The Borderlands, Dragon Valley.
After a period of feeding and recuperation, the dragon jade energy within Garros had been fully replenished.
Since the injuries he sustained this time were not too severe, not reaching the point where he needed to fall into a deep slumber to recover, he quickly regained his vitality.
While Life Level is certainly an important standard for measuring strength, it is not absolute.
Looking back at the life-and-death battle with the Mad King Gorthax, and then comparing it to the recently slain Heart of Thunder, the latter's Life Level was higher, yet the actual sense of oppression and level of danger displayed were inferior to his crazy Red Dragon Father.
Compared to the Red Dragon Father whom Garros had to exhaust everything to defeat.
In order to heavily injure Garros, Heart of Thunder had recklessly overdrawn his life, and only managed to strike out his dragon jade in a tragic, near-suicidal manner.
If a fight to the death were to take place, this Blue Dragon leader would definitely not be a match for the Red Dragon Father.
Of course, in an ordinary encounter, given the Red Dragon Father's chaotic mind, unless the Frenzied Flame had affected him to a certain degree, it would be impossible to keep Heart of Thunder if he were determined to escape.
Garros was able to corner Heart of Thunder largely due to his advantage in intelligence.
He knew of his subtle weakness, and used it to tear his dragon wings and lumbar spine; even if the opponent could partially elementalize, his speed was greatly compromised, and he ultimately could not escape Garros's persistent pursuit.
"What level of strength have the other Kings of the Wilderness reached?"
Garros gazed at the vast wilderness, silently calculating in his heart.
If those kings were only similar in strength to the Blue Dragon leader, then seizing the title of King of the Wilderness was not impossible; but if they all possessed strength comparable to the Red Dragon Father, then maintaining the status quo would be the wiser choice until Garros's Life Level increased again.
"It's a pity about that gladiator array disk."
Garros could not help but miss the destroyed item, feeling some regret in his heart.
It was only a replica of some Legendary item, but it had already been very useful.
The two times Garros had fought to the death, leaving nothing behind, were both completed under the witness of the gladiator array disk.
One time was when he was besieged by many dragon hunters as a boss, and the other time was when he dragged the Red Dragon Father into the array, turning the tables and hunting him down as a boss; regardless of which time it was, he had the last laugh.
Additionally, defeating a powerful enemy and completely killing a powerful enemy were two completely different levels of difficulty.
Without the spatial lockdown of the gladiator array disk, facing enemies only slightly inferior to himself, such as the Blue Dragon leader, it would be extremely difficult to completely keep them if there was a lack of sufficient intelligence support.
If he were even slightly careless, they would escape, leaving endless trouble.
Furthermore, the scouts sent by the tribe, especially the vast number of bird and beast informants, had now spread like an invisible net across almost the entire wilderness.
They were continuously collecting various intelligence, gradually refining the profiles of the other Kings of the Wilderness.
Whether to fight or make peace in the future, having more understanding would never be a bad thing.
Resisting the interference of anger brought by the Frenzied Flame in his mind, Garros forced himself to think calmly about many things.
After some time, he took out a barrel of black oil from his personal spatial item.
He prepared to drink this fuel as a beverage, using it to ignite the fuse for the upcoming high-intensity physical training.
Just then, the Golden Dragon Alberto, not far away, noticed his actions.
The curious Golden Dragon walked over, his eyes burning as he stared at the black oil barrel in Garros's hand.
"Let me have a taste too."
Alberto spoke, his tone filled with a hint of eagerness: "I've seen you drink this stuff more than once. Is it really tasty?"
Garros glanced at this Metallic Dragon companion, not being stingy.
He took out another small barrel of black oil from his spatial item, curled it with his tail, and casually handed it to Alberto.
After the Golden Dragon took it, he took a deep breath, as if he were about to make a major attempt, and carefully poured some black oil into his mouth.
The next moment, his expression changed drastically.
"Ptui! Ptui! Ptui!"
Alberto hurriedly stuck out his tongue, trying to clear away all traces of the black oil, the muscles on his face twitching slightly due to the indescribable taste.
In reality, this was not Alberto's first time trying to eat black oil; past experiences had also ended in it being hard to swallow, but he suspected that what Garros enjoyed himself might be a specially processed, improved version.
