Chapter 278: The Dragon Mother Returns

The second basement level of the White Tower had originally been a cage for holding dangerous creatures. Now, the White Dragon Lord had transformed it into a temporary venue for the Bloodline Advancement Ritual.

The White Dragon Lord stood before an arcane magical array, his expression solemn as he looked at his three younger dragon siblings.

"Have you memorized the order for the eight potions and the precautions?!"

"We remember," the three of them answered in unison.

"Very good."

The White Dragon Lord nodded.

"Then drink the potions."

Excitement swelling in their chests, his younger siblings downed their first potions.

Ordinary dragons had a natural lifespan of two thousand years, and even the longest-lived Gold Dragons would not exceed three thousand. If they failed to break their biological limits and reach High-Tier Legend before their time was up, even a peak dragon at Creature Level 24 would ultimately be reduced to a pile of white bones.

But breaking past those biological limits was exceedingly difficult. Out of the thousands of native dragons in Nordhill, excluding the White Dragon Lord himself, only four had broken through to High-Tier Legend.

Furthermore, among those four High-Tier Legendary Dragons, the breakthroughs of the Gold Dragon and the Grand Duke Silver Dragon spanned a gap of over three thousand years. This meant that for a generation and a half of dragons, not a single one had reached High-Tier Legend.

Now, the Bloodline Advancement Ritual would drastically elevate the concentration of Ancestral Dragon blood in the three siblings' veins. The doors to High-Tier Legend were about to open for them.

As for whether the ritual would succeed, the three siblings looked at a specific test tube in their claws. It held a peculiar blood—a scalding crimson fluid dotted with specks of deep blue, radiating a coercive pressure that resonated deep within their bloodlines.

Ancestral Dragon blood!!!

They were brimming with confidence in this ritual. Even if the Bloodline Advancement Ritual failed to give them a direct ticket into High-Tier Legend, it would still make their future path considerably easier.

High-Tier Legend was like a door. Ordinary dragons had to hurl their bodies against tightly shut gates, while those with highly concentrated Ancestral Dragon blood held the key, allowing them to advance straight through.

One potion after another went down their throats. A tempestuous medicinal power erupted inside them, crashing against their internal organs.

Enduring the intense discomfort, the three dragons took their remaining three potions and smeared them over their heads, throats, and hearts.

With the final preparations complete, they lay down in the centers of three arcane golden magical arrays.

All eight potions were of the Legendary Rank, each serving a different purpose. Some stimulated the long-dormant Ancestral Dragon genes within them, some provided energy, some repaired damaged tissue, and others...

But the most crucial element of all was the Ancestral Dragon blood in their claws.

They swallowed the blood—test tubes and all—straight into their stomachs, where their potent draconic stomach acid dissolved the crystal glass.

The Ancestral Dragon blood acted as the final spark, detonating the volatile medicinal power coursing through them. The three siblings instantly fell unconscious, and the White Dragon Lord hurriedly activated the magical arrays beneath them.

Fed by his mana, the arrays drawn in golden paint erupted with blinding brilliance. A special Magical Energy surged into the three dragons. Bathed in a layer of golden light, their agonized, contorted expressions gradually smoothed out.

They simultaneously drew in the ambient elements, forming mana vortexes around themselves. In mere moments, the magical elements on the Magic Tower's second basement level were drained dry. Controlled by the Gold Finger, the Magic Tower hastily funneled energy from the Elemental Pools, pouring it directly into their bodies.

The energy stored within the pools of the Four Great Elements steadily decreased, all of it converted into fuel for the three dragons' growth.

One day...

Two days...

Three days...

After bottoming out the Elemental Pools' energy and consuming a portion of the reserve Elemental Crystals, the three dragons finally stopped absorbing Magical Energy.

Looking at his slumbering siblings, the White Dragon Lord breathed a long sigh of relief.

The Bloodline Advancement Ritual was now completely finished, and the dust settled. The three of them needed to sleep to adapt to their skyrocketing power.

When they woke, they would officially step into the Legendary Rank and become the core pillars of the White Castle's strength. Moreover, armed with the Ancestral Dragon bloodline, their combat prowess would far eclipse that of ordinary white dragons.

The White Dragon Lord quietly closed the door behind him. He immediately spotted Willy's pet standing guard outside—a magma hound.

Because the magma hound's body temperature was too high and easily ruined the old White Castle's floors, Willy had always kept it in an outside volcano.

Now that the White Tower had been established, the enchanted Magic Tower could withstand the hound's intense heat. Therefore, Willy had brought it back to act as a watchdog.

The White Dragon Lord patted the dutiful watchdog's head and made his way up the spiral staircase toward the surface.

