Giant dragons circled in the sky, the violent winds they stirred up blowing the flags on the city walls every which way.
Most of the giant dragons, upon exiting the deep pit, scattered and flew off in different directions.
But one red dragon didn't leave.
As soon as it climbed out of the rift, it locked its eyes on the white dragon in front of it.
It let out a short roar, flapped its wings violently, and threw its massive body straight at it.
The white dragon sensed the danger, turned its head, and opened its mouth. A ball of freezing aura had already gathered in its throat, but it didn't have time to spew it out.
The red dragon's front claws viciously struck the white dragon's shoulder blade. The two giant beasts tangled together, tumbling and plummeting from midair. Their dragon wings intertwined, the friction of their scales emitting ear-piercing screeches, as blood and shattered scales rained down.
The white dragon's freezing aura sprayed off-target, forming a layer of frost on the red dragon's flank, while the red dragon's fangs bit deeply into the white dragon's neck, causing blood to gush out.
They crashed into the eastern side of the fortress. Stone walls collapsed, and iron portcullises were twisted like dough. Before the dust and smoke had even dispersed, Flame Dragon Breath swept out in all directions.
The two giant beasts engaged in a tangled fight amidst the ruins, tearing with claws and biting with fangs, spewing Dragon Breath at each other. Every collision blasted out a ring of visible airwaves.
Flames and frost wreaked havoc alternately, turning this area into a purgatory.
A large number of Empire soldiers were caught in the crossfire and died, but the two dragons, having already fought to a frenzy, clearly wouldn't care about the lives of these ants.
The two fiercely fighting dragons also didn't notice that the blood of those dead soldiers on the ground had begun to move at some unknown point.
Blood Guards clad in scarlet armor arrived at the periphery of the ruins.
[Blood Manipulation]
They extended their hands, tacitly converging their power together.
In almost the same instant, massive chains formed of blood pierced through the giant dragons' tough scales, pinning the two tangled dragons to the spot.
At the same time, a thin blood blade materialized above the heads of the two giant dragons. As the power of blood continuously gathered into it, the blood blade became increasingly sharp.
"ROAR—!"
Struck by an unexpected attack, the suddenly wounded giant dragons temporarily halted their struggle and began to roar and thrash.
The blood chains were snapped one by one, and it looked as if the giant dragons were about to break free.
The blood blade fell!
In the nick of time, the red dragon endured the severe pain, ripped off the remaining blood chains on its body all at once, tilted its dragon head aside, and dodged the attack.
The white dragon beneath it, however, couldn't break free in time. Frost Dragon Breath spewed out, only to come to an abrupt halt the next moment.
The white dragon was decapitated, its dragon blood dyeing the ruins red.
However, the red dragon wasn't dead. It roared furiously, intent on taking revenge against these bugs.
The Blood Guards gathered their remaining power into weapons in their hands, preparing for hand-to-hand combat with the giant dragon.
A sea of blood descended from the sky.
The red dragon sensed the danger and tried to flap its wings to take off, but its injured body moved a fraction of a second too slowly.
The sea of blood poured down like a waterfall, transforming into a sphere of blood. No matter how the giant dragon struggled and spewed breath, it was still submerged bit by bit.
At first, there were still furious dragon roars inside. The roars shook the surface of the blood sphere, sending ripples outward. Occasionally, flames would erupt from within, burning through a layer, only to be sealed by the newly surging tide of blood.
The struggles grew weaker and weaker, eventually turning into mournful wails.
A long time later, Mortis withdrew the sea of blood, leaving only the skeletons of two giant dragons in its place.
***
Inside the Dragon Cliff Underground City.
Over the vast mountains and plains, the dragon beasts lay trembling on the ground.
The flocks of giant dragons flying past had terrified them immensely.
A long while later, the dragon flocks had gone far away.
The oppressive aura that had left them gasping for breath finally dissipated. Even the distant cliff, which was shrouded in dragon roars year-round, was now uncharacteristically quiet.
A dragon beast tentatively raised its head, looked left and right, and pricked up its ears to listen.
No movement.
It slowly propped up its front limbs, then its hind limbs, as if checking bit by bit to confirm that the chains binding it had truly been undone.
Then, it craned its neck and let out a long-suppressed roar toward that empty sky.
The sound was sharp and long, carrying a tremor, as if it wanted to squeeze all the accumulated fear and frustration out of its throat.
This single roar seemed to ignite the entire underground city. A second dragon beast joined in, then a third, a tenth, a hundredth.
The rising and falling roars echoed among the mountains and rivers—some hoarse, some piercing, some cracking halfway into a whimper before forcibly climbing back into a high pitch.
