Defeating the World with the Power of One Dragon!

Ximu Domain, Council Hall.

The fireplace burned pinewood with a faint crackle; the warm air drove away the wilderness dawn’s chill.

Garoth, in his black cat form, lounged lazily on the cushioned high-backed chair, half-closing his vertical pupils, the tip of his tail flicking intermittently.

“Thanks to the many rules and laws you enacted and strictly enforced, the overall operation of Ximu Domain is currently steady and orderly.”

Opposite him, Shire reported on the territory’s general condition: “Adventurers and large trade caravans come and go in endless streams. The number of intelligent beings choosing to settle or take up long-term residence here is steadily increasing.”

“Although deep-rooted discrimination, prejudice, and the inevitable occasional friction and conflict still exist between different races, all contradictions are currently under control, and the overall situation is stable.”

After delivering these summary points,

Shire paused briefly, organized his words more precisely, then continued: “However, beneath the surface stability, there have indeed been several noteworthy anomalies.”

“For example, the swamps to the south of Ximu Domain.”

“That area has always been a paradise for wetland creatures; its ecosystem maintained its own balance.”

“A few years ago, the behavior of creatures in the swamp suddenly became extremely abnormal and violent.”

“Large numbers of creatures formed groups and fled the swamp in panic, spreading outward, and even once forming a small-scale beast tide that battered the southern defenses of Ximu Town.”

“After successfully repelling and neutralizing several beast tide assaults, I personally led an elite team into the depths of the swamps to investigate, and we ultimately discovered a group of swamp frogfolk worshiping an evil god. They were conducting bloody sacrifices with living creatures, performing a dark ritual that successfully summoned a fiend from a lower plane.”

Shire’s tone carried a trace of solemnity.

“I engaged the fiend in fierce combat. At first, it was indeed difficult to handle, but fortunately, I managed a lucky breakthrough during the fight, improving my strength enough to finally slay it. The accompanying elites took the opportunity to clear out and annihilate those corrupted frogfolk.”

Fiend—this is a general and dangerous term.

It could mean a demon from the lower planes, an infernal from the nine prisons, or even an incarnation or offspring of some fallen deity.

After hearing Shire’s account, Garoth fell into a brief silence.

A breakthrough in the midst of battle... a trope that seemed to belong only to bardic heroic epics or cheap knightly novels—yet it had genuinely occurred to this Lord Flower, proving that his potential ran profoundly deep.

For long-lived dragonkind, however, the concept of a sudden in-battle breakthrough does not truly exist.

A dragon’s power growth relies more on the accumulation of time and dormant evolution.

Still, Garoth did not envy that.

The source of his true strength lay in the grueling forging by repeated pounding, the daily accumulation and sedimentation—only through that did his might arise.

If one day he met a powerful enemy and achieved a breakthrough during battle, it would not be mere luck, but the inevitable result of long-term effort—the accumulated quantity finally reaching the critical point to trigger a qualitative leap.

“Continue.”

Garoth instinctively raised a forepaw and extended his barbed pink tongue, methodically grooming the fur on it.

He noticed that after using Transformation, he always unconsciously wanted to perform behaviors consistent with the current species’ habits.

Shire himself was fond of small animals.

He couldn’t help casting a wary glance at the muscular, oddly stylized black cat beside him, then forced himself to suppress some thoughts that might border on sacrilege and quietly lowered his raised arm again.

“About two years ago, in a mining pit under excavation in the east of Ximu Domain, miners began to disappear inexplicably.”

“As time passed, the number of disappearances not only failed to decrease but gradually increased, and even some mining golems were damaged.”

“I personally went down to the bottom of the pit to investigate and found an earth colossus that had mutated for unknown reasons—an extremely powerful creature that treated the entire mine tunnel system as its new territory, highly xenophobic and utterly impossible to communicate with.”

Shire continued,

“After a rather difficult battle, I eventually killed it and completely eliminated the hazard.”

After hearing about the mine, Garoth became thoughtful.

The mine... the rumored underground ruins beneath that abandoned pit said to house a legendary-grade item—given his current level of strength, he might now be qualified to explore it.

“However, something that could cause a city’s destruction... if the rumors are true, that legendary item would be extremely dangerous.”

“To be safe, send sufficiently powerful followers down to explore first.”

Garoth silently planned in his mind.

Shire continued his report.

