Garoth slowly stretched his mighty dragon body.
He had just completed an intense round of training. Every muscle covered in black-red scales swelled and rippled like forged refined steel, with steaming heat waves radiating from his body surface.
However, his gaze remained bright and spirited, showing no trace of fatigue.
Beside the red iron dragon, the brass-silver dragon Deborah, who had been forced to train alongside him, was now in a completely different state.
Her long, beautiful dragon tail seed sowhat spasmodic, her chest heaved violently, and she gasped heavily like a tattered bellows. She lay collapsed on the ground, lacking even the will to lift a single claw, seemingly wishing only to rge with the earth itself.
According to Garoth's usual habits, he would continue training alone for a much longer ti.
But this ti, he unusually stopped.
The red iron dragon quietly coiled in place, slightly closed his eyes, gradually adjusting his breathing to a deep and even rhythm. The aura around him also gradually turned inward and settled.
He was preparing for the upcoming challenge in the tal Dragon domains.
Thinking that under the distant and unfamiliar sky, many outstanding young tal Dragons were currently fighting to win a chance to face him... This feeling, while not exactly making Garoth feel overwheld by the honor, still made him feel it was necessary to give the challenger who could erge victorious and eventually stand before him the respect he deserved.
And his way of expressing respect for a challenger had always been direct and simple.
—To go all out.
Several hours passed quietly in the silence.
Nearby, the brass-silver dragon Deborah finally recovered so strength, struggling to prop herself up from the ground.
Garoth remained silently coiled, his breathing steady and smooth without a ripple. His entire body radiated a powerful aura of perfect fullness and pent-up energy, as if containing a volcano about to erupt.
Deborah caught her breath, gazing at Garoth's majestic profile.
She knew very well that soon, the red iron dragon would set off for the tal Dragon domains.
He was going to face those tal Dragon peers born with silver spoons in their mouths, bathed in attention and expectations, to accept the challenge from the strongest among them.
He might even face scrutiny and examination from so ancient and powerful tal Dragons.
"Garoth..."
She spoke softly, her voice still carrying a hint of hoarseness and fatigue from the training, "Are you completely ready? I an, to go to the dragon domains and face the challenges there."
Garoth slowly opened his eyes, his gaze turning toward her. "Why do you ask?"
Deborah hesitated for a mont, organizing her words, then said, "The dragon domains... are completely different places from the wilderness and the convergence lands."
"In the wilderness and the convergence lands, we follow the most primitive, simplest law: power is truth, the strong rule. But in the dragon domains, especially in the strictly hierarchical, rule-heavy Everbright Dragon Domain, power is not the sole asure of everything."
"As a tal Dragon myself, I know all too well... Many tal Dragons are born with a deeply ingrained sense of superiority. I worry they might look down on you because of your Five-colored Dragon origins and iron dragon bloodline, or even deliberately trouble you in various ways."
"Elder Ovis may think very highly of you, but the elders from other dragon domains, and those proud, arrogant young generation dragons, might not all be convinced. And you're going there as the 'challenged party,' already standing at the center of all attention."
She paused, lowering her voice further.
"Even tal Dragons with a moderate Inclusion Faction stance would probably find it hard to accept deep down that a being with evil dragon bloodline would so forcefully seize the champion position that rightfully belongs to tal Dragon glory."
"And those with extre Purification Faction ideologies, their reactions will only be more intense, possibly even hostile."
Deborah recalled what her parents occasionally ntioned about the internal conflicts and disputes within the dragon domains, and a trace of worry couldn't help but appear on her faceplate.
She wasn't worried about Garoth's strength being insufficient; she only feared he might get entangled in unnecessary trouble because of those prejudices or rules.
Garoth sensed her concern and let out a low, magnetic chuckle from his throat.
"Deborah, what do you think I've relied on to get this far, to establish the Molten Iron Tribe, to rule the entire Ser Wilderness?"
He didn't wait for Deborah to answer, providing the answer himself. "Power."
"The purest, most direct power."
"In the law-of-the-jungle wilderness, power made the undisputed king."
