The surface of the Sacred Spring gradually returned to calm.
The crisp, clear air still lingered in the surroundings, condensing into a thin, visible frost that clung to the rocks along the shore and the withered roots of the grass. Looking out, the entire world felt draped in stillness.
Nereus breathed gently, her gaze fixed on the red iron dragon before her.
His scales had already shifted from their previous fiery red to a dark black. Faint, thread-like patterns of light still wandered between the gaps in his scales, like embers that hadn't yet been fully extinguished.
There was no hesitation in his eyes, nor any fear. They were deep, dark, and sober.
It was as if, after weighing every possibility, he still chose to move forward.
“To be shattered to pieces, to turn to dust...”
The Silver Dragon King softly repeated Garoth's declaration just now, a faint, elusive smile curling at the corner of her mouth.
“Once upon a time, I said something similar.”
She spoke, her gaze looking into the distance. “I was still very young back then.”
“I surpassed many of my kin, became what they called a legend, believed I could fight anything, and was determined to achieve an immortal life.”
“But time changed many things.”
“Hot blood cools, resolve gets worn down, and sharp claws and fangs grow dull in the endless passage of time.”
“You think you’ll never change, but when you look back, you realize you’ve already walked a very long road and lost many of your original edges.”
She paused, withdrawing her gaze from the distance and refocusing on Garoth, her tone shifting slightly.
“But I won’t use these words to warn you.”
Her voice was a few degrees more serious than before.
“I’ve seen too many ambitious dragons who, after saying similar things, soon turned to dust.”
“Most of them didn’t even wait for the true test to come before being swallowed by their own arrogance or the whims of fate. But you’re the first to make me feel... that these might not just be empty boasts.”
“You say you want to stand at the very top? Good, then I’ll wait and see.”
“As long as I’m still alive, I’ll watch to see how high you can climb.”
Garoth gave a slight nod, his massive dragon head lowering, but there was no humility in the gesture, only respect.
“Then I surely cannot let the Dragon King’s regard be in vain.”
He said. “I will make sure you witness the birth of a legend with your own eyes. No matter who stands in my way, they will eventually turn to ashes under my Dragon Breath.”
Nereus studied him for a few moments.
“Your personality is more assertive than before.”
She said, her tone casual. “Hmm, or rather, you’re more direct than you used to be. You’re saying the things you used to keep locked in your heart out loud.”
Garoth neither confirmed nor denied it, nor did he refute it.
He had already noticed this long ago.
When in his mutated form, he did indeed experience some subtle emotional shifts. The change was drastic, but not enough to make him act purely on instinct. It was real, though.
But in his view, this was a minor, harmless issue, not worth much concern.
Compared to this, there were more important things to discuss.
At the same time, the red iron dragon raised his head.
“However... I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“About the ascension on the Path of Immortality.”
Garoth said. “You said that Potency needs to be nourished by hunting and killing fellow immortals, to complete its branches.”
His vertical pupils contracted slightly, a look of deep thought in his eyes.
“If it all depends on hunting and killing, then Potency will only keep coalescing upwards, gathering into the hands of the few surviving powerful beings.”
“Then, the immortals in countless worlds will become extremely polarized. The strong devour the weak, the strong will always be strong, while newly ascended immortals...”
He paused, then spoke seriously: “Wouldn’t they have no way out? No channel for advancement?”
This was a sharp question.
In Garoth’s mind, he had already sketched out such a picture.
Across countless worlds, a handful of immortals standing at the top, like giant black holes, devouring everything from those who came after. Newcomers, before they even fully understood their own Potency, before they could find their footing, would be torn apart and seized by more ancient hunters, turned into nourishment for someone else’s progress.
How could such a system be sustainable?
And how could any new immortal dare to set foot on it?
“That’s illogical.”
Garoth stated bluntly, continuing. “Even the most chaotic layers of the Abyss leave a sliver of space for newborn demons to grow. Chaos itself needs fresh blood to sustain itself, not to devour everything entirely.”
“If all newcomers were doomed to die, this path would have long been barren. No more immortals would be born.”
“But the truth is, although immortals are rare, they have never vanished.”
“There must be some mechanism, or some kind of rule, maintaining some form of balance. Otherwise, this path would have been impassable long ago.”
Nereus was taken aback for a moment.
