Lord of Rot

The gardens of Porcupine Castle.

Leech held the dragon mineral gemstone he had acquired from the Round Table.

It looked like a garden, but was in fact a graveyard.

So he didn’t have to worry about anyone dropping by.

Under the moonlight, rows of nameless tombstones stood in neat formation, enough to make one’s heart tremble. This was definitely the one place in all of Porcupine Castle that the male and female servants were most unwilling to approach.

The Brass Dragon was perched on his shoulder.

"This type of ore appears due to the influence of a Giant Dragon," the Brass Dragon said nonchalantly after a glance. "It’s just a little thing. Only you would treat it like a treasure."

"I comprehended a magic spell from an ore before," Leech asked. "Does that make me a Dragon-blooded?"

He still remembered being angrily called a "damned Dragon-blooded."

But he’d grown up without ever seeing a dragon.

"Of course you are. You actually comprehended magic from an ore?" the Brass Dragon said in surprise. "Your luck is better than I imagined. A powerful Giant Dragon’s bloodline can influence many things. Dragon-blooded boars, Dragon-blooded horses, and so on can all appear. But ores are the least affected. For you to comprehend magic from a small piece of ore... you truly are worthy of being a Divine Favored... even if the Four Gods don’t actually exist in this world."

Leech wasn’t surprised that the dragon knew his title. Anyone who wandered around the castle would hear all sorts of legendary stories about Leech.

"I thought all Dragon-blooded were born from Giant Dragons having relations with other creatures. So this counts too." But then, the Brass Dragon’s next words shocked him. "What did you say? The Four Gods don’t exist?"

The Four Gods Sect was at the height of its power. Although it hadn’t yet reached the point of divine right of kings, the King’s coronation, wedding, and the Prince’s baptism all had to be presided over by a Bishop from the Four Gods Sect.

The presence of the Four Gods Sect could be seen all over the world.

The Brass Dragon said, "In my memory, there are no Four Gods."

"The Four Gods Sect has existed for at least several hundred to a thousand years," Leech said, looking skeptically at the Brass Dragon. "Are you sure your memory isn’t mistaken?"

"Of course!" The Brass Dragon met Leech’s gaze and instinctively shrank back, but then, realizing it hadn’t said anything wrong, it immediately puffed out its chest and raised its head defiantly. "We Giant Dragons have never seen gods, only some reasonably powerful humans. Is a thousand years that long? Some dragons can easily live to be a thousand."

"Alright, dragons live long lives," Leech said, too lazy to argue about the concept of time with a long-lived species. "But that doesn’t mean gods can’t be transformed from humans."

The Brass Dragon roared with laughter. "Humans can become gods? HAHAHA, your brain is truly strange!"

Leech retorted, "Why not? Through cultivation? I’m a Transcendent now. It’s not impossible for me to become a legend in the future, or even something beyond a legend."

In Chinese mythology from Earth, the vast majority of deities and immortals were humans who achieved their status through cultivation. They were best at resisting heavenly tribulations, defying the heavens as mortals, and ascending to immortality.

However, this resilient way of thinking—that humans could become gods through effort—was unique to Earth.

But the Brass Dragon said, "For any creature, bloodline and heritage determine its ultimate potential. A Giant Dragon only needs to grow up to become a legend. A god is born a god."

Leech felt there was no point in continuing this argument with the Brass Dragon. He was just a Transcendent, while the Brass Dragon couldn’t even win a fight against a cat.

They were like two keyboard warriors passionately flaming each other online, trying to compare the power levels of two different fictional universes by citing various sources, when in reality, they were just insignificant ants.

They wouldn’t get anything out of it except getting worked up and red in the face.

Leech opened the entrance to the crypt and walked inside.

Having grown accustomed to Leech’s abilities, the Brass Dragon wasn’t surprised. It clung to Leech’s shoulder and followed him deep into the crypt.

Deep within the narrow crypt, the Brass Dragon immediately spotted the emerald Fishman skeleton crystal. "This is ore from a Green Dragon’s nest, isn’t it? Did you find a Green Dragon’s cave?"

"Cave?" Leech pointed at his own feet. "You’re standing in it right now."

"Here?"

The Brass Dragon spread its wings and flew a circle, finally landing on the emerald Fishman skeleton crystal. "It does feel a bit like one."