"In the rule-heavy dragon domains, I believe powerful strength will similarly earn the respect I deserve, even if that respect is mixed with jealousy, fear, or resentnt."
He looked into Deborah's eyes, his tone softening slightly.
"Don't worry, I understand your concerns, and I'm clear about the main purpose of this trip."
"To win Elder Ovis's bet, obtain the championship prize, and the chance to enter the Eternal Tide. Everything else is secondary. I know how to maintain proper limits."
"Besides, I won't stay in the dragon domains for long. I'll return imdiately after completing my objectives."
The red iron dragon's voice was steady, carrying a reassuring sense of conviction.
The worry in the brass-silver dragon's eyes lted away with his words.
"I want to go with you! I want to personally cheer for you!"
Deborah's tone rose, carrying a hint of excitent. "I want to see with my own eyes how you rcilessly beat the strongest guy among the tal Dragon young generation to the ground! That scene will definitely be absolutely wonderful!"
She lightly swung her long dragon tail, her emotions shifting from earlier worry to anticipation and excitent.
Moreover, she seed to have completely forgotten that she herself was also a mber of the tal Dragons.
Recalling back then, the brass-silver dragon's initial goal in approaching Garoth was driven by a tal Dragon's sense of mission, trying to guide and change this red iron dragon who had taken a different path.
However, as ti passed, through day after day of interaction, the positions of influencer and influenced had long since quietly swapped.
Now, her heart was completely occupied by the red iron dragon, firmly standing on his side.
"And ! And ! I want to go too!"
A cheerful, exuberant voice abruptly chid in.
The faerie dragon Vira had erged from so corner, excitedly circling and flying around Garoth and Deborah, finally landing on the brass-silver dragon's shoulder.
Deborah slightly tilted her head, looking at the little one on her shoulder, and asked, "What are you going for?"
"We're not going there for fun."
The faerie dragon imdiately puffed out her tiny chest, striking a righteous and solemn pose. "Of course, just like you, to cheer for our Lord of Molten Iron, boost the montum, and also, if anyone dares to talk bad about Garoth behind his back, I'll sneak a Stinky Flower into their nostrils when they're not looking, letting them know my power properly."
After saying this, she blinked her eyes, looking expectantly at the red iron dragon.
"Hmm, if you want to go, you can. Stay close to and act together then."
Garoth gently nodded, agreeing.
Actually, the iron dragon Sorog and the red dragon Samantha had both previously expressed their desire to follow Garoth to the dragon domains to see for themselves.
Especially Samantha.
She had shown great interest in the idea of 'stepping on the faces of those arrogant tal Dragons' in the dragon domains.
However, after consideration, Garoth didn't plan to take them along.
The purpose of his trip wasn't to stir up conflict.
Sorog's temperant was relatively steady and he could exercise restraint, but if Samantha went, with her fiery temper and hostility toward tal Dragons, she would inevitably cause trouble in that environnt, adding unnecessary variables.
As for the faerie dragon Vira, she was a rare Dinsional Dragon with a special status.
The faerie dragon's personality seed playful but was unlikely to make other dragons feel directly threatened. Taking her along wouldn't cause issues.
The faerie dragon who received permission cheered, hopping excitedly on Deborah's shoulder.
Not long after, Garoth closed his dragon pupils again, shutting out external interference, his mind settling once more as he continued focusing on adjusting his own state.
The wind and snow of the convergence lands still howled tirelessly.
anwhile, on the other side, far from the Ser Wilderness.
The Tranquil Sea, Everbright Dragon Domain.
The joint martial competition of the five great tal Dragon domains was proceeding in full swing, the atmosphere heated to the extre.
And as ti passed, through round after round of intense selection and elimination, while Garoth was conserving his strength to et the challenge, five young dragons hailed as top favorites to win the championship from different domains also erged under the watchful eyes of all.
The gold dragon Karus from the Everbright Dragon Domain.
The brass dragon Zafiri from the Vophal Dragon Domain.
The gold dragon Gilbert from the Raging Tides Dragon Domain.
The gold dragon Balder from the Flowing Waters Dragon Domain.
The silver dragon Besiyala from the Daylight Dragon Domain.
