Chapter 634: Time? I’ll Adapt!
Audothos dwelled within a dimensional space.
It wasn't on any map, had no fixed coordinates. The vast expanse held no sky or ground, and no sun, moon, or stars were visible.
Only countless time-related objects.
Hourglasses, clock faces, water droplets, sundials, gears, candle flames...
They floated silently in the void. Some were brand new, others long decayed. Some still changed slowly, while others were forever frozen in a single moment.
Audothos's massive form coiled in the center.
At this moment, his right claw held an hourglass.
The hourglass tilted slightly in his grasp, and fine sand flowed from the upper chamber to the lower, drawing an extremely thin silver-white thread.
His gaze on the hourglass was focused and profound.
It was as if he were reading an endless book; when he reached a fascinating part, his breathing would soften a fraction.
"The mysteries of the river of time... truly endless."
The Gold Dragon King muttered to himself, "Even with a dragon's lifespan, one cannot glimpse even a ten-thousandth of the truth. Even gods or immortals who have witnessed the rise and fall of countless worlds are nothing but fleeting waves before the river of time."
The fine sand flowed.
The Golden Dragon's scales underwent visible changes.
They sank from brilliant gold to dark gold, then slowly shifted back from dark gold to brilliant gold, like light and shadow rotating across his armor.
Cyclic, recurring.
Meanwhile, around Audothos.
Some suspended clocks were running at different speeds.
Some moved extremely fast, their hour hands spinning like windmills. Some moved extremely slowly, their minute hands nearly still. Some ran backward, the hour and minute hands moving opposite to the normal direction.
Some pointers moved forward, then backward, without any discernible pattern.
Tick tock, tick tock.
Sounds of different rhythms intertwined, colliding with each other, interfering with each other. It was like a hundred drummers all striking different beats simultaneously.
It sounded chaotic and disorderly.
But the Gold Dragon King closed his eyes, quietly coiling among the clocks, his expression one of rapture, as if listening to some beautiful music, discerning a melody only he could understand.
After an unknown amount of time.
Suddenly, the Gold Dragon King seemed to sense something and opened his eyes.
The sounds vanished; all clocks returned to normal.
He lifted his head, his eyes narrowing slightly. A deep light reflected in his pupils as he gazed into a distant direction.
"So you've come, after all."
The Gold Dragon King exhaled heavily and spoke softly, "Since you're here... let's meet."
At the same time.
In the Dragon Sleep Corridor, the library of the Everbright Dragon Domain.
Garoth had shifted into humanoid form.
His long hair was casually draped behind his shoulders, giving his face a commanding air without anger.
The muscles on his shoulders and back bulged like cast iron, clearly outlining the shape of his robes. Every movement had not a trace of excess fat, only steel-like lines and power.
Beside him was the humanoid form of the Gold Dragon, Karus.
Compared to Garoth's oppressive physique, Karus's form seemed much more normal. His golden hair was neatly tied back, and his expression was peaceful.
"It was here."
"Back when I wasn't yet Legendary, I once encountered a strange dragon. I inexplicably lost the relevant memories afterward, and only gradually recalled them after I advanced to Legendary."
"The one I saw back then must have been Audothos."
Garoth thought to himself.
He hadn't come to the Everbright Dragon Domain just for a stroll, of course. His main purpose was to meet the Gold Dragon King.
But this Dragon King was far too mysterious.
He would appear when he wanted to appear and couldn't be contacted even by the domain's elders when he didn't want to appear.
After thinking it over, Garoth figured that the chances of seeing the Gold Dragon King in this library were highest.
After all, there was already a precedent.
Garoth picked up a copy of "The Bernardo Chronicles" and began reading quietly.
Beside him, Karus also had a book in his hand, but his attention wasn't on it. From time to time, he would subtly turn his head, steal a glance at Garoth, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
Until Garoth's voice rang out: "If there's something you want to know, just ask."
Clearly, those little movements hadn't escaped his perception.
Karus paused for a moment.
Then he closed the book he hadn't really been reading, thought for a moment, organized his words, and said:
"I'm just a little curious."
"Your empire is named 'Sacred Aola,' not Molten Iron Empire or just a simple Sacred Empire."
"If it were any other five-colored dragon or metal dragon, they'd probably give it a name with more factional overtones."
