Chapter 370: Gave It One More Look

Lei En was tangled up by the copper dragon with no way out, so he had to tell a few more jokes.

Jialadolos had such a low sense of humor that even very cliché jokes could make him laugh for a long time, leaning forward and backward, even laughing tears. Moreover, he was especially fond of those innuendo‑laden lewd jokes, and Ai Mi Li Si's face turned red listening beside him.

When dusk approached, Jialadolos simply led everyone back to his own lair to rest.

The copper dragon liked to build its dragon's nest inside a cavern, with the entrance perched on a sheer cliff—highly concealed—but the interior was spacious, divided into several large, airy halls like a dwarf's dwelling, clean, tidy, well‑ventilated, bearing no resemblance to a dragon's nest at all.

As for the rumored great‑dragon treasure, Lei En didn't see any.

Copper dragons usually collect precious ores, jewels, or crystals—treasures mined from underground—but Jialadolos was different; his main collection was a huge number of books.

He had a dedicated study, with dozens of bookshelves packed with books.

Jialadolos, somewhat proud, led Lei En and the others to tour his study; Lei En flipped through a few volumes and indeed found many rare tomes, but most were useless eccentric novels, story collections, riddles, and joke anthologies.

This left him and Ai Mi Li Si both laughing and crying helplessly.

Ai Lun E Si had always heard rumors that copper dragons liked to interact with people and loved reading, especially storybooks, but no one expected them to be so obsessed.

Frost Sea Dragon Xindala initially heard she could tour his treasure and felt some anticipation, but was instantly disappointed, a hint of contempt flashing on her face.

Jialadolos might have been the poorest true dragon she had ever seen.

The copper dragon himself was completely indifferent.

He patted his waist, laughing, "My real treasure is right here; I won't show you any."

At that moment Lei En noticed that Jialadolos's belt was a dimensional‑space device forged from some magical metal, appearing of very high grade and huge capacity.

Sure enough, Jialadolos began packing, easily fitting every book in the study into the belt, with room to spare.

"What a fine thing," Lei En exclaimed sincerely.

Dimensional‑space gear is extremely rare; even he himself only has a single ring and a gemstone brooch, with very limited storage, no way to obtain a larger one, always feeling insufficient.

Jialadolos's gaze suddenly grew wary, looking at Lei En as if guarding against a thief.

Lei En shook his head wordlessly, "Don't worry, I won't eye your belt."

Great dragons truly are stingy.

He muttered under his breath and turned to leave the room.

The group stayed in Jialadolos's lair for a night; when they left the next day, the massive dragon's nest was spotless, not even a single chair left, all packed away by the copper dragon.

The third Oath target that Ai Mi Li Si found lay within the orc tribe's territory, far to the north.

But before heading there, Ai Mi Li Si had other business.

The copper dragon's lair lay within the Sita Nuo Mountains; once you go south out of the range, the ground becomes the northern grasslands of the Oriense Empire, home to countless centaurs.

The Zhuo Ken Tribe was not far from there.

The two great dragons revealed their true forms; Lei En mounted Jialadolos, while Ai Mi Li Si leapt onto Xindala's back, one ahead and one behind, and the dragons beat their wings, soaring into the clouds.

The wind howled in their ears, and in a moment the dragons flew out of the Sita Nuo mountain range.

An endless grassland unfolded in view, stretching to the horizon; to the east lay the vast Wan Song Ling, and everywhere the air pulsed with vibrant life.

Even though the great dragons merely passed overhead, their massive silhouettes startled countless beasts on the ground.

Soaring above the sky and looking down, everything below seemed tiny.

This gave Lei En a feeling of world conquest, and he couldn't help but exclaim, "No wonder so many people want to be dragon riders!"

Dragon rider is the most coveted profession among all super‑humans, perhaps unrivaled.

Although he is a bona‑fide dragon rider and rides a world‑rare legendary dragon, he can't fly around on Ao Xi Li Ya. He can only ride dragons in another way, and sometimes he even has to be ridden by the dragon—painful yet joyful…

Lei En's mind drifted far away, and unconsciously his complexion turned a bit odd.

While flying, Jialadolos turned his head, looking back at Lei En on his back, his gaze puzzled, and said, "My intuition tells me you're thinking of another dragon."

"Uh…" Lei En forced an awkward smile, "Your intuition is spot‑on."

Jialadolos let out a sigh, speaking gloomily, "I don't know which great dragon was so lucky to have signed a soul pact with you before me; I can't find another friend who tells jokes like you."

The copper dragon's face was full of regret, with a hint of lingering sorrow.

Lei En was at a loss for words.

Ai Lun E Si's world truly has no shortage of oddities; countless people dream of becoming dragon riders yet can't, and he merely told a few jokes, causing a copper dragon to cling to him, gladly becoming a true‑dragon companion. Such a magical encounter would be hard for anyone to believe.

