Chapter 639: One Hundred Thousand Times Supergravity, White Dwarf Tempering 20
Countless stars hung against the pitch-black canvas of space.
They were dense and silent, scattering their light, yet within this vast and suffocating void, even the most dazzling radiance felt insignificant.
The red iron dragon hung suspended within the asteroid belt.
He gazed at the Lunar Dragon before him, his gaze slowly sweeping across its slender, black-and-white body.
The Lunar Dragon's form was much more slender than his. Its body edges had a faint, translucent quality, as if it could merge into the surrounding starry sky at any moment.
"Lionel, dragons like you are quite rare."
Garoth said, "My inherited memories mention that Lunar Dragons usually try to avoid communicating with other life forms. Yet, you seem eager to talk to me?"
The Lunar Dragon paused slightly.
It tilted its head, revealing a confused expression.
"You're right."
Lionel's voice rang directly in Garoth's mind. "By my nature, once you discovered me, I should have immediately avoided further contact and simply phased out and disappeared."
"That's what I should have done."
"Instead, I subconsciously stayed put and actively initiated a conversation with you..."
Space Dragons, some scholars also call them Cosmic Dragons, Starry Sky Dragons, and such titles are recorded in different ancient texts.
Their exact origins are a matter of much debate.
Among them, the most widely accepted theory is that Space Dragons originated from Gemstone Dragons.
It is said that in an extremely ancient era, a few Gemstone Dragons chose to leave the mortal world and settle in the cosmic starry sky.
Perhaps they grew tired of the conflicts on the ground, or perhaps they were drawn by the vastness of the starry sky.
In any case, these Gemstone Dragons severed ties with other life forms, building their lairs on the far side of satellites, in the crevices of asteroids, and even on more distant celestial bodies in deep space.
After a long period of change, these Gemstone Dragons were continuously influenced by the cosmic environment.
Their bodies and magic underwent subtle yet profound transformations, gradually evolving into the independent dragon species now known as Space Dragons.
Take the Lunar Dragon, for instance.
Their breath attack is similar to that of Amethyst Dragons, both spewing energy crystals.
Furthermore, they share many similar spell-like abilities.
And most Lunar Dragons possess hobbies and habits similar to Amethyst Dragons.
They might reside on some satellite, observing the development and changes of other races, watching cities rise from nothing, witnessing wars break out and subside time and again, seeing civilizations struggle forward in the long river of time.
It's like watching a grand and lengthy stage play.
The stars are the curtain, the planets are the stage, and they are the audience hidden in the darkness, never to be noticed by the actors on stage.
The difference is that Gemstone Dragons occasionally step onto the stage themselves, participating in the drama under various identities.
Lunar Dragons, on the other hand, adhere strictly to the principle of non-interference and non-disturbance, maintaining a fairly pure spectator's stance.
At this point, hearing the Lunar Dragon's response, Garoth suddenly understood in his heart.
He roughly knew the reason.
[Dragon Succubus].
It was probably this trait of his taking effect, causing the Lunar Dragon, who should have directly vanished and left, to subconsciously defy its nature, unable to resist staying and even actively starting a conversation.
Lionel, however, fell into a brief contemplation.
He savored his own emotions, trying to find a reasonable explanation.
"Perhaps it's because I've been reclusive for too long."
The Lunar Dragon mused, "I dwell on Bernardo's moon, watching empires rise and fall, races change. The actors on stage come and go, the plays change, but I remain always a spectator, never having the thought to participate."
"For a long, long time, I haven't spoken a single word to anyone on that stage."
"As time went on, I even forgot that I still had the desire to speak."
Having said this, his voice paused for a moment.
The Lunar Dragon's gaze fell upon the red iron dragon, carefully scrutinizing him from top to bottom.
"But you, you are different."
"Among all the actors, you are the one who left the deepest impression on me." He continued, "Now, you have directly stepped off the stage, walked right up to me, walked onto the moon. This experience... is very unfamiliar to me."