"What I mean is... do you perhaps have some grand dream of reviving the dragon race?"
Garoth closed the book in his hand, his gaze shifting from the pages to Karus.
"You could say that."
He said, "In my empire, there's no distinction between five-colored dragons and metal dragons. The color of your scales doesn't decide what you can or can't do."
"They all share one identity—Aolan Dragons."
With the development of these years, the number of younger-generation Aolan Dragons had been steadily increasing.
They grew up in the empire's environment, accepting the creed that power is paramount, and held very little prejudice against one another.
As long as one was strong enough, even a White Dragon could earn the respect and following of all dragons. If one was weak, even a Red Dragon would be trampled under the claws of others.
This order was simple and direct, but it was also fair because of it.
Karus listened seriously, nodding slightly from time to time.
"What you're saying... I can somewhat understand."
A thoughtful look flashed in his eyes. "Only when we stop dividing ourselves into metal dragons and five-colored dragons, when we stop seeing each other as aliens, can the dragon race truly stand up again."
Garoth's expression didn't change much.
Although in the eyes of other dragons, the emergence of the Red Emperor had reminded the world of the dragon race's glory, he himself didn't have much interest in these things.
Many times, he just went with the flow, walking step by step along the path before him.
When he looked back, an empire had already formed behind him.
A trace of helplessness crept onto Karus's face.
"In fact, ever since the Bronze Dragon King led the Raging Tides Dragon Domain into the world, the young dragons of the various dragon domains have been finding it hard to contain themselves."
"They don't want to stay in the dragon domains forever."
"Especially after news of the Sacred Aola Empire spread, quite a few young dragons have flatly stated that they want to obtain imperial identity and become Aolan Dragons. They don't want to spend their whole lives holed up in the dragon domains as misers guarding piles of gold coins and napping."
After he finished speaking, he sighed.
Garoth listened and then said:
"Blocking is worse than channeling."
"We've all been young before. We know the younger generation has fiery spirit and hot blood. Rather than blindly obstructing them and forcing them to run away on their own, it's better to generously arrange a path for them."
Karus turned his head, waiting for the rest.
Garoth said, "My suggestion is that the dragon domains can select the best young dragons of the current generation, give them a few slots, and let them come to the Aola Empire, giving them a chance to experience the Aolan Dragon way of life."
Karus fell into deep thought.
After coming back to his senses, he said, "I think... that can be done."
"Moreover, Aolan Dragons can also come to the dragon domains for exchanges. Different types of great dragons can only break down prejudices, gradually understand each other, and realize that the other isn't as hideous or hypocritical as the legends say by interacting more."
Step into each other's midst.
Only then would the generations-old prejudices have a chance to be eliminated, making harmonious coexistence possible.
"I'll propose this to the other elders, and strive to..."
Karus's voice cut off abruptly.
It wasn't just him. It was as if an invisible giant hand had pressed the pause button on everything in the world. Everything around them froze at the same instant. The dust suspended between the bookshelves stopped in mid-air.
Garoth seemed to sense something at the last moment.
His fingers tightened slightly, and the "Bernardo Chronicles" slipped from his palm, falling toward the ground.
But the torrent of time came too swiftly.
Before he could make any further reaction, his body and mind were frozen in place. The book was also frozen in mid-air. The page that had been flipped open was suspended in the air, its corners slightly curled but utterly motionless.
Then.
A barely perceptible ripple spread out.
From the center of the ripple, a figure walked out.
He wasn't tall—much shorter than Garoth. His face was delicate, his features soft. He looked like a teenager of sixteen or seventeen, but he had a pair of emerald-green eyes, deep as a starry sky, completely unlike the gaze a youth should have.
Fine wrinkles appeared on his face, then disappeared, then reappeared, then vanished again.
An endless cycle.
The humanoid form of the Gold Dragon King, Audothos.
He walked up to Garoth, stopped, tilted his head slightly, and studied the frozen figure with an appraising gaze.
"Last time I saw him, he wasn't even Legendary. How many years has it been? He's already achieved the Mandate of Heaven. And even if he wanted to, he could directly choose to ascend to a divine throne."
"I wasn't wrong. He truly is exceptional."
Audothos muttered to himself.
A mixed-blood evil dragon winning the Dragon Domain Championship had been a first in all of Bernardo's history.
