novelraw Chapter 499: Immortality, Regeneration, Evolution, 'True' Stare Destroys Satellite
Chapter 499: Immortality, Regeneration, Evolution, 'True' Stare Destroys Satellite
The biting wind was like knives, tearing through the snow-filled curtain that filled the sky.
Boom! Boom!
Deep within the earth, muffled roars resounded, causing the entire mountain peak to tremble violently. Snow slid down the steep slopes with a rustling sound, churning up a vast, hazy white mist in the wind.
The vibrations from within grew increasingly intense.
Terrifying cracks rapidly spread upward from the mountainside, and from their depths, a dark red glow seeped out, as if molten lava flowed within.
Just then, the rumbling from within the mountain paused briefly for a moment.
A profound silence fell.
The wind and snow seemed to freeze in that instant. The distant pine forest ceased its swaying, and even the howling wind grew faint.
However, in the very next second.
CRACK!!!The entire mountain peak exploded from the inside out!
Rocks and frozen soil scattered in all directions. The dust that shot into the sky, mixed with snowflakes, instantly swallowed the mountain's silhouette.
The shockwave from the explosion spread outwards in a ring, sweeping away the surrounding snow and revealing the dark brown frozen earth beneath. Countless rocks of varying sizes were hurled high into the air, only to rain down like a black storm in all directions, striking the ground with dull thuds and leaving craters of varying depths.
And at the center of this chaos and destruction, a jagged and majestic figure tore through the billowing dust curtain with ferocious might.
It shot straight upwards against the cascading rain of stones. The moment its wings unfurled, they whipped up a hurricane, sweeping away the surrounding dust and shattered snow.
Jagged spikes pierced through the wind and snow. Black and red interwoven scales flowed with a cold, hard metallic sheen under the dim sky, every inch of its body brimming with a vast and primal sense of power.
Its wingspan exceeded a hundred meters. Each wingbeat stirred up visible shockwaves of air in the sky.
ROAR!!!
A deep, resonant dragon's roar radiated down from the high altitude, the sound waves condensing into a tangible force that rippled outwards in layers.
The swirling wind and snow were forced back and scattered. The continuous mountain ranges echoed with a dull reverberation, as if trembling at this roar that announced a return.
The Red Emperor, the Undying Dragon, the Red Flame Scourge, the Lord of Aola.
Garoth Ignas.
After more than fifty long years, this Red Iron Dragon monarch had officially awakened from his slumber. He had broken free from his shell of rock and ice, returning to the world in a brand new form.
"New power flows within me."
The Red Iron Dragon closed his eyes slightly, his massive head tilted upward, allowing the icy wind and snow to beat against his faceplate.
He stretched out both his wings and his arms simultaneously, standing upright in the sky as if embracing this beautiful, snow-clad world.
He could feel the tremor of every muscle in his body, the resonance of every bone, the searing Dragon Qi flowing beneath every scale.
From afar, the roars of a dragon horde gradually began to be heard.
It was the dragons who followed him, responding to the awakening of their monarch.
The roars came from all directions, some high-pitched and sharp, others low and resonant, intertwining into a magnificent symphony... They were celebrating the return of their king, expressing respect and loyalty in the most ancient way.
But aside from that, the dragons did not come to disturb him.
They understood well that their king had just awakened from a long slumber and needed time to familiarize himself with his own changes and adapt to his awakened state.
A minute later, the Red Iron Dragon slowly opened his eyes.
His eyelids lifted gradually, revealing the brilliant, starlight-like radiance within.
Within those dragon pupils, it seemed as if galaxies spun and nebulae flowed, with countless points of light shimmering and swirling in the profound darkness.
This radiance lasted for several seconds before gradually receding inward. Yet, his dragon pupils still appeared vast and profound, like a starry sky reflected in a deep pool, containing endless mysteries.
This was the True Eye that belonged to Garoth.
Piercing through obstacles, seeing through illusions, super-long-range vision, identifying traps, discerning weaknesses... The effects of these eyes were stronger and more diverse than the legendary item that had guided the beginning of their evolution.
It was no longer a tool that required energy consumption to use. It had become a part of Garoth's body, as natural as breathing.
It was perfectly adapted to Garoth himself, not an external object.
This meant it had no usage limitations, would not cause backlash, and would grow stronger as he grew.
Garoth turned his head, his True Eye sweeping across his surroundings.
His gaze pierced through the swirling snow curtain, clearly seeing a herd of snow deer running along a ridge dozens of kilometers away.
