Chapter 219: Increasing Reputation and Moving to the "Forefront," Poison Resistance
"Such a strong reaction. He's being a bit petty."
Tang Zheng felt a headache coming on. He hadn't expected Gagaran's departure to cause such a huge stir.
It wasn't surprising that the Blood Emperor could guess that Gagaran's sudden departure was related to him.
Even with the misdirection of having Gagaran wait until he had completely left the Empire before announcing his departure from the Imperial Arena as a cover-up.
But it was impossible to completely disentangle himself from the matter.
The Blood Emperor was a smart man, so it was expected that Tang Zheng would be a suspect. He just hadn't anticipated that the Blood Emperor would be so certain and issue a warrant for his arrest directly.
"It seems the Blood Emperor is very angry," Tang Zheng chuckled inwardly. It would be much more troublesome to enter the Empire under normal circumstances in the future.
However.
Thanks to the Empire's wanted poster.
His reputation in the Kingdom was probably quite high now. After all, the principle of "the enemy's foe is our hero" was just as applicable in this otherworld.
He could infer a great deal from the excited expressions of the city-defending soldiers before him.
Tang Zheng's eyes flickered. After thanking the soldiers, he led the Green Leaf Witch and Enri through the city gate.
Inside E-Rantel.
The city was as prosperous as ever. Even in the cold winter weather, the streets were still bustling with pedestrians.
With the war between the Empire and the Kingdom over, E-Rantel, as a border city, had naturally resumed its normal commercial activities.
Tang Zheng learned from the city-defending soldiers that although the Kingdom still hadn't gained an advantage in this war, its losses were not as severe as in previous years.
This was closely related to the departure of Gagaran, the "Warrior King" and symbol of the Empire, as well as the efforts of Leinas, the "Kingdom's Rose."
That's right!
Leinas now had a formidable reputation in the Kingdom, thanks in no small part to the efforts of the Kingdom's nobles. "Kingdom's Rose" was now Leinas's title.
On the wide road.
In the cracks between the gray flagstones, thin, hard, grayish-black snowflakes remained. The pedestrians on the street looked at the ferocious-looking ghoul dog, which stood taller than a man.
Fear showed on their faces. Some children were even scared into tears, their mouths quickly covered by their parents, who didn't dare look in Tang Zheng's direction.
A large, seemingly adult magic beast like the ghoul dog was an extremely rare sight, even in a border city like E-Rantel, which was close to the Touv Great Forest.
Tang Zheng walked at the very front, raising a hand to pat the ghoul dog's sturdy forelimb. "Don't look around so much, you're scaring the children."
After speaking.
Tang Zheng shot an apologetic look in the direction of the child, immediately prompting the parents to bow hastily.
"Awooo~"
The ghoul dog wagged its tail and averted its gaze.
Enri's eyes were filled with curiosity as she observed her surroundings. Her gaze would occasionally fall on the gentle figure of Tang Zheng, who was dressed in a priest's robe, and her brown eyes couldn't help but linger for a few extra moments.
Then, she glanced cautiously at the cold Green Leaf Witch and couldn't help but lower her head.
Lord Tang Zheng was both gentle and powerful.
Miss Cui Ye didn't like to talk, but she was also a very capable person.
Only she... couldn't do anything.
Enri, wrapped in thick, old clothes, tucked her chin into her collar, a bewildered look in her eyes.
To this day, she still didn't know what "talent" the Lord was talking about.
"Enri," a gentle voice called out.
"Yes!"
Enri quickly raised her head and answered.
"No need to be so awkward. Here," Tang Zheng said with a light laugh, pulling a coin pouch from his robes and tossing it over.
Enri raised her arms and caught it. Feeling the hard, round objects inside, she immediately realized it contained coins.
Through an opening in the coin pouch, a glint of gold flashed.
Gold coins!
Enri's heart trembled, and her hand tightened around the pouch. In her village, she had only ever seen silver coins; this was her first time seeing a gold coin.
"Here are twenty gold coins. You will be in charge of purchasing the supplies for our upcoming journey. While you're at it, get yourself a new set of clothes."
Tang Zheng spoke softly.
"Ah!"
Enri's rough hand clenched the coin pouch again, and she couldn't help but let out a cry of surprise.
