Star Inscription

Xilong returned to his nest.

A Dragon Hatchling's nest sounded like a dragon's lair, but it was really just an area enclosed by a few rocks.

Yet dragons had always been deeply attached to nest-building. Since he could not live with his Nurturer, Xilong had regarded building a nest as his highest priority ever since hatching.

Back then, he had spent an entire day wandering around near his birthplace, inspecting countless locations before finally choosing the gently sloping ground beneath a rock on the back side of the mountain hollow.

For one thing, the terrain here was excellent—sheltered from wind and rain, open in view, and free from standing water. For another, it was far from the heart of the valley: close enough for Jiazhuosa's senses to cover, yet secluded enough that no Dragon Hatchling would casually wander past and disturb him.

By all measures, it was an excellent spot.

Rocks were everywhere in Ochre Valley, but not every stone was suitable for building a nest.

The little Chrome Dragon had roamed back and forth through the valley for a long time, searching for square stones of suitable size with one relatively flat side. Whenever he found one, he dragged it back with his claws and teeth, then stacked them one by one into walls.

Then he dug gravel from a mountain stream and spread a thin layer across the nest. He hopped and leaped over it, stamping it down firmly, and finally fetched a bundle of fluffy wheat stalks for a pillow. Only then did he finish building his little home.

Though the nest looked utterly unremarkable, it was quiet, clean, and built bit by bit with his own claws. Every time the little Chrome Dragon lay on the gravel and rolled around, a strange sense of satisfaction filled his heart.

At that moment, Xilong lowered his body and reclined like a large cat.

Training was over, but the wound in his mouth was still seeping blood, and waves of pain throbbed across his face.

Yet perhaps because of his mental exhaustion, once he lay down and felt the gravel beneath his belly shift from cool to warm, his consciousness soon grew heavy, and he gradually began to drift toward sleep.

A faint, gentle chant rose in the distance.

The sound was far away and the tone low, making it somewhat indistinct. Xilong assumed his Nurturer was casting some spell and paid it no mind.

But after a while, he realized something was wrong. The sound had continued for far too long. It did not resemble spellcasting at all; it sounded more like some Dragon Hatchling trying to act profound, chanting poems from the Dragon Legacy.

Xilong furrowed the scales between his brows, shifted position, and buried his head beneath his membranous wing.

The chant grew solemn, and the voices swelled louder and louder, layer upon layer, until every line became incomparably grand.

It was as if a crowd were singing beside his ears, impassioned and stirring, raising their voices in a song that nearly rumbled like thunder.

Damn it, a Gray Dwarf carnival?

It seemed sleep was out of the question.

Annoyed, Xilong stood, shook his head, and left his nest, intending to see what exactly was going on.

Night in Ochre Valley held neither stars nor moon. It was shrouded in an unprecedented thick fog.

The Chrome Dragon walked toward the source of the sound. The dense mist carried damp moisture, and though it was still autumn, the temperature had somehow plunged sharply.

The air was icy. Drawing it into his lungs gave even a dragon the illusion that he might shiver.

As he moved forward, the thick fog slowly retreated to either side. The things around him gradually emerged from the boundless whiteness, at first only blurred lines like ink bleeding through water, then clearer lines joining together into shapes.

Xilong suddenly froze. The scales all over his body rippled along his muscles like waves, tightening and loosening one after another.

The ground beneath his feet...

Had vanished.

He looked around. Beneath his feet was no longer the gravel of Ochre Valley, but a vast, endless mirror-black surface, so smooth that not a single crease could be seen, stretching toward an infinitely distant horizon.

At some point, the chanting had quietly stopped. All that remained around him was a silence too deep to fathom.

By then, Xilong had realized that he was likely dreaming, or perhaps experiencing some kind of illusion—a Spirit Vision.

Because if this were reality, such lofty and solemn chanting could not possibly have been heard by him alone. Yet even now, no living creature nearby, including his powerful Nurturer, had come out to investigate.

