Chapter 11: The Hidden Dragon
"It is said that the Steel Dragon is tied up at the Vanguard Fortress and cannot get away. He originally wanted to visit you in person, but now he can only send a message through someone."
Before leaving, Nostradamus's final voice echoed in the reception hall: "To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that this Dragon God went to the World Star River and the Abyss not long ago to suppress quite a bit of Chaos, I would have thought he was severely injured during the civil war with the Five-Colored Dragon God and hasn't recovered yet."
When he said this, the old mage's tone was somewhat teasing: "For a deity to be this low-key is rare among mortals."
"And this extremely low-key Dragon God wants to see me—specifically me, the 'Soulflame King'?"
Hearing this, Joshua couldn't help but blink, but by then Nostradamus had already teleported away, leaving the warrior's puzzled question unanswered.
Meanwhile, at the entrance of the reception hall, Ying, who had just brought in hot tea, poked her head in with a puzzled expression. She first glanced enviously at Number 3 sitting on the warrior's shoulder, then asked softly, "Master, has Master Nostradamus already left?"
"Yes."
Joshua frowned slightly. He stood up from his chair and said in a low voice, "And I don't know if it was intentional, but he deliberately saved a big piece of news for last."
The Metal Dragon God... and the Soulflame King?
What connection is there between the two?
To be honest, the identity of the Soulflame King wasn't exactly a secret. Anyone who knew about the Sage and understood that Joshua was his successor was generally aware of this fact.
As for the 'Soulflamer' itself, it wasn't anything particularly special. Many talents, abilities, or even items, once possessed, could allow their holder to step into the realm of a Soulflamer. Regardless of the method, as long as it involved collecting souls, burning one's own or others' souls to gain some kind of power or benefit, it fell within the domain of Soulflamers.
Joshua's Glory Force, 'Soul Abyss,' was a standard 'Soulflamer' ability. It could enhance the holder's physical constitution and energy intensity by collecting the soul fragments of defeated enemies. Similarly, the undead treasure 'Thousand Soul Pearl' had a similar function and was classified as a 'Soulflame' type treasure.
However, the 'Soulflame King' was different. Although it was also categorized under the 'Soulflame' system of abilities, the authority of the Soulflame King, which stood at the pinnacle of this series, represented only one thing.
That was the power to create a brand new 'Order of Existence' by burning Chaos, souls, or even another Order!
Precisely because he had held and used this power several times, Joshua knew that this ability—capable of creating new Order, reviving the world with existence, reshaping ecosystems, and restoring all things in heaven and earth to perfection—was a supreme authority that even the Steel Serpent could not possess. It was the power that all worlds longed to be born, the divine domain within divine domains.
Joshua had inherited this authority from the Azure Orb, the Third Saint, and the Sage. Even now, he had not fully analyzed the essence of this authority.
"Interesting. The Metal Dragon King clearly knew long ago that I possess the power of the Soulflame King, yet only now does he want to meet me, and he specifically pointed this out."
He picked up a cup of tea shimmering with magical light from the tray Ying held, drank it in one gulp, and placed the empty cup back, ignoring the silver-haired girl's regretful expression. Joshua initially wanted to fall into deep thought, but due to his high mental deviation value—useless even with Number 3's assistance—he skillfully gave up on thinking.
"Whatever. When I go to the Vanguard Fortress later, I'll just ask him directly."
Regardless, the Steel Dragon was inclined toward cooperation, belonging to the gentle side of Order. Joshua figured that if he asked, the Dragon God would be willing to give him an answer.
"Master, are you going out again?"
Holding the tray and seeing the look in Joshua's eyes, Ying couldn't help but sigh softly: "You're still so badly injured, and you haven't rested at home for even a few days, yet you're already going back to work..."
"It's not really work, just going out for a stroll."
Joshua smiled and reached out to pat the silver-haired girl's head. He said rather casually, "These past few days, I've been at home developing games, playing with you all, and going for rides. That's been enough time. If I don't move around a bit, my body will rust."
"Even though my deviation value is still high, as long as 'Continent of Strife' is still running, my mental state won't deteriorate... Ying, remember to play this game with Lin, Hei, Xiao Guang, and everyone else in the Lord's Manor. Although the power gained from it isn't much, and the skills are just remnants of failed civilizations, as long as you draw analogies, you'll definitely gain something..."
"Joshua, your mental deviation value has increased again!"
