Starting with watering the World Tree for otherworldly survival

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Using the large chunks of Scarlet Iris Stone ore she found in the maze, she planned to melt the scales and Scarlet Iris Stone into molten steel to coat the dragon's claws.

The dragon's stomach, used for storing items, has nothing to do with the digestive system. It's made of bone plates, a sterile environment for the flow of magical energy.

With the firepower of a young dragon, she couldn't possibly forge Crimson Kite Steel. Not to mention Steel Dragon Heavy Scales... Therefore, Qin Lan had to enter a deep slumber early, hoping to use the power of her transformation into a younger age to melt the materials within her body.

The hunters ate large quantities of food, raw meat, and iron ore. Once she was sure she had enough nutrition, she went into the cave to use her age-crossing pass.

Inside the cave, Qin Lan's three-meter-long dragon body underwent a visible transformation. The originally small scales began to fall off, and the new scales finally took shape, giving it the appearance of a giant dragon.

After breaking through eight meters and nine meters, Qin Lan's body finally grew to a full ten meters in length, marking the end of this transformation.

Having grown to ten meters in length even in its youth, if Qin Lan were to face the Black Dragon Carona now, she fears she could easily break its bones and tendons with just two swipes of her claws.

After her transformation, Qin Lan instantly gained the power of the peak of the third tier. With just a little more consolidation, she could directly advance to the fourth tier.

Some famous nobles or generals may never reach the fourth rank in their entire lives. Those with talent are, after all, a minority; their destination is merely the starting line that a young dragon can reach by eating and sleeping.

"Oh~ Qinlan, you've grown even taller than Xuehui now."

Zhuang Daihua looked at the young dragon in front of her, whose body was covered in beautiful iron scales and who had successfully crossed the age barrier, and couldn't help but admire him.

However, a significant portion of a dragon's length is comprised of its neck and tail.

Take Miraboreas, the legendary forbidden black dragon, as an example. This ancient dragon, capable of easily destroying the earth's surface, possesses the most beautiful and sensual form, the quintessential image of a true dragon.

It has a flexible long neck, a broad wingspan, a winding tail, and a majestic head. But if you cut off its neck and tail, Mirapolias's length of over forty meters would be greatly reduced.

Although it is longer than Yuki, the Snow Owl Bear is round and robust. Its eight-meter length is all combat power made up of its torso.

"Heh heh~ See that? I can grow even bigger in the future, like ten black dragons like Carona~"

She ended her deep slumber so quickly and gained an even stronger dragon body. Furthermore, she successfully melted the Crimson Steel and Steel Dragon Heavy Scales using flames that transcended her age.

Although it sounds absurd that a steel dragon with at least Saint-level scales could be melted by the flames of a young dragon's metamorphosis, she did it using burning coals and the young dragon's body.

Qin He and Zhuang Daihua drafted a preliminary architectural design, and the kobolds worked overtime to build greenhouses, cultivate crops, and raise cattle and sheep within the demiplane ring using existing materials...

Zhuang Daihua returned to the tent; Yu Li was still lying in her sleeping bag, fast asleep. It was time for her to catch up on her sleep too—

Zhuang Daihua's adventure came to an end, and Qin He, who had been working all night, also set off.

The Mad Dragon Virus has no effect on true dragons. During this time, Qin He extracted a suitable amount of dragon blood from Sang Shen and the others, attempting to directly study the blood components of true dragons in order to crack the Mad Dragon Virus.

Through continuous research, Qin He and his team finally reached the eleventh floor.

The miasma here is unusually dense, clearly caused by the hunting of the Vaal Hazak, which disrupted the balance of miasma in the strata.

Fortunately, Xuezhi used spores to purify the area at all times, which allowed Qin He and the others to proceed safely.

Last night, the Fairy Dragon King played all sorts of pranks in the Dragon Castle, causing a lot of trouble.

But Zhong Liuxiu was prepared, using a large quantity of precious sweets to attract Nair. Qin He also personally intervened, reaching a cooperation agreement with this fairy dragon king—

When she took human form, Niel was surprisingly petite, just like an elf fairy, standing only eighty centimeters tall.