If it were an illusion or teleportation aimed specifically at him, that did not seem likely either. Who would go to such lengths just to toy with a Dragon Hatchling?

The silent darkness suddenly lit up.

Countless points of light floated leisurely up from the depths of the mirrored surface, illuminating the endless darkness until it blazed bright. Light filled every inch of space beneath Xilong's feet, around him, and above his head. Colors reflected one another in a tide as vast as the sea.

It was like countless stars rising into the sky, with him standing in the middle of a sea of stars.

Xilong was surprised, but also curious. The scene before him seemed both dream and not dream, so real yet so fantastical that, amid his bewilderment, he felt an unusual premonition.

It was as though something was about to happen, though he could not say what.

Xilong stared intently and saw some stardust changing rapidly. It gathered and condensed, swiftly outlining a shape and revealing the form of a Dragon Hatchling.

Only when it completely stabilized did Xilong recognize the figure of light. It was the Dragon Hatchling who shared his surname.

Mochi Sorax.

Mochi's figure of light lowered its spine amid the stars, planted all four claws on the ground, and assumed a poised, pouncing stance. A bright band of light extended from within his body, connecting him to Xilong.

Xilong shifted his gaze toward a spot not far to the left, where another outline seemed to be taking shape.

That unnamed Thunderclap Dragon had also appeared in the starry sky. Its expression was stubborn and fierce, but its projection was smaller than Mochi's, and the light connecting it to Xilong was extremely dim.

Before he could think further, the two figures of light suddenly began to flicker rapidly.

A faint power seeped into Xilong's body along the lines of light, sinking into his organs and bones.

That power was so slight it could almost be ignored, yet in an instant, Xilong understood everything.

All the explanations appeared at once. No words or sounds were needed; it was as if an additional part of the Dragon Legacy had materialized from thin air, its contents clear, definite, and beyond doubt.

Through a Spirit Vision, he had opened his Mystic Vault. The Mystic Vault manifested in the form of a starry sky, and the two projections appearing beneath those stars were Xilong's "Destiny Alliance."

Whether relatives and friends, companions, kin, or slaves, as long as they formed positive entanglements of fate with Xilong, they would become part of his Destiny Alliance and be reflected beneath the stars.

The stronger they were in the real world, the larger the projections they displayed.

The connections between these projections and Xilong were called the "Threads of Bond." The closer the relationship between both sides, the stronger the Threads of Bond they forged.

As the master of the Mystic Vault, Xilong could draw power from his Destiny Alliance. The amount and strength of that power were determined jointly by the size of the projections and the strength of the Threads of Bond.

"So good."

The little Chrome Dragon paced around the two projections, his eyes bright as he clicked his tongue in wonder.

He was the sole master of this spiritual world. As his voice fell, the entire sea of stars trembled. Countless starlights dragged long tails behind them, spiraling down from every direction toward one point and gathering above Xilong's head.

Xilong raised his head and saw the heavens glittering with stars. The lights surged and converged, shifting from blurred to clear before finally solidifying into blazing Ancient Dragon Script that descended onto the scales of his brow.

[Consume Gold, Absorb Iron]

A brand-new ability formed within Xilong's body.

The inscription was complete. All the starlight faded away, and the spiritual world returned to its initial state. Only the two Dragon Hatchling projections remained, lonely reflections within the darkness.

"Once I establish more solid Destiny Alliances and draw enough power, I can summon the stars again and perform another inscription."

Recalling the phenomenon he had just witnessed, Xilong murmured, "Each time I summon the stars, the power required will multiply compared to before..."

Looking at it this way, the road ahead seemed destined to grow harder and harder.

But for Xilong, he had already gained an ability and seen the hope of continuously becoming stronger in the future. That was the greatest reward; nothing could compare to it.

The little Chrome Dragon closed his eyes in contentment and withdrew from the dark starry sky.