Emily stopped at the edge of the cave entrance, not daring to peek inside for fear that her spying would displease Shu Yue.
Still, she was very worried about Shu Yue’s condition and asked anxiously.
“Are you okay, Hecate?”
“I’m fine…”
A voice that seemed to be suppressing something came from inside the cave, making it hard to believe she was truly okay.
She had cried out so loudly earlier—clearly, it was from pain!
“I’m fine!”
Before Emily could continue questioning, Shu Yue spoke again, repeating it for emphasis.
Emily had intended to keep asking, but now her words were blocked.
She could only say something else.
“Alright, Hecate, I’m glad you’re okay. If anything’s wrong, you must tell me.”
“…”
There was no reply for a long time.
Emily grew worried but didn’t have the courage to walk in directly.
She could only lean against the cave entrance, looking out at the brilliant starry sky, and slowly sat down.
The cold night wind brushed her cheeks, but she didn’t feel cold.
As a noble lady, she had access to many resources ordinary people couldn’t obtain.
When she decided to embark on the path of cultivation, she had already begun tempering her body with various expensive medicinal liquids.
The night wind felt merely cool to her.
Warm air was still constantly blowing out from the cave entrance.
Squatting nearby actually felt a bit stuffy and hot.
“Hmm…”
About ten seconds later, Shu Yue finally responded to her words.
Shu Yue wasn’t a heartless person.
Since Emily cared about her, she wouldn’t deliberately respond with coldness, which is why she gave that reply.
But after responding, she felt a bit of regret.
She was afraid Emily might push her luck…
Fortunately, Emily was an honest person and wouldn’t do something like cornering Shu Yue step by step.
Shu Yue’s own condition wasn’t great at the moment.
She was still lying face down on the ground.
The transformation of her body was still ongoing, and immense heat was radiating from her into the air.
This energy came from the Silver Dragon Bloodline.
Even the waste heat from the transformation process alone was enough to cook a lavish dinner.
She felt her entire body undergoing drastic changes.
Her small mouth opened wide, gasping for fresh air.
The tremendous heat was a threat even to her, but she had to endure it.
Shu Yue had no idea how much time had passed, but she sensed the critical state was very near.
Crack!
Crack!
A faint, crisp sound seemed to occur out of thin air.
Shu Yue’s rapid, heavy breathing couldn’t drown it out.
It was as if some boundary had been broken.
Her currently exposed, fair body suddenly stiffened, her head tilting back.
Her silver-white long hair began to flutter as if stirred by an unseen wind.
Fine, tiny cracks began to densely cover her body—so small they were hard to notice as fissures if one didn’t look carefully.
They split and flaked off, turning into faint points of light that scattered and vanished.
On the ridge of the Dragon Maiden’s silver-scaled tail, a fissure appeared starting from the base.
A faint fluorescent light emanated from within the crack, twisting left and right as it extended all the way to the tip of the tail.
A membrane, thin as a cicada’s wing and nearly transparent, peeled off.
The dragon tail lifted at this moment.
On the ground lay only the nearly transparent, yet prismatic membrane shed from the plump dragon tail, shimmering under the light. Unfortunately, it wasn’t intact.
The dragon tail’s movement had been a bit too vigorous, destroying its initial completeness. Only a large piece near the base remained.
Shu Yue opened her eyes.
Her golden irises held vertical black pupils in the center.
Compared to before, they appeared clearer and more lucid, as if reborn.
Her face was even more tender and smooth than before, to an almost exaggerated degree—so pink and moist it looked like a light pinch would draw water.
The skin all over her body had become more delicate.
She now seemed like a freshly hatched Dragon Maiden, her entire physical state returning to the purest, most flawless moment at the time of hatching.
Except…
The little buns that were still small seemed not to have grown.
The little tongue felt a bit pinker, but otherwise, there was no change.
It seemed they wouldn’t grow until the juvenile period ended.
But a dragon’s juvenile period was very long.
A human lifetime wouldn’t be enough to see a young dragon through its juvenile phase.
Shu Yue’s consciousness wasn’t focused on these things.
She was currently digesting the information that had entered her soul.
The moment the fusion completed, a stream of information had naturally flowed into her soul.
The large chunk of soul memory occupied by Fertile Soil upon the Body was gone.
But Shu Yue’s Silver Dragon Bloodline had evolved, granting her a bloodline spell.
That stream of information was precisely about this bloodline spell.
“Scale Art?”
Fertile Soil upon the Body was something she had taken from Liya White.
Shu Yue hadn’t practiced it much and didn’t rely on it heavily in combat, depending mainly on strength and speed to face enemies.
She lowered her head to look at her body, a thought lightly stirring.
A glimmer of light appeared over her slender, graceful figure.
Her originally delicate, fair skin shimmered with faint, colorful light.
Dense, transparent spirit scales attached to it, but they seemed like illusions—they didn’t disrupt the skin’s texture or appearance, merely adding a layer like a filter.
A passive effect after the bloodline evolution: Dragon Scale Protection.
It could effectively resist both physical and magical attacks.
In more game-like terms, it increased both physical and magical resistance.
With this, Shu Yue wouldn’t be easily cut or injured.
This was transformed from the Flowing Stone Armor Art within Fertile Soil upon the Body.
She hadn’t expected it to become a passive effect directly.
Of course, that wasn’t all.
She raised her hand.
A semi-transparent, silver shell appeared before her, a full fifty centimeters wide.
