Beneath the Red Dragon

”This is no ordinary Demon Lord,”

Green Dragon Antajena’s narrow pupils glinted with the light of intrigue. The Green Dragon species was naturally fond of conspiracies; this was her area of expertise.

”The way he pledges and recruits Karon in battle is not something an ordinary Demon Lord can exhibit. Perhaps his true identity is the Sovereign of some ancient powerful Abyss Plane.”

Female Red Dragon Kleyna snorted two sparks from her nostrils, saying hoarsely, ”So what if his true identity is the powerful Sovereign of an Abyss Plane? The victor is king, and the loser should honestly lie on the ground.”

This female dragon raised her claws and stomped on the skeleton of the Legendary Demon with a clattering sound.

”Survival of the fittest, the winner survives, is the law of all things, not just our Colorful Dragon Race,” White Dragon Gomot stood proudly.

In this battle between the greatest dragons and demons, the might and dominance displayed by the Ancestral Red Dragon filled White Dragon Gomot with confidence.

As long as there were no dragons with the intention of challenging the Ancestral Red Dragon’s status and power, they all derived pride from it.

Of course, in the eyes of these dragons, this pride manifested in the expansion of Imperial territories and the increase of their own wealth.

”Then let him continue to come,” Blue Dragon Lord Akzhi expanded his claws, speaking solemnly, ”I’ve heard that in the Star Realm, there are no shortages of wars for world supremacy between dragons and demons, dragons and devils, dragons and other civilizations,”

”The Dragon Nest we crafted, the Golden Empire, will also become such a powerful civilization, such a powerful empire!”

Dragons of various scales guarded the King of the Dragon Clan, and even the Imperial Legion warriors could not approach within a hundred meters of Karon.

At this vulnerable moment, these evil dragons, who grew up together since their infancy, remained Karon’s most trustworthy companions.

Karon consumed the fruit of the Tree of Life, letting its abundant Life Energy wash over his depleted, weary body, healing the injuries on his body.

Green Dragon Antajena also used the spells she learned, combined with her innate Green Dragon abilities, to reinvigorate Karon with the life essence absorbed by the poisonous bloodthirsty ancient vine she cultivated.

The massive supply of Life Energy and essence made Karon’s frail body visibly strong again, with broken scales shedding and new scales shimmering with a lustrous glow.

Aside from the slowly recovering Magic Power, the Ancestral Dragon Blood, which was still on the brink of depletion, these all required time to accumulate and recover slowly in this place almost destroyed by demon aura.

The Imperial Legion warriors began to orderly clear the entire battlefield. Battle-hardened warriors didn’t need deliberate commands from their commanders to cut the heads of demon bodies, stacking them as pyres on both sides of the sealed Plane Passage.

Each ferocious, sinister demon head became extremely valuable casting material in the hands of mages specializing in undead magic or other casters and warlocks studying demon power.

However, in the hands of the Imperial Legion warriors, they could only serve as proof of the Legion’s martial might, a rough custom that had become a trend within the Legion.

But the meticulous casters weren’t happy with it. Among these demons, the low-tier ones weren’t counted as precious, nor could they fetch a decent price.

However, the bodies of many mid-tier and high-tier demons, each organ in the eyes of these mages, glimmered with the promise of gold coins and silver coins.

The young high-tier mage Sakro of the Empire led his team of casters to block these warriors who didn’t understand resource utilization, loudly scolding: ”Even a dog has value, let alone these demons stronger than dogs?”

”Do you even understand that in our Icaria World’s market, the corpse of a sturdy adult male can even sell for a gold coin? In the hands of those who study dark magic, these demon bodies are even more precious.”

”Even damaged demon bodies can be sold at a low price to those carrion-eating dark mages,” Sakro’s spittle flew as he pointed fingers at the Legion’s commander.

”The bodies of those high-tier demons are even the first choice for witches, able to sell for hundreds or thousands of gold coins. Undead magic materials are precious precisely because those mages hidden in darkness dare not openly acquire materials,”

”But on the Empire’s battlefield, these demons have no human rights; they are legal materials. No nation or power can condemn us over this, bringing great revenue to the Empire,”

A caster even pulled out an ancient magic instrument resembling an abacus from his ring, operating it with a clinking sound in front of the Legion commander.

”These mages aren’t short on money, nor are the witches. What they lack is the time to find materials. We need to use these demon bodies to exchange for their bulging money bags.”

