Defeating the World with the Power of One Dragon!

Chapter 234: Battle Dragon Advancement, Six Major Paths (Key Chapter)

"Garoth, why are you asking so much about Elina? She’s my princess. You can’t compete with me over her. If you like her, wait until the Federation descends into chaos and go take someone from another kingdom," Iron Dragon Gordon warned cautiously.

Hearing this foolish remark, the red iron dragon stifled a laugh. "I’m not interested in the princess herself, but in the interests she represents. Gordon, don’t reveal our existence to Princess Elina yet."

Gordon visibly relaxed.

Garoth thought for a moment and said, "Your current task is to play the part you’re in now. Do your best to please Princess Elina, build her trust in you, make her feel the steadiness and reliability of dragons. When the time is right, I’ll tell you exactly what to do."

The Federation was on edge—tensions between nations tightening—but it hadn’t shattered yet. Under the present circumstances, marching in and offering cooperation directly to Princess Elina might not win sufficient attention. It was better to wait until war flared, until multiple powers rose and internal chaos was a foregone conclusion. Then hand Princess Elina a 'knife'—give her a fuse that could set off a prairie fire. At that point, even if the cost was enormous, she would most likely recklessly seize the chance.

Besides, the Molten Iron Tribe now occupied the convergence lands, a remote area unnoticed by most nations. They weren’t yet qualified to carve out a share from the Federation’s internal strife.

"At the very least, we need to become the rulers of the convergence lands and then return to the Ser Wilderness," Garoth thought.

It had been more than a decade since they were driven from the Ser Wilderness to the convergence lands by the Federation. Garoth didn’t have any deep sentimental attachment to the wilderness, nor a stubborn insistence to develop there, but purely from an interest perspective, the wilderness was richer in resources. Returning there would make more sense than cowering in the convergence lands forever.

A glint of ambition flashed in the red iron dragon’s pupils. Enduring in hiding was only to reveal oneself at the most opportune moment. The Federation’s internal turmoil would be the best time to achieve grand designs. Garoth believed that not only he but many other dormant, ambitious powerful beings would choose to show their claws then, exploiting the chaos to snatch resources.

For instance, Garoth’s red dragon father. A chaotic, evil middle-aged red dragon—if he were still alive, once he learned of the Federation’s internal turmoil, given a red dragon’s vengeful nature, he would seize the opportunity to brutally strike back at the Federation. Many creatures who once had to tolerate the Federation out of caution would likely do the same."We need to take the other tribes as soon as possible," Garoth thought. "When the flames of war start, I must be fully prepared."

"Mission will be completed!" At the same time, Iron Dragon Gordon vowed solemnly.

After giving Gordon a few more details to watch for, and after a few minutes of idle chat between the Ignas siblings, Sorog’s spiritual energy had been spent. This ‘group chat’ meeting was temporarily ended.

"Sorog, go to the Venomtail Tribe as soon as possible and probe their attitude," Garoth’s serious, low voice sounded in Sorog’s mind through the Bloodkin Chain.

Using himself as the relay and letting several Bloodkin Chains interconnect consumed a lot of spiritual energy, but single-line communication didn’t drain much, and Sorog could handle it now.

"Alright, leave this to me." Sorog responded.

Garoth lightly tapped his forehead and ended the bloodline conversation.

"They’re both iron dragons, yet the temperament difference between Sorog and Gordon is like they’re two different species," he mused with some feeling. He thought, "Individual differences are huge; the collective impressions passed down by inheritance might have some truth, but you can’t fully trust them—otherwise you’ll suffer for it sooner or later."

Garoth was never omniscient—he admitted he would make oversights and mistakes, and sometimes be careless. For example, he had once been fooled by the Silver Dragon’s smiling face and nearly gotten pummeled. But Garoth’s strength lay in his ability to summarize and reflect on his own problems, unlike many dragons or most intelligent beings who blame the outside world and never acknowledge their own flaws, remaining stuck.

"Rest’s about done." The red iron dragon stretched, a metallic clinking sound coming from his body.

He turned to look at Deborah and saw the brass-silver dragon sprawled on a cliff slab, her long tail hanging in midair and gently swaying left and right. She had no intention of getting up.

He glanced at the sun hanging high in the sky. Garoth was ready to start a new round of training, but as he took his first step he suddenly felt a surge inside his body. He stopped and carefully sensed himself, realizing his Dragon Qi had reached thirty-nine percent.

That meant his Battle Dragon level was now 3.9—level 3 at near-completion, half a step to level 4.

"Dragon Qi at 3.9... I need to choose a Battle Dragon branch now," Garoth thought.

