Dragon-Blooded Elf Toriya

Rus Wang emerged from the spatial rift holding the item given to him by the Light Dragon King, having left Zi Ji in the Dragon Valley world to study secret draconic arts under the Light Dragon King's personal guidance.

"My lord?"

Riven watched as only Rus Wang stepped out, noting the absence of Zi Ji, and asked quietly.

"The ancestor is personally teaching the special envoy from the Douluo Continent the secret arts of the dragon race. It is extremely dissatisfied with the inaction of the dragons and soul beasts on the Douluo Continent. It gave me some things that the dragon race must build right now and told me to get busy, because due to the behavior over on the Douluo Continent, the pressure on our side is about to increase significantly."

"So, Your Majesty the Dragon King... what heaven-defying disaster did they cause over there?"

"To pick the mildest example: the dragons and soul beasts of the Douluo Continent are negotiating peace with humans, maintaining peace by sacrificing a portion of the soul beasts every year."

Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Riven felt his lightning energy instantly spiraling out of control. Negotiating with humans? What a stroke of genius! The Elves, at the very least, have no need for anything from the dragons or soul beasts, and with the God Realm already reaching its hands toward the legacy of the dragon race, deepening ties with the Elves is a necessity.

What are humans? Their civilization is built upon soul masters, which is a path aimed at driving dragons and soul beasts to extinction. But as things stand, just as Rus Wang said, the pressure on their side is about to increase sharply.

"Let's focus on the tasks at hand for now, Riven. In the Dragon Valley Forest, continue to send military personnel to infiltrate the Star Luo Empire annually, but shift the focus toward building up the Zheer Continent. For a long time to come, we must rely on the distance of the ocean to maintain a strategic defense."

"Understood."

After finishing his conversation with Riven, Rus Wang immediately teleported back to the land of the Zheer Continent. Once the effects of the magic array faded, he took a deep breath to calm his mind.

Although he knew of the Silver Dragon King's schemes in the third dragon series, he felt immense pressure as the Light Dragon King—that pitiful dragon king—pinned its hopes on the Silver Dragon King being rational and entrusted him with the heavy responsibility of being the dragon king of the dragon race. He wondered if the Light Dragon King would fall into despair once it saw through the Silver Dragon King, or if it would accept reality and face the desperate situation of the dragon race with composure.

"I should go see that brat. It's been two years since I saw my granddaughter born."

With that thought, Rus Wang spread his wings and flew toward Ravenna, deciding to buy some gifts before visiting their family.

Within the expanded suburban estate in Ravenna, a pair of "young" parents who had been together for decades were at their wits' end with their child.

"Don't eat that, Toriya, that's the wooden railing of the bed!"

"Don't chew on the charcoal, that's not food!"

The creature that Barus and Elena—one dragon and one elf—were fretting over was currently locked in a dining chair, eating a meat paste made of minced steak, her apron covered in grease stains, possessing features of both elves and dragons.

She still retained the general physique of an elf, maintaining a basic humanoid form, but she had symmetrical dragon horns on the sides of her head, a dragon tail at the base of her spine, scales on her arms, and pupils as thin and sharp as blades.

"This child is finally willing to eat normal food."

When she used to crawl on all fours, her range of movement was limited, and Elena and Barus could manage her, but that wasn't the case anymore. Since the child turned two, her body had begun to act like other elf children, darting around everywhere.

When Toriya was born from Elena, she was still an egg. Even without shapeshifting, Barus was a male dragon, and it was common knowledge that they didn't lay eggs, so the young couple had no choice but to ask Yanjin, who was visiting their family at the time, to help hatch it.

Because of this, Aunt Yanjin used to be around to help manage things, but in recent days, Yanjin had returned to the Nanshan Rainforest to patrol her private territory, and the house had fallen into complete chaos.

"Should we hire a friend from the Grey Feather Division as a nanny?"

Looking at his shapeshifted husband's disheveled clothes, Elena felt a pang of sympathy. It didn't actually matter if their daughter Toriya was a bit lively; even if she tore the house apart, Elena wouldn't punish her too severely. After all, her father, Osuen, had served as the kingdom's prime minister, and the inheritance she had been given was only a small fraction of the total. She was now an honorary member of the Education Department, so money for repairing the estate was not an issue.

The key was that their child's fingernails were starting to show signs of becoming dragon claws. Although, like a two-year-old true dragon cub, they couldn't pierce elf skin, the constant tearing of clothes was a nuisance.

"I don't think so. Although the Grey Feather Division is nominally a private organization belonging to my father and his two friends, the three of them basically don't care about anything except for the year-end internal corruption audits. Plus, as the Grand Mentor, Ulides is one of the thirteen members of the King's Permanent Secretariat, which is practically the same as a national oversight agency."

Barus sighed.

Actually, according to Aunt Yanjin, a mixed-blood child like this should normally be raised according to the way dragon cubs are cared for from age zero to six—that is, semi-feral in the core area of the Nanshan Rainforest.

At dawn, you release the cubs into the nursery area to play, and at night, you bring the obedient ones back to the cave; for the disobedient ones, you grab them by the scruff of the neck, bring them back, teach them the dragon language and dragon script, and then the whole family goes to sleep.

