Tale of the Red Dragon Without Dragon's Might-Chapter 21 - Sacrificial Spirit

Leon slowly stopped in his tracks, focusing on the reward he had just received.

It wasn't the Water Walking Technique, it was just another name for walking on water, utterly useless. He'd rather have the water avoidance art, as he was worried about his lack of underwater breathing abilities, but instead, it was the Samadhi True Fire, an absolute Great Divine Power, ranking much higher than the Sword Control Technique and immobilization spell.

After all, Leon remembered that the rewards he had obtained before were just ordinary rewards, but this time it was a high-level reward.

But why did this happen? Could it be because leaving the protection of his parents and living alone is an extraordinary feat, or normally speaking, leaving parental protection is something for a young dragon, or at least after becoming a teenage dragon, and he did it earlier, naturally getting his reward early.

There seemed to be many plausible answers, Leon wasn't too sure which was true, he shifted his focus back onto the Samadhi True Fire.

His knowledge of the Samadhi True Fire mainly came from the ancient novel "Journey to the West", where Red Boy's Samadhi True Fire once troubled Sun Wukong immensely. Though he later found out that it wasn't actually Red Boy's Samadhi True Fire that caused Sun Wukong great trouble, but a puff of smoke that Red Boy blew which irritated Sun Wukong's eyes.

Many believed that Red Boy's mother had an affair with Lord Lao Zi of the Great Monad, the evidence supposedly being that Red Boy could use the trademark Samadhi True Fire of Lord Lao Zi. In fact, the fire in Lord Lao Zi's Furnace of Eight Trigrams was the Six Ding Divine Fire, and the Samadhi True Fire was entirely self-cultivated by Red Boy on the Flame Mountain.

The origin of Flame Mountain's flames was said to be due to a few bricks falling from Lord Lao Zi's overturned Furnace of Eight Trigrams, carrying sparks and high temperatures that created Flame Mountain, combined with Red Boy's cultivation of Samadhi True Fire on Flame Mountain, proving some connection between Samadhi True Fire and Six Ding Divine Fire.

Different works had different settings, in "Journey to the West", Samadhi True Fire was considered a Great Divine Power, while in "Investiture of the Gods" it seemed to be a common spell, with many characters like Nezha, Jiang Ziya, and Yang Jian being able to use it... that doesn't necessarily mean Samadhi True Fire was commonplace.

Furthermore, classical literature and Taoist culture had one interpretation of Samadhi True Fire, and Buddhism had another.

Leon wasn't sure which version of Samadhi True Fire he now commanded, but since it came from a high-level reward, it definitely was a Great Divine Power, and he couldn't wait to try it out.

Leon looked around, spotting a small tree. It was a lone tree, and burning it wouldn't cause any unwanted wildfires. Even having been in this world for months, he was still concerned about setting fires and ending up in prison.

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Leon took a deep breath, his mastery of Samadhi True Fire unexpectedly did not require chanting, it seemed to have merged with his Breath Weapon, he felt a slight itch in his throat as if wanting to exhale something but couldn't...

Taking another deep breath, and yet another, continuing, Leon's chest swelled up due to his deep breathing, and at the same time his chest started glowing, resembling a piece of iron gradually heating up, much like his mother Lady Melt Throat's throat before unleashing her Flame Breath...

Finally feeling it, Leon exhaled, the fierce flame immediately turned the small tree in front of him to ash.

Leon watched the ashes, feeling that his Samadhi True Fire wasn't much different from ordinary flames. The main difference was perhaps the flame's temperature and potency, which instantly turned the small tree into ash.

Squinting his eyes, Leon reached out his claws to clear away the ashes, intending to see if the rocks underneath had turned to glass.

No, the rocks hadn't turned into glass.

Leon nodded to himself, consoling himself that not just any rock can turn into glass, specific silicon dioxide-based quartz rocks are required, granite rocks are super difficult for glass making, and limestone simply can't make glass, he just couldn't believe that Samadhi True Fire was so ordinary.

Leon examined the ashes again, trying to spot any difference, suddenly noticing that the rocks scorched by his Samadhi True Fire clearly looked different from other rocks.

Leon then reached out his two claws to pick up two stones, one scorched by Samadhi True Fire and one unscathed,

At first glance, the two stones, one pitch black and the other clean, didn't seem different at all.

Upon closer inspection, the rocks scorched by the Samadhi True Fire seemed lifeless and soulless, resembling a person who is dispirited versus one who is vibrant.

At the whim of inspiration, Leon wanted to unleash another burst of Samadhi True Fire to test his hypothesis, only to realize that his Mana had been nearly depleted. The little Mana left could only manage an immobilization spell or a Sword Control Technique, but not enough for another blast of Samadhi True Fire, not even for a second.

It's now confirmed that during a long rest, only one breath of Samadhi True Fire can be used, not exceeding three seconds.

Or perhaps until he evolves into a Young Dragon, a Teenage Dragon, a Young Dragon... No, it mainly depends on how he breathes in nature's spiritual energy and absorbs the Sun and Moon Essence, which relates to the amount of his Mana; even with higher levels, without a higher Spellcaster level, there is no Magic Position.

Although floating downstream saves more energy than going against the current, after swimming for several hours, Leon felt exhausted. He looked around and burrowed into a bush, immediately falling asleep.

Upon waking, it was already midday. Leon wasn't in a hurry to find food, unable to wait to breathe out another Samadhi True Fire.

Leon stretched out his tail, and directed the Samadhi True Fire towards its tip...

Pain!

Intense pain!

A piercing pain.

Leon jumped up from the pain, rolling on the ground uncontrollably, even as he crazily ran to the river to submerge his tail; still, the intense agony was unrelieved.

Leon hugged his tail, not knowing how long passed until the pain subsided somewhat. Gingerly, he let go of his tail and fearfully inspected it—

The originally shiny scales on his tail had turned dull and would fall off at the slightest touch.

Leon pondered over the injury he had just suffered and the powers of the Samadhi True Fire.

Being a Red Dragon, immune to fire, yet he was still harmed, indicating that the Samadhi True Fire could burn not only physical objects but also the soul. It inflicted not only fire damage but possibly other types, such as spiritual damage, and was not weakened by water.

Furthermore, from the bald look of his tail and the dulled scales, which were once filled with magical power and had turned ordinary, it showed that the Samadhi True Fire could have a similar effect to the Dissociation Technique; it could "melt" magic.

The Samadhi True Fire is indeed very powerful, certainly deserving the title of Great Divine Power and a high-tier reward. It is his ultimate move and trump card, the only problem being that it uses up too much Mana, with at most one use per long rest.

Also, he can't use the Samadhi True Fire for cooking food and eating grilled meat; he still needs to live the life of consuming raw, bloodied food, which is somewhat sad.

Leon looked again at his tail, now that his mood has slightly stabilized, only to realize how ugly the bald tail was.

Ugly.

Really so ugly.

Leon's current mood resembled that of a person with a head full of hair suddenly becoming bald, a man with a bald head, and his previously uplifted spirits due to obtaining the Samadhi True Fire now overshadowed by a layer of gray.

Indeed, one wouldn't die if one doesn't seek death, but seeking trouble leads to one's demise.