Beast Taming: Invincible Breeder-Chapter 206 - 181: Where Is the Crystal Dragon?

Chapter 206: Chapter 181: Where Is the Crystal Dragon?
The Crystal Dragon’s home is beneath the sea shrouded in impenetrable mist. Could it have lost its way after leaving, unable to find its way back?
Li Cunxu glanced at the Crystal Shrimp General, dismissing the notion of being lost. The Crystal Dragon can use the crystal teleportation skill to directly return home if needed.
The Crystal Shrimp General shouted angrily, "Human, leave here at once. This is the Dragon King’s palace."
The Dragon King? Is the Crystal Dragon here at a king’s level?
Li Cunxu recalled the information about the Crystal Dragon.
As for the Crystal Shrimp General speaking human language, it did not surprise Li Cunxu. The Crystal Dragon can make Language Crystals that allow the Crystal Shrimp General to understand and speak the languages the Crystal Dragon knows.
While recalling, Li Cunxu cupped his hands and said, "I’m here to see the Crystal Dragon, could you please announce my visit?"
The Crystal Shrimp General’s expression softened slightly and replied, "The Crystal Dragon is training outside, come back in a few years."
"How long has the Crystal Dragon been out?"
"You are quite unlucky; the Crystal Dragon left only a few months ago."
Li Cunxu stared at the Crystal Shrimp General for a long time.
The Crystal Shrimp General barked, "Human, why are you staring at me like that?"
Li Cunxu asked, "Is the Crystal Shrimp King here? I want to do some business with it."
The Crystal Shrimp General lacks the qualification to trade with the palace’s treasures. Only by evolving into a Crystal Shrimp King can one conduct business on behalf of the palace, but the permissions are limited. The precious treasures and those beloved by the Crystal Dragon cannot be traded.
The mention seemed to strike a nerve with the Crystal Shrimp General, turning its attitude extremely unkind.
"There is no Crystal Shrimp King in the Crystal Palace. Leave at once, or I’ll have to force you out."
With that, the Crystal Shrimp General thrust its Crystal Long Spear forward, as though warning that it truly meant business.
Li Cunxu squinted and spoke words that shocked the Crystal Shrimp General.
"The master of this Crystal Palace, the Crystal Dragon, is dead, isn’t it?"
"W-what are you talking about?"
The flustered appearance of the Crystal Shrimp General further confirmed Li Cunxu’s suspicion.
Ever since entering the Crystal Palace’s domain, Li Cunxu felt something amiss. After pondering for a while, he realized it was the absence of dragon aura.
Dragon aura is the Dragon Race’s way of intimidating enemies.
Maintaining a constant dragon aura doesn’t require much; it’s a skill that can be trained easily and can run twenty-four hours a day.
That’s why places where dragons live are influenced by dragon aura; the ambiance carries a hint of it.
However, there was no sign of dragon aura here, suggesting it hasn’t been influenced in a long time.
The Crystal Shrimp General claims this is a Dragon King’s palace, but the palace’s size is too small. A Dragon King’s palace should be larger and more magnificent.
A non-king-level Dragon Palace cannot exceed a king-level standard. This rule applies to all dragons above king-level status.
If you even aren’t at king-level and yet have a palace bigger than mine, it implies that I’m more destitute and poorer than you. Who else should I punish?
To verify if this was a Dragon King’s palace, Li Cunxu asked about the Crystal Shrimp King; it can only be born from a king-level Crystal Dragon’s blessing. Without a Crystal Shrimp King, there’s no king-level Crystal Dragon.
Clearly, the Crystal Shrimp General lied. Why was there a lie for no apparent reason?
Its bluffing felt like a desperate attempt to frighten me away.
When asked how long the Crystal Dragon has been gone, it said months; but the lack of dragon aura in the Crystal Palace suggests that it’s been much longer, at least several years.
It lied again here.
This led Li Cunxu to two thoughts: one, the Crystal Dragon hadn’t returned for a long time; two, the Crystal Dragon was dead.
The latter seemed more likely, as the Crystal Dragon could have returned long ago using crystal teleportation.
Looking again at the Crystal Shrimp General’s status, something seemed off.
The Crystal Shrimp General was at Gold level nine, yet had a Water Domain skill in its repertoire.
The Water Domain is a territory skill, which can only be learned by lord-level beings; it’s not possible to learn it at a lower level.
Like Xiaoruan, whose ability is around Golden Six, yet can’t learn a weather skill available at Golden One.
With the Crystal Shrimp General unmistakably possessing domain skills, there was only one explanation: it had been at a lord level before dropping to a gold level.
There are three reasons a Crystal Shrimp General’s level could decrease.
First, it aged.
But with the Crystal Shrimp General’s longevity and lack of signs of aging, this wasn’t applicable.
Second, it suffered a severe injury.
However, its crystalline body shimmering with brilliant colors showed no signs of injury upon inspection.
Third, the Crystal Dragon that blessed it died, and it chose not to regress but instead decreased in rank.
To evolve from Crystal Shrimp Soldiers to Crystal Shrimp General, a blessing from a Crystal Dragon is required. Once the dragon providing the blessing dies, the Crystal Shrimp General faces two choices: revert to shrimp form or maintain its evolved form at the cost of lowering a major rank.
The Crystal Shrimp General fit the third scenario, maintaining its shape while decreasing a rank.
Li Cunxu waved his hand, "Your acting is terrible, stop pretending, I’ve already seen through it."
The Crystal Shrimp King attacked without a word.
First, it used Crystal Invisibility, concealing itself. Then, it attempted to swim over with a strike to Li Cunxu.
The Blood Lotus Eye activated.
The invisible Crystal Shrimp King remained unseen.
Li Cunxu wasn’t worried; although unable to break the invisibility, it also couldn’t harm him.
"Xiaoruan, flash bomb."
Xiaoruan emerged from the clothes, its body suddenly glowing, emitting a strong light.
In an instant, the surroundings turned white.
Seizing the moment the Crystal Shrimp King was blinded, Li Cunxu donned an invisibility cloak and stepped away on water spheres, leaving Xiaoruan space to fight.
Xiaoruan couldn’t see the invisible Crystal Shrimp King, but it could still attack.
The Crystal Shrimp King was invisible, not immaterial; enough attacks would eventually hit it.
Xiaoruan unleashed the overwhelming Cyan Lotus Sword Blade forward.
The Silver-level Crystal Shrimp Soldiers scattered in panic, and the hidden Crystal Shrimp King was forced out.
Watching the revealed Crystal Shrimp General, Xiaoruan seemed to rain skills upon it without hesitation.
The Crystal Shrimp King’s other abilities weren’t strong, but its defense was extremely formidable. Even some species renowned for defense, such as turtle-type pets, had to admit defeat before the Crystal Shrimp King’s defense.
Not being damaged didn’t mean it could win against Xiaoruan.
Constantly assaulted by the barrage of skills, the Crystal Shrimp General staggered backward repeatedly.
After half an hour.
Li Cunxu swam back in, advising, "Shrimp General, why not follow me? I’ll find a new Crystal Dragon to bless you after leaving here."
The Crystal Shrimp General remained unmoved, "I am a subordinate of the Crystal Dragon, loyal unto death to the Crystal Dragon."
"I can find you a king-level Crystal Dragon whose blessing could evolve you into a Crystal Shrimp King."