However, after experiencing it himself, the cruel fact proved that Garros's black oil was not much different from the version in his memory.
It was just higher in concentration, more stimulating in taste, and even harder to swallow.
"Your poison, my honey."
The Red-Iron Dragon calmly raised his own barrel of black oil, took a hearty drink, and then explained: "To me, it is as intense as fine wine, and it can better stimulate my body's potential, making the training effect twice as effective with half the effort."
Alberto's eyes were filled with suspicion.
"You aren't trying to bluff me, are you?"
He could not help but question: "black oil is an important energy source in alchemy, but I have never heard of it being directly edible. You aren't one of those Alchemy Golems made of steel."
The Red-Iron Dragon glanced at the Golden Dragon, his gaze indifferent.
"The Physiques of dragons cannot be generalized; some things cannot be forced."
As he spoke, under the Golden Dragon's incredulous gaze, he took out nearly ten gems shimmering with various lusters.
Garros did not hesitate or feel any heartache at all, tossing these valuable gems into his mouth like ordinary snacks, not even chewing, and with another big gulp of black oil, swallowed them all into his stomach with a gulp.
black oil with gems, perfect.
"Hoo—"
The Red-Iron Dragon exhaled scorching flames from his nostrils and mouth simultaneously, his breathing became heavy, his scales seemed to shimmer with a faint light, and he revealed a satisfied expression.
On the other side, the Golden Dragon Alberto felt his heart bleeding as he watched.
Gems! Those shiny, so beautiful gems!
He, Garros, actually, ate them!
Ignoring the Golden Dragon's heartbroken expression, Garros stretched his body, his dragon wings fluttered slightly, and then his figure shot straight into the sky, tearing through the vast sky.
What is he doing?
Speed training? It doesn't look like it.
Alberto looked up, gazing at the Red-Iron Dragon dancing wildly under the firmament.
To his surprise, after climbing to high altitude, Garros did not perform high-speed straight-line flight or large-radius circling.
He began to flap his wings continuously and at a high frequency, sometimes coordinating with bursts of Qi to accelerate, making incredibly swift turns, lateral dodges, swallow turns, and other high-difficulty maneuvers within a relatively limited airspace, each change of direction accompanied by the piercing sound of air being torn and brief, dazzling wing-flame bursts, leaving fleeting trails on the screen of wind and snow in the high altitude.
"So he's training his agility in a small range."
Alberto suddenly realized, immediately understanding the Red-Iron Dragon's intention, and even guessed the reason after a little deduction.
"It seems that in the battle with Heart of Thunder, Garros suffered a disadvantage in the agility of close-quarters combat, so now he wants to specifically strengthen this aspect."
His guess was completely correct.
All along, Garros had been constantly examining and compensating for his own shortcomings.
The encounter with the Blue Dragon leader made him realize that although his straight-line advance speed was astonishing, there was still a gap in agility for maneuvering and close-quarters combat in a very small range compared to the top creatures in this aspect.
This was an area worth investing energy to strengthen.
Of course, it must be clear that the weakness Garros perceived was in comparison to the type of creatures that reached the pinnacle of agility.
In reality, Garros's own agility was already far superior to the vast majority of creatures of the same rank.
If any enemy misjudged his movements as clumsy due to his massive size, they would surely pay a painful price.
But obviously, Garros was not satisfied with the status quo; he pursued strength in all aspects without blind spots, and he longed to elevate his ability in this area to the top level as well.
As for how to further improve, he felt the key lay in his own Celestial Comet Wings.
All along, his use of the Celestial Comet Wings had mainly relied on straight-line flight accelerated by Qi flames.
But if he could control the Qi flames more stably, reaching the point where he could instantly activate and deactivate them, his agility in a small range would definitely not be weaker than the Blue Dragon leader.
This was difficult, but Garros was happy to accept the challenge.
"Garros is already so powerful, and the achievements he has made at the age of a Young Adult Dragon are truly illustrious, yet he has never slackened in the slightest and is still constantly forging ahead."
Alberto sighed inwardly.
He felt no jealousy toward Garros's strength.
The reason was simple: this strength was earned by Garros through unremitting effort and persistence, not solely relying on talent.
Every time he discovered his own shortcomings or weaknesses, this Red-Iron Dragon would immediately engage in targeted, arduous training, day after day, constantly accumulating until he gradually adapted and turned his shortcomings into advantages.
