"The Gnolls and Kobolds I first brought to the Molten Iron Tribe have all died out."
Seeing Hodge's death, Iron Dragon Sorog also felt a sense of melancholy.
"These creatures are truly tiny and fragile. Throughout our long lives, the subordinates under our command will undergo iteration after iteration, the new replacing the old, a cycle of life and death. Only the same sun rises and sets, unchanging through the ages."
Garros looked toward the sun, which was currently shedding light and heat.
He shook his head and spoke slowly, "Even stars have days when their light goes out, their energy burns out, and they turn into cosmic dust; they are not unchanging through the ages."
His voice paused for a moment.
The Red-Iron Dragon's pupils slit slightly, and he said in a low voice, "Only those gods who receive the faith and offerings of countless people, or those existences whose individual power is comparable to a deity, can truly be eternal, ignoring the passage of time and existing immortally."
Garros asked himself.
Fighting against himself, against people, and against heaven and earth, he had grown step by step.
Struggling cautiously, as if treading on thin ice.
Was it all just to turn into dust and ashes at the end of his lifespan?
No!
He wanted more.
Ambition and desire surged within his heart, yet the Red-Iron Dragon, in a rare move, did nothing to stop them. He allowed them to ferment and boil, turning into a seed rooted deep within his heart, gradually sprouting.
Shortly after, when time reached noon.
Sorog left Dragon Valley to start preparing for the matter of dealing with the Golden Tooth Tribe. Since the Golden Tooth Tribe wanted to engage in a trade war rather than a bloody conflict, the Iron Dragon was happy to play along with them.
Garros took a deep breath and slowly turned his neck to the right.
Cr-crack. His cervical spine made an overburdened cracking sound, and waves of stinging pain came through. Garros stopped, then changed direction, twisting his head to the left.
Thanks to years of accumulated exercise, his neck was thick and covered with spines and thick scales.
But this also created a disadvantage.
His neck was not flexible enough; he couldn't rotate it one hundred and eighty degrees to bite behind him like other long-necked Dragonkin.
Therefore, in addition to daily training such as neck rotations to strengthen the muscles, Garros added new neck-turning exercises, high-frequency head shaking, and so on, to improve his neck's agility.
Now that the daylight was bright, it was a good time to exercise.
Garros, who had been asleep for a long time, was full of enthusiasm. He exercised diligently without taking a moment's rest.
Slowly, time reached late at night.
Now the night was thick and a cool breeze was blowing; it was also a good time to exercise.
The Red-Iron Dragon still did not stop until a touch of pale white rose on the horizon and the golden dawn light filled Dragon Valley.
After almost a day and a night of exercise, he should have started to rest.
However.
Now that the dawn was just rising and the air was fresh, it was still a good time to exercise.
After feeding, the Red-Iron Dragon drank a barrel of black oil and then continued his training. He called over the Wyvern Swarm and the bear swarm to spar with him, taking advantage of the fact that his Frostburn Scales hadn't grown back yet to train the underlying black-red scales.
He seemed unable to feel fatigue or pain.
No, more accurately, he enjoyed this feeling.
Other Dragons would occasionally have the idea of exercising but would give up for various reasons. Garros, however, used all sorts of reasons to exercise his body, unwilling to leisure.
From the initial pain and torture.
To slowly adapting and getting used to it.
To now enjoying it and being immersed in it.
Whether it was out of necessity or self-adaptation, Garros's mindset had undergone a tremendous transformation.
After two consecutive days and nights of various exercises, the Red-Iron Dragon's chest was heaving violently. He soaked his body in the lake water; his almost burning scales rubbed against the cold current, making a sizzling sound and forming boiling bubbles.
A moment later, he leapt out of the water.
"Should I drink a barrel of black oil to get my body excited and continue for a while longer?"
Feeling his tired and aching body, Garros slowly let out a breath and dismissed the idea.
Too much is as bad as too little.
He should rest.
After consuming a large amount of food brought by his subordinates and eating three magic gems in one go, the Red-Iron Dragon closed his eyes and lay down on a protruding rock slab, taking a nap in the sunlight.
Three days and nights later, the Red-Iron Dragon woke up in the night.
He was in high spirits and full of vitality. All of his Frostburn Scales had grown back; the deep black scales blended with the night, and the silver edges on them flowed like moonlight, shining brightly.
"It's time to deal with those Wild Monster Lords rooted in the southwest."
