Chapter 1956: 瘿

“Well, the boomerang hit himself.” He Lingchuan honestly replied, “Dragons are not all alike. I only know that black dragons don't have this kind of thing.”

He had seen black flood dragon statues and markings hundreds of times, both in Panlong City and in reality. He was certain that black dragons had large, square heads with flat skulls and no such fleshy growths.

From the ground, Weng Xing saw it and exclaimed, “Such a big piece of flesh, enough to eat for many days!”

Luo Xie, standing nearby, said, “Is it a tumor? Perhaps this dragon has a flesh boil?”

Weng Xing immediately teased him, “What tumor! This Azure Dragon's cultivation surpasses that of ordinary immortals; do you think it would just grow tumors casually?”

The speaker spoke unintentionally, but the listener paid attention. Fang Canran suddenly snapped his fingers, then pointed at Luo Xie and said, “You have a point!”

Weng Xing: “...Huh?”

Could he have guessed correctly just by talking nonsense?

“This might, possibly, probably be a very rare thing called a 'Dragon Gall,'” Fang Canran couldn't resist pressing the fleshy ball again. “You know, scaly creatures like snakes, crocodiles, and dragons, just like shellfish, form pearls – and I'm not just talking about dragon pearls. Shellfish encapsulate foreign objects to form pearls, and scaly creatures actually do the same.”

“When I oversaw the auction at Dunyuan, I handled crocodile pearls, tortoise pearls, and python pearls, all formed this way.” Fang Canran wasn't entirely certain. “However, for a creature as mighty as the Azure Dragon, it's unbelievable that something could be embedded in its head that it couldn't even extract itself.”

“Let's cut it open and see,” He Lingchuan said, then sliced open the fleshy ball with a single stroke.

Without the protection of dragon skin, the fleshy ball was easily opened. Inside, there was no pus but a hard object, entirely black, very straight, long, and branched.

“Is this another dragon horn?” It was shaped more like a tree, perhaps a persimmon tree. “Looking at its texture, it also resembles wood grain.”

He Lingchuan turned his blade and tapped it a few times with the back.

Clang, clang, clang. The sound quality was peculiar, dull yet with a metallic crispness, echoing softly in the vast cavern.

Unable to suppress his curiosity, Fang Canran pulled several bottles from his pocket and poured a little liquid from each onto the object.

Each liquid changed color upon contact.

Fang Canran's expression grew increasingly strange.

“What's wrong?”

“This...” Fang Canran organized his thoughts. “It's a proliferation of dragon bone.”

The other three were speechless.

He Lingchuan couldn't help but laugh wryly, “So, after all that, this Azure Dragon has bone spurs?”

Interesting. All the unfortunate people he knew with this condition had it in their lower back or feet, and when severe, they would feel pain whether sitting or standing. Who would have thought even a creature as powerful as the Azure Dragon couldn't escape bone spurs? He wondered if it had a constant headache.

“So, what is this then, a bone spur?”

“You could say that,” Fang Canran scratched his head. “But I tested it with reagents, and it also contains woody and metallic components, though I can't determine their exact types.”

“So it's dragon bone, and also metal, and also wood?”

“Or, conversely, it's neither bone, nor metal, nor wood.” Fang Canran tried to break off a branch to examine its cross-section, but it wouldn't budge, even though it was as thin as a toothpick. “A little help?”

He Lingchuan swung his blade with a backhand stroke.

Clang—

The clang of metal was jarring and resonant.

The two below were stunned and dizzy from the unexpected sound wave attack and quickly covered their ears.

“Huh?” The branch was completely unharmed. Was that even possible?

Anyway, the Fusheng Blade was famous for killing Miaozhantian; how could it fail to cut even a toothpick-thin branch?

Having been frustrated in front of its master, Fusheng was probably enraged. Its blade flashed with light, suddenly radiating killing intent, forcing Fang Canran beside it back two steps.

He Lingchuan channeled his primal energy again and swung the blade with a whoosh.

The sensation was terrible, like trying to chop a steel pipe with a kitchen knife, two strong forces colliding.

However, the Fusheng Blade was ultimately sharper, and the branch snapped off.

Fang Canran, as if he had found a treasure, picked up the branch and took out a crystal convex mirror from his pocket, examining it closely.

“It really has wood fibers, look!”

Magnified thirty times, He Lingchuan could see that the cross-section of the object indeed resembled a wood cross-section, with fibrous pores; but at the same time, it also contained some dark yellow substance, which Fang Canran referred to as metal.

“Whatever originally entered the Azure Dragon's head, it was ultimately assimilated,” Fang Canran attempted to conclude. “But the Azure Dragon's own rejection properties still transformed it into this unique, hybrid object.”

“This thing, should it be called a bone-tree?” He Lingchuan noticed when extracting the fleshy ball that the Azure Dragon's bones were surprisingly azure, but this 'bone-tree' was a dull black, a genuine mutation.

After all this discussion, the divine bone necklace was practically burning a hole in his chest; clearly, it was incredibly eager to consume something.

He Lingchuan reached out and pressed the 'bone-tree.' With a whoosh, the object vanished before their eyes.

The fleshy ball, along with the 'bone-tree,' was entirely consumed by the divine bone necklace.

The Grand Flask was truly more voracious than he had imagined.

However, the divine bone necklace's heating didn't stop, though its temperature did drop slightly. Clearly, it still craved something, just not with the same intense urgency as it had for the 'bone-tree.'

This time, the search didn't take long, because after he jumped onto the Sea Yaksha King, he immediately identified the divine bone necklace's target:

The string of skulls.

Human warriors also had this custom: taking the skulls of vanquished foes, shrinking them with medicine, and stringing them into necklaces. The Flash Gold tribe, which He Lingchuan had recently subdued, had explained to him that while others might see this as a blatant display of military might, it actually held another layer of meaning:

Homage and witness.

Former opponents who were strung into necklaces were considered respectable enemies. The warrior would carry them along to witness future victories.

Similarly, those worthy of being worn on the Sea Yaksha King's chest were also once mighty beings.

It was only natural that the Grand Flask would be interested in these specimens.

After acquiring these two items, the Grand Flask finally quieted down. As He Lingchuan was about to jump down, Fang Canran pointed at the broken trident and said, “I suggest you take this with you too.”

He Lingchuan's heart stirred. Indeed, a halberd capable of piercing an Azure Dragon was extraordinary in itself.

“The shaft of the halberd is broken; it can't be used anymore.” He walked directly onto the dragon's head, then jumped onto the trident's prongs. “From this angle, the other prong is also damaged.”

A trident typically has a thicker central prong and two thinner ones on the sides, making a total of three pointed prongs.

This particular halberd originally only had two prongs remaining. When He Lingchuan jumped up for a closer look, he discovered that the other prong was actually also broken, twisted like a pretzel.

Perhaps after the Azure Dragon's eyes were pierced, it thrashed its head in agony, striking the halberd. Though it didn't break the weapon, the terrifying dragon power still twisted it out of shape.

“But it's still active,” Fang Canran said with a serious expression. “After more than two thousand years underground, the tip of the halberd still retains strong vitality. This is incredibly rare.”