It was precisely in this process that he became increasingly powerful and increasingly invincible.
Alberto felt that any dragon, even a White Dragon, if they could possess such persistence, would surely be able to achieve extraordinary accomplishments.
"My agility also needs improvement."
Alberto suddenly became interested and laughed loudly: "Haha, Garros, I'll play along with you!"
As he spoke, his huge golden body also soared into the air, rushing toward the black figure in the high altitude.
Garros naturally would not refuse this living sandbag and sparring partner who had delivered himself to his door, and immediately met him.
Immediately after, the massive figures of the two giant dragons, one gold and one black, began to dance under the firmament.
They were engaging in high-speed, dazzling maneuvers and sparring within a limited airspace.
The wind and snow flying across the sky were like a curtain, constantly torn by the sharp dragon wings and the whistling figures, and then immediately mended and healed by more wind and snow sweeping in.
However, no matter from which angle one looked, it was a scene of the Golden Dragon being unilaterally beaten up.
Under Garros's high-speed, direction-changing impacts, which were like a violent storm and coordinated with instant wing-flame bursts, Alberto was like a giant spinning top, constantly being whipped and rotated.
Heavy striking sounds, accompanied by the muffled groans of the Golden Dragon, kept ringing out.
But there was also a stubborn streak in the Golden Dragon's bones.
He gritted his teeth, enduring the disadvantage of being on the losing end, and occasionally could spot an opportunity to launch one or two sharp counterattacks, finally adding some fun and challenge to Garros's training.
As for these sudden counterattacks, Garros tried his best to rely on his footwork to flexibly evade, striving not to let Alberto touch him.
After all, his goal at this moment was to improve his agility.
Whipping the Golden Dragon like a spinning top was just incidental; it was not the main purpose.
Smack!
The Red-Iron Dragon's thick and powerful dragon tail whipped against Alberto's shoulder blade again, causing his massive body to spin uncontrollably in the air for a large circle.
Just as Alberto was barely stabilizing his body and angrily waving his claws to counterattack.
The Qi flames on Garros's dragon wings surged and erupted violently, his figure suddenly disappeared from where he was, moving sideways at high speed, appearing on the other side of Alberto, and the strong wind brought by his dragon wings struck the Golden Dragon again.
At the same time.
On the towering watchtower of the Burning Steel Fortress, the Red-Silver Dragon Deborah and the Faerie Dragon Vera were both looking up, gazing at the contest in the sky.
"You really should be thankful for Alberto's arrival."
The Faerie Dragon Vera said with a giggle, her tone carrying a hint of teasing: "Otherwise, the one Garros would be dragging up there to torment right now would definitely be you."
The Red-Silver Dragon Deborah remained silent, not responding.
Her slender tail swayed gently from side to side behind her; this subtle movement did not reveal much happiness.
The mischievous Faerie Dragon rolled her eyes, then, as if thinking of some fun idea, her body gave a slight shudder.
Accompanied by a faint halo of light, she split in two, turning into a pure white, serious-looking White Faerie Dragon, and a pitch-black one with a cunning smile on her face, the Black Faerie Dragon.
These two little faeries, one black and one white, fluttered their wings, circled around the Red-Silver Dragon, and finally landed lightly on the edges of her ears on either side.
On the left side.
The pure white Faerie Dragon, radiating a soft and holy glow, lifted her head slightly, her expression becoming exceptionally serious and solemn.
Using a voice as clear and majestic as a choir, she said righteously: "My dear Deborah, please remember the principles and bottom lines passed down through generations of our Metallic Dragons. Always recognize the essential difference between yourself and those Evil Dragons. You have a code of conduct you must adhere to; you must never act recklessly. This is the honor and dignity that belongs to Metallic Dragons!"
On the right side, the pitch-black Faerie Dragon grinned, revealing a pair of cute little fangs, and let out a giggle.
Using a voice as sweet as honey, she whispered seductively into Deborah's other ear: "My beautiful Deborah, why resist the true desires of your heart? Follow your instincts and bravely confess your true thoughts to that Red-Iron Dragon! Otherwise, be careful that other bad female dragons don't get there first, okay? You should know, the competitors surrounding him have never been few."