The Lunar Dragon tilted its head slightly, its tone becoming more certain.
"Perhaps it's this unfamiliarity that made me stay subconsciously."
Garoth listened quietly, without interrupting.
He was silent and focused, his massive dragon head slightly lowered, his eyes calmly fixed on the other.
This posture of listening made him, in an intangible way, radiate even more of that special allure that makes other dragons want to communicate and draw near.
Furthermore, just by his appearance as a red iron dragon, his very existence would make most creatures feel a tremendous sense of pressure, almost instinctively wanting to keep their distance.
But Lionel felt a sense of closeness.
For a Lunar Dragon, this was a very rare emotion.
He had spent far too many long years alone, but now, facing this red iron dragon right in front of him, he felt a long-lost desire to continue the conversation.
He thought for a moment but didn't move closer.
The Lunar Dragon retreated some distance, his figure becoming a bit more blurred in the vacuum.
"If my presence offends you, I can leave right now."
He said seriously, "I don't like unnecessary conflict, especially with an opponent like you."
Lionel was quite perceptive to danger.
The feeling this red iron dragon before him gave him was like a star on the verge of eruption – seemingly calm on the surface, but within it held immeasurable, terrifying power. It was very dangerous.
Garoth looked at him and suddenly asked:
"Lionel, Space Dragons like you, are you very familiar with this starry sky?"
The Lunar Dragon paused slightly.
He hadn't expected the red iron dragon to suddenly change the subject.
"I wouldn't say very familiar." The Lunar Dragon chose his words carefully, speaking with caution, "But at least I know a bit more than most dragons."
He paused, then added:
"My inherited memories contain a lot of knowledge about the universe, experiences accumulated by previous Lunar Dragons as they traveled the stars, passed down from generation to generation."
"Besides, when I get bored, I naturally fly out for a spin."
He raised one dragon claw, pointing towards the deep space beyond the asteroid belt.
"I know many special celestial bodies."
"Pulsars, which flash at fixed intervals; black holes, abysses from which even light cannot escape, the space around them warped into lenses; nebulae, gas oceans spanning dozens of light-years, colorful..."
As he spoke, his silver eyes lit up.
Clearly, he had a genuine love for these cosmic wonders; otherwise, he wouldn't be so engrossed in the telling.
Garoth listened.
After the Lunar Dragon's voice faded, he said, "I came to the starry sky because Bernardo no longer has a place suitable for me."
The red iron dragon looked around him.
"And here, this asteroid belt, is only good for warming up. I need a venue where I can go all out, to hone the power of this body of mine."
For Garoth, the starry sky was the most suitable training ground.
Boundless space, extreme environments, various kinds of celestial bodies – each could become a tool to temper himself.
But the starry sky was just too vast.
Though it appeared filled with countless stars covering every corner of one's vision, the reality was more emptiness and deathly stillness.
The distance between two celestial bodies is often measured in light-years.
And across those vast distances, besides darkness and nothingness, there was almost nothing.
Garoth's inherited memories didn't contain detailed cosmic knowledge.
He knew of the existence of extreme celestial bodies like white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes.
But their coordinates, their characteristics, and the routes needed to reach them were all blank in his memories.
Finding the place he wanted in such a vast universe wasn't easy.
It would inevitably require a massive expenditure of mental energy to explore and sift through things one by one. If his luck was bad, he might waste his time drifting aimlessly without finding anything.
Lionel fell silent.
He didn't respond immediately. Instead, his gaze swept back and forth across the red iron dragon's body, lingering on the powerful muscles that still bulged beneath the scales.
"You are a Mandate Great Dragon."
"At this level, the effect of training becomes extremely faint. Every bit of progress requires long-term accumulation, consuming countless years – ten years, even a hundred years – just to see a hint of improvement."
He reminded.
In the Lunar Dragon's view, once a dragon reached the Mandate Great Dragon level, continuing to pursue physical refinement was just too inefficient.
