Defeating the World with the Power of One Dragon!

Because of the powerful evolution of his wings, Garoth's emotions surged.

Under the vast sky he flew with abandon, his wings slicing through the biting wind as he tried a variety of high-difficulty aerial maneuvers.

He would rocket upward at times, then dive and spiral at others. The brand-new wings shimmered with crimson light, and as he streaked through the air, they sometimes looked like clouds hanging from the heavens, sometimes like a long cloak billowing behind him.

After more than ten minutes of uninhibited soaring,

the red iron dragon gradually restrained his motions and hovered steadily in midair, gaining a clearer understanding of his wings.

The change to his wings was earth-shattering. Although he could already use them fairly smoothly, they were far from under his complete command and had not been developed to their limit. Still, Garoth was certain in his heart that with his training methods, it would not take long before he fully mastered and controlled these wings.

Then Garoth turned his gaze to the dragon scales covering his entire body.

What met his eyes was dense scale armor with a deep black base, flashing a hard, cold sheen like obsidian.

Across the scales ran battle-hardened patterns that split like lightning and circled like the rings of an ancient tree. Interspersed among them were many molten-lava-like crimson veins, far more numerous than before.

In an instant, a fierce aura mixed with killing intent and dignity swept over him.

“My original Frostburst Scales structure has disappeared; the armor has changed from a double-layer composite into a unified single layer.”

“More precisely, this newborn single-layer scale has fused with and surpassed all the functions of the old Frostburst Scales, so that redundant structure has been discarded.”

He understood clearly.

Thanks to his adaptive talent, his body’s structure was never fixed.

Those bodily structures that became obsolete as his strength grew would naturally be eliminated or reconstructed and transformed, ultimately reshaped into a form better suited to his current state.

Compared with the dramatic remolding of his wings, the evolution of his scales seemed less revolutionary.

The main change was a simplification of layers: the camouflage layer was lost, fully revealing Garoth’s fiercer, more fearsome true appearance.

As for defense and functionality, they were comprehensively enhanced.

Not to mention the absurdly high elemental resistances and physical defenses.

Just moments earlier, while streaking through the air and creating fierce friction with the atmosphere,

Garoth had already discovered that the crimson veins across his scales lit up, greedily siphoning and storing the heat generated by friction and continuously transmitting it into his internal energy core, the Dragon Pearl.

Moreover, this new single-layer armor was nothing like the brittle Frostburst Scales.

That meant he could continuously absorb and reserve thermal energy, no longer forced to be stingy with its use whenever the Frostburst Scales were damaged and left unable to store energy, which used to limit his use of Destruction Breath or entering Crimson Lotus Form.

“From now on, no more worrying about lack of heat.”

“My Destruction Breath and the heat-consuming Crimson Lotus Form can both be used more freely.”

This bodily optimization brought a small thrill to Garoth.

Since mastering the Crimson Lotus Form, he had been reluctant to casually unleash the hugely powerful Destruction Breath for fear of depleting his heat reserves and being unable to trigger the Crimson Lotus’s might when it mattered most.

Now that constraint no longer existed.

However, the second life still made the Crimson Lotus Form difficult to trigger.

The root cause was that after using the Dragon Pearl it entered a period of cooling or dormancy during which it could not store energy.

Also, the so-called thermal energy was essentially an energy deeply transformed by the Dragon Pearl, only externally manifesting like heat.

Additionally, the scale evolution brought a small 'inconvenience.'

It fully revealed the battle-hardened patterns that symbolized Garoth’s countless fights and honors, exposing his true nature and making him look too ferocious and powerful, removing the possibility of using the camouflage layer to feign weakness and deceive enemies. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Previously, other dragons might only find him unusual and hard to mess with, not truly reverent.

But now, if they saw him, they would definitely keep as much distance as possible, treating him with wary respect.

The density of his battle-hardened patterns rivaled that of some ancient dragons.

This look ensured he would always be in the spotlight, unable to hide.

“The effects of the scale and wing evolution are basically these.”

“There may be other hidden effects to discover and develop later.”

With that thought, Garoth shifted his focus to the dragon blood surging within him.

This was the core part of his evolution.

Aside from feeling it become unprecedentedly scorching and vigorous, like a river of flowing magma, Garoth still had only a vague idea of the concrete, powerful new effects his blood had brought.

How well he had adapted to the frenzied flame also needed further testing.

“Check that in detail later. The immediate priority is replenishing the massive consumption during dormancy.”

As his thoughts calmed, a fierce hunger surged like a tidal wave, making Garoth feel as if he could swallow an entire mountain.

