Chapter 446: Your Majesty the Dragon God, Lend Me Some Money~

Staring at his depleted points balance, the White Dragon Lord finally understood how Merlin Heavenly Principle could owe the City of Truth for nearly ten thousand years and still not have paid off his debt.

It wasn't that the price of knowledge in the City of Truth was absurdly high. There was simply too much of it—so much that no Mage could ever finish learning it all, yet none could bring themselves to stop.

Making matters "worse," the White Dragon Lord had the Gold Finger's assistance, boosting his learning efficiency to dozens or even hundreds of times that of an ordinary person. The speed at which he burned through funds made his heart ache.

But burning money made him stronger. His Mage level had advanced at breakneck speed, already catching up to his Dragon level.

With his Mage level breakthroughs, the White Dragon Lord's combat prowess had skyrocketed. He now had absolutely no fear of deities with Weak Divine Power, and he could even cross swords with an ordinary deity possessing Intermediate Divine Power.

Of course, this referred to Intermediate Divine Power deities whose base species were ordinary and who did not specialize in combat.

After some consideration, the White Dragon Lord signed a magical debt agreement with the Eye of the Chosen.

He could have returned to the Yafeiawei Empire to bring a massive amount of supplies back to the City of Truth, but doing so carried a certain level of risk.

Even after all these years, The Gods remained constantly vigilant against a resurgence of the Arcane Empire. After all, it was the only formidable civilization to ever launch a frontal assault on a Divine Kingdom and slay multiple deities.

After securing points through debt, the White Dragon Lord plunged back into the ocean of knowledge.

Over a century passed in a flash. Buried in debt but immensely enriched in knowledge, the White Dragon Lord stepped onto the Teleportation Platform. He had completely mastered all the ice magic and Soul Magic within the Great Library and had even dabbled slightly in time magic.

His strength now rivaled that of Intermediate Divine Power. Staying any longer held no meaning.

The light of the Teleportation Platform flared, and the White Dragon Lord appeared inside the White Tower.

"Still that familiar scent." He stepped off the platform and walked toward the familiar aura of the laboratory.

Entering the lab, the White Dragon Lord saw his clone conducting a magical experiment alongside his red dragon student.

"Sadassim."

Hearing his name, the red dragon—who was in his Youth Stage yet possessed Legendary Rank combat power—turned his head in confusion. Seeing the White Dragon Lord at the laboratory door, he looked back at his teacher in bewilderment. His little head swiveled back and forth between the White Dragon Lord's main body and the clone.

He was completely dizzy!

Why were there two teachers?!

"Sadassim, step outside for a moment."

"Understood, Teacher!" The little red dragon teleported away.

The clone turned around and stared intently at the main body, his eyes full of astonishment. Facing the main body now felt just like facing Merlin Heavenly Principle.

"You've gained quite a lot over these past few decades!"

The White Dragon Lord nodded. "The flow of time in the City of Truth is anomalous. For you, only a few decades have passed, but for me, it has been two hundred years."

"Enough about you and me. Hurry up, I can't wait any longer!" The clone quickly walked up to the White Dragon Lord.

Last time, his Dragon level breaking through to Ancient Giant Dragon was a physical change, which couldn't be transferred. This time, however, Mage knowledge could be shared. It was no wonder the clone was impatient.

The White Dragon Lord had no malicious interest in teasing "himself." He immediately initiated a memory exchange, pouring all the knowledge he had obtained in the City of Truth into the clone.

Before long, the memory exchange concluded. The clone received the White Dragon Lord's memories of the City of Truth, while the White Dragon Lord learned of the Yafeiawei Empire's changes over the years.

Among the numerous changes, the one that delighted the White Dragon Lord the most was the Dragon Legion. During the sixty-plus years he was away, batch after batch of dragons had graduated from the Dragon Academy. These young but powerful dragons now formed the main force of the Dragon Legion.

The Dragon Legion currently numbered over 70,000 dragons, with new graduates constantly joining their ranks.

Aside from the Dragon Legion, there were two more pieces of good news. First, Willy and Felicia had achieved a breakthrough on the Abyss Battlefield, advancing to the Ancient Dragon Stage.

Willy's Warrior level had also broken through, making him the Yafeiawei Empire's third dual High-Tier Legend, following Elena and Gurgalu.

Next was the progress of his kin. The Nether Panther, Yuir, had broken through to High-Tier Legend and miraculously acquired the ability to attack the soul. With his absurd shadow-shuttling abilities coupled with defense-ignoring soul attacks, Yuir's danger level had directly surpassed Gurgalu's, reaching a point where even Elena wouldn't confidently claim victory.

After breaking through to High-Tier Legend, Yuir had headed to the Abyss Battlefield to fight alongside the three dragons. He assassinated multiple High-Tier Legend Titans, earning the title Claw of the Underworld God on the battlefield—a name that caused countless Titans to jolt awake from their nightmares.

