Fertilizing

True dragons were creatures of extraordinary endurance. Their hearts appeared to have four atria, just like those of humans, but their heart muscles were developed beyond imagination. Rumor had it that even a stone placed inside one would be instantly crushed to powder by the force of its contractions.

At the same time, all the blood pumped from the heart passed through a peculiar gland called the Draconis Fundamentum. This organ could infuse the blood with activated magical elements, greatly enhancing a dragon's physical capabilities.

The three young dragon hatchlings ran for nearly two hours straight before finally stopping, slightly out of breath.

By now, the muddy, rocky hills had long since vanished from sight. As far as the eye could see stretched a vast, boundless plain. Long grass in shades of green rolled in the night wind like an endless sea of waves. Scattered trees rose from the ground, interspersed with low shrubs and thorn bushes.

Unknown insects chirped from their hiding places in the grass. The various noises mingled together, yet somehow inspired a sense of tranquility.

Sol had no idea how far he had run, but estimated it was somewhere between several dozen and a hundred kilometers.

Xisitana and Kalpu were not as physically strong as he was, and by now they couldn't help sticking out their tongues, looking exhausted.

"We... let's stop for a while! We should be safe here."

"That's right, I'm so hungry..."

A faint sense of unease still lingered in Sol's heart. He glanced back at his two stupid siblings, but had no intention of continuing to run.

After a brief rest, the three hatchlings began searching the surrounding area for prey under cover of night.

The unfamiliar surroundings made them afraid to take flight. After all, their red scales stood out even under the starlight.

Relying solely on smell, hearing, and sight to hunt greatly reduced their success rate. After spending a little over an hour, they had only caught two rabbits.

This time, Sol didn't keep them for himself. Instead, under Xisitana and Kalpu's astonished gazes, he divided the rabbit meat evenly into three portions.

After all, Mental Power Essence was unquestionably more important than this little bit of meat.

If he really let the two hatchlings go hungry all the time, not only would they be unable to maintain high spirits, but they might also hold him back if something unexpected happened.

After swallowing his portion of rabbit meat, skin, bones and all, Sol summoned the enormous wheel in his mind again and tapped lightly on the Dragonvein Crystal section.

His Mental Power Essence balance immediately dropped from 8.14 to 7.14, and an elongated crystal slightly smaller than a bottled water bottle appeared out of thin air.

That little bit of rabbit meat was no more than a snack to pass the time for Sol. This was his real staple food.

The active energy fluctuations from the crystal caught Xisitana and Kalpu's attention. They both turned their heads, and the moment their pale golden eyes fell on the Dragonvein Crystal, they became bloodshot and turned crimson.

"This is... a magic crystal! Where did you find it?!"

"Damn you, Sol! You secretly took the dragon mother's treasure behind our backs!"

As they spoke, the scales on both hatchlings bristled, and their backs arched high, as though they were ready to fight for it at the slightest disagreement.

Though they knew full well that even together they were no match for Sol, the greed flowing in their dragon blood had temporarily clouded their reason.

Sol glanced at the two idiots and bared his teeth in a savage grin.

He slammed the Dragonvein Crystal in his claw against a rock on the ground. With a crisp crack, it instantly shattered into fragments of varying sizes scattered across the ground.

"No!!!"

"How could you do that!!"

At the sight, Xisitana and Kalpu let out piercing screams.

True dragons were born with a magical ability called Appraise, which allowed them to instinctively estimate the value of precious metals, ores, handicrafts, and equipment.

The moment the unfamiliar magic crystal before them shattered, its value began to plummet.

Although it wasn't their own wealth, such a waste still made their hearts ache.

Immediately afterward, intense anger welled up in their hearts, turning into fury toward Sol.

As the two hatchlings lunged at him, Sol simply sprang lightly to the side, dodging their snapping jaws.

Then he reached out with a claw, caught Xisitana precisely by the hind leg, and swung her around, smashing her heavily into Kalpu.

In less than three seconds, the two hatchlings had gone from charging at him furiously to rolling around on the ground in a sorry heap.

Sol took his time picking up the fragments of Dragonvein Crystal from the ground. He stuffed the vast majority into his mouth, leaving only two pieces held between his claws, and said:

"If you kneel down and beg me, I'll be merciful and give each of you a piece."

Xisitana and Kalpu climbed to their feet and glared at Sol, refusing without a second thought:

"In your dreams!!"

"The dignity of a red dragon cannot be defiled!!"

Sol raised his eyelids slightly and said "Oh" in a playful tone before speaking again:

"Are you sure? Whoever kneels first gets the bigger piece."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than two muffled thuds sounded before him. As though pressed down by an invisible weight, the two hatchlings prostrated themselves flat on the ground.

Then they turned and glared fiercely at each other, shouting in unison:

"I knelt first! I should get the bigger piece!" x2.

Such shameless behavior made even Sol's mouth twitch.

But the two hatchlings couldn't be blamed for kneeling so quickly. After all, Sol had beaten them to the ground countless times before, and they were already used to it.

This left Sol in a bit of a quandary. He hadn't paid any attention to which hatchling had knelt first.

But it didn't matter! The final decision was his anyway. He raised a claw, pointed casually at Xisitana, and said:

"Xisitana was a little faster. It seems she respects me, her older brother, more, so she gets the bigger piece."

"Wait! That's not fair! I was clearly faster!"

Kalpu was obviously unhappy with the result and began shouting.

But Sol ignored him completely. He walked over to Xisitana, looked her in the eyes, and said:

"Now then, eat it!"

"Eat it? Eat what?"

Xisitana clearly froze for a moment. When she realized Sol was talking about the magic crystal, she couldn't help feeling stunned.

"This is my treasure! I don't want to eat it!"

"That's not up to you!"

Before she could react, Sol swiftly shoved a fragment of Dragonvein Crystal down her throat, then clamped her snout shut and kept shaking it up and down, leaving her unable to spit it out.

This was experience he had gained from feeding medicine to dogs in his previous life.

Although true dragons could temporarily store treasure in their stomachs and spit it back out unharmed after some time, hatchlings clearly hadn't mastered that skill yet.

Feeling the magic crystal slide down her throat and into her stomach, Xisitana immediately burst into tears of heartache and humiliation.

After dealing with his stupid little sister, Sol turned his gaze to Kalpu at the side and showed him a smile that, to him, looked incomparably savage.

"So, are you going to eat it yourself, or should I help you?"