In the Dragon Hall, at the entrance, Roland immediately noticed the change in Jared’s aura with just one glance. The elder’s pupils contracted for an instant before steadying again.
“Your Majesty, you ended seclusion so soon? And your realm… Within three days you shattered several minor boundaries and reached the peak of High Immortal Realm Level Three? Such speed is almost unheard of. Even the Dragon Emperor in his youth might not have matched it!”
Jared let a faint smile show. “Chief Roland flatters me. Without the Sky Dragon Lineage pouring resources on me, I could never have advanced this fast.”
Roland shook his head, words firm. “Resources matter, but talent and foundation decide everything… Hand the entire Draconian treasury to an ordinary cultivator and they still might not move a single step in three days. What happened here comes from Your Majesty’s own gift and deep fortune.”
They took their respective seats, the hierarchy clear between them. Jared dropped the formalities. His gaze locked on Roland as he asked, steady and direct, “Chief, the three Demon Dragons who hunted me were powerful and secretive. Who are they, and why do they want me dead?”
Roland’s features tightened. After a brief pause he said, “Since Your Majesty asks, I will speak without concealment.”
He drew a measured breath, as though dredging memories buried under centuries. “Ten thousand years ago, just before the ancient Dragon Emperor fell, he sensed a calamity approaching our race… To keep the flame seed alive, the Emperor ordered the Draconians to scatter across the Fourteenth Firmament, hide, and wait until the Dragon Sovereign Bloodline rose again…”
“Our Sky Dragon Lineage was one of the branches that went to ground under that decree. But not every heart stayed true… Some clansmen, greedy for strength, joined hands with the demons in secret. They poured their own draconian blood essence and flesh into the ritual, willingly drew in demonic aura, and cast aside every shred of Draconian honor. The result was a breed that is neither dragon nor demon, yet whose strength skyrocketed overnight…”
“Those clan-betraying turncoats who threw themselves at the demons are the Demon Dragons, the stain that shames every Draconian alive…” Roland’s gaze clouded, the gold in his pupils darkening as he spoke. “They turned their backs on the ancestors, abandoned the clan, and joined forces with the sworn enemy. For a full ten thousand years they have been our greatest disgrace, and the most savage threat we face.”
Jared listened in silence. His face held steady, yet the outline of the situation slotted neatly into place in his mind.
Roland went on, “Across those millennia the Demon Dragon Lineage kept growing in the shadows. They lured more defectors, bargained with demons, and their reach only spread… They hide in every dark corner of the Fourteenth Firmament, waiting for chances to chip away at the power held by the rightful Draconians…”
“Now that Your Majesty’s Dragon Sovereign Bloodline has appeared, they see both a mortal threat and a once-in-an-era opportunity… The threat lies in the Bloodline itself… With one call, you could rally every orthodox Draconian and smash their schemes completely…”
“The opportunity is the bloodline’s power. If they capture you and devour your Golden Dragon Bloodline alive, their own strength will multiply several times over, maybe even enough to shatter their current limits and reach a realm the late Emperor Deragon himself never touched.”
His voice landed like a hammer blow. “So, Your Majesty, the Demon Dragon Lineage will hunt you without restraint. They will spend whatever it takes to seize that sovereign blood. The road ahead will be perilous in the extreme.”
Jared tipped his head once, he had already reached that conclusion back when the Demon Dragons first came after him. His eyes stayed on Roland. “I understand… You of the Sky Dragon Lineage tracked me down and swore allegiance, what do you actually want from me? Speak plainly.”
Roland rose from his seat, crossed the short distance, and bent in another deep bow. “Your Majesty, I beg you… Lend us your strength. Help the Draconian might to the Fourteenth Firmament and reclaim the be that once belonged to our race!”
