Chapter 281: Bootlicking Blue Dragon

The scent of sulfur and thunderstorm exploded in his nostrils, and Abu Longruisi's jagged claw dug deep into the rock wall. The blue dragon clan chief, who had just entered the extreme old age, suddenly froze— a smell mingling Star Realm dust and Arcane Power was seeping into the nest through the clouds split in the dome.

"Hmm, what's that? Such a familiar smell."

In the Ai Nuo Ao Ke Desert, within the Lu Duo Wei Ke Li Wei La blue dragon family's nesting grounds, Abu Longruisi sniffed, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.

He had just awakened from the slumber that bridges old age to extreme old age, his mind a haze, when a familiar scent from the sky suddenly reached his nose.

The smell seemed familiar, but Abu Longruisi thought for a long time and still couldn't recall where he had smelled it before.

"Wait." His neck scales snapped back, memories peeling away like sandstone split by lightning. Ten years ago, on that blood‑red dusk, the shattered wing remains of his daughter Wangmu La bore the same strange fragrance.

He remembered.

Ten years ago, just before his impending slumber, his most beloved daughter, the jewel of the Lu Duo Wei Ke Li Wei La clan—Wangmu La—was brutally killed in the desert.

At the scene he managed to find a clue to the murderer—a scent belonging to an unknown dragon.

What drove him mad was that before discovering his daughter's death, he had seen an unfamiliar massive dragon soaring in the sky, but in a moment of misplaced generosity he chose not to attack it.

Little did he know that this let the hateful murderer escape.

Abu Longruisi lay awake day and night, his heart filled with rage, until the day of his final slumber finally approached, forcing him into darkness.

Before the slumber, his final thought was to use his most treasured riches to summon a Divination master to cast a spell for him, to find that detestable giant dragon!

"Boom!" Thunder cracked outside the cave, the blue dragon clan chief suddenly lifted his head, his dorsal spines flashing with dazzling arcs. The remorse of releasing the murderer ten years ago materialized into a thunderstorm, crackling between his scales.

And now, where iron shoes have found nothing, the prize comes without effort.

He actually walked into his own trap and came before him!

"Lu Duo Wei Ke Li Wei La bloodline!" The roar, laden with sand and gravel, toppled three stalactite pillars. Seventeen blue dragons surged from the deep nest, the youngest hatchlings still clutching unfinished rock‑goat carcasses in their claws. They stared in shock as the clan chief tore his own left fore‑claw, letting dragon blood paint the family war‑mark on the sand.

At his summons, dozens of surrounding nests released blue dragons of varying sizes—adult, prime, as well as juvenile youths, adolescents, and even newly hatched Young Dragon Stage and hatchlings.

They came before Abu Longruisi, bowing their proud heads in submission. This is the blue dragons' custom: unless they voluntarily leave the clan, they obey the clan chief unconditionally.

"My daughter, my beloved daughter Wangmu La, was brutally killed ten years ago, fifty kilometers from here!" Abu Longruisi shouted, his eyes tearing.

Abu Longruisi's breath ionized the air, blue‑violet arcs dancing on every dragon scale, "Now that coward dares to sully our skies with blood‑stained claws!"

The blue dragons roared with fervor, enraged at this outsider who dared challenge the Lu Duo Wei Ke Li Wei La clan's authority, eager to tear him apart.

The prime blue dragon named Plasdon suddenly pushed aside a companion. A scar remained in his right eye from ten years ago—the claw mark left when Wangmu La refused to mate, now a badge of madness. "Let me tear his throat!" he snarled, his venom‑slick fangs corroding the rock, "I will string his spine together with Wangmu La's favorite moonstone!"

He had spent days preening before Wangmu La, and eventually she relented, considering a relationship with him.

Who could have thought their romance would be cut off by that ruthless giant dragon before it even began!

This vengeance, I, Plasdon, will repay!

The old blue dragon's dim yellow eyes flashed with sarcasm. These fools will never know that back then he secretly guided Wangmu La to reject Plasdon, because he needed Wangmu La to hang onto Plasdon.

As clan chief, he naturally knew these hyena‑like clan dragons were eyeing the position. Plasdon, simple‑minded yet talented, should have been his ideal son‑in‑law after Wangmu La trained him to success.

But now, everything has been ruined by that damned unknown giant dragon!

Abu Longruisi was pleased with Plasdon's self‑appointed bravery, but the Five-colored Evil Dragon's nature was too petty to offer any material aid, so Abu Longruisi could only encourage him verbally.

"Go then, Plasdon! I believe in you; you will avenge Wangmu La, and one day you will replace me, bravely becoming the Lu Duo Wei Ke Li Wei La clan chief!"

Plasdon was overjoyed, never expecting the chief to value him so; he thrashed his tail with such force that the ground split with several fissures.

Abu Longruisi, seeing his cheap demeanor, smirked, thinking indeed young dragons are easiest to fool; as long as you paint them some illusory grand promises, they'll charge into battle with their lives.

Perfect, he'll use this fool's life to test the depth of the dragon that killed his daughter.

If it's a waste that even Plasdon can't handle, there's no need for him to intervene.

"In the name of the Father of Sandstorm!" Abu Longruisi's claw tips glowed with eerie silver‑blue runes, a refined spell bartered from a village human to the Sand Demon seer.

The Divination spell formed a faint silver mist in the air, and Abu Longruisi told Plasdon, "Follow that haze; it will guide you to the murderer of Wangmu La."

Plasdon immediately beat his wings powerfully; the massive airflow didn't disturb the mist, but made it sparkle even more in the sunlight.

The prime blue dragon surged skyward, its target fixed on

At that moment, Naimi Xisi, hurrying along, unfurled iridescent wing membranes, each beat leaving an Arcane echo among the clouds, admiring the desert's solitary plume of smoke.

!

He recalled, ten years ago, departing from the Yinbu Tu Kingdom, crossing the desert to Jian Wan, a memory as fresh as yesterday.

For a species like giant dragons, whose lifespans span ages, ten years is but a blink.

And for Frelen, which has been under feudal dynasties for millennia, ten years changes nothing.

Only when measured on a thousand‑year scale can any significant change occur.

"Nai Se Rui Er"

Naimi Xisi's gaze at the desert flickered with a hint of bewilderment; the treasures he obtained from the Devil Rafael's vault were mostly from the ancient magical empire—Nai Se Rui Er.

It is said that the great empire that once ruled the Frelen continent lay here in the Ai Nuo Ao Ke Great Desert.

Beneath the sand‑filled ground, perhaps lie magical ruins from a thousand years ago.

Unfortunately, without a treasure map, searching this vast desert for treasure is like looking for a needle in the ocean.

"Wait. What is that?"

Naimi Xisi's eyes suddenly sharpened as they stared at the ground; within the yellow sand, a massive vortex was forming.

Countless grains of sand and the flora and fauna that had stood on the ground were drawn into the vortex as if swallowed by a deep‑sea whirlpool, vanishing within.

An immensely powerful magical aura radiated from it.

(End of Chapter)