Activated Skin].

Even so, it was only after Olivia thoroughly purified its spirituality that it was safe enough to give to her sister for use.

"As a mythical creature that can reach up to Tier 5, the corrosiveness of dragon blood is among the most formidable in various bloodlines.

So the situation you're talking about simply doesn't exist. No matter the level, those unable to withstand the erosion of the Dragon Vein will be directly consumed by the dragon skin the moment they don it, not even leaving a bone behind."

Just like Anita's current state, her shirt and trousers, made from plant fibers, are torn in multiple places, and the leather boots on her feet, made from animal materials, have been mercilessly corroded away.

"However, being able to gain the three Magic-like Techniques of the 'Sea Emperor Dragon' as a knight, and maintaining the transformation state for an hour, is enough to handle an intense battle. Sister, you did well in this aerial combat exercise."

"Tsk, you think I need you to say it."

She raised her smooth bare foot and gently kicked Aiven's head, harder than steel, like a knight spurring a horse with a spur, and shouted:

"Mount, let's go home, giddy up!"

Aiven: Uh... as long as you're happy.

Then, he suddenly folded his dragon wings and plummeted straight down from the clouds.

"Ah—!"

Amidst Anita's involuntary screams, the Storm Dragon seemed to crash and fell rapidly from thousands of meters in the sky.

But in an instant, as they approached the sea surface, they suddenly vanished into a patch of blue mist.

Whoosh—

When they reappeared riding the whirlwind, they were already inside a small world called [Witchcraft Garden].

The core of the small world, Poseidya, originally formed by nesting six layers of rectangular cities, had fully taken shape, filled with abundant Spiritual matter.

It could even grow crops and herbs like in the Material World, and while basked in the suns of both the material world and Spirit Realm, the quality of the crops is destined to be extraordinary, becoming an important resource point for the growth of the School.

However.

Originally a rectangular city measuring 12×15 kilometers, after being detached from the Spirit Realm, Poseidya was compressed to 8×10 kilometers, less than half its original size.

Aiven simply controlled the city to settle, reducing the levels from six to three, giving it a semblance of a supremely large fortress.

At the outskirts of the city, some places were left open, mostly becoming lakes large enough for battleships to sail in, while the "Mountain Giant" transformed back into an island soaking in the water.

At this time.

Milan, Olivia, and Angie were on the open platform of the city's highest layer, jointly constructing a witchcraft ritual orbit belonging to the "Prophetic School."

Conveniently, Calvin, who was planting herbs in the [Witchcraft Garden], was dragged over by Angie to lend a hand, but he was no less efficient than the Official Wizards.

Suspended overhead was a brass-colored metal sphere, like a surveying instrument from the future, emitting a fine beam of light, meticulously carving the symbols needed for the ritual orbit.

Sizzle——

This was the second phase of modification to the "Brass Key" Aiven performed upon his advancement, utilizing a permanent [Activated Dead] to turn the magic book into something akin to a golem construct.

Possessing simple intelligence, it could also transform into various weapons and practical tools.

Finally, it was reallocated to his second disciple, Calvin.

According to the "Vitalist School" tradition, although it couldn't fully utilize abilities like the orthodox "Mechanical Immortality School," for him yet to be an official wizard, it was already completely sufficient.

As for Angie, very close to becoming a senior official wizard, she obtained her own personal blank magic book, which she can later craft according to her desires.

Because when Aiven[Cloned] a Sea Emperor Dragon, he also utilized [Directed Stem Cell Cultivation] to produce some dragonhide, and with the strength of a Tier 3 High-Rank Wizard, crafted a batch of blank semi-living magic books.

Currently, only Angie has one, but later on, every formal disciple will receive one when they advance to an official wizard.

Having an excellent starting point, they could grow alongside the magic book according to their characteristics, making it a hundred times stronger compared to captured spoils.

After circling once, Aiven landed on the ground in human form with his sister.

"Milan, how about it? Finding the fourth volume depends on you entirely."

The shipbuilding materials had been prepared long ago, but the related technology [Living Ship Spirit Technique] had yet to be realized, causing Aiven some anxiety.

[Witchcraft Garden] was the place closest to the Spirit Realm. Without any leads, he could only hope to find answers here, attempting to use this prophetic ritual to obtain part of the information of the fourth volume of the "Flesh Sacrifice".

Technical expert Milan looked up at the Spirit Realm Sun in the sky and assured with a pat on his chest:

"No problem, there's still two days before the Spiritual Tide reaches its peak, plenty of time!"