Normally, a Battle Dragon should choose a specific path upon reaching level 3, but he had put it off because he had no clear idea. The branching paths were the routes for future advancement. For regular martial monks, after level 3 there were many routes to pick: the Lifeflow Sect, which allowed rapid self-healing; the Solar Soul Sect, whose energy blazed like the sun; the Divine Dragon Sect, imitating dragon postures; the Four Elements Sect, manipulating elements through 'qi'; the Sparring Sect, which refined combat arts to the extreme; the Shadow Sect, pursuing stealth and mystic arts; the Eternal Death Sect, studying death for lethal combat; the Drunken Fist Sect, with unpredictable, erratic techniques; the Star-Self Sect, which condensed qi into invisible avatars as substitutes for combat.

But for Battle Dragons, which derived from martial monks, the three routes of Divine Dragon, Lifeflow, and Drunken Fist didn’t exist. Garoth had to choose from six Battle Dragon paths: Four Elements Dragon, Solar Soul Dragon, Sparring Dragon, Shadow Dragon, Eternal Death Dragon, and Star-Self Dragon, and specialize accordingly.

"I want them all, but greed only leads to overreach," he sighed.

Attempting to cultivate multiple paths at once would stall his Battle Dragon level, making advancement difficult. The right way was to pick one path first, then, when his level had climbed very high and progress stalled, consider cross-cultivating other paths. Dragons live long; ancient dragons, primordial dragons, and archaic dragons generally hold multiple roles and cultivate several paths, so when they fight creatures of lower lifespans they can usually crush them. But for now Garoth needed to deliberate carefully based on his current state and future plans.

"There are mainly two directions in front of me," he thought. "One is to continue strengthening my combat stats, pushing those numbers to the limit. The other is to expand my repertoire with a path that offers unique mechanics."

After deep thought, he favored the mechanical paths. His base stats were already high and growing with training, but his evolutionary talents made evolving special mechanics difficult. Combining a profession’s mechanics with his raw stats might create some marvelous effects.

With that realization his mind cleared. "If prioritizing mechanics, then the Four Elements Dragon, Eternal Death Dragon, or Star-Self Dragon are the three choices."

The Four Elements Dragon’s mechanics were straightforward—mastery of elements through qi, creating effects similar to elemental spells. Four Elements Battle Dragon was also the most visually spectacular path, with the most skills: Winter Breath, Chaotic Thunder Claws, Mountain’s Sanctuary, Windstep, Purestream Whip, Wind-Spirit Charge, Flaming Strike... Unfortunately, even when wielding elements, Battle Dragon skills tend to use elements to enhance attack or defense—essentially extensions of close combat. Still, controlling four elements meant having counters against any elemental enemy, making Garoth’s skill set very well-rounded.

Different from Four Elements, the Eternal Death and Star-Self paths had fewer skills but each was extremely powerful.

"Eternal Death Battle Dragon can be summed up as: death like a breeze, always at my side," Garoth considered. "Its skills all relate to death."

"Rebirth Curse: when you kill a target you draw out their life energy to temporarily raise your maximum life—another layer of defense."

"Grip of Life and Death: control over a moment of life and death—when life hits zero, if Dragon Qi remains, you can convert Dragon Qi into life and explode outward."

"Eternal Death Touch... attacks carry death energy. Against creatures whose life strength is below a certain threshold compared to you, the attack instantly kills—an immediate one-hit slay."

Eternal Death Dragon’s skills were potent. The problem: this path sought strength through repeatedly approaching death and comprehending the truth of death to maximize skill effects. Undoubtedly a dangerous path. Garoth admired its skills, but he was certain he would not recklessly engage in death duels and constantly court death—one slip and he’d die for real.

"Star-Self Dragon... this path is interesting—like substitute attacks," he mused. "At the start a Star-Self Dragon can condense star-self arms invisible to the naked eye—qi-clone arms that add extra attacks, launching surprise frenzied assaults. You can overlay these star arms with your real arms to instantly boost burst."

"At level 6 you obtain Star-Self Appearance. In this state you gain true sight; attacks become more precise and all senses improve comprehensively."

"There’s also Star-Self Body, which acts like an invisible armor. When suffering corrosive acid, freezing, flame, force fields, internal electricity, thunder... various damage types can be blocked or even reflected."

"After level 17 Dragon Qi can condense into a complete clone that can leave the body or be merged with the original for combat."

Four Elements Dragon, Eternal Death Dragon, and Star-Self Dragon—each offered unique mechanics. After a moment’s thought, Garoth didn’t make a final decision. In truth there was no need to overly agonize—time was on his side. He would eventually master skills from all these paths; for now he just had to choose one as his major.

Garoth thought: "There’s still some time before I break through to level 4. During that interval I’ll make the final decision between Four Elements and Star-Self."

Being cautious and life-valuing, Garoth immediately ruled out the Eternal Death path. Choosing it would not merely be becoming a Battle Dragon but a Death Duelist.

Collecting his spirit, the red iron dragon activated his Alchemical Tools and opened the super-heavy field state to face the sunlight as he began a new round of training.