He also saw burrower worms hibernating deep in the frozen earth, curled up in their burrows. He saw ice crystal moss slowly growing in the crevices of rock layers, saw ice crystal particles floating in the thin air above the clouds, and could even see the distant expanse of space.
The world became unprecedentedly clear in his eyes.
Every detail was magnified and analyzed. Information flooded into his mind like a tide, yet it was efficiently categorized and processed, causing no burden.
Immediately, Garoth turned his attention to the changes within himself.
Compared to before his slumber, his body length had grown from around forty meters to a full forty-six meters.
These six meters of growth might not seem like much, but for a dragon, especially under the restrictions of the Material Plane's rules, every bit of growth in size signified a substantial increase in power.
If he were to use his Colossus Stance again, his size could already surpass the seventy-meter mark.
This was already an extremely rare behemoth within the Material Plane.
If he were in an Outer Plane, like the Astral Plane, a creature's size could easily break through kilometers, even tens of kilometers.
The rules there were looser, and there was almost no upper limit to a creature's size. Any power could be exerted more easily.
But in the Material Plane, due to its rules, once a creature's size reached a certain point, further growth became extremely difficult. This was the world's own balancing mechanism, preventing overly massive existences from damaging the Material Plane's structure.
Even an Ancient Red Dragon, in its normal state within the Material Plane, would only have a size of around fifty meters.
Even when activating certain special combat stances, it would be difficult to exceed a hundred meters within the Material Plane.
"My Colossus Stance... if I were in an Outer Plane, perhaps I could directly transform into a kilometer-level, even ten-kilometer-level colossus."
Garoth thought to himself.
Legendary beings were actually also suppressed within the Material Plane.
He knew that if he were in the Astral Plane, a Legendary Dragon could display a truly sky-covering, sun-blocking form, capable of crushing asteroids with a single claw.
But that was, after all, an Outer Plane.
The rules of the Material Plane were like a tight-fitting garment, exerting pressure and restrictions on the powerful.
This was also why some legendary or even stronger Immortal existences chose to go to the Outer Planes instead of remaining in the Material Plane.
According to some legends who had been to the Outer Planes, once you experienced the thrill of unleashing your power freely there, it became difficult to endure the invisible suppression of the Material Plane.
"The Outer Planes... I will personally experience their sights sooner or later, but not now."
Garoth gathered his thoughts and lowered his gaze to look at his own claws.
This slumber, his evolution had mainly focused on his eyes and claws. Aside from his size, his outward appearance hadn't changed much.
His scales were still interwoven black and red, his spikes still jagged and sharp.
Aside from his eyes, the main changes were in the position of his claws.
First, a circle of silver patterns encircled his wrists. At first glance, it looked like he was wearing some kind of ornament, but in reality, it was a natural pattern that had evolved and grown from his scales.
Each of his hooked claws, the sharpest first knuckle, had transformed into a crystalline texture.
From the base upwards, it faded from a deep black to a dark red, becoming almost transparent at the very tip, yet gleaming with an indestructible, cold light.
When he stretched out his claws, a feeling arose as if he could grasp all things in existence within them.
The surrounding space would immediately become solidified.
Just like the True Eye, Garoth's pair of sharp claws had also evolved into his own Spell-Extinguishing Claws.
He could feel the subtle sensation transmitted from his claw tips, that was contact with space itself.
After observing and examining his claws for a moment, he turned to observe his own state.
Having just awakened from a long slumber, the Red Iron Dragon's aura was strong, yet it also carried a sense of weakness. It was a manifestation of bodily functions not being fully restored after a long period of stillness. The flow of Dragon Qi through his meridians was still somewhat sluggish, and the strength of his muscles also needed time to readjust.
But even so, his life level had solidly reached level 25, placing him in the high-level legendary tier.
High-level, Crowned, Fate...
The reason these were small thresholds was because upon reaching the corresponding level, according to the legendary life's past experiences, combat style, beliefs, and path, their traits would undergo further changes, not merely an accumulation of power.
During this long slumber, Garoth had forged several brand new traits.
These traits were not arbitrarily bestowed. They were the crystallization of his past experiences, the essence of his countless battles, brushes with death, struggles, and evolutions.
Time and time again, he had approached the brink of death infinitely, yet remained alive in this world due to the existence of the Dragon Pearl.
This experience of repeatedly teetering on the edge of life and death had forged — Undying Life!
[No matter what kind of injury you suffer, no matter what restrictions exist, even if your body is torn asunder, even if there are skills inhibiting resurrection, you can still revive at least once through the Dragon Pearl.]
