Chapter 81: Fighting Above One

The wilderness during the rainy season was soaked through, its once-clear prey scents washed away and mixed, becoming indistinguishable; streams swelled, sweeping away footprints and traces, leaving trackers lost.

The flesh of prey rotted faster in the stifling dampness; even if successfully killed, it could not be preserved long.

The Red-Eye Clan’s jackal-men.

The Claw-Tear Clan’s war-lizards.

They all chose, as the rain lessened, to traverse the routes controlled by their clans and arrive at a stretch of the Scale-Torn Pass, where they lay in ambush to raid.

Based on their clans’ past experience.

They knew the rainy season in the Ser Wilds would not end soon; above the drizzling curtain, the sky’s dark clouds gathered and brewed even fiercer storms, ready to descend at any moment, so whatever they did, it was best to begin when the rain was weak.

Strangely,

the Bone-Chewer Clan’s ogres remained holed up within their territory, not venturing out in force.

Even with one clan gone,

the few caravans passing the Scale-Torn Pass, after being exploited and raided by jackal-men and war-lizards, could not reach the section held by the Howling Moon Clan; those that did arrive were only large caravans the Red-Eye and Claw-Tear Clans dared not touch, and the Howling Moon Clan lacked the nerve to raid them.

“The Red-Eye Clan and the Claw-Tear Clan.”

“Jackal-men, war-lizards.”

Luo Si narrowed his eyes, silently calculating within.

He had not personally investigated these two clans, only gained some understanding through the Howling Moon Clan.

Jackal-men were individually weaker than Gray-Mane werewolves, but the Red-Eye Clan’s overall strength was comparable to the Howling Moon Clan’s.

Their leader was a Warlord.

Jackal-man Warlord—in jackal-man society, this was not merely a title, but also a rank.

The strongest and most vicious individuals among jackal-men ascended to Warlord through a ritual of devouring other jackal-men’s hearts; failure meant high probability of death, but success granted many supernatural abilities.

A jackal-man Warlord could strengthen nearby kin, granting them extra damage on attacks or movement advantages, making them fearless and unafraid of death, while also unleashing strength far beyond normal jackal-men.

Aside from the jackal-man Warlord,

the Red-Eye Clan also had a Priest.

A Priest differed from a Shaman.

Shamans communed with spirits of nature, ancestors, and beasts and plants through meditation and totems to gain supernatural power; Priests served deities, offering sacrifices to receive divine blessings.

The jackal-man Priest worshipped the jackal-man deity, Ye Nuogu.

This was both a deity and a demon lord.

Blessed by him, the jackal-man Priest lacked the survival skills of a Shaman but mastered many cruel sacrificial rituals and divine arts.

It was certain:

The jackal-man Warlord and Priest were both Level 7 lifeforms.

“The Claw-Tear Clan and the Bone-Chewer Clan are larger, their clan strength greater.”

“Then, begin with the Red-Eye Clan.”

Luo Si thought.

Pick the softest persimmon first.

To the Howling Moon Clan, the jackal-man Warlord and Priest were formidable, but to Luo Si, they meant little; though cautious, he clearly understood his own power tier.

Creatures like jackal-men,

even in multiples, posed little life-threatening danger to dragons at the same level.

The Claw-Tear Clan and the stronger Bone-Chewer Clan contained higher-level lifeforms, but frankly, with his current power, Luo Si could have simply marched in if he wished.

But Luo Si disliked that.

He enjoyed fighting above his level—but not upward.

If conditions allowed,

Luo Si wanted to “level-skipping” crush Level 6, Level 5, and Level 4 lifeforms.

He had no desire to fight stronger opponents, no great ambitions; perhaps he would someday, but for now, he prioritized his own life above all, seeking only to live long and, if possible, comfortably.

Luo Si said to the wolf-man Shaman: “Continue stationing wolf-men to ambush along the Scale-Torn Pass. Other clans will soon no longer threaten you.”

“What do you plan to do?”

The wolf-man Shaman asked.

Luo Si grinned, revealing sharp dragon fangs: “Begin with the Red-Eye Clan. They will be destroyed—or become your allies.”

Hearing this, the wolf-man Shaman was visibly moved.

As a Shaman, he constantly communed with the forces of nature, his mind sharp; through his interactions with Luo Si, he gradually realized that although Luo Si claimed not to be a vile dragon, he radiated a deeply dangerous aura.

Had they refused to pledge allegiance,

the Howling Moon Clan would likely have faced annihilation.

He thought, feeling grateful, without regret for his choice.

Luo Si did not cruelly treat them; the only thing that made the wolf-men somewhat wary was his habit of demanding they swarm him, exhausting them to near collapse—but this was also training for them.

Moreover, Luo Si enjoyed honing his combat skills through hunting, never requiring wolf-men to provide food; when he killed extra beasts and monsters and had eaten his fill, he often rewarded his kin.

Beasts and monsters targeted by Luo Si were rare feasts for the Howling Moon Clan.

Luo Si’s protection was also vital.

His dragon aura deterred beasts that once attacked the clan from approaching, greatly reducing the threat from other clans, bringing the wolf-men peace of mind and allowing them to focus on other matters; in these few days, several she-wolves had become pregnant.

“The Howling Moon Clan stands ready!”

“At your command, the wolf-men will become your claws, your vanguard.”

The Shaman bowed again to the ground, voice firm, expressing loyalty.

Having received Luo Si’s protection and gifts, he was prepared to fight for him.

Yet Luo Si shook his head indifferently.

“You don’t need to fight.”

He paused, then added: “Let your young and strong rest well, feed them the best food. I want their claws sharper—so sharp they can leave wounds on me, make me bleed.”

The old Shaman fell silent, unable to respond.

Had their clan’s records about dragons been wrong?

He thought.

If he had known dragons were like Luo Si, he would have led his entire clan to kneel and bow the moment he saw him—without waiting for any choice.

The wilderness ground was treacherous.

Now, in the rainy season, tall grass grew thick, mud covered the earth, shrubs surged wildly.

Luo Si disliked the wolf-men’s ground speed and refused to let them join the assault on the Red-Eye Clan; at their pace, they’d arrive too late.

He’d handle it himself.

His purpose in gathering kin was not primarily to fight for himself.

Luo Si flapped his wings, rising into the air amid the drizzle, vanishing within thick clouds in an instant.

Meanwhile, as he headed toward the jackal-man Red-Eye Clan,

in the western Ser Wilds, near the Boiling Sea, a clan of over a dozen stone giants, driven to desperation, packed their belongings and prepared to migrate north.

“Elder, will we return?”

Standing high, gazing back at the churning Boiling Sea, a young stone giant rumbled to the stone giant Elder.

“When our strength is enough to kill these blue dragons, we return—and reclaim our land.”

The stone giant Elder, gray-skinned and powerfully built, spoke in a voice like grinding boulders—rough and dull.

In the Cliffs Strait, their clan had waged a years-long war with a blue dragon clan over territory.

As time passed, the stone giants grew weaker; of the original thirty-plus, only eleven remained, most of them minors.

If the war continued, total annihilation loomed.

Reluctantly,

the stone giants abandoned their homeland to flee north, evading the blue dragon clan’s might.

(End of Chapter)