She clearly hadn’t anticipated that Garoth, after listening to her brutal description of the Path of Immortality, would immediately raise such a fundamental question. A flicker of surprise passed through her silver eyes, then quickly turned into deep contemplation.
“Your challenge is very reasonable.”
She said. “Being able to question a more authoritative elder is a good quality. Too many younger generations blindly accept what their predecessors say, treating those words as unchangeable doctrines, and end up trapping themselves in someone else’s understanding.”
“You should know, what I say isn’t necessarily entirely correct.”
The silver dragon coiled her tail by her side, her posture relaxing, but her tone was more solemn than before.
“I am a Mandate, after all. Still within the category of a legend.”
“As for things beyond immortality, I know a bit, but I dare not claim to know everything.”
“My knowledge comes from three sources: the fragmented words left by past Dragon Kings, contact and conversation with other Mandates and immortal beings, and my own deductions.”
She listed them one by one. “The records of my predecessors are either vague or contain errors themselves.”
“When they wrote those words, they might have only understood a part of it themselves. The Mandates and immortals I’ve contacted may not have been completely open with me either, because there’s no reason for them to tell me all the truth, and no obligation to do so.”
“Including now. I might be hiding something from you too.”
“As for deduction, it is essentially a guess, not evidence. Until it’s verified, it can always be wrong.”
She looked at the red iron dragon, her gaze calm.
“The things I tell you can be used for reference, but you can’t fully trust them. You need to find your own answers. And those answers can only be verified after you truly step into immortality.”
“I understand.”
Garoth nodded, indicating he understood. “But even incomplete knowledge is better than complete ignorance. At least I now know which direction to think in.”
Opposite him, Nereus also wore a contemplative expression.
“As for your challenge, there is indeed some truth to it.”
She said. “The conflicts between immortals will be intense. But perhaps... it’s not as we imagine, constant and without blind spots. There might be some constraining factors we haven’t fully understood.”
Garoth picked up the thread.
His mind moved quickly, almost organizing his views as soon as the Silver Dragon King finished speaking.
“For instance, immortals with different kinds of Potency might be able to coexist peacefully.”
He mused, his voice unhurried. “An immortal who controls the Potency of ‘Evolution’ and an immortal who controls ‘Destruction’ or ‘Time’ have non-overlapping paths. Their Potency cannot be seized from each other.”
“There might be conflicts of interest between them, but there’s no inherent enmity.”
“You don’t take mine, I don’t take yours, so there’s no need to fight to the death.”
“Furthermore, the planes are vast, with countless worlds, and the number of immortals is scarce. They are scattered across the broad multiverse, not all crowded onto the same battlefield.”
“If one wants to avoid competitors with the same Potency, there’s always enough space to be found.”
The Silver Dragon King agreed wholeheartedly.
She gave a slight nod of her head, and even her mind, dulled by twilight, became unusually active.
As she thought, she spoke. “There’s another key point.”
“Perfecting Potency raises the potential ceiling, and allows for better performance at the same level, but it doesn’t mean an immediate increase in power. It’s not simply a boost in strength. It’s more like... an expansion of possibilities.”
She paused for a moment to organize her words, ensuring the expression was clear enough.
“For example.”
She said. “Two immortals meet. One has a high degree of Potency perfection, the other a low degree.”
“The one with higher perfection can go further in the future, and might also have an advantage in a fight at the same level.”
“But if the one with lower perfection is stronger in life level, combat experience, or skill in using their own Potency, the outcome isn’t necessarily one-sided. The degree of Potency perfection isn’t everything.”
Garoth gave a slight nod of his jaw.
“So, there must be some immortals who don’t care about the degree of Potency perfection at the beginning.”
He said. “They might be satisfied with the current state of their Potency, continuously digging deeper within their own Potency framework, not provoking competitors of the same type, and quietly focusing on raising their life level.”
“At a certain stage, they reach their limit.”
“When there’s no way forward, only then would they probably choose to seek out and hunt immortals with the same Potency, to raise their ceiling by expanding their own Potency.”
“Before that, risking a hunt against a fellow immortal... the risk and reward aren’t proportional.”
The Silver Dragon King shot him an approving glance.
Both could keep up with the other’s thoughts; a mere hint was enough.
If the conversation partner were dull, requiring every sentence to be explained repeatedly, such an exchange would only be exhausting. This kind of efficient communication brought a sense of pleasure to both parties.
She said. “Even for immortal beings, those who can develop their own Potency to the limit are a minority.”