Obtaining this trait meant he had patched up another weakness.
Previously, his Dragon Pearl, while powerful, was not truly undying.
Methods like decapitation could still kill him, preventing him from triggering the Dragon Pearl.
But now, Garoth was different.
From now on, even if an enemy cut off his head, they could not kill him in one go.
His revival, which had previously activated when he was infinitely close to death, had now become a revival from true death. He would inevitably return from death.
Moreover, spells or other effects that attempted to restrict his revival would have difficulty taking effect on him.
"This trait is similar to Born from Death; both are born from the Dragon Pearl."
"All along, my true capital of strength has always been the traits I evolved, my evolutionary talent, not my Domain or traits. They are merely embellishments."
Garoth silently thought to himself.
He had always been clear about the source of his strength.
Domains and traits were certainly important, but those were things most legendary powerhouses could obtain.
Only his innate evolutionary talent was his true trump card.
"Of course, aside from talent, my own efforts are also crucial."
He added another sentence in his mind.
Talent was just the starting point. His current achievements were the result of both talent and effort combined.
Immediately, Garoth continued to sense his other traits.
Having suffered countless injuries of all kinds, yet always recovering.
This experience of constantly self-repairing amidst pain and injury coalesced into — Rapid Regeneration!
[Your injuries can heal and regenerate at a visible speed by consuming Dragon Qi. You can choose whether or not to regenerate.]
In his early years, Garoth had undergone targeted training regarding the speed of injury recovery, hoping to obtain a regeneration-type trait.
For example, deliberately taking damage to observe the healing process of wounds, or trying to stimulate wounds with Dragon Qi to accelerate healing.
But perhaps because he had taken the wrong direction, while his body grew increasingly strong, continuously improving in toughness and damage resistance, in terms of recovery speed, aside from those counter-damage spikes, other areas never reached the level of regenerating during combat.
And now, he had obtained a regeneration-type trait.
For a dragon whose body was already tough and powerful, this was a very rare trait.
For a dragon's body, regeneration was far more difficult than for ordinary creatures. Therefore, the vast majority of dragons did not possess regenerative abilities. They relied on powerful defenses and vitality to withstand damage, and on slumber to heal and recover.
For Garoth, this was also a decent trait.
While he could perform Qi and blood conversion, and also had abilities like Unending Regeneration that provided continuous energy recovery, these were all recoveries on the energy level, not regeneration on the physical body level.
When he suffered too many injuries, he could gain greater destructive power through Unyielding Perseverance, but he would also inevitably become somewhat more fragile.
Wounds would not disappear; broken bones would not mend.
However, the reason it was called decent, not strong, was because its regeneration speed was limited.
Garoth extended a sharp claw and dragged it heavily across the scales of his left arm, leaving a long, torn wound.
Under his control, the muscles at the wound's edge began to writhe. Flesh buds grew and interwove at a visible speed, gradually closing the gash.
The entire process lasted about ten seconds. The wound, including the scales, was completely healed.
Only, the newly grown scales were slightly lighter in color.
"This speed... is of limited use in intense legendary combat."
Garoth assessed.
Ten seconds was enough time for many things to happen in legendary-level combat.
Regrowing a severed limb would require even more time. If it were a fatal injury, the regeneration speed probably couldn't keep up with the speed of death.
But regardless, it was better than nothing.
Moreover, in a non-combat state, it could greatly shorten recovery time.
"More importantly, through this kind of regeneration, perhaps it can stimulate my talent, producing adaptive evolution, which could then form Super-Speed Regeneration. If it could reach the level of regrowing severed limbs in the blink of an eye in the future... that would be equivalent to having the Dragon Pearl permanently active."
Garoth pondered.
Rapid Regeneration possessed decent potential, awaiting development.
And the last trait was also the trait Garoth valued the most.
Multiple battles, multiple adaptations and evolutions.
The experience of breaking through his own limits at the brink of life and death constructed — Eternal War, Eternal Progress!
[War never ceases, evolution has no end.]
[You can quickly adapt to various states during intense combat, gaining temporary adaptive power. And after the battle ends, you gain a small portion of permanent improvement.]
This was, in the truest sense, "what does not kill me makes me stronger."
Garoth could feel the essence of this trait.
It wasn't merely a passive effect; it was more like a description of a state of life.
His body remembered every battle, every injury, every feeling of breaking through limits.
When facing a similar situation again, his body would instinctively make optimized responses, temporarily strengthening muscle structure, energy flow, neural reactions, and so on, to better cope with the current situation.