As soon as she finished speaking, the black and white Faerie Dragons glared at each other, and it seemed as if invisible sparks flew where their gazes met.
"Idiot! Principles and dignity are more important!"
The White Faerie Dragon waved her little claws and retorted loudly.
"Fool! Facing your heart and pursuing happiness is more important!"
The Black Faerie Dragon put her hands on her hips and retorted without backing down.
They glared at each other again, and in an instant, the whispers turned into incessant bickering, their voices growing louder and their speed of speech faster.
"Order is the foundation!"
"Instinct is the source!"
"You will harm her!"
"You are restricting her!"
The argument escalated rapidly. The two small figures collided in the air like fighting bulls, pulling at each other's wings and tails, like two tangled balls of yarn, fighting fiercely.
"Vera, have you had enough fun? Aren't you afraid that if you keep playing like this, you'll actually develop a split personality?"
The Red-Silver Dragon finally couldn't help but speak, simultaneously extending her dragon claw to grasp both little faeries in her palm.
At this moment, the distinct black and white Faerie Dragon figures gradually blurred and merged, finally turning back into the colorful Faerie Dragon, who blinked innocently at Deborah.
"Oh my, don't be angry, Deborah. I was just joking to liven up the atmosphere..."
The Faerie Dragon tried to poke her head out from the gaps in the dragon claw.
Just then, a golden dragon shadow plummeted straight down from the high sky.
With a dull, booming sound, he crashed into the bottom of Dragon Valley, kicking up a large cloud of dust and snow.
Immediately after, Alberto grimaced and climbed out of the crater he had made, looking somewhat disheveled.
He looked up at the figure in the sky, still full of vigor, and very sensibly chose to stay on the ground, not flying back up to ask for trouble.
"Alberto, why did you choose to stay in The Borderlands?"
The Red-Silver Dragon flapped her wings, flew down lightly in front of the Golden Dragon, and asked, "I remember, isn't your ideal to establish the so-called Golden Order above the wilderness?"
"..."
Alberto was silent for a moment, seemingly weighing his words, and finally chose to confess.
"The territory I worked so hard to build in the wilderness was destroyed not long ago. Since I am also approaching my slumber period and need to find a safe place to spend this time, I decided to stay here for a while."
The Faerie Dragon Vera fluttered her wings and flew to the side of the Golden Dragon's head.
She comforted him in an encouraging tone: "It's okay, Alberto! If the territory is gone, you can just rebuild it later!"
Hearing this heartwarming encouragement, the Golden Dragon nodded seriously.
He replied with a firm tone: "Hmm, you are right, I definitely will!"
At the same time, the Faerie Dragon also nodded vigorously, adding: "Of course! Just like how you repeatedly challenge Garros; although you are defeated repeatedly, you fight repeatedly despite defeat!"
"I believe that with this persistent spirit of yours, you will surely be able to realize your great ideal in the end!"
Upon hearing this, a trace of suspicion flashed in the Golden Dragon Alberto's eyes.
For a moment, he found it difficult to determine whether this Faerie Dragon was sincerely praising him or beating around the bush to insult him.
However, Deborah on the side knew clearly that Vera was indeed insulting him.
She did not point it out, but merely tilted her head slightly, wearing a puzzled expression, and continued to ask: "So you intended to enter your slumber right here in Dragon Valley. Why not consider returning to the Dragon Domain? It is clearly safer there, and the environment is more comfortable than here."
Alberto shook his head.
"I don't want to go back to the Dragon Domain."
He explained: "My parents, their desire to control me is too strong. They are always tirelessly educating me on how to be a dragon, especially how to be a qualified Golden Dragon. They have a set of perfect Golden Dragon templates in their minds."
"But I have my own thoughts and paths, and I don't want to blindly follow those stale preachings."
"Staying with them actually feels less comfortable than being here."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over some figures in the valley, and continued: "There are indeed mostly Evil Dragons here with Garros, but I have to say, I feel they are more interesting than some of the Metallic Dragons in the Dragon Domain. Every dragon is... hmm, more vivid, each with their own characteristics, and each has their own merits."
Is it possible that thinking Evil Dragons are more interesting actually indicates that you have a problem yourself?
The Red-Silver Dragon Deborah couldn't help but complain silently in her heart.
