"Garros, why are you asking so much about Elena? She is my princess, you are not allowed to fight over her with me. If you like princesses, wait for the federal civil unrest and snatch one from another kingdom."
Iron Dragon Gorton said vigilantly.
Hearing these foolish words, the Red-Iron Dragon laughed dumbfoundedly: "What I have my eye on is not the princess, but the interests she represents. Gorton, do not reveal our existence to Princess Elena yet."
Gorton relaxed significantly.
Garros thought for a moment and said: "Your current task is to play your role well, try your best to please Princess Elena, make her trust you more, and let her feel the steadiness and reliability of the Dragonkin."
"When the time is right, I will notify you on what to do next."
The Federation is currently on the verge of chaos, and the tension between the nations is tightening, but it has not yet reached the point of snapping. Given the current situation, approaching Princess Elena directly to discuss cooperation might not garner enough attention.
It is best to wait until the flames of war ignite, the various heroes rise, and the civil unrest becomes a foregone conclusion.
Then, at the right moment, offer Princess Elena 'a blade,' providing her with the fuse to start a prairie fire. By then, even if she has to pay a high price for it, she will likely choose to grasp it regardless of the consequences.
Moreover, the Molten Iron Tribe is currently located in The Borderlands, a remote area ignored by the various nations.
It is not yet qualified to get a share of the spoils from the federal civil unrest.
"At the very least, I must become the King of the Borderlands and kill my way back to the Serel Wilderness."
Garros thought to himself.
It has been over ten years since he was forced out of the Serel Wilderness by the Federation into The Borderlands.
Although he cannot say he has any true affection for the wilderness and has no obsession with developing there, merely looking at the richer resources of the wilderness, from the perspective of interests, it is best to return to the wilderness rather than keep shrinking back in The Borderlands.
The Red-Iron Dragon narrowed his eyes, a glimmer of ambition flickering in his pupils.
Laying low and enduring, isn't it just to reveal oneself at the most appropriate time?
The federal civil unrest will be the best opportunity to display his ambitions.
By then, Garros felt that not only himself, but many powerful creatures lying in wait with ambitions might choose to reveal their sharp edges, taking advantage of the chaos to seize benefits and plunder federal resources.
For example, Garros's Red Dragon father.
As a chaotic evil adult Red Dragon, as long as he is still alive, once he knows the news of the federal civil unrest, with the vengeful nature of Red Dragons, he will certainly not let go of this opportunity and will fiercely retaliate against the Federation.
And there are many other creatures like this who once feared the Federation and had to endure.
"I need to take down the other tribes as soon as possible."
"When the flames of war ignite, I need to be fully prepared."
Garros calculated in his heart.
"Guarantee to complete the mission!"
At the same time, Iron Dragon Gorton said emphatically.
After giving Gorton some details to pay attention to, and the Ignas siblings chatted for a few minutes, Solrog's psychic energy consumption was too high, and this 'group chat' meeting temporarily ended.
"Solrog, go to the Poison Tail Tribe as soon as possible and probe their attitude."
"The Borderlands is just our beginning. For subsequent development, we must take this place as soon as possible; we cannot drag it out any longer."
Garros's serious and deep voice sounded in Solrog's heart through the Blood Kin Chain.
Like before, using himself as a relay to allow several Blood Kin Chains to communicate with each other consumes quite a bit, but single-line communication does not consume much psychic energy, and Solrog can handle it now.
"Good, leave this matter to me."
Solrog responded.
Garros nodded slightly, ending the blood kin conversation.
"They are both Iron Dragons, but the gap in Heart-Nature between Solrog and Gorton is like they are two different species."
He felt a bit emotional and thought: "The individual differences are huge, and the group impressions from the Legacy might have some truth, but one must never believe them entirely, otherwise, one will suffer sooner or later."
Garros was never someone who could cover everything; he admitted that he would have oversights, make mistakes, and occasionally be careless.
For example, he was previously fooled by the Silver Dragon's smiling face and almost got beaten up.
However, Garros's strength lay in his ability to summarize and reflect on his own problems, rather than like other Dragonkin, or most intelligent creatures, who blame external factors for problems while refusing to admit their own flaws, remaining stagnant.
"Rest is about enough."
The Red-Iron Dragon stretched his body, and a sound like metal clashing came from his body.
He turned his head to look at Deborah, seeing the Red-Silver Dragon sleeping on the cliff rock, her long tail hanging in mid-air, swaying gently from side to side, with no intention of getting up.
He glanced at the sun hanging high in the sky.
Garros prepared to start a new round of training, but just as his body took a step, he suddenly felt a feeling of fullness coming from within his body.
He stopped, carefully sensing his own body, and discovered that his Dragon Qi had reached 3.9.
This meant that his Martial Dragon Rank was now 3.9, Great Perfection of Rank 3, half a step into Rank 4.
"With Rank 3.9 Dragon Qi, I need to choose the branch path for the Martial Dragon."
Garros pondered in his heart.
Logically, when his Martial Dragon Rank just reached Rank 3, he should have chosen a specific path, but because he had no specific ideas, he had temporarily shelved it.
The branch path is also the subsequent advancement route.
If it were a normal monk, there would be many paths to choose from after Rank 3.
The Life Flow Sect, which can quickly heal oneself.
The Sun Soul Sect, with energy as hot as the blazing sun.
The Divine Dragon Sect, which mimics the posture of a dragon.
The Four Elements Sect, which manipulates elements through 'Qi'.
The Open Hand Sect, which develops combat techniques to the extreme.
