’As expected of a Holy Hall-level Sea Beast! Even while dormant, this terrifying pressure is comparable to the Abyss Lord I sensed from afar that day!’

’But you’re not an awakened Holy Hall-level being like the Abyss Lord... Time to shear some wool!’

The pressure from the Holy Hall-level Sea Beast was indescribable, crushing Shi Ming’s body. He mobilized the power of the Black Tortoise, Titan, and Dusk Whale within him to forcibly resist this destructive aura and maintain equilibrium between the internal and external pressure.

An ordinary human with a weak constitution wouldn’t even be qualified to look upon it.

A single glance would cause them to explode.

The commission from the Twelve Stars required 1,000 grams of tissue from this sea beast—scales, flesh, or even shed skin would do, but it was best to have some blood and fresh flesh. To evolve one of his body’s skills also required 1,000 grams of flesh and blood. This meant Shi Ming needed to shear at least 2 kilograms of flesh and blood from this Holy Hall-level Sea Beast to make the trip worthwhile!

Hmm...

This dragon was so massive.

To it, two kilograms of flesh and blood was probably like a human losing a single leg hair—not even worth mentioning.

’It probably won’t mind, right~’

’But where’s the most convenient place to start?’

Shi Ming blinked, hoping for a reminder from the Eye of the World.

There was no prompt.

But he did discover traces left behind by the Vortex People.

Following the trail, he arrived beside one of the Great Black Heaven Dragon’s magnificent claws. On the jet-black dragon skin was a hard, keratinous layer. It seemed the Vortex People had used some method to grind away a small opening in it. Beneath the opening was an extremely fine puncture mark, less than half a millimeter in diameter.

The puncture mark had long since healed.

Compared to the nearly kilometer-long dragon, it couldn’t even be called a scar.

The Vortex People had been very cautious, likely using a special syringe-like tool to probe into the black dragon’s body and extract a small amount of tissue and blood.

Shi Ming had a similar tool given to him by the Twelve Stars.

But he felt that method was too inefficient.

He had a better way.

"Dusk of the Gods!"

His 183-centimeter-tall human body, just a moment before it could transform into a miniature Dusk Giant... was forcibly stopped by Shi Ming.

Right now, he didn’t need to intimidate; he needed to be discreet.

The Fallen God Battlefield was compressed to its absolute limit, maintained at a mere half-meter radius. Still, it could cause decay and entropy within its effect. Shi Ming stood beside the Great Black Heaven Dragon’s massive claw, just standing there, waiting for the Dusk of the Gods to slowly corrode it...

As long as he could rot away a small spot on the dragon’s claw, he could easily obtain the Holy Hall-level Flesh and Blood he desired.

And this "boiling the frog in warm water" approach wouldn’t give the Great Black Heaven Dragon a strong jolt and trigger its sense of crisis.

This method might not be the most efficient, but it was certainly the safest.

’Sigh, what a pity.’

Shi Ming forcibly suppressed the instinctive craving of the restless Right Arm Red Pattern.

’I can’t absorb its blood yet.’

If his Right Arm Red Pattern touched the wound, it would definitely start sucking for all it was worth! Not to mention whether his current physical constitution could withstand the corrosion of Holy Hall-level blood, the Great Black Heaven Dragon wasn’t a passively slumbering sea beast like the Black Tortoise. If it sensed a large amount of its power being drained, transferred, and desecrated, it would surely awaken from its sleep.

At that point, he would probably have to face its wrath directly.

He would be turned into its food.

This was also why the Eye of the World had warned him repeatedly.

...

...

...

Dusk of the Gods slowly corroded the very tip of the Great Black Heaven Dragon’s claw.

Shi Ming stood in silence, observing the many details of the sea beast.

Its entire body radiated an imperious aura. There wasn’t a single wound anywhere else. Every scale had textures like a work of art—sharp and violent. Its heads were coarse and exuded a destructive quality... even the armor-like scales showed no signs of damage.

