“I wonder what’s attracting the Ratmen here.”

“These creatures keep burrowing out of the ground in droves; no matter how many we kill, they just don’t stop.”

Having moved to a more spacious Dragon’s Nest, Saga and Tixil gathered together. Tixil the Amethyst Dragon shook her head and said.

“Emerald Gorge?”

“No, not just the Emerald Gorge.”

“Traces of Ratmen have been found in both the Dusk Mountains and the Dragonfall Mountains. They are actually few in the Emerald Gorge, but since we are here, we’ve waged war against those that appear.”

Tixil pondered for a moment before speaking.

The Dusk Mountains and the Dragonfall Mountains, near the Emerald Gorge.

There’s nothing particularly special about these places, so why would they attract Ratmen?

Saga thought hard and felt that aside from the mysterious ancient dragon roars, there didn’t seem to be any other noteworthy anomalies or environmental features.

Thinking of the ancient dragon roars.

The Golden Dragon’s gaze shifted slightly as he asked:

“Tixil, Charlotte, how long have I been in dragon slumber?”

“Your slumber was short this time, just over three months. We didn’t expect you to awaken now.”

Advancing from the ninth rank to legend is a leap in life, a qualitative change. Normally, it would take longer than the breakthrough from mid-sixth rank to high rank, and a decade-long dragon slumber wouldn’t be considered long.

But Saga had only slumbered for three months before officially stepping into legend.

“It’s related to my unique destiny insights.”

“Besides, it must also be due to the nourishment of the Goddess of Beauty’s transcendent divine power.”

Saga thought silently.

At that moment, he truly realized why the Golden Dragonfather could grow from an ordinary legend to a demigod like a comet. He had merely been nourished by some divine power and easily broke through the legendary threshold. If he could truly devour transcendent divine power, how terrifying his growth rate would be.

“Unfortunately, it’s confirmed through the Goddess of Beauty’s descent that I don’t possess the talent to devour divine power.”

“I wonder if Yekaterina has inherited her father’s talent. It’s probably not; special talents are difficult to pass on through bloodlines.”

If all the special Outsider talents of Dragon Kind could be inherited.

This world would no longer belong to the deities but to the dragons.

Collecting his thoughts, Saga looked at Tixil, whose scales shimmered with a faint purple luster, and mused, “How many times did the ancient dragon roar occur while I was in slumber?”

Tixil thought for a moment and replied:

“About three times, at a frequency of once a month.”

After Tixil finished speaking, Charlotte blinked and added, “The Ratmen also appeared on the surface three times.”

Hmm?

Hearing his companions’ words, Saga’s gaze flickered as he pondered:

“Could the Ratmen be drawn by the ancient dragon roars?”

“Is there a pattern to their emergence on the surface?”

Aside from the ancient dragon roars, there was nothing else special here.

Saga’s thoughts raced, linking the Ratmen’s appearances to the ancient dragon roars.

Tixil and Charlotte were both taken aback, then fell into deep thought.

The observer sees clearer than the player. They hadn’t considered this before, but now that Saga mentioned it, it seemed highly possible.

“The Ratmen’s appearances seem to always occur within a few days after the ancient dragon roars.”

Tixil murmured softly.

“These disgusting creatures hiding underground might indeed be drawn by the ancient dragon roars.”

“If it’s confirmed that there’s an ancient dragon soul behind the roars, more precisely, they are drawn to the ancient dragon soul.”

A powerful soul often has a wide range of uses.

Without a doubt, dragon souls belong to the category of powerful souls.

And an ancient dragon soul, almost second only to the soul of the Dragon God within dragon souls, would be a tremendous boon for a Ratmen tribe. If this tribe is strong enough, it might even have a chance to join the Ratmen Council.

It’s worth mentioning.

The Ratmen Empire is not a unified force; though it’s called an empire, it’s actually a council system.

Controlled by the Ten Rat Council, composed of the ten strongest Ratmen clans, they firmly hold all Ratmen tribes and clans. Other clans and tribes that wish to join must display outstanding achievements and strong comprehensive power. They must challenge and defeat one of the council members to qualify for membership.

Tixil’s visor revealed a serious expression as she said:

“These Ratmen have been very active lately, appearing frequently in the Dragonfall Mountains, not just the Emerald Gorge.”

