Chapter 44

Throughout history, Liu Bei spent the first half of his life wandering from place to place. It certainly wasn't because he couldn't fight, nor because he was so honest he didn't understand strategy. Rather, he lacked talented people who knew how to govern a state and help it develop quickly, as well as people with enough foresight to point him toward a long-term direction.

Zhuge Liang was precisely that kind of talent, possessing both qualities. Only after Liu Bei gained Zhuge Liang's help did his career finally get on track. He seized the opportunity when Cao Cao's southern campaign faltered and turned his fortunes around in one fell swoop. He then took control of Shu, rising above countless noble families and powerful clans despite being a "distant relative of the former Han imperial family" worth next to nothing, and becoming one of the lords who divided the land into three.

Sui Xiong didn't dare compare himself to Liu Bei, but he felt that he could at least hold his own in a fight and wasn't a fool. Yet after transmigrating to this world so many years ago, he had remained somewhat muddleheaded, unsure of his future and what he ought to do.

Only today, after meeting Snowflake, the far-sighted dragon strategist, and listening to her explain things in such a unique way, with illustrations and text, did he feel the fog that had always clouded his vision lift. The road ahead had become clear.

That was why he truly admired and respected Snowflake. The fact that she was also an art enthusiast, like him, made him feel as though he had found a kindred spirit—something rare indeed.

In game terms, Miss Snowflake had immediately earned "Revered" status with him, and his affection for her had soared to at least seventy.

Still, he was a little curious. He wasn't a born overlord whose kingly aura would make everyone bow down the moment it appeared. Nor was he wealthy or powerful enough to make others pledge themselves to him. As for having bottomless potential, perhaps he did—but this wasn't a novel. Who would become the subordinate of a penniless nobody just because he had great potential?

So why had Snowflake taken a liking to him and agreed to serve as his adviser?

"The reason is simple." The ice dragon, who had once again turned into a chubby middle-aged shopkeeper, smiled, looking utterly harmless. "As a dragon whose specialty is ice, who could be a more suitable partner than the gods of our own kind, apart from the Dragon Gods?"

"Don't be fooled by the fact that I seem to have some ability. In front of the great rulers of my kind, I'm nothing. The difference in our standing means I don't even have the right to speak with them as an equal, let alone cooperate with them."

Chill swirled around her, turning into a transparent ice blackboard. White frost drew a little dragon standing proudly with its chest puffed out, apparently eager to make a name for itself. But when faced with several great dragons surrounded by halos, it broke out in a cold sweat and prostrated itself before them, groveling like a puppy.

"There are three deities whose main domains are cold and ice. One is a lunatic, another is a lunatic, and the last is still a lunatic. They're just a powerful lunatic, a weak lunatic, and an even weaker lunatic. I'm not a lunatic, and I have nothing in common with them, so naturally, there's no question of cooperating."

On the blackboard, three humanoid figures—one large and two small, with lower bodies made of ice and snow—rampaged about, unleashing storms and beating each other senseless. Their madness was plain to see. The little dragon watched them from afar, a huge sweat drop appearing on its forehead. It pressed a hand to its brow and let out a helpless sigh.

Sui Xiong knew who she meant: the Goddess of the Northern Snowfields and Blizzards, also known as the Empress of the North; the god of snow mountains, avalanches, and snow monsters, also known as the Master of the Snowy Mountains; and the god of glaciers and ice giants, also known as the Lord of Glaciers. Together with the goddess of winter and the north wind, the Bitter Maiden, and the god of savage beasts of the snowlands, the Overlord of Ice and Snow, these three formed a pantheon known as the Frigid Alliance. This group of gods were not only evil but also utterly confused in their thinking. They never played by the rules, and their actions made absolutely no sense. Their alliance multiplied their terror several times over, striking fear into everyone who lived in the North or had to travel to its icy wastes. They also gave the northern gods, led by the barbarian guardian deity Elder Bear Shepherd, no end of headaches.

In fact, the northern gods had an extremely high turnover rate. Every several hundred or thousand years, one of them would be killed by the lunatics of the Frigid Alliance. If those lunatics could claim the divine domains of goodness or order, they would have monopolized the entire North long ago.

Even so, the other northern gods still had to stay on their guard at all times. The moment those lunatics showed signs of coming after them, they would flee at once to avoid becoming the next victims.

When Sui Xiong had read this passage in the materials provided by the God of Redemption, he had immediately thought that if he became a god, his "ice" domain would clearly make him a thorn in the Frigid Alliance's side. To avoid being surrounded and killed, he would probably need to find more allies and fight those lunatics.

"The rulers of my kind can't be reasoned with, and neither can those gods of ice and snow. So when I met a deity with the power of ice who, most remarkably, was also good and not chaotic, of course I immediately thought of cooperating with him." Snowflake looked as if this were only natural.

