Chapter 417: Ancient Giant Dragon—Amos Aldrich

The White Dragon Lord stepped back to observe the entire door. Forged entirely from Void Nether Stone, it consisted of three parts: the frame, the left door, and the right door.

He soon found a notch on each of the three pieces. Through these gaps, he could see the severed ends of the magical array enchanted within the material.

"This must be the test. Reconnecting the magical array will make this door work again."

The White Dragon Lord was brimming with enthusiasm. Then he fell silent. Then he wanted to hit someone.

"Damn it!"

"There aren't any materials!"

"How am I supposed to fix it?!"

"Are you screwing with me?!"

Calm down! Mohotlond wouldn't leave a meaningless test! The clue to solving this had to be inside the notches themselves.

The White Dragon Lord leaned his head close and carefully inspected the severed ends. The enchanting material exposed at the breaks was red and exuded a faint chill.

"This is dragon blood!"

"And white dragon blood at that. No wonder Mohotlond wanted to restrict who could enter this plane. This door completely blocks out the other races."

The White Dragon Lord looked at his own claws, then down at the Forerunner corpses on the ground. The blood inside them had long since coagulated, and most of their magical energy had dissipated. His own blood would work best. He observed the trajectory of the magical energy at the severed ends to determine the connection route.

As a High-Tier Legend lord mage at Level 26, the White Dragon Lord's professional knowledge was incredibly solid. He quickly sorted out the magical array's connection routes. Piercing a sharp claw between his scales, he drew chilling dragon blood.

Mage Hand!

A hand coalesced from magical energy cupped the blood and guided it into the notches, reconnecting the magical array. He then plucked several scales from the Forerunner corpses. He didn't have any Void Nether Stone on hand, but dragon scales also possessed decent magical conductivity.

He melted the Forerunner scales into a gelatinous fluid and patched the notches on the door. Just like that, the door was repaired. He channeled his magic into it.

Surging magic poured into the portal, flooding the circuits formed by his dragon blood. An ice-blue radiance lit up, and the entire door emitted strange energy fluctuations.

Success!

The White Dragon Lord looked at the Forerunner corpses nearby, feeling deep sympathy for their fate. The vast majority of dragons derived their magical abilities from their inheritance; casting spells was purely instinctual. How could they possibly grasp high-level knowledge like repairing a magical array? Even if they had noticed the hints on the door, they would have been completely in the dark when faced with the damaged array.

So, acquiring a little extra knowledge was always a good thing.

Harboring this thought, the White Dragon Lord placed a claw against the door and gave it a forceful push.

The door opened!

A continuously spinning vortex appeared before him. It was a portal, and he stepped right in.

When he opened his eyes again, he had left his original plane. He gazed around. It was still a world of ice and snow, but there was no abyssal demonic energy here. The snowflakes were white, the earth was white, and a conspicuous iceberg towered in front of him.

This seemed to be a demiplane, and its magical energy density was quite decent.

Making this judgment, the White Dragon Lord flapped his wings and flew toward the iceberg. With plains all around, a single towering iceberg was impossible to ignore.

At the peak of the iceberg, he spotted the enormous corpse of a white dragon. This was absolutely the largest dragon he had ever laid eyes on—measuring over a hundred meters long, well over three times his own length. Atop its head rested a crystal-clear crown of ice.

"The Winter Crown! Mohotlond!!!"

Shock filled the White Dragon Lord as he breathed the name of the corpse. For the dragon race, a larger body meant greater strength. As a Peak High-Tier Legend, the White Dragon Lord was thirty-five meters long, while Mohotlond...

He recalled the history of Mohotlond challenging the demon prince, Demogorgon. Back then, Demogorgon was hailed as the demon with the greatest hope of unifying the abyss. Even if his strength didn't quite match the Great Divine Power of the God of Light and Justice, Nodashan, it wasn't far off.

And the Ancestral White Dragon, Mohotlond, possessed combat power at the Greater Divine Power level at the very least. This even exceeded the ancestor of the chromatic dragons, the Five-Headed Dragon Queen, Tiamat. Up to this point, there were no records of Tiamat challenging a deity with Greater Divine Power.

Even with strength rivaling a Greater Divine Power, Mohotlond had still died. Ice-blue dragon blood flowed from beneath the corpse, frozen solid all around it.