“They may have already found clues to the ancient dragon soul.”

Charlotte spoke simultaneously:

“If they really are after the ancient dragon soul, these disgusting and ugly creatures must not be allowed to defile it. It’s a great insult to our Dragon Kind.”

Even in the eyes of dragons, which have an aesthetic for all races, Ratmen are mostly considered filthy, ugly, and disgusting creatures.

For all life on the Yar Continent, Ratmen are like a cancer.

They seem out of place in this world’s ecosystem, bringing nothing but plague, destruction, and devastation. The Yar Continent would be better off without them.

If it weren’t for their constant hiding underground, their rampant breeding, and the difficulty in eradicating them, the Ratmen would have been wiped out by the Casters of the Skyrealm Empire long ago.

After communicating with Tixil for a while, Saga flew out of the Dragon’s Nest, hovering in the airspace of the Dragonfall Mountains, emitting electromagnetic pulses for sensing.

The invisible electromagnetic pulses radiated swiftly, sweeping over everything nearby, allowing Saga to see through them as if they were transparent.

After ascending to legend, Saga’s abilities had greatly improved. With his electromagnetic pulse sensing fully activated, he could easily encompass everything within a thousand miles, detecting even the slightest movements. If he reduced the precision of his sensing, he could expand the range even further.

Within the range of his perception.

Saga spotted groups of Ratmen traversing the Dragonfall Mountains.

Some from the Dusk Mountains were also converging towards the Dragonfall Mountains, like vast, dark rivers, gnawing away at rocks and trees in their path.

As the Ratmen passed, the creatures living in the Dragonfall Mountains avoided them like the plague, fearing they couldn’t escape fast enough.

“These things are numerous and somehow feel even more disgusting than the Undead.”

Watching the large rats crowd and wriggle together en masse, Saga’s eyelids twitched, and he felt an inexplicable wave of nausea.

“They’re converging on the Dragonfall Mountains. Perhaps, as Tixil said, they have indeed discovered something.”

With that thought, Saga hovered high in the sky, quietly observing the Ratmen’s movements.

Tixil and Charlotte also soared into the air, appearing on either side of Saga, observing the Ratmen’s tracks.

Time quietly passed by.

After a while, Saga noticed that the Ratmen were mainly active in a certain area of the Dragonfall Mountains, focusing their efforts there as if searching for something, but without a clear target.

“Let’s wait a while.”

“The next time the ancient dragon roars, we’ll know what these Ratmen are here for.”

The Golden Dragon looked down upon the Dragonfall Mountains, upon the Ratmen small as ants, and spoke.

Then, Saga and Tixil returned to their Dragon’s Nest in the Emerald Gorge.

With Saga’s current sensing ability, he could clearly perceive the Ratmen in the Dragonfall Mountains even from within the Emerald Gorge, so there was no need to keep watch over the mountains.

In the Dragon’s Nest, after exercising with Tixil for a while and resisting the influence of the heart-stealing demon, Saga immersed his mind in the scenes he had witnessed during his destiny insights.

The stars on a macro scale and particles on a micro scale.

Scenes of infinite beauty and bizarre splendor emerged from his memory, once again coming into view.

Although he had lost the feeling of merging with the Force Field during his destiny insights, which made understanding and insight easier, it still allowed Saga to analyze the basic forces’ operating principles more efficiently.

At this moment.

Saga focused his mind on the micro world, quietly observing the combination and decay of microscopic particles, feeling the operation of the basic forces within.

Among them, the change of one type of particle caught his attention—neutrons.

In the micro realm, they are an important component of atoms, not the smallest, but still quite microscopic. After reaching legend, Saga could barely observe them when focusing all his mental power into the micro world. Fortunately, he had deeply recorded the scenes from his destiny insights, allowing him to reflect without expending too much mental effort.

What interested Saga was.

Aside from being the cornerstone of the micro world, neutrons also have a clear presence on a macro scale.

In the stars and special celestial bodies of the Milky Way system, some terrifying and powerful celestial bodies left a deep impression on Saga during his destiny insights.

Among them, a small celestial body with a diameter of only about thirty kilometers seemed harmless but was extremely deadly.

