Ashen Dragon

"True Dragon Sorcerer, Elemental Master, Bloodscaled Fury, Carved Skin Dragon... Carrying four advanced Occupations, I can surely be considered a Hexagonal Warrior among dragons."

Looking down at the mysterious rune shimmering on his scales, Cassius used his sturdy limbs to support his body and slowly stood up.

He spread his wings behind him; the edge of the wing membrane was connected to his body far below the hind legs and under the tail, showing a pale blue color like metal burning in fire.

Cassius's massive, majestic head rose high, with four giant horns sweeping backward, crowned by the glittering Supreme True Dragon Diadem.

His entire body was covered in red scales with a metallic lustre, complemented by intricate and exquisite runes, resembling a meticulously crafted armor, exuding a tremendous presence.

The spine and tail of the Red Dragon bore sharp scale-horns, his full mouth of sharp teeth comparable to the curved sabres used by mortals, and his robust tail resembled a siege hammer, truly a massive machine born for warfare.

After months of refining his blood, Cassius had elevated the purity of his Ancestral Dragon Blood by one level, almost indistinguishable from those Ancestral Dragon Bloodline bearers from ten thousand years ago.

During this period, he greedily absorbed the energy from Karyx's Body, and the entire Ashen Empire supported him with all their might, providing all kinds of precious metals and minerals.

Thus, this Red Dragon, in a fast developmental stage, ate like a gluttonous beast, his belly like a black hole devouring every food that entered his mouth.

And the results were evident—rapid growth, continuously breaking through racial boundaries.

Although still in the youthful dragon stage and not even at his first mating season, his body length had already reached a terrifying fifty meters.

This figure, even in the era of giant dragons ruling the earth tens of thousands of years ago, could be considered outstanding among his clan, and in this Third Era of dragonkin decline and isolation from the Gods, it was extremely rare.

If those Dragon Scholars knew about Cassius's real age and saw his exaggerated size, they would surely exclaim—Is this damn guy only eight years old?

Note that even among the True Dragons, where the Ancient Golden Dragons and Ancient Red Dragons are among the largest, their body lengths are only about thirty-six meters.

Moreover, only a few talented giant dragons, after undergoing thousands of years of accumulation, could become top-tier Ancient Dragons, as most giant dragons do not survive to the Ancient Dragon Stage due to physical decline or enemies' purges.

What kind of concept is a Red Dragon, only in his twenties, reaching fifty meters in length, among the dragonkin?

Among humanoid creatures, this is simply like a baby who is learning to talk and walk growing to three meters tall.

This is completely illogical!

By now, the Ashen Empire had become well-known across the whole Fianso Continent, and the most hotly debated topic is their Emperor—a fearsome Red Dragon.

And among the many research reports about the Ashen Empire's Emperor, even the most daring and rash scholars only estimate the Emperor's age to be around two hundred years old. Even then, his opinion was still doubted by many authoritative scholars.

If this number were changed to twenty years old, it would probably be mocked and heavily criticized by the Dragon Scholars.

Cassius casually picked up a meter-long Fire Elemental Crystal with his claw and tossed it into his mouth, as if eating a small snack.

Immediately, a crisp crunching sound emerged from his gaping maw, accompanied by the cracking of air and the crackling of flames burning.

Terrifying heat erupted from its mouth, causing wisps of blue smoke to emanate between the teeth of the Red Dragon, while most of the heat flowed down its throat into its body, transforming into nourishment for the Red Dragon's rampant growth.

Cassius chewed on the Crystal Stone while looking toward the South, his light golden pupils sparking with flames, revealing an unhideable booming ambition.

"Now, with the backing of the Empire, the strength of the Three Great Kingdoms has been weakened to the extreme, and the pieces placed in Victoria Port, High Mountain Kingdom, Serinia, and other places have been successively positioned. It is time for the Empire to step onto the stage of the Fianso Continent."

"Having lurked and developed for so long, I wonder now if I am capable of killing those true Divine Favored, and... incarnations of the Gods."

Cassius was not blindly confident; he now possesses the Ashen Empire, with advanced occupations including True Dragon Sorcerer, Bloodscaled Fury, Elemental Master, and Carved Skin Dragon.

Whether it is Spellcasting Ability, close combat melee ability, or wealth, Cassius surpasses those plain giant dragons and beings of the same status.

Compared to him, Magicians and Mages are exceedingly fragile, and warriors and Martial Monks appear particularly clumsy.

Previously, Cassius had a vulnerability of being prone to losing control and possible erosion by the Will of the Abyss. However, after obtaining the Demon Slayer and Steel Will feats, even his only weakness has been covered.

Now, defeating Cassius could only be managed by sheer suppression of strength, and it has become difficult to find any so-called "weakness."

He gazed at the panel in front of him, where among the dense data in his character profile, there was an inconspicuous line.

[Challenge Level: 30 (15500xp)]

Cassius's lips slightly curled upwards, revealing a fierce smile, his golden pupils reflecting the images of countless cities and regions.

"Lords of the Fianso Continent, prepare to welcome... the descent of the giant dragons."

...

In the southeastern part of the Wuge Prairie, the Bone Fertile Plains.

Here lies the widest river within High Mountain Kingdom—the outlet of Binder River.

The river's alluvial action had formed a vast expanse of open plains, making this a rare piece of fertile land on the otherwise barren Wuge Prairie.

Thus, the Bone Fertile Plains were fiercely contested by the Clans, with orcs leading thousands of large and small wars around the ownership of this plain, changing hands dozens of times.

Not until the Red Blood Tribe unified the Wuge Prairie, consolidating all orc clans around this land, did the struggle for the territory temporarily settle down.

The 'Bone' in its name is well understood; on one hand, every orcish dispute over territory resulted in mutual slaughter, leaving countless broken bodies.

On the other hand, each time orcs invaded the High Mountain Kingdom from the south, their bodies would fall into the river, countless orcish bones flowing downstream, eventually buried in the soil.

After each war, the blood of the orcs would dye the Binder River red, hence the orcs jokingly called it "Beast Blood River."

Now, after the grim Black Stone Mountain battle had ended, the blood of orcs once again dyed the river, even mingled with pollutants from explosions.

Under the leadership of Batu Skullcrush, the orcs nearly broke through Aivendel, coming incredibly close to their goal of thousands of years, yet ultimately, they fell just one step short.