Chapter 875: The Mating Season of December, Damned Instincts (I)

The rift of time and space suddenly collapsed, and the flowing gray current surged like seawater before being torn apart. Emerging from within was a colossal beast over sixty kilometers long.

Before this beast's immense frame, with wings outstretched and casting a vast shadow, even the Dragon Emperor, measuring over three thousand meters long, appeared utterly insignificant. The same went for the eight ray-like colossal beasts surrounding them, each between ten to twenty kilometers in length. They too seemed unimpressive by comparison.

Seeing this, the Silver Colossal Dragon's eyes bulged wide.

Why are these beasts so ridiculously huge, Thorsafi!?

The Golden-Blue Colossal Dragon gazed at the beasts, opening their filters to sift the gray current, and mused,

Their massive size probably comes down to structural biology.

The Single-Horned Kunpeng let out a squeak.

Those things are big, but they’re also following Thunder Fiery. It looks like they’ve joined the Dragon Palace.

The Silver Dragon caught on and roared with excitement.

Roar! Big Horn is right! The great Saixitia is about to become invincible!

With the addition of this group of beasts exuding titan-level and ancient-titan-level auras, the Dragon Palace Empire now possessed three ancient titans and over ten titan-level colossal beasts.

If, in the near future, the great Saixitia returns and manages to convince Mother, which is likely close to completing its principle-based transformation, and Father, which is on the verge of reaching the ancient titan level, then we will have five ancient titans in total. Most crucial of all is that Ao Tian’s power was still rising rapidly. Ha! The great Saixitia is truly going to be invincible. Every beast would soon be my underling!

As it calculated the current strength of the Dragon Palace, the Silver Dragon narrowed its eyes in joy, so thrilled that a thick stream of silver drool dribbled from the corner of its savage mouth.

The Golden-Blue Dragon immediately frowned and backed away a step in disgust, letting out a low growl.

Saixitia, wake up. You're drooling.

Ah... hahahaha...

The Silver Dragon snapped back to reality, a hint of human-like confusion appearing on its face as it tried to cover its embarrassment.

Having grown up together, however, the Golden-Blue Dragon saw right through what it had just been thinking. Its usually lazy eyes grew unusually solemn, and it let out a deep rumble through its nostrils.

Saixitia, the great Thorsafi reminds you: though you're the great dragon king in name, your current cultivation is only at the middle stage of the mythical level. You must show proper respect to those ancient titans who have joined the Dragon Palace.

Rest assured, Thorsafi! The great Saixitia is no fool.

The Silver Dragon nodded seriously.

The great Saixitia may be the great dragon king in name, but all matters of the Dragon Palace are decided in the Dragon King Palace and ultimately by Ao Tian.

Seeing that the Silver Dragon understood the reality, the Golden-Blue Dragon gave a slight nod and said nothing more, thinking,

This foolish dragon is often prone to doing stupid things, but it’s also matured a little after its time away. At least it understands the bigger picture.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

While the three beasts conversed, the ten colossal beasts a thousand kilometers away reached the edge of the rift and flew out from the gray currents.

Massive shockwaves tore through the skies and earth. The Ancient Ray-Beast soared slowly above the three colossal dragons, and at the same time, the black-and-red colossal beast descended from the heavens.

Boom!

In an instant, a region hundreds of kilometers wide collapsed. Countless rocks and clumps of soil at the edges slid into the rift, and were immediately shredded and dissolved by the gray destruction currents.

Standing atop the shattered land, the Dragon Emperor growled low.

Let me make introductions. This is Alius. It has joined the Dragon Palace and now holds the title of King of Sky and Void. Alius, this is Saixitia, the Dragon Palace’s King of Storm and Frost. This is Thorsafi, the King of Ice, and this is the Horned Kunpeng, the King of Black and White. Also, Saixitia is the Great Dragon King of the Dragon Palace.

Its words stunned the ancient titan and all of its surrounding followers. They stared down at the three tiny figures below, dumbfounded.

Great Thunder Fiery King, are you sure that little one is the Great Dragon King?

The Ancient Ray-Beast was baffled. It had imagined that the one awaiting them at the edge of the destruction zone would be a mighty beast even larger than the black-and-red colossal beast—something overwhelming. However, to its shock...

The diminutive Silver Dragon roared from the ground.

You named Alius, don’t you dare look down on the great Saixitia! You may be an ancient titan, but the great Saixitia’s mother is also an ancient colossal dragon! It won’t be long before the great Saixitia surpasses you!

Uhh... Are you kidding me? Just a middle-stage mythical beast?

Floating in the sky, the Ancient Ray-Beast hesitated, staring at the Silver Dragon below—something it could probably swallow whole in one gulp.

Although the Ancient Ray-Beast found the Silver Dragon’s words unconvincing, it didn’t show it on its face. After all, this tiny fellow was still the Great Dragon King. To look down on the Silver Dragon was tantamount to disrespecting the Thunder Fiery King, and if they angered that one, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Still, the Ancient Ray-Beast turned to look at the Dragon Emperor on the ground, a questioning light in its eyes. It needed a reason, something that would truly convince it to submit to a mythical-level beast.

As an ancient titan, it had its own pride. If, aside from the Thunder Fiery King, all other dragon kings in the Dragon Palace were this weak, then it might as well not join this empire at all. It would all seem like a farce.

If that were the case, it wouldn’t hesitate to put on a show of diplomacy, then retreat with its tribe deep into the destruction zone, and disappear for centuries without resurfacing even once.

The Dragon Emperor slowly opened its mouth.

