Chapter 268: The Dragon Queen's Teachings

The shadow of winter had yet to fade, and early spring in the Overseas Archipelago remained rather cold. The lights in Oqi City extinguished early, its residents eager to crawl into their warm beds.

All was silent.

Cool moonlight shone into the White Dragon Lord's bedchamber, spilling across the floor like a layer of white frost. The air was slightly chilly.

The cold weather had no effect on the White Dragon Lord. He curled up on the large, circular bed, repeatedly running through the possible outcomes of his upcoming conversation with Felicia.

Without a doubt, familial love among the four Dragons and faith in the Dragon Queen were the two most important feelings in Felicia's heart. The White Dragon Lord had to be incredibly careful when discussing faith with his Dragon Sister, lest a rift appear in their sibling bond.

Felicia's personality was similar to that of traditional Chromatic Dragons: arrogant, greedy, and brutal. Fortunately, the concept of familial love that the White Dragon Lord had instilled in his younger Dragon Brother and Dragon Sisters since childhood also held an important place in her heart.

Furthermore, because the White Dragon Lord had led the four of them to their current achievements, Felicia had always been willing to accept his advice. This was his advantage.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, the White Dragon Lord sensed that Felicia, who had been sleeping for a long time, had gotten up and was heading toward the dining hall. He knew she was going to eat right after waking up.

After a brief moment of thought, the White Dragon Lord also stood up, pushed open his door, and made his way to the dining hall.

When the White Dragon Lord strolled into the dining hall, the White Castle Royal Kitchen staff on duty had already lit the stoves and tossed the prepared ingredients into the pots. Meanwhile, Felicia sat in an oversized chair, idly tapping her claws against the rectangular gold-plated dining table.

Noticing her older brother's arrival, Felicia glanced back at him, then continued tapping the table in a daze.

The White Dragon Lord walked over, sat down opposite Felicia, and got straight to the point.

"My dear Priestess, tell me about Her Majesty the Dragon Queen's teachings."

Hearing this, Felicia snapped her head up, her face full of disbelief.

"Oho?! Amos! Did the sun rise in the west?! You're actually asking me about Her Majesty the Dragon Queen's teachings?! What! Are you also going to..."

The White Dragon Lord opened his mouth, yawned, and waved a claw, interrupting the excited Felicia.

"Enough nonsense. Are you going to tell me or not?"

Felicia didn't mind his attitude. She began to speak with a serious expression.

"Her Great Majesty the Dragon Queen teaches us that our Dragon Race are natural powerhouses. We are born supreme, and all other creatures are only fit to be the servants of Dragons..."

"Stop, stop, stop!"

The White Dragon Lord raised a claw, a strange look on his face.

"I have a question. Other creatures are only fit to be the servants of Dragons? Is this really Her Majesty the Dragon Queen's teaching?"

"Although Her Majesty the Dragon Queen never said that exact sentence, she did say that our Dragon Race is supreme. Therefore, other creatures are naturally only fit to be the servants of supreme Dragons."

Felicia looked as though this were simply a matter of course.

The White Dragon Lord feigned curiosity as he asked.

"Then humans are also only fit to be the servants of Dragons?"

After receiving an affirmative answer from Felicia, the White Dragon Lord continued to ask.

"Then Merlin Heavenly Principle is also a human. Is he also only fit to be the servant of Dragons?"

Felicia choked on her words.

Because she had an older brother who was a council member, Felicia had also come into contact with some of Nordhill's secrets. She knew how powerful Merlin Heavenly Principle was. He was a super powerhouse who surpassed Ancestral Dragons. In the entire Dragon Race, perhaps only a few Dragon Kings could reliably defeat Merlin.

After choking on her words for a long time, Felicia managed to squeeze a sentence out of her throat.

"The Dragon Race... is supreme."

Amos shook his head.

"Felicia, you might have misunderstood Her Majesty the Dragon Queen's teachings."

Felicia frowned.

"Misunderstood? Amos, I am an official priestess of Her Majesty the Dragon Queen, and you're saying I misunderstand her teachings?!"

In truth, the White Dragon Lord didn't know whether Felicia had misunderstood the Dragon Queen's teachings, or if Tiamat herself was simply so boundlessly arrogant that she dared to write that the Dragon Race was supreme into her dogma.

But Felicia was a priestess of the Dragon Queen. If she ever believed that Her Majesty the Dragon Queen's teachings were wrong, at best it would affect her future cultivation, and at worst, she would be abandoned by Tiamat and lose her priestly powers. For Felicia, this would be an unbearable blow.

Therefore, Her Majesty the Dragon Queen's teachings couldn't be wrong, and they were not allowed to be wrong. Only Felicia's understanding could be wrong. The White Dragon Lord continued speaking.

"Even Her Majesty the Dragon Queen wouldn't dare say she is supreme. Although Her Majesty is a powerhouse with an illustrious—or rather, infamous—reputation across the multiverse, objectively speaking, there are existences in the multiverse stronger than her."

