Sorrow flowed into a river

At that moment.

Barbara also flew down from the top of the giant tree, slowly landed on the ground, and gently waved a claw.

Wisps of pearly white light appeared and gathered around the Red Dragon Whelp's wounds, stopping the bleeding as they slowly writhed shut.

This was the second-tier [Healing Spell].

It was hardly an advanced healing spell. The Young Green Dragon could cast it effortlessly, even splitting her attention to look at Xiluo and speak:

"Congratulations, Xiluo. You are now truly, indisputably the strongest wyrmling in Green Forest.

"Your strength and wisdom both far surpass those of the other dragons. I'm proud of you, and I believe even the Dragon Mother will see you in a new light!

"Perhaps one day you'll lead the entire Dragon Legion."

"It's all thanks to your guidance, Lady Barbara. The two spells you taught me have been a great help all along."

Xiluo replied with a smile, his expression calm and respectful.

There was no trace of the ferocity he had shown while beating up another dragon moments earlier.

Barbara had taught Xiluo spells?

The wyrmlings' ears twitched. No wonder Xiluo was so strong! Barbara had been playing favorites and teaching him spells! The wyrmlings each had their own thoughts, while Alicia's expression turned rather ugly.

"Hahaha... you earned all of that. We in Dragonkind believe in fair trades. You gave me what I wanted, so naturally, I gave you what you deserved."

Barbara replied with a laugh.

The wyrmlings' expressions eased a little at that.

Good. Lady Barbara hadn't been playing favorites.

"But... you really were heavy-handed, little fellow. Did little Gordon offend you?" Barbara asked.

"Ahahaha... of course not. I simply treated Gordon as a true opponent!

"Isn't there a saying in the human world? Giving your all is a sign of respect for your opponent!" Xiluo replied with a laugh.

The young adult female dragon grinned.

A true opponent? Respect?

You were just thinking about how to get every last coin out of the wyrmlings! You greedy money-grubber!

But you succeeded!

The wyrmlings had quite a few gold coins between them-nearly twelve in total!

Even she was tempted by that many gold coins.

After giving the cunning little Blue Dragon a long look.

Barbara waved her other claw, lowering all the valuables suspended in the treetop to the ground.

Gold, silver, and copper coins spread out, dazzling the dragons' eyes in the sunlight.

Only then did the wyrmlings, who had still been caught up in their fear of Xiluo's violence, all come back to their senses.

Then... the blood instantly drained from their faces, and even the colors of their bodies faded several shades! They seemed to shrink by more than an inch!

"I... I'm done for... I bet on Xiluo taking more than ten minutes to beat Gordon! Now all my money's gone!"

"Damn it! Why is Xiluo so strong? That useless Gordon couldn't even last seven minutes!"

"Beating Gordon in under five minutes... who could have seen that coming? Why is there such a huge gap between them?"

"Boohoo... my money! My money... it's all gone..."

"Allen! Xiluo, please! Give me my money back! I'm begging you!"

The wyrmlings broke into a chorus of wails. One Little Black Dragon couldn't accept losing every last gold coin. With a howl, the dragon's eyes rolled back, and the dragon fainted!

Others clung to Xiluo's and Allen's legs, sobbing and begging for their gold coins back. The sight would bring tears to anyone's eyes, and the sound would break anyone's heart!

Alicia and Koraman looked particularly distressed.

"I lost again... I knew Allen was following that bastard Xiluo's instructions when he set up the bets... I knew that bastard Xiluo was cunning and treacherous beyond belief... but why? Why couldn't I control myself? Why did I still fall for their trick?"

The two Green Dragon hatchlings clutched their chests, twitching with heartache.

Of course, two dragons had scattered their bets around and happened to bet on Xiluo beating Gordon in under five minutes. But those bets were tiny; most of their money had still gone on the popular choices.

It left them feeling as though they had lost a hundred million gold coins! They were just as miserable.

Surrounded by all these wyrmlings, even Xiluo felt overwhelmed. He hurriedly signaled for Little White Dragon to gather up the gold coins and make a quick getaway.

The wyrmlings stared at that white Dragon Shadow, wishing they could shoot flames, lightning, frost, and deadly poison from their eyes and kill Little White Dragon!

That day.

The wyrmlings' anguished howls went on and on.

"Ugh... hungry... hungry..."

Gordon gradually regained consciousness.

His whole body ached, sore and weak, and his head felt as though it were splitting apart.

After a faint groan, he slowly opened his draconic eyes.

He saw the faintly glowing moon, the pitch-black sky, and masses of branches and leaves.

"Is it night already? Did I lose the match?"

He opened his mouth and spoke in a faint, hoarse voice.

He seemed extremely weak.

"Yes, it's night already. You lost to me."

A voice Gordon knew very well came from beside him. It was Xiluo.

He turned his neck and saw Xiluo's and Allen's familiar blue and white figures.

The two wyrmlings were sitting on their haunches, smiling at him.

Gordon stared blankly at Xiluo as memories of the one-sided beating flooded his mind, leaving him with complicated, hard-to-define feelings.

"Feeling discouraged? Didn't expect the gap between us to be so big?"

Xiluo grinned at him and spoke again.

"..."

Gordon remained silent.

"Heh... looks like this fight really hit you hard."

Xiluo spoke again, but just as he was about to continue.

"Rooar! Rooar! Boohoohoo! Awooo!"

Strange howls suddenly rose in the distance.

"What's that noise? Why is there strange howling in Green Forest? Have enemies invaded?"

The Red Dragon Whelp asked in surprise as he lay there.

"Tsk! Nothing of the sort. This is the Dragon Mother's territory. What invader would dare come here? It's just a bunch of idiots with too much energy making noise. Ignore them. Let's get back to what we were discussing.

"I..."

Xiluo was about to resume their conversation.

"Boohoohoo! Xiluo! Allen! Give us our money back! Boohoohoo..."

"Xiluo! Allen! You're not dragons! You're evil gods! Despicable demons! You cheated us out of our hard-earned money!"

Another chorus of howls rose in the distance.

"Are you ever going to stop? It's late, and everyone needs to rest! Howl, howl, howl-shut the hell up! Anyone who dares keep howling is getting a beating! Gordon is badly injured and needs to recover!

"How is he supposed to recover with you howling like that? Do you want him to die? You vicious bastards!"

Furious, Xiluo sprang to his feet and charged off into the distance, cursing as he went.

"Help! Help! Xiluo's coming! Run!"

"No! Xiluo, you bastard! You can't do this!"

"Rooar! Aah! Lady Barbara, help! Help!"

After a bout of utter chaos.

The Blue Dragon Wyrmling appeared in the Red Dragon Whelp's sight again.

Then he sat down beside the Red Dragon Whelp as though nothing had happened.

At that moment, peace returned to Green Forest!

The night was so tranquil, the breeze so gentle...

Thank you to [Endless Overtime_Endless Work] for the 1,500-coin tip, [Gun8] for 699, [mc666] for 400 coins, and [The Other Self of the Primordial Ancient God's Dream of the Great Void] for 100 coins! Thank you, everyone!

I'm up to 37 fans now, and the book has reached 66th on the new book rankings. Thank you to everyone supporting me!

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(End of chapter)