"Your ability is truly miraculous, to be able to control space so easily."

"I think it’s pretty amazing too," Leech readily accepted the Brass Dragon’s praise, leaving the normally chatty dragon suddenly speechless.

Leech asked, "Besides infecting people with Dragon Blood and turning them into Dragon-blooded, what else is this stone good for?"

"It’s useless. The bloodline power it contains is too minuscule," the Brass Dragon said. "You’d be better off with a piece of Giant Dragon dung than this thing."

Leech heard the mockery in its tone, but he was actually seriously considering the idea. ’Giant Dragon dung, huh? I wonder if it would have miraculous effects for growing Magic Potions.’

Given Leech’s obsession with cost-effectiveness, if he really had a Giant Dragon, he would definitely exploit it from every possible angle. The dragon would lose its freedom to relieve itself wherever it pleased; it would have to do its business in a designated spot from then on!

’Can’t let the good stuff go to waste on outsiders, after all.’

After his bout of wild speculation, Leech held up the black dragon mineral gemstone.

He asked, "Can you tell what kind of dragon this stone came from?"

"A Black Dragon," the Brass Dragon said. "I can smell that pungent, rotten stench from a mile away!"

Leech leaned in and sniffed it, but he couldn’t smell anything. "You’ve got a sensitive nose."

"Are you going to try and comprehend something from it?" the Brass Dragon asked, having figured out Leech’s plan.

"Of course."

"Good luck," the Brass Dragon said, bored. It spread its wings and flew off. Knowing this might be a Giant Dragon’s nest, it wanted to wander around and look for traces of its own kind.

But as expected, the result was a disappointment. There wasn’t a single trace of dragons here. Instead, there were many signs of Fishman life and a messy, stinking mud pit, which it found utterly disgusting.

The Brass Dragon couldn’t bring itself to like low-intelligence creatures it couldn’t communicate with. It much preferred conversing with intelligent beings, chatting away, and boasting about the might of Giant Dragons.

When the Brass Dragon returned, it found that Leech had already opened his eyes.

"You gave up, didn’t you?" it said. "That’s normal. Don’t think just anyone can—"

But Leech beckoned to the Brass Dragon. "What’s this stuff good for?"

"What?" The Brass Dragon followed Leech’s gaze.

On the ground was a puddle of black mud.

"This is?"

"The magic I just got," Leech said. "It’s just a puddle of black, stinky mud."

"You actually learned it?" The Brass Dragon was incredulous. "How?"

"Maybe because I’m a genius?"

"Yes! You are a genius!" Unexpectedly, the Brass Dragon admitted it directly this time. "Leech, you are absolutely the most talented human I have ever seen when it comes to magic."

Leech retorted, "Have you ever met any other humans who can use magic?"

The Brass Dragon replied, "You’re the first."

Leech said, "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

Flapping its small wings, the Brass Dragon landed next to the black mud. "If I’m not mistaken, this should be a Black Dragon’s decay technique. They like to eat rotten things and hate fresh food."

"A very... unique palate," Leech commented. "So, the purpose of this stuff is to make things rot faster?"

"That’s right," the Brass Dragon said. "A pretty useless magic, unless you also plan on eating rotten food."

"No, I think it’s extremely useful," Leech said, his eyes suddenly shining.

If used to decompose trash or plants and animals, it could add organic matter to the earth and improve the soil.

The decomposition of plants and animals takes a long time, but with this magic, the process could be accelerated and produced in a short time.

’It’s practically a miracle tool for farming!’ Plus, the magic’s consumption of Spiritual Power was very low, requiring only one unit of Spiritual Power.

The Brass Dragon really couldn’t understand how making things rot could be considered good magic. Besides, this spell wasn’t very powerful. If used on a living creature, it wouldn’t be able to rot it down to the bone; it was only somewhat effective on dead things.

It could only assume Leech was trying to console himself.

Although he hadn’t comprehended a powerful spell, the Brass Dragon had already acknowledged Leech’s magical talent.

It definitely surpassed any human it had ever seen... and even the Sub-humans it remembered.

Leech had no idea he had received such high praise. He casually tossed the gemstone into the crypt.

’Maybe in the future, if I collect enough of these gemstones, I can use them to create more Dragon-blooded. Imagine pulling together a whole squad of them. That would be pretty awesome.’

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