Almost without thinking, Felicia felt that the White Dragon Lord was right, because there truly were existences stronger than the Dragon Queen in the multiverse.

The Five-Headed Dragon Queen, Tiamat, only possessed Weak Divine Power. Even factoring in her identity as a Dragon, Tiamat's combat strength barely touched the threshold of Greater Divine Power at best. And there were indeed several deities who possessed Greater Divine Power.

Moreover, above Greater Divine Power was Great Divine Power. The only deity with Great Divine Power was the God of Light and Justice, Nuodashan. He was indisputably the strongest deity.

Thus, in every sense, it was impossible for the Dragon Race to be supreme. With the truth she had always believed in shattered, Felicia's mind was in turmoil.

"B-But, Her Majesty the Dragon Queen said..."

Seeing Felicia's evasive gaze, the White Dragon Lord knew he couldn't keep dealing blows to her.

"Yes, Her Majesty the Dragon Queen did say that. But I believe most Dragons have misinterpreted her meaning. Her Majesty wrote that the Dragon Race is supreme into the teachings not because the Dragon Race is truly supreme, but because she wanted to cultivate our Dragon Race's pride. Yet the vast majority of Dragons have only developed arrogance from it instead."

According to the White Dragon Lord's understanding, if Tiamat wasn't just madly arrogant, then writing the supremacy of Dragons into her teachings was simply meant to foster a sense of pride within the Dragon Race. It was just like in his past life: if people were asked which country in the world was the greatest, a large majority would name their own motherland.

This had nothing to do with right or wrong; it was merely out of love for their homeland.

Felicia's brow furrowed tightly.

"Is... is that so?!"

Felicia instinctively felt something was off, but she couldn't pick any flaws in the White Dragon Lord's words, as they made complete logical sense.

Noticing his Dragon Sister's confusion, the White Dragon Lord pretended to sigh.

"Forget it. Her Majesty the Dragon Queen's greatness isn't something ordinary Dragons like us can fathom. But your understanding of Her Majesty's teachings is indeed somewhat flawed, isn't it?"

The White Dragon Lord's praise of the Dragon Queen made Felicia feel a bit better. At the same time, she also recognized the fact that the Dragon Race was not supreme.

"Continue. Tell me more about your understanding of Her Majesty the Dragon Queen's teachings."

Felicia nodded. However, a sliver of doubt regarding her past understanding had already sprouted in her heart, so her enthusiasm for preaching to her older brother wasn't as high as it was at the start. Still, since he had asked, she could only continue speaking.

"Her Majesty the Dragon Queen teaches us that greed drives a Dragon to progress, because only by having more desires will we have the motivation to become stronger."

The White Dragon Lord nodded, looking as though he were listening attentively.

Encouraged, Felicia breathed a sigh of relief. She had genuinely been a little worried that her older brother would find another flaw she couldn't refute. That would make her too much of a failure as a priestess. She continued.

"...Brutality makes enemies fear..."

At this moment, a dozen or so gnoll attendants filed out of the kitchen in pairs. They carried platters of golden, tenderly roasted whole sheep and carefully set them down on the dining table.

When one pair of gnolls pushed a roast sheep in front of Felicia, the White Dragon acutely noticed that they acted as if they were walking on thin ice.

Among the four Dragons, the White Dragon Lord maintained a sense of courtesy toward his subordinates, and Willy and Elena didn't mind if the attendants made small mistakes. Felicia's temper, however, was far more explosive. The slightest slip-up could draw a severe reprimand from her.

Because of this, the attendants were always extremely cautious when serving Felicia.

The White Dragon Lord did not touch the roast sheep in front of him. He turned his head and glanced at the attendants' retreating backs.

"Felicia, I smell fear on them. They are afraid of you."

Felicia raised an eyebrow. She casually grabbed a roast sheep, tossed it into her mouth, and began to chew, crunching the bones loudly.

"What's so strange about that?! Brutality doesn't just make enemies fear you; it also keeps the weak in awe."

The White Dragon Lord nodded noncommittally.

"Do you think I am brutal?"

Felicia's brow furrowed imperceptibly. Among the four Dragons, Felicia was the second smartest; otherwise, she wouldn't have consistently held an edge over Elena and Willy during their infancy.

She had already sensed that her older brother's words and actions were a bit unusual today. He had come specifically to talk to her, but she didn't know what his ultimate goal was.

After mulling it over, Felicia still couldn't figure it out, so she stopped overthinking it. She believed her brother wouldn't harm her. Since he meant no harm, why think so much about it?

"Umm... Brother, you are quite brutal toward your enemies, but you are relatively merciful to your dependents. As for strangers, you don't mind taking the initiative to show goodwill."

The White Dragon Lord nodded.

"Then is your own behavior brutal?"

Felicia continued chewing the food in her mouth. Spices and grease stimulated her taste buds, but right now, she wasn't in the mood to savor her favorite delicacy.

"Other than the three of you, all other creatures are simply irrelevant in my eyes."

The White Dragon Lord sighed with emotion.

"Yes, other creatures are irrelevant. Therefore, your attitude toward other creatures depends entirely on your mood."

