Why am I not surprised at all?
Ed wanted to be surprised, but then realized there was really nothing to be surprised about.
The Eternal Domain and the Amber Dragon have some connection; this is an indisputable fact that has been established for a long time.
Xilǐ'er considered himself a prisoner freed from the Amber Dragon by the Twin Kings, so it would be absurd to say that the two were unrelated.
What has been puzzling everyone all along is whether the legendary Amber Dragon was one of the Twin Kings, a servant enslaved after being defeated by the Twin Kings, or even a corpse used after being killed.
Having learned about the dragon's nature, Ed was more inclined to believe the first possibility.
In addition to the previous incidents of counterfeit Amber Dragon, Seraphina temporarily absorbing some of the Green Dragon's power, and the Eternal Domain's proactive dragon hunting incident...
All these facts combined make it hard not to associate one of the Twin Kings with Amber Dragon.
Now that Noya had personally confirmed it, Ed felt a sense of relief, as if a weight had finally been lifted from his heart.
He thought for a moment and asked:
"Do you know why the Amber Dragon sent people to hunt you down?"
Noya shook her head in confusion; clearly, this matter had been troubling her as well.
Ed gestured for Seraphina to explain, but the dragon girl was clearly reluctant to do the science for an illiterate person.
However, she only learned about this setting not long ago. Although it's a bit late to tell Noya now (because she's already dead), it can still dispel her doubts.
Seraphina cleared her throat and said:
"The ancestral memories you inherited should contain information about the origins of our dragon race."
Noya nodded:
"Yes, they evolved from the earliest dragons, so all dragons share a common ancestor."
Seraphina said seriously:
"That's right. Some time ago, I accidentally came into contact with a broken scale of a Green Dragon and gained a little bit of the Green Dragon's power from it."
"Although I quickly exhausted that power, it is not difficult to see that the dragon race also has the ability to absorb the Authority of its own kind."
"If you only gained a part of the body, this power should also have its limits, but... you have completely lost your body, so..."
Ed picked up the conversation and said:
"So, that Amber Dragon should now be called the 'Amber Blue Dragon,' the only question is how quickly it will be digested."
" Noya, do you know what that Amber Dragon is called?"
Noya shook her head:
"I don't know. I can only discern the source of the power, but there might not be just one Amber Dragon. I have no way of knowing the true names of the other dragons."
"I might have a clue about this."
Seraphina suddenly said.
She looked at the dragon soul, the human, and the lich, and explained earnestly:
"When two dragons meet, it doesn't necessarily mean they have to fight to the death. Someone like Noya who's already dead... that's one scenario, of course, but there are other ways to avoid a fatal fight."
Seraphina said seriously:
"That's a chance encounter. If two dragons meet by chance outside their own territory and have no prior grudges, then it doesn't constitute a prerequisite for a deadly fight. Since they haven't entered each other's territory, it's not considered provocation, and they can naturally have simple contact and communication."
Ed seemed to remember something and suddenly realized:
"No wonder you've seen other dragons before and they're still alive, so that's how it is..."
Seraphina didn't shy away from this point; she nodded and continued:
"Yes, I did see a few dragons when I was handling some quests before the Demonic Tide, such as burning down granaries."
"I didn't take what they said seriously at the time, but now that I think about it, maybe there was some useful information in it."
Her golden eyes gazed at the ceiling, and after a moment's thought, she said:
"A dragon once told me about a very old Amber Dragon who roamed the northern border of the kingdom. He possessed countless rare treasures, including several of his own kind who coveted his treasures..."
"That dragon is called... the Ancient Shadow, Aeldra."
"Ancient times? How old is this dragon?"
Ed frowned, puzzled by the nickname "Amber Dragon".
"I don't know. Amber Dragon have a longer lifespan than ordinary dragons; they can live for a very, very long time if they want to..."
Willow pondered and said:
"Many titles have a basis in fact; for example, the term 'ancient times' represents at least ten thousand years of history."
Upon hearing this, everyone present fell silent.
Seraphina is 150 years old, Willow is 100 years old, Noya is 50 years old, Ed... well, let's not talk about that.
The combined ages of those four guys, regardless of whether they're alive or dead, might not even be a fraction of Amber Dragon's...
At this moment, Ed suddenly thought of a question:
" Seraphina, if the ' Immortal King ' of the Eternal Domain is indeed this Aeldra, then what is his approximate level of strength?"
Upon hearing this, the Dragon Girl showed a relieved expression:
"Don't worry, without special opportunities, an ordinary dragon can never reach the Transcendent Tier level even if it spends its entire life trying. As long as it hasn't reached the Transcendent Tier, I can have a go at it."
As soon as she finished speaking, she didn't see any relief on Ed's face. Ed gestured with his eyes towards Noya and asked sincerely:
"So, does the complete corpse of a Blue Dragon count as the 'opportunity' you're talking about?"
The dragon girl's smile suddenly froze. Yes, if the dragon race could absorb the power of other races, wouldn't that be an opportunity?
In addition, as that senior dragon once said, Aeldra seemed to have killed other Amber Dragon...
With his long lifespan, immense power, vast collection, and opportunities seemingly delivered to his doorstep, is this Immortal King truly still High Tier?
When this fact was revealed, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.
The reason is simple: whether before or after the Demonic Tide Demonic Tide, Transcendent Tier almost exclusively exist in legends.
Generally, only the progenitor or sole ruler of each race is qualified to be given the title of Transcendent Tier. Once these races split or evolve into multiple ethnic groups, the Transcendent Tier ceases to exist.
Thinking about this, Ed seemed to have discovered a blind spot, and he asked Seraphina:
"Besides the sole progenitor of the dragon race, have there been any other Transcendent Tier in the long history of the dragon race?"
Seraphina shook her head thoughtfully:
"As far as I know, there isn't, at least not in the Red Dragon lineage, otherwise there should be a record of it in my bloodline memories."
Noya shook her illusory head:
"It seems the Blue Dragon lineage doesn't have it either."
Ed then breathed a sigh of relief and said:
"If that's the case, there might be another possibility—since only the original Dragon King was Transcendent Tier, then all subsequent dragons would have to obtain the power of at least one other race if they wanted to become Transcendent Tier; otherwise, becoming Transcendent Tier would be too cheap."