Defeating the World with the Power of One Dragon!

Chapter 555: The Second Generation Descendants, The Path to Godhood 9

Year 501 of the New Calendar, winter.

The first snow of the year on the Rhen Plateau arrived earlier than usual.

When Garoth returned to the dragon court from the training pocket dimension, snowflakes were quietly drifting down from the lead-gray clouds.

Fine, pure white, light.

They were caught by the wind, spinning in the air, finally landing on the earth already covered with a layer of white.

Mountains, rivers, forests, fields—all were dyed the same color by this first snow. A thin layer of snow had already blanketed the ground; stepping on it would likely produce a soft crunching sound.

He hovered amidst the wind and snow.

The Red Emperor, not far from three hundred years old, even without entering hibernation, had naturally seen his life level increase.

His normal form had officially surpassed fifty meters. No aura radiated from his body, but his scales still retained the residual warmth from training.

Snowflakes drifted down, landing on his scales, instantly melting, evaporating into wisps of white mist, then scattered again by the cold wind.Garoth closed his eyes.

The feeling of the wind and snow washing over his scales was pleasant.

One flake, two flakes, three flakes... the shape, temperature, angle of descent, even the speed of melting of each snowflake were clearly presented within his perception.

This was a byproduct of years of training.

Not just an increase in attributes, but perfect control over oneself and the surrounding environment.

Just then, a familiar aura came from the distance.

He turned his head, his gaze piercing through the curtain of snow, looking toward the direction the aura came from.

Two figures pierced through the clouds, flying up from below.

Leading was the red dragon, Garcro.

His physique had grown another circle larger since their last meeting, muscles solid, the color of his scales like burning embers, strikingly conspicuous amidst the boundless white snow. When his wings spread, they could cover a small patch of sky. Each wingbeat stirred a current of air, scattering the surrounding snowflakes in all directions.

He flew ahead, his posture agile and confident.

Following behind him was a young adult male black dragon.

No, not entirely a black dragon.

This young dragon's appearance lacked the usual sinister aura of common black dragons. Instead, he resembled a red dragon clad in black scales, with distinct muscle lines and robust bone structure. The horns on his head, though different from a red dragon's, were thicker and sturdier than those of ordinary black dragons.

Clearly, this was a hybrid dragon, a mix of red dragon and black dragon.

Garcro and Salia's son, Garoth's second-generation offspring.

The two dragons quickly flew closer.

Garcro extended his wings, stopping not far from his father.

His posture was casual, as if he did this often.

The young black dragon also stopped, hovering behind Garcro, still maintaining some distance from his grandfather. His gaze toward Garoth was filled with awe, but also mixed with a bit of curiosity and restraint.

"My dear father."

Garcro spoke first, his voice booming, carrying a smile. "Rare to see you with free time, so I brought my son to pay his respects. This snow came just right—not too heavy, not too light, not too fast, not too slow. I was planning to get drenched in it too."

"Seems we father and son are of one mind."

The young black dragon stepped forward at the right moment, lowering his head. His wings slightly folded, front claws bent, adopting the standard posture for dragons to express respect.

"Great grandfather, I, Karag Ignas, pay my respects to you."

He said.

Garoth looked at him.

In this young black dragon's eyes, there was respect, awe, and also unconcealable curiosity.

He was sizing up his grandfather, observing this legendary existence, wanting to see with his own eyes what the "Red Emperor," praised by all Aolan dragons, the entire kingdom, even the entire Arotala Continent, truly looked like.

This kind of gaze was familiar to Garoth. When his offspring first met him all those years ago, they had the same look in their eyes.

"Hmm."

Garoth responded simply, his gaze lingering on the young black dragon for a moment before withdrawing.

He remembered this black dragon.

Karag hatched not long after Garoth first officially destroyed the out-of-control Sky City.

Shortly after his birth, Garoth went to see him once, confirming at that time that this hybrid had inherited the Dragon Pearl.

Later, the iron dragon Ophelia united with a gold dragon from the Vophal Dragon Domain, the red dragon Laria met a female dragon from the Greenwild Kingdom on the Arotala Continent, and more second-generation offspring were born one after another.

Moreover, they generally inherited the innate talents and traits of their fathers or mothers.

The powerful innate talents contained within Garoth's bloodline could be passed down for more than one generation; they could continue through the generations. Given time, branching out and spreading leaves, perhaps they could truly form an incredibly powerful new dragon lineage.

This also meant he had indeed paved a path to divinity for himself.

Garcro waved a claw, signaling his son to step back a bit, then floated forward himself, moving close to Garoth. At this distance, snowflakes fell into the gap between them, only to be melted by the heat emanating from the red dragon.

"Father, what do you think of my son?"

Garcro asked, his tone carrying a hint of expectation.

"Not bad."

Garoth said.

Garcro was momentarily stunned, then shook his head. "Not bad? Just not bad?"

"Father, you don't know, Karag is exceptionally outstanding!"

"Last month, he went hunting in the tundra by himself, picked a ferocious beast with a level considerably higher than his, fought it for a long time, and finally succeeded in hunting it down."

