The sun rose and the moon set; six years slipped by quietly.
The rainy season in Ser Wilderness had ended, and the land had returned to its usual scorching heat. The sunlight poured down like molten gold, drenching the vast wilderness.
But even the most intense sunlight could not pierce through the countless swirling vapors of Steam Ravine.
This was a forbidden zone that most creatures preferred to avoid.
Whoosh!
A gale eagle streaked across the sky, swift as lightning.
Its wingspan stretched ten ters, feathers pressed tightly against its body to minimize air resistance. Around it swirled wind elental energy, propelling it at incredible speed; when it flew, it resembled a streak of azure lightning.
The gale eagle passed over Steam Ravine.
It noticed the steaming rifts below, but having already hunted and eaten, it was full and suddenly felt playful.
The giant eagle flapped its wings and darted toward Steam Ravine.
It weaved freely through the air, azure feathers slicing through the thick mist, leaving clear vacuum trails behind.
It sotis dove vertically, then abruptly pulled up just before touching the boiling ravine, leaving clouds of vapor trailing behind.
It sotis sharply banked, slipping through gaps between two opposing steam pillars, the scalding water mist condensing into spiraled rings in its wake.
The gale eagle, caught up in its ga, challenged the most dangerous part of Steam Ravine.
There, hundreds of high-pressure steam jets erupted randomly—so perilous that even the most agile swallows dared not venture.
Its wings folded into a spindle shape, wind elents at the feather tips forming sharp shockwaves like scissors cutting cloth. Showing off, it precisely slipped through every deadly gap in the steam maze, brushing past erupting jets.
Several dozen seconds later.
Just as the giant eagle completed its final barrel roll and prepared to surge into the clouds,
a terrifying aura suddenly surged up from the depths of the ravine.
The eagle’s feathers instantly bristled.
One mont it was reveling in the thrill of speed; the next, its heart felt as if grasped by an invisible hand.
A predator beyond comprehension had awakened.
Below, Steam Ravine began to boil—not with slow spurts, but as if stirred by a giant beast’s breath. All steam pillars twisted and exploded simultaneously, forming a chaotic sea of fog.
Boom—!!!
The steam clouds violently tore apart, and a crimson figure blasted skyward at an almost absurd speed.
The gale eagle couldn’t make out what it was, only glimpsing a streak of afterimages and a cot-like tail flickering behind it.
Instinctively, the gale eagle flapped its wings, launching into full escape mode.
It unleashed its ultimate skill—Hurricane Ascent.
This was its proud escape technique.
During vertical climbs, wind elents spiraled around its body, massively boosting speed, once enabling it to flee from the claws of an adult dragon.
But this ti, a sharp shriek sounded behind it.
Whoosh—!
The crimson shadow arrived ahead, flying backward to appear directly above it.
For the first ti, the eagle saw the predator’s full form up close.
A dragon!
It was covered in layered black dragon scales, slicing the air with countless sounds like unsheathing blades. Its wings were enormous and exaggerated—not traditional mbranous wings.
The wing mbranes were covered with crimson fine scales, unevenly distributed.
At the base, tips, and edges of the wings, six silver crystalline bones protruded, radiating outward. At their ends, dense, dark red fla-like streams resembling both fire and steam sprayed out, trailing long marks behind like the destructive tail of a cot tearing across the sky.
The dragon deliberately slowed, its fla streams dissipating as it flew parallel to the eagle.
This move terrified the gale eagle more than a direct kill—the opponent seed to enjoy this hunt.
The gale eagle let out a piercing cry.
It wildly summoned magical energy, wrapping it around its wings, overloading speed, and twisting nimbly in the air to shake off the pursuing dragon.
The dragon did not imdiately give chase but waited a mont before swinging its wings without haste.
Boom!
Dark red fla streams surged behind its wings.
Its speed instantly surged, chasing after the gale eagle. The black dragon scales rubbed against the air, nearly glowing crimson as if a scarlet teor streaked across the sky.
The eagle sensed the danger closing behind.
But its speed had reached the limit, unable to increase further.
As the dragon’s shadow flashed past, the eagle’s vision spun wildly—its head separated from its body.