The God of the Dark Titans had even dispatched an Abomination Rank Titan to hunt down the Nether Panther, but it was intercepted by dragons sent by the well-prepared Five-Headed Dragon Queen.

Protecting the Dragon Brother and Dragon Sister was already part of the agreement between the Dragon Queen and the White Dragon Lord. Combined with the massive impact the three dragons and Yuir had on the battlefield, Tiamat naturally wouldn't let any accidents befall them.

In addition to the Nether Panther, Hogger had also broken through to High-Tier Legend amid the baptism of war. Compared to the Nether Panther's terrifying deterrence, however, Hogger appeared rather ordinary. Still, Gurgalu finally had a colleague to share the workload.

On the other hand, the White Dragon Lord's clone had fallen into a static state after receiving the memories. The amount of knowledge accumulated through over two hundred years of continuous study by the main body was truly terrifying; the clone would need a long time to digest it all.

Three days later, he opened his eyes and shook his throbbing head. Though he felt exhausted, the clone's spirit was incredibly exhilarated. It hadn't been long since he had broken through to Level 29 as a Mage.

But soon, he would be able to break through to Level 30, becoming an Abomination Rank existence just like Merlin Heavenly Principle's clone.

The process of breaking through to the Abomination Rank was like forging a path through a barren wilderness. Along the way, one had to shovel the dirt spade by spade, smash the rocks hammer by hammer, and carve out a broad road, ultimately reaching the destination by following that cleared path.

The White Dragon Lord's main body transmitting its memories was akin to paving that road directly. The clone only needed to sprint wildly along it. But even sprinting as though using a cheat code would still take some time.

At least five years, and at most twenty.

As exhilarating as the upgrade was, the price paid was just as steep. The clone felt a sudden ache in his teeth. "I didn't expect us to become 'debt' millionaires."

Those words stabbed straight into the White Dragon Lord's heart. He had already calculated it: even if he sold the entire Yafeiawei Empire, it wouldn't be enough to pay off his debt to the City of Truth.

But it was all worth it. Thanks to the Arcane Empire's legacy, the White Dragon Lord's main body's Mage level had already far surpassed his Dragon level.

With such immense strength, was there any need to fear not being able to rob enough money?!

As for who to rob, allies were obviously out of the question, and unknown factions were best left unprovoked. The ideal targets for plunder were their enemies—the Titans.

However, before he started plundering, the White Dragon Lord still had a lot of room to improve his strength. Not his personal combat power, but an external force—a Floating City.

That's right! During his trip to the City of Truth, he had also obtained a complete set of data on Floating Cities!

"We have to raise a Floating City first!"

"What about the debt?"

"Set it aside for now! We'll raise the Floating City first! Then we'll rob the Titans to pay off the debt!" The White Dragon Lord glanced at the clone. "I'll handle this matter. You focus on raising your strength first."

"Alright."

The clone went into seclusion to increase his strength. The White Dragon Lord pondered in the White Tower's hall. The Yafeiawei Empire's current accumulation was not enough to raise a Floating City; he had to rely on the power of other factions.

Adopting the mindset that too much debt meant there was nothing left to worry about, he considered his allied factions. Merlin Heavenly Principle was still paying off his own debt to the City of Truth and definitely couldn't offer much support. The Council was public property and couldn't subsidize a private dragon. Friends and relatives like Grand Duke Silver Dragon had limited resources and couldn't provide much backing either.

The Five-Headed Dragon Queen—that miser was out of the question.

The Platinum Dragon God, however... he could certainly seek help from the Platinum Dragon God.

Then there was the Gem Dragon King of the Obsidian Sanctuary, Sardior. Residing in the Star Realm, the Gem Dragon King was quite wealthy. But the White Dragon Lord had never interacted with him and couldn't just rashly show up at his door.

After mulling it over, the White Dragon Lord found that his only option was to ask the Platinum Dragon God for help, and there was a ninety percent chance the deity wouldn't refuse. He silently chanted the Platinum Dragon God's divine name.

Before long, a majestic will descended upon the White Castle.

The Platinum Dragon God's divine clone gazed at the White Dragon Lord before him, unable to hide a look of shock.

It had only been a hundred years since they last met! He didn't know how the White Dragon Lord's strength had surged so rapidly, but everyone had their secrets, and it wasn't his place to ask directly.

"Good day, Your Majesty the Dragon God."

"Amos, what did you seek me out for?"

"Well, it's a bit hard to bring up, umm... to put it plainly, I'd like to borrow some money."

"Hah?!" The Platinum Dragon God doubted his own ears. Even a Dragon God couldn't change a dragon's inherent greed for wealth. "What are you planning to do?"

"Cough, cough! Your Majesty, it's like this: I recently managed to acquire the construction techniques for a Sky City through a certain channel. However, I'm suffering from a lack of materials to build it. That's why I thought of coming to you to borrow some for an emergency."

