Chapter 462: line with translation of chapter title

It seems he's been running rampant in this small circle; the arrogant red demon dragon came up and tore apart and beat all the attendants.

Especially the gold demon dragon nearest to Ji Ming almost gouged out the person's remaining eye.

Moreover, while she was beating them, she shouted insults recklessly.

"This is something I, the leader, personally captured to present to the Demon Lord; do you even deserve to touch it?"

"You clueless things, I tell you: if this meat worm has any problem, you don't even need to continue existing!"

Although there are six demon dragon attendants, if they all rushed together they could subdue this disgraceful dragon that had just been violently beaten by the meat worm.

But the dragon clan's hierarchy is strict; the rules etched in their blood cannot be changed even by death, so they absolutely dare not.

Thus, only after venting her inner anger did the red demon dragon release her grip on the gold demon dragon's neck and fling him aside.

"Trash, know your place! If there's a next time, you'll all end up like this!"

Having said that, she walked toward the human standing alone, but before she could speak, she heard him say.

"Leader, you're incredibly imposing; no wonder you had such tactics when you just clashed with the Duke—truly formidable."

The surrounding attendants, unaware of the context, thought the human had been frightened and hurriedly offered appeasing words, so they all lowered their heads.

But as the party involved, the red demon dragon could certainly detect the sarcasm; her pallid eyes flashed with killing intent, she clenched her fists and was about to act.

But just as she was about to raise her hand, she suddenly seemed to think of something, quickly released her grip, and merely feigned calm.

"You meat worm speak rather interestingly, though I don't know if the one who taught you to speak ever taught you..."

However, when her words reached this point, the red demon dragon's sarcasm abruptly stopped, and the grimace on her face intensified.

There's no way; although she changed her attitude quickly and tried hard to conceal it afterward, how could she escape Ji Ming's eyes?

So he merely lowered his gaze and silently said, "Not daring?" which directly broke her defenses.

But even though her defenses were broken, she still didn't dare to act openly; instead she grabbed Ji Ming and went to an empty room inside the shrine.

She shut the door and roared.

"You're courting death!?"

Unfortunately, Ji Ming had already seen through her fierce exterior but weak interior; indeed, from his earlier probing, he had completely discerned the red demon dragon's bottom line.

Thus he wasn't afraid at all; on the contrary, he grabbed his collar, tilted his head, and stretched his neck outward again.

"Well... then please go ahead?"

The red demon dragon instantly flushed, but as previously said, she had been thoroughly seen through by Ji Ming.

So even though she was now trembling with rage, clearly she had just been beating her subordinates like wolves and tigers, yet she still hesitated to act.

There's no way; who made her, just to show off, define this human as "my gift to the Demon Lord"?

... Actually, if this were merely an ordinary prisoner of war, even that capable old duke...

She couldn't bear it; she would kill him, and then just use the excuse "the other wanted to flee, I had no choice but to act, involuntary manslaughter" as a pretext.

At worst, she'd get a few scoldings from the Demon Lord, or at most two slaps—nothing more.

But to show off, she unfortunately displayed this human before everyone present.

With that appearance—white clothes and golden rings—she needn't speak or pose; just standing there made her look like a living illustration.

If she were to accidentally kill him, the Demon Lord... would not...

Sigh!

Thus the red demon dragon could only lower her head, yet she still spoke firmly.

"You... you're getting too full of yourself! You're just a measly meat worm—who do you think you are?"

Listen, what a standard declaration of a defeated dog!

Moreover, when arguing with Ji Ming, the biggest taboo is to yield softly; unless there's greater benefit, he'll likely press forward step by step.

By then, he would only retreat step by step until, in the end, not even kneeling on the ground to bark like a dog would count as him respecting human rights.

Thus this time it was Ji Ming's turn to chuckle "keh-keh-keh".

"Who am I? I'm the gift you're presenting to the Demon Lord!"

Saying that, he produced a chair and sat down openly before the red demon dragon.

"Based on my understanding of the dragon race, you are a species with clear class rankings and orderly superiors and inferiors, right?"