Twenty gold coins! She had never seen so much money. After their village sold its annual harvest of wheat and herbs, the total amount of money they could muster was only about 3,000 copper coins.
Enri quickly did the math in her head. That was less than eighteen gold coins. This small bag of coins was already worth more than her entire village's annual income.
"I don't need any clothes. What I'm wearing is fine," Enri replied, flustered, once she came to her senses.
She also wanted to say that she couldn't possibly handle being entrusted with so much money and the task of buying supplies.
This was her first time in the border city of E-Rantel; she didn't know her way around at all.
"You're a bit too frail. We have a long way to go, and if you catch a cold and get sick, it will delay our journey significantly."
"Compared to the money it would cost if you fell ill, I believe the price of a few sets of clothes is much cheaper," Tang Zheng said, then continued, "Xiao Hei will pull the carriage and follow you to load the supplies. Cuiye will also accompany you, but she doesn't understand these things, so you'll need to take the lead."
Hearing this.
Enri's anxiety and nervousness lessened. Her cheeks tightened, and she nodded forcefully. "I'll do my best."
Her life in the village was like time standing still.
Every day, as soon as the sun appeared, she had to start the busy work of fetching water, because that was a woman's job, then help with farm work, or gather firewood on the outskirts of the forest.
Repetitive and dull!
A long time ago, Enri had wondered how long these unchanging days would last. As a young girl, she was always full of expectations and special fantasies about the future.
But now.
Enri felt motivated.
"Have Enri help you buy the things I mentioned earlier," Tang Zheng said, turning his head to the Green Leaf Witch.
"Yes, Lord."
The Green Leaf Witch glanced at Enri, in whom she had no interest, and nodded respectfully.
She knew that her master wanted her to accompany this weak human to protect her.
After Enri and the ghoul dog left, Tang Zheng entered a nearby inn and booked three rooms.
*Click*!
The room door closed.
Tang Zheng briefly surveyed the room's interior. He wasn't short on money now, so he didn't look for a small inn to stay the night as he usually would.
"The Empire's wanted poster was a bit unexpected. The plan needs a slight change, but overall, it's a good thing."
Tang Zheng walked into the room, found a chair, and sat down, leaning back with a thoughtful expression.
His plan this time was to increase his reputation, and now, he had inadvertently completed half of it.
That's right!
Tang Zheng was now planning to move himself to the forefront, though this "forefront" was an intentionally crafted identity.
A genius alchemist and a faith-based magic chanter!
He would use this identity to indirectly complete some of his plans. Something like "reputation" was sometimes much more useful than crude combat.
It would also make it easier to reveal misleading information, diverting some of the attention of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, which would arrive in the future, away from him.
"The Blood Emperor has caused a little trouble. As expected, it's best not to get too close to smart people like him."
Tang Zheng chuckled and shook his head. He already had a general idea for his next steps.
Although it might seem like a waste of time, for Tang Zheng, who had mastered teleportation magic, it was only a waste of time on the surface.
Behind the scenes, it was enough time for him to accomplish many things.
"Heh, no rush. I do need to think carefully about my Class, though."
Tang Zheng's gaze deepened. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers, chanting in a low voice:
"High-Tier Teleportation!"
*Shua!*
The space in the room distorted slightly.
Tang Zheng's figure vanished. As his vision shifted, a scorching heatwave and an orange-red glow filled his eyes.
The central area of the Lava Zone.
He didn't need to worry about the group of Dwarf Artisans placed on the periphery for now. Under the leadership of the Gray Dwarf Forging Minister, a master Rune craftsman, all the Dwarf Artisans had become his apprentices. They were all diligently learning rune craft, and with the Lizardman's sacred treasure, the [Great Wine Jug], those Dwarf Artisans were so content they had forgotten all about leaving.
Ignoring the terrifying temperature of the central area.
With a wave of his hand, Tang Zheng took out a crude rock, as tall as two men, from his item box.
It was a rock with a groove in the center, which was currently filled with a large amount of crimson blood.
Dragon blood!
The moment the deep crimson blood was exposed to the air, a faint pressure was released. An ancient aura vibrated, pulling the surrounding high-temperature air into a tornado that spiraled up around the dragon blood.
This pressure had no effect on Tang Zheng, but it could inflict a powerful mental shock on ordinary creatures.
