Chapter 420: Randomly Selecting a Lucky Winner (Bonus Chapter)

The White Dragon Lord flapped his wings and descended toward the ground. The fierce gale bent the trees beside the lake, and the murlocs cleaning the hydra's scales lost their footing, plunging off its body.

Hearing their screams, the White Dragon Lord stopped deliberately conjuring the gales. These murlocs were citizens of the Yafiavi Kingdom, after all, and some were spies sent by the kingdom to monitor the hydra.

Thud!

The White Dragon Lord landed heavily on the grass beside the lake, leaving deep footprints in the turf. He glanced at the crates of fruit stacked to the side, the halfling chefs preparing the hydra's meals, and the murloc attendants assigned specifically to feed it.

"How does this place compare to the Abyss?"

The hydra stared blankly at him, only snapping out of its daze when he spoke. Recognizing the White Dragon Lord's voice, its expression shifted from astonishment to pure fawning.

"Lord White Dragon, it's you! You've returned! I'm overjoyed! Ever since your disappearance, my lord, I've prayed to the snake god every day..."

The hydra's flattery flowed like water, smooth and endless, praising the White Dragon Lord as a peerless, divinely martial leader. It laid it on so thick that he actually felt too embarrassed to dress it down.

It seemed this hydra had truly degenerated.

The White Dragon Lord "unintentionally" leaked a hint of his Abomination Rank aura. He had a "friendly" chat with the hydra for a few minutes, demonstrating a leader's "care" for a subordinate. Then, amidst the hydra's tearfully grateful send-off, he teleported away.

After such a warning, the hydra probably lacked the guts to keep finding fault with the kingdom's government—at least not until its strength reached the Abomination Rank. But even if it did luckily break through to the Abomination Rank, the White Dragon Lord would have long since surpassed his current self.

...

City of the Sky, Samaria.

The White Dragon Lord appeared on the main tower's Teleportation Platform. He shifted into his dragonkin form and walked toward the Speaker's office, pushing the door open to find a clone of Merlin Heavenly Principle.

Merlin Heavenly Principle sat in his chair, a sharp gleam in his eyes as he watched the White Dragon Lord walk in.

"When Engru sent me the message, I thought he was joking. You truly surprised me, Amos."

"It was just good luck. I received a gift from a predecessor," the White Dragon Lord said, taking a seat opposite him. "I must also thank you, Speaker, for requesting the gods to search for me."

"You encountered trouble while handling matters for the Council. Naturally, the Council wouldn't just sit idly by." Merlin Heavenly Principle waved his hand dismissively.

"Alright, that is all in the past. Let's discuss the present. Since you have stepped into the Abomination Tier, you are now qualified to know certain things."

As he spoke, a point of light flared at the tip of his finger. The light gradually expanded into a bubble, which grew further to envelop the entire room. "This way, the contents of our conversation will not leak out."

The White Dragon Lord sensed his surroundings and discovered that this magic could block even Abomination Rank perception. That meant even if he cursed out a specific god by name right here, that deity wouldn't know a thing.

Merlin Heavenly Principle continued, "First, I must tell you about the faction of Abomination Rank powerhouses in the Nordhill Plane. As you know, over ten thousand years ago, Nordhill was invaded by demons from the Abyss and nearly destroyed. A great number of heroes emerged in that era."

"Among them were two standout figures. One belonged to your Dragon Race: the gold dragon, Stuart Jodmedin. The other was the princess of the Elf Dynasty at the time, Sophia."

The story of the gold dragon hero was recorded within the White Dragon Lord's Dragon Inheritance, so he was intimately familiar with it. But the name Sophia also felt somewhat familiar.

He felt like he had heard it somewhere before.

Suddenly, the White Dragon Lord remembered. The elven goddess of flowers—Sophia. She possessed a widespread following among the elves of Nordhill. If Merlin Heavenly Principle hadn't brought her up, the White Dragon Lord never would have made the connection. After all, elves were a bunch of aesthetes famous for their love of flowers. But looking at it now, this matter wasn't so simple.

"Back then, to save Nordhill, the ancient sages exhausted every method to seek reinforcements from the outside world. At the time, The Gods believed Nordhill was a lost cause and refused to intervene. To draw closer to The Gods, the rulers of the continent—the Elven Race—poured all their resources into helping Princess Sophia ascend to godhood. With her lobbying from within the ranks of The Gods, they finally secured the support of the elven pantheon and the Justice Pantheon. Princess Sophia has always cared for Nordhill; she is considered one of our own within the Council."

