He roared:
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! I'm a noble Blue Dragon! The strongest Blue Dragon apart from Xiluo! There's no way I could be inferior to Allen! It's fake! It's all fake! Hahaha! Hahaha!"
The Wyrmlings nearby, still dejected over being swindled out of their gold coins, were rather surprised by the shouting.
Among Alicia's little group.
Martha, the Little Black Dragon, muttered:
"Hasn't Abel been following that bastard Xiluo around lately? He's even been helping them hunt. How has he gone mad after just a few days?"
"Hmph! What an idiot! He's always thought Blue Dragons were the noblest dragon species. Sure, we've got an exception like Xiluo among us, but a mere Abel is nothing but trash!"
Koraman was dismissive. Having defeated Abel before, he had never taken his defeated opponent seriously.
"However useless he is, he couldn't possibly be worse than Allen..."
Alicia frowned, feeling there was more to this.
Some of the other dragons were scornful, but others also sensed something was wrong.
They waited a while, but when Abel kept shouting endlessly, their curiosity finally got the better of them. They gathered around, surrounding the Blue Dragon Wyrmling.
"Abel! What's wrong with you? We haven't seen you for just a few days, and now you're admitting you can't even measure up to that useless Allen? What a disgrace to dragonkind!"
Koraman was the first to mock him.
"!"
Surrounded and mocked, Abel showed no reaction at all. He kept roaring.
The Wyrmlings watched his foolish display.
One of the Wyrmlings swung a claw straight at him!
Smack!
A loud slap rang out.
Abel finally quieted down.
He froze in place, his mouth opening and closing occasionally as he stared blankly at the dragon who had struck him. Only after a long while did he speak:
"Why did you hit me?"
"Why did I hit you? Hmph! Just think back on that disgraceful display of yours!"
The dragon who had struck him spoke disdainfully, certainly not about to admit that he had done it because Abel had long rubbed him the wrong way.
"I... I just... Right! That's right! Just now... just now..."
As Abel spoke, he once again forced a smile uglier than tears:
"I couldn't possibly be inferior to a White Dragon like Allen. It's impossible!"
"You idiot! Have you really gone mad? You're actually admitting you're inferior to a lame White Dragon?"
Koraman couldn't hold back his furious roar.
If this fellow really was worse than a White Dragon, wouldn't that mean his own victory over Abel was nothing impressive either?
"You bastard! You useless Green Dragon! You don't understand anything! What right do you have to mock me? If you knew..." Abel snapped, but trailed off at the end.
"Knew what? All I know is that you're my defeated opponent! I just never expected you to fall below even that useless Allen! You've really disappointed me!" Koraman sneered.
The other Dragon Cubs also mocked him incessantly.
Even the other Blue Dragons instinctively wanted to distance themselves from Abel.
"Idiots! Since you want to know, I'll tell you! Allen, that fellow... he's just like Gordon and Xiluo! He has a mutated bloodline too! And it's a frost dragon bloodline! Are you satisfied now?"
Abel roared angrily.
The dragons around him fell silent at his words, then burst into laughter:
"Hahaha! I think Abel really has gone mad! How else could he say something so stupid?"
"Has he been secretly eating dirt with Xiluo lately? Is that why his brain's gone wrong?"
"Just look at him. He doesn't look like a normal dragon."
"Allen has never shown anything different about himself. How could he possibly have a mutated bloodline?"
Hearing this, Abel grew even angrier:
"A bunch of idiots! If I could, I wouldn't want to believe it either... but it's the truth! Xiluo gave him the Bloodline Refinement Technique, and that fellow happened to awaken his bloodline...
"If you don't believe me, go look for yourselves! He's already showing signs of mutation!"
Partway through, he shook his head and sighed. By the end, he returned listlessly to his lair and flopped onto his back like a salted fish that had lost its dreams.
"Do you believe him?"
"Well, I don't?"
"There's no need to care what a crazy idiot says!"
The Wyrmlings muttered and dispersed.
Several more days passed like this.
Abel remained dazed, constantly growling under his breath.
His condition left even the Wyrmlings who hadn't believed him feeling uneasy and beginning to doubt themselves.
They gathered again.
"Could Abel actually be telling the truth? He's been like this for ages."
"It might really be true. I feel like that cripple's so confident now! He looks at us the way we used to look at him!
"That kind of deep-seated confidence doesn't change overnight. Something's really wrong!"
"Hiss... what do we do? What do we do? If it's true, doesn't that mean we might really be inferior to that useless White Dragon Allen?"
The more the Wyrmlings talked, the more anxious they became, until they finally couldn't bear it anymore.
"Let's go find them! We'll ask them face-to-face!"
"Exactly! Let's get a clear answer! Otherwise, I won't be able to sleep or eat!"
With that, they swarmed toward the nearby territory containing the three dragons' lairs.
Even Abel, who had been lying on the ground playing dead, leaped up, his gaze flickering as he hurried after them.
Xiluo and Allen had been lucky that day, catching a male Ground Luo Beast and finishing early.
