Chapter 36: The person who can write such a book must be an extraordinary genius!

The cold night wind made Rose, who had just crawled out of the warm stone tower, shiver violently.

She subconsciously tightened the tattered coarse robe around her body. However, her dragon physique still maintained a gentle warmth—this felt like a warning.

An aura originating from the depths of her bloodline, one that instinctively filled her with disgust and vigilance, was slowly seeping out from the dark bottom of the pit, as if some ominous thing was emerging from below.

It shouldn’t be possible, right? Rose frowned, her suspended heart instantly leaping into her throat.

She had clearly destroyed the teleportation array and severed the magic circuit. That bastard absolutely could not chase her directly to this exit through the array, nor could he arrive so quickly.

Yet a sliver of unease lingered in her heart, making her temporarily halt her plan to keep moving forward.

Rose turned back to the edge of the pit. While filling in the hole before her, she quickly pulled out several magic crystals emitting different dangerous auras from her bundle. These were the precious items she had carefully selected from the stone tower’s treasury.

One was a dull gray stench crystal that gave off a nauseating rotten smell. Another had a surface covered in tiny red spikes, with what seemed like scorching liquid flowing inside—an irritant gas crystal. And several explosion crystals engraved with unstable runes, their cores flashing with dangerous red light.

Rose carefully arranged them at different depths and positions within the filled pit, ensuring that if anyone tried to forcibly dig it open or break through from below, they would immediately trigger this deadly surprise gift package.

Thinking of the possible scene, she even felt a little relieved.

Rose had to admit that the room that resembled a treasure vault had an incredibly rich collection of magic crystals. Although most of them were flashy but impractical, they were now perfectly suited for making traps. Looking at the now-filled hole that appeared almost normal on the surface, her tightly wound nerves finally relaxed a little.

She stood in place, admiring her handiwork with satisfaction. The silver dragon tail behind her, unable to control itself, happily swept back and forth across the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

Ouch…! Rose looked at the suddenly well-behaved little guy behind her with a headache. How could she have forgotten about this thing?

Rose realized that her silver tail, the folded wings on her back, and the pair of small dragon horns on her forehead were still exposed. Walking outside like this would be extremely dangerous. She had to use her own power to hide these features.

She warily scanned the dark forest around her. Since she had gained freedom, she must completely blend into the human world. She absolutely could not let anyone notice anything unusual.

Rose first found a large tree with relatively dense foliage nearby. She leaned against the trunk and quickly pulled out the thick ancient dragon tome from her simple bundle.

She flipped through the tough pages rapidly, skipping over other profound contents and urgently searching for methods to conceal dragon features. This was the life-saving skill she needed most right now.

Time was tight; she had no leisure to slowly savor the vast dragon wisdom in the book or understand the mysteries of her newborn body. She concentrated, tracing the twisted, mysterious ancient dragon runes on the pages. Her red lips parted slightly as she imitated the syllables recorded in the book and softly chanted the unfamiliar incantation.

As the spell flowed, a strange cool sensation spread from her spine throughout her entire body. She clearly felt the pair of huge silver wings that had always faintly reminded her of their presence quickly sink beneath her skin, leaving only the hard sensation of her back pressing against the tree trunk.

The flexible silver tail behind her also retracted like a rubber band being pulled back, instantly shortening and disappearing, leaving only a slight tingling at the base of her tailbone.

The two small, slightly protruding hard dragon horns on her forehead also sank deep into her skin, returning to the smooth, flat appearance they once had.

Rose impatiently reached back and carefully touched her back, tailbone, and forehead over and over again. Her silver eyes sparkled with delight.

Wonderful! They really disappeared!

She no longer needed that damn Rest to help her retract her tail and wings, nor did she have to endure that bastard’s condescending “help” that always came with conditions.

With this book, she could master dragon power by herself.

She joyfully stroked the ancient book cover, her heart filled with respect for its compiler.

The person who could write such a book must be an incredible genius!

Rose traced the extremely detailed annotations and diagrams on the pages. The book’s deep understanding of the dragon race, with every detail written so clearly and thoroughly, surely belonged to a great dragon elder who was knowledgeable, wise, and willing to pass on everything he knew.

Carrying this admiration and curiosity, Rose flipped to the title page of the thick volume with near-reverent expectation, her eyes urgently searching for the signature of that great scholar.

“Author: Bahamut”

The name written in gilded ancient dragon script struck her vision like the most blinding lightning.

Rose felt as if her brain had been smashed hard by a heavy hammer. It buzzed loudly.

The smile on her face instantly went from frozen → shattered → blood draining away, leaving only pale disbelief and horror.

Bahamut?!

Was there a second person in this world named Bahamut?! She clung to the last sliver of faint hope and frantically denied it.

Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

That crude, primitive tyrannosaurus who only thought about mating, breeding, and continuing his bloodline—that super big bastard who only thought with his lower body—could write such a logically clear, rigorously knowledgeable great work?!

In Rose’s mind, Rest’s face filled with domineering possessiveness and the sacred, solemn author’s name on the title page overlapped wildly, completely unable to be reconciled. This was simply the greatest blasphemy against knowledge and reason!

Thinking of this, Rose suddenly felt a strong wave of nausea surge up her throat. “Ugh…” She covered her mouth tightly, nearly vomiting on the book right then and there.

The book she had just regarded as a treasure and treated with reverence now felt like a filthy, dirty thing. She wanted to throw it into a cesspit immediately, or stomp on it a few more times.

Her remaining reason forcibly stopped her final action. The knowledge inside the book—especially the parts about controlling dragon power and the self-defense skills she might need in the future—were too important for her.

Discarding it now might still be too early.

But the mere thought that the author of this book was that Rest·Bahamut, and that she still had to rely on his writings to learn survival skills and even carry it close to her body, made Rose feel as if disgusting insects were crawling all over her. It was unbearably revolting.

Carrying this book felt like carrying a piece of his flesh. She simply could not shake off that bastard’s shadow.

“Damn it, damn it all!” Rose gritted her back teeth, falling into deep conflict.

Throw it away? Too much of a waste! Keep it? Too disgusting!

In the end, a compromise was born with great difficulty between humiliation and reason:

Read it! She must finish reading this damned thing! Squeeze out every last bit of its value!

A decisive, ruthless light flashed in Rose’s eyes. Once she had learned all the knowledge inside and mastered her full power, she would burn this book along with its author into ashes, drawing a clear line once and for all.

Having made up her mind, Rose endured the churning disgust in her heart and, treating the 《Dragon Clan Secret Manual》 like a dangerous radioactive object, quickly stuffed it back into the deepest part of her bundle, as if touching it any longer would contaminate her.

After confirming that her wings, tail, and dragon horns were perfectly hidden, Rose took a deep breath and forced herself to drive that bastard’s name out of her mind. Then, she determined the direction of the nearest town and walked toward the edge of the forest.

At this moment, all she wanted was to find a place to take a bath, change into clean clothes, buy a proper suitcase, find an inn, and sleep soundly and safely.

Then, completely bid farewell to this nightmarish past and welcome a brand new life that truly belonged to her!