The late summer sun was still blistering hot—weather poorly suited for a white dragon's activities. But having resolved a matter that weighed heavily on his mind, the White Dragon Lord was in a remarkably good mood. Walking through the blossoming gardens, he hummed a little tune from his previous life.

The White Dragon Lord strolled into the main hall of the White Castle. He had been guarding his younger siblings for three days, receiving no outside news in that time. If nothing major had happened, he fully intended to go back and get some good sleep.

Gurgalu's assistant, Hobbes Scott, was in the hall, handling official affairs.

Naturally, no one but the White Dragon Lord would ever sit on the throne. Hobbes sat in a chair off to the side, two stacks of papers placed before him.

These papers were intelligence reports submitted from various regions, stamped with local official seals. They detailed all sorts of matters, such as progress reports on newly developed islands, population growth reports, and criminal records...

Hobbes was reading them so intently that he didn't even notice the massive White Dragon Lord entering the room.

Since arriving on the Nordhill Continent, Hobbes had been helping Gurgalu handle official business. Though he was in a completely different world now, his foundational experience as a former king remained, allowing him to manage these affairs with relative ease.

Moreover, after coming to Nordhill, Hobbes had gained access to mystical powers. Although he possessed the talent to become a Mage, his aptitude was mediocre; he would likely cap out as an Intermediate-Tier Mage at best.

The White Dragon Lord had promised him that if he performed well, he would be granted an extended lifespan. Because of this, Hobbes worked even more diligently.

With such a qualified assistant, Gurgalu was freed from the heavy burden of administrative work, allowing him to focus entirely on his training.

As for the White Dragon Lord, he had even less to do, often going half a month without even stepping into the hall.

An attendant standing beside Hobbes spotted the White Dragon Lord and hurriedly dropped to one knee in greeting.

"Good day, Your Great Majesty!"

The voice startled Hobbes from his work, and he hastily bowed as well.

The White Dragon Lord motioned for the two to rise and spoke directly.

"Has anything major happened recently?"

Hobbes carefully glanced at the White Dragon Lord, then lowered his head and spoke in a hushed tone.

"Your Majesty, Elder Old Blind is dead."

The White Dragon Lord's heart sank. In an instant, his good mood was mostly wiped away.

Before the White Dragon Lord could speak, Hobbes continued.

"After returning to the army, Elder Old Blind joined the teams clearing out demonized beasts, leading from the front every single time."

"Two days ago, while leading a mission, Elder Old Blind unexpectedly encountered a school of demonized electric eels. The school was far too powerful, so Elder Old Blind voluntarily stayed behind to cover the rear, allowing his squad members to escape. Ultimately, he fought to exhaustion and died in battle."

His tone filled with respect, Hobbes took a report that had been set aside on his desk and presented it with both hands.

A Mage's Hand took the report and brought it before the White Dragon Lord.

Aside from what Hobbes had just said, the paper also recorded the outcome of the incident.

All the squad members had escaped. They swiftly notified the main forces, who then annihilated the school of electric eels that Old Blind had crippled. As for Old Blind, he was devoured by the eel school, leaving not even a trace of his bones.

The White Dragon Lord's brows gradually smoothed out. Old Blind's final wish had been to die on the battlefield, and now he had finally gotten what he wanted.

"Pass down my command. Find the best stonemason on the continent to sculpt a stone statue of Old Blind, and place it in the White Dragon Plaza of White Scale City."

Every nation needed heroes, and Old Blind was unquestionably one. He had achieved countless merits throughout the development history of the White Castle's forces. Feeling he had no hope of stepping into the Legendary Rank, he had returned to the army and ultimately died in battle protecting his squad, burning the very last of his life for the White Castle.

Whether from an emotional perspective or a political one, the White Dragon Lord intended to heavily promote Old Blind's heroic deeds. The power of a role model was limitless; one Old Blind could inspire countless more Old Blinds, forming a tradition of serving the motherland.

"Send orders to all levels of government to vigorously promote Old Blind's heroic exploits. Write his story into the textbooks and pass his spirit of devotion on to the next generation."

The White Dragon Lord lowered his head in thought. Even in passing, Old Blind had left the newborn Yafiavi with a tremendous wealth. Time flows endlessly away, so he would hand over Old Blind's rightful reward to his clan.

"The White Scale clan shall be exempt from taxes for a year!"

Hobbes recorded the White Dragon Lord's commands, and the White Dragon Lord turned and returned to his sleeping chambers.

...

A year vanished in the blink of an eye.

This year in Nordhill had been very peaceful. Aside from some small nations resorting to arms over border friction, nothing else happened.

The petty skirmishes on the continent couldn't affect Yafiavi overseas. The newborn Afiaiv Kingdom grew robustly, making significant strides both economically and militarily.