Felicia frowned.

"Amos, what exactly are you trying to say?"

"Felicia, haven't you realized? When it comes to our attitudes toward other creatures, Elena, Willy, and I are completely different from you. In other words, a huge divergence has appeared between us regarding how we conduct ourselves."

The White Dragon Lord let out a sigh.

"Your style of doing things is drifting further and further away from ours. I worry that one day, a conflict in ideals might cause you to leave our group."

Felicia stopped eating. Frowning, she pondered the issue in the White Dragon Lord's words, raising and lowering her fingers to tap her claws against the dining table.

Thinking about it carefully, Felicia understood that her older brother was right. She didn't think she had done anything wrong, yet her brother's and younger siblings' actions weren't wrong either. Her mind was a tangled mess.

Felicia's frown deepened. The White Dragon Lord knew his Dragon Sister had walked into a dead end.

An ideological shift couldn't be completed in a day or two. The White Dragon Lord cast a beneficial spell on Felicia: Presence of Mind.

Presence of Mind was a spell Mages used to eliminate external interference, allowing one to clear away distracting thoughts and focus their mind.

Felicia suddenly felt a cool sensation in her mind and immediately snapped back to reality.

"Felicia, are you alright?!"

Her brother's concerned voice warmed Felicia's heart.

For decades, she had grown used to the days the four Dragons spent together. Her powerful and rational older brother, the thick-nerved and silly Elena, and the hardworking, driven Willy all made her feel she was no longer alone.

Thinking of the impression she left on her other siblings, Felicia felt a bit disheartened.

Brutal? Lazy?

That was almost a certainty.

Felicia looked up and met her older brother's concerned gaze.

"Felicia, you don't need to overthink it. Just pay more attention to this issue in the future."

Felicia nodded. The White Dragon Lord then continued exchanging thoughts with his Dragon Sister regarding Tiamat's teachings. Although called an exchange, it was actually the White Dragon Lord speaking while Felicia listened.

"There's nothing wrong with greed. I am also very greedy. I desire greater strength and more wealth, and I believe you do too, Felicia..."

"As for brutality, Her Majesty the Dragon Queen already said it: brutality is to make the enemy revere you. There's no need to use it on your own people. If you treat your own people like you treat enemies, sooner or later, you'll drive them into the enemy's camp..."

"Toward strangers, if you can be friends, then try your best to be friends. If you can't be friends, at least try your best not to become enemies."

Felicia spoke up.

"And if we absolutely have to be enemies?"

The White Dragon Lord didn't hesitate.

"Then kill them! If you can't kill them, call me. Just in case I can't beat them either, the four of us will attack together. If that still doesn't work, we'll run away together."

"Hahaha..."

Following that, the White Dragon Lord and Felicia cheerfully demolished a mountain of food until even their powerful Dragon stomachs felt a bit bloated.

Watching Felicia's retreating back, the White Dragon Lord let out a long sigh of relief. He believed that after this conversation, Felicia would gain some new insights.

After leaving the dining hall, Felicia returned to her room with a puzzled look. The dogma she had always believed in had been given an alternative interpretation by her older brother. The clash of these two entirely different viewpoints left her extremely bewildered.

'Her Majesty the Dragon Queen! Which viewpoint is truly your original intent?'

Harboring these doubts in her heart, Felicia collapsed onto her bed of gold coins. Her massive bulk sent the coins flying in all directions, clinking as they landed on the floor.

Felicia closed her eyes. After rolling on the floor for a while, a gold coin hit an obstacle and rolled to a stop.

Silence reigned.

...

In the Bottomless Abyss, at the edge of a massive, sprawling city that stretched as far as the eye could see, divine servitors transformed from the souls of Chromatic Dragons patrolled around the city in small groups. Inside the city, the number of Dragons flying in the air was too many to count.

Tens of thousands of Dragons blotted out the sky and covered the sun!

In the very center of the city stood a majestic fortress forged from Chromatic Dragon scales. Deep within the fortress, a gigantic Dragon over a hundred meters long lay slumbering on the ground. Its five differently colored heads exhaled entirely different breaths.

The leftmost head was black. It was gaunt and bony, resembling a skull, and the breath exhaling from its nostrils was so corrosive it made the air sizzle.

The second head on the left was blue. Its head and neck were completely deep blue, with electric sparks dancing and leaping across the surface of its scales. With every breath, its nostrils spat out arcs of lightning, some long and some short.

In the middle was a massive red head. The red head's size was a full degree larger than the other heads. It exhaled scorching breaths laced with the scent of sulfur, baking the air until it distorted illusorily.

The first head on the right was green. The green head exhaled a sickly green poisonous mist that diffused through the air in menacing tendrils, enough to make one shudder.

The rightmost head was white. The white head exhaled freezing frost. The moisture in the air condensed into frost before it, covering the ground in a layer of solid ice.

Suddenly, the white head opened its eyes. A gleam of light flashed through its deep, diamond-shaped pupils.

"Oh? My teachings can be interpreted in such a way? Interesting, interesting."