The Cornflower Witch

The crowd below gazed up in awe at the scene.

The projection of the holy spear "Hrædrazi" flashed by, like a pale red ray that appeared for an instant, piercing through the plesiosaur-like dragon's jade-green dragon eye, shattering part of its skull, flying out from the back of its head before dissipating. Accompanied by a mournful cry, the dragon's long neck crashed down from the air, its head plunging into the muddy water, splashing up murky waves.

Was it dead? That dragon.

Seeing the plesiosaur-like dragon fall, the crowd felt a mix of relief and a hint of disbelief. After all, just seconds ago, it was a mighty dragon dominating the scene, and now it had been defeated in an instant—it all felt so unreal, like a dream.

In the sky, several Masters watched the dragon submerged in the mud from a distance, still focusing their attention, not immediately taking action.

They could sense the dragon weakening and saw the dark red dragon blood gradually spreading in the mud, but the plesiosaur-like dragon's heartbeat and breath had not completely stopped.

"It's still alive." Master Hiden frowned.

"But it's very weak." Master Ein clasped his hands behind his back, thought for a moment, then suggested, "Should we continue attacking to kill it, or capture and contain it?"

Killing it would certainly yield some precious dragon resources, but a living dragon—for Mages, it was a rare research subject they hadn't encountered in a thousand years, far more valuable than a dead dragon.

If the plesiosaur-like dragon were still resisting, they probably wouldn't hesitate, continuing to intensify their attack until it was defeated and killed. But now that it had weakened and wasn't as threatening, they had to consider other ways to wrap things up.

The Masters began to voice their opinions. Two agreed on killing it to solve the problem, while the other four supported capturing and containing it for future research.

"Since that's the case, let's start the capture work." Master Ge Zhen didn't vote, but with four votes already in favor of capturing, his vote wouldn't change much anyway.

So, under the Masters' command, the large machines below changed their strategy and ceased attacking.

Though they wanted to capture this dragon, it wasn't part of the original plan, so they lacked the proper tools and methods on site, leading to a flurry of activity.

First, several Masters cautiously descended to the severely weakened plesiosaur-like dragon. Due to the severe head injury, its consciousness was already blurry.

They administered hemostasis and initial healing treatment to the dragon, then used cables from the towing trains to bind it. Five large war machines slowly dragged it out of the mud.

A few hours later, as dusk approached and the sunset painted the sky blood-red, Sylutia and the others slowly approached the massive plesiosaur-like dragon lying on the grass. Its mountain-like body, even in such a weakened state, still radiated an oppressive aura, making those around both marvel and feel curious.

The girl's eyes blinked, a faint starlight shimmering within them. She analyzed and observed, spending far more time than when observing other creatures. After about thirty minutes, she fully understood the dragon's condition.

Race: Dragon (Plesiosaur-like Dragon Subspecies)

Status: Injured (Severe eye and head wounds)

Talent: Fin-Swimming [Rare]; Bloodline talent of the Plesiosaur-like Dragon, enabling swift movement in any liquid using specialized fin-like limbs (including but not limited to mud, ocean, cloudsea, swamp)

Fate Card: [Mud-Pit Serpent-Necked Dragon] [Sixth Tier · Dragon Eye · Snail Fish]

A dragon slumbering in muddy waters, moving swiftly through swamp and mire as if swimming freely in the vast sea.

- Effect: [Dragon Bloodline Lv.5], Bearing dragon blood, no faint trace of it. (All attributes +10, Self-healing +5, Immunity to high-tier spells and abilities)

- Effect: [Mud-Water Authority Lv.7], You can move freely in mud and water, as if swimming in the sea, and can control mud and water to form giant waves and shield walls, obstructing and drowning enemies.

Core Card: [Rainstorm Festival's Dragon] [Dragon Eye · Snail Fish]

Normally gathers power during hibernation, and when the season of torrential rain arrives, awakens from slumber. The accumulated Dragon Eye bloodline power resonates in the rainstorm, transforming into the composite Aspect of 'Dragon Eye · Snail Fish,' enabling self-growth and becoming more attuned.

- Effect: [Rainstorm Baptism], Each time it undergoes a wind season's rainstorm baptism with accumulated hibernation bloodline power, it gains strength growth.

- Effect: [Rain-Walking], When in a rainstorm environment, perception, stamina, self-healing, dragon might, and control over mud and water are all enhanced.

Ability Cards:

[Azure Spray Dragon Breath Lv.7] (Dragon Eye · Snail Fish): The azure dragon breath liquid accumulated within the body burns rapidly upon ejection, producing terrifying high-temperature flames with water-like properties that can pierce fragile things. (Power +14, Meltdown +5)

[Dragon Might Fierce Glare Lv.6] (Dragon Eye): One of the dragon's instincts; dragon might suppresses the abilities and spells of other beings. When actively released, it forms an expanding aura that shatters abilities, force fields, and spells used by other creatures. Locking eyes with the dragon, if one's will is insufficient, the mind suffers a massive shock, ranging from trembling fear to mental fragmentation and death. (Shock +9, Will Impact +6/12, Aspect Stability Disruption +6)

[Water-Friendly Dragon Scales Lv.7] (Dragon Eye · Snail Fish): Dragons are naturally equipped with powerful scales that resist various types of damage and self-heal and repair in rainwater.

(Defense +14, Rainwater Self-Heal +5, Gains additional resistance against seven Aspects: 'Scorching Sun', 'Slumbering Winter', 'Death · Melt', 'Luminous Moon', 'Nightmare', 'Mist Shadow', 'Alien Star')

After reading all the information that appeared, Sylutia couldn't help but marvel at the dragon's terror and might. Just a single Sixth Tier dragon could single-handedly fight against over a dozen Sixth Tier war machines and required seven Master-level Mages to ambush it from afar with targeted dragon-slaying secret arts to severely wound it.

It was hard to imagine how hopeless it must have been for other creatures facing the era of dragon dominion in ancient times. If not for the Seventh Epoch's alien star descending, dragons would likely still control the world even now.

Though they had bound and contained it, the plesiosaur-like dragon's body, over 300 meters long, was incredibly difficult to load onto the train. Eventually, they solved the problem by linking four large war machines together to form a platform, lifting the plesiosaur-like dragon up, and then having the train tow it along slowly.

On the third day of the journey, the plesiosaur-like dragon's wounds had initially healed, and it regained some consciousness, beginning to struggle. The tough cables snapped one after another under the dragon's immense strength. The accompanying Masters had to once again use secret arts, employing the holy spear 'Hrædrazi's' projection to pierce the dragon's body, causing massive blood loss, which finally weakened it again.

With this experience, they continued bleeding the dragon throughout the journey, while providing basic nutrition to keep it alive. To treat the train crew and ensure the dragon didn't die, the medical team on the train was constantly busy, almost without rest. Sylutia was also pulled in by Amisa to help. As a reward and payment, during one of the bloodletting sessions, Sylutia received a bottle of pure dragon blood.

[Dragon Blood] (Fourth Tier · Rare): Though not the essence blood from the dragon's heart, it still contains part of the dragon's power and can be used in brewing many precious potions—a rare and valuable ingredient.