Summit of the Dragon Court, the morning breeze is mighty.
Red Iron Dragon stood on the highest point, looking down at his own country. In his field of vision, under the morning light, Cloud Rail was like a weave, with continuous cities, and hundreds of millions of people were living and working in peace and contentment on this continent.
Look further away.
He could see ships setting sail on the vast ocean, heading towards the Theresia Continent. The people on board were full of longing for the future.
Frankly speaking, Garos actually doesn't care much about the specific situation of his people.
Their happiness, anger, sorrow, birth, old age, illness and death, all the ups and downs of fate that are as subtle as each individual, all seem too short in the long life scale of Dragonkin.
Today Garos is Ancient Dragon, and the people under his command have also changed for many generations.
However, even so, as time goes by, I can see with my own eyes that Sacred Aura is getting better little by little, the number of wonders and major heroic units is gradually increasing, and the whole is getting stronger and stronger----
It's like playing some kind of construction game, which brings a certain degree of psychological comfort to Garos.
Just then.
Two dragon shadows swept over from a distance, leaving two white marks when they broke through the clouds. Within a few breaths, the figures were close and landed beside him.
It's Iron Dragon Sorog, and Blue Dragon with a slender head.
When Heloise landed, he subconsciously raised his head, no - looked down at Red Iron Dragon, and then his heart skipped a beat.
How did my father's body shape change to this?
More than thirty meters tall, even a few laps smaller than me.
In her memory, her father was a very oppressive presence, towering and majestic, with a deep aura. However, Red Iron Dragon, who was standing in front of her now, had shrunk too much. His previous majestic appearance was gone, and now he even looked a bit----
Wait, how could I think that?
Stop it now.
Blasphemy, so blasphemous!
Blue Dragon Heloise After landing, there was a flash of surprise in her eyes at first, and she subconsciously thought about it, but then she came back to her senses and made herself serious, for fear that any disrespectful behavior would be noticed by her father.
No matter how he looks, you must respect the great Red Emperor!
He is not just his father.
Besides, this appearance may only be temporary.
The people of Sacred Aura all knew that the emperor's form was always changing. In private, they even gave him the title "Lord of Many Changes", but this title was not widely circulated and was only mentioned occasionally.
"Father."
Blue Dragon folded his wings, lowered his head, and saluted Red Iron Dragon, expressing his respect and awe. "Your daughter Heloise, greet you, and congratulate you on waking up from your slumber and returning to the empire as Immortal Realm. May your scales shine forever in the stars, and may your anger burn all enemies."
She is the daughter of the first generation emperor, with red Iron Dragon Bloodline flowing in her body.
At the same time, Heloise also inherited a pair of True Eye that can see through illusions and appearances.
For example, now, she can see an invisible Force Field surrounding her father. Although her father looks small, when she takes a closer look, she feels that what is standing in front of her is like a planet, vast and boundless.
But speaking of it----
She actually hasn't met her father much.
Red Emperor had a long life and many descendants.
Heloise only met him a few times when she was young. For most of the subsequent years, she grew up listening to the legend of this dragon father. But even so, she still had sincere respect and awe in her heart when facing this legendary father.
Garos turned to look at Blue Dragon.
He saw Blue Dragon's nervousness and roughly guessed what she was thinking.
Because she had less contact with this heir, she had more awe and respect for herself.
If he were a traitor like Galkro, he might just couldn't help but laugh and ask him, Lao Deng, how did you become so small? Then he would shut up after being beaten half to death by himself.
"Heloise."
Garos didn't care about Blue Dragon's reaction. He glanced at her and said in a calm tone, "You didn't go with your mother to Theresia?"
Her mother, Blue Dragon Zolaya, is always unsatisfied with the status quo.
Even though he already has a large territory under his command, and there are many dragons to give orders to, Zolaya still longs for more territory, and also longs for more rights.
She is also very smart and knows that today's Atlant actually does not have much room for improvement.
