Chapter 276: Concocting Potions

After paying his respects to the statue of Bahamut, the White Dragon Lord accepted the copper dragon's invitation to join his family for lunch.

The two dragons flew to the edge of the Wall of Bahamut, finally arriving at a massive red spherical building.

Glancing at the surrounding draconic homes, the White Dragon Lord noticed that while Vernosi Starhall's family residence wasn't the largest, it was still quite sizable.

The Starhall Family either possessed a glorious past or held immense present power; owning a large home in the holy city of the Platinum Dragon God was no simple matter.

Vernosi hovered near the top of the spherical building and looked back.

"Welcome to the home of the Starhall Family, Lord Amos."

"It is my honor to visit the Starhall Family."

After exchanging customary pleasantries, the two dragons flew inside.

The first thing that caught the White Dragon Lord's eye was the enormous table at the bottom of the sphere. It was the Starhall Family's dining table—a fact made obvious by the feast already laid out upon it.

The interior curved into vertical, oval-shaped walls lined with neatly arranged circular openings. These served as entrances to the dragons' individual rooms, where several underage dragons were occasionally flying in and out.

Upon seeing Vernosi, the Very Young Dragons flew over in pleasant surprise to greet him, curiously appraising the White Dragon Lord.

Soon, a large swarm of little dragons gathered around the pair, chattering incessantly. The Very Young Dragons acted timid around the unfamiliar white dragon, but they were much more casual with Vernosi, eagerly asking him about the wonders of the outside world.

The White Dragon Lord counted them. There were twenty-one underage copper dragons.

As for adult dragons, apart from Vernosi and the white dragon himself, there were only two Very Old Dragons waiting by the dining table.

This scene reminded the White Dragon Lord of his past life—specifically of left-behind children raised by their grandparents.

Vernosi quickly found himself overwhelmed by the barrage of questions from the rowdy youngsters.

"Alright, little brothers and sisters, let's not make Stanro ata and Morida am wait too long."

Only then did the rowdy kids let Vernosi go, swarming in a noisy flock behind the two dragons as they approached the table.

The female Very Old Dragon spoke first.

"Welcome to the home of the Starhall Family, Lord Amos. Vernosi already sent word explaining what happened. Thank you for helping him."

"Morida am, you are too polite. In truth, Vernosi came to help me."

Beside her, the male Very Old Dragon spoke up cheerfully.

"It doesn't matter who helped who! Any dragon that can kill a titan is a good dragon! Today, we celebrate!"

Amid the cheers of the rowdy kids, the feast began.

The spread prepared by the two Very Old Dragons was incredibly lavish. There were all sorts of fruits grown in the Golden Heaven, divine clams harvested from the rivers of the Holy Light Heaven, giant insects native to the Amber Heaven, and a massive array of dishes he couldn't even name.

After eating and drinking to his heart's content, the White Dragon Lord chatted with the two Very Old Dragons to learn more about the draconic culture of the Star Realm era.

Although the Dragon Inheritance of an Ancestral Dragon was all-encompassing, it primarily covered matters of vital importance. Mundane aspects of everyday culture were not recorded. With two living fossils right beside him, the White Dragon Lord naturally wanted to ask for guidance.

The White Dragon Lord learned that in the ancient Star Realm era, when the Dragon Race still lived in communities, they possessed an incredibly rich culture. This included comprehensive culinary traditions and sophisticated forging techniques.

"Thinking back to the days before the dragon gods split apart, our Dragon Race was unimaginably powerful. With draconic armaments and astral fortresses, when ten thousand dragons flew out together, we were utterly invincible, and all races submitted to us. Today... only in the three great holy lands can you still witness the sight of ten thousand dragons taking flight..."

"A thousand years ago, when the two of us were traveling through the Bilode Plane, a ruin from the Arcane Empire had just been discovered there..."

"Nowadays, across many material planes, there are even people who treat dragons like uncivilized beasts. It is truly tragic and lamentable! ..."

"When fighting a hydra, you must never ignore its tail..."

Perhaps all creatures loved to ramble in their old age. The two old dragons talked for seven days and seven nights. They covered not only the history of the ancient era, but also secret rumors they had heard and their own experiences fighting various creatures. The White Dragon Lord reaped a massive harvest, feeling the trip had been incredibly worthwhile.

However, all feasts must come to an end. A few days later, the White Dragon Lord left behind some local specialties from Nordhill and bid farewell to the Starhall Family.

Accompanied by Vernosi, the White Dragon Lord arrived in the Golden Wilderness, where he effortlessly collected enough tobacco seeds.

With his final goal in the Golden Heaven accomplished, the White Dragon Lord's thoughts turned to his Dragon Brother and Dragon Sister's Bloodline Advancement Ritual. He took the holy city's teleportation array and returned to the Nordhill Continent.