"With my looks, staying by the Demon Lord's side is no problem; adding my methods, gaining lasting favor is even easier."

"So... do you understand what I mean?"

Having said this much, the red demon dragon couldn't fail to understand, though she showed a troubled expression and merely nodded silently.

But now is the crucial moment to apply pressure; Ji Ming couldn't pass up the chance to unleash his finishing move, so he simply spelled it out himself.

"Exactly, when that time comes, even if I'm merely a human, I'll be a precious treasure in the Demon Lord's eyes."

"Day and night, there are countless opportunities to whisper pillow-wind."

"... Then, Leader who has already achieved great merit, what kind of wind do you hope I will blow?"

This time the red demon dragon could no longer bear it; she stretched out both hands and hurriedly begged for mercy.

"God's Chosen, please spare me! Why must it be so, why must it be so!"

The earnestness of her words was just like Ji Ming's earlier "Dragon sis! Can we discuss this again, discuss again?"

Having broken the red demon dragon's psychological defenses, the rest was easy to say; Ji Ming smoothly probed the whole story in one go.

First, Lord Xie was right: the origin of these corpse dragons lies in the Dark Yan Empire's extensive development of dark bodily alchemy, producing evil spirit demon dragons from vast dragon corpses.

After enduring several major battles, these war machines, though not completely destroyed, suffered heavy damage and, due to desecrating corpses, became public enemies of the entire dragon race.

It must be said that they could be hunted alongside benevolent metallic dragons, evil five-colored dragons, and even ubiquitous elemental fledglings that hop left and right—this makes them rare hardcore toughs in the over-one-hundred-thousand-year history of the Yangyue World.

Thus, after the Dark Yan Empire's defeat, the Demon Lord of Evil Spirits, Patricia, led the surviving evil spirit demon dragons to gather together, vanishing beneath the sunlight of the Yangyue World and becoming a hidden race.

Moreover, although the orthodox dragon race possesses formidable individual strength, its numbers are extremely scarce; after the war, all the major powers chose to seclude themselves, no longer participating in the Yangyue World's conflicts, and likewise became a hidden race.

Yet to call them hidden, where in this world could there be enough shadows for them to hide? True dragons and demon dragons inevitably meet in some obscure corner, leading to a life-or-death clash.

So this secret war has been fought for ten thousand years, and countless dragons have fallen, many of which have already become famous, essentially little internet celebrities among dragons.

For example…

【Name: White Mist Protection·Bu Long Fei Er De】

【Level in life: Level 91·Dragon God Mage】

【Cause of death: While investigating the relics of ancient wars, was trapped and slaughtered by several evil‑spirit Demon Dragons】

But although both sides suffered damage, even true dragons have low reproduction rates, they can still increase their numbers; those Demon Dragons truly lack that ability.

Moreover, as time passes, another debuff appears on Demon Dragons: even though they inherit the long lifespan of great dragons, because they are ultimately corpses, their level keeps slipping.

Take this Red Demon Dragon, the material that created it was originally a Level 96 Dragon God Iron Guard, but now it is only a Level 74 Dragon War Iron Guard, dropping from top‑tier combat power to second‑tier—utterly miserable.

Therefore, with these two continual weakenings, the Demon Dragon race's manpower naturally dwindles; by today, even counting the Demon Lord, there are no more than ten dragons left.

"Ten, huh."

Ji Ming counted on his fingers; first, the Demon Lord is definitely one, and the few Demon Dragon attendants outside just now add up to six.

In front of us is one, and the "second sister" who is currently fighting the Duke Xiguang is another, making nine in total, so…

the Red Demon Dragon hurriedly said.

"You can see it, I am one of the three commanders under the Demon Lord, so I also have a big sister and a second sister on my mind, which naturally makes ten!"

Don't be fooled by the small number; those six attendants are over sixty‑level, the three commanders are over seventy‑level, and the Demon Lord himself is at least eighty‑level.

Adding them up, in today's overall low‑power version, they are definitely strong enough to devastate, at least cripple a nation.