The Platinum Dragon God pondered this. Right now, the Five-Headed Dragon Queen and the Dark Titans were fighting fiercely in the Abyss. The resentment that had accumulated between the dragons and Titans over the years had fully ignited. Although he and the Luminous Titans were still exercising restraint, they would be dragged into the war sooner or later.

At such a critical juncture, if the White Dragon Lord could raise a Floating City, it would undoubtedly be a massive boon for the dragon faction.

"Alright! Speak! What do you need?"

The Platinum Dragon God was truly generous. The White Dragon Lord rejoiced inwardly. "500,000 tons of adamantine, 1.2 million tons of Mithril, and all kinds of high-quality gems..."

When the White Dragon Lord spoke of borrowing money, he didn't mean actual currency, but rather the various supplies needed to build a Sky City. Constructing a Sky City required oceans of high-tier magical materials, and among those, adamantine, Mithril, and gems accounted for a massive proportion.

Hearing high-tier magical materials requested in units of tons, the Platinum Dragon God's heart pounded. "This Floating City is truly a money-burning contraption. No wonder the Arcane Empire was so powerful back in the day."

As he spoke, the Platinum Dragon God shot the White Dragon Lord a profoundly meaningful look. He had already guessed the reason behind the White Dragon Lord's sudden surge in strength and his acquisition of the Sky City construction techniques. After all, he too was a firsthand witness to the great war that had shocked the entire multiverse.

The White Dragon Lord kept his gaze straight ahead, playing deaf and dumb. He naturally understood the Platinum Dragon God's silent warning.

The Arcane Empire was a massive taboo among The Gods, but there were plenty of factions excavating Arcane Empire ruins throughout the multiverse. There were also dozens of factions that possessed Floating Cities, and The Gods tacitly accepted their existence.

As long as the White Dragon Lord didn't jump out and cause trouble, The Gods wouldn't deliberately suppress him, let alone start a war. This was the main reason the White Dragon Lord dared to ask the Dragon God directly for funds to build a Sky City.

"I can provide you with enough adamantine. However, the North Wind Temple doesn't have that much Mithril in stock; I can only offer one hundred tons. As for high-quality gems, the quantity I have falls far short of your needs..."

Not long after, the White Dragon Lord learned the types of supplies the Platinum Dragon God could provide. Basically, all his needs were met, and the Yafeiawei Empire was capable of procuring whatever was missing. The only thing lacking was a massive quantity of high-quality gems.

"Amos, if you need gems, you can seek out that Dragon King in the Star Realm. When it comes solely to the collection of gems, no dragon in the Dragon Race dares to claim they have more than him. He could even compete for the title of the number one gem collector in the multiverse."

The White Dragon Lord naturally knew that the Gem Dragon King, Sardior, was a gem collector.

Gem dragons possessed an acute sense of smell for gems. Combined with the fact that the Star Realm's unique environment produced an abundance of various gemstones, the Gem Dragon Clan rarely entered the material plane. They mostly lived in the Star Realm, and their daily hobby was collecting gems, much like how Chromatic Dragons hoarded gold.

Having lived for so long and being a powerfully strong Dragon King, the gems collected by the Gem Dragon King were simply immeasurable.

But the key issue was that the White Dragon Lord wasn't familiar with the Gem Dragon King!

"Your Majesty the Dragon God, the problem is that I have never met His Majesty. Furthermore, I've heard that his personality is just like Her Majesty the Dragon Queen's. This..."

"That's true. Sardior is indeed a bit..."

The Platinum Dragon God fell into a state of conflict. After a moment, he recovered his normal demeanor. "How about this: I will give you a divine mark. Take my mark and go find him. For my sake, he should provide assistance. Yes, probably..."

Clearly, even the Platinum Dragon God couldn't guarantee anything.

But the White Dragon Lord seemed to have no other options. Although the City of Truth didn't require an immediate, full repayment, a portion of the debt had to be cleared at regular intervals. Therefore, the White Castle's wealth couldn't all be spent on buying the materials required for the Floating City.

Furthermore, the gems needed to construct the Floating City were all high-quality and required in massive quantities. There weren't many factions or individuals in the multiverse who could fork over that many gems at once, and the Gem Dragon King was the most promising prospect among them.

In the end, the White Dragon Lord accepted the Platinum Dragon God's proposal.

The Platinum Dragon God left a divine mark on the White Dragon Lord's dragon claw, then dispersed his divine clone. That surging, oppressive aura vanished without a trace.

The White Dragon Lord summoned Gurgalu, who had just rotated shifts with Hogger to rest.

The burly two-headed ogre knelt humbly on one knee before the White Dragon Lord.

"Gurgalu, my clone and I both have important matters to handle. I'm leaving the Yafeiawei Empire in your hands."