As soon as the White Dragon Lord returned to the White Tower, his first priority was processing the loot obtained from the Ocean Titan.

The Ocean Titan, Parima, carried a total of three magical items, one of which was a piece of Legendary equipment.

This Legendary equipment was a ring. It looked somewhat transparent, yet resembled a creature's bone. Even the White Dragon Lord couldn't identify the material.

"Scan."

[Name]: Simero's Vengeance Ring

[Description]: A ring polished from the kneecap of the Diamond Titan Simero. Simero was a powerful Titan warrior, but after taking an arrow to the knee, his enemies managed to catch up and kill him. Simero's child was unable to retrieve his father's corpse, but he found the pierced kneecap. He polished the struck kneecap into this ring to remind himself to avenge his father.

Attached Magic:

[Diamond Body]: Transforms the entire body into diamond, lasting for three seconds. Physical Defense: Within these three seconds, nothing short of a deity can break through the defense. Magical Defense: Can resist the vast majority of legendary magic. Cooldown: thirty days.

[Simero's Wrath]: Summons a diamond Spear of the Titans, which can be thrown like a javelin or used as a melee weapon. Restricted to the Titan race. Cooldown: three days.

After reading the magic attached to Simero's Vengeance Ring, the White Dragon Lord silently rejoiced. If he hadn't finished Parima off in one explosive burst, the Titan might have caused him quite a bit of trouble.

Diamond Titans were a legendary species among the Titans, and their Spear of the Titans was nothing to joke about.

The White Dragon Lord considered it for a moment and decided to give this piece of Legendary equipment to Willy. Willy primarily fought in close combat and was prone to accidents; Diamond Body could save his life at a critical moment.

The only flaw was that Simero's Wrath could only be used by Titans.

Although the other two items were not Legendary equipment, the fact that an Ocean Titan kept them on his person meant they were quite extraordinary. The White Dragon Lord added them to his personal collection.

Overjoyed, Willy took Simero's Vengeance Ring and left, leaving behind the Titan's corpse.

How to process the Ocean Titan's corpse was a bit of a dilemma for the White Dragon Lord.

Like dragons, Titans were also magical creatures. Their bodies could similarly be used to craft powerful magical equipment.

Using an enemy's corpse to bolster his own forces was something the White Dragon Lord wholeheartedly supported.

However, this Ocean Titan simply wasn't strong enough. It would be very difficult to forge something on the level of Legendary equipment out of him, and simply obtaining a few more pieces of high-quality magical gear was utterly useless to the White Dragon at this point.

In the end, the White Dragon Lord turned the Ocean Titan into a taxidermy specimen and placed it in the Dragon Beast Academy to educate the Very Young Dragons.

...

Three days later.

Inside the White Tower, in the White Dragon Lord's laboratory.

The White Dragon Lord had his eyes closed, his entire draconic body perfectly still. Neatly arranged on the table in front of him were one hundred and twenty types of materials. They encompassed everything imaginable: bloody beast bones, rare and exotic flora preserved in various ways, and strange liquids stored in glass jars...

After going through countless hardships and spending immense amounts of gold, the one hundred and twenty materials required for the High Tier Bloodline Advancement Ritual had finally been fully gathered.

But collecting the materials was only the beginning of the White Dragon Lord's task.

The High Tier Bloodline Advancement Ritual that the White Dragon Lord had prepared for his Dragon Brother and Dragon Sister was extremely complicated. Not only did it require a specialized magical array, but it also necessitated nine distinct potions applied both internally and externally. Furthermore, these nine potions possessed strict requirements regarding the sequence and time intervals of their use.

The entire ritual could be described as complex to the extreme. Thinking of this, the White Dragon Lord felt a deep sense of gratitude toward the members of the Winter Legion. Back when he underwent his own Bloodline Advancement Ritual, he had fainted right at the beginning and was completely unaware of the sequence of procedures that followed.

Thinking back on it now, that Bloodline Advancement Ritual must have been incredibly complicated as well.

After returning to Nordhill, the White Dragon Lord had rested for three days, fully recovering his energy before beginning preparations for the potions required for the Bloodline Advancement Ritual.

Sitting before the laboratory table with his eyes closed, the White Dragon Lord repeatedly simulated the materials needed for the first potion in his mind, going over their processing techniques, the brewing sequence, and everything in between.

Even though he had thoroughly memorized all of these processes, the White Dragon Lord couldn't guarantee he would succeed on the very first try.

That being said, the White Dragon Lord had collected multiple sets of the materials. Combined with the assistance of both the Magic Tower and his Gold Finger, his chances of success were quite high.

The White Dragon Lord opened his eyes and simultaneously activated his Gold Finger.

The White Dragon Lord's senses were instantaneously heightened. It felt as if time itself had slowed down. Everything around him became incomparably clear; he could even discern the specks of dust inside the tiny pores of the stone lab table.