"ROAR—!!!"
Just as they were roaring with abandon, almost believing they were the masters of this world, a massively loud roar—far exceeding the ordinary—came from atop Dragon Cliff, suppressing all other sounds.
A draconic aura, even more terrifying than the one before, swept across the land like a giant wave. All the dragon beasts instantly fell silent, leaving only the sound of the wind between heaven and earth. They returned to the state of lying on the ground, not daring to move an inch.
It was finally quiet. The large dragon atop Dragon Cliff withdrew its aura and unhurriedly walked up along the cliff face.
Nearing the top of the cliff, a few dragon eggs were sparsely embedded in the stone walls on both sides.
The eggshells were covered with a thin layer of rock ash. Their color was ashen and faded; their original luster couldn't be seen. As Da Long passed by, his claw gently stepped on one.
The eggshell shattered; it was completely empty inside.
Looking around, there were over a dozen more such dead eggs nearby.
All giant dragons were born under the influence of an Ancient Dragon.
Just as an Elemental Lord could change the surrounding environment and catalyze the birth of low-tier elemental spirits, an Ancient Dragon that had lived past the halfway point of its lifespan would also influence the surrounding world, causing dragon eggs to naturally condense within the rock layers.
But these dozen or so unlucky fellows had formed too late.
They had only grown out of the stone within the last century. Before they even had time to break out of their shells, the Ancient Dragon incubating them had already grown too weak to catalyze new life.
Of course, there was one exception...
Da Long retracted his gaze and continued walking upward.
At the top of Dragon Cliff, the scenery remained the same. The azure sky was like a piece of colored glass that had been washed countless times, and the white clouds spread like a sea beneath his feet. It was so quiet that even the wind seemed to lighten its footsteps.
Only those figures that used to soar above the sea of clouds were nowhere to be found.
"Da Long..." Silvia lay prone on the flattest rock at the top of the cliff. Her clouded dragon pupils turned with effort, looking at the first giant dragon born because of her.
Her scales had lost most of their luster, as if covered in a layer of dust. With every breath, fine cracks spread from the edges of her nostrils to the corners of her mouth.
"I am here, Mother." Da Long gently lay down beside Silvia's dragon head.
"Are you... not going to compete?"
Da Long's [Path of the Ancient Dragon] was still stuck at 10%; he had not yet hunted a single competitor.
"Let them compete first. Consider it a bit of possibility I've left for them." He turned his head and rubbed against the Ancient Dragon's lusterless scales. "I will accompany you for this final stretch first."
"Truly a confident boy." Silvia's voice was very soft, like a wisp of wind squeezed from the depths of her throat.
Her gaze drifted to the side, falling upon the skeleton leaning against the cliff wall not far away.
The skeleton still maintained a sitting posture. Its arm bones were wrapped around a dust-covered lute, its finger bones resting on the strings as if it would strum them at any moment.
She had watched it for many years.
A long silence ensued.
"Da Long," she spoke again, her voice even softer than before. "The little one... she..."
"No!" Da Long uncharacteristically interrupted Silvia's words. "You know she has also stepped onto the Path of the Ancient Dragon. I will absolutely not hold back, even if... she is the only child you are fond of."
"Da Long... sigh... never mind, never mind." Silvia's voice was full of helpless regret.
She closed her eyelids and spoke no more, quietly waiting for her time to run out.
***
Mushroom Garden.
Little Black was hugging a Puchi's mycelial tentacle, sucking down today's Water of Life.
Suddenly, she looked up in somewhat of a daze and glanced around, but found nothing.
Finding nothing through her perception, she could only continue hugging that Puchi like an octopus and drinking.
This silly dragon didn't even know she had leveled up and crossed a tier!
Looking at the status panel, Lin Jun began studying the new skill she had acquired.
[Level Up: LV69 → LV70]
[Skill Acquired: Meteor Impact LV1]
***
Having dealt with these two blind, foolish dragons, Mortis finally turned his attention back to the deep pit.
By now, no new dragons were flying out. It seemed all the giant dragons within the Dragon Cliff Underground City had emerged.
But Mortis remembered clearly that he hadn't seen the giant dragon that led the way for him on Dragon Cliff last time.
After pondering for a moment, he jumped into the deep pit alone.
But soon, he withdrew.
The underground city entrance, which was originally just upside down, now had the space beneath it twisted into an infinitely looping closed circuit.
And the only one capable of doing this was the Master of Dragon Cliff—Silvia.
"Not dead yet..."
Since the Master of Dragon Cliff wanted to depart undisturbed, the Emperor had no choice but to wait a little longer.
(End of Chapter)
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