Chapter 157: Ancestral White Dragon

As time passed, the simple snowflake-shaped mark grew increasingly faint until it sank into the White Dragon's forehead and vanished.

Once the mark disappeared, the Winter Empress, who had been waiting to the side, glanced at the three Winter Commanders, gave a nod, and opened a Portal to leave.

The departure of the Winter Empress served as a signal. The Winter Commanders left one after another, leaving only the massive White Dragon to sleep quietly in the vast hall of the Winter Temple.

The slumbering White Dragon radiated an astonishing chill. With his every steady breath, a white frost permeated the air, blanketing the area around him.

The great white beast was faintly visible through the ethereal mist. Fortunately, he was inside the Winter Temple; the building's special materials absorbed all the ice energy, keeping the floors and pillars from freezing over.

Had the White Dragon Lord been in Nordhill, the terrifying cold he emitted would have been enough to alter the climate of a small region.

The sun set, the moon rose, and the stars faded in an endless cycle.

As time slipped by, the sleeping White Dragon grew even more massive. Even curled into a ball, his length reached a staggering 12 meters.

Finally, one night many years later, the slumbering behemoth's eyelids twitched.

His wrinkled white eyelids parted, and the protective membranes over his eyes retracted. His vertical, golden dragon pupils flashed with radiant light.

Newly roused from his sleep, the first thing the White Dragon Lord did was survey his surroundings, finding himself still in the center of the Winter Temple's great hall.

Gaining control of his body, he stood up. His bones popped and cracked loudly from prolonged inactivity.

A Dragon's precise biological clock told Amos that he had been asleep for ten years.

But the White Dragon Lord did not care about the lost time, because it had all been worth it. Spurred by the success of the Bloodline Advancement Ritual, his body had been stimulated into an early slumber, stepping into the Adult Stage.

Moreover, thanks to the abundant elemental energy supplied by the elemental siphon and the transformative effects of his ancestral dragon bloodline, Amos had not severely depleted his body's energy reserves this time.

Now, the White Dragon boasted bulging muscles beneath his streamlined frame, brimming with explosive power.

Amos carefully inspected his newly matured body. His scales, which had once been a brilliant, gleaming white, now held a matte finish. Thanks to the dense accumulation of ice elements, a distinct icy blue hue shone through the white scales more prominently than ever, and his overall body length had grown to an astounding twenty-two meters.

Those were only the superficial changes. Inside his body, the transformation was even more shocking.

The hot red Dragon blood that originally flowed through the White Dragon Lord's veins had grown even hotter, turning into a viscous crimson liquid speckled with dots of blue energy. The power of ice had perfectly fused with his boiling, thick blood.

Power crystallized and flowed through his bloodstream. This was a unique trait of an Ancestral Dragon; his blood now contained far more energy, serving as one of the foundational pillars that supported an Ancestral Dragon's terrifying combat prowess.

Compared to his blood, the changes to the White Dragon's heart were even more thorough. Having absorbed so much ice-attribute energy, the originally red flesh had already begun shifting toward a crystallized state.

If a normal slumbering growth phase was akin to upgrading his existing configuration, then the Bloodline Advancement Ritual was like replacing his parts outright with higher-quality ones. It was a biological evolution, elevating him to a higher tier of life.

Feeling his vigorous, powerful heartbeat, Amos was overjoyed. A heart was to a living creature what an engine was to a machine; a stronger heart would bring a qualitative leap to the White Dragon's physical constitution.

"Scan!"

[Name]: Amos Aldrich

[Level]: Level 22 Dragon, Level 19 Mage

[Strength]: Legendary Rank

[Alignment]: Lawful Neutral

[Description]: You are a male Ancestral White Dragon in the Adult Stage. Compared to ordinary white dragons, you are an entirely different species. As an Adult Stage Ancestral White Dragon, you have obtained the complete Dragon Inheritance and grasped the true essence of soul laws; your breath attacks now carry soul damage. Your Mage class has also reached a masterful level, qualifying you to call yourself an expert in magic. You have received the blessing of a powerful entity from the Elemental Plane of Ice, causing Ice Elementals to view you as a close companion and boosting the power of your ice-based magic by fifty percent. With your current strength, you can do as you please even among legendary practitioners.

Looking at his new physical profile, Amos was delighted.