"As for the gold dragon, Stuart Jodmedin, his deeds are in your inheritance, so I won't explain too much. Actually, he didn't die. Senior Stuart was heavily wounded by the demons, but fortunately, the vitality of an Ancient Giant Dragon is immensely powerful. He survived, but fell into a coma and still hasn't awakened."

"Then there are those existences in the deep-sea trenches. You should know that the Otag World helped us back then, but you don't know why they were willing to. Sympathy? Good intentions? What a joke!" Merlin Heavenly Principle chuckled self-mockingly. "In truth, Nordhill has some connections to the Arcane Empire."

The White Dragon Lord looked slightly astonished.

Merlin Heavenly Principle continued, "Although the Faceless Dynasty is called a dynasty, it actually consists of only three individuals. They... or rather, it would be more accurate to call them 'it', are all Great Arcanists who survived from the era of the Arcane Empire. They suffered the combined Curse of The Gods, their bodies mutating as they lost the ability to wield arcane magic. They can never face the sunlight again, yet they remain incredibly powerful."

"Back then, it was those deep-sea entities who lent a helping hand, bringing out some knowledge from the Arcane Empire era. We used that knowledge as a bargaining chip to secure the aid of the Otag World. Later on, joining the Avengers Alliance finally allowed us to stabilize our footing completely."

The White Dragon Lord couldn't help but click his tongue. The three great overlords of the deep sea: Naga, Mermaid, and the Faceless Ones!

For the longest time, the wars in the deep ocean were always fought between the Naga and the Mermaids. As for the Faceless Ones, the White Dragon Lord only knew that they were highly mysterious beings living in the deepest trenches of Nordhill's oceans.

Now, hearing Merlin Heavenly Principle's explanation, he finally realized just how deep the waters in those trenches truly ran.

To be honest, he was extremely tempted. After all, these were living fossils that had survived since the era of the Arcane Empire. They possessed the most enticing and powerful Arcane Empire knowledge in the entire multiverse.

"Speaker, are those three existences still willing to maintain contact with the Council?"

Merlin Heavenly Principle looked at him with a playful gaze. "Put away those little schemes in your heart. If knowledge from the Arcane Empire was that easy to get your hands on, I would have made a move long ago."

The White Dragon Lord flushed slightly.

"I can understand. Any Mage who hears this news would have the exact same thought. I was the same way back then." Merlin Heavenly Principle chuckled.

"Arcane Empire knowledge isn't easy to secure. It's not that those three are unwilling to spread it, but rather because there are eyes up above." Merlin Heavenly Principle pointed toward the sky. The White Dragon Lord understood and nodded.

The two wisely dropped the sensitive topic. Although Merlin Heavenly Principle's barrier was incredibly potent, even he didn't dare claim it could completely deceive the supreme powerhouses in the Star Realm.

The White Dragon Lord raised an eyebrow. "Speaker, out of the ones you just mentioned, we can't count on anyone besides Princess Sophia."

"Don't rush. There are still two more we can contact. One is the founder of the Black Robe Wizard's Association, the Arcane Trickster—Vivian. The other is your Dragon Race's Desert Bane. However, both of them are in the Star Realm and won't return to Nordhill without a reason."

Merlin Heavenly Principle leaned back in his chair. "Princess Sophia, Vivian, Desert Bane, me, and now you—the five of us are the Nordhill Guardian Council's trump cards. Also, the whale in the sea counts as half of one. Although it doesn't like dealing with us normally, if Nordhill were ever invaded by demons, it wouldn't just stand by."

"Amos, from today onward, everything in the City of the Sky except for the core control room is fully open to you. The Tower Spirit will guide you. Also, the birth of an Abomination Rank powerhouse is a matter worth celebrating! It's a perfect opportunity to proclaim the strength of the Nordhill Guardian Council! We should hold a grand celebration!"

The image of the Amethyst Humans' celebration surfaced in the White Dragon Lord's mind. "Alright, I'm in favor."

Merlin Heavenly Principle nodded. "Leave the arrangements to me. I'll send the proposal to the White Tower later."

With Merlin taking on all the responsibility, the White Dragon Lord naturally had no objections. "Speaker, if there is nothing else, I will take my leave now."

"Wait!" Merlin Heavenly Principle pulled out a crystal test tube. "Leave some of your blood! Ancient Giant Dragons aren't easy to find!"

The White Dragon Lord: "..."

Thoughts flashed like lightning through the White Dragon Lord's mind. Now that he had stepped into the Abomination Rank, he possessed complete self-preservation capabilities. Furthermore, Merlin Heavenly Principle was trustworthy.

"Alright, Speaker, but you must swear an oath. No matter what you discover in your research, you cannot leak the results to the outside world. Moreover, my blood must not fall into anyone else's hands."