“Most won’t reach that point in their entire existence.”
“For example, Audothos. If he were to condense a Potency related to time and achieve immortality, even without plundering other time Potencies, he would already have an extremely, extremely high potential ceiling. It’s hard to say how long it would take to reach the limit.”
Garoth sank into thought.
The daily existence of immortals was perhaps filled with confrontation, probing, and gamesmanship.
They would wander between different planes, forming various interactions with other immortals, some cooperative, some conflicting. A single standoff could last for centuries or even millennia, waiting for the other to show a weakness.
But it wasn’t always a life-or-death battle.
More often than not, they might simply keep their distance, observe each other, occasionally make contact, and then, when there was no guarantee of success, each would withdraw.
Furthermore...
If mere adaptive evolution were condensed into Potency, its ceiling would certainly not be low.
Besides, since it was evolution, why couldn’t it start from oneself, evolving more branches of the same kind? In theory, it should be feasible.
“I understand the general idea.”
Garoth said, then changed the subject. “But I have another question.”
“Go ahead.”
“Is it possible to walk the Path of Immortality and the path of becoming a deity simultaneously?”
“Simultaneously?”
“Yes.” Garoth said. “To become an immortal life, shaping Potency, and also to become a deity, condensing a divine spark and expanding divine domains.”
“Walk both paths together.”
Nereus blinked, then let out a light chuckle.
“This question is easier to answer than your last one.”
She said, her tail gently swaying behind her. “In theory, the answer is yes.”
“For instance, all the Dragon Gods are actually immortal beings, but they are also deities.”
“They have their own divine realms, accept prayers from their believers, and also possess the unique Potency and essence of immortals. Moreover, their Potency as immortal beings is even stronger than their own divine domains as Dragon Gods.”
“In other words, they have one foot on both paths, and they are doing well on both.”
“But as for the specifics...”
She shook her head, confessing frankly. “I’m not clear on that. Like you, I am just a legend.”
“The exact steps to become both a god and an immortal... the price to pay, the conflicts and risks that might be encountered... I know nothing about these.”
Her voice paused for a moment, and the Silver Dragon King said solemnly, “This is something you will need to find the answer to yourself, Garoth.”
“Perhaps by praying to a certain Dragon God, and receiving clues in the prayer. Perhaps by infiltrating a deity’s divine realm, to witness with your own eyes how those who possess both divine sparks and Potency operate. Perhaps by finding an ancient being walking both paths in the depths of the Astral Plane, and asking them directly for guidance.”
“But regardless, this will not be an easy path.”
Her voice deepened, more serious than before.
“Gods and immortals. They may seem to converge in the end, but their essence is completely different.”
“One depends on faith and is bound by divine domains; the other depends on the self and is bound by Potency. The two paths run parallel, and the commonality is that competition exists on both.”
“The struggle for Potency. The struggle for faith.”
“Occupying both positions means bearing more risks, facing twice as many blades. You might offend enemies on two levels at once, and you might also fail to find allies on either.”
Garoth listened quietly, without showing any sign of disappointment.
Knowing that it was achievable was enough. As for the specific method, he could find it himself.
“Thank you for your answer.”
He said solemnly, lowering his head slightly as a sign of respect. “This knowledge is more precious than a mountain of gold. It can save me from taking many detours.”
The Silver Dragon King smiled faintly.
“You’re welcome.”
“For a dragon in twilight, being able to pass these things on to a worthy junior is a comfort in itself.”
“Go now.”
She said, her voice returning to its initial tranquility. “Go do what you need to do.”
“I will keep Claudia in check, but taming him is your responsibility. Don’t make me wait too long.”
*Whoosh!*
A great wind arose, dragging the chrome dragon’s mangled remains into the lake’s water.
The Silver Dragon King herself also stepped towards the lake, her figure gradually disappearing beneath the surface.
And just before she vanished completely, came a final sentence.
“If you encounter other questions, you can come here again. Conversing with a dragon filled with such ambition and passion makes me feel like my twilight heart has perked up a little.”
“I haven’t felt this way in a long time.”
Garoth nodded, saying nothing more.
He tore open the space in front of him. His dark wings spread wide, and his massive body entered the rift, vanishing from the lake shore.
The spatial rift closed behind him.
The dark silhouette reappeared above the Blackrock Wasteland.
The wind here carried the smell of burning and blood, even stronger than before he left.
