For Dragon Kind,
A path filled with friction and strife, mired in mud, more readily provides dragons with sufficient experience and accumulation, allowing them to undergo more growth-inducing slumbers in a shorter span of time.
This is the path chosen by Saga.
Rather than indulging in food and sleep, avoiding all troubles, and developing slowly and steadily, Saga chose to forge ahead through brambles and battles, undefeated in a hundred wars, growing swiftly through perilous and challenging means that brought him joy and made his blood boil.
There are actually quite a few dragons who do this.
Either they die along the way, unknown and unremarked, or they become a dominant force, invincible, reigning supreme over the world.
Compared to his previous resting place in the more spacious and glittering chambers of the Grayrock Archipelago, Saga shifted his body, swam for a moment in a ‘lake’ constructed of countless gold and silver coins, then dove in, burying himself beneath the treasure, and with a closing of his eyes, entered into slumber.
Saga had plundered a vast wealth from the Near Seas nations and was now quite affluent.
He did not break his promise, offering the wealth of an entire nation as a magical sacrifice to the Platinum Dragon God.
Although the Platinum Dragon God merely responded with a brief ‘I know,’ Saga surmised that this deity must have taken notice of the situation here and had already taken action; otherwise, there would be no need to respond to him.
Moreover, the Platinum Dragon God accepted Saga’s treasure sacrifice.
This meant that his prayer had been explicitly answered.
Though it pained him to part with it, the wealth sacrificed to the Dragon God was obligatory, not something to be feigned forgotten.
After all, Saga was not a follower of the Platinum Dragon God. Seeking the deity’s protection and offering some ‘protection money’ was quite reasonable. Otherwise, should he incur the Dragon God’s displeasure, Saga would have to face the Skull Lord’s covetousness alone, which would be very difficult at his current level.
Not long after Saga entered his slumber,
More and more force field energy began to converge around him.
Humming vibrations filled the air!
Under the unconscious influence of Saga, accompanied by the breaths of the Golden Dragon, coins of gold and silver began to tremble, then weightlessly lifted off, with sizzling arcs of electricity forming between them, revolving and floating around the slumbering Golden Dragon in the center, like a constellation of stars in the universe, rotating in a strange pattern, magnificent and spectacular.
The Emperor Dragon Palace was temporarily sealed off.
Time quietly flowed by in this place.
After his slumber, Saga no longer appeared, but tales and discussions about him remained the hottest topic in the Near Seas region.
What Dragon Kind was the King of the Near Seas, after all?
Gemstone Dragon? Metal Dragon? Chromatic Dragon?
What was the nature of the powers he displayed?
Why was he so powerful that beings of the same tier fell before him one after another, and defeating those above his tier seemed as simple as eating and drinking?
Various topics about Saga continued unabated.
Meanwhile, as time passed, the fame of the King of the Near Seas swept through the Near Seas like a hurricane, reaching the Yar Continent near the Western Sea.
More nicknames were bestowed upon Saga, such as the Ominous Star with Golden Wings, the Peerless Dragon, and so on.
However, the most widely known were still the King of the Near Seas and the Emperor Dragon.
Among them, Emperor Dragon carried a great exaggeration, a title born out of fear and reverence from the people. More often than not, he was referred to as the King of the Near Seas.
In the blink of an eye, a year had passed.
Saga remained in slumber.
The Deep Sea Dragon City had not yet resolved the troubles brought by the prisoners exiled to the abyss, and the heart of the Stormy Ocean, where the Golden Sea of the Deep Sea Dragon City was located, remained in a state of war.
The war between the Mermaid Empire and the Shark Empire also continued, far from ending.
Moreover, the flames of war between the two great sea nations had spread to the Stormy Ocean.
The Stormy Ocean, being part of the Deep Sea Dragon City’s territory, was initially deliberately avoided by the warring nations, but as the war escalated and the Deep Sea Dragon City was preoccupied with the abyss exiles, the battles between the Shark Empire and the Mermaid Empire no longer steered clear of the Stormy Ocean.
However, the Stormy Ocean was vast.
And the Near Seas, where Saga resided, were close to the Yar Continent, situated at the edge of the Stormy Ocean, and had not yet encountered any armies from either the Shark Empire or the Mermaid Empire.
However, because of this war,
An incident occurred in Moon Bay, located in the Whirlpool Sea.
A ninth-tier Sea Storm Shark and a Warlock of the same tier fought incessantly, passing through Moon Bay.
Neither were part of an army; they were individuals fleeing the war to avoid disaster, but due to a chance encounter, the conflict between their nations inevitably led to a clash.
In the aftermath of their battle, the entire Moon Bay was in jeopardy.
The resolute Skeleton Ulg, although not weak in strength, was far inferior compared to them. In the process of defending Gemstone Mountain, it was reluctantly drawn into the fray, suffered heavy injuries, and was engulfed by the violent currents stirred up by the Sea Storm Shark, losing consciousness and being swept away by the ocean currents, drifting aimlessly for a long time.
Because the Psychic Guard was an extension of his own personality, the slumbering Saga also felt the events happening to the little skeleton.
However, since the little skeleton had fallen into a comatose state, he could not use it to understand the outside world.
Before long, the little skeleton regained consciousness.
A thread of Saga’s awareness descended, surveying the surroundings.
Unbeknownst to it, this Psychic Guard, who had been unconscious for months, had been washed ashore in an unfamiliar territory.