Just as Ying was feeling uneasy, wondering why her master had suddenly become so warm and considerate, Number 3, sitting on Joshua's shoulder, suddenly opened her eyes wide. She said in a low voice, "Stabilize yourself!"
As she spoke, silver data streams flickered around Joshua, and his condition steadied. He blinked, smiled slightly, and without another word, turned and dissolved into countless particles of light, vanishing from the Lord's Manor.
Ying remained in the reception hall, watching the spot where Joshua had left with considerable worry.
"With the master in this state, can he really have a proper conversation?" The silver-haired girl shook her head and opened the door to leave the reception hall. "Come to think of it, yesterday when he was eating fruit, he ate the basket too..."
Leaving the worried silver-haired girl behind, Joshua, maintaining his connection with Number 3 and the Magic Net's main server, appeared in the Void.
Silver mist coalesced around a point like a snowflake of steel crystals, finally forming a man's body in midair. Joshua strode forward through the Void, heading toward the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground.
"Joshua, what exactly is this 'Metal Dragon God'?"
In the Void, Number 3 asked Joshua with some curiosity. Clearly, even though the artificial intelligence girl had collected all the information in the world, she had found very few meaningful clues. Joshua, on the other hand, seemed somewhat familiar with this mysterious Dragon God.
"The Metal Dragon God, as the name suggests, is the god of the Metal Dragons. 'Steel Dragon' is his title, and his divine name in the Dragon Tongue also carries the meaning of 'Loving Father, Loving Mother.'"
Since he was about to meet the Dragon God soon, Joshua didn't mind explaining a bit about this deity to Number 3. Besides, with his severe mental deviation value, he needed to concentrate on recalling memories to stay stable.
In both his past and present lives, compared to the extremely active Five-Colored Dragon clan—who even became the major antagonist of an era—the Metal Dragons were remarkably low-key. Apart from some Dragon Lords in the Far South and Western Mountain regions, very few wandering Metal Dragons could be seen across the world. Most of them lived in the secluded Far Sea Dragon Islands or on the reclusive edges of the world, making them extremely low-profile, the complete opposite of the arrogant Five-Colored Dragon clan.
These two types of Astral Dragons weren't just opposite in temperament. Their decisions, views on the world, future paths, and beliefs were entirely different, even contradictory. The Five-Colored Dragons had always wanted to replace humanity's dominant position in the Mycroft World, while the Metal Dragons couldn't care less. They only wanted to live quietly like metal, not disturbing anyone and not being disturbed by anyone.
Before the Mad Dragon Plague in his past life, it was said that the Five-Colored Dragons and Metal Dragons had fought a civil war. Although their high-end combat strength wasn't much different, lacking support from the Abyss and having a smaller population than the Five-Colored Dragons, the Metal Dragons were steadily losing ground. Under pressure, they even had no chance to inform humanity of the Five-Colored Dragons' conspiracy. After the Mad Dragon Plague, a wave of hostility toward dragons swept across the entire Mycroft Continent. Many mixed-blood Dragonmen and Dragonborn were driven out or even killed as scapegoats for venting anger. Naturally, the Metal Dragons had to stay far away and remain invisible.
Although they were unlucky in his past life and were made scapegoats, in this life, the Metal Dragons were luckier. The Dragon Calamity was resolved quickly, and because the losses weren't severe—except in the Far South region—the anti-dragon sentiment dissipated within a few years. Rational people could distinguish between Metal Dragons and Five-Colored Dragons, so even now, many Metal Dragons roamed the Mycroft Continent. In the Moldavia Territory, there was even a Silver Dragon lady living there. She was the behind-the-scenes financier of a Mana Factory that produced high-quality magical clothing, with a brand popular throughout the Northern Lands. The black trench coat Joshua was wearing came from that Silver Dragon lady.
The Imperial Diamond Royal Family had even intermarried with Gold Dragons for many generations. This was evident from the fact that the Empress was a mixed-blood Gold Dragon.
"However, these are all just general information about Metal Dragons. When it comes to the 'Steel Dragon,' the information is far too scarce."
Thinking about this, Joshua couldn't help but feel a bit strange: "This deity is way too low-key, isn't he?"
Gold Dragons, Silver Dragons, Brass Dragons, Copper Dragons, Blue Tin Dragons... Unlike the Five-Colored Dragons, who lived together in families or clans in one area, most Metal Dragons lived alone, each a cautious and reserved loner. Their deity, the Steel Dragon, took this to the extreme. In his past life, apart from the Abyss invasion, he had never heard any news about this Dragon God.