Pale purple dragon horns, butterfly wings, and a spiky tail. These features of a fairy dragon appeared on the delicate and adorable, doll-like body of Nair.

"Hehe~ Qin He, Xiu Xiu's cooking skills are really good. I'm very satisfied with her desserts. From now on, I'll be your ally~"

Niall spoke so lightly of a matter concerning the survival of the dragon, as she snuggled into Qin He's arms like a cat, pressing the purple scales to his palm.

Just as Qin He was about to put away the token from the Fairy Dragon King, he realized that the scales were embedded in his palm and he couldn't remove them.

"Hehehe—can't get it off now, huh?"

Having finally managed to trick Qin He, the future Dragon Emperor, Nair was finally satisfied. But the girls weren't about to let it go after all the trouble she'd caused.

After washing off the graffiti on her face, Fei Xue, who was about the size of a hamster, was thrown into Qin He's arms along with Luna, who had transformed from a snow bear into a panda.

At the same time, her nimble cat paws swiftly lashed out towards Nair's head. Qin He wanted to stop her, but Nair gestured for him to stop—

Once transformed back into its original form, the purple fairy dragon raised its front paws and began to playfully spar with the purple electric cat in front of it.

"Qin He, you don't need to worry about anything for a while. I've already seen the rats in the gutter."

The eleventh floor was far from peaceful; without the intervention of the ancient dragons, the Black Eclipse Dragons were spreading the Mad Dragon Virus wildly.

But in Nair's eyes, these things weren't even rats. The "gutter rats" she was referring to were naturally the gray dwarf who was at the mid-stage of godhood.

The enemy's goal is to capture Xuezhi and stop her spores from suppressing the Mad Dragon Virus.

The grey dwarves are now gathering resources, planning to kill the Ice Dragon outside the Frozen Fortress.

Even if the Heavenly Comet Dragon Star Source reaches the twelfth level, this battle will still have to be fought.

Qin He understood that although the current situation was extremely unfavorable to the gray dwarves, their willingness to covet the resources of the entire underground city meant they must have a backup plan.

Currently, their main focus remains on stopping Xuezhi and her spores, and ensuring that the casualties caused by the Mad Dragon Virus within the underground city are not contained.

As the Black Erosion Dragons were defeated one by one by Sang Shen and Mo Yu, the passage to the twelfth floor of the underground palace was already in sight.

Finally, the lurking gray dwarf could no longer hold back; now was its chance to strike!

A short but sturdy figure leaped forward, wielding two short axes. Using the body of the flying Black Corruption Dragon as cover, it charged out at an incredibly tricky angle, aiming to snatch Xuezhi in a single strike.

"Turn into a pig!"

Without needing to chant, Nair used a spell similar to malicious transformation to twist the gray dwarf who was in the mid-stage of godhood.

The gray dwarf was immediately transformed under the overwhelming magical power of the Fairy Dragon King, losing all ability to resist.

Even a simple spell, when cast by Nair, can leave a mid-stage Godhood expert helpless.

Just moments ago, the gray dwarf unleashed an unparalleled pressure from a god-level expert, but in the blink of an eye, he was transformed by Nair into a bizarrely styled, pink miniature pig, resembling a noble's pet.

This is what makes the Fairy Dragon King so terrifying; she can now playfully wrestle and paw at Fei Xue like a house cat. She can also unleash a variety of comic-book-like magical abilities, leaving her opponents utterly helpless.

"Hmph—! Hmph?!"

The poor gray dwarf expert was turned into a pet pig before he even understood what was happening. His mid-stage Godhood level strength was completely restricted by the variables that Niel had modified in the spell.

Under the spell specially enhanced by Nair, the gray dwarf before him was completely turned into a pig, leaving him with nothing but memories.

Looking at the pet pig that was no bigger than a puppy, Xuezhi couldn't help but cover her face and chuckle. She had imagined fighting alongside Qin He... He would use every means to protect her from the gray dwarf assassins.