But Garoth merely curled the corners of his mouth, revealing a fanged smile.
"Lionel, you said you've observed me."
The red iron dragon's voice was low, speaking slowly. "Since you've looked down upon Bernardo through the starlight, since my figure has appeared in your field of vision many times, then you should know..."
He lifted his head, his gaze directly meeting the Lunar Dragon's.
"What is the true reason for my strength."
The Lunar Dragon paused slightly.
Yes.
He had almost forgotten.
The great dragon before him relied precisely on day-to-day accumulation.
Fight after fight, war after war, year after year. He never slackened, never felt satisfied, never stopped advancing just because he was already strong enough.
No shortcuts, no easy paths, no luck.
Purely with iron and blood, sweat and talent, he had forged himself into the Red Emperor who now shook all of Bernardo.
"I was limited by my own way of thinking."
The Lunar Dragon snapped back to reality. "I'm used to thinking like a Space Dragon."
He pondered for a few seconds, then said, "I know of a planet with a thousand times supergravity. What do you think? It requires at least a legendary life form just to stand on. An ordinary life form, without protection, would drop dead instantly."
"A thousand times?"
Garoth's tone was utterly unruffled. "Too little."
He was no ordinary legendary being.
Lionel wasn't surprised.
He should have expected this.
A thousand times supergravity was no challenge for this Red Emperor. What this great dragon wanted was the extreme environment that could truly temper him.
The Lunar Dragon's wings folded slightly as he thought hard.
"If a thousand times isn't enough..."
Lionel raised a claw, pointing in a certain direction in deep space.
"I know the location of a white dwarf star."
Garoth's spirit perked up.
His inherited memories weren't detailed or extensive, but they contained basic records.
For instance, white dwarfs.
These are the remnants of collapsed stars, ultra-dense celestial bodies with densities so unimaginable that a single cubic centimeter of matter weighs tens of tons, even hundreds of tons.
"Using Bernardo as a reference, the supergravity of a white dwarf can reach tens of thousands, even millions of times."
The Lunar Dragon continued, his tone becoming more serious. "This white dwarf I know has a supergravity level of around one hundred thousand times – the lowest category."
"Even so, it's still extremely dangerous."
"Out of curiosity, I once flew too close to a white dwarf, wanting to get a closer look at that kind of celestial body. The result was that its gravitational field captured me. My whole body felt like it was being grabbed by an invisible giant hand, dragged down."
He paused slightly, a look of lingering fear on his face.
"If I hadn't been able to phase and break free from the gravitational field's pull, I might not have gotten out."
The Lunar Dragon looked at Garoth, waiting to see a hint of hesitation or wariness on this red iron dragon's face.
But he saw nothing.
Instead, the red iron dragon's eyes gleamed, burning brighter than before.
"A white dwarf with one hundred thousand times supergravity."
The red iron dragon was raring to go. "This sounds... like it could be interesting."
He turned to the Lunar Dragon, without any hesitation, and said directly, "I want to go and experience it. You lead me there. Consider it... the price you pay for your presumptuous spying on me."
Lionel nodded.
"Very well. Since I was the one spying first, guiding you is the least I can do by way of compensation."
The Lunar Dragon turned around, his slender body aligning with a certain direction in deep space.
"Follow me closely."
He warned, "Even the deep space before we reach the white dwarf is filled with dangers that even an Immortal being cannot completely ignore."
"Stardust storms, dark matter currents, magnetar nebulae... all sorts of things could appear along the way."
"Get careless, and you might get sucked into a huge mess."
As he finished speaking, the Lunar Dragon's body began to blur.
His black-and-white form resembled an ink painting washed by water, its edges rapidly diffusing, its overall outline becoming hazy and indistinct.
The next moment, his figure vanished from its original spot.
When it solidified again, it was already at an extremely distant point, almost at the very edge of Garoth's field of vision.
As a Space Dragon, the Lunar Dragon had a movement method similar to teleportation.