After untold millennia, its divine might was still as imposing as a fortress.

It showed no signs of waking.

Like a statue.

Its lowered heads showed no trace of weariness, like dormant volcanoes that would erupt the moment they were awakened.

One, two, three... six, seven, eight.

Only eight heads were visible on the outside.

There was also a regenerative head, lowered beneath the main one and buried deep within the dragon’s body. Serving as the core, it was not brazenly exposed during its slumber.

Even a dragon this powerful was so cautious.

Time passed, second by second.

Shi Ming finally felt a trace of decay appear on the tip of the claw. He took out the King Slayer Saber and probed it gently. The tough, keratinous layer of the epidermis peeled off, revealing the tissue of the Holy Hall-level Sea Beast underneath.

The King Slayer Saber was slightly corroded.

Feeling a pang of regret, Shi Ming continued to work at it.

He took out the container provided by the Twelve Stars and collected the scraped-off keratin, tissue, and fragments. It was as if he were trimming the Great Black Heaven Dragon’s claws, bit by bit gathering the inconspicuous but now-abundant decaying tissue until he slowly scraped his way down to the flesh layer.

His eyes lit up.

Ignoring the scorching heat from his Right Arm Red Pattern, he patiently continued to "shear the wool" from this great dragon. The tissue at the edges had all decayed. A rotten wound about ten centimeters across appeared at the end of the Great Black Heaven Dragon’s claw. Mucus and blood oozed out, dripping into the magma below.

Shi Ming collected it patiently.

Only he could stand beside the Great Black Heaven Dragon for so long, forcibly balancing the internal and external pressure.

CRACK...

A small piece of the Great Black Heaven Dragon’s claw tip broke off like a rotten fruit, taking with it some still-fresh flesh from within. This was his biggest haul yet! It was the size of an adult’s head, weighing an estimated four or five kilograms!

But compared to the dragon’s size, it was no bigger than a fingernail.

Shi Ming’s heart leaped with joy as he swiftly put away his prize.

Then he dispelled the Dusk Domain, took out an anti-corrosion collector, and placed it under the wound to catch the heavy drops of fresh blood one by one, making sure to keep his right arm far away from it.

The blood dripped into the container drop by drop.

Meanwhile, Shi Ming moved away to investigate the side of the Great Black Heaven Dragon’s kilometer-long body.

As long as there was no major stimulus, the dragon waking up was an extremely low-probability event. Therefore, he didn’t hold back for fear of jeopardizing the mission and quickly began searching for traces of the Sea-Rising Cherry Root.

Finally, next to one of the side heads, he discovered a small crater in the lava rock.

Inside the crater were some still-fresh rootlets.

There were three small segments in total, each only as thick as a ginseng rootlet. They were truly hard to spot without looking closely.

He carefully picked up the three root segments and stored them away. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Then, he breathed a sigh of relief.

This trip could be considered a success.

The next step was to collect enough blood and then retreat.

Just as he was about to return to the claw, one of the sleeping dragon heads, lolling to the side, emitted a hazy fluctuation from its slumber.

It was as if it had stirred in its sleep.

Shi Ming felt the world before him turn crimson. His body grew illusory, and his consciousness began to drift, as if he were about to plunge into the millennia-long dream of a behemoth.

The feeling was very similar to when the Nameless Cocoon pulled his Spiritual Power into the deep sea.

But it was even more like he was dreaming.

’The Great Black Heaven Dragon’s dreams occasionally affect reality. Has it pulled my consciousness into its dream?’

Hmm...

This feeling...

...

...

...

Shi Ming lowered his head.

He was astonished to find that he no longer possessed a human body, but a cold and magnificent scaled form, coiled upon a real and ancient "land."

He turned his head. To his left and right, four other heads were splayed out wantonly.

They all had their eyes open, and they shared the same origin as him.

——————————

PS:

Happy Qixi Festival, everyone~

The author is going back to writing now~(ノへ￣,)