So, when the opportunity for Theresia appeared, Zolaya made a prompt decision and chose to become one of the first dragons to go to Theresia, hoping to get more of what he wanted on the continent of Theresia.
"I originally wanted to go with my mother."
Blue Dragon answered truthfully, "However, my mother rejected me, saying that I was still young and could not help much if I went there. Then, Prince Sorog asked me to stay with him to practice first."
Say so.
But in fact, Blue Dragon knew in her heart that her mother did not want to be upstaged by her daughter. After all, her Life Level had already surpassed her mother.
Moreover, Zolaya is right to worry.
Heloise is as ambitious as her mother.
She inherited this from her mother, or in other words, she learned it from childhood, and as the emperor's daughter, her talent is far superior to other Dragonkins. If they go to Theresia together, she will gradually seize the highest right to speak.
At that time, Zolaya, a mother, will become a vassal of her daughter.
This is a situation that Zolaya cannot accept under any circumstances.
Garos heard this and turned to look at Sorog.
In private, the brothers never treated each other with any false courtesy such as "Your Majesty or His Majesty or His Majesty or His Majesty or His Majesty or His Majesty or His Majesty or His Majesty or His Majesty or His Majesty or His Majesty" among them.
Iron Dragon met his gaze and said directly, "The territory of the empire is getting bigger and bigger."
"From the initial corner of Ser Wilderness, to now spanning two continents and encompassing dozens of vassal states and autonomous territories, the area of territory under our direct jurisdiction has expanded many times since the founding of the country."
"Also, although the governors and lords of each region can handle most affairs, the truly important decisions still need to be reported to the highest level."
"With just a few of us old guys at the helm, sooner or later we will be stretched thin."
"The big problem is that the Dragon's Slumber issues are likely to overlap with each other."
"This happened last time. You, the emperor, and several of our princes were all asleep. The empire was leaderless and there were many problems. I only cleared them up after I woke up. During this period, if you had not had enough prestige and the family members were trying their best to maintain daily operations, the consequences would have been disastrous."
Having said this, Iron Dragon looked at Heloise.
"So, we must cultivate more dragons that can stand alone."
Among the many Emperor's Childrens, Iron Dragon Sorog admired Laria the most and gave him a lot of private guidance when Laria was still young.
Laria also lived up to his expectations and grew very well.
Now, he has been entrusted with the important task of establishing Dragon Breath Kingdom in other worlds together with Galkro. He can become Sacred Aura's internal agent at any time, kicking off Great Expedition.
In addition to Laria, Sorog is now the most optimistic about Heloise.
She has been active on the front line before and has been responsible for maintaining stability in the West Coast area all year round. She has a solid foundation in strategic deduction and administrative coordination.
Moreover, she is quite ambitious herself and is not a character who is content with the status quo.
Sorog pays special attention to this point.
In his opinion, without ambition, he can only be a competent executor at most. If he wants to be independent, he must have the desire to be proactive. Heloise meets his requirements.
"That makes sense."
Garos nodded and agreed with the idea of blood relatives, "There are many outstanding seedlings among our descendants. In addition, don't forget those adopted sons and daughters who are recognized by me. They may not have my blood flowing, but their loyalty and talents have also been tested, and they are also worthy of cultivation."
"Of course."
Sorog grinned and said, "I already have a list in my mind. I just want to start with Heloise. She has a good foundation and can become the leader of the new generation."
Heloise was listening quietly.
Even when he heard Iron Dragon praising himself, he didn't say anything. He just stayed quietly in front of the background and did not disturb the communication between his father and the prince.
As he said that, Iron Dragon seemed to have remembered something, took out something and handed it to Garos.
This is a crystal bottle, and the substance contained in it has a warm milky white luster, and it does not look like a liquid, but more like a slowly flowing crystal, somewhere between a liquid and a solid.