But unexpectedly, the gray dwarf assassin, who was in the mid-stage of the Ascension Realm, suffered such a humiliating defeat.

Qin He hoisted the Purple Lightning Cat from his arms onto his shoulder and lifted the pet pig with one hand.

After obtaining the necessary information using the Soul Searching spell, I threw it into the Space Scale, giving it to the gnoll cubs as an extra meal.

"Kids need to learn through experience. I'll help you this time. From now on... all those apple pies and sandwich cookies... are mine!"

After snuggling closer to Qin He, Nair decided to return to Qin He's Dragon Castle for a hearty meal after dealing with the gray dwarf assassin.

“Of course, Your Highness. The kitchen at Dragon Castle is always open to you.”

Having obtained enough information from the gray dwarf assassin's head, Qin He and the others rushed to the twelfth floor without stopping.

The soul search yielded three key pieces of information. The first was the exact location of the shadow dragon. It was guarding the eighteenth floor, and Qin He could guess what the shadow dragon wanted with his toes.

The moment Qin He breaks the seal and obtains the Dragon Abyss Divine Kingdom, the Shadow Dragon will seize it. Once the Dragon Abyss Divine Kingdom is obtained, the Shadow Dragon will have the authority to control the underground city at will.

By then, Shadow Dragon will be able to destroy the entire underground city and the Dragon Abyss Divine Kingdom, rendering Qin He's trip a waste of effort.

At the same time, it can also use the highest authority in the dungeon to activate teleportation magic, transferring all the wealth and treasures within the dungeon away—

The gray dwarves have been frantically looting throughout the dungeon, while Shadow Dragon's mission is to remove the treasures that are not easily accessible within the dungeon.

For example, the ruins and volcanic mineral deposits occupied by Teostra and Lunastra, or the astonishingly large Golden Land of Kulve Taroth.

These are not treasures that can be taken away in a short period of time. Destroying the entire underground city would be tantamount to erasing all of this wealth.

Therefore, these untransferable riches must be seized by Shadow Dragon himself.

Secondly... the Grey Dwarves have already set up far more dragon-slaying lances than usual, and they have even successfully forged the "Dragon Slayer Cannon," a weapon against large Elder Dragons, made from fire dragon materials and sparrow steel.

If directly hit by the Dragon Slayer Cannon, whether it's an Iceborne Dragon in its early Godhood stage or a Starborn Dragon, there's a very high chance of being severely injured, or even killed.

The Sky Comet has a speed that surpasses that of a cannonball, but would the Grey Dwarfs not have thought of that?

Thirdly… the Grey Dwarves are after something beneath the Golden Land of the Radiant Dragon. That "thing" is a life form, the very life form mentioned in the previous legends, capable of destroying the world!

That thing is occupying the earth's veins, and under the cover of the thirteenth underground city, it is absorbing and accumulating unprecedented natural energy, waiting to hatch.

Upon hearing this series of descriptions, Qin He finally remembered the true nature of "that thing".

—The King of Ancient Dragons, the Netherworld Dragon.

The juvenile Crimson Dragon absorbed the energy of the earth's veins and grew into an unprecedentedly terrifying being. Once that thing is born, it will surely possess god-like combat power.

Its entire body was a lustrous blue, shimmering with light. Its dragon form resembled glass, and its six eyes burned with destructive brilliance. It spewed forth earth vein energy capable of destroying everything. The Netherworld Dragon's form gradually appeared before Qin He's eyes.

Should we kill him? Or should we recruit him for our own use?

The Xeno'jiiva, and a chosen one at that, directly absorbs the energy of the earth's ley lines. Its future achievements will definitely surpass those of the original species, the Safi'jiiva.

……

The twelfth floor of the underground city.

Amidst the raging snowstorm, darkness descended completely beneath the oppressive blanket of scaly dust. The gray dwarves' tundra fortress was finally facing its most perilous battle.

A red dragon, 45 meters long and so fat it was bloated, crawled out from between the corridors of the fortress. This was the young, powerful red dragon, Hibchad, in the early stages of his ascension to godhood.

