Beneath the Red Dragon

In the distance, the fierce wind howled, the biting cold wind wrapped with frost and snow the size of salt grains lashed the face, and the howling wind passed through mountain caves, emitting a sound like the roar of a ghostly spirit.

A musk ox slowly ambled through the half-bare woods covered in ice and snow, occasionally uncovering some grass roots and turf from beneath the increasingly thick snow to chew and eat.

This is a common creature of the cold lands, its dense brown fur is thicker than that of yaks found on high mountains, making it better at resisting the cold.

Its enormous size also gives these creatures the confidence to live freely in the wilds, even smaller packs of three or five Winter Wolves don’t dare to casually hunt these large, intimidating beasts with their massive bodies and strong horns.

Only the giant dragons soaring through the skies could regard such a large creature as a defenseless prey and delicacy. Alternatively, the bands of Frost Giants that hunt together could do so, as these giants possess formidable individual strength, able to compete with dragons, and they know how to cooperate while also taming other beasts or savage creatures as hunting claws.

No matter if musk oxen encounter giant dragons or Frost Giants, their vigilance is of no use, leading these creatures to develop a character of leaving life and death to fate unless it directly concerns them.

By contrast, the musk deer in the forest appear far more cautious.

These cold-terrain musk deer move in groups of three or five, their antlers coated with white frost, appearing as if sculpted from ice and snow. No matter which deer lowers its head to forage, another in the group will raise its head, its eyes filled with vigilance and caution, surveying the surrounding stillness.

The howling of the cold wind mixed with a special sound, but looking towards the distant horizon where the densely packed hunters were stationed, no movement occurred within the camp.

But in the forest, the snow on the bare trees shook, cascades of snow slipping from branches, shadows appeared above these creatures where they could not see.

Several enormous figures emerged from the thick cloud layer, their massive bony horns as white as snow.

Suddenly, the intense wind and deadly aura of danger caused these beasts to instinctively flee in a panic, but the mighty creatures’ wings already cast shadows like dark clouds upon them, pinning the deer down to the ground in an instant.

Revealed to be giant White-Scaled Giant Dragons, their pale scales and sleek bodies measured over fifteen meters each.

These White Dragons ripped and devoured without restraint, uncaring of the delectable delicacies within these creatures’ bellies. Their fierce fangs tore open throats, quenching their thirst with fresh blood before freezing their prey into ice blocks, then crushing them directly.

The remaining blood mixed with ice blocks appeared especially savage in the mouths of these ferocious White Dragons.

The broad and hefty musk ox was also pinned down by a White Dragon far larger than these White Dragons, becoming a meal for this colossal White Dragon.

Among the Five-Color Dragon ranks, the White Dragon is the smallest and weakest, struggling to reach the normal size of other Five-Color Dragons even in adulthood.

Yet this exceptionally fierce adult White Dragon was a full twenty-one meters long, its pale dragon scales bearing cracked patterns, with feather-like white dragon plumes on its chest and belly, and white tail feathers also growing from its tail, making it look distinct.

A broken dragon horn on its ferocious head did not mar its appearance; instead, it added an air of ferocity.

It is Sakles of the "Ice Prison," once seeking to dominate all the White Dragon Tribes in the Extreme North Icefield, to rule the Frozen Icefield, and who battled the reigning Frost Giant King for decades.

The giant ox bones, like fragile snacks under the fierce White Dragon’s fangs, were crushed by Sakles.

But Sakles differed from other White Dragons, who, after crushing the hard ox bones, would swallow them whole, and the dragon’s stomach could easily digest these hard bones, supplementing the dragon with slight nutrients for bone growth.

Sakles, however, after crushing the ox bones, would squint and carefully suck out the sweet bone marrow inside before discarding the bones aside to start eating the musk ox not frozen into ice by him.

After the other White Dragons finished eating, they could only look dryly at their leader eating leisurely, even considering the discarded ox bones a snack, but they dared not approach this White Dragon.

In the cold regions, even for a flying overlord like the dragon, finding food is not an easy task, often requiring flying great distances to encounter prey.

Yet despite such circumstances, Sakles maintained this manner, showing how he lived within his tribe.

Besides the White Dragons, many cold-land creatures roamed this area.

To the north, on distant slopes, many white-furred figures howled mournfully, hunting the beasts in the mountains.

These creatures, growing long, thick white fur, appeared like large apes but with a pair of ram-like horns curving back on their heads, four protruding long fangs always visible.