"After integrating the technology provided by Holden, the Alchemists of the empire have successfully refined Life Essence. Moreover, the formula has been repeatedly verified and improved by Sorcerer Order, and the quality is more stable than the original Holden."
Sorog said, "You try it and see if you can restore your condition."
After returning from the Theresia Continent, Garos's condition has never been at its peak.
It's not because of how much energy it consumes to summon the meteor.
The main reason is the difference between the Immortal Realm and Legendary Realm.
Garos took the crystal bottle and threw it into his mouth.
The crystal melts immediately after entering the body, and a warm and thick energy instantly spreads into the limbs and bones.
He felt that the slight deficit in his body that had never fully recovered was being made up bit by bit, and his Immortal Realm body was slowly approaching its peak state again.
Red Iron Dragon closed his eyes, felt it quietly for a moment, and then opened his eyes again.
"This stuff works for me too."
He said with satisfaction.
Life Essence is the food of Immortal One.
Although Immortal One does not die in time, it is not immortal in the true sense Immortal Realm.
This is the misunderstanding that many ordinary creatures have about Immortal One.
People think that Immortal Realm means never tired, never weak, and can always maintain peak condition.
But this is not the case.
After fighting and consumption, Immortal Realm's body will still be tired and needs to be replenished.
If it is not replenished, although it will not cause death, Immortal Realm's body will gradually weaken. In the most serious case, it can only exert 60 to 70% of its heyday strength.
If in Outer Planes, Immortal One can absorb the material and energy of Outer Planes from the environment and recover quickly.
But Material Plane is different.
Material Plane is repulsive to Immortal Life. In Material World, this kind of supplement is especially difficult.
Just like Garos, he can also absorb energy in the universe, and the radiation energy in the universe is actually very rich, especially when he is close to some Star, the energy is completely sufficient.
But these energies cannot make him truly satisfied, and his body is always lacking something.
However, life will always find a way out, not to mention that Immortal One are all amazingly talented beings.
Life Essence.
This thing is an important resource developed by Holden's Immortal One. It can replace the material and energy of Outer Planes, sustain Immortal One's strength, and allow Immortal One to maintain its peak condition and avoid weakness even in Material World.
The materials required to refine it are very complex.
The Black Oil Crystal that Garos often eats is also one of the materials, and it is far from precious inside.
However, what is interesting is that the most important of these materials is not something to be cherished.
The most important thing is Magic Rice, which is not very rare. However, the quantity required is extremely large. Only in tons of Magic Rice can we extract some of the materials needed for Life Essence.
Garos Just took one bite and ate an unknown amount of Magic Rice.
Therefore, any Immortal One who chooses to stay in Material Plane will basically need the support of the entire empire. Before Holden, there was even a dedicated agricultural Floating City, planting Magic Rice all year round.
"Human Immortal One is fine. He doesn't eat much."
"But I want to stay at Material Plane. This thing will be indispensable in the future.
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Garos thought to himself.
In theory, he can adapt to his constant state of weakness.
But the problem is, Material Plane's oppression is a very powerful thing, and even High Deity cannot be exempted from it. Garos doesn't think he can adapt to it now.
In this case, if you continue to exercise despite your weakness----
His future growth and evolution speed will definitely drop a lot, and the gains outweigh the losses.
Therefore, there is no need to deliberately put himself in a weak state. On the contrary, he very much needs to make his body and spirit strong so that he can adapt to growth more efficiently.
"I need more."
Garos enjoined. "Continue to refine Life Essence. At the same time, let the empire's team of warlocks and scholars continue to improve the formula, strive to keep costs down and increase production. I will need it in large quantities in the future."
"Understood."
Sorog nodded. "Life Essence has been given the highest priority, above all other strategic materials. The empire's agricultural plan has also been adjusted accordingly. Magic Rice's planting area will be expanded three times in the next sowing season. At least, your consumption must be guaranteed to be unrestricted."