But Elena was an elf; how could she bear to let her child live like that in the wild?

So, the couple put their heads together and spent money to buy an estate with a 3,000-square-meter garden to move into, so Toriya could play to her heart's content.

Knock, knock—the estate gate was rapped, and Barus and Elena hurried to look.

"This aura, Mom and Dad? Why are they here so suddenly?"

Come to think of it, when they first found out that he and Elena had managed to hatch their granddaughter while she was still an egg, his father had chased him all over Ravenna. Although he was eventually caught and received a "bamboo shoot stir-fry" (a beating) from his father, mother, and the other seven aunts, they had still sent over elf cub food and dragon cub food every month since.

Barus went to open the door for his parents.

"Why is there so much grease in this room?"

Rus Wang, who had taken the form of a middle-aged man, and Thalassa, who had shapeshifted into her usual appearance, immediately smelled the grease filling the house.

"Well, Father, the child was throwing a tantrum earlier, refusing to eat the minced steak, and she ran all over the room..."

"Feeding a two-year-old minced steak? Her baby teeth haven't even fully grown in yet. Hurry up and take me to see her, Elena."

Upon hearing that the young couple was feeding their granddaughter such things, Thalassa grew anxious, grabbed Elena, and walked off. At the same time, she didn't forget to say to Rus Wang, "We're here to see our granddaughter; don't you and your son start fighting at my daughter-in-law's house."

Rus Wang nodded, then put an arm around Barus, standing silently in the hallway.

Barus didn't dare to move; he could only maintain his posture, stiff, until he finally asked after a long while.

"Father? Is there something you need from me?"

Rus Wang looked at his wife, Thalassa, who was busy around their granddaughter Toriya, and his old friend's daughter, Thalassa. He didn't think for long, choosing to set aside what the Light Dragon King had given him and focus on spending time with his family first.

"There is still plenty of time; it's not that urgent. We'll talk tonight. Just enjoy your time with your family."

Barus nodded happily.

The three generations and five members of the family spent the weekend like a commoner family, cycling through watching the child and cooking. When the sun set, Rus Wang and Barus sat on the white wooden chairs in the garden and began their formal conversation.

"So, Teacher, what did the Light Dragon King entrust you with, Father?"

Barus asked his father.

"It's neither a big nor a small matter. Do you know about the Dragon Ascension Pillar?"

Rus Wang set down his wine bottle and spoke.

"Yes, I know. It is the only super-artifact not crafted from a physical body that the Dragon God created. It can also be manufactured using rare metals, though the effects are much weaker. My teacher had me study its construction for a full ten years, so I am quite proficient at it. Why did Teacher suddenly give you the core materials for the Dragon Ascension Pillar for me to build one, Father?"

"If I were to explain the reason, it would involve a major event."

Rus Wang's face twisted into a bitter expression.

"Son, since you have been to the Dragon Valley Forest, you must surely know that those Star Luo People come from another continent, right?"

"Yes, I know. After all, we are standing on a planet; it is impossible for other continents not to exist, and it is equally impossible for dragon kin and soul beasts not to exist on those continents."

"What I am about to tell you, you must remember well and keep in your heart. This is not something a dragon of your age—less than fifty thousand years—should know, but the situation has left us with no other choice."

Rus Wang immediately proceeded to tell Barus about the events surrounding the fall of the Dragon God, the history of Douluo Continent 1 and 2, Huo Yuhao, and parts of Douluo Continent 3. Barus's initially attentive expression collapsed into one of pure solemnity as Rus Wang delved deeper into the story.

"We cannot place all our hopes on the Silver Dragon King, Father. Since the gods have already seized the faith of all humanity on Douluo Continent and half the fortune of the Star Dou Forest, and are now turning their eyes toward the legacy of the Dragon God, they will naturally seek more—the entire dragon race, or perhaps something even greater. We absolutely must not pin our hopes on a single hemp rope hanging over a cliff; we must prepare several more climbing ropes."

"That is the reason your teacher, the Light Dragon King, placed the core materials of the Dragon Ascension Pillar into my hands."

Rus Wang presented the test tube containing the blood of the Light Dragon King to his son, Barus, but pulled it back just as he reached out to take it.

"But remember, son: the glory of the dragon race is already a thing of the past. We must master and protect our fragmented knowledge and treasures. Humanity is currently at the height of its glory; we must learn and absorb their soul guidance technology. The Elves have infinite potential but remain weak; they do not yet have the ability to become the future protagonists of this planet. If the dragon race wishes to regain its glory, it should bind itself closely to the Elves and face the full-scale offensive of humanity together with them."

Rus Wang looked toward Toriya, who, accompanied by Thalassa and Elena, suddenly shifted from her Elf form into her true dragon state and sprayed water.

"Of course, the true future might also lie in the offspring of the union between dragons and Elves, just like our granddaughter."

Rus Wang let out a long sigh.

"From here on, we can only rely on ourselves. We will maintain the deployment of military personnel in the Dragon Valley Forest, and from now on, we will devote ourselves entirely to developing the Zheer Continent, increasing the numbers of Elves, dragons, and soul beasts, and building a defensive system. Once the mist surrounding the Zheer Continent dissipates, we will face the darkest hour before the dawn."