Tang Zheng looked at the gradually forming high-temperature tornado and slapped forward with his arm, his expression blank.
*Bang!*
The fierce force made contact with the air, producing a dull boom. The forming high-temperature tornado was scattered with this single blow.
Tang Zheng casually stored his clothes and jumped into the dragon blood to soak. The night he had stayed in Carne Village, he hadn't actually stayed in their village at all, but had similarly used teleportation magic to return to the Lava Zone and soak in dragon blood.
He had experimented with it over the past few days and had already gained a basic understanding of the dragon blood's effects.
Drinking dragon blood would increase certain attributes.
Soaking in dragon blood, on the other hand, would grant a corresponding increase in resistance.
For example, after soaking for the last two or three days:
「Weak Poison Resistance」 had already evolved to 「Poison Resistance I」.
...
Passive: Poison Resistance I
Effect: Effective against low-grade toxins (≈ below Lv. 20).
...
Tang Zheng closed his eyes slightly, immersing his entire body in the dragon blood with only his head exposed. The thick, bloody smell assaulted his nostrils, causing him to frown slightly.
The foul smell was a small price to pay for the benefit of increased 「Poison Resistance」.
Because dragon blood was not ordinary blood, even though its master, the ancient fire dragon, was dead, the blood still contained a unique power.
Ordinary objects couldn't bear this power at all.
Tang Zheng could only carve a large stone from the surrounding mountain wall of the Lava Zone, turning it into a simple stone tub to hold the blood.
Time passed bit by bit.
The dragon blood in the stone groove, originally somewhat viscous and glowing with a crimson luster, had clearly faded a bit. Even its level had dropped by about half a fist's distance.
Soon.
Tang Zheng opened his eyes and, with a light leap, jumped out of the groove. His entire body was flushed red, covered in red marks.
Regarding this.
Tang Zheng paid it no mind. Instead, he waved his hand, storing the stone in his item box, and looked at his stat panel. "My 「Poison Resistance」 didn't increase any further."
"As expected, just like drinking the blood, there's an upper limit. However, since the red marks are still on my body, it should still have some effect."
The effect of dragon blood wasn't just increasing "Poison Resistance"; it could also increase "Fire Resistance."
It was just that Tang Zheng had already obtained "Fire Attribute Nullification," so this effect from the dragon blood couldn't manifest.
"A pity that the blood of the Sun Anglerfish can't increase my attributes." Tang Zheng thought back to drinking the Sun Anglerfish's blood a few days ago, and the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.
The dragon blood was already bad enough to drink; the Sun Anglerfish's blood was even worse, and its foul smell surpassed that of the dragon blood several times over.
"Is it because the dragon blood already increased my basic stats, so the Sun Anglerfish's blood can no longer provide a boost?"
Tang Zheng had this suspicion, but he couldn't be certain.
Based on the experiments conducted with the ghoul dog, ordinary creatures could not directly consume either dragon blood or the blood of the Sun Anglerfish.
The "dragon blood" contained a curse.
The "blood of the Sun Anglerfish" contained a high temperature similar to magma.
After waiting a moment.
Tang Zheng observed the red marks on his body. After they had all faded, the magical power within him surged.
"Flight!"
His figure soared into the air.
Tang Zheng quickly changed his clothes in mid-air and began to probe the surrounding mountain wall of the Lava Zone again.
He was searching for the ancient fire dragon's cave. The creature's lair was sure to contain a large amount of treasure, but a dragon's lair was obviously not easy to find.
Tang Zheng could only resort to a clumsy method, searching bit by bit. He had no choice, as he had yet to master any useful exploration-type magic.
Speaking of which.
Tang Zheng had always been very interested in the other Dominator, but during his search over this period, he had not found any trace of them.
After carefully searching this area to no avail, Tang Zheng took out his pocket watch to check the time. "It's time to go back."
"High-Tier Teleportation."
Space twisted.
In an instant, Tang Zheng was back in his inn room in E-Rantel.
By now, the two who had gone to buy supplies had already returned.
In the empty corridor, the Green Leaf Witch stood quietly outside Tang Zheng's room door, looking like a servant on guard duty.
As a fluctuation of magical power emerged from within the room.
The Green Leaf Witch, carrying a bag, finally walked to the door and knocked gently.
(end of chapter)