Itai's Advancement, the Dark Gold Dragon, the Dragon Skin Book

Is this enough?

Ronan looked at the bottles of Fire Dragon Marrow in front of him and asked Alazan.

"I only need one bottle."

Alazan replied.

Ronan broke the seal on the potion bottle in his hand and carefully poured a drop of Fire Dragon Marrow onto his fingertip.

This marrow fluid, extracted from the spine of a legendary fire-breathing dragon, rolled lightly on Ronan's index finger like molten gold, emanating a unique aura befitting a legendary dragon.

If the wizarding genius Eremod, the "Throat of the Scorching Sun," were to come here, he would probably be overjoyed.

With so much Fire Dragon Marrow, his ancient Red Dragon Bloodline could be pushed to an unprecedented height; of course, it could also turn him into a half-human, half-dragon monster dominated by primal savagery.

Regardless, these dozens of bottles of Fire Dragon Marrow are invaluable to any wizard.

Now it's just piled up here like unwanted cabbages.

The Fire Dragon Marrow that landed on Ronan's fingertip seemed to be alive, desperately trying to burrow into his skin. Ronan tried to pick it up, but it pulled out a dense, sticky mass of fine threads between the bottom of the marrow and his fingertip.

He thought for a moment, then released the defenses on his skin, and the Fire Dragon Marrow Liquid immediately seeped into his body like mercury seeping into sand.

In a daze, Ronan seemed to hear the roar of a fire dragon, but it disappeared the next moment.

The drop of Fire Dragon Marrow was almost completely devoured by the Phoenix Bloodline within him the instant it invaded his body.

Ronan noticed that the Life Sphere within his body had grown a bit larger, but other than that, he felt nothing else.

"Taking Fire Dragon Marrow would provide me with very little benefit; it would almost be directly broken down into pure energy and absorbed."

However, even if it were processed into a transplantable bloodline, it probably wouldn't help improve the Phoenix Bloodline.

Although both are fire-attribute magical beasts, the Undying Bird's bloodline is very special. It does not evolve by devouring other bloodlines; it has its own unique way of advancement.

If Ronan were to try to feed the Undying Bird by transplanting other fire-elemental bloodlines, he would likely get the opposite result.

These Fire Dragon Marrow were clearly left behind by O'Brien. The Valitz of the Phoenix Family, as the inheritor of the laboratory, did not take these precious Fire Dragon Marrow away is enough to explain something.

"After processing it and purifying it using the Saint Blood Tree, it could be used to train Magic Pet."

Ronan thought of the Chimera he had with Juventus back then. If his idea could come true, perhaps he could get a red dragon mount someday.

After collecting the dozens of bottles of Fire Dragon Marrow from the table, Ronan also put away the broken, ancient brass instrument.

Anyway, the Mist Space is big enough. He doesn't mind things that Valitz doesn't like. He'll have Alazan and Bennigo study them later. Maybe they can even repair and reuse them.

Next to the table displaying the brass instruments were rows of metal shelves, most of which were empty. Perhaps these shelves had once been filled with things, but they had been picked over repeatedly. Ronan could only be considered a scavenger.

He emptied several shelves without hesitation, not bothering to check each item individually; he just took everything he could carry.

After all the shelves were moved, several old items that had been sitting in the corner were revealed.

At first glance, they look like a strange pile of farm tools haphazardly put together. Some are very large, and the smallest is as long as Ronan's arm. They are covered with dust and cobwebs.

Ronan walked over, releasing his spiritual energy to blow away the dust that had accumulated over the years on these things.

Their original appearance was revealed, and they were more beautiful than Ronan had expected.

Under the omnipresent firelight within the secret realm, each piece, black as agate, smooth and shiny, appears to be a strangely shaped work of art crafted from some special metal.

"This is."

Ronan's eyes flickered, and in his mind, Alazan had already revealed the identities of these things.

"Keel."

"Red Dragon Bone"

Ronan took a deep breath, walked to the pile of dragon bones, picked up a piece at random, and examined it closely. "I didn't expect it to be black, like steel."

Legend has it that the red dragon feeds on magma and metal, so it seems reasonable that its bones are as hard as steel.

The density of the keel was greater Ronan had expected; a single keel, only an arm's length long, was so heavy it seemed to have been condensed into a small mountain.

