The Third Biological Template

As the young dragons around him left one after another, Sol began thinking about what to do next.

He would probably have to stay in this area for quite a long time. Once he reached the juvenile stage or the adolescent stage, he would be forcibly conscripted to fight other races to the death, all to expand that damned blue dragon's territory.

To make the days ahead more comfortable, the first thing he needed to do was find a place to build a suitable lair.

Sol looked at the raised section of the Gobi beneath his feet and thought it was quite a good spot. It was high enough, with an unobstructed view, and its rusty red color suited a red dragon's tastes.

He called the two wyrmlings over and patrolled back and forth along the Gobi's exposed face. Before long, he found a suitable spot and immediately raised his claws and started digging.

A true dragon's claws were sharp and hard. Even at the juvenile stage, they were already comparable to +1 magic weapons.

There were no hard rocks in this raised section of the Gobi, only dry, tough clay that was effortless to dig through.

Soon, all three wyrmlings had burrowed completely into the Gobi. From outside, only their three tails could be seen swaying back and forth.

Sol planned to dig out a dwelling like the cave homes on the Loess Plateau in his previous life. Such a structure was not only simple and easy to build, but also spacious enough to accommodate his rapidly growing body.

The three wyrmlings worked from noon until the sun rose the next day before finally digging out a huge cave dwelling four meters wide, six meters deep, and nearly three meters high.

For Sol, who was sixteen feet long, that was more than enough space to live in temporarily.

If they kept digging, even with the Gobi made entirely of stable clay, there would inevitably be a risk of collapse.

Sol surveyed his new home with satisfaction, then swung his tail and sent Xisitana and Kalpu flying out.

They had crowded into the same cave before because circumstances had left them no choice, and so they could react as quickly as possible if danger struck.

Now that their basic safety was assured, why would he want to share a cave with those two idiots again?

The sudden move left Xisitana and Kalpu stunned. Only after they had tumbled all the way out of the cave did they realize what had happened, and they immediately flew into a rage.

"Damn you, are you trying to keep the cave all to yourself?"

"We helped dig this cave too! Two-thirds of it should be ours. You can't do this!"

Sol held his head high and looked at his two cheap blood relatives with disdain, growling.

"It is your honor to serve your great elder brother. Don't tell me you expect payment too?"

Hearing this, Xisitana and Kalpu ground their fangs together, and in their extreme fury, became very angry for a moment.

It was in evil dragons' nature to bully the weak. Who could they blame for being too weak? They could only slink off to find another spot nearby and dig their own lairs.

Even so, they did not dare stray too far from Sol.

Those Blue Dragons, Black Dragons, and Green Dragons were no good. Without Sol backing them up, with bodies a whole age category smaller, they would probably be at the others' mercy.

"Bastard! Once I've grown up, I'll make him my lowest slave and order him around, whipping him from behind every day!

"Kalpu, get over here! It's time to show your loyalty to your great elder sister. Dig me a cave bigger than Sol's!"

"Dream on, idiot. You should be digging one for me!"

"Damn you! Are you asking for a beating?"

"Who's afraid of you? Try it if you dare!"

Ignoring the two idiots quarreling and scuffling nearby, Sol settled comfortably into the freshly dug cave and focused his mind on the enormous wheel in his head.

With the "contributions" of those twenty-odd young dragons, he was finally on his way to becoming wealthy. He immediately exchanged some essence for a Dragonvein Crystal, took out a piece of Coal, and happily gnawed on them.

In just over an hour, he gained five points of essence. In the past, that would have been beyond his wildest dreams.

Once he was truly wealthy, he would eat one Dragonvein Crystal and throw another away. He would pile them all up in his lair and create a fantasy version of the Land of Dragon Crystal.

Dreaming of that wonderful future, Sol glanced at his essence balance beneath the wheel. Seeing that he still had more than ten points, he began considering how to use them.

Should he keep saving until he had enough for a draw from the low-level monster template wheel?

Or should he draw another environmental creature to further boost his current strength?

After a brief consideration, he decided that a bird in the hand was worth ten in the bush.

Those young dragons certainly would not let the matter rest and would most likely come looking for trouble before long. It was safer to increase his strength first.

His mind made up, he immediately sent ten points of essence into the second wheel, where they turned into starlight. Neon-like points of light flashed before finally stopping on a square bearing a simple drawing of a bat.

Congratulations, you have obtained the [Scale Bat Biological Template]. Withdraw it now? Yes / No.

Sol recalled what he knew about the creature. As its name suggested, it was a bat covered in scales.

It was not a mammal, however, but was classified as a small flying dragon.

He glanced at the compatibility rating below and found that it was as high as 76%.

Come to think of it, all three Creature Templates he had drawn had extremely high compatibility. Was he simply lucky, or did the bloodline of true dragons inherently have such a strong capacity for compatibility?

After all, even true dragons such as red dragons and silver dragons, whose alignments were opposed and whose attributes were completely opposite, could interbreed and produce offspring.

Not to mention all the assorted dragon beasts and subspecies. New varieties appeared almost every year, and they were practically too numerous to count.

If it really was because his bloodline was highly compatible, or rather highly aggressive, then that was good news for him.

That way, he would not have to worry about drawing a powerful Creature Template in the future, only to be unable to load it because its compatibility with him was too low.

As he pondered this, Sol mentally chose to withdraw it immediately.

A ball of light that seemed to contain the essence of a Scale Bat appeared in the air and slammed into his mind.

A familiar warmth began to surge through his body, and a multitude of pale blue notifications appeared before his eyes once more.

[Scale Bat Biological Template successfully fused. Abilities such as sharp fangs and claws, tough scales... are of a much lower version than those of your body and have been converted into pure life force.]

[Echolocation retained]

[Aerobatic flight retained]

Among all flying creatures, bats' flying abilities were at the very top.

Thanks to their unique wing structure, they could perform difficult maneuvers such as complex dives, hovering, vertical ascents and descents, and even flying backward.

Soon, Sol felt the broad wings on his back begin to heat up. The wing bones supporting their membranes gradually stretched and lengthened, gaining more joints and becoming increasingly complex.

The ears on either side of his head also buzzed, and two outer ears resembling little wings gradually grew around his previously bare ear openings.