If they weren't happy with how slow and inefficient they were in air battles, then the dragons could even transform into human form and sacrifice Strength and Physique to significantly increase their Agility and Spirit. Dragons in their human forms were even more challenging to deal with and even more of a terror, especially when they started using their dragon breath and equipped magical weapons.
Any human adept would be terrified if they were to go against an opponent like this. They could hardly perform at their very best.
After all, adepts and dragons of the same grade couldn't be compared in the food chain!
Chapter 602 Clan Welfare
The Crimson adepts led by Greem had perfectly witnessed the battle from the side.
They had seen the massive body of the Third Grade dragon. They saw its powerful and thick dragon breath. They saw her transform into a human and slaughter with her lithe figure. All the Crimson adepts felt their hearts tense up as they watched the events unfold.
Fortunately, Gazlowe wasn't weak either. Moreover, this was his home ground. He had managed to repel the fire dragon's attacks and drove her away into the depths of Stonetalon Mountains.
It seemed like the female fire dragon had now established hostilities with the metal fortress. She wouldn't be leaving Stonetalon Mountains in the short term. Similar battles would also continuously happen. Given that case, it would become a lot more dangerous for the Crimson adepts to continue activities near the metal fortress.
After all, First Grade adepts would simply be exterminated if they ran into the fire dragon in the wild. They won't even be able to keep their lives if they didn't have some special tricks up their sleeves. On the other hand, of the few Second Grade adepts in the clan, Mary would be able to escape without a scratch with her exceptional Agility. Greem, on the other hand, would also barely be able to survive if he paid a certain price. Only Dragonborn Zacha would have no different fate than death if he ran into the fire dragon.
Even though there was also Second Grade Dragon Devourer Oliven hidden inside the fortress, it wasn't practical to count on her to defeat the dragon. She might have a high chance of ambushing and killing a Second Grade dragon, but it was still quite impossible for her to attempt to attack a fire dragon, who were known for their powerful combat abilities. Especially one that was Third Grade.
If she failed to kill Philippa, then the fire dragon would spread news of the existence of the dragon devourer. The ordinarily lazy and selfish dragons would then immediately gather together and come to raid Greem's metal fortress. When that happened, they could only run but not hide. The metal fortress might have insanely powerful defensive capabilities, but how many dragons could it fend off?
Disregarding everything else, just the five Third Grade dragons alone would cause the massive energy of the magic energy furnace to run out slowly. They would no longer be able to amass large amounts of magic energy as they were currently doing.
The dragons would only need to be slightly smarter to make it past the metal fortress. They could merely take turns and bait the metal fortress into constantly firing those powerful waves of cannon shots. The metal fortress couldn't possibly support such extended periods of firepower with its current magic energy reserves.
Without the support of the massive surge of magic energy, the metal fortress was no more than a large lump of metal. The walls of the metal fortress couldn't handle the powerful dragon breaths and sharp claws of the dragons, regardless of how tough they were.
That was why the Crimson Clan were still unable to excavate Lance on a larger scale with their own name, even now. All operations had to be hidden within the metal fortress to avoid attracting fearsome enemies that they couldn't deal with.
The Crimson Clan was like a ferocious beast that had hidden their fangs and claws. They didn't dare show their ferocious side to the world. Greem hesitated several times in the face of this powerful fire dragon lord. In the end, he could only choose to allow her to continue her rampage.
He had no choice. The Crimson Clan didn't have absolute certainty in killing the female fire dragon with its current power, even with the full cooperation of Dragon Devourer Oliven. To avoid startling the enemy, Gazlowe controlled the metal fortress and made it seem as if it only had the power to defend themselves, without the capacity to launch any offensive strikes. It was to trick that arrogant and wild fire dragon.
The auction that had been held in Fire Throne earlier might have ended on a sour note due to Adept Sanazar's actions, but the name of the Crimson Clan had still spread far and wide. The dragonborn and dragon that Greem sold away already had the coordinates of Lance wiped from their minds. They would not result in any potential negative influences on his attempt to conquer Lance alone.
The Crimson Clan also took this opportunity to turn some of the resources they had robbed from the Goblin Plane and Lance into more practical magical crystals. For the first time, the usually thrifty Greem felt like he was rich.
In all honesty, Greem had held his breath for a very long time when he saw the mountain of two million magical crystals pour out of his spatial ring. The magnificent and shining scene stunned even him.
That was actually a pretty decent reaction.
After all, he had seen an even more massive mountain of magical crystal back in the Tower of Fate. Moreover, that place had been a closed environment that gave birth to nature spirits.
However, the other Crimson adepts all turned into idiots with magical crystals for eyes. They rushed up to the magical crystals, touching the jewels, caressing them and laughing madly. The only thing they had yet to do was start rolling in all that wealth. That precious baby girl of Gargamel and Eva even dived right into the magical crystal mountain and couldn't be dragged out of it when Eva pulled on her ankles.
However, Greem could see what was happening. The little girl known as Emelia was furiously stuffing the magical crystals in her mouth and feasting without stop. That crunching sound…
Greem was utterly speechless at the sight of this.