...Among the five top favorites to win the championship, three were notably gold dragons.
This once again confird the gold dragon clan's undeniable formidable strength and exceptional talent among tal Dragons.
The lofty status they enjoyed within the dragon race wasn't just reliant on the favor of the legendary Dragon God, but also earned through generation after generation of gold dragons' own glorious achievents.
Soon, these five dragons representing the highest standard of their respective domains' young generation would engage in even more fierce competition for that sole challenger qualification.
And that mysterious dragon, always hovering over the entire competition, shrouded in layers of mist.
He still attracted countless tal Dragons' curiosity, anticipation, and skepticism.
At the sa ti.
That "mysterious dragon" who was at the center of the dragon domain's public opinion vortex was, of course, standing amidst the swirling wind and snow.
His dragon pupils were, at so point, densely covered with fine bloodshot veins.
An indescribable frenzied aura spread out from him as the center.
Any living creature within the range of this aura, whether hidden snowfield creatures or occasionally passing birds, seed infected on so spiritual level, becoming restless and anxious, their eyes gradually tinged with the colors of madness and ferocity.
Even a winter wolf affected in its mind, eyes crimson red, fearlessly charged toward the red iron dragon.
Just as it sprinted on all fours, less than a hundred ters from the red iron dragon.
Whoosh...
With an exceptionally long, deep breath, the ferocious bloodshot veins in Garoth's eyes rapidly receded like a tide, restoring clarity.
Simultaneously, that furious aura affecting the surrounding creatures also dissipated into nothingness, as if it had never appeared.
The winter wolf abruptly regained its senses. When it looked again at the colossal dragon shadow so close at hand, the madness in its eyes was instantly replaced by boundless horror and fear.
It let out a whimper, hurriedly dug its claws into the ground, desperately braking, plowing several long furrows in the snow-covered surface, then turned and fled in a wretched panic toward the distance with its tail between its legs.
Garoth was in a good mood and didn't bother with the hastily fleeing winter wolf.
"With the frenzied fla as a catalyst, I can ignite rage at will, at any mont. The leveling speed of the Wild path is quite impressive."
He thought happily.
Over the past few years, he had made significant progress in his cultivation of the Wild path, his level already raised to 6.
Besides the initially mastered Rage, he had also successfully comprehended and mastered a core skill of this path.
—Selfless Frenzy.
Another point worth ntioning was that the skills Frenzy and Rage actually also existed in so other paths, not unique to Wild Dragons.
But under normal circumstances, once the Frenzy skill was activated, besides gaining significant boosts in various attributes, the user would enter a special state: immune to charm or fear, and simultaneously, they themselves would not feel the emotion of anger, becoming a pure and efficient combat machine.
And this Frenzy state, in essence, conflicted with the Rage skill which required intense emotional drive, directly causing the latter to be unable to maintain and deactivate.
But the uniqueness and strength of the Wild Dragon path lay precisely here.
Wild Dragons could perfectly maintain and enter the Rage state while activating Frenzy. Moreover, these two powerful state skills not only wouldn't conflict with each other, but could instead stack upon each other, forming a one-plus-one-greater-than-two powerful effect, thereby opening the Wild State.
This was also the origin of this dragon path's na "Wild."
Later powerful skills like the Form of Majestic mory and Rage-Fearless-Death that could be mastered at higher levels also required this solid Wild State foundation to unleash their full effects.
After so ti researching the Wild State.
The red iron dragon's wings suddenly flapped, stirring up the snow and air currents below as he turned back toward Dragon Valley.
And when his figure reached the airspace above Dragon Valley, slowly descending, his gaze fell upon the discovery that besides the human-form Deborah, there was an additional familiar figure in the valley.
It was a woman with an agile figure.
She wore a set of light and convenient armor adorned with intricate golden patterns, a neat golden ponytail tied behind her head. Her skin was fair as snow, her figure tall and well-proportioned, especially a pair of long legs, straight and slender, steadily planted in a pair of exquisitely crafted combat boots.
Overall, she looked clean and sharp, spirited and heroic, with her own dashing and impressive deanor.
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