In ancient times, before their bloodlines were diluted, the strength of the major Dragon Races was actually quite similar. It was only because their ancient ancestors opted for different degrees of bloodline dilution that the subsequent disparity in power rankings emerged between the Chromatic Dragon Clan and the Metallic Dragons.

White dragons had excessively sacrificed the purity of their ancestral dragon bloodline in exchange for stronger reproductive capabilities, and as a result, they became the disgrace of the Dragon Race.

But now that Amos had become an Ancestral White Dragon, this issue was easily resolved.

The two great pillars that allowed Ancestral White Dragons to roam freely across the multiverse were their complete Dragon Inheritance—passed down from Io, the Nine-Faced dragon god, Ancestor of All Dragons, and one of the most powerful natural-system deities—and their soul-freezing breath.

The sheer might of the Dragon Inheritance derived from the Nine-Faced dragon god needed no further explanation.

The soul-freezing breath, however, was an innate ability unique to Ancestral White Dragons. When discussing the most bizarre and unpredictable types of magic, one had to mention Soul Magic. Its attacks were formless and intangible, making them nearly impossible to defend against. Even if a target was lucky enough to survive being struck by Soul Magic, healing from such injuries was vastly more difficult than recovering from ordinary magical attacks.

Furthermore, if a soul was flawed or damaged, improving one's strength was out of the question; merely maintaining one's original Tier would be an accomplishment.

Because of this, in ancient times, Ancestral White Dragons were feared even more than red dragons and gold dragons.

Just as the White Dragon was studying his new Dragon Inheritance, an unexpected guest interrupted his magical research.

The moment the Portal appeared, Amos detected the energy fluctuations and waited calmly for the visitor.

As soon as the Winter Commander, Motznovi, stepped out of the Portal, he noticed the White Dragon watching him and gave a satisfied nod.

"To think you could detect my arrival in advance. It seems you've reaped quite the harvest."

Amos looked at him with complex emotions. Although Motznovi had messed with him, it was also Motznovi who had sent him into the Winter Trial, directly leading to a chain of subsequent benefits. Because of that, Amos found it impossible to hate him.

After a brief moment of thought, the White Dragon Lord decided to let go of their past unpleasantness.

"I have Winter Commander Motznovi's guidance to thank for that," he replied.

Motznovi looked the drastically changed White Dragon up and down in amazement. Hearing this, he spoke with a serious expression.

"Save your thanks. The Winter Legion needs your help."

The White Dragon Lord was thoroughly surprised. The Winter Legion's fame was known throughout the entire multiverse; what could they possibly need his help with?

Still, considering how many benefits the Winter Legion had bestowed upon him, it was only right to lend a hand.

Moreover, Amos didn't believe the Winter Commander would propose an impossible task. If the mission failed, all the early investments the Winter Legion had made in him would be wasted.

Having worked this out in his mind, the White Dragon Lord immediately adopted an attentive posture.

Motznovi didn't beat around the bush.

"In ancient times, after the natural-system gods vanished and your Dragon Race's internal strife ended, a surviving Ancestral White Dragon also joined the Winter Legion. He was the first leader of the Winter Legion to follow the Goddess of Winter—Mohotlond."

"He is also the one the boss mentioned—the existence who perfectly cleared the third phase of the Winter Trial. Using absolute strength, Mohotlond suppressed all dissenting voices within the Winter Legion. Just when we all thought he would lead the Winter Legion to glory once more..."

"...an accident happened."

Motznovi let out a heavy sigh.

"Mohotlond charged into the Bottomless Abyss entirely alone to challenge the Demon Prince at the peak of his power—Demogorgon."

"What?!"

Amos couldn't help but exclaim in shock. The Demon Prince at the peak of his power, the twin-headed baboon Demogorgon, was a terrifying entity who dominated the entire Abyss. His strength rivaled beings possessing Great Divine Power, such as the Lord of Hell and the God of Light and Justice, Nodashan.

It was precisely because Demogorgon was so powerful that the abyssal lords of the various layers in the Bottomless Abyss, fearing he would conquer the Abyss by force, joined hands with the Devils and The Gods to scheme against and ultimately kill the most powerful Demon in history.

And yet, the Ancestral White Dragon Mohotlond had dared to challenge the Demon Prince in his prime. This was something not even Tiamat would dare attempt!

"Why? Was he insane?!"

Motznovi shook his head.

"I don't know either. At the time, other than the boss, the rest of us were only Winter Guards. Perhaps the boss knows more, but she has never mentioned it."