"Also, in the annual trial at the convergence lands Dragon Academy, he took first place, overpowering all dragons his age."

Garcro talked on and on, growing more excited as he spoke, his tone full of pride.

He recounted every achievement of his son as if those accomplishments were his own.

This pride came from the heart, because he saw it as proof of the strength of his own bloodline, which in turn proved his own power and excellence.

Even traditional evil dragons preferred their bloodlines to be strong.

However, they often felt uneasy because of it.

Garoth listened quietly until he finished.

"Hmm, performed well."

He gave a slight nod. "Keep working hard."

That was all.

The excitement on Garcro's face froze for an instant.

He had originally thought his father would say more, at least ask for details or offer some commentary, but his father just gave this bland sentence, then said nothing further.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something more, but the words died on his lips.

Garcro shook his head slightly, turning to look at the black dragon. "Karag, I still have things to discuss with your grandfather. You may go back."

Garoth also glanced at him.

"Go."

"Yes."

The young black dragon lowered his head in acknowledgment, turned, and flew away with a beat of his wings. His figure quickly disappeared into the curtain of snow, leaving only a faint dragon aura drifting in the air.

The snow continued to fall.

Amidst the wind and snow, only father and son remained.

Garoth looked at the red dragon, able to sense the increasingly profound aura within him.

It was a sign of impending breakthrough; his life level was brewing a qualitative change through accumulation.

"Garcro."

He spoke. "You are just one step away from legendary. After one more hibernation, you should be able to step into the legendary domain in your prime."

The red dragon nodded, the slight disappointment from earlier quickly replaced by new excitement.

"That's exactly what I wanted to tell you. At most one more year, I should enter hibernation. When I wake, I'll be legendary, able to fight for you on the true battlefield."

"Prime legendary..."

Garoth acknowledged. "Not bad. Among all your siblings, you will be the first to become legendary. This is a good start."

Garcro grinned, his smile carrying a hint of smugness.

However, he still modestly said, "Still far behind you. I know you were already legendary shortly after reaching adulthood, long before your prime."

Garoth glanced at him. "Sounds like you want to surpass me?"

The red dragon nodded heavily, his smile deepening. "Of course! You know I've always aimed for you, ever since I was getting beaten up under your claws back then."

Hearing this, a flicker of amusement flashed in Garoth's eyes.

"I'll be waiting for you to challenge me again. If you win, then, as you wish, I will hand over the emperor's position to you."

After a pause, he added:

"I'll suppress myself to below legendary right now, giving you this chance. How about it?"

Garcro's smile froze on his face.

He hastily waved his claws, shaking his head like a rattle-drum. "That, that... I'm not ready yet. After hibernation, after hibernation. You know, challenges like this require thorough preparation, can't be hasty, absolutely can't be hasty."

The lessons from his juvenile years surfaced clearly in his mind, still vivid.

If he agreed now, what awaited him would likely be a bloody beating, because with the Dragon Pearl's existence, the Dragon Father's claws would show no mercy.

Garoth did not press further.

Subsequently, Garcro's expression gradually turned serious.

He was silent for a while, seemingly weighing his words, then said, "Father, there's something I want to ask you."

"Speak."

After a moment of hesitation, the red dragon said, "You don't seem to... pay much attention to Karag."

Garoth didn't speak, just looked at him.

Garcro continued, "I'm not blaming you, father. I know you have your own thoughts, your own considerations. It's just..."

He paused, then spoke again.

"You taught me before, saying we Aolan dragons must restrain our nature, support each other."

"The nature of the evil dragon bloodline is belligerence, competition, survival of the fittest. You said those traditional evil dragons, with fathers and sons killing each other, brothers fighting among themselves, it's because they didn't struggle against their natural desires. But we can't be like that; we must support each other, be each other's reliance."

"That's also one of the reasons why we Aolan dragons are strong."

He lifted his head, looking into his father's eyes.

"So I thought, you would support your grandchildren too, right? After all, Karag is also a member of our family."

"But, you haven't seen him for a long time. Today I specifically brought him to see you, and you seem... not as attentive to him as I imagined."

"Did you notice the look in his eyes just now?"

"This dragon whelp was excited for several days before coming, kept saying he wanted to perform well, leave a good impression on his grandfather. But you..."

He didn't finish, but the meaning was clear.

Snowflakes fell into the gap between father and son, one after another.

Garoth looked at him, his gaze calm and profound, as if thinking, or reminiscing.

After a moment, he spoke.

"Garcro, let me ask you, how many descendants do you have now?"

Garcro was momentarily stunned, not understanding why his father suddenly asked this, but answered truthfully. "Now... just Karag."

Giant dragon offspring are often between two and four.

Fewer or more are less probable, but it happens.

"Hmm."

Garoth nodded. "What do you feel when you look at Karag now?"

Garcro thought for a moment, then said frankly, "When I see him perform well, I feel proud, proud of my own bloodline. That feeling... it's as happy as when I achieved something myself back in the day."

Garoth looked at him, continuing to ask, "What about when you have ten descendants?"

