Haoyuan looked at his status panel. Seeing his lifespan of 120,000,000 years and his massive size, which had suddenly expanded to 360 meters, he knew that his Life Tier had indeed underwent a leap.
Taking in his current surroundings—right inside the volcanic magma—he suddenly understood everything.
That day, after being knocked into the magma by the colossal creature in the sky, he must have drifted along with the subterranean molten flow until he ended up in this crater.
That was why he had appeared here after waking from his slumber.
“My scales are completely intact, my energy is boundlessly vibrant, and all my conditions have reached their peak... Holy crap, such severe injuries were healed just by sleeping, and I even completed what looks like two Life Tier leaps!”
Haoyuan was thoroughly astonished. To wake up from a nap and find his Life Tier leap twice—now having reached the fourth Life Tier—made the appearance of that humanoid creature outside entirely logical.
“It seems I've slept for a very long time...”
He pondered briefly.
The 120,000,000 years was his operational lifespan for terrestrial activity while awake, excluding sleep; theoretically, he could slumber indefinitely.
His body size had also doubled during the Life Tier evolution process, but it had not reached the upper limit for his current Life Tier. In other words, he still had immense room for growth.
Haoyuan's eyes suddenly widened. “Doesn't that make me invincible now?”
Gaining such a massive boost just by taking a sleep made him want to just lie back and relax.
However, this planet wasn't Earth, after all. With so many unknown giant beasts lurking around, trying to relax completely still felt a bit too risky.
After checking his lifespan and body size, he intended to glance casually at his Divine Abilities and Evolutionary Paths. But then he suddenly caught sight of the first name in the first column of Divine Abilities, and the dragon was utterly stunned.
“White Flame?”
“When did I evolve this Divine Ability? How do I have no memory of this?”
Haoyuan recalled that the fire-based Divine Ability he had evolved was only Fire Line; there had never been any mention of White Flame.
He focused his attention on the entry for White Flame in the Divine Abilities section, staring at it for a long time before finally understanding.
It turned out that White Flame was an evolution of Fire Line—a Divine Ability brought about through adaptive evolution while he slumbered inside the volcano.
Simply put, after absorbing the power of the magma, his body had undergone a quiet transformation, enhancing the properties of his flame.
“A special flame? Interesting...”
He thought for a moment, lifted a clawed finger, and a tiny cluster of white flame flickered to life at his tip.
When he brought the flame near the adjacent cliff wall, the volcanic rock instantly glowed red and melted, sending a thin wisp of scorching black smoke curling into the air.
“I see. The temperature is extremely high, far exceeding what it used to be. I wonder if it has any other properties...”
He snuffed out the flame and cast a final glance over the panel. Seeing nothing else new, he dismissed the display.
Among his current Divine Abilities, the fire ability was now his strongest due to its altered properties, followed by Icy Mist, thunder, and the rest.
Having roughly grasped his situation, he turned his gaze toward the young girl lying near the fracture.
“Humans have already appeared? Time sure flies...”
He couldn't help but shake his head in emotion as scenes from his past resurfaced before his eyes, only for him to push them back down.
“Since humans have already appeared, roughly sixty million years must have passed... I wonder what it's like outside now...”
He pondered for a moment, then cast his gaze toward the red creature outside the cave that was beginning to stir. Frowning slightly, he summoned Wind Grace to scoop up the young girl and flew toward the volcanic crater.
His massive body slithered in sinuous coils, scraping against the stone walls and setting the magma sloshing as he slowly swam out of the volcano.
Outside, the open world lay broad and clear before him, swept by gentle breezes under drifting clouds and bright sunlight.
Haoyuan comfortably enjoyed the breeze for a moment. Wrapping his long dragon whiskers around the young girl, he turned her over to examine her carefully. She was unmistakably human, albeit somewhat malnourished.
After so many years, he had nearly forgotten the fine details of human limbs, but looking closely now brought back his memories.
Only then did the noisy heap of creatures down below finally show signs of movement, beginning to stir awake.
Clinging to the lip of the crater, he slowly slithered down along the volcanic cliff face.
His scales did not actually touch the stone; he was swimming downward through the air, but the movement was so nimble and fluid that it looked like sliding.
When Si He opened her eyes, she was greeted by the sight of an immensely wide white wall slowly moving before her. Looking closely, she saw that it was covered in white scales, and beyond it lay the massive, towering body of the Dragon God. The part gliding right in front of her was his neck.
Startled, she realized she was suspended in midair. Looking around, she saw that the Dragon God's long dragon whisker was wrapped around her waist, holding her aloft in the sky.
The discovery sent a wave of terror through her. At such a height, if the Dragon God slipped his grip and she fell, she would be killed or horribly crippled.
“Why would Lord Dragon God wrap his whisker around me?” She did not understand.
Dangling in the air like a kite and fearing to disturb the Dragon God, she carefully turned her body with the smallest, slowest movements possible, striving to look in the direction he was slithering.
The long, swaying whisker gradually came into view, followed by towering, majestic dragon horns, a magnificent mane of frost-white hair, a forehead lined with glossy, delicate scales, and finally, his grand, awe-inspiring face slowly revealing itself.
An ancient, primordial aura washed over her.
Si He swallowed hard.
She continued looking downward.
There, the scene at the base of the volcano unfolded: creatures were waking up one after another, gradually showing signs of life as they twitched their limbs.
Dead memories rushed back to haunt Si He.
The image of the Dragon God opening his eyes immediately flashed before her, and her entire mind and body recalled the crushing pressure and despair of that moment. An indescribable fear pierced her soul, making her body tremble uncontrollably.
This Lord Dragon God was simply far too terrifying...
Even though Si He's movements were extremely faint, Haoyuan could feel that she was awake through the tactile sensation of his dragon whisker.
Truth be told, human bodies were so soft and fragile that he could only use the very tip of his whisker to lightly secure the tiny creature, terrified that applying even a fraction more pressure would crush her to death.
Although killing her wouldn't matter much, there was still plenty of information he needed to gather.
For instance, the red creature before him whose appearance and form bore a striking resemblance to a dragon.
“Did true dragons evolve in this world? That doesn't fit biological evolution at all...”
He had a belly full of questions needing answers.
Conveniently, the Red Dragon right in front of him was waking up.
The Red Dragon was the earliest to regain consciousness among the fallen creatures—or rather, it had never gone to sleep at all, but had merely lost control of its body until its mind and spirit finally recovered after a long while.
If mental strain could be visualized, then during the brief span of less than two seconds between the Dragon God opening his eyes and drawing back his gaze, the Red Dragon's spirit had been drenched in cold sweat, enduring agonizing torment as though scrutinized by a horrific supreme entity that shrank its very soul smaller and smaller, on the verge of fading into nonexistence...
Fortunately, the Dragon God had retracted his gaze. Though its mind was exhausted and bathed in sweat, it had managed to slowly recover.
Yet no sooner had sensation returned to its body than the Dragon God's majestic, colossal dragon head began slowly slithering down from the volcano above. Those golden-glowing eyes locked onto it like a predator staring down its prey, and his immense body cast a terrifying, unrivaled pressure down from above, making the Red Dragon's scalp go numb and its whole body freeze in tension.
Rate on N.U.
