Chapter 590: Six-headed Chimera? (II)
“In ancient times, the dragon race was prosperous and ruled over the whole continent. That time was when dragons were the most tyrannical, not only greedy and violent, but also totally depraved. They show lust toward any kind of creature, and therefore, their uninhibited mating gave birth to many species of sub-dragons. For instance, the current beings known as Earth Dragons have such origins.
“Chimeras are the same, a powerful kind of sub-dragons. The first time one appeared, it combined the extremely rarely seen poison elemental gigantic dragon and a magical beast of lizard species. Their posterity sustained variation, turning into poison and darkness dual-elemental two-headed dragons. But this chimera’s strength was inclined towards its darkness elemental lizard side, and maybe because these two bloodlines showed a very strong compatibility, two-headed chimeras started to become more and more numerous. After several thousand years of reproductions, due to the survival of the fittest, the race of darkness lizard gradually went extinct. And when poison dragons died out, the chimera race finally formed. Although these chimeras were far from being as powerful as their poison dragons ancestors, they succeeded their greed, and started attacking other races and invading, and established themselves in the whole continent.
“Chimeras had a very great vitality, and while reproducing, their bloodlines started to show even more changes. At most, these changes were in the elemental aspect, and didn’t touch upon their appearance. They can be counted as one of the most well-known antique races, and after undergoing continuous evolutions, the chimera race gradually started to grow more powerful beings. Their power was calculated depending on the numbers of heads. Two-headed chimeras would at most reach the initial stages of the ninth rank. But three-headed chimeras were near the edge of the tenth rank, displaying strength close to gigantic dragons. Four-headed chimeras are known as dragon killers, and despite having dragon blood, their most favorite food is gigantic dragon. And, after reaching four heads, the chimeras’ total strength already exceeded gigantic dragons. Just before, I was afraid of wounding you, so I didn’t let Xingxuan display her full strength.”
Reaching this point, Long Haochen’s group finally gained knowledge on the kind of creatures known as chimeras. Long Haochen couldn’t help but raise the question, “Senior, how about six-headed chimeras?”
Chen Hongyu glanced at Long Haochen before responding extremely seriously, “There is such a legend. The four-headed chimeras’ monarchs, known as Chimera Emperors were the five-headed chimeras appearing in legends and acclaimed as demi-gods, venerated by all chimeras. As for the six-headed ones…”
A tint of dread filled Chen Hongyu’s eyes, “In the history of the chimeras, there has never appeared chimeras with six heads or more. And in the legends, six-headed chimeras are said to be gods, gods of destruction of the same level as dragon gods. So in ancient times, six-headed chimeras were symbols of destruction and ruin. That’s why I was so shocked when seeing your mount. If that was really a six-headed chimera, he could very possibly become a threat not below demons.”
Long Haochen gasped, “Senior, are you certain that Haoyue is a six-headed chimera?”
Chen Hongyu unhappily replied, “Certain, what farts! If that was a six-headed chimera, Xingxuan and I would have died just before.
“On the basis of the chimeras’ destructivity, it would absolutely not permit existences offending it to live. Still, I’m very doubtful. If that magical beast of yours isn’t a chimera, he should have at least some chimera blood in him, or even have achieved a series of evolutions to turn into this form. But if it doesn’t have a pure lineage as a chimera, why would its blood purity suppression towards Xingxuan be so high? Haochen, tell me in precise details your story with that mount.”
Long Haochen gave a nod, then talked about his original arrival in Knights’ Sacred Mountain, how his search for a magical beast there had failed, and how in the end, a teleporting array was used to summon Haoyue.
When Chen Hongyu heard the part about how Long Haochen helped to change Haoyue’s fate with his own blood and forcefully changed his element, he couldn’t help but feel moved, as his stretched expression eased up.
“… And a few days ago, we were just done assisting Haoyue in completing his last evolution in that realm of his, resisting the attacks from an undead creature from there. That’s why I can affirm that he has just acquired his sixth head!”
After pondering for a short while, Chen Hongyu remarked, “I don’t know what kind of existence your mount is either. I don’t have any clues.”
Long Haochen asked, “You don’t know either? And could he be related to the chimera race?”