It is entirely composed of neutrons, with a diameter of only thirty kilometers, but its mass far exceeds some stars with a diameter of a million kilometers. It has high density, an incredibly strong magnetic field, terrifying high temperatures, and unimaginable gravity.

Neutron star—a celestial body entirely composed of neutrons.

“If I can deeply understand neutrons, determine the composition model of a neutron star, and the operation of the basic forces within, I might be able to transform my own body into a similar form.”

But this was not Saga’s ultimate goal.

“Beyond the neutron star, there’s a final stage of celestial body—the black hole.”

When the mass of a neutron star becomes large enough, the interaction forces between the neutrons composing it will be unable to resist the crushing force of their own gravity, continuing to collapse and crush without end, becoming denser and denser, eventually forming a black hole—a celestial body that even light cannot escape from and that can devour everything.

“My Singularity Breath actually has a bit of a black hole’s prototype. If I can collapse mass infinitely into one point and control it, I could turn it into a black hole.”

Saga imagined that if he could create a black hole, or transform his dragon body into a black hole form, he would display what kind of destructive power, especially in the main material plane, a force even deities would struggle to resist.

In the records of dragon heritage.

Some deities, when dealing with targets that were difficult to kill and could only be sealed, would choose to seal them in the black holes of the material world. Since deities struggle to exert their full power in the material world, once sealed in a black hole, escape is nearly impossible.

Saga thought that once he had enough strength, he must visit the cosmic starry sky and observe those powerful and terrifying celestial bodies up close, understanding the operating principles of their basic forces.

At that time, close observation would be even more effective than destiny insights.

Of course, this was still far from the current Saga.

He temporarily set aside the neutron star and shifted his focus to another phenomenon he had sensed during his destiny insights—the neutron torrent.

This is a high-speed particle stream composed entirely of neutrons, rampaging through the cosmic starry sky, dangerous and deadly.

Unlike his future plans for the neutron star.

Saga felt that with his current stage, he could try to turn this neutron torrent into one of his skills.

Calming his mind, Saga observed the particle changes in the micro realm.

Especially the decay of microscopic particles under the weak nuclear force, releasing neutrons and strong energy in the process, combined with the vast neutron torrent sweeping through the cosmic starry sky, he quietly analyzed the operation of the basic forces, with insights continuously emerging in his heart.

Time quietly passed.

Soon, about a month went by.

Starry night, like a black velvet cloth, over the Dragonfall Mountains.

Roar!

Suddenly, a vast, ethereal roar filled with intense unwillingness and anger erupted.

A fierce wind surged.

The massive, majestic Golden Dragon flapped its wings, pulling a golden streak through the air, and appeared precisely where the ancient dragon roar had sounded.

Above an ordinary mountain peak in the Dragonfall Mountains, not particularly towering.

Looking down, Saga gazed at the ground.

He saw.

The Ratmen were attracted, converging here like black rivers.

The friction of fur, claws, long tails against trees and rocks, along with the squeals of the rats, rose and fell, continuous and unending.

These giant rats clung to the silent mountain peak.

With their sharp teeth and claws, they rapidly dug and gnawed, covering the mountain surface, visibly shrinking and lowering.

“Is the ancient dragon soul hidden inside this mountain peak?”

Saga narrowed his eyes, his body concealed in the high clouds, making no rash moves.

Dragon souls are not harmless, especially the ancient dragon souls filled with unwillingness and anger, which are very dangerous Undead.

Facing creatures that have invaded its resting place, if the ancient dragon soul truly exists and feels anger, it will surely launch a fierce attack.

Without knowing the exact level of the ancient dragon soul, Saga did not want to immediately emerge and be seen as an enemy by the ancient dragon soul. At this moment, the Ratmen, also attracted by the ancient dragon soul, served as excellent scouts to test the reality of the ancient dragon soul.

At this time, Tixil the Amethyst Dragon and Charlotte the Gemstone Dragon also flew over.

Hiding in the same cloud cover as Saga, they quietly watched the movements below.

As time passed, the large mountain peak was gradually gnawed away, and a deep Dragon Might began to emerge, confirming the presence of the ancient dragon soul.

Suddenly.

When a Ratman uncovered a rock near the belly of the mountain.

Roar!