—No wonder that Red Demon Dragon was so reckless earlier; it really came prepared!

Only…

Some of those attendants looked like women, those three commanders are women, and the Demon Lord's name even sounds feminine.

You Demon Dragons, what's with this? Yin dominates and yang wanes far too severely!

Thinking of this, Ji Ming asked the question he hadn't had time to ask earlier.

It's true that humans and dragons can bear offspring, but the Demon Dragon race is innately defective; after all these years they haven't produced any new hatchlings—why do they think I could be the turning point?

The Red Demon Dragon didn't answer immediately; instead it stroked its dry, cracked hands, and a relatively restrained smile appeared on its gaunt face.

"Because… because… we like it."

In truth, it's just metaphysics.

There's no helping it; after ten thousand years, the lack of descendants has driven the Demon Dragons almost to collective madness.

It's like those people who are down on life, convinced that acquiring some talisman will change their luck, and then they dare to do all sorts of evil deeds.

Even without going far, here's a little "shipping" metaphysics for friends who play gacha games: share your little "shipping" theories here.

The Demon Dragons actually know their own strange aesthetics, so after trying various methods, over time a very odd saying was born.

Why can't our Demon Dragon race reproduce?

Because we haven't found the existence that best fits our xp!

As soon as we find it, there is a method!

As soon as we seize it, we can inherit!

Ji Ming: (sweating soybeans)

man! whatcanisay？

But that's irrelevant; the important thing is that since the Demon Lord has survived to today, she is naturally a formidable survivor in this world.

She, like Ji Ming, deeply understands the principle of stacking hidden cards, so after years of scheming here she actually aims to obtain the divine form of the Purple Lightning Deity.

As for why the timing of the strike is set for now, it is to also involve the humans below the mountain in the plan.

Activating the Purple Lightning Treasure will inevitably cause a natural anomaly; with violet qi spreading, it will inevitably attract unwanted interference.

Then they only need to unleash a beast tide, and to protect the children, humans will be unable to prioritize dealing with them!

This is also the fundamental reason why the three great commanders will launch a joint attack, hunting down the human elites who climb the mountain.

The more they kill here, the more strong humans will have to be drawn from elsewhere, wasting more events!

So once the humans finally deal with the beast tide, the Demon Lord will have already completed the inheritance ceremony.

Whether they declare war on the human kingdom in the momentum, or retreat for a later battle…

Haha, anyway the initiative is in my hands, the advantage is mine!

The only unexpected thing is that among the humans climbing the mountain this time is the famed Duke Xiguang, almost causing them to flip over.

But it doesn't matter; how could a single level‑70 defeat three level‑70s?

Thus, at that moment, two wing‑flapping sounds came from outside the temple; Ji Ming quickly went out with the Red Demon Dragon and found that they were the other two Demon Dragon commanders.

The one on the left, whose raw material was a Blue Dragon, is naturally the second commander we saw earlier; now she looks far worse than before, her already scarce scales stripped clean, now resembling a featherless fighting cock.

And the one on the right…

Ji Ming squinted and whispered to the Red Demon Dragon.

"Third, didn't you just say he was the big sister?"

It's like the tip of a crab's belly‑button cover is a sharp triangle, while the mother crab's cover tip is round.

Although not every giant dragon in the Yangyue World shows this, many do, and their sex can be judged just by appearance, often very clearly.

For example, the bronze dragon before us has three adjacent scales on its neck; the middle one is unusually large, which means it is a male dragon!

So…

"You're lying to me, right?"

The Red Demon Dragon hesitated, but this time not out of fear or anger, but because…

Uh‑uh, shy?

"Ah… this… might have been lost after the fall of the Dark Flame Empire, actually we…"

After hearing her explanation, Ji Ming was completely stunned.

Now he understood why those ancient alchemists, besides being called "Crazy," also had the nickname "Demonic."

He had thought it was because they practiced human alchemy in an extreme, god‑defying way, but now realized it was because…

"Wait, could it be that you… you too!?"

The Red Demon Dragon averted its gaze, placed its hand behind its back, and slowly nodded.

"Hmm."