The dragon grasped the eagle’s body in one claw, folding its wings as it landed on the ground.
Its scales still stead from the residual heat of high-speed flight; its pair of wings were like drawn, peerless weapons.
This dragon was none other than Garoth, who had just ended his dragon sleep.
“The wing fla trails look like a cot tearing through the sky.”
“I’ll call them the Wings of the Celestial Cot.”
Garoth flexed his brand-new dragon wings and nodded with satisfaction.
In his previous life, he played a ga called Monster Hunter. Reflecting now, many dragon traits in the ga were worth referencing. Naming his Explosive Scales and envisioning his dragon wings had drawn inspiration from it.
“The only flaw is the high energy consumption.”
“I use magical energy as fuel; every burst of acceleration consus a lot.”
“Later, once I beco a battle dragon, combining magical energy with life energy to form dragon qi will be sturdier and richer, maybe better able to handle the energy cost.”
Garoth thought to himself.
Dragon sleep and evolution had left Garoth ravenous to the extre. First, he feasted voraciously, quickly devouring the gale eagle he had hunted, then took ti to carefully examine his changes.
First.
His life level had jumped directly from level 7 to level 9.
This was a life level only achievable by young gold dragons, and Garoth was now 14 years old, still two years short of the young adult phase.
In terms of size.
From head to tail, he asured 12 ters long, comparable to a young dragon’s size. But length was secondary; Garoth was stronger than a red dragon. His muscular build beneath the scales was robust and powerful. If other 12-ter young dragons stood beside him, they would look like frail sticks.
His pair of dragon wings fully unfolded asured 26 ters long—more than twice his body length.
Garoth’s appearance had changed sowhat.
His form was altered; the silver crystalline bones and jet structures at the wings’ tips went without saying.
His facial spikes had grown more nurous and dense. His mouth showed fierce, sharp teeth typical of red dragons. The keratin around his upper and lower jaws was like steel. The base of his dragon horns was wrapped in shovel-shaped tal bones, twisting backward majestically like a crown.
The traits of iron dragons and red dragons were still evident on him.
Along his back, besides the Explosive Scales, dense spikes grew along his spine, extending to the tail tip.
His tail beca thicker and longer, with tightly packed scales that could slightly lift to reveal blade-like sharp edges. When whipped against enemies, it would cause dense, slicing wounds like slow slicing torture.
Beyond these external changes,
Garoth had awakened two quasi-spell skills:
Fla Claws—from the red dragon bloodline.
Hardened Body—from the iron dragon bloodline.
Normally, these quasi-spells could only be awakened by young dragons. Both red and iron dragons specialized in close combat, and the two quasi-spells Garoth awakened from his bloodlines further strengthened his lee capabilities.
Regarding ranged attacks,
As an exceptional hybrid, Garoth had three types of dragon breath and Explosive Scales for bombing.
This was currently sufficient for him.
Moreover, dragons were all born sorcerers. As they aged, they would inevitably awaken more quasi-spells. The young dragon’s quasi-spells were only the beginning, and Garoth was not yet even a young dragon.
As for magic based on knowledge rather than bloodline,
Usually only adult dragons with slowed developnt would start exploring and learning it, because before then, the quasi-spells awakened naturally and their growing bodies were far more practical than magic.
Garoth flicked his tail.
Among the muscles beneath his scales, he vaguely felt an electric current pass, but it was very weak and indistinct.
“This aspect did not evolve successfully.”
“This evolution mainly focused on the wings.”
Garoth sensed the faint electric feeling inside and thought to himself.
His hunger was not yet gone.
His stomach growled, and without further inspection, he flapped his wings and took off, hunting around. After a whole day of hunting and multiple als, his hunger gradually subsided—he was not so starving anymore.
Now night had fallen.
Two moons hung high in the night sky, casting clear light.
“Needleleaf Valley, Crescent Valley, and Howling Cliff—wonder what changes have occurred in these six years.”
“Better go back and check.”
Garoth devoured the last prey, which resembled an elephant, and stopped hunting. He spread his wings and first flew toward Needleleaf Valley.
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