Hovering in the air, the White Dragon Lord withdrew his Soul Sight. Finding no residual soul energy fluctuations, he descended toward Mohotlond's corpse. His first act was to retrieve the Winter Crown. Upon examining the body, he located the fatal wound on the chest—Mohotlond's heart had suffered massive trauma.

"Huh?"

While inspecting the corpse, he discovered another dragon corpse beneath Mohotlond's broad wings. Lifting the wing, he beheld the hidden body's true appearance.

It was a dragon with gray scales, measuring only a little over twenty meters long. She had likely only recently reached adulthood. Judging by her slightly delicate horns, she was a female.

Staring at the gray dragon, the White Dragon Lord's eyes flickered with uncertainty. He remembered an incredibly mysterious legendary dragon species.

To verify his theory, he pried open the gray dragon's eyes. Within the corpse's dim pupils, he saw three thin needles of varying lengths, resembling the hour, minute, and second hands of a clock.

A Time Dragon!

When it came to the most powerful dragon species, none other than the Time Dragon fit the bill. They were born mastering the multiverse's most miraculous power—the power of time. Even a newborn hatchling possessed strength rivaling a legendary practitioner, and an adult Time Dragon was an existence not even deities were willing to provoke.

The White Dragon Lord finally understood the source of the anomalous time flow here. It was highly likely the handiwork of this Time Dragon. He felt a wave of curiosity as to what had caused Mohotlond and a mysterious Time Dragon to die here together.

Love?

Hmm... it was possible.

The White Dragon Lord searched the surroundings but found nothing. He focused his attention back on the corpse. If his guess was correct, the power Mohotlond had promised was the Ancestral Dragon bloodline remaining in his body.

Although the White Dragon Lord was also an Ancestral Dragon, his bloodline purity was only comparable to a tenth-generation Ancestral Dragon. Mohotlond, on the other hand, was a direct descendant of Tiamat. There was naturally a significant gap in their bloodline purities.

The White Dragon Lord rested his claw on the corpse's forehead, utilizing his magic to condense the ancestral bloodline within Mohotlond's body. Dragon blood seeped out from the forehead, pooling in the White Dragon Lord's claw.

He eventually extracted all of the remaining ancestral dragon bloodline from the corpse, coalescing it into a small mass in his hand. The pure ancestral white dragon blood was ice-blue and radiated a fierce chill. The White Dragon Lord drew the ancestral bloodline into his own body.

"Ugh!"

He felt a stinging pain all over his body, like the bites of countless ants. The sudden surge of the ancestral dragon bloodline was reshaping his physical form. He was undergoing a complete metamorphosis.

A wave of exhaustion hit him, his eyelids growing heavier and heavier. He sprawled on the ground and fell into a deep slumber. The surrounding elements violently surged into his body, forming a fierce elemental storm.

...

An unknown amount of time passed before the White Dragon Lord quietly awoke. A sharp gleam shot from his golden eyes. He scanned his newly grown form; his body length was now approaching the forty-meter mark.

"Scan!"

[Name]: Amos Aldrich

[Level]: Level 26 Dragon, Level 26 Mage

[Strength]: High-Tier Legend

[Alignment]: Lawful Neutral

[Profile]: You are a male ancestral divine ancient white dragon in the Adult Stage. Compared to ordinary white dragons, you are an entirely different organism. Ancestral white dragons possess the complete Dragon Inheritance. You have grasped the true essence of the soul laws, and your breath carries soul attacks. On the path of the mage profession, you have carved out your own road and achieved legendary status. You have received the blessing of a powerful ice elemental; ice elementals view you as a higher existence and will obey your commands, greatly enhancing the power of your ice magic. You have assimilated a sliver of divinity, gaining partial traits of eternal existence, granting you immunity to instant death magic... In terms of actual combat power, you are virtually invincible among High-Tier Legends.

"Huh?"

The White Dragon Lord felt his ice elemental affinity drastically skyrocket. If ice elementals had previously viewed him as a close partner, he was now the supreme commander to ordinary ice elementals, able to order them to execute his commands. The difference was self-evident.

"Is this a benefit of the bloodline advancement?"

"No! Gold Finger, what happened while I was asleep?"

"One month after the host entered slumber, a powerful force tore through space and acted upon the host."

A powerful force that tore through space?

He didn't quite understand, but he faintly realized it was likely his clone's doing. Since it was a good thing, he didn't dwell on it any further, turning his attention to the two dragon corpses nearby.

Regardless, he had reaped the benefits left by Mohotlond. It was only right to bring his corpse back to the Winter Legion for a proper burial. He stored away the gigantic white dragon's body.