"This should be... the Red Dragon Fang?"

Ronan looked at the dragon bone in his hand. Its material was even better than other dragon bones. It was as narrow as a scimitar and looked like it was forged from the finest black diamond.

A light tap on its smooth surface produces a dull, peculiar hum.

Holding it in my hand, the dragon bones, which have been immersed in flames and lava for years, seem to still carry the ancient warmth of the O'Brien era.

Itai Ronan observed, Titanium was summoned from the Mist Space and split into several streams like water, quickly wrapping around the dragon bones in front of him.

"Snap snap—"

The Itai encased the keel made a rustling sound, like chewing or grinding teeth, and Ronan could feel the joy that the Itai was conveying to him.

His eyes brightened slightly. Because the dragon bone was like steel, he thought he would try it casually to see Itai could absorb it. Unexpectedly, it actually worked.

Itai its meal; it had been a long time since it last ate.

Itai quite a while to finish devouring the dragon bones, except for the dragon tooth scimitar that Ronan kept as a collectible.

All the dragon bones disappeared, leaving only a pile of debris.

Having "eaten its fill," Itai lay lazily on the ground, resembling a large, irregularly shaped lump of slime.

Yet, he exuded a sense of ancient and profound majesty.

"The Red Dragon's Might"

Ronan stared at the changes in Itai, his eyes flashing slightly. "Has it even inherited this legendary characteristic?"

Ronan was thinking when he suddenly stepped forward, took out a bottle, and quickly poured the amber-like liquid inside onto Itai.

As the liquid poured down, the Itai, which was already nearing its limit, finally broke through a certain critical point, suddenly emitting a strong fluctuation. Then, it gradually transformed from its original brilliant and beautiful golden color to a more noble and restrained dark gold color.

"Dragon Marrow Quench! Rank Six!"

Ronan casually tossed aside the medicine bottle in his hand, his face lighting up with delight.

The next second, with Itai soft hum, it took off from the ground and rushed towards Ronan.

Itai solidified into a thick, dark gold spine on Ronan's back, then adhered tightly to his skin and rapidly extended outwards.

A large amount of dark gold "flesh" expanded and filled, gradually enveloping Ronan's entire body and slowly forming a huge dragon-shaped outline.

Dark golden scales rapidly grew from the dragon's body. As its cold, vertical eyes turned, accompanied by a deafening roar, the dragon's wings, as sharp as celestial blades, spread out from behind its back and took flight.

An ancient dragon's might emanated from it, perhaps the roar and aura stimulating some hidden runes and magic arrays within this space.

The echoes of magic that once lingered here reappeared.

Huge yet blurry red dragon shadows flew out from every corner of the Secret Realm Space, circling and dancing around the dome together with the Dark Gold Dragon.

The roars of the dragons continued for a long time. After the numerous red dragon phantoms quietly disappeared, the dark gold dragon slowly descended from the sky.

Just before it was about to land, the dragon's body disintegrated, and Ronan's majestic figure emerged from it.

The shattered Dragon Scale reformed on Ronan's body, solidifying into a magnificent robe with a pure black background and embroidered dark gold patterns.

Ronan looked at the flowing Itai in his hand, a hint of lingering satisfaction on his face.

"[Living Steel] plus Itai, which inherits some dragon-like characteristics, so I can cosplay as a legendary dragon for fun from now on."

While it might not be quite right for an ancient dragon, it's more than enough to impersonate one.

Even the Ancient Thunder Eagle Eris was only level six.

Ronan was very satisfied; he was pleased with both the power and the additional effects of the Itai.

He had been searching for the "Golin's Hammer" to "feed" Itai, and now he had achieved his goal.

He continued to tour the laboratory in front of him.

There's really not much to explore on the north side of the Black Pyramid; apart from a half-castle of a dwarf king, there's nothing of value.

If Itai hadn't been upgraded yet, Ronan might have considered moving the Dwarf King's metal statue back to feed Itai, but now he finds its material too low-grade and too bulky.

The rune cage on the east side, which O'Brien used to imprison the Balrog and the fire dragon, is not much to see. The cage, which was once powerful enough to imprison Dawn Rank magical beasts, has had many of its runes and magic circles worn away by time, and its power is gone.

Ronan casually picked up two and quickly moved to the south side at the back.

The south side was the area that interested him the most; it was where O'Brien used to keep his books and notes.