Back then, he had cast a little attention on the red iron dragon because of it.
As it turned out, he hadn't been wrong in his judgment.
This red iron dragon, who had once vied for the championship with his own descendant, now stood at the same height as him.
Audothos circled Garoth a few times, thinking: "Not bad. The experiment on him was successfully completed. In a short time, he broke through to the Mandate of Heaven, but the cost was that his actual age reached over six hundred years old."
Finally.
He walked to Garoth's front, carefully studying his face.
"Even more majestic than the rumors say."
He murmured, then circled around to the side again, his gaze falling on Garoth's shoulder and back area.
Even in humanoid form, the cast-iron-like bulging muscle lines still formed a clear outline under his robes.
Like a statue cast from steel, full of power.
Audothos extended a finger and, with a childlike curiosity, gently poked Garoth's arm.
Hard.
A distinct sensation of hardness came from his fingertip.
His brow twitched slightly, and he poked Garoth's chest. The feel was even harder than before.
"Really soft and supple, huh."
Audothos withdrew his hand and sincerely remarked: "This body is as strong as divine iron. Even among us dragons, known for our powerful physiques, it's second to none. A dragon among dragons, a physique found once in ten thousand."
He raised his finger again, ready to poke once more.
Just then.
A burst of light suddenly flared from Garoth's chest.
The light was dazzling, a molten-iron crimson.
It clearly shone through his robes and skin, like a star buried in his chest, gleaming.
Then.
On Garoth's skin surface, dragon scales visibly emerged.
They were closely arranged one by one, forming a ring-like pattern.
At the same time, Garoth's body trembled.
It was a small movement, but in a completely frozen space, it was astonishing enough.
Clang!
The light flashed again, brighter than before for an instant.
The ring-like scales rapidly spread, simultaneously emerging from Garoth's neck, wrists, and ankles.
Audothos was taken aback. A flash of surprise crossed his emerald-green eyes, as if he hadn't expected this to happen.
Then, the statue-like figure came to life.
The movement was very slow, like a heavy iron mountain resisting the pressure of an invisible force. But as the light on his chest flashed, his speed increased.
Finally, he lowered his head, his gaze falling on his own chest.
To be precise, it fell on Audothos's hand, which was hanging in the air, just about to poke his chest.
The scene was silent for a moment.
Audothos was a bit embarrassed.
In frozen time, he had long been accustomed to acting as he pleased, flipping through whatever he wanted, getting close to observe whoever he pleased, without caring about any creature's opinion.
But he hadn't expected Garoth to break free from the stagnant time's influence.
Still, beneath his youthful face lay an ancient soul that had lived through long ages, having seen countless storms and waves.
Under Garoth's gaze, he naturally withdrew his hand, letting it hang by his side.
The embarrassment was merely a flash in the pan, vanishing in an instant as he returned to normal.
A smile could even curl at the corner of Audothos's lips.
"As expected of the Red Emperor, the being who can forge countless legends."
"I didn't expect you to have some grasp of the mysteries of time, to be able to maintain thought and action within frozen time."
The mysteries of time?
What was this thing?
There were no such abstract concepts in Garoth's mind.
But he knew clearly that it was his Battle Dragon trait operating at full capacity. This trait had undergone a qualitative transformation when he advanced to the Mandate of Heaven. Compared to the original Eternal War Eternal Progress, they were completely different leagues.
One was rolling in the mud; the other was soaring in the clouds.
Back when he fought the Crowned Time Warden of Lothrian, he had been stopped in time multiple times, paying many prices just to gain a sliver of time resistance.
It was pitifully weak. Being able to roll his eyes during a time stop was already his limit.
But this time was completely different.
After undergoing rapid and violent adaptive evolution, the ring-like scales formed on his body were extraordinary, possessing extremely strong resistance to time. Perhaps they wouldn't let him move completely freely, but they also wouldn't leave him like a lamb for slaughter, completely oblivious to his surroundings.
"I don't care about mysteries or whatever."
Garoth looked into the other's emerald-green eyes and said, "All dragons say the Gold Dragon King is mysterious. So it turns out that when you appear, you freeze the time around you, preventing other dragons from detecting your arrival. That's quite convenient."
"But, using frozen time to poke and prod at others..."
"The Dragon King's methods and hobbies are truly one of a kind."