But what should he do with this Time Dragon corpse?

The White Dragon Lord felt conflicted. Due to their different species, he couldn't absorb the Time Dragon's bloodline. Otherwise, his white dragon bloodline and the Time Dragon bloodline would clash, leading to a bloodline collapse and causing his body to explode.

Hmm... better take her along as well. For this Time Dragon and Mohotlond to die here together, they definitely shared a deep connection. Perhaps they were even husband and wife; it was best to take them both for a joint burial.

Just as the White Dragon Lord laid his claw upon the Time Dragon, a projection of light and shadow suddenly materialized. The scene displayed Mohotlond and the Time Dragon on the brink of death.

"Latecomer of the white dragon clan! I am the Ancestral Dragon—Mohotlond! Helmsman of the Winter Legion! Direct descendant of the Five-Headed Dragon Queen! World Destroyer! The Frozen Realm! ... End of the Titans!"

Mohotlond spent a full ten minutes introducing himself. This lengthy string of titles nearly put the White Dragon to sleep.

"Get to the point!" the Time Dragon beside him interrupted his endless self-introduction.

"Cough, cough! I am strong, but I am dying. I don't even have enough strength to escape the abyss. A terrifying enemy is tracking me—that damned Demogorgon! He actually tried to steal my wife! To twist her into an abyssal demonic dragon! An abyssal demonic dragon warped from a Time Dragon would be a catastrophe for the entire multiverse. Fortunately, I stopped him, though the price was the lives of my wife and me."

"Latecomer of the white dragon clan, I promised to grant you power. You may take the ancestral dragon bloodline from my body. This bloodline power is enough to let you stand as an equal with deities. My wife used her power of time to alter the time flow rate of this sub-plane, turning this place into a sacred sanctuary for cultivation. I advise you to grow to the Ancient Giant Dragon stage in this plane before leaving. Only then will you have a chance to escape Demogorgon with your life."

"As payment for acquiring this power, you must take the crown on my head back to the Elemental Plane of Ice and hand it to the new helmsman of the Winter Legion. There, you will once again receive a rich reward. If you are confident in yourself, you may also personally participate in the Goddess of Winter's trial to become the new helmsman of the Winter Legion."

The projection ended.

Prompted by the projection, the White Dragon Lord finally noticed the abnormal time flow in this sub-plane. Here, the flow of time had been slowed down by about a hundred times. He recalled the previous plane, where time had flowed a hundred times faster.

Sure enough, everything in this world obeyed the laws of conservation. If one world's time flow accelerated, another world's time flow would slow down.

A flash of joy crossed his heart. This sub-plane brimmed with elemental energy, and coupled with the sluggish flow of time, staying here for a year would equal a century in the outside world. Just as Mohotlond had said, this was a sacred sanctuary for cultivation.

Although Demogorgon had fallen long ago, the White Dragon Lord still decided to grow to the Ancient Giant Dragon stage here before heading out. A treasure land like this was a rare encounter.

Putting the Time Dragon's corpse away, he laid down on the ground, took out the spellbooks he carried with him, and began researching magic.

...

Time flew by. Ten years passed, but for the White Dragon Lord, a millennium had gone by. His Creature Level had elevated, making him a Level 29 Peak High-Tier Legendary Rank dragon.

His mage level also rose by one, making him a Level 27 Mage.

Years prior, the White Dragon Lord had thoroughly digested the spellbooks he brought along. However, plagued by a lack of magical materials to conduct experiments and verify his research, his mage progression fell into stagnation.

Though his mage progression had stagnated, his Creature Level continued to grow. As long as elemental energy remained abundant, this growth could continue indefinitely.

The feeling of leveling up in his sleep really was fantastic.

Finally, in his twentieth year in this world, the White Dragon Lord felt drowsy once again. He closed his eyes.

When he awakened once more, his body length had reached an astounding fifty meters. He had stepped into the Ancient Giant Dragon stage and become an existence at the Abomination Rank. In the process of his advancement to an Ancient Giant Dragon, the elemental energy of this sub-plane had been completely depleted.

With a trace of regret, the White Dragon Lord scanned the sub-plane. If not for the lack of elemental energy, he would have loved to stay longer. After all, a place this safe, where he could rapidly boost his strength, was exceedingly rare.

"Forty years! It's time to leave!"

A super behemoth stood up from the ground, the bones across his entire body popping and cracking with explosive sounds.