Among Sacred Aura, Garos are the most important existences.
What he needs is undoubtedly strategic resources, with the highest priority.
Red Iron Dragon nodded, then seemed to remember something, and asked casually, "By the way, Sorog, the pictures and videos circulating in Star Network, the ones about me in Theresia, were they released with your permission?"
Star Network.
It can be used in two ways.
In the area covered by Star Network, you can access Star Network by compiling your own Magic Energy into a specific frequency and passing verification; or if you have the corresponding alchemy props.
Star Network is filled with all kinds of information.
Official government announcements and regional weather warnings issued by the empire.
Music and stories, various alchemy games and simulated battles uploaded by Bard.
You can even see Crown Rank and even Destiny Rank-level beings sharing some of their experiences among Star Network.
And there is more than just knowledge in Star Network.
Just like now.
There are already many adventurers live broadcasting their wasteland development process in Theresia.
They carried portable terminals and traveled through the jungles and mountains of the New World, transmitting what they saw back to Star Network in real time.
The content inside covers combat, exploration, collection, etc., and is extremely rich in content.
Viewers can also leave comments, make suggestions, and even crowdfund funds to support an adventurer's exploration through Star Network. Now, although Theresia's live broadcast of land reclamation has just begun, it has become one of the most popular content sections on Star Network.
In short, with the development of Star Network, it has gradually been completely integrated into Sacred Aura and is an indispensable part.
More than 60% of the population of the empire access Star Network at least once a day.
Moreover, this proportion continues to rise.
Garos has experienced the Internet era, and the development direction of Star Network also has some influence from him. But even so, not long after Star Network was born, he couldn't help but waste a lot of time in Star Network. Later, he relied on his great spiritual will to get rid of the influence.
"It's me."
Iron Dragon admitted frankly and said, "Not only that, I also let Heroic Spirit use Star Network intensively, letting them take the lead, and set off a wave of praise for the emperor and Lord of Victory and Glory."
What do you think of our empire's Heroic Spirit?
Navy?
Garos was speechless.
He has almost imagined the scene where the Heroic Spirits will face off against others in Star Network, and due to the unique advantages of the Heroic Spirits, they will almost never lose.
"I find that this is very conducive to your faith."
Iron Dragon analyzed seriously. "Just like the underground Mushroomfolk Kingdom, they actually don't have much recognition for Sacred Aura. However, since they connected to Star Network, even the fungus lifeforms have begun to spontaneously respect you."
"In fact, many Mushroomfolk made a special trip to the surface to make pilgrimages to Ser Wilderness and other places where you once stayed, just to pay homage to the traces you left."
Hearing this, Garos raised his dragon claw and patted Iron Dragon on the shoulder.
"My dear brother."
Red Iron Dragon laughed and said, "You have learned by yourself without a teacher and have understood a very powerful way to create gods."
Before, he didn't want too much faith.
But now, after the formation of Godhood is completed, the more beliefs, the better. Therefore, Garos no longer controls public opinion in this regard, allowing the name of Lord of Victory and Glory to spread throughout the empire's territory, and even fueling it.
The birth of Star Network also contributed to the gathering of his beliefs.
In all major worlds, there are only a few ways for Deity people to obtain faith.
Show miracles, establish churches, train priests, and grant magical powers----
These methods all have a common limitation. The coverage is very limited. How many people can a priest contact in a day? How many worshipers can a Temple receive in a day?
The speed is too slow and the efficiency is too low.
Compared with that.
An ordinary person living in the most remote area, as long as he opens the Star Network terminal, he can see the emperor's heroic appearance in the most conspicuous position, hear the war songs composed by poets for the emperor, and read countless ordinary people like him praising the same name.
This kind of experience can never be provided by the traditional church and priestly system.
It's simply a dimensionality reduction blow!
"The main reason is that Star Network itself develops fast enough."