The Red-Iron Dragon spread his huge, strong wings. A gentle flap kicked up a chilling gale as his magnificent and fierce body tore through the air and soared into the sky. Even without using a burst of Qi-flame to speed up, his speed remained extremely fast just by flapping his wings normally.
In the blink of an eye, the Red-Iron Dragon disappeared into the night.
Southwest of The Borderlands, Sword Cliff.
The terrain of The Borderlands was primarily plains. Therefore, the cliff that pointed straight at the sky like a sword blade appeared particularly abrupt and conspicuous. However, because the surrounding soil was fertile and there were large areas of green plants and streams, beast swarms naturally inhabited this place.
A Cave Lion crouched low to drink water, its tail tensed straight.
It was about five meters long, with sharp teeth and claws and sturdy muscles. It was a predator, but it was still very cautious. Its ears twitched from time to time, and while drinking, it didn't forget to catch every movement in its surroundings.
On this cruel land, predators stronger than it were everywhere.
It needed to be cautious; it had to be cautious.
At that moment, fine ripples suddenly appeared on the water's surface, forming spots of scale-like light under the moonlight.
The Cave Lion caught a scent of danger. Its limb muscles tensed instantly, and it leaped backward like lightning.
Splash—as water droplets splattered everywhere, a giant crocodile that looked like it was cast in iron burst out of the water. Its upper and lower jaws collided, sparks flying, making a heavy snapping sound.
After giving the Cave Lion a cold look, the Iron Crocodile retreated into the water, not pursuing it onto the shore.
Having dodged the ambush from underwater, the Cave Lion turned with silent, light steps. Suddenly, the sky above dimmed, as if the moonlight were obscured by some massive object.
It became alert again, preparing to flee.
But just as it leaped up, it felt a pain in its body as razor-sharp claws pierced its flesh and grabbed its bones.
A dragon-like head lunged out at the same time, biting its neck, while a lion-like head and a goat-like head together bit into its spine.
Crack!
With the crisp sound of bones breaking, the Cave Lion's body instantly went limp, losing all power to resist.
The huge and distorted monster flapped its wings, carrying the Cave Lion's heavy body, and landed in an open-air nest located at the top of Sword Cliff.
Roar!
Roar!
Roar!
Three different roars blended together, sweeping around the cliff, causing all creatures that heard the sound to panic and tremble.
Under the clear radiance of the moonlight, the monster revealed its true form.
This creature had the hindquarters of a goat and the forequarters of a lion, along with dragon wings and three heads: a horned goat head, a crazed lion head, and a ferocious dragon head.
A Wild Monster Lord—a Chimera.
The goat head made it chaotic and evil like a demon, the dragon head made it extremely greedy and warlike, and the lion head gave it an extraordinary desire for slaughter.
Furthermore, it was a Sub-dragon, possessing a certain amount of dragon Bloodline within its body.
A Chimera's dragon head could take the form of any of the five Chromatic Dragon heads—red, blue, green, black, or white—and could possess a similar breath weapon.
As for the Chimera that was the lord of Sword Cliff.
Its dragon head was almost identical to a Red Dragon's; it was a Red-Headed Chimera, the most powerful among Chimeras.
To be able to occupy such a conspicuous and abrupt place as Sword Cliff and even nest at the very peak, its strength could well be imagined. Its super-large body had already exceeded the scope of a normal Chimera; it was an extraordinary individual.
The three heads bit into the Cave Lion's flesh together.
Their movements were orderly, without fighting amongst themselves.
This meant that although it had multiple heads, it was not like a two-headed Ogre with different thoughts; all of the Chimera's heads were governed by a single mind.
"This deformed and disgusting appearance certainly isn't the natural offspring of some dragon."
The Red-Iron Dragon looked down at the Wild Monster Lord from high in the sky, instinctively showing a look of disdain and disgust.
According to the records in his Legacy, there were two main theories regarding the origin of Chimeras.
One was that they were created by a certain demon lord in imitation of dragons.
The other was that they were dragon-descendant offspring born from a dragon's lust.
Seeing the Chimera's appearance, Garros was more inclined toward the first theory.
×=×
Power Stone Goals:
30 ps = 1 Extra chapter.
50PS = 2 Extra Chapters.
80PS= 3 Extra Chapters.
120PS = 4 Extra Chapters.
180PS = 5 Extra Chapters.