Think about it—there were tens of millions of players scurrying all over the world, and even they never encountered him even once. Setting everything else aside, this level of stealth was definitely on par with a True God.
Whether it was because he was severely injured and needed to recuperate or because this was just his nature, Joshua wasn't sure. But soon, he would meet the Dragon God, so he wouldn't have many questions left.
Joshua entered the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground. The scenery there now was vastly different from a year or two ago.
It could be seen that a steady stream of people—not too many, but certainly a constant flow—were coming and going in the central area of the plane, which had been mostly repaired. Several small towns and villages had been built around the central area of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground. Many Gold-rank, and even Ultimate-rank, experts were wandering around, resting, and some were even sparring and dueling in the nearby Crystal Desert.
This was the subsequent development brought about by the entire Mycroft Civilization mobilizing to deal with the Death Evil God and clear the Chaos within the World Star River.
After coming into contact with many foreign civilized worlds through the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground, many Ultimate-rank and Gold-rank experts had their horizons broadened. They understood that the Mycroft Continent they lived on was just a small part of this Multiverse. Beyond the seemingly terrifying Void, there were many other beautiful worlds with abundant resources.
It wasn't about plunder, invasion, or colonization. These experts from foreign worlds only needed to help the local natives complete some tasks to receive generous rewards and sincere gratitude. With Legendary experts and the Dominant Will of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground constantly supervising, even those with bad intentions couldn't easily turn them into reality.
Of course, this was also because the current Mycroft World didn't have enough population for colonization. They didn't have decades to slowly assimilate colonies. So, compared to measures that required a lot of time to absorb, they preferred transactions that yielded immediate rewards.
In short, after the calamity brought by the Death Evil God gradually dissipated with Joshua and the Seven Gods defeating the Evil God's main body, some of the experts who had gone out on missions no longer wanted to return to their somewhat cramped homeland to continue scheming and showing off in their own small corners.
Of course, there were cowards who, after seeing a broader world, would shrink back into their nests and never dare to come out again.
But most of those who could advance to Gold-rank, let alone Ultimate-rank, had courage in their hearts.
Even malicious, reckless, and impulsive villains couldn't be said to lack courage. As long as they dared to step out of their fish pond and face the ocean, even pirates could become pioneers recorded in history.
These few hundred Gold-rank and over a dozen Ultimate-rank experts were just the first batch of volunteers to become pioneers. After some time, when other experts had arranged their affairs back home and made the necessary preparations, more Transcendent experts would come and join in.
"After seeing such a vast world, I don't have the patience to stay cooped up in a small mountain valley anymore."
Even ascetics who advocated seclusion and hard training were quite tempted by foreign world exploration. After all, if you were going to train hard, wouldn't the best choice be a remote, beautiful, uninhabited foreign world? Why stay in Mycroft, where even hiding deep in the mountains meant being disturbed from time to time?
In short, the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground was now thriving like this. The influx of many high-spending experts drove local consumption. To serve these experts, small satellite cities, auction houses, and appraisal centers were established one after another.
Joshua flew silently over these small towns and arrived at the center of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground. The Dominant Will, which had been in a dormant state, sensed the warrior's arrival. It awakened and sent a gentle message.
"Joshua, hello. Where do you plan to go this time?"
"The Vanguard Fortress. Also, please help maintain the connection with the Magic Net."
"Happy to serve you."
Joshua hadn't communicated with this artificial intelligence from the Era of Radiance for a long time, but now wasn't the time for catching up. With a slight fluctuation in space-time, his figure vanished into midair.
At the end of the World Star River.
Near the Vanguard Fortress.
Joshua and Number 3's projection appeared beside the silver fortress cluster.
The fortress cluster, originally built around Joshua's main body, had now become an independent space city. Many small Void Warships shuttled through it, and occasionally, Ultimate-rank experts who could traverse the Void with their physical bodies could be seen flying around.
"It's about time I set up a small server here too."
Number 3 fluttered her small wings and looked at the fortress cluster with some emotion. She seemed about to say more, but soon noticed that the warrior beside her had a surprised expression.
"What's wrong, Joshua?"
She asked with some confusion.
"Nothing."
Joshua's expression gradually returned to normal. He said calmly, "I just sensed a familiar aura."
But in reality, Joshua was still very puzzled inside.
"What's going on?" He thought to himself. "Although it's faint and sparse..."
"This is clearly the aura of the Steel Serpent!"