He listed seven or eight anomalous incidents he had handled in recent years—most had been properly resolved by him—but judging by the timeline of these events, their frequency was clearly increasing, which only confirmed that the Ser Wilderness was growing ever more chaotic and dangerous.

Although Shire’s tone remained calm and objective, Garoth still caught a hidden meaning beneath his words.

This Lord Flower seemed intent on emphasizing the merits he had achieved for the domain.

“You’ve done well.”

Garoth’s deep voice interrupted Shire’s ongoing recounting.

In his black cat form he lifted his head, vertical pupils fixed on Shire as if able to see through facades and into a person’s heart.

“As lord, you have been diligent and competent; your achievements are significant.”

Garoth said, “Now tell me—what reward do you desire?”

Realizing his small personal wish had seemingly been seen through, the Lord Flower’s face broke into a slightly embarrassed smile.

He hesitated a moment, then said, “I have found my true love here in Ximu Domain.”

“But she is not human; she is a beautiful, intelligent serpent woman named Befree.”

Garoth already knew of this from iron dragon Sorog and the Serpentfolk Sword Saint; he gently nodded his huge cat head to indicate for Shire to continue and not get sidetracked.

With the lord’s tacit approval, Shire relaxed and his mouth curved into a sweet smile.

“After becoming mates, our relationship has been harmonious and intimate—their souls resonate.”

“Most importantly, our affection for one another has not faded with time; rather it has matured and grown like a cellar-aged wine, becoming richer and more fervent.”

“She likes to coil her supple body in the moonlit garden...”

“Stop!” Garoth interrupted again. “Get to the point. I don’t care for the romantic details of your love story.”

“Sorry, sorry.” Shire quickly reined himself in.

He said, “I always feel compelled to share our interracial romance with others... But to get back on track, the only trouble between Befree and me is that we have been unable to have a child of our own.”

“As you know, neither humans nor serpentfolk possess the nearly boundless interspecies reproductive advantage of true dragons.”

“We desperately long for a biological child who carries both our bloodlines.”

“But according to all known records and cases, the chance of cross-species unions successfully producing offspring is minuscule.”

After a brief pause, Shire lowered his voice.

“I happened to hear of an ancient and rare alchemical formula whose primary ingredient is dragon blood.”

“Rumor says that liquor brewed with this recipe can greatly enhance that... function, and there is a slim chance it can help overcome stubborn reproductive barriers and enable offspring to be born healthy from cross-species unions.”

Garoth tilted his huge cat head, eyes fixed on Shire’s face.

“So you want my blood?”

His voice remained calm, but his crouched posture shifted slightly; the exaggerated muscle lines of his body seemed to tense further.

“You can have it, but you must use your own sword to take it personally.”

The massive black cat bared his teeth a little; his gaze turned dangerous.

“No! You’ve entirely misunderstood!”

Shire hurried to explain: “I don’t require specifically your blood—any true dragon’s blood can serve as the ingredient! I merely wanted to ask for your permission to try to collect some dragon blood, from any member of the dragon brood.”

Garoth’s posture relaxed slightly, and he nodded faintly.

“If that is the case, you can offer sufficient gold coins, gemstones, or other equivalents to trade with members of the brood for some dragon blood. I think they will be quite willing to make such a transaction.”

In times of weakness or poverty, dragons selling some shed scales, a small amount of blood, or a few old teeth to quickly accumulate wealth is commonplace.

For dragons this is not shameful, but a reasonable use of resources and a means to rapidly build fortune.

Relieved by Garoth’s approval, Shire’s face immediately flushed with gratitude.

“Thank you so much for your understanding and permission.”

With that private matter resolved, Shire’s expression swiftly returned to the steadiness of a lord.

Then the relaxed look faded from his face, replaced by an unprecedented gravity and seriousness.

“In addition to the matters I have already handled, there is one thing I hadn’t yet reported while summarizing the main incidents.”

“About a year ago, while you were still sleeping, a peculiar female missionary came to Ximu Domain.”

“She called herself Alya, with the title Luckbringer, claiming to serve the deity who governs luck and opportunity—the Goddess of Fortune.”

“Ms. Alya was graceful in manner and gentle in speech. She publicly preached the doctrine of the Church of Fortune in Ximu Town’s square and taverns, preaching obedience to destiny’s guidance and seizing the blessings of good fortune.”

“At the same time, she did not preach empty words; she freely provided passing adventurers and trade caravans with potions that quickly restored stamina and bestowed slight blessings said to bring short-term good luck, thereby attracting attention and goodwill and aiming to recruit followers in Ximu Domain.”