After penning the two adult Earth Boars together, separately from the others, Xiluo watched them eagerly:
"My little darlings, make sure you get along well, then hurry up and start producing offspring... otherwise, there really won't be enough food. My future is in your hands!"
With that, he glanced at the food storage area.
There wasn't even enough food there for two meals for him and Gordon...
He suddenly felt rather melancholy, but he had already prepared for this.
He would spend gold coins to have Barbara buy some meat for him.
He was already so short of money, yet he still had to waste gold coins on such little matters. It pained Xiluo terribly.
Just then.
Thudding footsteps approached from the distance.
Xiluo frowned and turned to look, rather astonished to discover a whole group of Dragon Cubs swarming toward him.
He found this rather strange.
He watched the Wyrmlings approach him or gather beside Gordon's lair, then roar:
"Xiluo (Gordon), tell us! Did you really teach Allen the Bloodline Refinement Technique? Did that fellow really awaken a frost dragon bloodline?"
"A frost dragon bloodline? That useless fool?"
The Red Dragon Whelp replied in some bewilderment.
He knew nothing about this.
Xiluo, however, immediately understood and nodded:
"That's right."
"Impossible!"
"This isn't true! You're joking with us, Xiluo! Right!? It's a joke?"
The Wyrmlings refused to believe it and shouted, just as Abel had before.
Xiluo hurriedly showed them the unusual scale on the Little White Dragon's back.
The Wyrmlings immediately fell silent, their expressions sinking into dejection and confusion.
None of the dragons spoke for a long time.
Until a Black Dragon spoke up hopefully:
"Xiluo! Gordon! Teach us the Bloodline Refinement Technique! With it, there's no way we'll be inferior to that useless Allen!"
"Exactly! Xiluo! (Gordon!) Teach us the Bloodline Refinement Technique! Then we'll forgive your earlier rudeness and deception!"
"Teach you? What are you idiots talking about? Get lost! You think you have any right to covet a secret technique like this?"
Gordon, sprawled motionlessly inside his lair, mocked them with utter disdain, as deserving of a beating as ever.
Xiluo's heart skipped at those words. Afraid the still-weakened Red Dragon Whelp would get beaten up, he hurried over and roared:
"What are you doing? Don't crowd around here! Gordon needs his rest! If you have something to say, come to me!"
Using brute strength, he pushed through the dragons and blocked the entrance.
"That bastard Gordon is weak and still so stingy! Fine, don't teach us! Xiluo! You'll teach us, right?"
One Wyrmling spoke, gazing at him with shining eyes.
Xiluo's eyes shifted at once. His thoughts raced, and then his mouth curled into a grin:
"Teach you? That's not out of the question."
"Oooooh! That's Xiluo for you! The strongest, smartest dragon in the Green Forest! So much more dependable and generous than Gordon!
The Wyrmlings were overjoyed.
"Xiluo! What are you doing? You're actually planning to teach these useless fools the Bloodline Refinement Technique? They don't deserve it!"
The Red Dragon Whelp roared somewhat angrily.
"Gordon! Don't be angry. It's only a secret technique. Without a mutated bloodline, it isn't very useful anyway. Teaching them won't cost us anything, will it?"
Xiluo explained with a smile.
"Hmph! Even so, these useless fools don't deserve it!"
The Red Dragon Whelp remained unwilling.
At this, the Wyrmlings angrily cursed at the Red Dragon Whelp:
"You deserved that beating from Xiluo! You're inferior to him in every way, strength and intelligence alike!"
"Only Xiluo becoming the strongest could win everyone's respect! Compared to him, you're a lump of little kobold dung!"
Watching secretly from afar, Barbara wore a peculiar expression.
Hadn't these youngsters been saying Xiluo was a swindler and swearing to fight him to the death?
Now they practically wanted to lick his scales?
He really had these youngsters wrapped around his claw!
"Ahem, ahem... everyone, listen to me!"
With all the Wyrmlings staring at him, Xiluo coughed several times, then raised his voice to drown them out. They unwittingly closed their mouths, and he continued:
"I completely understand your desire for the Bloodline Refinement Technique, to grow stronger and prove yourselves. It's only right that I teach you.
"After all, we all grew up in the Green Forest and serve under the Dragon Mother. We may live together for decades or even centuries to come. We're all the closest of friends..."
Xiluo reached this point.
The Wyrmlings smiled, nodding along and agreeing with Xiluo, inwardly praising him for being so reasonable.
They also felt ashamed for having resented Xiluo earlier.
Until...
"However, you all know that we in Dragonkind have always valued equivalent exchange.
"Since you want the Bloodline Refinement Technique, naturally, there's a price to pay..."
Xiluo paused at this point.
The Wyrmlings' expressions changed drastically. They exchanged looks, their large eyes filled with alarm.
Memories of being fleeced by Xiluo flooded back.
Koraman asked shakily:
"So... what's the price?"
"Gold coins, of course!"
Xiluo answered as though it were obvious.
"But we don't have any left... you tricked us out of... no, you won them all from us." The Wyrmlings looked pained, their faces full of regret and frustration.