His body was far from restored to peak condition and urgently needed large amounts of food.

Without hesitation, Garoth folded his great wings and tore through the heavy snow, diving rapidly toward Dragon Valley.

Whoosh!

Just before hitting the ground, he spread his wings and brought his fall to a sudden stop. The enormous dragon landed steadily in the valley without kicking up much dust.

The followers, who had long since received Deborah’s orders, sprang into motion.

They flowed like a river, constantly bringing piles of meat, Garoth’s favored black oil, glittering seductive gems, and precious metals imbued with magic—resources streamed endlessly before their Lord of Molten Iron.

Garoth immediately devoured them with the force of a windstorm.

Time passed slowly as vast amounts of food vanished into his belly. Even after consuming nearly his own bodyweight, Garoth felt no bloating, and even the urge to expel waste was negligible.

Obviously, his stomach and related digestive systems had acquired some adaptive reinforcement.

After several more hours, the speed of his feeding finally slowed.

The parts of his body that had appeared slightly dry and underfilled from the long sleep were now plump and strong again. The sheen of his scales had deepened and become more restrained. His overall life aura grew vigorous and full, reaching a new peak.

At that moment, several large dragons that had been watching quietly nearby slowly gathered around.

“Garoth, you look even more majestic than before.”

White Dragon Trixie spoke first, her tone admiring.

“Your scales have become single-layer? They do look nicer and sturdier.”

Brass-silver dragon Deborah said, scrutinizing his obsidian-like armor flecked with dark crimson veins.

“Look at your wings! There are so many intricate crimson patterns. The structure seems to have changed a lot! Let me touch them!”

The faerie dragon Vira, curious, sidled close and tried to touch Garoth’s wings with her paw.

...

White Dragon Trixie, brass-silver dragon Deborah, and faerie dragon Vira circled the red iron dragon Garoth, commenting as they carefully traced every obvious change on his body with their inner light.

They already knew Garoth was exceptional.

So this new form he revealed upon waking did not shock them like the first time; instead, they accepted it as natural progress.

Soon they agreed that Garoth now exuded even more dominance than before.

That explosively powerful body seemed a perfect fusion of strength and beauty.

Whether soaring high or standing firm on the ground, wherever Garoth stood he would instantly become the undisputed focal point, drawing every eye around him.

Meanwhile, Garoth observed his companions.

White Dragon Trixie’s physique had become noticeably stronger, her body significantly larger.

Although still not comparable to a red dragon of the same age, she had clearly surpassed ordinary blue dragons, and the cold aura around her had become more concentrated and pure; her magical control had improved.

Faerie dragon Vira remained as always—her tiny frame made any changes hard to detect. Perhaps they existed, but her miniature size made even subtle enhancements inconspicuous.

The biggest change belonged to brass-silver dragon Deborah.

Having entered full adulthood, her body had grown more slender and balanced, her spine flowing with graceful curves that combined elegance and power. Silver and honey-colored scales arranged in neat order created a dazzling, mesmerising sheen.

The elegance of a silver dragon and the lively agility of a brass dragon had perfectly merged in her.

In terms of beauty, Deborah stood out among the female great dragons Garoth knew.

Because he had been suppressed by many years of sleep, Garoth stared at her with burning eyes. His gaze was so hot it felt like it could ignite the air, making the fine scales on Deborah’s cheeks tingle with heat.

She slightly turned her head, avoiding his direct stare.

Garoth smiled and then withdrew his inner light, asking, “While I was sleeping, did the tribe encounter any major danger or thorny troubles? Anything that needs me to handle immediately?”

The dragons exchanged glances and shook their heads.

“Some storms did occur while you slept, but they were resolved.”

“Gold Dragon Nasha, the awakened Alberto, and several lords were enough to handle most crises.”

“Overall, the tribe’s development in recent years has been relatively stable.”

They reported the situation in broad strokes.

Garoth thought to himself that if he had awoken right at the tribe’s most desperate moment and, descending like a god, personally annihilated the enemy before everyone’s eyes, that would bring immense inner satisfaction.

But such a dramatic coincidence was far too unlikely.

He had slept a long time; if a crisis happened to erupt exactly when he woke and only he could solve it, that would be too contrived—enough to make him suspect a conspiracy aimed at him.

“How long did I sleep this time?”

Garoth asked.

Brass-silver dragon Deborah thought for a moment and replied precisely, “According to the continent’s common calendar, it is now Year 318. This time your slumber lasted twenty-nine years.”

That was about nine years longer than the usual youth-phase dormancy for dragons.