An angry and hostile dragon roar burst forth, thundering like rolling thunder, howling like a raging wind, echoing through the skies.

A fierce wind whistled to life.

Groups of Ratmen covering the mountain surface were swept into the air, then fell to the ground like raindrops, as if a rain of rats had fallen.

Along with the dragon roar, the fierce wind carried a rich spiritual energy.

Many Ratmen perished mid-air, their fragile wills torn apart by the ancient dragon soul’s roar.

However, more Ratmen, like sticky candy, gathered again, braving the ancient dragon soul’s spiritual attacks with even more excitement, digging into the mountain belly. Despite dying in droves, their relentless efforts, trampling over the bodies of their companions, eventually hollowed out the mountain belly.

Then, instead of seeing the ancient dragon soul, a spiritual vortex composed entirely of spiritual energy, swirling within the mountain like a whirlpool, was revealed.

The ancient dragon roars originated from it.

“This is…”

Seeing the spiritual vortex, Saga’s eyes reflected contemplation.

Knowledge from the dragon heritage was triggered, flowing into Saga’s mind.

The spiritual vortex in his vision, known as the Dragon Soul Sanctuary, is a special existence of dragon souls.

Some dragons with powerful souls, upon death, filled with extreme unwillingness and desire to reverse a situation, will not become a normal dragon soul. Instead, after a very long time, all their unwillingness, anger, regrets, and spirit will transform into a kind of illusory and real sanctuary.

This sanctuary is essentially the dragon soul reliving its death process.

The dragon soul will loop through its death experience in the sanctuary, attempting to reverse the situation. If successful, its unwillingness and resentment will dissipate, and it will disappear without regrets.

But this is impossible.

Because the dragon soul that exists in such a sanctuary can only be considered an obsession, with the dragon soul itself transformed into the sanctuary.

This obsession will only repeatedly relive its own death experience, unable to escape the torment.

Unless an outsider enters the sanctuary and breaks the deadlock.

Those who can assist the ancient dragon soul in breaking the sanctuary and dissipate its unwillingness and resentment are likely to gain benefits from the awakened dragon soul. Of course, based on the dragon soul’s own condition, it’s also possible to gain nothing.

“So it’s a Dragon Soul Sanctuary, no wonder we only heard the roars but never saw the ancient dragon soul.”

“But how unwilling and angry must this ancient dragon be, for such piercing roars to emanate from the sanctuary.”

The Amethyst Dragon sighed deeply.

By this time, swarms of Ratmen had already entered the Dragon Soul Sanctuary.

Charlotte blinked and asked, “Shall we go in too?”

Tixil’s expression turned serious as she slowly said, “According to the legends here, this ancient dragon soul died in a very ancient era, during…”

She paused, her voice solemn:

“The Dragonfall War!”

Turning her head, looking at Saga, Tixil the Amethyst Dragon said, “If the legend is correct, this Dragon Soul Sanctuary likely contains a battle from the time of the Dragonfall War.”

No need for further explanation.

The mere words “Dragonfall War” were enough to indicate its danger level.

It was a devastating war that spanned many worlds, many planes, and involved the entire Great Ring Multiverse.

Saga took a deep breath and slowly said:

“The power of the ancient dragon soul is limited; it cannot reproduce the true Dragonfall War. The war evolved within the sanctuary is definitely a weakened version. Although it should not be underestimated, there’s no need for excessive fear.”

“Additionally, the heritage lacks too much history from the time of the Dragonfall War. It seems to have been deliberately obscured, almost a blank slate. This Dragon Soul Sanctuary might provide some answers.”

Regarding the Dragonfall War.

The heritage only mentioned that due to the dissatisfaction of many intelligent races with Dragon Kind’s rule, led by Giants and Elves, they united and launched a war. At the cost of all participating races being greatly weakened, they toppled the dragons from their dominant position.

But the specific course of the Dragonfall War is not in the dragon heritage.

This was strange.

Such a fierce war would surely be passed down from generation to generation and not be forgotten.

Moreover, how could the dragons, the sole rulers of the ancient era, be overthrown so easily? And by the races they enslaved? Saga always harbored doubts about this.

With such an opportunity to experience the Dragonfall War firsthand, he decided to make the most of it.