The familiar pain returned—his head felt as though it might split open, and his body burned as if it were boiling. The dragon's blood coursed violently through his veins, leaving him feverishly hot, like a lobster fresh out of a pot.

During the process of increasing his bloodline purity from 5% to 10%, Lin Xuan’s physical strength had been subtly improving. Yet none of that compared to the intense transformation that occurred after he uttered the word Nibelungen.

It seemed that each time he reached a milestone, every time he spoke a dragon tongue word, his body underwent a profound metamorphosis. If this continued, he would likely experience nineteen such transformations in total.

By now, Lin Xuan’s physical prowess had already surpassed that of ordinary humans. Crushing a boulder with a single punch or running 100 meters in five seconds were feats he could accomplish effortlessly.

He speculated that even without using Time Zero, his current physical state might be sufficient to face a Ghost Mask without breaking a sweat. The notion was almost absurd.

It was hard to imagine what his strength would be like once his bloodline purity reached 90%.

One thing was certain—his physical body was bound to far exceed that of others in the same tier, granting him a significant advantage.

As the pain gradually subsided, Lin Xuan rose to his feet.

“Nibelungen...”

He murmured the word softly, his emotions surging with excitement.

The moment Lin Xuan deciphered the word, an overwhelming stream of information flooded his mind.

In both Norse mythology and the dragon race’s lore, Nibelungen, the “Land of the Dead,” was Nidhogg’s domain.

With it, Lin Xuan could summon freshly departed souls into Nibelungen, transforming them into his vassals to fight by his side.

More than that, he could grant his vassals abilities.

There were two methods of bestowing power: the first relied on the unique environment of Nibelungen, transforming the vassals into eerie, terrifying undead creatures.

The second method involved direct empowerment, though this seemed to require further exploration on Lin Xuan’s part.

A crucial point was that Nibelungen could only absorb two types of beings: those who had died in battle and those filled with resentment.

Lin Xuan bowed his head in contemplation, a glimmer of light flashing in his eyes.

He had been pondering how to save Zhao Kongcheng while also ensuring Lin Qiye would be resolute about joining the Night Watch.

Now, it seemed the key lay within Nibelungen.

In the original novel, after Zhao Kongcheng’s death, his soul was claimed by the Hound of Heaven.

If that was the case, why couldn’t Lin Xuan intercept Zhao Kongcheng’s soul first?

Unlike the Hound of Heaven, which merely preserved souls, Lin Xuan’s Nibelungen could harbor conscious souls with the potential for resurrection.

Once Lin Xuan reached a certain level, he could directly revive them.

He even had a bold hypothesis:

Since his veins carried the blood of the Black King, could he, through direct empowerment, emulate the Black King and elevate Zhao Kongcheng into one of the Four Kings?

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Lin Xuan thought this idea had merit.

As the Black King, wouldn’t it be fitting for him to have four lieutenants?

However, one detail needed to be addressed—Lin Xuan frowned slightly as he mulled it over.

He vaguely remembered this part of the plot but wasn’t sure when the Ghost Mask would appear near Lin Qiye’s home.

Was it tomorrow or the day after?

The only thing he was certain of was that it rained heavily that night.

Shifting back to reality, Lin Xuan checked the weather forecast on his phone.

Perfect—sunny skies for the next two days.

Not important, he thought. After all, he would be joining the Night Watch by noon tomorrow. Once inside, it would be easy to monitor Zhao Kongcheng’s movements around the clock.

Slouching back on the sofa, Lin Xuan tilted his head upward.

Only now, in the quiet of the night, could he reflect on a pressing question.

Had he traveled here physically or as a soul?

He needed to figure this out.

The original Lin Xuan had always stayed in Cangnan City and never left, meaning he had experienced the Shiva Grudge ten years ago.

The original Lin Xuan was long dead—or more precisely, most people in this city had already died.