And after the battle ended, a small portion of these temporary adjustments would be solidified, becoming permanent improvements.
Among all of Garoth's traits, the gold content of this trait ranked at the top.
It was directly linked to his evolutionary talent, one could say it was a manifestation of his talent.
With this trait, every one of his battles would be genuine growth.
However, it required intense combat, and the attributes gained during combat were temporary, with only a small portion becoming permanent afterwards. It also had significant limitations itself.
If the combat wasn't intense enough, adaptation wouldn't be triggered. If the enemy was too weak, a crushing victory wouldn't have much effect. The proportion of permanent improvement wasn't high either.
But regardless, it couldn't change the fact of its power.
Anything related to evolution and permanence would not be weak.
"Most importantly, evolutionary traits and my evolutionary talent can stimulate each other, making each other grow stronger and stronger."
"Moreover, according to inherited descriptions, when a legendary life reaches Crowned and Fate levels, aside from gaining new traits, their original traits will be integrated or further enhanced."
Traits stimulate talent, talent produces new traits, new traits may in turn catalyze new traits...
This was a positive cycle, like stepping on one's own foot to climb higher step by step.
Garoth had a strong premonition.
The predicament that other creatures faced—the harder it became to improve the further they progressed—might not exist before him.
Through the mutual enhancement of traits and talent, his growth speed would remain extremely fast. While it might not compare to the rapid leaps and bounds of lower levels, it would definitely far surpass that of his peers.
Unfortunately, compared to those top-tier short-lived race geniuses, it still fell short.
During his slumber, Garoth still had a trace of subconsciousness observing the changes in the world through Beneath the Dragon Throne, and thus he knew of Reinhardt's existence.
A human body, not even a fraction of a dragon's lifespan, yet had reached a level many dragons found difficult to achieve even after centuries.
A legendary at eighteen... This was something completely impossible for a dragon.
But Garoth wasn't envious either.
A life too young, not tempered by time, lacking experience, possessing overly strong talent wasn't necessarily a good thing.
Geniuses like Reinhardt were like meteors streaking across the night sky, brilliant but possibly fleeting.
History had too many such examples. Short-lived races with exceptional talent advanced by leaps and bounds in their youth, but due to a lack of accumulation, they made mistakes at some critical juncture and ultimately fell.
As a dragon, a long life was also an important asset.
Time not only accumulated power but also wisdom, experience, and understanding of the world.
A legendary who was too young, even with the best talent, would often have traits that were not comprehensive or profound enough. At the same level, they would find it difficult to compete with a dragon who had experienced long years.
"Now I have a total of fifteen traits."
"Eight basic traits like Superspeed, Colossal Strength, physical and magical resistance... some other legendary dragons might possess similar ones, just with different intensities and emphases. But the other seven mechanism-type traits all belong to the ranks of rare and powerful traits."
Garoth calculated in his mind.
Colossus Stance, Unending Regeneration, Born from Death, Unyielding Perseverance, Undying Life, Rapid Regeneration, Eternal War Eternal Progress.
Each of these traits, taken alone, was enough to give a legendary powerhouse an advantage at the same level. And Garoth had seven in total!
However, compared to traits, Garoth was actually more concerned with the traits he had evolved himself.
That was his own evolution, a more fundamental, more essential change. On the foundation of these traits, his Domain, traits, and his own path skills could be better utilized.
Thus, he gazed toward the peak of a mountain, concentrating his attention, focusing his vision.
From top to bottom, the thick mountain body became transparent in his eyes.
The texture of the rock, the distribution of mineral veins, even the flow of underground rivers... all internal structures were clearly visible, as if looking at a transparent model. And this process placed almost no burden on him, as natural as an ordinary person taking a careful look at something.
Suddenly, a burning sensation came from his eyes.
"This is the aftereffect that would only occur after using the legendary item for a period of time before. Could the evolution have failed?"
Garoth was slightly taken aback, but immediately rejected this thought.
The results of his evolution sometimes surprised him, differing from his original intention. But so far, there had never been an example of negative evolution.
Every one of his evolutions had been positive, an enhancement of his own abilities.
While the direction might have deviated somewhat, it would never fail or be harmful to himself.
"Could it be... let's test it first."
An idea surfaced in Garoth's mind. He continued to focus his vision, allowing the burning sensation to fill his eyes.
His eyeballs grew hotter and hotter, as if two balls of fire were burning in their sockets.
His vision began to distort. The surrounding world seemed to be covered by a filter of heat waves, but Garoth did not look away. He focused intently on that mountain, concentrating all his attention into his eyes.