Magical crystals might not be as durable as magical equipment, but they were not something that ordinary mortals could simply break.
Yet, they had been chewed and crunched by a six-year-old girl as if they were little candies. There was no way Greem could get past that strange and bizarre scene. The girl was most definitely not human. She might look no different from a human girl, but her behavior and actions were very similar to that of a magical creature.
Human adepts usually held the magical crystals in their hands and slowly absorbed them. Only powerful magical creatures would absorb the pure energy within the magical crystals through direct consumption.
After all, humans were not magical creatures. They needed a gentler and slower way to absorb this energy to weaken the impact and magic-infusion effects from the foreign magic energy. These magical creatures were also closer to the plane origin and had stronger bodies than humans. Consequently, they had a far higher tolerance for magic compared to humans.
Emelia's behavior was solid proof of the nature of her soul– a magical creature.
Maybe because they had already accepted this reality, Gargamel and Eva didn't seem to be fazed by Emelia's actions at all. In fact, they pampered her and showered her with just as much love as before. Greem couldn't help but be rendered speechless by this. Still, the growth potential of Emelia was shocking. It had only been a short time since he had last seen her, yet Greem could tell that her Spirit had improved considerably.
Given the rate at which she was improving, the Crimson Clan could look forward to the addition of a new adept in a few more years.
For a few more days, the Crimson Clan continued to recruit wandering adepts to maintain the day-to-day functions of Fire Throne. The tower was being managed and guarded by Gargamel and Eva. The addition of Charon the manticore, Unguja the three-headed demonhound, and fifty new magical machines ensured the safety of the tower.
This way, the Crimson adepts would be fr
eed up from their duties and could be placed in Lance and the Goblin Plane to expand the clan's assets in these locations further.
First Grade adepts mostly stayed within the Goblin Plane. On the one hand, they could intimidate the goblin royalty, and on the other, they could trade with the goblin merchant groups from all across the continent.
The adepts could provide them with magical items and all sorts of mysterious products that were not available in the Goblin Plane. Though these items would experience slight magic loss in the Goblin Plane and have their effects reduced, they could still function to some extent.
Meanwhile, the goblins could provide all sorts of strange metals and common metallic ores that the goblins used. They could also trade with unusual plants and animals found on the Goblin Plane.
The rate of exchange was fairly casual due to the lack of a common currency as a point of reference. For example, the blood sacks and blood crystals that the adepts brought back from the World of Adepts were hailed as amazing products that could save lives due to their ability to infuse a lifeform with large amounts of blood energy instantly.
Every single blood sack could be traded for several kilograms of special metals, or even a hundred tons of ordinary metal ores. Every high-quality blood crystal could be traded for several dozens and even a hundred ogres. These rare resources could be exchanged for over a thousand magical crystals for the Crimson Clan if brought back to the World of Adepts. These one thousand magical crystals could then be used to purchase even more cheap blood sacks and blood crystals.
As long as the core of the planar trades remained in the hands of the Crimson Clan, a large amount of magical crystal would flow endlessly into the wallets of the adepts. That was why being stationed in another plane could cause the stationed adepts to become wealthy while being a boring and dull task at the same time.
The Crimson Clan had even specifically pushed out a life-extending potion within the Goblin Empire with the help of Goblin Sage Snorlax and Goblin God of War Tigule. This potion immediately caused a massive commotion within the Empire.
The Life Extension Potion was only an intermediate potion in the World of Adepts. Any potions master could easily concoct this potion. Its main ingredient was a strange plant that came from the elves– the Fruit of Nature.
This Life Extension Potion could only extend one's natural lifespan by three to six years. Moreover, it couldn't be consumed repeatedly. As such, it wasn't a cost-effective product and wasn't viewed too importantly by the adepts. Even in the World of Adepts, this potion only had a market amongst the social circles of the more impoverished local nobles.
However, in the Goblin Plane, these 'cheap' Life Extension Potions had become miracle potions fought over by all the goblin nobles. The price had increased to a height that rendered even the adepts speechless.
It was bound to happen. Most human adepts in the World of Adepts already lived for two to three hundred years. Another three to five years were of no significance to them. However, the goblins of the Goblin Plane usually only lived for fifty to sixty years. That was less than half of a human's lifespan.
The cost-effectiveness of five years of lifespan was naturally much higher under such circumstances.
In particular, the leaders of those large merchant groups and corporations all over the Goblin Plane were all dying old men. If one told them at this moment that they could live for another five years, and that they would be as strong and spirited as they were in their younger years…
Pray tell, which powerful goblin could resist such intense temptation?
That was why the Life Extension Potion instantly created massive waves in the Goblin Plane upon being introduced!
Chapter 603 Dalka's Troubles
Dalka had been feeling a little uneasy the past few days.
As the dragonborn servant of the young Frost Dragon Aruntini, his most important duty was to properly look over his master's lands while his master slept. Over the past three hundred years, Dalka had done a good job. An exceptional job, even. His dragon lord had often praised him for his performance.