The Earth Stone Wall transformed into Dragon Scale Wall!
Shu Yue made a slight movement with her palm, a thought arising in her mind.
Immediately, that semi-transparent magical shield split into ten small scales.
If she wished, they could turn into bullets and shoot out at any moment.
The Stone Piercing Spell had also been transformed.
She pondered for a moment, then the corners of her mouth lifted as she reshaped the Dragon Scale Wall.
Soon, a semi-transparent, silver longsword appeared floating above Shu Yue’s palm, weightless.
But Shu Yue clearly understood the sharpness of this thing—it definitely wouldn’t be inferior to iron weapons.
“Not bad, not bad. I can use sword control now!”
Shu Yue felt the pain she had just endured wasn’t in vain and was overjoyed.
But she quickly realized something was off—all of this could only be used after the Bloodline Manifestation.
Her main body couldn’t use it at all!
What to do?
Forget it, too lazy to think about it.
Anyway, the improvement in physical constitution was real.
Her main body’s talents must have been enhanced too.
Now her main body might even be able to strive for Second-tier Combat Power.
She dispelled the Bloodline Scale Art.
The dragon scales turned into a stream of silver light, landing on Shu Yue’s lower abdomen.
Shu Yue looked down, her gaze passing over the slightly raised little buns to her smooth, flat lower abdomen.
On her fair, tender skin was a dragon scale the size of a thumbnail, positioned right in the center of her abdomen.
It looked as if drawn on, with a semi-transparent, silvery-pink hue.
“A single dragon scale?”
Shu Yue could sense that if this one dragon scale was destroyed, although it could naturally repair itself, it would take time.
During that period, she wouldn’t be able to use Scale Art.
Moreover, there was a problem: she only had one scale.
When using the dragon scale for defense, she had to deactivate the passive Dragon Scale Armor on her body.
Maintaining the Dragon Scale Armor meant she couldn’t use the Dragon Scale Wall.
It seemed she still needed to collect Dragon Blood.
More dragon scales would make her stronger!
If she had enough dragon scales, she could layer several scales of armor, making it impossible for others to cut through her even after hacking for a long time.
She could also fly many scale blades behind her back—fighting like that would definitely look cool!
Hmph~
Shu Yue was so pleased she forgot someone was outside.
Emily noticed there had been no sound for a long time.
Earlier, she could at least clearly hear breathing, but that had stopped too.
She forcefully suppressed her curiosity, not peeking in, and called out softly instead.
“Hecate?”
“I’m fine now.”
Upon hearing the voice, Shu Yue immediately grabbed the robe not far away, wrapping it around herself, then pulled out spare clothes from her small shoulder bag.
Only after putting them on did she let out a sigh of relief.
Seeing that Emily was an honest person, Shu Yue felt a bit embarrassed.
Having had her “tofu” eaten twice in a row by Eustia, she couldn’t help but be wary.
After all, she had become a girl.
If she were still a boy, Emily definitely wouldn’t have actively tried to peek at her.
She might even have consciously run far away, not pestering her at all.
Shu Yue wore a loose, grayish-white long-sleeved top, with a black half-skirt below.
For ease of movement, she had bought ones that didn’t reach her knees.
She used the old method again, hanging her tail through it.
After checking to ensure there were no oversights, Shu Yue finally called out to Emily, who was catching the cold wind outside the cave entrance.
“Alright, you can come in now.”
“Oh, okay!”
Hearing she could enter, Emily was very excited.
She turned and ducked into the warm, stuffy cave.
Then, she froze…
The first thing she saw upon entering was Shu Yue.
She could clearly sense that Shu Yue seemed brand new.
Although she hadn’t been “old” before, this was the feeling she gave now—like a dust-covered pearl emitting a more brilliant glow.
A sense of remoteness had faded from Shu Yue, replaced by a touch of sacredness, something Emily had only seen on high-ranking clergy of the Goddess Church.
Seeing Emily staring at her in a daze, Shu Yue felt puzzled inside.
I’m a Silver Dragon, not a succubus.
I don’t have charming abilities.
Is this appearance really that exaggerated?
She had seen what her Dragon Maiden form looked like after Bloodline Manifestation.
It was indeed very beautiful and cute, but not enough to make someone stare dumbfounded at first glance.
This reaction seemed a bit over the top.
“Probably Emily has been too repressed. She’s likely never been a miner before, so that’s why.”
In fact, Shu Yue herself had never been a miner either…
Shu Yue walked up to the dazed Emily.
She reached out and placed her hand in front of Emily’s chest, less than three centimeters from the girl’s bosom, silently reciting in her mind.
[Sacred Radiance: Healing Art]
A soft white light seeped into Emily’s body.
Emily also snapped out of her trance, feeling the vibrant vitality within her.
Her originally sore muscles had actually returned to normal.
“You actually know Healing Art?!”
“…”
Shu Yue gave her a sidelong glance.
It’s just a Healing Art.
Is it necessary for a young lady like you to get so excited?
“You keep watch. I’ll rest. When it’s time, I’ll call you to switch shifts.”
“O-okay…”
Emily nodded in agreement, while inwardly astonished.
She was certain that was Healing Art.
But why would a girl of the Dragon Race know the Healing Art unique to the Goddess Church?
How was that possible!
The Knight Princess watched as Shu Yue found a corner, took out a cloth, lay down on the spot with her back turned, and a strange thought arose in her heart.
Perhaps…
Hecate was a half-breed?