Chen Hongyu shook his head, “That’s hard to say. The most possible would be that one of the chimeras’ forebears had manage to travel through that other realm after reaching a sufficient level of cultivation, and that continuous transformations due to the influence of that world finally gave birth to a generation of powerhouses. But now, I can be certain that your mount is extremely destructive. Its ancestor surely left indelible memories of terror, otherwise there wouldn’t be such colossal amounts of undead creatures attacking you every time he achieves an evolution. Secondly, there’s a great difference between chimeras and your magical beast. Although it has six heads, it definitely cannot compare with an emperor or half-god chimera, let alone a god level chimera. That’s because his cultivation is only at the level of a human powerhouse of the eighth step. Do you know what this means?”
Long Haochen shook his head.
Chen Hongyu continued, “It means that he will surely continue to evolve, and even very possibly acquire a seventh head, maybe even an eighth.”
“Eh? How did you determine this?” Long Haochen asked in incomprehension.
Beside, Sanshui Popo stepped in, “Isn’t that an obvious thing? What’s the most important for a magical beast to evolve? It’s their blood purity. Our old man’s four-headed chimera has the strength of a magical beast of the tenth rank. For your magical beast to suppress her so completely, it would be stranger for it to be unable to reach the tenth magical beast rank. In the future, it will be far more powerful than Xingxuan, but as it is only at the eighth step for now, could it not keep evolving?”
Summoners spend their lives having dealings with magical beasts, so no one else was more used to magical beasts than them. Hearing the explanation from Sanshui Popo, Long Haochen immediately understood.
Chen Hongyu explained, “Your six-headed mount is perhaps not a chimera. None of his heads looks as powerful as a chimera’s, but I cannot determine what strength he could reach in the future.
“But I am certain that its blood’s purity is above a chimera’s, and that its degree of nobility could perhaps compare with a dragon god. I managed to determine this for two reasons residing in the difference between your mount and a chimera. Chimeras may have a lot of heads, but in practice they all share the same line of thoughts, which is to say that no matter how many heads they have, their thoughts will be the same. But your mount is not the same, as you have said that each of his heads has its own process of thought, only sharing a common body. Even among antique magical beasts,these existences are very rare, and the only ones I can point out only have two processes of thought. I don’t even dare imagine a magical beast with six processes of thoughts. I didn’t think I would see such a thing in my life. The second point is their utilization of elements. Chimeras have different elements at their disposal, but their only offensive magic ability is the use of their breath. Although these breaths have many uses, it is after all different from magic. But based on what you have said, his real strength is far above his official cultivation rank, because your magical beast can cast many kinds of magic on his own, to attack, defend or even support. These two aspects put together make him extremely intelligent. Just imagine, what if a human had six brains to process thoughts and make decisions. What degree do you think his intelligence would reach?”
Hearing Chen Hongyu’s explanation, Long Haochen had a sudden flash of insight. Although Chen Hongyu didn’t know what kind of magical beast Haoyue was, he at least gave suppositions on Haoyue’s possible antecedents and variations.
Lin Xin, who was standing nearby, asked, “Temple Head Chen, based on what you said, if Haoyue has some chimera blood, couldn’t he be very dangerous? If he evolves in the future to an even more powerful state, can’t he become extremely destructive?”
Chen Hongyu had a faint smile, “At first, I had such worries, but it is not the case anymore, because of the way he came to our realm. Haochen even changed his elemental attribute when arriving in this world through his blood. To say nothing of the favor to such a savior, this change caused the completion of their blood contract, establishing Haochen as master. Do you know what this means? Among summoners such as us, the common final goal is not to have an extremely powerful contracted beast, but a blood linked beast.
“A blood contract is known as a contract of absolute fidelity. As long as it is completed, it will persist eternally until death. This blood contract between Haochen and Haoyue is dominated by Haochen, making it so that their relationship is much closer than any ordinary beast and their master. At the same time, the increase of the two’s cultivation will keep affecting each other, which is to say that the progress of any party will cause a progress from the other one. I believe that Haochen has surely experienced this bit. If one day, Haochen dies, Haoyue will undoubtedly die as well, which is the result of this blood contract. In the opposite case, Haoyue’s death in battle won’t affect Haochen. Unless one party is acknowledging complete allegiance to the other one, and has a total trust and appreciation of the other, a magical beast will never forge such a bond with a human.”