The cloud of dust was thicker, like a curtain soaked in ashes, covering the sky tightly, making it nearly impossible to see the light above the clouds. The ground below had been transformed beyond recognition, with lava flowing through the ravines.
This was his masterpiece.
Garoth passed through the clouds and descended onto a slightly raised mound.
His dragon claws crushed the cooled lava crust on the surface, revealing the dark red crustacean still smoldering underneath. He used his foreclaw to push aside a half-melted rock, then crouched down, folding his wings, and quietly admired the scene he had personally created.
By now, Nausil’s pursuit forces had regrouped.
Some elven warriors were clearing the battlefield, using spears to turn over corpses, checking if any orcs hadn’t fully died yet.
Occasionally, a short, sharp scream would ring out, then fall silent.
In the distance, the Giants, carrying Tower Shields covered in chunks of gore, left a trail of deep craters in the scorched earth as they slowly withdrew towards their camp. The flames on the battlefield had not yet completely died out, baking the surrounding air even hotter.
Soon, two figures approached.
The silver-white war deer walked through the air as if treading on invisible stairs, but Aelarian’s posture was not as upright as before. She was holding her left shoulder, where there was a deep gash, with red bloodstains already dried.
The Thalamond behind her was in a similar state.
The Solar Grand Knight’s armor was covered in dents and scratches. The center of his breastplate was caved inwards, struck by some immense force, as if hit square on by a giant fist.
He still held his back straight, but his face was a bit paler, and his breathing wasn’t as steady as usual.
It seemed these two Mandates had been through a fierce battle.
Aelarian raised her head, her eyes reflecting the dark, scaled silhouette of the dragon.
“You went after that Deep Freeze Tyrant?”
She asked.
Garoth nodded. “Yes.”
“What was the result?”
Aelarian pressed on.
The red iron dragon remained expressionless. “He’s dead. I chased him into the deep sea, shattered every bone, and burned every last drop of his blood dry.”
Nausil’s elves’ moon hung high in the sky.
Very few things that happened could escape its detection, but the deep sea was one of them. That was why Claudia had chosen to set up his lair in the deep sea.
Garoth was currently on the same side as the elves, but that didn’t mean he would bare his heart and soul to them.
Concealing some of his true intentions and actions was perfectly acceptable.
Thalamond was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then burst into loud laughter.
“Good! This is a fantastic thing!”
The Solar Grand Knight couldn’t help but say. “Claudia... that mad dragon was a cancer growing on Arotala. Who knows how many towns and villages he treated as his dining plate.”
“By eliminating him, you’ve pulled out the fangs hanging over the heads of countless beings.”
“From now on, his name is just a legend.”
After speaking, he withdrew his smile, looked towards the still-smoking land, and his voice became somewhat distant.
“But sometimes, I truly feel that you dragonkind fight amongst yourselves far too fiercely.”
He said. “In Nausil, different elven branches have their own opinions and interests, but when they encounter danger or trouble, they can always put aside their differences and stand together.”
“When the storm comes, we stand shoulder to shoulder, instead of scattering to save ourselves.”
“Think about it. If you could be like the elves, treating the bonds of blood as an oath more steadfast than rock, regarding the glory of your kin as a shared crown, instead of biting and fighting at first sight...”
“The world today might be a very different place.”
“Your decline is not entirely unrelated to the fact that too much blood has been shed in internecine conflicts, forming a river that has drowned you.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Aelarian slammed her elbow hard into his side.
Thalamond’s expression stiffened, and he instinctively shut his mouth.
Only then did he realize what he had said.
To speak of the dragon race’s weakness due to their infighting in front of a great dragon who had just killed a Mandate of his own kind... this was too offensive, a breach of etiquette.
These thoughts whirled through his mind, and the tips of his ears began to burn.
“Ahem...”
The Solar Grand Knight coughed dryly and quickly said, “I didn’t think before speaking just now. I’m very sorry. I didn’t mean to compare your dragon race’s wounds with elven pride, and I certainly had no intention of mocking your people.”
He paused, then added another sentence: “You know, a tongue is sometimes harder to control than a sword.”
Garoth looked at him quietly.
This great knight’s eyes were very clear, like a clarity and frankness that had survived countless battlefields.
Garoth could distinguish the vast majority of malice and goodwill.
He could see that this elf in front of him didn’t have much guile.
“It’s nothing.”
He said calmly. “What you said isn’t without reason.”
