Forced to Be a Villain: Starting With My Brain Extraction System Chapter 149: Dragon’s Blood Essence!

"Well... that figure looks dead, but traces of its power linger on."

Lian Yue failed to identify Zhiran and never considered that possibility.

Instead, she directed her finger toward the round platform holding the throne and remarked,

"Notice those rings encircling the throne? The instant you step onto it, a powerful mental assault launches from that figure, strong enough to crush anyone at the Foundation Establishment realm. Thus, I recommend employing an artifact to protect your consciousness prior to approaching."

"No need to fret; once you cross that area, you can proceed through that door. The figure won’t strike."

Lian Yue clarified, having witnessed the identical scenario earlier when Mo Tianyu boldly entered using an artifact.

The primary hurdle within this hall had been the bone dragon, now slain.

"Oh? Then... many thanks."

A mental assault didn’t intimidate Zhiran much. Since activating his Consciousness Platform, his mental fortitude had grown immensely tough.

He doubted this lifeless entity could harm him in any way.

Nevertheless, Zhiran displayed appropriate wariness as he stepped onto the circular platform.

"Swish!"

Indeed, just as Lian Yue warned, the second his foot touched the platform, a savage mental strike erupted from the throne’s figure, aiming to shatter his consciousness.

"Ding!"

Briefly, even Zhiran experienced a touch of dizziness. Yet, true to his anticipation, within moments, he steadied his thoughts, repelled the onslaught, with his Consciousness Platform devouring and neutralizing the attack’s fiercest parts.

After regaining his composure, Zhiran defied Lian Yue’s expectations by not heading to the door. Instead, he approached the throne’s seated figure and rested his hand on its head.

Lian Yue had no clue about Zhiran’s actions. She sensed he was courting needless danger, for such an archaic being might resent the irreverence.

In the end, who could confirm its complete demise?

---

[No brain has been detected. Extraction Unsuccessful!]

---

Ignoring Lian Yue, Zhiran furrowed his brow faintly upon the system’s notification.

He was certain this corpse had unleashed the mental strike, yet no brain existed for extraction.

Zhiran pondered briefly, then shrugged indifferently, uninterested in unraveling its secrets. Instead, he advanced leisurely to the enormous door behind the throne and shoved it open with brute force.

"Bang!"

With the door ajar, a lengthy passageway stretched into the distance came into view.

"Aren’t you coming in?"

Yet Zhiran held back from entering right away. He pivoted and questioned Lian Yue.

He wasn’t naive. From the start, he detected the burning desire in her gaze.

Perhaps that explained her reluctance to escape and her willingness to converse with an unfamiliar person amid such peril. After all, one capable of slaying a Bone Dragon effortlessly was no trivial foe.

"H-hmm? S-senior...c-can I?"

As anticipated, Lian Yue’s eyes sparkled upon hearing him. Moments later, timidity gripped her, as though wary of the peril.

She realized following a mysterious, vastly superior stranger in this locale was unwise.

However, the Phoenix’s aura and her surging latent blood stirred her increasingly uneasy.

She believed missing this opportunity might doom her physique to remain unawakened forever.

"Or what? You don’t wish to? Come along, I advise. Something crucial to you appears to await within, evidently."

While Lian Yue wrestled with her dilemma, Zhiran commented casually, his gaze flicking to her subtle Crimson Petal tattoo.

Evidently, he grasped her secrets fully, causing Lian Yue’s heart to skip a beat.

"Well, it’s up to you. I can’t linger here endlessly."

Unbothered by her astonishment, Zhiran strode inward calmly. Mo Tianyu’s presence loomed ahead, fueling his impatience.

"W-wait... senior... I’ll join you."

Witnessing Zhiran depart after revealing her truth, Lian Yue panicked and hurried after him.

She promptly triggered a mysterious artifact to guard against the mental assault, then bolted through the door mere instants before it sealed shut.

...

Though the Blood Palace appeared vast and grand externally, its insides felt far less imposing.

Apart from the colossal hall into which he’d been transported upon arrival, Zhiran realized he was approaching the palace’s heart.

As suspected, this was a nexus for ancient inheritances.

That hall, the undead, and the bone dragon likely served as preliminary trials for entrants.

Perhaps additional tests existed once, but they’d lain dormant for ages.

Nonetheless, Zhiran ignored the trio of enormous statues ahead, fixating instead on the person seated cross-legged before one.

A faint smirk curled Zhiran’s lips as he observed the figure trembling violently in place, struggling to tame the hovering blood droplet before it.

Dragon blood essence.

Precisely the one he’d freshly slain outdoors.

"Roar!"

Clearly, Tianyu faced great difficulty, drenched in sweat as the dragon blood repulsed him fiercely.

Dragons, by nature, embodied arrogance. They refused submission lightly. Tianyu possessed a divine physique, yet it remained imperfect.

Moreover, the Shadow Dragon was innately ferocious.

"Ugh..."

Even so, Zhiran noted Tianyu employing an advanced, obscure ancient technique unknown to him for subduing the essence.

Though arduous, given sufficient time, Tianyu would undoubtedly force its absorption despite the resistance.