"A curse? May I take a look? I know a little about curses."
Madam Lin did not hesitate for a moment, "Of course you can."
Lin Jiusan frowned. He was quite unhappy, thinking that Li Cunxu was here to make trouble. The curse was something even the director of the Holy Healing Hospital could not identify, and he did not believe this little kid Li Cunxu could figure it out.
However, since Madam Lin had already agreed to let Li Cunxu try, Lin Jiusan had nothing to say.
"Please, remove the hood."
The young girl removed her cloak's hood, revealing an extremely beautiful face, marred only by the ferocious golden dragon scales covering the sides of her cheeks.
Li Cunxu paid little attention to the dragon scales and instead stared at the beauty mole beneath the girl's eye, momentarily lost in thought.
Dragon scales? A curse?
Is there a connection? Yes.
Li Cunxu grabbed the girl's hand and rolled up the sleeve, revealing a delicate arm like jade. Again, the beauty was marred by the dragon scales that spoiled the beauty of the arm.
The person was beautiful, and the dragon scales were beautiful, akin to a piece of art, but together, they had a peculiar dissonance.
"Can she still speak?"
Madam Lin was puzzled, "What?"
Li Cunxu pointed to the girl, "Can she still speak?"
Madam Lin said, "When her consciousness is clear, she can speak. When her mind is foggy, she cannot speak or communicate."
Madam Lin, Lin Jiusan, and the girl were all startled. How did he know she couldn't speak?
Madam Lin quickly asked, "How do you know Qingwei can't speak?"
Li Cunxu didn't answer but instead asked another question.
"Is she making sounds like a dragon's roar?"
Madam Lin exclaimed excitedly, "Yes."
"Are there signs of aggression?"
"Yes."
Madam Lin became even more excited, lifting her sleeve, revealing three claw marks on her wrist.
The clearer Li Cunxu spoke, the more excited Madam Lin became, because it precisely indicated that Li Cunxu understood this curse.
Li Cunxu murmured in a low voice, "She is transforming into a dragon descendant. This shouldn't be! How does such a curse exist in this era?"
He really knows!
Lin Jiusan anxiously inquired, "Little brother, do you know the curse my daughter Qingwei is under? If you can tell us, we will reward you handsomely."
Li Cunxu paused for a moment and said, "She is under the Cursed Evil Dragon curse, also known as the 'Grudge Extinction Curse.'"
Lin Jiusan looked confused, clearly having never heard of this curse.
Li Cunxu shook his head. These NPCs are really ignorant. This curse affected an entire era, it was so famous, yet they don't know it.
"In an ancient era, the overlord of the continent was the Dragon Race, which was divided into two factions: the Good Dragon Faction and the Evil Dragon Faction. The Good Dragon Faction was friendly towards humans, while the Evil Dragon Faction despised them. To suppress the Good Dragon Faction, the Evil Dragon Faction collaborated with the Outer Evil God, the Sin-Extinguishing Dragon God, ultimately driving the Good Dragons to the far side of Dragon Valley. The Evil Dragons' collusion with the Outer Evil God enraged the world's will, birthing numerous dragon-slaying weapons targeted at the Evil Dragons. Countless people wielded these weapons to kill the Evil Dragons, drastically reducing their numbers.
As the number of Evil Dragons decreased to a mere hundred, one Cursed Evil Dragon, at its wit's end, sought revenge against those who killed it. It wielded the resentment of countless fallen Evil Dragons to cast a curse, transforming the dragon slayers into Evil Dragons themselves.
Dragon slayers killed Evil Dragons, then turned into new Evil Dragons, and new dragon slayers emerged to kill them, who then turned into newer Evil Dragons. Hence, the Evil Dragons became endless: no matter how many were killed, more took their place. Later, people discovered that the Evil Dragon curse turned dragon slayers into Evil Dragons. Thus, dragon slaying was abandoned in favor of sealing, and the Evil Dragons finally disappeared."
Madam Lin questioned, "My daughter hasn't slain any dragons; why would she suffer from this curse?"
Li Cunxu replied, "I think it's possible she picked up something carrying the Cursed Evil Dragon curse. When Evil Dragons are sealed, they naturally die of old age. Even when they die, the curse remains. It can attach to dragon scales, dragon bones, or even treasures."
