Chapter 35: Blood-colored Narrow Valley

  Li Junshan secretly cursed in his heart and looked at O'Drich, who also had a questioning face, waiting for him to answer.

  "I really can't summon a black dragon, that was unexpected." Li Junshan said slowly, thinking quickly in his mind.

  "At that time, I ran to the wilderness, actually to take a look at the black dragon. Just after arriving, I saw the black dragon being defeated by Mr. Lauraite, and it flew rolling in front of me, and I was scared silly at that time."

  "At that time, I saw that the black dragon had no ability to resist, and it was quite ridiculous for me to try to summon it, with the result being a failure of course."

  As he spoke, Li Junshan's mind flashed with inspiration, and he said: "The black dragon's abdomen, at the location of that huge wound, suddenly rolled out a demonic beast egg, not a black dragon egg, but rather a demonic beast egg that seemed to be parasitic on the black dragon's wound."

  "That monster egg rolled in front of me, and suddenly it opened. A small creature with many claws crawled out from inside. I was startled at the time, but after crawling out, the little creature didn't move, just staring at me with a very strange gaze, and I found that the black dragon seemed to be afraid of it, its body desperately shrinking back."

  "I don't know what I was thinking, but subconsciously I summoned that little monster, and to my surprise, it actually worked. Suddenly, the little creature flew onto the black dragon's face, and then its body stiffened and fell down. I was startled, but at the same time, I could feel that it wasn't dead. I could clearly sense a subtle spiritual connection between us, and it seemed to be excited and joyful, but I had no idea what was going on."

  "Further back, Mr. Lautrec appeared. At that time, I didn't know he was the Imperial Palace's Court Mage either, so I had the summoning beast attack..."

  Li Junshan glanced at Laura and stopped talking.

  "And also, that Black Dragon Egg has already hatched and successfully became my summoned beast." Li Junshan added.

  It was clear that Laura had already told the whole story, and the few people in the hall exchanged a glance, but no one asked what happened next.

  After a long silence, Odrich asked Randolph: "Mr. Randolph, you are a summoner and have a good understanding of magical beasts. Have you ever heard of such a thing? A magical beast egg that has been parasitized on the body of another magical beast and separated from its own body?"

  Rundolph furrowed his brow and thought for a moment before saying, "There are some, but they're all small, low-level creatures that can't even be considered magical beasts. Like the Bloodstinger Wasp, it's just a parasite that lays its eggs in the wounds of other magical beasts or animals, and even when it grows up, it's only about the size of a palm. It might be similar to what Nicolas said, who knows? The world is full of mysteries, maybe such a creature really exists."

  "Perhaps it's some kind of mutated beast." Marquis Sweet interjected, "Just like the current beasts, they've changed completely over the years. No one would have believed it if you'd said so in the past, and now it's nothing out of the ordinary."

  "Mr. Klaut," said Audric, with a slight smile. "Nicholas didn't know you then either; he was young and foolish at the time, and somewhat impertinent. Don't take it amiss."

  Although Laura was a court magician, she didn't dare put on airs in front of Duke Odryc, who had made great contributions to the empire. Although somewhat displeased, she forced a smile and said: "I also heard yesterday evening at a gathering with a magic instructor from George College that a new summoning student summoned a strange magical beast. At the time, I asked about the appearance of the beast and was a bit suspicious. When I found out he was a member of the Hariman family, I didn't dare be presumptuous, so I came to find Marquis Sweet, coincidentally running into Mr. Randolph, who told me that Nicholas was from Florence City, which is not far from Windfire Town. Adding to this his description of Nicholas' summoned beast, I became even more certain."

  Glancing at Li Junshan, Laura continued: "I also came to confirm that since things have been clarified, there's nothing else to do."

  "That's not how you say it." Odric chuckled a few times and said, "In any case, the Black Dragon was also defeated by Mr. Laurate, and Nicholas just happened to pick up the scraps. How about this? I heard that you've been wanting to craft a staff recently, but you're missing a crystal core. Tomorrow, I'll send someone over with an eighth-level Thunder Lizard Crystal Core that matches your thunder magic, as a form of compensation from the Hariman family."

  "That old fox, if it were true, would have given me a ninth-level compensation." Laura thought to herself, her smile unchanged on her face. "Then I'll thank the Duke, I still have things to do, so I won't disturb you anymore." With that, he stood up.

  Audrey smiled and nodded, while Swett stood up to see him off.

  "Obviously knowing that others are going to discuss family matters, this old guy still doesn't leave, what's not working?" Laura looked at Lendolph sitting steadily and thought to herself. As she passed by Li Junshan, she also gave him a meaningful look.

  Li Junshan pretended not to know and slightly lowered his head, looking at the ground.

  "Why didn't you tell the Marquis of Swiete about this?" Swiete sent Laura to the door, closed it and turned back, his smile gone, his expression somewhat solemn.

