Chapter 448 - 22: Clan and the Water God’s Divine Soul

The Immortal Dragon Scale could indeed prevent the internal elemental imbalance caused by elemental stagnation. In simpler terms, it granted Wasteland Environment Resistance +90% and Wasteland Habitability +60%.

After Su Zhou confirmed this through multiple practical tests, he informed the Professionals of Naisel City.

"This is a potion extracted from my blood, a product of the Feraner Alchemy Workshop. It’s very crude, but after injection, it can temporarily put your skin into the ’Dragon Scale State.’ I need a few of you who are brave and unafraid of death to inject this potion and test it. We need to see if it can prevent elemental stagnation."

In the city square, as the residents of Naisel City gradually emerged from the shelters and began repairing their homes with the help of local Professionals, Su Zhou gathered the leaders of the Professionals who had finished their immediate tasks.

The massive Wingless Great Dragon tapped his claw tip on a table that, to him, was about the size of his palm. On it sat a bottle containing a purplish-blue potion that emitted a hazy, starlit glow.

Pointing at the potion, Su Zhou addressed everyone grimly. "Full disclosure: I have no idea what effect this potion will have on humans. However, the Magical Beasts we captured from the Maze didn’t die after taking it, and their elemental resistance did, in fact, increase."

The ’Immortal Dragon Scale Potion’ was a special potion created by the alchemists of Naisel City. They had used Su Zhou’s blood, following the same principles used to create other magic potions from the materials of Extraordinary Creatures, such as the Dragon Power Potion or the Bull’s Strength Potion.

Theoretically, injecting this refined essence of Su Zhou’s dragon blood directly into the bloodstream would allow a person to temporarily gain some of the characteristics of Su Zhou’s True Body. This included an affinity for the four elements—wind, water, lightning, and fire. Of course, the most important benefit was the resistance granted by the Dragon Scale State.

For a being of Su Zhou’s three- to four-thousand-ton weight, blood was as plentiful as water; a single drop could produce thousands of doses of the potion. Furthermore, Naisel City’s entire food stores were open to him, allowing him to eat as much as he wanted. If that wasn’t enough, he could simply hunt Magical Beasts in the Maze, which would always be enough to sate him. In that sense, the people of Naisel City weren’t exactly getting his blood for free.

Su Zhou’s authority in the city was so absolute that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that if he called a deer a horse, everyone would agree. The Professionals gathered in the square exchanged glances. They all understood the gravity of the situation and didn’t need to be told how significant resistance to elemental stagnation would be. They also knew why Su Zhou had come to them specifically. Ordinary people were not Transcendents and couldn’t accurately sense changes in elemental resistance.

And this ’Dragon Scale Potion’... If it truly had the effects Su Zhou described, then to the residents of Naisel City, who had lost the protection of the Elemental Array, it was undoubtedly as important as life itself. The Professionals could manage; with their power, they could survive for extended periods in the outside world. Ordinary people, however, could not adapt to the current apocalyptic environment. A single day had passed, and some were already showing signs of internal elemental imbalance.

"I’ll go first."

The speaker was a member of the City Guard, and he stepped forward.

This City Guard was a middle-aged man in his forties. He had been one of the soldiers stationed on the city wall observing the situation when the flood arrived. He had personally witnessed Su Zhou hold back the tidal wave and then battle the Water God. His trust in Su Zhou had now grown into near-fanatical devotion.

The City Guard first bowed to Su Zhou. Then, without hesitation, he picked up the potion. Under the guidance of a nearby Alchemist, he used a syringe to inject the contents into his vein.

"Ugh..."

For the first few seconds, the City Guard showed no unusual reaction. Purplish-blue patterns of Spiritual Light appeared at the injection site, spreading through his body along his veins.

He just grunted, reporting that his whole body was heating up. The potion brought with it a strange, stinging heat, as if he had been slathered in chili-infused water.

But soon, his face turned pale. He collapsed to the ground, crying out in pain.

"It hurts! It’s so itchy! AAAAAHH—"

This City Guard was no stranger to battle. He often explored the Maze alongside adventurers and had once had his chest torn open by a Magical Beast; he was a man with an extremely high tolerance for pain. Yet he couldn’t stop clawing at his own body, tearing away chunks of his own flesh. "There’s something... something crawling in my flesh... AAAAAHH!!!"

The surrounding Professionals swarmed forward to restrain the City Guard, stopping him from tearing himself apart.

Su Zhou’s expression dimmed, and he let out a soft sigh, preparing to intervene. He wasn’t one to simply watch a man die before his eyes. ’But if the potion is a failure, then how can we ever succeed? This formula is already the most refined version in theory. To optimize it further would require a massive amount of practical data.’

But soon, the City Guard stopped struggling. Everyone assumed he was dead, as they could no longer sense any Spiritual Power fluctuating from his body.

Even Su Zhou subconsciously assumed the man had died. But a moment later, a faint voice drifted up. "Let go... stop holding me down... I feel much better..."

This caused everyone restraining him to recoil in unison, their faces filled with the horror of seeing a dead man speak. The City Guard who now stood up indeed no longer had any discernible Spiritual Power fluctuations. Or rather, they were extremely faint, like a voice speaking from behind a soundproof wall.