The Shadow Sect, which pursues the path of stealth and escape.
The Eternal Death Sect, which studies death and has the most lethal combat style.
The Drunken Fist Sect, with strange and unpredictable combat techniques.
The Astral Self Sect, which condenses Qi Incarnations invisible to the naked eye and fights with Qi avatars.
As for the Martial Dragon.
This profession derived from monks does not have the three subsequent routes of the Divine Dragon Sect, the Life Flow Sect, and the Drunken Fist Sect.
Four Elements Dragon, Sun Soul Dragon, Open Hand Dragon, Shadow Dragon, Eternal Death Dragon, Astral Self Dragon. Garros needs to choose from these six major routes to specialize.
"I want them all, but unfortunately, being greedy will only lead to failure."
Cultivating multiple routes simultaneously will only cause the Martial Dragon Rank to stagnate and be extremely difficult to improve.
Choosing one route first, and waiting until the Rank is high enough that it is difficult to move forward before considering cultivating other routes is the correct approach.
Dragonkin with long lives.
Those Ancient Dragons generally hold multiple positions, and each profession also cultivates different routes, so when fighting at the same Life Level, they can almost crush those short-lived creatures.
Back to the point, the six major routes of the Martial Dragon each have their own characteristics.
Although it is not that you can only walk one path until death after choosing, at least you need to focus on this path for a long time. Garros needs to synthesize his current situation and future planning to make the most suitable choice cautiously.
"There are mainly two directions in front of me now."
"One is to continue strengthening my combat skills, increase the stats, and reach the limit in this aspect."
"Two is to enrich and expand my means, and choose a route with mechanics."
Garros pondered in his heart.
After deep thought, he believed that choosing a route with mechanics was better.
His own stats were already high enough, and they were still growing with his training, but with his current evolution talent, it was somewhat difficult to evolve special 'mechanics'.
Combining professional mechanics with his own stats might produce some wonderful changes.
Thinking of this, his thinking became clear.
"If taking mechanism expansion as the primary choice, then it is one of the three paths: Four Elements Dragon, Eternal Death Dragon, and Astral Self Dragon."
The mechanism of the Four Elements Dragon is the most straightforward—using Qi to control elements, thereby creating effects similar to elemental Spells. The Four Elements Martial Dragon is also the route with the most gorgeous and numerous skills.
Winter's Breath, Chaotic Thunder Claws, Mountain Protection, Wind-Climbing Steps, Clear Flow Whip, Wind Spirit Dash, Flying Flame Strike.
Unfortunately.
Even if manipulating elements, the skills of the Martial Dragon are mostly using elements to strengthen one's own attacks or defenses, and in essence, they are still a continuation of melee means.
However, being able to control the four great elements means that when facing enemies of any attribute, one can have a certain restraint and targeting, which can make Garros's skills quite comprehensive.
Unlike the Four Elements Dragon, the skills of the Eternal Death Dragon and the Astral Self Dragon are few, but very powerful.
"Eternal Death Martial Dragon—can be summarized as, death is like the wind, always by my side."
"The skills mastered are all related to death."
"Reincarnation Mantra: When killing a target, extract its life energy, temporarily increase the health limit, which counts as an extra layer of defense."
"Grasp Life and Death: Can grasp the moment of life and death. When the health value returns to zero, if there is still Dragon Qi remaining, one can convert Dragon Qi into life and explode with power once more."
"Eternal Death Touch: Attacks carry death energy. For creatures with a life intensity lower than one's own to a certain degree, the attack will kill instantly upon hitting."
The skill effect of the Eternal Death Dragon is very strong.
The problem is that to become stronger on this path, it is difficult to satisfy even through training and cruel battles. It requires infinitely approaching death and comprehending the true meaning of death to maximize the skill effect.
Undoubtedly, this is a very dangerous path.
Garros coveted the skills of the Eternal Death Dragon, but he was also very sure that he would not recklessly fight to the death; infinitely approaching death could easily mean real death if he was not careful.
"The Astral Self Dragon route is quite interesting, like a stand attack."
"The Astral Self Dragon can condense Astral Ego Arms that are invisible to the naked eye from the beginning, which are Dragon Qi substitute arms. They can carry additional attacks, launch violent offensives by surprise, and can also overlap the Dragon Qi arms with the main body arms to instantly enhance the burst."
"At Rank 6, one can obtain the Astral Ego Form. In this state, one can possess true vision, attacks become more precise, and all aspects of perception are improved."
"There is also the Astral Ego Body, which can attach to oneself like invisible armor. When receiving various damages like strong acid, freezing, fire, force, lightning, thunder, one can parry or even rebound them."
"After the level reaches 17, Dragon Qi can condense a complete substitute, which can leave the body or be added to the main body to fight."
Four Elements Dragon, Eternal Death Dragon, Astral Self Dragon.
These three routes each have their own characteristic mechanisms. After thinking for a while, Garros did not determine the final result.
"Actually, there is no need to be too entangled. Time is on my side. I will eventually master all the skills of these different routes. Now I am just choosing one of them as the main study."
The Red-Iron Dragon thought to himself: "There is still a period of time before breaking through to Rank 4. During this period, let's make a final choice between the Four Elements Dragon and the Astral Self Dragon."
Garros, who is naturally cautious and cherishes his life, first excluded the Eternal Death Dragon route.
If he really wants to choose this path, it would not just be a Martial Dragon, but a Death-Fighting Dragon.
After calming his mind, the Red-Iron Dragon used an Alchemical Item to open the super-heavy field state and started a new round of training facing the sunlight.