Garcro was stunned.

"Ten?"

"Yes, ten." Garoth said. "When you have ten descendants, can you still feel the same pride for each offspring's achievements like you do now? Can you still firmly remember the performance of each one, be happy for them?"

Garcro fell into thought, the smile on his face slowly fading.

"Probably... not."

He said slowly. "With ten... I'd probably only pay attention to those particularly outstanding, or those that particularly worry me."

"Right, you can't."

Garoth's gaze grew deeper, his voice calm. "As long as you live, the number of your descendants will continue to increase. After several generations, generation after generation of offspring spread everywhere. As the source of the bloodline, how many can you notice?"

Garcro didn't answer.

He vaguely understood his father's meaning.

"You can only see the most excellent, or the most special."

Garoth continued. "Those mediocre, ordinary, with nothing particularly special about them, can only be left to their parents, for them to worry about and pay attention to."

His own number of descendants was already considerable.

And the ones he paid the most attention to, remembered most deeply, were always the first four sons, at most plus the later red-gold dragon Gabriel.

For the other descendants, he knew of their existence, knew their general situation, but that was about it. Usually, there wasn't much contact.

Back in the Vophal Dragon Domain, when conversing with the gold dragon Karus, he still had a trace of doubt.

Why, as a descendant of the Gold Dragon King, Karus wasn't familiar with this Dragon King, having only seen him once at birth, speaking of the Gold Dragon King with mainly awe.

Now, he completely understood.

Garoth looked at his eldest son, his voice calm.

"For example, you, Garcro. Your performance is all seen by me, and I am proud of you. But Karag..."

He paused.

"He is excellent in your eyes. But, in my view, he is not special."

"Those points of excellence you just described—hunting opponents of higher levels, taking first place at the academy, overpowering dragons his age—I've seen them all in you before, and more than once."

"You performed even more outstandingly back then, facing even more difficult situations."

"When I see him, I can only think more of you."

"Understand?"

Garcro fell silent.

Then, he lifted his head.

"Father."

"Hmm?"

"I think I just heard you say you are proud of me. Did I hear correctly?"

Garoth was slightly taken aback.

Thinking back carefully, he had indeed never said it so bluntly.

For three hundred years, his attitude toward his eldest son had always been more stern than gentle, more demanding than affirming.

He taught him, trained him, corrected him when he made mistakes, merely nodded in acknowledgment when he achieved something. But words like "proud of you" were indeed the first time spoken.

Silence lasted a few seconds.

Under the red dragon's expectant gaze, he gave a slight nod.

"Yes, I am proud of you."

Garcro's eyes instantly lit up, like burning flames illuminating the falling snowflakes around them.

Immediately, the red dragon raised his head, laughing heartily at the sky, his laughter carrying far in the wind and snow.

"I knew it!"

He said loudly. "I knew I was the best in your eyes! Haha, you finally admitted it!"

He laughed unrestrainedly, freely and joyfully, like a young red dragon finally receiving recognition, not a prime giant dragon about to step into legendary.

The laughter continued for a while before he took a deep breath, calming himself.

"My dear father."

He said seriously, his gaze directly meeting Garoth's eyes. "I will make you proud of me forever."

"I will let all dragons know that I, Garcro Ignas, eldest son of the Red Emperor, am worthy of this bloodline, worthy of this position."

"No matter how many descendants you have in the future, I promise, I will always be the most outstanding among them."

Garoth looked at him.

Amidst the boundless wind and snow, his eldest son stood before him, scales covered with accumulated snow, eyes burning with fire.

This scene suddenly reminded him of many years ago, when Garcro was still young, standing before him just like this, vowing earnestly to surpass him.

"I'll be watching."

He nodded slowly.

Garcro stood for a while longer, his gaze lingering on his father for a moment, then looking at the snow falling heavier and heavier around them.

"Father, I should go prepare for hibernation. There are still some things to arrange before hibernation, and I need to inform Salia as well."

"Go."

Garcro gave him one last look, then turned and flew into the wind and snow with a beat of his wings. His figure quickly became blurry, finally disappearing completely into the lead-gray clouds and the boundless snowflakes.

Garoth remained hovering alone in place.

The snow continued to fall, heavier and heavier.

Flake after flake of snow landed on his scales, accumulated, melted, evaporated, repeating endlessly. He closed his eyes, quietly feeling the tranquility of this moment.

An unknown amount of time passed.

A wave of drowsiness suddenly emerged, rising from deep within his body, slowly flooding the edges of his consciousness like a tide.

This feeling was familiar to him.

His hibernation period was also coming.

Garoth opened his eyes, looking toward the Rhen Plateau covered in white snow in the distance, looking toward the lead-gray horizon even farther away.

The current Bernardo was much more stable than decades ago, the world's chaos level reduced considerably. But Garoth understood clearly in his heart that sometimes, calmness only exists because a greater storm is brewing.

"Is hibernating at this time good or bad?"

"Regardless, first prepare to face everything."

He asked himself and answered himself, then tore forward with his claws, his figure disappearing into the vast wind and snow.