  Li Junshan hesitated for a moment before saying, "I also only heard Mr. Lauter say that he was an imperial court magician after successfully summoning the black dragon. I had previously made a move against him and was somewhat afraid that if he knew my identity, he would be unfavorable to me, so I concealed it from everyone."

  "You say you're timid, yet in front of a Saint, you dare to snatch the Black Dragon Egg. You say you're bold, but you don't dare tell others, fearing revenge." Odric chuckled and shook his head.

  "Nicholas, would you like to switch colleges?" Sweet sat down across from him and said, staring at him.

  "Change colleges?" Li Junshan was perplexed and looked up at Swett with a puzzled expression.

  "Mr. Rendall, you'd better tell him." Sweet leaned back in his chair and looked at Rendall.

  Lundorf coughed and looked up at Li Junshan.

  "You say your spiritual space is vast, but your spiritual power restricts your growth. If you study summoning at George College, I'm not confident that I can bring out your greatest potential. There's only one place that can, and it's the only place where a rare summoning master of the continent resides."

  "Summon the Emperor? The highest rank of Summoner? One more breakthrough and it's the Sacred Realm?" Li Junshan was only bewildered, his eyes wide with wonder as he asked: "What Academy?"

  Randolph was very satisfied with Li Junshan's reaction, and the corners of his mouth slightly rose as he said: "To be specific, that is not just an academy. Those who know about it call it... Blood-colored Narrow Valley."

  "Blood-colored Narrow Valley?" Li Junshan muttered to himself, and felt that this name had some connotation of iron and blood.

  "Hundreds of years have passed in peace between humans and beastmen." Odryc suddenly interjected with a tinge of emotion.

  Li Junshan only felt a little inexplicable, and at this time, he heard Lundorf continue to say: "More than 400 years ago, the thousand-year war between humans and beastmen ended. Retreat does not mean peace, no one knows when the war will break out again, it's just a matter of time. Some human prophets saw the shortcomings of humanity from this war, that is, the lack of elites, the lack of those who can win with one move and retreat thousands of miles."

  "The beastmen are not as despicable as the continental books recorded, on the contrary, they have advantages that humans cannot match. Some beastmen are born with innate abilities no less than those of mages, while others are born to be great warriors. After years of tempering and practice, in wars, although they may not be the decisive factor, they often influence local battles and inflict heavy casualties on humans."

  Rendolph sighed and said, "After the war, human empires vied for their own interests in open and secret struggles, but also formed an alliance, so the Blood-colored Narrow Valley appeared."

  "There, all the elites on the mainland gathered. Every one who can walk out of the Blood Valley can easily become a hero sought after by the empire. Similarly, there is no distinction between high and low status, strength determines everything, with a large number of casualties and disability rates."

  "Nicholas, Bloodstone Gorge has a special geographical location and the best summoning masters. Only by going there can your potential be fully developed. You should know that for hundreds of years, only top-notch people have been able to come out from Bloodstone Gorge."

  "Where is Xue Se Valley?" Li Junshan asked with a furrowed brow.

  "Mount Luoxiao." Odreich replied, the old duke sipped his red wine and said: "Nicholas, are you willing to go? First of all, you need to know that there is no emotion there, not even between mentors and disciples; no friends, everyone may stab you in the back during the frequent trials. Let alone whether your spirit can control two black dragons, it takes at least hundreds of years for a young black dragon to grow up, your current strength may not be comparable to ordinary people, but the strong are always more than you imagine, and besides, black dragons are just the lowest level of the dragon clan, not as fierce as you think."

  "Tell me, my child." Audric's gleaming eyes fixed on Li Junshan as he asked, "Are you willing to go?"

  "Are you willing to go?" Li Junshan was also asking himself in his heart.

  Maybe he could have lived a safe and comfortable life, enjoying wealth and glory, being admired by others. If it weren't for that batch of unhatched alien eggs, Li Junshan might have spent the rest of his life in comfort.

  Going there is dangerous, but with a black dragon mutant by your side, you might be able to turn danger into opportunity. But what if you break through the summoning job? More mutants hatch from eggs? Moreover, the Luoyue Mountains are a natural demon beast forest, filled with all kinds of demon beasts that can become the best hosts for mutants.

  Most importantly, Audrey the old fox can make Randolph say Bloodstone Canyon, obviously wanting him to go. Li Junshan believes that if he refuses, he won't say anything, but his fate is in someone else's hands, which is something Li Junshan cannot accept.

  Strength decides everything.

  "I'm willing to go." Li Junshan said after a moment of contemplation, lifting his head.

  In an instant, a smile blossomed on Audrey's face.

  "Nikolas, in the not-too-distant future, the Harriman family will be proud of you."

  "It's really annoying to be used as a family pawn like this." Li Junshan felt a wave of depression in his heart, but on his face, he revealed a sincere smile.