To Ronan's disappointment, the secluded inner-circuit library was empty, except for a dark red book he found on the floor in a corner.

The material of this book is soft yet tough, and it must have been made from the softest part of the dragon's belly skin.

Ronan realized that the once powerful Fire Magic Wizard O'Brien owned a ranch of fire dragons and balora, and he wished he could cover the floor of his laboratory with dragon hides and use the hearts of Ancient Fire Demon to light lamps.

The Dragonskin Book looks like a notebook, containing several fire runes created by O'Brien, which seem to be of high quality.

The rest were some fire spells, one of which was even Twilight- level spell, but it was written in Dragon Language, Ronan couldn't understand at all, and relied entirely on Alazan's translation.

"O'Brien has gone too far. No one will care if he keeps Balrogs, but there are many powerful beings among the dragons. He not only keeps and slaughters dragons, but he has also done many outrageous things that seriously provoke the dignity of the dragon race."

Alazan didn't elaborate on the specifics of O'Brien's outrageous actions, but simply sighed and said, "Bahafves hated him intensely from the beginning. Because of O'Brien, Bahafves even had a very bad relationship with me for a time, until O'Brien's downfall."

After speaking for a while, Alazan turned the topic back to the dragonhide spellbook in Ronan's hand, saying, "Just take a look at these runes and spells; they all require dragon blood to cast and are not very useful to ordinary wizards."

Ronan felt a little regretful and could only put the dragon-skin book away.

He only possesses some scattered and ordinary fire magic inheritances. To fully unleash the power of the Phoenix Bloodline, he will likely need to seek out the Phoenix Family's Spell Inheritance.

With the dragon-skin book taken away, the vast library seemed to have nothing left for Ronan to explore.

Just as he was about to leave, Alazan called him back.

"The bottom corner of the far left of the third empty bookshelf."

Alazan gave a hint, paused, and hesitated before saying, "Go and try it, if I remember correctly."

O'Brien should also have a secret room.

Ronan's expression brightened upon hearing this, and he quickly walked to the location Alazan had mentioned, carefully exploring it according to his instructions.

His mental energy couldn't detect anything unusual until Ronan reached out and touched a tiny, slightly raised mark.

It wasn't a rune, but just a tiny square cone-shaped protrusion that was almost imperceptible unless you looked very closely.

Ronan slightly manipulated the free energy in the air, pressed his fingers down on the protrusion, and it went in very smoothly.

"Snap—"

The creaking of the mechanism turning was accompanied by barely perceptible fluctuations in the runes.

The floor behind Ronan melted silently, like mercury, revealing a deep, downward-facing staircase leading to the entrance.

Be careful.

Alazan a reminder.

Ronan nodded, took a deep breath, and slowly walked down the steps.

The air inside the tunnel was surprisingly fresh, and the murky smell mixed with sulfur and coke naturally dissipated behind Ronan.

A faint fragrance filled the air.

Ronan felt a sense of familiarity, but couldn't quite place it.

At that moment, a faint light appeared before them, indicating that the steps of the tunnel had come to an end.

At the end of the steps, a small section of rocky ground was covered with a light reddish-brown fire-loving moss, and a Ronan scent wafted from ahead.

Ronan carefully stepped over this section, took a few steps forward, and saw a slightly closed door.

The small door has some gilded decorations.

Alazan

Ronan called out to Alazan, wanting to ask if this was the scene he remembered O'Brien's secret room should look like.

Alazan inexplicably stopped responding and fell silent, as if he had suddenly gone offline during a conversation.

Ronan frowned slightly, thought for a moment, then walked to the gilded door and gently pulled it open.

The next moment, a deep crimson room appeared before him.

Silk, gemstones, carpets, curtains, an ornate dressing table and bed, a tranquil moonlight crystal chandelier, and an oversized dressing mirror with a beautiful pink and gold frame.

This looks exactly like a young girl's boudoir.

At that moment, the increasingly rich and clear fragrance lingering around his nose finally triggered clues in Ronan's memory.

Moriel.

This is Moriel's scent.

This is the room where Moriel used to live.

Ronan then understood why Alazan had suddenly "disconnected." It seemed that he had noticed this, while he himself had been too slow to realize it.

Ronan stood quietly in front of the door for a while, and finally slowly walked in.