Yet today, this dutiful Second Grade dragonborn felt extremely troubled.
What troubled him was some big commotion that had happened in the Stonetalon Mountains several thousands of kilometers away from here. Wind Dragon Lord Cherkes had also disappeared mysteriously. A foreign magical machine army had now taken place within his lands.
The reason these enemies were called an army instead of a tribe was that they were not lifeforms. They were no more than magical golem machines being controlled by another group of people. However, one could tell from the way the machines fought that a powerful commander stood behind them. This commander was able to control every single individual machine as if it was their own body.
Dalka had heard plenty of rumors. Most of them described these magical machines as metallic lifeforms that were able to continuously grow in numbers by devouring the metal ore veins beneath Stonetalon Mountains. Of course, there were also some rumors that described the enemy as otherworldly intruders, with the metal golems as no more than their external forces.
Dalka's limited brain capacity had slowed after listening to too many of such similar rumors. He hesitated countless times, but could never muster the courage to run to Dragon Lord Aruntini's quarters and wake the dragon up.
Firstly, everything he had heard was only a rumor.
Waking the frost dragon lord simply because of such unverified rumors would not end well for him.
Secondly, Dalka had no actual proof that the metal monsters would invade the frost dragon's territory.
The dragons all took up their territories and didn't care about the affairs that happened in the lands of other dragons. Dragon Lord Aruntini wouldn't even bat an eyelash if the metal monsters completely ravaged Wind Dragon Cherkes' territory. In fact, Aruntini would smile and wait for the next dragon gathering to make fun of Cherkes.
As long as the metal monsters stayed within Stonetalon Mountains, Wind Dragon Cherkes would be the only one affected. What did that have to do with them? If Wind Dragon Cherkes had the ability to do so, he could summon his friends or go back to his family and call for help from his seniors.
If he couldn't even gather allies, then he deserved to be a lower dragon that was the first to lose his territories to a bunch of otherworldly invaders. When that happened, he would be the subject of mockery of all dragons at the dragon gatherings.
If Frost Dragon Aruntini could defeat the metal monsters and take back the lands that Cherkes lost, then all that land would belong to the frost dragon.
However, given the usual laziness and slow pace of the dragons, one would probably have to wait until Aruntini had enjoyed enough sleep and after Aruntini ate a good meal for anything to happen. It was only then that Aruntini would be in the mood and have the time to deal with these insignificant matters. Before that happened, any interruption to the frost dragon's sweet dreams would invite her fury and rage.
The fury of a Second Grade frost dragon lord was extremely fearsome.
At the very least, the several dozens of lifelike ice statues at the doors of Aruntini's bedroom were the best evidence of this. They were not the painstaking efforts of craftsmen, but living beings who had been sealed in ice after enraging the frost dragon.
Of course, included amongst them were Dalka's predecessor, his predecessor, and the predecessor of that predecessor.
Without exception, the one foolish act they had committed was to wake the dragon lord when they shouldn't have.
Second Grade Frost Dragon Aruntini's quarters were located upon a towering peak.
Pristine white snow had been cut and laid together to form a brilliant and shining palace. The cold and dry air of these heights flowed and swirled around the plaza in front of the palace, occasionally letting out sharp and scary whistles as they blew across the mountains.
White clouds floated at the waist of the mountain, preventing all mortals from looking upon the frost dra
gon's palace and sating their curiosity. There were only a few days in a year where the violent winds at this high altitude would tear apart the clouds. The bright sunlight would then shine upon the towering peak. The bright golden walls of the frost dragon's palace would temporarily appear before everyone's eyes, allowing them to marvel at its magnificence.
Most of the time, the frost dragon's palace was hidden within dense mist and ice crystals. It was constantly protected by as many as a hundred ice dragonborn. The other dragonborn warriors and scouts were sent to various areas of the frost dragon's lands to requisition food, collect taxes, or to recruit soldiers.
Plenty of resources were transported to this place every year. They became the private wealth of the dragon lord. The dragonborn, on the other hand, were the personal slaves and warriors of the dragon lords, as well as the defenders of their wealth.
The two tall dragonborn warriors standing before the gates of the palace held frost longswords in their hands. They had frostbows on their backs and stood straight with their muscular bodies and thick limbs. They opened their four pure white dragon eyes, two big and two small, and continually surveyed the surrounding forest of mountains. However, they never dared to set their eyes upon their dragonborn leader, Second Grade Dalka, who had been circling in front of the door for half the day.
It had been so long since Dalka arrived, yet he didn't dare take a single step into the ice palace. That was proof os his hesitation and anxiety. However, despite their sympathy for their leader, the two dragonborn warriors didn't dare step forward to offer any consolation or advice. They kept their eyes straight and looked ahead.
Their duty was to protect. No outsiders were to interrupt the sleep of their frost dragon lord. They had no obligation to wake her up. The only one upon the mountain that had the authority to enter the ice palace was Dragonborn Leader Dalka.
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