"Could it be this?"
Madam Lin thought of something, hurriedly ran inside, and brought out a sandalwood box.
Inside the box was a golden yellow gemstone, with a miniature Golden Dragon nestled at its center.
[Artifact: Dragon Blood Gemstone (Golden Dragon)]
[Quality: Three-star]
[Carrying Points: 8]
[Description: A Dragon Blood Gemstone born from the concentrated essence of a Golden Dragon. Embed it into the Beast Taming Space to make a Golden Vein emerge beneath the soil.]
Li Cunxu's heart burned with desire for this Dragon Blood Gemstone.
Actually, such resource-type artifacts are not particularly precious among artifacts. So what if it nurtures a Golden Vein? There are plenty of Golden Veins in the wild.
The Divine Guard Continent is rich in resources, especially after the Great Catastrophe, the world underwent changes, becoming even richer. Finding gold and jade in the wild is a common occurrence.
Artifacts that aid in combat and healing, those that help during pet battles, are the rare ones, hard to find.
Resource-type artifacts are mostly used by Breeders, while Beast Masters disdain using them.
Some Beast Masters would rather let resource-type artifacts gather dust at home than use them due to their difficulty in being removed once used.
Li Cunxu wanted a resource-type artifact not because he was resigned to being a Breeder, but because resource-type artifacts have hidden uses.
This usage was invented by a genius player. Resource-type artifacts can evolve Beast Taming Spaces; by consistently using them to transform worlds, it changes the Beast Taming Space, initially meant solely for pets, into an unrestricted portable micro-world where you can farm and fish.
This micro-world has many uses: it can be a space refuge to hide from enemies or crash into others' Beast Taming Spaces to cause chaos, or it can be torn down and thrown at an enemy—a world is coming down, fear it or not.
Madam Lin said, "After Qingwei fell ill, she found this. Could it be the curse carrier?"
Li Cunxu examined the girl's golden dragon scales, matching them well to those of a Golden Dragon.
"It should be this. Where did you find it?"
"Qingwei found it in the river just across."
Madam Lin pointed to the small river outside the door.
This luck is incredible. It's hard to say if it's good or bad luck.
Li Cunxu asked, "Did you touch this Dragon Blood Gemstone?"
Madam Lin was a bit nervous and uneasy, "Both my husband and I touched it. We haven't been cursed too, have we?"
"How many days have passed since you touched it?"
"Seven days."
"Then it's fine."
Li Cunxu felt a little disappointed. Both Madam Lin and Lin Jiusan had touched it, but so many days passed, and there's no sign of their dragon transformation. This indicates that the Cursed Evil Dragon only held one curse on the Dragon Blood Gemstone.
Li Cunxu's disappointment wasn't because Madam Lin and Lin Jiusan weren't cursed but because he couldn't acquire the Cursed Evil Dragon curse.
The Cursed Evil Dragon curse transforms people into mindless, malevolent Evil Dragons. In the eyes of others, it's a terrible fate, but in the eyes of a Great Curse Master, this isn't a curse—it's clearly the power of the Evil Dragon that I lost long ago.
Lin Jiusan asked the most pressing question, "How can the Cursed Evil Dragon curse be lifted?"
"The Cursed Evil Dragon curse is unbreakable."
"How can it be unbreakable? Little brother, are you not skilled enough?" Lin Jiusan said.
Li Cunxu was a bit upset. Is this the way to speak?
If he's not skilled in curses, there aren't many skilled people in the world.
Li Cunxu suppressed his displeasure and explained, "The Cursed Evil Dragon curse is connected to the resentment of Evil Dragons that died in an era. There's no way to break it, even King Beastmasters specializing in curses can't break it."
"However, I do have a solution…"
Li Cunxu saw the doubt on Lin Jiusan's face and remembered the lesson of speaking too hastily to casual acquaintances. So he swallowed back the words he was about to say.
No wonder Lin Jiusan didn't believe him. Li Cunxu had just said that even King Beastmasters specializing in curses couldn't solve it, and the next moment he said he had a solution.
Could it be that a mere boy like you understands curses better than specialized King Beastmasters?