Ashen Dragon

Tiniya nodded like pounding garlic, clutching the Warhammer tightly in her claws. The runes on it instantly radiated an ice-blue light, releasing a bone-chilling cold.

"Boom——"

In the distance, the cold wind howled, and the earth shook with a roar. A massive Ice Mountain slowly rose from the ground, remaining unmelting even in the scorching environment near Dragon Blood Mountain.

"Roar!"

The White Dragon opened its mouth, stirring its throat, and spewed forth the organ-imbued magical extreme cold liquid as usual.

But this time, blessed by Matalotok, a thick beam of ice-blue light shot from her throat. The rocks hit by the beam in the distance froze, and a layer of white frost covered the rock's surface.

The frost rapidly spread beyond a hundred meters, freezing everything around it. Even the moisture in the air solidified into chunks of pure white and light blue Ice Crystals.

The cold wind swept across the land, bringing a fierce chill that turned the sky into a hazy white, mixed with countless snowflakes and Ice Crystals.

"Master, now I... have become so powerful!" Tiniya's face lit with joy.

"Father of Frost and the White Dragon really have a high affinity. I estimate that Soleim used quite a few Ancient White Dragon body materials in forging this Warhammer.

"With this Sub-artifact, Tiniya's strength should have surpassed that of the Ancient White Dragon, effortlessly defeating those Female Dragons."

Cassius nodded in satisfaction, creating a portal to the south with a swipe of his claw, and said, "Go, Tiniya, do not disappoint me."

"Yes, Master, I will freeze those disgraceful dragons into ice!!"

The White Dragon let out a joyful long howl, swallowed the Warhammer into its stomach, and then flew into the portal with a flap of its wings.

Cassius watched the magical image in mid-air, chuckling softly, "Now... there's a good show to watch."

...

Ashen Empire, Thrace Region, Tewar Lake.

This lake is surrounded by mountains, with impassable roads. The mountains house numerous fierce beasts and powerful monsters, making it a place rarely frequented by humans.

However, at this moment, it was unprecedentedly lively. Dozens of the Empire's helicopters hovered nearby, tens of thousands of elite troops were on high alert.

And the most striking were the hundreds of giant dragons.

They were either circling in the sky, resting and waiting by the lakeside, or even entangled in fights, with chaotic Dragon's Roar intertwining.

Green Dragon, Blue Dragon, and other dragons inclined towards Order gathered together, forming small groups to obtain survival space.

While the powerful and solitary Red Dragon roamed alone, showing blatant hostility towards any dragon present.

In their eyes, every Female Dragon present was a potential competitor, potentially seizing the chance to bear offspring with the "Dragon Prince" and receive Divine Favor.

However, each Red Dragon was particularly confident, invariably believing that His Highness Cassius would only favor a strong, robust Female Dragon like themselves.

As for the White Dragon?

As the disgrace of the dragons, the white beast, few White Dragons could reach Tewar Lake.

Even if a particularly intelligent White Dragon journeyed thousands of miles, they would be readily driven away by the Red Dragon, leaving with only scars and whimpers.

Bod Gate is divided into the noble Upper City and the Commoner Lower District, with the Outer City scattered around Chenyi Mountain, and the door dividing the Upper City and Lower District is called Bod Gate. The whole city is named after it, also as a monument to the city's founder, Bodlan.

Currently, Bod Gate is governed by a council of four Grand Dukes, one of whom is the leader of the council. If a vote is tied, the decision is made by Grand Duke Elder Ravenclaw. Law and order in the Upper City are maintained by the elite Watch, while other areas are policed by a mercenary group known as the Flaming Fist. Grand Duke Elder Ravenclaw is also the highest leader of the mercenary group, which is headquartered in the Bodlan Sea Tower, the strongest fortress against sea invasions at Bod Gate. Meanwhile, embracing the economic lifeline of Bod Gate like a crescent is Gray Harbor, with hundreds of merchant ships entering and leaving daily, bringing both Gold Coin and unwholesome desires and crimes.

The Upper City, situated at a relatively high altitude, is comprised of the Castle District, Temple District, Manoburn District, and Wide Alley District, with numerous religious buildings. The Miracle Hall and the Supreme Miracle House are the church centers of the God of Craft, Gund, in Bod Gate. The Miracle Hall showcases Gund's great inventions, while the Supreme Miracle House serves as both a workshop and a showcase. The Lower District mostly consists of stone houses, with six districts, namely Sea Tower District, Blonrich District, Steep District, Crowded Side District, East Road District, and Branpton District. The middle class generally resides in the Blonrich District, close to the elite of the Upper City, while the East Road District, near the Stone Lizard Gate connecting the Outer City, is relatively diverse. There are many bustling bars and cheap inns here, and the Flaming Fist Mercenary Group is stationed in the Sea Tower District. The largest Rocky Offshore Island in the Sea Tower District houses the mercenary groups' headquarters, the Bodlan Sea Tower. The Branpton District and Steep District are relatively rundown, forming a living community for sailors and laborers. The Outer City stretches along the Chongsar River, crowded with temporary structures and shanty towns. A landmark building is a stone bridge spanning the Chongsar River — Flying Dragon Crossroad, with many stalls gathered, even the bridge is widened with planks and carries several constructions atop; law and order barely exist here, even the Flaming Fist Mercenary Group's protection is very limited. Many of the poor and criminals who cannot settle in the city gather here.

The moss under the arched ceiling of the sewers glowed a ghostly green in the dim phosphorescent light. Murky sewage sloshed over boot soles, each step eliciting a viscous "glug" sound. From the cracks in the wall oozed purple-black slime, converging like veins towards the drain — the specific neural corrosive substance of the Spirit Sucking Monster Lair. Inhaling it caused ordinary people to experience auditory hallucinations, as though tiny tendrils were wriggling in their ear canals. Suddenly, from behind a broken iron pipe, came a click of misaligned bones. Four Spirit Sucking Monsters sprang from the sewage, their pale humanoid bodies covered in decomposition, octopus-like head tentacles vibrating and releasing a visible purple Mind Shock Wave. The frontmost guard's helmet dented with a crunch, and his eyes exploded into a mist of blood as the pressure in his skull surged; the second man's gunfire was swallowed by the subsonic screams emitted by the collective Spirit Sucking Monsters. These creatures were clearly tactically trained. Two feign attackers created a mist screen by slapping the water surface with their tentacles to obscure vision, while the third one, hanging from the ceiling, tore open the downed guard's chest cavity with bony knuckles, extracting the warm liver and stuffing it into its mouthparts, pale yellow digestive liquid dripping from its jaw onto the ground, corroding it. In that moment, the fourth Spirit Sucking Monster used the bone blade of its knuckles to slice open the downed guard's chest cavity, removing the warm liver and tucking it into its maw, pale yellow digestive juices dripping from its jaw. The creature's throaty, non-human, synthesized voice choked out, "The skull... for the Elder Brain...". The true horror was just beginning to reveal itself — as in the distance, a sewage pool began to boil, more Spirit Sucking Monsters appeared out of the shadows, dragging captives into the depths of the sewer pipes, where the pulsating enormous shadow beneath Bod Gate awaited, engulfing the dim purple luminescence of neural corrosive substances.

"""