Chapter 267: The Chromatic Dragons' Thought Process

The White Dragon Lord made a request to the Grand Duke Silver Dragon, hoping to use the Teleportation Platform inside the Mage Tower to teleport directly to Lanora, the Nordhill headquarters of the Church of the God of Justice and Light.

Naturally, the Grand Duke Silver Dragon did not refuse such a reasonable request.

Once again standing on the Teleportation Platform, the White Dragon Lord watched the blinding light flare, finding himself looking forward to seeing the long-renowned city of Lanora.

Believers of the God of Justice and Light called Lanora a holy city; legend had it that this was where the God of Light, Nodashan, first displayed a miracle in Nordhill.

The intense light forced the White Dragon Lord to close his eyes. When he opened them, he had already arrived on a new Teleportation Platform. Unlike the usual indoor platforms, this one was situated outdoors.

The White Dragon Lord surveyed his surroundings. Beneath his feet lay a milky-white circular Teleportation Platform flanked by four marble pillars carved with cloud-like reliefs. Four angel statues, each in a different pose, rested atop the pillars, while an armored paladin stood guard beside each one.

The White Dragon Lord happened to meet the gaze of one of the paladins, and in the man's eyes, he saw surprise—and fear.

Fear?

With a quick turn of his thoughts, the White Dragon Lord understood. The spatial coordinates Priest Sinod had given him must belong to Lanora's visitor Teleportation Platform, making these four paladins its guards—much like security at a front gate.

As for their surprise and fear, that was likely due to the White Dragon Lord's race. Across the myriad planes, the reputation of white dragons wasn't exactly stellar. Or rather, the reputation of all Chromatic Dragons was terrible.

If a normal person encountered a chromatic dragon, keeping themselves from fleeing or drawing their sword on the spot was already a sign of excellent self-control.

The White Dragon Lord glanced at the paladin's hand resting on the hilt of his sword. To avoid any misunderstanding, he stayed rooted to the spot. After all, he was here to ask a favor; clashing with the host's security right out of the gate wouldn't leave a good impression.

Soon, the paladins took their hands off their hilts. Seeing a massive white dragon pop out on the Teleportation Platform had startled them at first, but they quickly came to their senses.

This was the holy city, Lanora. Let alone a single white dragon, even a whole group of Chromatic Dragons would be forced to kneel here.

Taking into account this white dragon's enormous size, the group immediately recalled the most famous white dragon in Nordhill. One of the paladins quickly stepped forward.

"Your Majesty Amos, welcome to the holy city of Lanora. How may we assist you?"

The White Dragon Lord wasn't surprised at all that the paladin recognized him. Yafiavi's founding ceremony had taken place only four days ago; the hottest topic on the continent right now was the military parade at White Castle, an event that had once again spread the White Dragon Lord's fame far and wide.

Clearly, the Lawful Neutral White Dragon Lord, who had repeatedly dispatched troops to help neighboring countries fend off demonic invasions, enjoyed a decent reputation across the continent.

The White Dragon Lord gave a slight nod.

"I have come specifically to visit His Eminence the Archbishop. Please be so kind as to announce my arrival."

"This..."

The paladin hesitated slightly. If any other white dragon had asked to visit the Archbishop, he would have chased them away immediately, but the one standing before him was no ordinary white dragon.

Considering the white dragon's identity, the paladin nodded.

"No problem. Please wait outside for a moment."

With that, the paladin jogged off toward a solemn temple.

The White Dragon Lord stepped off the Teleportation Platform and stood in an open area of the plaza, continuing to observe his surroundings. Other pedestrians walked through the square.

Unsurprisingly, a massive white dragon standing in the headquarters of the Church of the God of Light and Justice was impossible to miss. Passing priests and clerics cast sidelong glances at him.

The White Dragon Lord sized them up in return. Doing a rough count, he spotted one Legendary Priest, one legendary paladin, and eleven Master Tier professionals.

Such a high density of powerhouses left the White Dragon Lord silently marveling that the Church of the God of Justice and Light truly lived up to its reputation.

On the Nordhill Continent, the Church of the God of Justice and Light was second to no large-scale organization. This divine church boasted four High-Tier Legends, and the head of the church—the Archbishop—was undisputedly the powerhouse closest to a deity.

He was close to a deity in every sense of the word, whether in terms of his relationship with the God of Justice and Light or his sheer combat power.

According to some unconfirmed rumors, the God of Light and Justice intended to groom the Archbishop into a subordinate god and had bestowed a Divine Artifact upon him.

It was unknown if the news about his ascension was true, but the Divine Artifact was very real.

Across the vast Nordhill Continent, there were only two Divine Artifacts. One was in the hands of the sea folk, and the other sat right on the Archbishop's head. He might even get to see it in a moment.