“When I learned of this, I immediately confronted her and clearly informed her that any form of unofficial proselytizing here was forbidden. She did not cause much trouble and soon left, disappearing.”

As the domain prospered, it inevitably attracted the attention of religious organizations seeking to proselytize; this seemed like an ordinary minor episode.

But as he spoke further, Shire’s expression grew heavier.

“The main problem was that when I personally faced that missionary, I could not read her level at all.”

“Not only could I not perceive any life level, I could not sense a single trace of special energy or extraordinary trait. She stood there like the purest, most powerless ordinary mortal.”

“That meant either she truly was a powerless mortal, or… her strength level far exceeded my perceptive limits.”

“Given that I discreetly followed her a short distance out of caution when she left, only to inexplicably lose all trace of her later, the second possibility is far more likely.”

At Shire’s description, Garoth’s fur bristled subtly and his vertical pupils narrowed into two cold slits.

His previously languid posture vanished in an instant; though still in cat form, a grave and commanding aura naturally emanated from him.

If someone could make Shire—a battle-seasoned human of level 19 with keen perception—completely unable to gauge their depth, it most likely indicated that the person was a legendary-tier being! Possibly an apostle-level figure.

No wonder Shire treated the matter with such caution.

Below legendary, all is mundane!

Between mundane beings and legendary lifeforms there exists an almost impassable chasm—a natural elevation and metamorphosis of life essence.

For a direct example:

If two existences are both legendary, a legendary dragon by virtue of racial gifts and tremendous physique still holds a large advantage over a legendary human.

But if a dragon sits at the cusp of level 20, just one step short of legendary, and faces a true legendary human who has stepped into level 21,

the dragon’s chance of victory becomes vanishingly small.

Even proud dragons record a warning in their ancient lore:

“The teeth and claws of mundanes cannot touch legendary flesh; only another legend can oppose a legend.”

Legendary power is not merely a leap in base stats such as strength, speed, and reflexes.

Its real terror lies in the unique ability forged from a profound understanding of the world’s rules: the Domain!

When an entity ascends to legendary, they will shape a Domain based on their core cognition, unique will, and lifetime experiences and path—a personal reality-altering sphere.

Within that Domain, fundamental physical rules can be dramatically altered.

For example: spatial orientation can be inverted and scrambled, left becomes right, up becomes down; an ordinary stone can become harder than mythril; a rusted iron sword can possess the conceptual sharpness to sever anything inside the Domain; flames can become cold, and ice can burn with heat...

The most common, nearly legendary-standard concept granted by Domains is Absolute Defense.

Unless opposed by another legendary Domain or power, or unless an attack’s intensity surpasses the conceptual limits the Domain can bear, or the legendary’s energy is completely exhausted,

within the Domain, the legendary is truly indestructible. Against any attacks from below legendary, they stand nearly un-defeatable!

In short, upon becoming legendary, a being gains a powerful mechanism.

Unless some statistics are godlike enough to break that mechanism, mundanes have no chance against a legend.

Of course, Domains have range limits and sustaining them consumes enormous energy.

Thus legend is not absolute invincibility,

but even so, when facing beings below legendary, legends are practically unbeatable regardless of species.

“Do not be overly alarmed.”

“As an apostle of a deity, she may simply possess high-level divine arts that completely block external detection, or she might possess a powerful relic that grants the same effect.”

Garoth’s pupils slowly widened as he considered the alternative.

“Since this Luckbringer voluntarily left Ximu Domain and shows no further moves for now, we should not probe her actively. If she returns or you discover anything new, you must inform me immediately.”

His expression returned to calm, but internally he raised his guard even higher.

The Ser Wilderness now truly resembled a boiling pot on the verge of boiling over; hidden monsters and demons seemed to be surfacing everywhere.

“I am stronger now than before I slept... but with that comes access to higher levels and potential adversaries that continually rise. I cannot relax for a moment; constant vigilance is necessary.”

Garoth warned himself silently.

At that moment, Shire seemed to sense something; he swiftly produced a slightly vibrating message stone from his pocket that emitted a faint magical glow.

He held it to his ear, and a tense voice of a sentry captain came through, taut with urgency,

“My lord! Emergency military report!”

“The third eastern outpost has detected a massive gathering of undead creatures! Their numbers are enormous! We’ve also observed at least three different types of high-ranking undead among them, and their direction appears to be toward Ximu Domain!”