Alius, Saixitia’s status as Great Dragon King is an honorary title granted as its right as the founder of the Dragon Palace. Its position is unshakable. However, it does not manage daily affairs. The empire’s major decisions are handled by the Dragon King Palace and decided jointly by the dragon kings. Aside from you and me, the dragon kings consist of those such as Jormungandr and Kutadirei—all ancient titans. In some respects, their strength may even surpass your own.

Furthermore, the title of dragon king isn’t based solely on strength, it also honors one’s contributions to the empire. Take Big Horn, Thorsafi, Baxia, and Ghidorah. Though their strength is average, they made outstanding contributions during the empire’s founding stage. Their roles are irreplaceable.

So that’s how it is.

The Ancient Ray-Beast suddenly understood.

So it is an honorary title. The true authority remains with the Thunder Fiery King. That explains it. With such overwhelming strength, how can the great Thunder Fiery King possibly subordinate itself beneath any lesser beast?

Still, this empire had an unexpectedly strong sense of loyalty and sentiment. These weaker beasts retained lofty titles simply because they were founding elders. Even after the empire had grown, they were still honored.

With that thought, all of the ray-beasts visibly relaxed, and their earlier anxiety about joining an unfamiliar organization quietly dissipated. Loyalty was a good thing. So long as they followed the great Thunder Fiery King faithfully, they would surely be treated well.

On the other hand, had the empire been cold and ruthless, they would have feared it. For a brief moment, countless thoughts flickered through the minds of these intelligent ray-beasts.

Now that it understood the empire’s structure, the Ancient Ray-Beast felt much more at ease. It let out a deep, polite hum.

Honorable Dragon King Saixitia, please don’t take offense at my earlier tone. I was only surprised upon hearing that you were the Great Dragon King. I meant no disrespect.

The Silver Dragon proudly roared,

No worries. The great Saixitia is a dragon destined to dominate the Chaotic Region and the vast world beyond. Such trivial things are beneath me.

Dragon King Saixitia truly lives up to its title. Such magnanimity!

Seeing how agreeable the Silver Dragon was, the Ancient Ray-Beast didn’t hesitate to throw in a flattering remark. Immediately, both the Golden-Blue Dragon and the Kunpeng softened their expressions. This massive creature seemed quite easy to get along with.

Now that everyone was acquainted, the Dragon Emperor turned solemn and finally addressed serious matters, growling low.

Saixitia, Thorsafi, this rift stretches over a hundred million kilometers and completely severs the Chaotic Region. I don’t think we can get around it.

What, over a hundred million kilometers?

The Silver Dragon’s eyes widened, and the Golden-Blue Dragon was also visibly stunned.

Because they had spent considerable time with the Dragon Emperor, they had a rough sense of its measurement scale. For instance, one kilometer was roughly one-third the length of the Dragon Emperor’s body.

A hundred million kilometers... Even with their strength, flying across it would take an unimaginably long time, and that was assuming the path was perfectly smooth with no forbidden zones or dangerous areas.

The Dragon Emperor growled again.

This forbidden zone is far too vast. If we want to cross it, we’ll have to ride on Alius and the others. They’ll guide the way.

Staring at the calm-eyed Dragon Emperor, the Golden-Blue Dragon hesitated.

Thunder Fiery, you really intend to go?

Yes. I want to see what lies on the other side.

The Dragon Emperor nodded.

The world passage to the Blue Planet limited travel to mythical-level beasts; if it wanted to lead a beast army to support the humans in their coming war against the Purgatory Clan, it had to find a way through the Chaotic Region. That meant, while it was still gathering resources and growing stronger, it also had to begin exploring a safe route as soon as possible.

Once it broke through to the ancient titan level, it could return and rally all of the colossal beasts, unify their strength, and begin its great expedition, subjugating every mythical and greater beast around the Chaotic Region.

With the Dragon Emperor’s decision made, the other beasts naturally had no objection. However, before they departed, they still needed to divide up the spoils from this recent harvest.

Splat! Splat!

There was no need for the Dragon Emperor to lift a claw. The ray-beasts simply maneuvered their tail stingers and pried off the slabs of gray crystal from their own heads.

Compared to the stingers, each hundreds of meters long, the crystals, ranging from just over ten meters to at most thirty-something meters, looked like nothing more than flakes of dandruff, utterly insignificant.

These ray-beasts filtered chaotic matter daily. Even if those gray crystals became activated after detaching, and transformed into energy-rich substances, they’d have little effect. Their bodies had essentially maxed out on resistance. The Dragon Emperor had already tested this on the return journey using a crystal a few meters in size.

As the thirty-one gray crystals were dislodged from the heads of the seven ray-beasts and floated into the air, intense energy fluctuations instantly spread out. The Kunpeng’s horn lit up with a dazzling glow. Its eyes gleamed as it excitedly squeaked,

Thunder Fiery, Thunder Fiery! I want to eat it! I want it now!

Even the two colossal dragons’ eyes brightened. Their gazes burned as they stared hungrily at the floating gray crystals. The moment the material within those crystals activated, intense urges surged within their bodies. Their instincts screamed at them to devour and plunder.

The Dragon Emperor lowly growled,

These crystals contain chaotic matter and violent energy. They can trigger physical evolution and enhance your bloodline, but your strength is still too weak. If you take on crystals that are too large, you won’t be able to digest them. Big Horn, this one’s for you. This one is Saixitia’s. That one is Thorsafi’s.

An invisible force swept up the three smallest crystals, around eight to nine meters in diameter, and brought them before the three beasts.