Sorog said, "It is too easy for intelligent creatures to immerse themselves in it. Moreover, it is only the beginning now. When Sacred Aura opens Great Expedition and connects Star Network to more worlds, those ordinary countries will be completely unable to resist this impact."
"At that time, we can consolidate our rule over every world more efficiently."
Blue Dragon Heloise listened quietly to the conversation between the two, saying nothing from the beginning to the end.
She felt in her heart that she still had a long, long way to go before she could be independent.
Star Network?
It turns out it has so many functions.
Heloise used to use Star Network as a convenient communication tool, and occasionally browsed some government affairs information and military analysis on it, but never thought about the strategic significance behind it.
Her eyes looked thoughtful and she began to think deeply.
"Let's not talk about the future that is too far away."
Garos suppressed his smile, his tone became calm, and said, "For now, let's optimize Star Network step by step to make it better, more popular, and the best, so that the grassroots people in the most remote areas can easily afford it."
Iron Dragon nodded and said, "This is not a difficult task."
At the same time, Garos slowly turned his head and looked in the direction of Orotara.
"Nausir's Elf, have you conveyed news to the empire? For example, you want to talk, or you want to see me, or something like that."
he asked.
Iron Dragon shook his head slightly and said, "No, if there is, I will have informed you as soon as possible."
He narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "What you did at the Theresia Continent must have reached the ears of Elf, but they didn't show any sign. Perhaps, the internal chaos within them was too serious and they just couldn't take care of themselves."
"But it's also possible that they still have some luck."
Garos is thoughtful.
A fluke?
When they reach Elf Royal Court, they must make a choice.
"Now is the time."
Red Iron Dragon's voice deepened and he said, "Remembering our past friendship, I will personally go meet Elf and give them a chance. I hope they can make the right choice and not be stubborn."
Negotiations between empires often have relatively complicated processes.
But Garos has always been too lazy to care about this.
He went to Nausir in person and was undoubtedly the most efficient.
Opposite me, Sorog's breathing suddenly became a little heavier.
"After taking Orotara, the entire Bernardo will be unified under our will, and there will be no hidden dangers! Once the Wild God crisis is over, we can officially start Great Expedition! Let more of the world surrender under our wings."
His eyes showed a rare expression of excitement.
Blue Dragon Heloise was a little surprised when he saw this scene.
This Iron Prince actually has such a side? In her impression, Sorog always looks calm and calm. No matter what situation he faces, he can maintain calm analysis and judgment and never be swayed by emotions.
In the eyes of the people of the empire, he is simply a dragon-shaped machine made of iron.
But today, he would actually breathe heavily and look excited just for a word.
It seems that I still know too little about my parents----
She thought to herself and watched quietly.
"Calm down, my brother."
Garos glanced sideways at Iron Dragon and said, "Don't make your words so perfect. The more times like this, the less likely you are to set a flag for yourself."
He knows very well that if you talk like this too much, things can easily go wrong at critical moments.
Underestimating the enemy is the fastest way to failure.
"We have worked steadily to get to where we are today, relying on not taking the next victory for granted after each victory. This step is also the same. Ancient One is not an existence that can be easily dealt with. It has existed many times longer than the entire Aura Empire."
"Even in Material Plane, I can't guarantee complete victory."
He said carefully.
"----That makes sense."
Iron Dragon was agitated, calmed down, coughed dryly, and then remembered another thing, and said, "By the way, Reinhart said, I want to see you, and I have something to discuss with you in detail."
"Oh?"
Garos was slightly confused. "It's not difficult for him to see me. He can just come over directly. Why should you convey the message?
"Who knows."
Sorog spread his wings and said with a smile, "Maybe he has some concerns, but in short, you can take the time to see him."
Garos nodded and did not ask any more questions.
"Okay, let's talk about it after I come back from Orotara."
After saying that, he glanced at the empire in the morning light, raised his dragon claw, tore it forward, and then stepped in, his figure disappearing into the crack.