The immigrant population in the Overseas Archipelago was also steadily growing. According to official statistics, the foreign population had already surpassed three million.

In Nordhill, without high-speed rail, airplanes, or long-voyage ocean liners, three million foreign immigrants was no small figure. The total population of some small countries might not even reach three million.

These immigrants all possessed a skill or trade to some degree, and they contributed to the societal advancement of the Overseas Archipelago.

But civilian development wasn't the White Dragon Lord's primary concern. Right now, what he cared about most was the one thousand Drift Bottles he had thrown out.

A year had passed, and the Dimensional Explorers had yielded no response. This made the White Dragon Lord unable to help but complain: why were all the transmigration seniors favored by fate, able to pick up Divine Artifacts just by walking out their doors, while his own luck remained at the level of an ordinary person?

He didn't receive any news from the Dimensional Explorers, but the White Dragon Lord did wind up waiting long enough for the Dragon Mother to return.

After destroying the Northern Barbarians' main city, Sandonar, the Dragon Mother had fled far overseas to evade pursuit from the Legendary Priest, Archbishop Ogsger. It wasn't until several years after Archbishop Ogsger's death that she finally returned to Nordhill.

And the first stop for the Dragon Mother, Salirina Aldrich, upon her return to Nordhill was the Overseas Archipelago.

Because his younger siblings were all asleep, the White Dragon Lord was the sole dragon available to receive the returning Dragon Mother.

Inside the White Castle's luxurious dining room, the White Dragon Lord and the Dragon Mother sat across from each other.

"Oh, Amos, you truly astound me. In just a few short years of not seeing each other, you've established a kingdom, and such a powerful one at that..."

Having recognized the Afiaiv Kingdom's might along the way, the Dragon Mother was full of praise for her biological son's achievements.

The White Dragon Lord raised his massive goblet.

"None of this would have been possible without your upbringing back then, Mother!"

Salirina gladly raised her goblet. She knew perfectly well that the White Dragon Lord was just exchanging pleasantries; back then, while her attitude toward the young Amos had been slightly better than toward an ordinary Very Young Dragon, it absolutely could not be called "upbringing."

But Amos's words indicated a stance: the friendly relationship between mother and son would continue. One must know that familial affection among Chromatic Dragons was extremely thin. They might come to blows over a single gold coin, let alone maintain friendly long-term contact, unless their strength was equal.

However, the current White Dragon Lord felt unfathomable to Salirina. In terms of strength, the Dragon Mother had already lost the qualifications to converse with the White Dragon Lord on equal footing. With the White Dragon Lord taking the initiative to release goodwill, the Dragon Mother was naturally overjoyed.

With both sides intentionally displaying goodwill, the pleasant dinner concluded.

After the welcome banquet ended, the Dragon Mother sat contentedly in a specially made chair and spoke of her purpose for coming to the White Castle.

"Amos, even though that old thing Ogsger's funeral was held years ago, I'm still a bit uneasy. If he faked his death and set a trap waiting for me to return, that would be terrible."

The White Dragon Lord spoke unconcernedly.

"Then just don't go back. Stay in the Overseas Archipelago; no one will dare touch you."

The Dragon Mother paused upon hearing this. The White Dragon Lord certainly had the strength to protect her, but she did not want to become his vassal. A golden nest or a silver nest was not as good as one's own doghouse.

Moreover, as the Scourge of the North Wind, Salirina Aldrich, she was a prominent figure in the realm of evil dragons. Having been forced to abandon her territory, she had to reclaim her pride no matter what. The Dragon Mother had long been scheming in her heart about how to take revenge on the Northern Barbarians.

The Dragon Mother tactfully declined the White Dragon Lord's good intentions, and the White Dragon Lord did not mind.

Although the Dragon Mother was very strong, boasting a Creature Level of 23, for the current White Castle, a level-23 legendary dragon truly had not reached the point of being indispensable.

The White Dragon Lord pondered for a moment. After his death, the Legendary Priest, Ogsger, had been buried in the barbarians' Sacred Mountain. The defenses on the Sacred Mountain were bound to be incredibly strong. Not even a Half-Step Legendary Rank like Bucky Darkscale would dare claim a foolproof success.

The only one who could pull it off flawlessly was the Nether Panther, Yuir.

"Yuir, infiltrate the Northern Barbarians' Sacred Mountain and inspect Ogsger's tomb to see if there is a corpse in the coffin."

"As you command, Master."

The Nether Panther's ethereal voice rang out. Hearing only the voice without seeing the figure, the Dragon Mother felt a surge of shock in her heart.

It seemed this son of hers possessed forces even more formidable than she had imagined.

But this was a good thing. It seemed this matter was absolutely foolproof now.

The Dragon Mother breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.