"Perhaps when I'm old and near death, I'll still choose to go to the divine realm of the dragon pantheon. But at least until then, I think a dragon who wields ice and a god who controls ice will naturally be friends."

On the blackboard, the little dragon met a huge jellyfish surrounded by cold winds, who smiled warmly and amiably. It jumped up in delight, and the two "people" joined hands and went off to play.

Sui Xiong smiled. The Floating Jellyfish held out an ice-made hand, and the dragon, now in human form, clasped it in both hands.

"You're right. Here's to a pleasant partnership!"

"There's no need to say that. We're sure to work well together."

...That said, they still hadn't been able to begin any practical cooperation.

On Sui Xiong's side, they needed to wait for Rod to finish recruiting before they could count up the total number of pioneers and determine how large a village they would need to build. Rod would then have to continue preparing supplies, while Gerald would escort the pioneers north, past Dragon Roar Town and farther into the frigid lands where ordinary people couldn't survive, so they could build homes under Sui Xiong's protection.

As for Snowflake, she had already sent Frost and Sleet to the freezing region north of Ash Forest to look for suitable land to cultivate. The place needed to be open and suitable for building a town, have a reliable water source, and be near a rocky mountain with good stone as well as some mineral deposits. In short, the requirements were demanding. Without a good location, the work would take twice as long and require twice the effort, and expanding the town would also be very difficult.

Sui Xiong could protect the pioneers from the cold, but he couldn't help them farm, conjure drinking water out of the Wasteland, provide building stone, or supply them with goods they could sell. Everything had to come from nature's bounty.

Frost and Sleet were both unhappy about the task. Frost didn't want to help because she disliked Sui Xiong, while Sleet didn't want to leave the comfort of her basement bed and miss out on sleeping in. But under their elder sister Snowflake's authority, the young Rock Dragon siblings still reluctantly set out, each to search for suitable land to cultivate.

"Is it all right to send two such young children out?" Sui Xiong asked with some concern.

Though they were actually dragons and no weaklings in a fight, in a world full of powerful beings, two young ordinary dragons could hardly be called formidable experts. Take Gerald, for example. They might have trouble facing him together; one-on-one, the siblings would have to choose between fleeing and dying in battle. They wouldn't even have a chance to take him down with them.

And compared with their rather modest fighting strength, the enormous value inherent in being dragons posed a huge threat to them. It was like the old saying on Earth: what would happen if a child carrying a precious jade walked alone through a busy market?

"You're worrying too much." Snowflake didn't think much of Sui Xiong's concerns. She drew two little dragons on the ice blackboard, pummeling wolves and kicking skeletons, looking mighty and impressive. "Our dragonkind are meant to grow through danger and hardship. Because Ash Forest has so few natural resources, it doesn't have many monsters or adventurers, so it's already a very safe place to gain experience. As long as they don't lose their minds and cross the Desolate Mountains, they won't face any great danger."

"But what about you, great Void Mask? Have you forgotten something?"

"What?" Sui Xiong asked, taken aback.

"To build a domain, you need money, supplies, and people. We have no shortage of money, supplies can be purchased, and people aren't a problem either—but any domain needs a group of officials to manage it, at the very least. Your church also needs a group of clergy. As a deity, are you planning to sit at home and wait for them to fall out of the sky?"

On the ice blackboard, a fat jellyfish was fast asleep, bubbles floating from its mouth to show that it was snoozing. Its tentacles spread out into a wide net, waiting for money, supplies, and people to fall from the sky. That hopelessly lazy look left Sui Xiong torn between laughter and tears.

He understood that Snowflake meant well. She was reminding him that he needed to go out and find talent. But the way she'd done it was just...

Looking at that fat jellyfish on the ice blackboard, fat as a pig, he didn't know whether to laugh or get angry.

This ice dragon's personality was nothing like that of the "ice dragons" in the stories, who were supposedly proud, cold, and difficult to approach!

Had the legends simply been distorted through repeated retellings, or was Snowflake just an odd one?

Sui Xiong felt that when he had time, he ought to study biology properly—at the very least, he needed to master "dragon biology."

Of course, that was for the future. Before then, he needed to build the holy land, successfully ascend to godhood, and stabilize his faith. Only after everything was in order would he have time to study these less pressing subjects.

And of all the work, the most urgent was gathering talented people who could govern his domain.

Fortunately, he already had a suitable target. He didn't need to run around like a headless fly, searching blindly.

A few days later, Sui Xiong split off a Floating Jellyfish avatar and headed south alone, without a single follower accompanying him.

His destination was the Arcane Tower Federation, a nation of magic at the southernmost end of the continent. The acquaintance recommended by Satan, a knight named Parn who came from a fallen noble family and had a great deal of experience managing a domain, lived there.