Its appearance is worlds apart from that of a mulberry. Hibchad, constantly overfed by the gray dwarves, had become so bloated with fat that it was almost distorted.

Its body was covered in fleshy folds, and even the dragon's most important skin was stretched quite loosely.

In contrast, Mulberry can not only shed her fat and revert to her full battle stance at any time, but even in her defensive stance where she releases her fat, her dragon skin and scales are smooth and delicate, without the slightest wrinkle.

If we were to draw an analogy, Hibchad would be like a huge, fat, hairless cat.

The reason it was willing to step forward and guard this frozen fortress was because the gray dwarves had promised it many treasures from the underground city.

Gazing at the massive, crimson shadow within the frozen fortress, Qin He's brows furrowed.

Hibchad is not the stupid dragon in the movie that can't even breathe properly. Although it can't transform back into a normal dragon like Mulberry, its fighting power is even more ferocious than some normal-sized dragons.

The reason it stayed in the gray dwarves' territory was because it had made a pact.

Outside the fortress, Qin He and the others successfully reunited with the Sky Comet Dragon. Xing Yuan assisted the Ice Curse Dragon in killing most of the Black Eclipse Dragons on the twelfth floor.

Only at the early stages of godhood, the Ice Dragon had expended considerable energy in the battles of the past few days.

She folded her wings, her dazzling horn crown reflecting an icy blue light, and sat calmly and steadily before Qin He, displaying the elegant nature of an ancient dragon.

"I salute you, Your Highness the Dragon Emperor. Xingyuan has already told me about your deeds, and I am aware of the Gray Dwarves' conspiracies..."

"Frostflower Iberukana, I am willing to assist you in the attack on the Grey Dwarf Frozen Fortress."

Of all the ancient dragons, the Silver Dragons, who reside in the Empire, are the most particular about etiquette and are regarded as noble knights who protect the Empire.

Living in the tundra and possessing habits similar to the White Dragon, the Velkhana is considered a representative of someone with a gorgeous appearance but actually savage nature.

But when Qin He met the Iceborne Dragon in person, Frostflower's beauty immediately impressed him, and his preconceived notions about it changed.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Shuanghua."

The Ice Curse Dragon before them, adorned with a crystalline ice crown and a magnificent gauze dress, possessed the same slender, willow-like figure as her true form.

The long, slender dragon tail even shimmered with a glass-like light.

Suddenly, Shuanghua seemed to see something. Her golden vertical pupils immediately became alert, not because she had discovered the gray dwarf's attack, but because she saw the Ice Cursed Dragon Greatsword that Zhong Liuxiu carried with her.

Although she didn't say anything to Qin He's face, she personally witnessed the Ice Wing Spirit Feathers crafted from Ice Cursed Dragon materials. The level of shock she felt was probably no less than that of an ordinary person seeing a string of human stumps.

Upon seeing this, Zhong Liuxiu quickly retrieved the Ice Wing Spirit Feathers into her spatial scale.

The two explained to Shuanghua that the greatsword came from an Ice Curse Dragon that had died of old age.

"So that's it..."

Shuanghua felt much relieved, and Xingyuan extended his wing claws beside her, saying:

"Don't worry, His Highness the Dragon Emperor would never harm us. If he wanted to hunt you down, he would have ordered me to capture you long ago—don't you agree?"

Indeed, if Qin He wanted to harm him, Xingyuan would have no reason to help him deal with the Black Corrosion Dragon.

"Hmm... so what do we do now?"

According to her own plan, Shuanghua would probably charge straight out and break through the frozen fortress head-on. That fat red dragon definitely couldn't defeat her—

But Qin He took out a map, which was a topographical map of the frozen fortress that he had obtained from the reconnaissance robots he had sent out in the past few days.

"Now, the news of Xingyuan's arrival has been learned by the gray dwarves. But they still haven't run away from the Tianhui Dragon, which is in the mid-stage of the Ascension God realm."

"Hibernatore—that fat, wrinkled red dragon, and those anti-dragon weapons set up everywhere—are the Grey Dwarves' reliance."