If Lin Xuan had traveled here as a soul, would he disappear once Lin Qiye reclaimed the Dust God’s Domain and the miracle that had sustained it for ten years?

Yet here he was, able to feel the dragon's blood coursing through his veins, the tangible increase in his bloodline purity after absorbing Mysteries.

Most notably, Lin Xuan looked exactly the same as in his previous life.

No discernible differences.

If anything, his physique had changed.

After being imbued with dragon blood in that mysterious space, his frame had become visibly stronger, his height shooting up from just over 180 cm to about 185 cm.

The once faint outlines of his abs were now sharply defined, every movement radiating explosive power.

Suddenly, Lin Xuan remembered something.

He rolled up his left sleeve, revealing a shallow scar from a childhood vaccination.

The mark had faded significantly, almost disappearing due to the strengthening effects of the dragon’s blood. But it was still faintly visible, and the slight bump could be felt under his fingers.

Seeing the scar, Lin Xuan exhaled in relief.

In this world, children had long stopped receiving those vaccines.

This scar proved that this body was indeed his own.

Had his physical body replaced the “miracle-projected” existence of a student?

But why did he look identical to the original?

Lin Xuan pondered this for a while.

Bah, forget it. He decided to stop overthinking.

This wasn’t something he could figure out at his current level—no need to waste his energy on it.

After all the fuss, it was already 11 PM.

Back in his old life, this would’ve been the start of his night, but now, all he wanted was to cultivate good habits.

He still remembered how he had closed his eyes for a moment and opened them in this world.

If he guessed right, his former self probably stayed up all night, and his soul ended up transmigrating due to exhaustion.

“Sleep, sleep. Early to bed, early to rise is the way to go.” (You should do the same! pwp)

Lin Xuan headed straight to bed.

The night passed without incident.

When morning light filtered into the room, Lin Xuan sprang out of bed like a carp leaping out of water.

After whipping up a simple breakfast, he headed straight to school.

As he approached the school gates, he saw Zhao Kongcheng squatting nearby, a cigarette in his mouth, his eyes scanning the area.

Lin Xuan walked over and sat down next to him.

“Old Zhao, what’re you looking for?”

“Yesterday’s kid. Slipped away while I wasn’t looking.”

Zhao Kongcheng grumbled, his resentment practically tangible.

He had already noticed Lin Xuan earlier. According to the vice-captain, this young man had readily agreed to join the Night Watch without hesitation.

Now that’s the spirit! The impulsive excitement of youth, fantasizing about being a superhero.

Not like the other one—so frustratingly elusive.

Lin Xuan merely shrugged. Keep watching.

Seeing Zhao Kongcheng here reminded him that this part of the story had Zhao missing his target.

But he also recalled that Lin Qiye visited the school once before Zhao’s incident.

If not today, then it had to be tomorrow.

By this reasoning, Zhao Kongcheng’s incident was also likely to occur tomorrow.

Zhao’s presence here was convenient for Lin Xuan.

Originally, Lin Xuan had planned to join the Night Watch at noon when someone would come to pick him up.

Once inside, he could leverage their resources to rapidly hone his combat skills.

Lin Xuan was acutely aware of his lack of combat experience. While his strength was immense, he was just an ordinary person who had stumbled into extraordinary power. He had no honed techniques to back it up.

With a Ghost Mask encounter looming in the next couple of days, even last-minute training was better than nothing.

He decided to seize the opportunity.

“I’ve made up my mind. I want to join the Night Watch. Can you take me to your base?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to think it over?”

Zhao Kongcheng flicked his cigarette and raised an eyebrow.

The vice-captain had insisted on giving this kid the morning to mull it over.

But judging by Lin Xuan’s demeanor, it seemed his decision was already set in stone.

Even with more time, Zhao doubted his answer would change.

After a brief pause, Zhao nodded.

“Alright. I’ll call the vice-captain to send someone over.”

“Sounds good.”