Barbara understood what the wyrmlings were thinking. After a moment of composure, she spoke:
"This was a foolish invasion.
The invaders were the Nature Elves driven away by the great Dragon Mother more than a decade ago.
They brought a Gold Dragon, hoping to reclaim their territory.
But clearly, they were defeated by the great Dragon Mother and the armies of Green Forest.
Rest assured, little ones! The Green Forest of today cannot possibly be shaken by fools of that caliber!
Even if a Legendary powerhouse came, we of Green Forest would have nothing to fear!
You are absolutely safe here!"
Barbara's voice was thick with reassurance, while her expression brimmed with disdain for the Elves and the Gold Dragon.
The wyrmlings relaxed at her words, immediately regaining the liveliness peculiar to the young.
"Phew... so that's all it was. Just a bunch of trash driven out of their home and one stupid Gold Dragon! How could the likes of them ever defeat the Dragon Mother?"
"Hehehe, Nature Elves, huh? I remember those fellows taste quite good. If I get the chance, I really want to savor them.
Especially the females. I hear their meat is very tender." One wyrmling drooled as he spoke.
The other young Green Dragons secretly swallowed their saliva too.
When it came to eating Elves, they were experts!
"Green Forest is invincible! Even Legendary powerhouses must tremble beneath our wings!"
"Long live the Dragon Mother! Long live Lady Barbara!"
The wyrmlings cheered, all the pressure in their hearts gone.
Not one of the Wyrmlings cared in the slightest that the Dragon Mother had seized the Nature Elves' homeland.
In the eyes of Chromatic Dragons, plundering wealth and seizing territory were not evil deeds at all. On the contrary, they were heroic exploits worth boasting about.
Even Xiluo felt considerably more at ease after hearing Barbara's account.
One Gold Dragon and the losers previously driven out of Green Forest really were nothing to worry about.
The Dragon Mother commanded an army numbering in the thousands and three Young Green Dragons.
That force was enough to put up some resistance against a small Kingdom.
At the same time, he paid little mind to the Legendary powerhouses Barbara had mentioned.
Of course, that did not mean he looked down on Legendary power.
Rather, he simply did not believe a powerhouse of that caliber would attack Green Forest.
Taking humans alone as an example.
Even among millions of people, a single Legendary powerhouse might not emerge. They were exceedingly rare.
In fact, even among all dragonkind, Legendary powerhouses were hardly a dime a dozen. Not every dragon could easily attain that status simply by growing to a certain stage.
In this world.
A dragon's growth was generally divided into hatchling, wyrmling, young dragon, adolescent dragon, young adult dragon, adult dragon, and prime dragon.
At every stage, a dragon's body and magical power continually grew stronger.
Beyond those stages were old dragons, but their bodies had already stopped growing. Only their magical power continued to increase.
Yet even with such uniquely favorable innate advantages.
If dragons remained ignorant and unskilled, without powerful spells to support them or a grasp of the essentials of the Legendary realm.
They still could not cross the threshold into that realm and would remain stuck at level 19, unable to advance an inch!
Even Red Dragons among the Chromatic Dragons.
And Gold Dragons among the Metal Dragons were no exception.
Only a tiny number of immensely powerful Mutated Dragons, Legendary dragons, and other mighty dragon breeds could rely on their extraordinary innate gifts to reach the Legendary realm without difficulty.
Such beings were born Legendary species.
They were also true apex predators.
Xiluo did not believe a group of Elves could find a Legendary dragon or pay the price to recruit a Legendary powerhouse of another race.
After sorting through his thoughts, Xiluo relaxed and returned to the lair with Gordon and Allen.
In the central area.
The pen, now expanded to several hundred square meters, held dozens of Earth Boars, each plump and fleshy.
The Ground Luo Beasts wandered around the pen. When they saw the three dragons, they immediately looked frightened. Many burrowed back underground, and only a few dared remain out in the open.
Those few Earth Boars looked at Xiluo and made cooing sounds.
Looking at the bare ground, stripped down to nothing but dirt, Xiluo understood.
Without needing to say anything, he, Gordon, and Allen slowly walked over, magical power shimmering around their bodies.
Grass slowly sprouted from the once-bare ground inside the Earth Boar pen, then began growing wildly at a speed visible to the naked eye. Before long, it rose above the beasts' heads.
Only then did the three dragons stop casting.
The Little White Dragon took a heavy breath, looking somewhat exhausted.
Xiluo and Gordon looked a little better, but they too appeared quite tired.
At the sight, the Earth Boars in the pen immediately cried out joyfully and began to feast.
"These beasts really do eat a lot!
If our appetites grew any bigger and we needed more of these beasts, I'm afraid our magical power wouldn't be enough."
The Red Dragon Whelp growled as he watched the Earth Boars eating with relish.
"You don't need to worry about that. Our magical power will only grow faster than our appetites. It's just a shame we can't raise more of them. Otherwise, we could sell the surplus. They should fetch quite a few gold coins," Xiluo said with a smile.
His mind was now full of ways to make money.
Unfortunately, though Green Forest was covered in wild grass and vegetation, that did not mean Xiluo could raise Earth Boars as he pleased.
If creatures as prolific as Ground Luo Beasts were truly allowed to breed endlessly without natural predators, Green Forest might well turn into a desert...
How could the Green Dragons tolerate that?
No wonder Green Forest often needed to send out hunting parties despite having livestock of its own.
It seemed that even the Dragon Mother and the other Green Dragons could not provide food for too many domesticated creatures.
Feeding an army of thousands was by no means simple.
"That had better be true!"
As he spoke, the Red Dragon Whelp gave Xiluo a long look.
What are you looking at me like that for, you little bastard?
Didn't I just eat two dragons' worth extra?
Why are you looking at me like I'm a bottomless pit?
As if you don't eat too!
Not particularly wanting to deal with the Red Dragon Whelp, Xiluo snorted and returned to his own lair.
It was very different from a year ago.
Perhaps because of his Thunderfall Dragon bloodline, he had grown increasingly fond of water.
For that reason, he had remodeled his lair.
The entire burrow was shaped like a bowl, measuring over ten meters across.
Its earthen walls had been baked with fire, and the interior was filled with water. The water was not for drinking, but for soaking in.
Xiluo lay comfortably in the pool, his fatigue slowly fading.
It felt a little like soaking in a hot spring in his previous life.
This was a change brought about by his Thunderfall Dragon bloodline.
He did not dislike it. Holding the Tidal Crystal he had just received, he began admiring it.
Worth twenty-five gold coins, the Tidal Crystal was already as large as an adult human's fist. It was as beautiful and dazzling as ever. If it could not improve his strength, he really would have wanted to keep it and take it out to admire every day.
Unfortunately... strength was what mattered most to him.
Its importance far outweighed the craving for wealth and beautiful things ingrained in his bloodline.
With practiced ease, he opened his mouth, swallowed the Tidal Crystal, chewed, and drew in its energy.
Then he channeled the special energy within the crystal into his body.
(End of chapter)
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