Finally, when the heat sensation reached its peak.
BOOM!
Without any warning, an extremely violent eruption of Dragon Qi flames burst forth at the spot where Garoth's vision was focused.
It didn't fly in from outside, nor was it spat from his mouth.
It appeared out of thin air, instantly enveloping the entire mountaintop before violently exploding.
The mountaintop was completely shattered. The shattered rocks hadn't even scattered before being melted into a lava-like state by the high temperature, then cooling into black, glassy fragments in the air.
Garoth blinked, his eyes revealing astonishment.
He turned his head to look elsewhere.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
One after another, eruptions of Dragon Qi flames bloomed out of thin air, like fireworks blossoming in a snowy day.
"So I can... kill people directly with my gaze now? Interesting."
"Wait, it seems I can also do this."
Light flickered in the Red Iron Dragon's eyes as he focused his vision on the interior of a mountain, not its surface.
He wanted to see where the explosion would occur if the focal point was inside an object.
BOOM!
The entire mountain suddenly trembled violently. Numerous cracks appeared on its surface, and rubble tumbled down. Meanwhile, inside, at the mountain's core, a huge cavity was blasted out.
BOOM! BOOM!
The sky, the earth, the mountains... intense commotion continuously sounded, one after another.
Garoth was like a child who had gotten a new toy, full of interest, testing the limits of this skill to his heart's content. He tried different focusing methods, different Dragon Qi output intensities, different target distances and materials.
A long time later, the commotion temporarily ceased.
The Red Iron Dragon had roughly figured out the situation of this skill.
In short, it was an eye-attack skill that transformed his own Dragon Qi into explosive flames through gazing and focusing his vision. It was one of the effects of his True Eye.
As long as he could see it, he could attack it.
Anywhere he could see, he could attack from a distance, including the interiors of objects he saw through his True Eye.
Moreover, it didn't cause elemental reactions or magical energy fluctuations. One could say it was completely without warning, able to evade the vast majority of perceptions. Unless the target had prophecy-type skills or extremely keen danger intuition, they might sense the danger the moment Garoth focused his gaze.
In terms of range, it was theoretically unlimited.
Anywhere Garoth could gaze upon, he could make Dragon Qi bloom out of thin air.
The range of the True Eye's vision was the range of this skill's attack distance.
Garoth could now clearly see the outlines of mountain peaks hundreds of kilometers away. If he spent some time continuously focusing his gaze, he could even see the distant expanse of space.
However, the further the distance of the attack, the higher the consumption of his Dragon Qi.
Dragon Qi needed to be projected across space to the target location. The further the distance, the consumption increased exponentially.
He tried focusing his gaze, staring into space, and then performing a long-range eye-attack.
The result was that even with Garoth's vast Dragon Qi reserves, a massive amount was instantly vaporized, while the attack's effect was minimal.
Moreover, even at close range, its maximum power effect couldn't compare to one of Garoth's serious strikes.
The biggest disadvantage was that, based on Garoth's understanding of Domains, it most likely couldn't directly pass through a Domain. But if the target's Domain had gaps, cracks, or weak points, there was a chance to directly attack its interior.
"If it's a frontal confrontation, this skill can only be used as a surprise attack. It can't pose much danger to a legendary life that has mastered a Domain. You need to first open a gap in the Domain."
"However, a legendary's Domain isn't always in an active state."
Activating a Domain requires continuous consumption of energy and mental power. No legendary powerhouse would keep their Domain active around the clock.
Most of the time, they only deploy their Domains during combat, alert states, or special environments.
"If I know the target's location in advance, I can perform ultra-long-range targeting and then attack from a distance."
"As long as the target hasn't activated their Domain, or their Domain doesn't completely cover their entire body, there will always be times when they let their guard down. For example, when resting, meditating, or engaging in some unguarded activity."
"Without a Domain for protection, fragile legendary beings like rangers, mages, assassins... as long as they appear within my line of sight... even if they don't die, they'll be severely crippled."
Garoth revealed a satisfied smile.
All along, he had lacked some reliable long-range attack methods.
Now, a long-range attack method had arrived, and its range exceeded imagination, almost impossible to defend against.
"If it continues to evolve, perhaps one day, it could truly develop to the point of glaring and exploding a space satellite."
Garoth wagged his tail, thinking happily.
He knew that was still far off, but not impossible. The traits he himself evolved would grow as he grew. The various effects of the True Eye would gradually be optimized.
In the future, the exaggerated legends about him, the Red Emperor, would no longer be exaggerations, but reality.