”Look,” Sakro point to the corpse of the dead Torture Demon, earnestly advising, ”a body like this, every part is worth a lot of money,”

”Heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, we have our caster team to finely disassemble and dissect these materials. A high-tier demon’s heart is worth at least thousands of gold coins for those seeking greater power,”

”Those other internal organs, we will also enhance the materials supply, reaching or even surpassing casting material standards,”

”And the claws, armor, and lash of the Torture Demon, these are materials those penny-pinching warriors favor the most. Though those warriors are rather poor, they can still sell for a good price,”

”There’s also the Demon blood; while they’re freshly dead, like chickens in a street market, the blood is still fresh. You can draw it out and use it. Do you understand?”

The Legion Commander was downcast and speechless.

Although in the Golden Empire, the unique status of these Casters wasn’t necessarily higher than that of these commanders, in such a misunderstood Domain, the commander had no opening to argue even if he wanted to.

”This, these are the marks of warriors’ valor, this, this is the warriors’ honor,” the Legion’s Commander scratched his head and squeezed out two sentences.

What greeted the commander was a deluge of spit.

Sakro leapt up in anger and roared, ”Valor, honor? The Emperor’s approval is your honor. Your valor, seen by His Majesty, needs no further proof.”

”But these scattered everywhere are gleaming Gold Coins. Do you think the Imperial Legion’s mobilization doesn’t need military spending? Do you think these battle armors on your bodies, which regular demons can’t even break, just fell from the sky in front of you?”

”And where do you think your envious treatment from regular outside Mages came from? These are the extra gains from conquering the Plane Worlds, how can you waste them!”

The Dragon Lords, initially uninterested in the warrior and Mage disputes, snapped to attention upon hearing the word ”Gold Coin,” each Dragon subtly perked their ears.

Until the commander, looking defeated, ordered the warriors to step aside, allowing the valuable Mages to pick and choose as if at a market, did these Dragon Lords breathe a sigh of relief.

It’s not that these Dragons are greedy, but the words ”Gold Coin” naturally have an irresistible appeal to Dragons.

Karon, baring his fangs, severed the spiritual authority’s connection to the Empire’s subjects. In this battle, not only did he reap immense rewards, but he now understood the path forward.

The entire Empire also seized the opportunity, gaining strength.

The Imperial Stronghold Domain, an offshoot of the Empire’s and spiritual existence.

While the Ancestral Red Dragon is the paramount creator and crown, Karon, holding spiritual authority, can do much more.

Like creating Secondary Authorities and distributing them among the Giant Dragons within the Dragon Group.

Karon can also leverage spiritual authority to grant the Empire’s Domain powers to loyal warriors, powerful War Commanders, and diligent officials.

From the collective come the collective incarnate.

This borrowed Mighty Power can be divided based on the nobility ranking system within the Empire; every Legion Commander’s emblem is the material bearer of this capability, every official’s employment seal the medium of borrowed Mighty Power.

As strong as the Empire is, so is the borrowed Mighty Power. The stronger the borrowed Mighty Power, the stronger the Empire becomes.

And the high-seated spiritual crown of the Ancestral Red Dragon, the future Strong Domain, will become unfathomable with the Empire’s extending influence.

But this is just Karon’s current vision; implementing it requires careful consideration of many details.

In the long term, Karon may distribute this laborious task, or rather, this tremendous power, to the Giant Dragons with Secondary Authorities.

For now, it’s time to enjoy the victory’s fruits.

Karon stood on the bones of the Legendary Demon Sakres, his claws extracting all the surrounding space’s heat and temperature, bitter cold frosting instantly spreading from his claws.

Instantly, the demonic skeleton stretching tens of meters beneath him was frozen at absolute zero within his Domain, even the dying aura of the Legendary Demon was thoroughly iced, unable to spread a fraction.

A beautiful Jade appeared in Karon’s claw, the ancient Dragon Language overlapping and resonating, remnants of Magic Power and Elements responded to the Ancestral Red Dragon’s will, whipping up a fervent wind.

Under the Nine-Ring Magic Effect, the massive and heavy Legendary Demon skeleton was absorbed by the Jade in Karon’s claw, the thirty-meter magnificent form imprisoned into the one-inch Jade owned by the Ancestral Red Dragon.

Like amber, light could normally penetrate this Jade. But even Divination Skills could not identify this world’s imprisonment seal of the Legendary Demon.

Karon stored the Jade with Imprisonment Skill within his scales, then spread his wings and laughed aloud, ”Let’s go, it’s time to awaken Rosani, let him return to the Dragon Group!”

With a flutter, Dragons of different scales followed the Ancestral Red Dragon in flight, as if juvenile, roaming the skies, surveying the Domain, flying towards the continent’s opposite end.

Holy Sanctuary Grandmaster Lapus stood on the Floating Island, sighed silently, realizing it was his task to tidy the mess here.