Rody could now understand what it felt like to be tied to a stake and burned alive, believing that the hellfire caused by the dragon blood was a million times more intense than any human execution by fire. He oscillated between life and death in excruciating pain, yet frustratingly, he couldn't lose consciousness. The terror of feeling his entire body continuously burning was beyond anything Rody had ever imagined.

"Pain transfer," Rody thought to summon Nicholas and the others to share his pain and preserve his life, but for the first time, the summoning failed. Perhaps the dragon blood was immune to magic, or his mental strength was nearly shattered, or maybe his storage ring, possessing basic alchemy, had already melted and deformed. In the midst of unbearable burning agony, Rody couldn't take it anymore. With a howl, he spewed flames from his throat and fainted.

He wasn't ready to die this way, nor did he want to, but he was powerless. Apart from the deep-rooted perseverance in his heart and the unburnt soul struggling desperately, he didn't know any way to escape death...

In the moment of Rody's unconsciousness, a holy light shone brightly on his forehead, and the merciful image of the Holy Mother appeared in the sky again. She opened her arms and embraced Rody's burning body, just as a mother would embrace her beloved son. The terrifying hellfire turned into feathers of fire, scattering across the sky. After the Holy Mother's image shed two tears of light on Rody, his charred and deformed body rapidly healed.

His blackened skin peeled off quickly, revealing tender, fresh muscles. Then, new skin began to grow swiftly. As the image of the Holy Mother gradually turned into light points and disappeared, the fire feathers rushed towards Rody's body, burrowing into the freshly grown skin. This caused the unconscious Rody to scream in agony again, his body once again engulfed in blazing purple-blue magical fire.

The magical fire burned persistently, and the unconscious Rody trembled in endless pain.

Strangely enough, his skin remained unharmed in the fire, and even his black hair slowly grew back. It was unclear how long the magical flames continued to burn before they gradually dimmed and finally disappeared. Rody lay unconscious on the sizzling, smoking, and bubbling melted stone surface, his breathing natural and deep. After the ordeal with the terrifying dragon blood, it didn't cause any damage to his body. On the contrary, Rody's body seemed to have become even more perfect.

When Rody woke up, the sky was filled with stars. He was delighted to find that not only was he alive, but he also didn't have a single injury. Everything that happened seemed like a nightmarish illusion.

"Wasn't I drenched in dragon blood? Or did I resist it because I drank the forbidden potion of magic and martial arts?" Rody was puzzled. If he wasn't drenched in dragon blood, where did his clothes go? And the ground resembled cooled and solidified volcanic lava, complete with a human-shaped indentation.

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If his body was drenched in dragon blood and caught on fire, burning his skin, flesh, and bones, how could he be unharmed now?

Rody remembered a legend about a brave hero who killed a two-headed dragon. Similarly drenched in dragon blood, the hero not only gained the dragon's strength but also had his skin turn to bronze, impervious to swords and axes. Had it not been for a leaf that stuck to his back, covering a spot untouched by the dragon blood and creating a fatal weakness, his enemies would have never been able to kill him. Could Rody have acquired similar abilities?

Elated, Rody produced a small dagger and gently slid it across his finger. The skin, tender as white jade, was easily cut, and blood seeped out immediately. Rody was stunned, realizing he had not gained bronze skin. Feeling his strength, there seemed to be no change, let alone gaining the dragon's power.

After sensing for a while, Rody found that apart from his skin becoming as white as jade, there was no other difference from before. "It's good enough to be alive, and I still have the dark gold bone hand and foot. It seems like the goddess of misfortune had a date today and didn't bother with me," he thought. Rody quickly collected the dark gold bone hand and foot from below the cliff, cheering happily. Although the pain from the hellfire was unbearable to recall, enduring this extreme hardship for future hope made him feel somewhat rewarded.

When he found the shimmering golden dragon-slaying dagger, his heart overflowed with immense joy.

Having lost an alchemy storage ring, the storage space still remained, and after the excruciating torment of hellfire, the storage space expanded slightly, further enhancing his mental strength. Although the black dragon blood tormented him severely, he not only escaped from the brink of death but also acquired urgently needed growth items for his dark minions: dark golden bone hands and feet, and even a surprising 'Dragon Slaying Dagger'.

He vowed to thrust this Dragon Slaying Dagger back into Alfred's forehead when the opportunity arose, as retribution for its cunning and deceit.

Rody, clad in animal skin, led his dark minions down the valley, gathering the severely corroded soil drenched in the venom and poisonous blood of a nine-headed beast, heaping it together, then carefully adding water to create a poisonous mud bath for his minions. Although the effect was not optimal, adding a bit of toxicity was beneficial.

The venom of the nine-headed beast, capable of combating the black dragon Alfred, was believed to be a hundred times more potent than ordinary poison.

Watching his dark minions' bodies bubble in the toxic mud, Rody recalled Alfred's words. A five-star necromancer could only contract three dark minions, four in exceptional cases. But he had already contracted six at the beginning of his studies, including Nicholas, Marcus, Emma, a skeletal rabbit, and two mantises, surpassing even a six-pointed star magic master who could only contract five.

Rody felt that his strength was at most that of a high-level five-star necromancer, yet he had already contracted eight dark minions, including a dark man-eating vine and the skull of Katoblepas.

Alfred had said that only a Great Magician of the Big Dipper could contract six to eight minions. How could Rody possibly be a Great Magician?

More astonishingly, only a Moon Halo Mage and a Moon Glow Golden Robe Grand Mage could contract eight to ten minions. Rody had once reached nine by fusing a vampire bat and dark man-eating vine with the skeletal rabbit and two mantises... Could it be that the dark minions he contracted were different from normal? Or could his mental strength support more dark minions?

Rody was eager to try but feared that ten might be the limit. Torn between excitement and hesitation, he was in a dilemma.

"Not in a hurry, I'll wait until I find a suitable candidate to contract." Rody tried to calm his racing heart, feeling like an unprecedented genius who might have found a path of hope in the forbidden seals of magic and martial arts.

"How do I explain my skin's change when I return?" Rody was a bit troubled. His skin was now as tender and white as that of the succubus sisters, and he feared being mocked for his fair complexion. However, an accidental discovery regarding his skin's transformation brought him joy rather than despair.

A wound previously made by a dagger had vanished without a trace.

In the past, such a wound would take days to heal, scab over for several more, and leave a visible scar for a long time. But now, his healing power seemed as extraordinary as that of a dragon.