At the mention of the Winter Legion's ranks, the information from the winter inheritance automatically surfaced in the White Dragon's mind.

The Winter Legion had five ranks, from lowest to highest: Winter Attendant, Winter Guard, Winter Commander, Winter Lord, and Winter Sovereign.

Promotions were not granted by a higher-ranking leader, but were achieved through the Winter Trial. Everyone had three chances per phase; those who failed to clear it after three attempts would be forever stuck at their current rank.

Furthermore, the trial's content varied from person to person; there had never been a duplicate test.

Whoever passed the final trial would become the Winter Sovereign, inheriting the entirety of the Goddess of Winter's legacy.

There was only one prerequisite to participate in the final trial: perfectly clearing the first four trials. Yet to date, the Ancestral White Dragon Mohotlond was the sole existence to have perfectly cleared even the first three.

The White Dragon pressed on. "What happened next? Did Mohotlond fall at Demogorgon's hands?"

"Yes, but not exactly. Mohotlond escaped with heavy injuries and was never seen again."

Pausing for a moment, Motznovi continued.

"However, through certain special channels, we learned that Mohotlond did indeed perish, dying in an unknown plane that had been devoured by the Abyss."

Hearing this, the White Dragon Lord fell silent. He knew from his complete Dragon Inheritance that the Bottomless Abyss had possessed only a handful of layers when it was first born.

But the Will of the Abyss had mutated, developing its own consciousness and an overwhelming aggressive nature. Driven by this will, the Demons of the Abyss constantly expanded outward. Like a feeding frenzy, they swallowed plane after plane, converting other worlds into fuel for their own growth, ultimately earning the realm its well-deserved title as the Bottomless Abyss.

Currently, Nordhill had already been discovered by the Will of the Abyss, and it too faced the danger of being swallowed whole.

After a long while, the White Dragon Lord spoke up.

"So, my task is related to the fallen former leader of the Winter Legion?"

"Yes. Mohotlond carried an important relic belonging to Her Majesty the Goddess, which also serves as the Winter Legion's token of authority—the Winter Crown. This Divine Artifact was lost to the Bottomless Abyss alongside Mohotlond's corpse. The Winter Legion has always wanted to recover Her Majesty's relic."

After hearing Motznovi's explanation, the White Dragon Lord asked in confusion, "But why does it have to be me?"

Motznovi explained.

"Because no one else can enter that plane. Right before his death, Mohotlond used some unknown method to alter that plane's world will. Aside from the White Dragon Clan, no other living creature can set foot inside."

"We've studied the situation. If we try to force our way in, there will be only two outcomes: either we are repelled by the plane's will, or we shatter the plane entirely, plunging it into the rifts of space-time. If that happens, our chances of retrieving the Goddess's relic will become even more minuscule."

The White Dragon pondered this. Mohotlond was a powerful being capable of escaping Demogorgon's clutches. From that alone, one could infer that his strength was not inferior to gods possessing Greater Divine Power.

For such an existence to alter a plane's rules via an unknown method right before death wasn't that strange. But why restrict the species allowed to enter?

Thinking of this, Amos was suddenly startled.

"Wait, have you sent other white dragons there before? Why haven't they retrieved the item?"

The Winter Commander cast a complicated look at the White Dragon Lord.

"Because none of them ever came back."

Amos frowned.

"And the strongest among those white dragons was...?"

"It was a White Dragon with a Creature Level reaching Level 29. Rest assured, you might be the last atavistic White Dragon in this world capable of breaking past your species' limits, and our final hope of retrieving the Goddess's relic. Therefore, we would never send you to your death."

Amos felt that Motznovi's reasoning made sense, which put his mind at ease.

"Alright. Once I possess enough strength, I will attempt to retrieve Her Majesty's relic."

"Good. We expect you won't disappoint us. Well then, I mainly came this time to warn you: before your Creature Level steps into the High-Tier Legend rank, you must return here to participate in the second phase of the Winter Trial."

The White Dragon Lord nodded in agreement.

Motznovi teleported away. In the enormous temple, the White Dragon was once again the only one remaining.

The White Dragon Lord rapidly chanted an incantation. A massive magic Array appeared beneath his feet, its purple Magical Energy emitting an intoxicating radiance.

Amos had never expected that he would end up sleeping in the Elemental Plane of Ice for ten years. He wondered if any unusual situations had cropped up back at the White Castle.