Evil dragon has a warm heart

On his forehead, two flashes of gold and purple lightning shone brilliantly.

In the heart of the Meltdown Volcano, Russell and the Harpies Hape stood on the solidified lava, facing each other in a mutual quest for inner truth.

The Phantom Dragon, as the name suggests, is like a dream, illusory.

The essence of a Pseudo-Dragon’s promotion to Phantom Dragon is a spiritual baptism. Extraordinary power is not solely material, but also of the mind. Only when the spirit and body are both perfected can one transcend the ordinary, break the shackles of the Dragon Breath Tier, and ascend to the Dragon Flame Tier.

To reach the ultimate pinnacle of pure strength on the Dragon Sleep Continent.

"Polly could do it, so can I!" Hape stared into Russell’s eyes, her quirky hair swaying gently.

Russell asked, "Hape, why do you always compare yourself to Polly? You are independent individuals. No one compares you side by side, and besides, you don’t care about others comparing you, do you?"

"I don’t know, but I just can’t stand to lose."

"In your heart, there is definitely a thought that you haven’t fully grasped, just like how Polly once locked her heart away because of her mother."

"I don’t know. I’ve tried to figure it out on many nights, but my memories hold no such complexes. I have parents, normal Owl-Like Dragons, and I grew up in the Greentown Garden Cold Spring Point, until my promotion to Pseudo-Harpy Dragon."

Compared to the Sacred Unicorn Polly, Hape’s "life" was quite fulfilled, without any regrets.

So after a heart-to-heart,

Russell shook his head helplessly, "It seems that we definitely won’t find the opportunity to ascend to Phantom Dragon through self-reflection."

Then he asked Hape, "Have you gained anything during your time in the Meltdown Volcano?"

"From the churning magma to its solidification, the volcano from eruption to death, the temperature from scalding to cooling... In the Meltdown Volcano, I have come to understand the true essence of power," Hape responded clearly, "Accumulation, eruption, decline, death... much like our lifetimes."

In this moment, Hape was like a philosopher.

Russell opened his mouth and suddenly said, "Sometimes I wonder, Hape, if I’m holding you back... With your insight and understanding, maybe you should have ascended to Phantom Dragon long ago."

"Not at all," Hape tilted her head, "I’m still lacking something. By learning from your retelling of Polly’s ascension experience, I know to ascend to Phantom Dragon, I am always lacking an opportunity, an opportunity I must find myself."

Russell thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps, what we lack is a bit of pressure from danger."

"Possibly, but the benefits of danger are mostly in the form of pressure, using it to break free," Hape said. "I don’t need a life-and-death crisis to create pressure for myself, but opportunities are hard to find."

Creating pressure for herself was something Hape excelled at.

But this made Russell increasingly feel as if he didn’t have a role to play. He wasn’t involved in the ascension of either the Nightmare Beast or the Ouroboros Snake to Pseudo-Dragon. If Hape ascended to Phantom Dragon, his involvement wouldn’t be needed either... That was a bit disheartening.

All of a sudden,

A spark flashed through his mind, and looking at Hape’s quivering hair, he said, "Hape, I think you might have overlooked something."

"What?"

"Polly ascended to Pseudo-Dragon by overcoming the Life and Death Dragon Tribulation on her own, while you, in ascending to Pseudo-Dragon, relied on the ancestral horn of Pseudo-Dragon to comprehend the tribulation. In other words, the opportunity you lack might be to make up for this shortcut."

Hearing this, Hape was taken aback, then murmured in her heart, "Could it be that I really need to face a life-and-death situation?"

"It doesn’t necessarily have to be that violent, but without a doubt, you need to fill this gap. Perhaps returning to the Greentown Garden Cold Spring Point, where you can reflect on the warmth left by your ancestors, might provide some inspiration," Russell offered his advice.

This immediately resonated with Hape, "Alright, I’ll go to the Greentown Garden Cold Spring Point to find inspiration!"

"Then let’s set out!"

The next moment, Hape turned into a whirling Gang Wind, branding herself on Russell’s forehead, while Russell connected with the purple lightning mark on his forehead and cast Quiet Dream teleportation.