Seeing the White Dragon Lord's solemn expression, Merlin Heavenly Principle swore the oath, successfully obtaining a test tube full of dragon blood just as he wished.

...

The Grand Duke Silver Dragon's fief—Snow Dragon City.

Within a magical courtyard that felt like spring all year round, countless flowers competed in beauty, filling the air with their fragrance. A magnificent fountain splashed and gurgled. Exquisite sculptures were scattered throughout the garden, every single one so intricately detailed and lifelike that they were clearly the work of master artisans.

The White Dragon Lord, in his dragonkin form, and the Grand Duke Silver Dragon, in his elven form, drank together in the courtyard. The silver dragon Beria had taken the form of an elven girl to pour wine for them.

Both the Grand Duke Silver Dragon and Beria found the White Dragon Lord's growth completely inconceivable, but the facts were right in front of their eyes, leaving them no choice but to believe it.

After a few rounds of drinks, the White Dragon Lord got down to business.

"Senior, the living conditions of Nordhill's Very Young Dragons are quite alarming. Although the situation for you Metallic Dragons is a bit better than it is for us Chromatic Dragons, there are still outlaws poaching Very Young Dragons. These poor little ones are carved up and sent to the black market for auction. Yafiavi has executed over a dozen criminals who poached them, but it still can't bring back the hatchlings' lives."

The Grand Duke Silver Dragon furrowed his brow, forced to admit that what he said was the truth. "Amos, do you have a solution? If you do, I will give you my full cooperation."

"I do, and it's quite simple."

The Grand Duke Silver Dragon adopted an expression of attentive listening as the White Dragon Lord continued, "We just need to gather all the Very Young Dragons together and send them to a safe location."

"The Luoduoluo Plane is a medium material plane. It was originally polluted by undead and had lost all its vitality, but my younger sister, Elena, recently restored it. Very soon, this plane will be able to sustain living creatures. I plan to move all the Very Young Dragons of Nordhill to this plane."

"I've even thought out the entire plan. First, we must notify every Adult Dragon in Nordhill to contact us as soon as their Very Young Dragons are born. We'll send dedicated personnel to pick them up, gather them together, and transport them to the Luoduoluo Plane. Once they become Adult Dragons, we'll bring them back."

"With my influence among the Chromatic Dragons and your influence among the Metallic Dragons, Senior, this endeavor will absolutely succeed."

The Grand Duke Silver Dragon nodded thoughtfully. "Amos, can you tell me why you want to do this?"

"First, to strengthen the Dragon Race. Second, I won't force these Very Young Dragons to join my faction once they grow up, but I will entice them to serve under my banner. It's a win-win situation, isn't it!"

The Grand Duke Silver Dragon breathed a sigh of relief, quite satisfied with the White Dragon Lord's candor. If the White Dragon Lord had been playing the saint, paying a massive price to unconditionally help the Very Young Dragons, he would have needed to consider the matter far more carefully.

"No problem. Leave lobbying the Metallic Dragons to me."

"One day, Senior, you'll be proud and thankful for the decision you made today."

Two wine glasses clinked together. In the courtyard of Snow Dragon City, under the setting sun, this plan to cultivate tens of thousands of powerhouses for the Dragon Race officially took shape.

...

Late night, the White Tower.

The White Dragon Lord stepped off the Teleportation Platform. Today, he had visited a vast number of friendly factions and friends, such as the Nine Eyes Alliance and the wounded gold dragon, Leopold Chodmartin.

He had just returned from the Holy Sanctuary. As expected, the Holy Sanctuary had no special need for the Luoduoluo Plane. The archbishop agreed to the White Dragon Lord's trade request, and the price quoted by the Holy Sanctuary was twenty million points.

For half of a medium material plane, this was a reasonable price.

Not long after he returned to the White Tower, Merlin Heavenly Principle's celebration proposal was transmitted over.

The White Dragon Lord reviewed the proposal. Its contents covered the venue, date, the various proceedings, the guests that needed to be invited, and so on.

The date of the celebration was set for half a year later. Over this six-month period, the Nordhill Guardian Council would spread the news of the White Dragon Lord's breakthrough, striving to maximize the benefits this celebration would bring to Nordhill.

Like the Amethyst Humans, Merlin Heavenly Principle had also planned a special program—a demon variety exhibition. This was primarily meant for the commoners who had never seen demons before. Furthermore, they planned to sacrifice a demon of sufficient status to the heavens during the celebration. The specific demon of sufficient status was currently to be determined.

Since Merlin Heavenly Principle had to oversee the Floating City, the task of capturing this sufficiently important demon naturally fell onto the White Dragon Lord's shoulders. The White Dragon Lord stroked his chin.

"So then, which lucky winner will be chosen by me?"