Garoth was not surprised. Each of his sleeps seemed longer than his peers’.

During those times he was not only raising his life level, but also undergoing adaptive evolution, so it made sense that it consumed more time.

“In that case, I’m now ninety-eight years old, two years short of officially becoming an adult.”

Garoth mused.

Stuck at this delicate age node, was this the pinnacle of his youth phase—or a half-step adult?

He mentally made a dry joke to himself.

After exchanging a few more words about recent events, Garoth said, “Later you can tell me in detail about the important things that happened while I slept.”

“Now I need to concentrate and thoroughly examine all the changes inside my body.”

The dragons nodded in understanding and slowly moved away to give Garoth enough quiet space for self-investigation.

Before leaving, Deborah looked at him deeply one more time, her inner light stirring like ripples across an autumnal pool.

Her long, graceful tail twitched as if she were pondering something, but in the end she said nothing. Her cheeks warmed once more, and then she quickly departed.

Garoth went to his private area and began to study his transformation intently.

First, he noticed that the frenzied flame within him had quieted considerably and was no longer constantly fueling his anger as it had before sleep.

However, Garoth had a clear intuition: if he concentrated his spirit, he could actively reactivate it.

He did not try that immediately.

Before doing so, he wanted to first understand the changes in his fresh blood.

Whoosh!

He inhaled deeply, his muscles tensing and swelling, and he entered Frenzied State, pushing the flow of his dragon blood to surge.

With the accelerated circulation, he distinctly felt his blood growing hotter, as if it would ignite at any moment. It was similar to the prelude of triggering Crimson Lotus Form, yet fundamentally different.

The blood approached the threshold of burning but always fell short of that final spark and could not truly flare.

He then escalated from Frenzied State to Bloodburst State, but the situation remained the same.

His blood sat in a subtle liminal state—ready to burn but not burning—which brought physiological sluggishness and irritation.

The previously dormant inner fire quietly regained activity, causing thin bloodshot veins to appear at the corners of Garoth’s eyes.

Yet, unlike before, despite the lingering restlessness he felt as if he had an aloof “third-person perspective.” His mind remained calm and clear; the physiological discomfort and the frenzied flame did not drive him irrational.

In that state, the newly roused frenzied flame quickly subsided again.

Garoth pondered for a moment, then lifted one claw clad in hard scales.

With a teeth-grating, metallic ripping sound, he used his sharp talons to slice inch by inch through his own scales on his forelimb until the flesh beneath was cut.

Scalding dragon blood immediately gushed from the wound.

But the instant the blood left his body and was exposed to the air, something strange occurred.

The blood did not drip away or run along scale grooves like ordinary liquid. Instead, it burst into flame at once. It transformed into clusters of flickering, dark-red-to-near-black blazing gas that clung to his cut scales and surged upward.

Essentially, it was a dense form of Dragon Qi.

“My blood... turns into Dragon Qi as soon as it leaves my body? And in such a condensed flame form?”

Staring at the black-red flames burning on his scales, Garoth was momentarily stunned.

Then he snapped back to himself, a dozen thoughts flashing through his mind as his thinking became unusually active.

After several repeated tests and verifications, Garoth confirmed the fact.

Once his blood left his body, it did not wastefully drip away; instead, it instantly transformed, burning into highly concentrated Dragon Qi in a flame-like form.

What thrilled him even more,

was that when he tried to reabsorb that outside Dragon Qi back into his body, it returned without obstruction and quickly condensed and converted back into scorching dragon blood, merging into his circulatory system.

The entire process formed a cycle.

Blood transformed into Dragon Qi, and Dragon Qi could reverse-transform back into blood.

It ran on and on with negligible loss.

“Blood can become Dragon Qi, and Dragon Qi can turn back into blood.”

“Is this like a blood-and-qi conversion?”

“I think I really am a bit invincible.”

“No—this isn’t just a feeling... as long as a legendary doesn’t exist, I, Garoth, am invincible! Even facing a normal legendary, I might still have a fighting chance!”

“Who can defeat me now? Who can truly kill me?!”

Garoth’s eyes glittered with intense light as unprecedented confidence and pride flooded him. His mindset inevitably swelled a little.

That lasted for only an instant.

“Calm down, must keep steady. Don’t get carried away!”

After a deep breath, his strong will steadied the emotional turbulence.

But honestly, Garoth could not imagine anyone below legendary rank truly threatening or defeating his current self,

not even himself.

If he faced a completely identical copy of himself, he could not be sure he would win.

Speed, strength, attack... those powerful attributes were still a tier below his current survival skillset.