Thalamond let out a sigh of relief, nodded, and said no more.
At this point, Aelarian urged her war deer a step forward.
She extended her right hand, handing the spatial cube that sealed the meteorite to Garoth.
“According to the original commission, we would have settled this with you after the war.”
She said. “However, your performance has far exceeded our expectations.”
“The war is not over yet, but to show our sincerity, the empire has decided to make another advance payment. This is what you’ve earned.”
Garoth took the cube, examined it for a few moments, and then put it away.
“Just to show sincerity?”
He said, with a hint of amusement.
“Not just that.”
Aelarian stated bluntly. “Because, next, we still need to rely on your strength.”
“The Bloodskull is routed, and the other two major tribes are also retreating step by step, pulling back towards the heart of Kantum. But the war will only become more intense. It’s not time for it to end yet.”
“The closer we get to victory, the more crazily the enemy will fight back.”
The red iron dragon looked thoughtful.
The elves weren’t stupid.
They must have noticed the connection between his transformation and the meteorite. To secure a stronger ally for the next phase, they decided to pay in advance.
This was both sincerity and an investment.
After all, Kantum still had two Saints. The most violent storm was yet to come.
Thalamond’s expression turned serious as he interjected.
“We encountered the last desperate counterattack from the Bloodskull Great Chieftain during the pursuit.”
“Sarthoa... she burned the last of her life, exchanging her own destruction for a brief moment of brilliance. The injuries Aelarian and I have were left by her.”
He pointed to his own dented breastplate, then looked at the gash on Aelarian’s shoulder.
“Vilrain is in an even worse state.”
Aelarian said. “When she tried to use her secret arts to seal off Sarthoa’s eruption, she suffered a severe backlash. While she did manage to weaken Sarthoa’s outburst, in the short term... she can no longer fight.”
“Her condition is much worse than mine or Thalamond’s right now.”
As she spoke, a horn sounded in the distance.
Somber, drawn-out, like striking a giant bell in deep water.
The legions from Nausil’s other war zones had sounded the horn of victory, which also meant this war was about to enter its next phase.
Aelarian glanced in the direction of the horn, then withdrew her gaze and fixed it back on Garoth.
Under the elf’s gaze, the great dragon suddenly spoke.
“What do you think of the painting I have created on this wasteland?”
The two elven Mandates were both taken aback, clearly not expecting this question.
They had assumed Garoth would ask about the next phase of the battle plan, or discuss the payment. They hadn’t expected him to ask such a seemingly irrelevant question.
Then, the Solar Grand Knight’s face took on a solemn look.
He didn’t rush to answer. He first carefully observed the scene around him, then spoke.
“Like a falling sun.”
He solemnly chose an adjective, then added, “Like divine punishment. Like the first horn at the end of all things.”
Aelarian mused for a few seconds, her gaze drifting between the scorched black earth and the flowing lava.
Then, in a tone of a chant, she said. “Like a song of lament without lyrics. Like the first frost of autumn, falling upon a wheat field just burned by fire.”
“Beautiful. Lethal. Irreversible.”
After she finished, she lowered her eyes.
Garoth let out a low chuckle. Dark red patterns of light flowed slowly beneath his scales.
“What a beautiful description and metaphor. Ha, I enjoy listening to you elves praise me.”
As he spoke, the great dragon’s smile gradually faded.
“However, that was only the prelude.”
“You have witnessed the falling of a star. But continue to bear witness next. I will create a grander and more magnificent painting. Let lava take the place of rivers, let raging flames replace forests, let ashes turn into falling snow that fills the sky.”
“...With this, I will feast Heaven and Earth.”
Upon hearing this, the two Mandates looked at each other, exchanging glances.
They saw the same concern in each other’s eyes.
This great dragon in front of them seemed to harbor a certain madness and hunger beneath the shell of rationality. For now, to win the war against Kantum, the empire had given him exactly what he needed, pouring fuel on the fire, making this dragon burn even more fiercely. It was hard to say if this was good or bad.
However, they didn’t think too much about it.
No matter how things would develop later, if they couldn’t win the present, there would be no future.
At least, when standing on the same side as this Scarlet Emperor Cangxing, it did bring them a rare feeling of security.
On the other side of the battlefield, facing Kantum’s Saints and the endless orc army, having an ally like this was far better than having an enemy like this.
As for the troubles of the future, they would leave those for the future to consider.
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