Just as the White Dragon Lord was letting his imagination run wild about the Divine Artifact, the paladin who had gone to deliver the message jogged back.

"Your Majesty Amos, the Archbishop is waiting for you in the Hall of Justice."

"Thank you for your trouble."

Following the direction the paladin pointed, the White Dragon Lord saw the magnificent temple. With a thought, he produced an enchanted necklace, pressed it into the paladin's hands, and strode toward the building.

Feeling the intense magical energy radiating from the necklace, the paladin thanked him and accepted it. Even clergy were not immune to worldly temptations.

Walking up the steps and crossing the temple doors, the White Dragon Lord arrived at the Hall of Justice.

The Hall of Justice was enormous; even the White Dragon Lord didn't feel cramped walking through it. At the far end of the corridor-like hall stood a twenty-meter-tall divine statue. With an indiscernible face, the statue leaned on a sword, radiating a sacred aura from head to toe.

In front of the statue stood an old man in a golden divine robe, his hands clasped behind his back. Since the old man had his back to the White Dragon Lord, his face couldn't be seen either.

The White Dragon Lord was unconsciously drawn to the golden crown atop the old man's head.

This was one of Nordhill's two sole Divine Artifacts—the Glory of Justice!

The Glory of Justice had no decorative gemstones or pearls. It looked like an ordinary crown forged of plain gold, making one involuntarily think of a shoddy, gold-painted imitation.

Had this crown not been resting on the Archbishop's head, the White Dragon Lord wouldn't have given it a second glance.

As the White Dragon Lord drew closer to the divine statue, he gradually shrank his size to express his humility toward the deity.

"Greetings, Your Eminence. Please forgive my presumptuous visit."

The Archbishop slowly turned around. The highest spokesperson of the God of Justice and Light in Nordhill was just as unremarkable as the crown on his head. He looked like nothing more than a kindly old neighbor.

Yet the White Dragon Lord clearly sensed the unfathomably deep and oppressive power hiding beneath that unassuming shell.

Smiling, he sized up the White Dragon Lord and spoke.

"Lanora welcomes your arrival, Your Excellency Amos. Thank you for saving Sinod. He has already written to inform me of your dilemma."

The White Dragon Lord nodded.

"Since Your Eminence is already aware, I won't beat around the bush. I want to know if the Holy Sanctuary has a way to stop that exalted majesty from continuing to influence my sister."

The Archbishop's smile faded slightly.

"To solve this problem, you must first understand what a deity is. Tell me, Your Excellency Amos, what is a deity in your understanding?"

The White Dragon Lord frowned slightly, thinking to himself. The old man in front of him was a deity's spokesperson, yet he was asking him what a deity was. If he answered poorly, it could easily invite trouble.

After thinking for a moment, the White Dragon Lord spoke.

"A deity is a powerful existence. They exist by relying on faith, and their divine portfolio dictates their behavioral style."

"That assessment is very fair, and very fitting for a Mage. Then what is the relationship between a deity and their believers?"

The White Dragon Lord began to vaguely guess the Archbishop's intentions.

"Believers offer faith, and deities provide a sanctuary for their souls."

The Archbishop continued his questioning.

"Why can a deity influence their believers?"

The White Dragon Lord answered tentatively.

"Because in the process of worshiping a deity, believers are constantly studying the deity's doctrine?"

The Archbishop nodded.

"Yes. To put it in more detail: the closer a believer is to a deity's ideals, the easier it is for them to earn the deity's favor and subsequently become their priest. Once they become the deity's priest, studying the doctrine is the fastest way to advance. This dictates that believers will actively align themselves with the deity's ideals."

The White Dragon Lord frowned.

"Then what method is there to break free from this influence?"

The Archbishop smiled.

"The method to break free from this influence is very simple. One only needs to be sufficiently strong and have a sufficiently firm will."

The White Dragon Lord shot the Archbishop a glance. The Archbishop smiled without saying a word. In his heart, the white dragon vaguely understood the Archbishop's point: the fundamental reason believers were influenced by deities was that the believers were weak while the deities were strong.

In a way, a deity was like a highly successful person from his past life, while the believers were their admirers. Naturally, these admirers believed that whatever the big shot said was correct, and they emulated the big shot. Thus, their behavior gradually aligned with that of the big shot.

And the medium through which the big shot communicated with the admirers was the deity's doctrine. Therefore, to solve Felicia's problem, he had to start with Tiamat's doctrine.

"Thank you for clearing my doubts."

The White Dragon Lord bowed respectfully.

Having achieved his goal, the White Dragon Lord bid his farewell.

Walking back toward the Teleportation Platform, the White Dragon Lord studied Tiamat's doctrine within his Dragon Inheritance.