The main reason she herself liked staying in Dragon Valley was because Garros was here.
She didn't really have much feeling for the other Evil Dragons in the valley, and she rarely interacted with them on a daily basis, mostly just playing with the Faerie Dragon.
Alberto, however, seemed to genuinely think the other Evil Dragons were interesting. With such unique thoughts, it was no wonder his parents were so controlling, worried that he would go astray.
"Oh, right, I suddenly remembered something."
Deborah looked at the Golden Dragon and said, "Alberto, you seem to have snuck out before the Dragon Domain was officially sealed, right? And now, the Dragon Domain has been unsealed for a while. Won't your parents come to drag you back?"
Crack.
It was as if something had shattered in Alberto's mind. The expression on the Golden Dragon's face stiffened instantly.
"I forgot about that."
He said in a heavy tone.
The Faerie Dragon Vera was still giggling, comforting him in a relaxed tone: "Oh my, don't be so nervous."
"How could your parents possibly know exactly where you are right now? Unless—"
She drew out her voice, teasingly saying, "—they had already taken precautions and secretly planted some kind of location-tracking Spell on you? For example, hidden under a certain scale, or dissolved in your blood."
Alberto fell into an even deeper silence, and his complexion became somewhat ugly. The look the Red-Silver Dragon gave him could not help but carry a trace of pity.
Given the almost excessive protection and importance Metallic Dragon parents place on their offspring, casting some kind of location-tracking Spell on their own children is almost standard procedure.
For instance, her own father had done similar things. Alberto definitely had one on him too.
Sneaking out of the Dragon Domain before it was sealed; attempting to participate in the struggle for supremacy in the dangerous wilderness; and hanging out with a large group of Evil Dragons.
If his parents were to find out about these things one by one, Alberto could foresee that he would surely face a merciless mixed doubles beatdown, and the intensity would definitely exceed anything in the past.
"Heh... hehe... I, Alberto, am the great Golden Dragon destined to establish the immortal Golden Order!"
The Golden Dragon forced himself to calm down, using bold words to boost his own morale: "My parents, who cannot understand my grand vision and firm will, as well as those brothers and sisters, are merely insignificant obstacles on my path of growth!"
"I, Alberto, will never bow my head to them. Unless they beat me to death on the spot, otherwise, I will never obediently go back to the Dragon Domain with them."
Just the moment he finished speaking.
Thud!
The entire ground suddenly felt a clear tremor.
This sudden turn of events gave the Golden Dragon a jolt, his limbs went weak, and he almost collapsed on the spot. Still shaken, he turned his head sharply to look in the direction of the tremor.
Oh, it turned out to be the Red-Iron Dragon Garros, who had just landed after finishing a round of training, not his parents who he had expected to arrive right on cue.
The Golden Dragon Alberto finally let out a long sigh of relief, his tense nerves relaxing slightly.
Garros was surrounded by lingering, steaming heat, having just finished high-intensity agility training.
He turned his gaze to the Red-Silver Dragon on the side, crooked his sharp claws at her, and said: "Deborah, come over, it's time to train together."
The Red-Silver Dragon turned her body away, assuming a posture ready to flee at any moment.
Then, just as she expected, the Red-Iron Dragon walked straight up, hoisted her up with his strong arms, and turned to walk towards the training ground.
"Damn you, Garros! Let me go!"
The Red-Silver Dragon struggled symbolically, issuing dissatisfied protests, while secretly revealing a hint of a satisfied smile.
Alberto clicked his tongue, then looked at the Faerie Dragon. He asked: "Do these two dragons usually play like this?"
The Faerie Dragon shook her head, then solemnly spread rumors: "No, they are usually even more perverted, I'm too embarrassed to say."
Not long after.
In the distant Endless Sea, the Fubo Dragon Domain.
"Nasha, take this set of armor and equipment I once used, along with the location-tracking item, and go bring your brother back."
From within a huge and luxurious dragon palace, a low and deep voice echoed.
"What if he is unwilling to come back?"
The female adult dragon named Nasha asked in a low voice.
"Then fight, fight until this unfilial son is willing."
The deep voice replied.
"Alright! I'm leaving right now!"
With a gloating and impatient reply, the dragon flew out of the palace, circled into the sky, and flew straight in the direction of The Borderlands.