In the blink of an eye.

People had already appeared at Cigar Manor.

Hape revealed her figure, bid farewell, and directly flew off to Greentown Snow Forest. Russell didn’t follow her; there were some things that Hape needed to work on by herself. After all, Hape only needed to focus on advancing to a Phantom Dragon, while Russell had too many things to busy himself with.

Three months passed, and April arrived.

With it, the Warm Season also came, and the ice and snow in the Warm Enclave began to melt, and once again, the power of the Snowfield started to wane.

This gave all the kingdoms a chance to catch their breath.

The Ice Age had ended, and the chances of Frost Snow Giants causing trouble also greatly diminished. During the Thunder Voice Conference, the kings and grand dukes of the various countries all breathed a sigh of relief.

"The Tri-Dragon Sacrifice Method has failed." A few days later, King Ares announced the news amidst the thunder.

With a thought, Russell teleported to the Golden Palace.

"Your Majesty, what exactly went wrong with the Tri-Dragon Sacrifice Method?" he asked, getting straight to the point.

King Ares shook his head and sighed, "Hope is fragile... Scorching tried to force its hope to move by sacrificing two clusters of hope, but alas, just as it was about to touch upon the domain beyond the elements, even before reaching the ancient times, it fell back into reality from hope." 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Is there no chance left?"

"None," King Ares’s eyes flitted with a defeated look before he spoke firmly, "Now we can only wait and see if the other kings will execute this sacrifice method... I will summarize the failure and send it to the Thunder Voice Conference."

They were just chatting.

Before long, a servant hurried in: "Your Majesty, urgent thunder message from the frontier: the Frost Snow Giants Legion is approaching the glacier ravine, and Baron Ice Bear requests to activate the Scale Tower. Moreover, he said he saw new Snow Giants!"

"Snow Giants? They dare to invade the Scorching Torrent Kingdom?" King Ares slammed the table and stood up, "How audacious!"

He then looked at Russell, "Let Torrent and the Shadowflame Dragon first withstand the Frost Snow Giants’ invasion; I will head there myself right away."

"The Shadowflame will surely appear on time," Russell nodded, "I will head back first then. If the situation becomes dire, Your Majesty can send me a thunder message at any time, and I will rush over to assist as quickly as possible."

"Haha, rest assured, it’s just the Frost Snow Giants. I, Ares, want to use this opportunity to vent some of the frustration in my heart!" King Ares got up and strode out of the side hall, calling for the Fiery Dragon to go into battle.

Russell glanced at the Fiery Dragon puffing out thick smoke; despite the failed comprehension of hope, its strength had not diminished.

This eased his mind.

The Little Dream Dragon had not yet erupted from the volcano, and he didn’t want to see King Ares fall—after all, King Ares would be a competent assistant in the future.

Using Quiet Dream Teleportation, he returned to Red Castle.

Immediately, Russell entered the Shadowflame Volcano and saw the Shadowflame Dragon assuming a battle stance.

"Shadowflame, are you preparing to congregate your virtual shadows?"

"Torrent, that bandit, has been attacked at his doorstep, if Shadowflame doesn’t go to his rescue, there will be no chance to pummel him personally later on," the Shadowflame Dragon’s tone was always arrogant, "Russell, you wait here in the volcano."

"You go ahead," Russell nodded his head.

Then he saw a faint halo emanating from the Shadowflame Dragon’s body, closing its eyes, evidently beginning to control his virtual shadow.

Moments later.

The light on the Shadowflame Dragon’s body dissipated, and its eyes reopened; a gurgling magic dragon language resonated, "It’s Shuang He, the one who killed the Old Melting Fire Dragon, leading the Snow Troll Legion, overwhelming the virtual shadows of both Shadowflame and Bandit Flood."

"Shuang He?" Russell was surprised.

But he quickly came to terms, "I see, the Molten Fire Duchy has already fallen, and Shuang He would indeed change his target... I’ll go to the Golden Palace first and then to the glacier ravine to support King Ares."

"Shadowflame, take a breather before you congregate your virtual shadows again... See you on the battlefield."

"See you on the battlefield."