Chapter 89: Stormy Weather and the Azure Cross
Every bit of damage in battle is repaired with life energy, making the restored scales and shells even harder.
Each gap torn in the muscles during movement is filled with life energy, which is digested under muscle pressure to become part of him.
With every draw of heat into the flame bag, and every transformation of that heat into breath weapon output, the thermal regulation activity of life becomes like breathing.
A stronger body accumulates more heat, and this life energy, as part of that heat, refines the flames until they glow blue.
Veteran battles are a process; it seems that life’s entire existence revolves around these battles.
From fighting against the eggshell at birth, to battling each breath that surges into the throat, then onto the combat between lives.
Battling hunger, battling wounds, battling intense poison and disease.
Until the very end, life fights all its life, battling death for survival.
Even those calamities walking the earth fail too, but their life essences, grander by ten thousandfold than ordinary beings, linger on and are recorded by nature.
The blood of ancient dragons from the past, after erasing all original characteristics, flows into the earth veins and is organized into cycles by some great entity.
Finally, granting blessings to all living things of the new continent, growing through struggle alongside Him, him, and them, eternally continuing the fight of life against death.
Great power, once detached from oneself, will eventually return to the whole.
There’s no change from quantity to quality; it’s just that the last piece of Jié Jié has been filled. Life energy never left, it just dissolved into every corner of his life as a male fire dragon.
The wound on his chest healed, and the legendary scales capable of ruling heaven and earth coalesced on his chest, shining brilliantly.
The energy from the scales flowed along with the light throughout his body, returning only when the fire dragon dies, accumulating to become an indestructible material, the final trace left behind by a sky-dominating master.
“Roar!!!”
The surging flames illuminated the night sky, the flames faintly glowing with a tinge of destructive blue before disappearing instantly.
Viewed from the foot of the mountain, that streak of flame lit up the night sky, even obscuring the moonlight somewhat.
The water dragon in the lake raised its head from the whirlpool, the intense glare making it shake its head uncomfortably, causing the water dragons trapped beneath the whirlpool to become even more panicked.
Because just a single shake of its head caused the whirlpool to become even more violent.
As the whirlpool grew violent, the water level of the lake dropped rapidly, while that mysterious water dragon became vibrant and radiant, its body shimmering with the various bright colors of the entire seabed.
The lakes upstream seemed to also be drawn by some kind of attraction, starting to flow downward.
Finally, the water dragon left, diving deep underwater, ignoring the loaches struggling in the mud, heading towards the ocean.
The loaches, once known as the kings of water, finally stopped struggling; the gentle mother waters were gone, and they would have to migrate.
Jié Jié did not notice the significant changes happening far away at the large lake; he only felt that he should exercise a bit more.
So, before dawn, he flew from the mountain to the ancient tree, knocking down the male fire dragon dominating the top of the ancient tree right in front of its offspring and mate, then flew away under the male fire dragon’s sorrowful and speechless gaze.
The male fire dragon turned to look at its mate and young dragon, only to see their gazes seemingly following that fellow clansman who had flown away.
Filled with sorrow and anger, yet harboring envy for that same clansman in his heart, he even thought such a perfect nesting site should belong to him.
But what’s the point of beating someone up and then flying away?
Jié Jié, feeling refreshed, patrolled along the shore and found a great cliff to rest on in the form of a spiny dragon.
Eat, fight, sleep, sleep, sleep!
As for the great desert deep within the giant ant hill wasteland, it was too barren; he wouldn’t go there.
But why was this late autumn so humid?
The sea breeze is pretty strong too.
But Jié Jié, having already settled into position, was unwilling to move anymore. His confusion dissipated as his brain shut down, and he entered a fulfilling sleep.
—Meanwhile—
The monster from the plateau has left the flooded forest.
The demon drawing water is advancing towards our home.
The terrifying calamity brings a new river closer to the coast.
The water catastrophe enters the ocean.
His Majesty, Lord of the Torrents, has arrived at his loyal home!
The monster categorized by the guild as an ancient dragon, who will later be named Abyssal Wave Dragon, swims freely in the depths of the sea, its colorful glow lighting up the dark seabed, attracting countless small fish to surround it like devoted followers.
The coral reefs on the seabed seem to undergo some unexplained mutation without any scientists present, being illuminated with the same dazzling glow as the Abyssal Wave Dragon.
What should be a silent and dark seabed has transformed into a lively discotheque.
But in the distant skies of the new continent, a huge tornado brings overcast skies and towering waves on the sea surface.
The massive tornado appears suddenly, and the weather changes so quickly.
“Report! We’ve re-observed the storm created by the steel dragon, and the storm is growing!”
If the storm wasn’t growing, they wouldn’t even be able to see what they were tracking.
“If the storm wasn’t blocking us, we should already be able to see the new continent according to the sea chart.”
The report from the lookout on the mast reached the commander beside the burly man, who opened the sea chart and reported their position before the sky was obscured.
“Haha! It seems that as we approach our destination, that guy can’t contain his excitement either! Reduce the sails by one level! We need to avoid him!”
The burly man laughed loudly, his arms visibly bulging with veins as he steered the iron rudder of the two-masted sailing ship.
With the sound of the hinges rumbling, the masts seemed to rotate along with the sails, adjusting to an angle that could distance themselves from the gale.
The sailors receiving his orders swung onto the masts with extraordinary skill, grabbing the sail ropes and began pulling them in.
“The storm is still expanding!”
The shout of the observer cut through the gale and came again.
The commander quickly walked to the railing of the ship, his eagle-like eyes fixed on the sea spray, then looked up to observe the wind direction.
“The wind is pulling us in! Leader!”
Holding onto the railing to steady himself on the ship, the young commander stared intently at the burly middle-aged man.
“It seems that guy is too excited, sharing his mood with us! Tie yourselves down! Prepare for the storm!”
The golden-haired man hailed as the leader shouted loudly, his voice free of panic, remaining cheerful.
Another level of sails was lowered, and the masts adjusted to the wind direction with the sound of hinges, slowly moving forward amidst the turbulent waves.
And on the sails’ emblem below the azure cross was a pattern representing their identity.
Ancient Dragon Investigation Team, New Continent Ancient Dragon Investigation Team.
90