"You signed a Dragon Oath with Ai Mi Li Si, just the same," Lei En could only console.

"Not the same."

Jialadolos shook his head, bobbing, thought for a moment, then said, "Fortunately the Dragon Oath lasts only three hundred years; with your strength you'll surely live beyond three hundred, and when the time comes, I'll follow you."

Lei En was stunned by the favor; in two lifetimes no one had ever told him they would wait for him, let alone for three hundred years!

Although Jialadolos was a male great dragon, he was still deeply moved.

Half a day later, the Zhuo Ken Tribe was nearly there.

The two great dragons landed in a remote, uninhabited spot, and Ai Mi Li Si cast a spell, summoning four tall phantom warhorses from another dimension.

These are commonly used transportation tools for casters, requiring constant mana to sustain.

Phantom warhorses can walk on water, move at extreme speed, even briefly stride through the air, and bear great weight; even Lei En's mass can be carried with ease.

The two riders and two dragons rode the horses forward, and after half an hour arrived at a crude city.

It could hardly be called a city; it was just a large camp fenced with two‑ or three‑meter‑high logs, backed against Wan Song Ling, not far from a clear lake.

Thousands of tents were set up in the camp, housing a great number of centaurs.

Groups of centaurs ran on the land outside the camp, practicing formation charges or archery, with dust billowing far away.

Centaurs are a naturally nomadic race; when a tribe's population grows large enough, they settle at fixed points, build cities, and claim surrounding land as their domain. Such powerful tribes are called "Kas," and three or four Kas combined can form a major power on the northern grasslands.

The Zhuo Ken Tribe is a Kas, with a total population exceeding thirty thousand.

A decade and a half ago, the Zhuo Ken Tribe was a tiny settlement of only a few hundred people; Ai Mi Li Si chose them, covertly supported them with money and gear, investing massive resources each year, continuously conquering other settlements, eventually growing into a Kas.

The Zhuo Ken Kas lies between the Sita Nuo Mountains and Wan Song Ling, an excellent geographic location.

The mountains and forests yield many unique magical souls and materials; many super‑humans form adventuring parties to hunt there, and the Zhuo Ken centaurs also join, gradually forming a well‑known Kas on the steppe, with caravans frequently arriving for trade.

So the camp contains not only centaurs, but also many human figures.

Lei En and the others dress themselves as an adventuring party.

He himself wears leather armor and a long sword at his waist, looking like a ranger; Jia Ladesu switches to a full suit of armor, bearing a shield and a one‑handed axe, his towering frame as solid as an iron guard; Xin Dala holds an enchanted longbow, exuding a cold aura, a frost archer; Ai Mi Li Si hides her face with a hood, appearing mysterious, a typical spellcaster.

The four ride horses into the camp, passing through the road between the tents, and do not draw any special attention from the centaurs.

Centaurs have long been accustomed to outsiders.

Ai Mi Li Si points toward the middle of the camp, where a massive big tent spreads over a huge area, standing over a dozen meters high, surrounded by centaur guards on duty, the most imposing place in all Kasri.

It is the tent where the tribe's chieftain and priests reside.

At the same time, it is also the shrine of the Hunting God.

The centaurs' beliefs are complex; on the great plains, wars between centaur tribes are most often sparked by differences in faith.

Generally, centaurs primarily worship four deities.

They are the Hunting God, the God of Winter and North Wind, the Blood God, and the Black Emperor Ban Erkou.

Zhuoken tribe are followers of the Hunting God Wu Lei Er Si, who is a deity both righteous and wicked, widely worshipped in Ai Lun E Si, possessing the divine offices of "Hunt", "Track", and "Archery"; its main adherents are non‑human races such as trolls, centaurs, and orcs.

"We'll go see Ha Zi," Ai Mi Li Si whispers.

The Ha Zi she mentions is the Zhuoken tribe's chieftain, a legendary centaur warrior and a highly ambitious plains champion.

As they draw nearer to the big tent, Lei En also observes the tribe's situation.

Suddenly, his eyes pause.

On a clearing not far from the big tent, a magical airship is docked. Above the airship's massive gasbag hangs a very conspicuous emblem: a palace‑shaped Fu Kong Cheng.

Lei En is very familiar with this emblem.

This is Hong Shi Title: Duke's ParrasFloatingCity emblem, known throughout the Empire.

"How did a ParrasFloatingCity magical airship end up in the Zhuoken tribe's camp?" Lei En, curious, can't help but glance a few more times with his Soul Eye.

At that moment, a human silhouette appears at the airship's window, causing his pupils to dilate briefly.

On the edge of naked sprinting, a frantic probe, and a chapter is still being written…

(End of chapter)