Adam asked Lina, "How's the collection of reactions from the subjects practicing the Refinement Art?"
Lina's answer was much more formal. "All subjects in the City of Freedom are under surveillance. So far, no one has shown any adverse reactions other than weakness and fatigue. Since few people go out, we haven't been able to collect data in combat situations, so we can't determine if the Bloodline Advancement Technique is truly effective."
Adam felt that the progress was a bit slow. After all, the number of people in the City of Freedom was limited, and so were his subordinates who could act as his eyes to monitor the practitioners and collect data.
"Master, the moss you provided has been planted in every corner of the City of Freedom, except for the Lord's Mansion and the laboratory. This plant is very suitable for surviving in the icy plains," Lina continued.
"How many forest elves have the slave traders from the Racial Union Zone bought recently?"
Lina hurriedly replied, "Less than two hundred. And after the blood transfusion, less than fifty survived."
"Why so few?"
"Most of the forest elf tribes are in the territories of the dragons. The traders dare not enter to hunt boldly. The forest elves living outside are in dense forests. In such places, a forest elf who wants to hide is hard to find. Moreover, the mortality rate of the transfusion is too high."
Adam nodded, accepting Lina's reasons, then turned to the devil, "How many are available for hire in the City of Freedom now?"
"Not many. Most are hiding and practicing the Advancement Technique. A few have been sent to the Racial Union Area. Only a handful of poor guys who can't even afford private transactions are still doing tasks to earn money."
"Post a task to recruit adventurers to form a slave-hunting team. I need a large number of test subjects and forest elves. You decide the reward."
The devil looked a bit troubled, "Master, they might not be willing or able to go out."
"Then make the task mandatory, with a bonus. After capturing a certain number of slaves, I will personally guide them in the practice of the Advancement Technique."
The devil's eyes lit up with a smile, "In that case, there will be no problem."
After assigning the next tasks, Adam left the devil in the laboratory to address the issue with Sophia.
In truth, Adam could easily afford to keep Sophia without any sweat, and a frost dragon was indeed a formidable force. However, her identity as a dragon posed a significant problem. Currently, her mental development was not sound, and she mistakenly believed Adam to be a dragon stolen away at a young age. But as she grew older and her inheritance awakened, this misconception was bound to change.
Creatures with an inheritance are never foolish. Even if they were, the knowledge and common sense passed down through countless generations would eventually make them wise.
The devil was cautiously standing beside the sleeping Sophia, trying to probe her spirit and soul.
"How is it?" Adam asked.
"Her soul is unguarded, but the awakened inheritance power is passively protecting her. Master, if she were still an egg like I was, forming a master-servant contract would be no issue. But now, any tampering within her soul might immediately trigger a backlash."
"And the consequences?"
The devil pondered, "If we fail, the best outcome would be her becoming a fool or dying outright. Worse, it might attract the attention of the origin, given that, as you said, dragons are the creatures closest to the origin in the Plane."
"The second possibility is unlikely. The origin of the Dragon Plane has significant issues. Even if it didn't, it's unlikely to be distracted by a young dragon."
"So, Master?"
Adam, looking at Sophia, said, "Let's try. See if we can breach the passive defense of the origin. If possible, I will form a master-servant pact with her. If not, she'll become my first dragon test subject."
"You could form a symbiotic or equal contract with her. These won't trigger any backlash."
Adam shook his head and walked away, "Impossible."
"And if she dies or becomes a fool?"
"Then it's just her bad luck."
Throughout the Dragon Plane, even the most isolated races gradually learned of the miraculous city rising on the icy plains and its vast knowledge. More and more people converged towards the icy plains, a trend that accelerated as the Bloodline Advancement Technique was proven effective. Many creatures, either seeking the technique or experiencing problems with its practice, left their original cities and flocked to the City of Freedom.
Lina assigned a number to each subject practicing the art and collected a massive amount of data for Adam. He devoted all his time to analyzing these data. So far, apart from those who died due to life force depletion, no cases of the bizarre deaths Adam feared were found.
The slave-hunting teams returned one after another. Keeping his promise, Adam selected many subjects for live experiments. Most died due to the brutality of the experiments, but a few, with Adam's support, had their strength and bloodline 'enhanced'.
Nobody cared about the numerous deaths. They only saw those who walked out of the laboratory alive and instantly rose above the rest, drawing even more people into the process.
After thousands of live experiments and sample analyses, Adam confirmed that the origin of the Dragon Plane was indeed extinguished or in deep hibernation. It no longer had the power to oversee its world, and even such large-scale erosion faced no resistance.
Adam decided to advance to a transcendent being, transforming into an adult frost dragon.
He deeply concealed his true self, leaving only a fraction of his consciousness to control the dragon body. He even hid the electric elemental circuitry within him, striving to erase any traces of the Mage world during the ascension process.
After ensuring everything was in order, Adam began his first practice of the Dragon Refinement Art.
His bloodline boiled, elements ran wild, and his dragon body's functions rapidly improved. A vast amount of bloodline power emerged within him, lingering due to the lack of a complete dragon inheritance. As the energy found no outlet, it all fused into his body.
Adam's height broke the ten-meter barrier, reaching eleven meters, twelve meters, thirteen meters.
In the City of Freedom, which had never been hit by a blizzard since its creation, the ice elements started to surge wildly. All species with natural energy in their bloodlines lost their powers in that instant. Uncontrolled elements began to devour their bodies, leaving them severely injured in just a few seconds.
A snow tornado pierced through the magic array, destroying the laboratory's ceiling, and merged with Adam's elemental power. His body grew again until his dragon head protruded outside the laboratory.
Then he roared!"