The first step of the experiment: process the materials.

A Mage Hand picked up a crystal box. Inside the transparent box sat an icy-blue flower. The moment the lid opened, a blast of chilling air poured out.

This was an exotic Magical Plant that could only grow in lands of extreme cold—a Tidefrost Flower.

The Tidefrost Flower's petals contained an immense volume of unique ice-elemental magic. Plucking the petals and dissolving them in a liter of distilled water would instantly freeze the water. The ice then had to be melted over a magical flame of exactly seven hundred degrees Celsius... until the liquid turned a pure shade of blue, at which point it would be stored in a crystal vial.

Having reviewed the Tidefrost Flower's processing sequence in his mind, the White Dragon Lord sprang into action.

First, he plucked the seven petals of the Tidefrost Flower, which were as thin as a cicada's wings, and dropped them into the distilled water he had prepared in advance. The petals, colder than ice itself, instantly melted upon touching the distilled water, causing the water inside the crystal test tubes to freeze at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The White Dragon Lord channeled his energy into the magical array on the lab table, causing flames to spring forth.

With the help of his Gold Finger, the White Dragon Lord precisely adjusted the temperature to seven hundred degrees Celsius. Using his mental energy, he controlled the seven frost-emitting crystal test tubes, holding them over the flames to bake.

Time passed, minute by minute. It took a full half hour to melt the water frozen by the powerful magical energy within the Tidefrost Flower. Once the ice melted, it turned into a pale blue liquid.

The White Dragon Lord poured the liquid into a specialized beaker, lowered the temperature to three hundred and twenty degrees Celsius, and set the beaker on an iron stand. As the water vapor gradually evaporated, the shade of blue grew deeper, and he altered the temperature of the flames accordingly.

...

Twenty hours later, the White Dragon Lord finally finished processing the seventeen materials required for the first potion. He then fused and processed the materials in their proper sequence.

Late into the night, the exhausted White Dragon Lord looked down at the crystal test tube in his hand, which was exuding a terrifying aura of extreme cold, and let out a long breath of relief. Thanks to his Gold Finger's powerful control, coupled with the Magic Tower continuously replenishing his mana, the White Dragon Lord had successfully concocted the first potion.

However, having kept his Gold Finger active for an entire day, even someone with the White Dragon Lord's astonishing mental fortitude found it difficult to endure.

The White Dragon Lord placed the potion into a specially constructed alchemical magic array for preservation, then returned to his room to rest.

...

The next day, the White Dragon Lord ate together with his three siblings in the dining hall.

Ever since the founding of Yafiavi, the White Dragon Lord had kept Elena stationed at the White Castle, using the Bloodline Advancement Ritual as an excuse.

Elena's teacher, Master Hajir Kuten, gave the White Dragon Lord a long, deep look, and then agreed.

And thus, the four dragons were gathered together.

The atmosphere during the meal was somewhat quiet. Felicia, Elena, and Willy all knew what the White Dragon Lord was busy with.

Seeing their elder brother's exhausted appearance, they all felt rather guilty.

After eating their fill, the White Dragon Lord brought up the topic of Tiamat's doctrines to discuss with Felicia once again.

Ever since Felicia had stepped into the Legendary Rank and solidified her own convictions, it was no longer so easy for her to accept the White Dragon's 'correct' ideology.

Thus, the White Dragon Lord planned to give this problematic Dragon Sister a few more lessons before the preparations for the Bloodline Advancement Ritual were complete.

As it stood, the White Dragon Lord's efforts had yielded fairly decent results. Felicia rarely threw temper tantrums at the Dragon Beast Academy anymore.

Time passed day by day in this manner. Whenever the White Dragon Lord was well-rested, he concocted potions. When he was tired, he slept. He made sure to find time to chat with his Dragon Brother and Dragon Sisters, as well as to give his problematic Dragon Sister a few ideological education lessons.

The White Dragon Lord's life was fulfilling and busy.

Two months later, the White Dragon Lord finished brewing the potions. Although he had ruined two sets of materials, he successfully produced four portions of the concoction.

Apart from the portions meant for his Dragon Brother and Dragon Sisters, there was one portion left over. The White Dragon Lord kept it for himself. Good items like this couldn't be bought even if you had the money.

Right as the White Dragon Lord was preparing the magical array for his siblings' Bloodline Advancement Ritual, Gurgalu sent a message, asking the White Dragon Lord to make a personal trip.

Ever since the founding of the kingdom, aside from a few vital matters that required the White Dragon Lord's personal attention, the less important affairs were all handled by Gurgalu. Daily trivia and minor chores were delegated to the king brought back from the Madilan World, who currently acted as Gurgalu's assistant.

Therefore, if Gurgalu was notifying the White Dragon Lord directly, it was undoubtedly regarding a major event that he couldn't decide on his own.