"You only don't have any right now... the human merchants will be coming soon. Won't you have some then?"
"That's true, but... how much do you want?" Rather than cheering up, the Wyrmlings trembled even harder.
"Thirty gold coins!"
"Thirty gold coins!?" the Wyrmlings shrieked in horror.
"You bastard! Why don't you just rob us?"
"No money! We have no money!"
"We're not buying it! Not buying it! That shameless, despicable Xiluo never intended to make a deal! That bastard! I knew he was no good!"
"Don't say that. We grew up together, after all. Why would I swindle you?
"Don't worry! I've already worked it all out for you!
"You can't afford it individually, but couldn't you simply pool all your gold coins when the time comes?
"Once you have the Bloodline Refinement Technique, every one of you can learn it!
"Each dragon only needs to contribute a little over two gold coins. Is that a lot? It isn't!
"This is a rare opportunity!"
Xiluo spoke with apparent friendliness.
There was a faintly tempting quality to his voice.
"That... actually sounds pretty good? We'd only have to spend a little over two gold coins." One dragon was tempted.
"A little over two gold coins isn't a small sum either... and the odds of awakening a mutated bloodline are so low. I... I don't really want to buy it." One Wyrmling began to back out.
The other wyrmlings hesitated too.
Seeing this, Xiluo opened his mouth to say something.
But a furious roar suddenly rang out behind him:
"You bunch of useless trash! You can't even bear to part with a few gold coins, yet you want to become powerful? What a joke! You're only fit to trail behind me and Xiluo, sniffing our farts! Licking our asses!
If you're not buying, get lost! You're a bunch of eyesores!"
It was Gordon, the Red Dragon Whelp! Well said! Beautifully said!
Xiluo silently gave him a thumbs-up in his heart.
"Only fit to trail behind you and Xiluo, sniffing your farts? No! Never! It's only a little over two gold coins! I'll pay!"
Koraman roared.
"I'm willing too." Alicia, Martha, and the other wyrmlings nodded.
But quite a few wyrmlings still hesitated.
The wyrmlings who had already nodded immediately glared at those who were hesitating.
"You're unwilling? Do you think you're inferior to Allen?" Alicia growled.
The hesitant wyrmlings shuddered and immediately declared that they were willing to pay.
Seeing that the matter was settled just like that,
Xiluo smiled and said:
"Congratulations, everyone! Congratulations!
Now, once all the gold coins have been collected, I'll immediately hand the Bloodline Refinement Technique over to you. I believe you'll all be able to awaken mutated bloodlines then, catch up with me, and even surpass me."
Although the wyrmlings had reached an agreement, they still had no pleasant looks for Xiluo, who kept deceiving them, and left in a huff one after another.
Then Gordon said eagerly:
"Xiluo, once we get those thirty gold coins, we'll split them fifty-fifty. No problem, right?"
Naturally, Xiluo had no objection.
As for Allen, the little white dragon?
He had only overheard the Bloodline Refinement Technique by accident. Being able to awaken a mutated bloodline was lucky enough already.
How could he possibly get a share of Gordon and Xiluo's gold coins too?
And so, time flew...
Several weeks later.
What Xiluo had worried about came to pass: he and Gordon ran out of their reserve food!
Unwilling to eat the Ground Luo Beasts, they could only spend gold coins to buy meat.
Even the most ordinary farm-raised meat generally sold for ten copper coins a pound in the human world.
Of course, buying in bulk should come with a considerable discount.
But one gold coin could buy only around 1,500 pounds of meat at most.
Exchanging one gold coin for 1,500 pounds of meat would only feed Xiluo and Gordon for three weeks.
It was neither much nor little.
But Xiluo's heart bled. His gold coins should have been spent on something more meaningful!
Yet he had no choice but to buy meat to fill his belly.
Before making the exchange, however, he had Gordon, the Red Dragon Whelp, write him an IOU. After all, some of that meat was for him too.
That made him feel a little better.
After that, the three dragons worked even harder, going out hunting every day until nightfall.
Under these circumstances, they soon caught another pair of Ground Luo Beasts, one male and one female.
Together with the young Ground Luo Beasts, which had already been fairly big before and were now almost sexually mature, they finally established a perfect supply chain after half a year, meeting their own needs.
And this cost the two dragons a full five gold coins in total!
The human merchants from before appeared in the Green Forest roughly once a week, and the wyrmlings eagerly sold their three kinds of goods to them.
During this process,
Xiluo discovered that, to collect enough gold coins faster, these wyrmlings supplemented every meal with grass and tree bark after eating their fill...
A few dragons even began exercising less.
All so they could poop more.
So they could collect the gold coins they needed as soon as possible.
All the wyrmlings worked hard toward their own goals.
Soon, a whole year passed just like that.
Thanks to [mc666] for the 500-coin tip, [Shiozawa Sakura] for the 500-coin tip, and [Wild Swaggering Supercool Explosive Dragon Warrior] for the 100-coin tip! Thank you!
Currently ranked 43rd on the new book chart, with 48 fans~ A little more progress.
(End of chapter)
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