Fortunately, it was a skeleton; if it had been a creature of flesh and blood, it would have been devoured by sea beasts during the drift, and even as a skeleton, to have drifted for months in the sea without truly perishing was quite fortuitous.
Looking down,
Saga saw that ‘his’ ribcage was missing quite a few bones, and one arm bone had vanished. The rest of the body was riddled with cracks and many tiny bite marks, a sight too gruesome to behold.
Lifting its head, the little skeleton, now controlled by Saga, looked around.
The soul fire in its eyes flickered slightly.
In view was a vast coastal plain with dim air filled with dense negative energy, obscuring the clouds in the sky as if the sun was never seen.
Crack.
Not far away, a few skeletons turned their heads stiffly to look at ‘Saga,’ then turned back just as rigidly, no longer paying attention to the little skeleton washed ashore by the currents.
Saga carefully observed the environment.
A multitude of Undead creatures came into view.
Groups of skeletons, skeleton swordsmen, skeleton archers, skeleton mages, and other Undead creatures such as zombies and nightmares roamed the gloomy plains, with wraiths and gargoyles occasionally howling across the sky.
“Where has Ulg been washed up to?”
Saga pondered.
Crack, crack. A burly minotaur skeleton, about three meters tall, took notice of the battered and seemingly frail little skeleton, picked up a bone axe, and walked over.
Beside it lay scattered skeletal remains, all shattered by its brute force.
As Undead creatures, skeletons could not only absorb the souls of living beings to strengthen themselves but could also draw on the soul fires of their kind to grow stronger, and infighting was common.
“.Die.”
The minotaur skeleton’s jaws collided, producing a sound like the grinding of rusty machinery, showing early signs of sentience.
Approaching the little skeleton, it raised its bone axe high, ready to cleave down.
Suddenly, before the axe could fall, the minotaur skeleton’s body trembled as if struck by lightning, then thudded to the ground, its combat strength dissipated by a simple psychic shock from Saga.
Immediately, the skeleton Saga twisted off the minotaur skeleton’s head.
Slurp!
The minotaur skeleton’s head vibrated, its soul fire in the eye sockets dissipating strand by strand, sucked into the eye sockets of the skeleton Saga. One side dimmed while the other brightened a bit, diminishing here and growing there, until after a few seconds, the minotaur skeleton’s soul fire was completely absorbed.
The fire in the eye sockets flickered as if caressed by a gentle breeze.
Fragments of memories from the minotaur skeleton’s mind flashed through Saga’s consciousness.
Quickly, the skeleton Saga came to its senses, shook its head, and its neck made a crisp cracking sound, the soul fire in its eyes now much more lively.
“Blackland Continent. I’ve been directly carried here by the currents.”
“No wonder there are so many Undead here, and the concentration of negative energy in the air is so high.”
Saga was quite surprised, looking around again at the gloomy plains and sky.
His current location, known as the Bone Wasteland, was part of the coastal area of the Blackland Continent.
As for the Blackland Continent, it was one of the several continents on the Saiga Planet.
At the same time, this place was the domain of the Undead Empire, home to countless Undead creatures.
The Undead Empire was not part of the High Council of Nations, but its strength was formidable among the five high nations because it was the only realm of the dead. It was also under blockade and suppression by many living empires, yet it still existed and had caused numerous Undead disasters throughout history, leading to the suffering of all living beings.
In recent years, the Undead Empire had quieted down, but the vigilance and caution of many empires had not faded.
“This place is far from the Near Seas, far from the Yar Continent.”
“There isn’t much information about the Blackland Continent in my heritage.”
Apart from a few Dragon Kind, most True Dragons, including Red Dragons and Golden Dragons, despise environments with overly rich negative energy and do not live on the Blackland Continent; hence, there isn’t much recorded information in their heritage.
“Interesting, the little skeleton might just have a blessing in disguise.”
Where on this planet is the most suitable place for the development of Undead creatures?
Without a doubt, it is the Blackland Continent, a paradise for the Undead, a realm for immortal beings.
The little skeleton was highly efficient at absorbing soul energy, which was a considerable talent for an Undead creature. As Saga’s Psychic Guard, it possessed psychic abilities that were quite effective against its own kind, and here, it would surely grow rapidly.
Next,
The little skeleton detached the sturdy arm bone from the minotaur skeleton and fitted it onto itself, then stepped towards more skeletons, absorbing their soul fires, taking the better bones from their bodies to restore and strengthen its own.
And so, the little skeleton Ulg’s adventure on the Undead Continent began.
At the same time, a thread of Saga’s consciousness kept watch over this place, understanding this realm of the dead through the little skeleton’s perceptions.
Another year swiftly passed by.
During this time, an event occurred in the Near Seas that many Sapient Beings talked about with relish.
That ninth-tier Sea Storm Shark had successfully killed the Warlock of the same tier who was its enemy, and then it came to the Near Seas.
After hearing of the fame of the King of the Near Seas and learning that the King had not yet reached legend status, the Sea Storm Shark, which ranked highly in combat power among the many shark species of the Shark Empire, did not recognize the King’s achievements and issued a challenge.
However, the slumbering King of the Near Seas paid no heed to the Sea Storm Shark’s challenge.
Dissatisfied, the Sea Storm Shark invaded Starfall Island, only to be besieged by the island’s monstrous denizens and the powerful allies who had sworn fealty to the King of the Near Seas. Severely wounded, it fled in haste, leaving behind a threat that it was on the verge of breaking through to legend status and would return for revenge once it became a legendary creature.