Because the dragon population was sparse and their respective lairs were far apart, Tiamat had no dedicated church or fixed temples. Her method of preaching was to write her doctrine into the Dragon Inheritance, and after that, it was like Jiang Taigong fishing, those who are willing take the bait.

Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of the fish weren't willing to take the bait. At least, the White Dragon Lord hadn't spared these doctrines a single glance in the past.

With the help of his Gold Finger, the White Dragon Lord rapidly analyzed Tiamat's doctrine from start to finish.

Tiamat's doctrine could be summarized in a single sentence: The Dragon Race is supreme, greed makes a dragon progress, and cruelty makes enemies fear.

The core principles of the doctrine were threefold: One, the supremacy of the Dragon Race. Two, greed. Three, cruelty.

It really was a case of if the upper beam is not straight, the lower beams will be crooked. These three points brilliantly summarized the behavioral style of the Chromatic Dragons.

After roasting it inwardly, the White Dragon Lord began to analyze the loopholes in Tiamat's doctrine.

Tiamat's ascension to godhood occurred in the distant ancient era. Back then, the Dragon Race still lived in the Star Realm, and the Star Realm of that time was overrun with ancient, ferocious beasts. Scenes of slaughter played out every single day.

At that time, the pack-living Dragon Race was one of the creatures standing at the very top of the food chain. Thus, the idea of the Dragon Race's supremacy was perfectly valid in that era.

But now, the Dragon Race was in decline. Still clinging to the glory of the ancient era and failing to recognize reality was simply being rigidly conservative and stubbornly inflexible.

Factually speaking, was the current Dragon Race truly powerful?

Mmm...

They were still powerful, but they were no longer the absolute strongest species.

Looking just at Nordhill, humanity—the overlords of the continent—boasted a total population reaching into the tens of billions, with over twenty experts at the High-Tier Legendary Level. In contrast, the population of the Dragon Race, adding the Chromatic Dragons and Metallic Dragons together, didn't even reach ten thousand. As for the number of High-Tier Legends, even counting the Ancient Gold Dragon and the Silver Dragon Scholar—two foreign dragons—there were only seven.

It could be called an entirely one-sided crushing situation.

Therefore, the Dragon Race was strong, but far from supreme.

Second and third: greed and cruelty.

In the ancient era, the Star Realm was entirely chaotic and orderless. To survive better, one had to plunder more food. Greed was beneficial to the Dragon Race's growth and expansion, while cruelty was beneficial for the Dragon Race to defeat and intimidate their enemies.

Hence, greed and cruelty weren't wrong either.

But today, combining the Dragon Race's supremacy with greed and cruelty was ridiculously wrong. Although the modern world still believed in the law of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak, it had also formed a preliminary order. While the Dragon Race remained strong, they had long since lost the glory of suppressing all other heroes like in the ancient era. Blindly treating other races with violence would only accelerate the Dragon Race's demise.

The White Dragon Lord did not agree with Tiamat's methods, but he did agree with some of her points.

For instance, greed makes a dragon progress, and cruelty makes enemies fear.

Every creature possessed an inherently greedy nature; this was an indisputable fact. At the same time, greed was also the driving force behind the progress of intelligent beings.

However, greed had to have limits. The insatiable never met a good end.

Cruelty making enemies fear wasn't wrong either, but blind cruelty would only incite fiercer resistance. Cruelty required a sense of proportion.

Only by reasonably utilizing violence could one guard and expand one's own interests.

Once he figured this out, the White Dragon Lord began to understand the mindset of the Chromatic Dragons. Cruelty wasn't the inherent nature of a chromatic dragon; greed and arrogance were.

It was just like a certain country on the Blue Star. Shouting 'XXX First' was arrogance. Waging wars was cruelty. But war and slaughter were not that country's goal; profit was. And that was greed.

Therefore, fundamentally speaking, orthodox Chromatic Dragons were a bunch of arrogant, greedy thugs. Cruelty was the means to achieve their greedy goals, while the wealth gained from greed would satisfy their arrogant psychology. That arrogance would then loop back, making them look down on other creatures even more, which in turn made them more cruel, treating human lives like worthless grass.

And if the White Dragon Lord wanted to save Felicia, he had to break this sick cycle and make her deeply realize her mistakes.

But from which link should he break it? This was a question worth pondering.

Arrogance?

No. The White Dragon Lord immediately ruled out this option. The Dragon Race was born with immense power, and arrogance ran through their entire lives. If a dragon lost their inherent pride, could they even be called a dragon?!

Greed?

That wouldn't work either. Greed was the source of a dragon's progress. Greed for power and greed for wealth both made dragons strive harder. If a dragon had no greed, how would they be any different from a salted fish?!

That left only cruelty.

There was no need to keep such a negative trait like cruelty.

Standing on the Teleportation Platform, the White Dragon Lord formed a preliminary plan in his mind.