They could briefly phase themselves and then reconstitute at another location, covering distances that defied common sense.
Garoth spread his wings, his massive wing membranes unfurling in the starry void.
His claws and wings moved simultaneously, slicing through space, tearing open fleeting spatial rifts. The red iron dragon's body plunged into the rift, leaping via the space folds, closely following the Lunar Dragon.
Two dragon silhouettes, one behind the other.
They passed through the asteroid belt, entering the deeper, more boundless starry sky.
Along the way, the canvas of the stars unfolded before Garoth's eyes.
He saw colorful nebulae.
Pinkish-purple and deep blue gases intertwined, mixed with bright yellow flocculent matter and dark red dust bands, stretching across an unknown expanse of void, like a piece of silk abandoned by the gods.
There was a prime-age star, quietly releasing light and heat within the nebula.
Passing by here, the two paused briefly.
Garoth hovered near this star, feeling the heat waves and radiation surging from its surface.
"Sun Dragons, Moon Dragons, Star Dragons."
He said, "Among these three types of dragons, it's said that Sun Dragons often make their lairs in the sun, that is, within stars. Is that correct?"
Sun Dragons and Moon Dragons, though both Space Dragons, have a relationship more like that of Chromatic Dragons and Metallic Dragons – they fight first when they meet, and if they encounter each other, they must determine who is superior.
This was what his inherited memories recorded.
Whether it was true or not was uncertain, but Garoth had a bit of interest in investigating it.
Hearing Garoth's question, Lionel nodded.
"Yes. Sun Dragons choose stars as their habitats, naturally able to survive on the surface of a sun."
His gaze swept over the star before them, and he said, "But there definitely isn't one on this star. I've passed by here many times and never sensed the aura of a Sun Dragon."
Lionel paused, his voice growing softer.
"Not just Sun Dragons."
"I've never seen any other Moon Dragons or Star Dragons with my own eyes either."
There was a trace of loneliness in his voice.
When Lionel was born, it was on the moon of the planet Bernardo.
Besides him, there were no other dragons around, nor any parents or siblings.
He knew his race and identity from his inherited memories, but those memories contained only knowledge and experience, not companionship.
As he gradually grew up, he occasionally explored the surrounding starry sky, searching for traces of other Space Dragons.
The result was that, besides himself, he had never seen any other Space Dragons.
No Sun Dragons basking in stars, no Star Dragons patrolling the edges of nebulae, no other Moon Dragons perched on some satellite quietly observing.
Dragons like them were just too rare.
Lionel even suspected that he might be the last Space Dragon in this world.
However, over the long years, he had grown accustomed to solitude. He found pleasure in observing other life forms and had also learned not to expect encounters with other Space Dragons anymore.
The red iron dragon looked thoughtful.
He said, "Just because he has no kin in space doesn't mean he has none on planets. The Five-Colored Dragons, Metal Dragons, Gemstone Dragons, Iron Hybrid Dragons... they are all part of the dragon race, just like him."
Aola didn't have any Space Dragons.
But Aola could accept them.
Garoth himself didn't have the peculiar obsession of needing to collect every type of dragon, but he would be very happy to see the dragons of Aola become more diverse.
The Sacred Aola Empire's positioning was as a Dragon Empire.
So, the more complete the variety of different great dragons, the better.
Beside him, the Lunar Dragon neither confirmed nor denied, remaining silent. He just hung quietly in the starlight, and Garoth didn't say anything more either.
The two of them bathed in the star's radiance from a close distance, quietly appreciating its majesty, each lost in their own thoughts.
After that, they set off again.
Various cosmic wonders flashed by in their vision.
The two dragon silhouettes flew using spatial teleportation, crossing one void after another, until at one point, Lionel stopped.
"We're here."
The Lunar Dragon's voice rang in Garoth's mind.
Garoth looked forward.
A white dwarf.
It hung suspended in deep space, not burning with the dazzling flames of a star.
It was just a white sphere tinged with pale yellow.
It looked ordinary, not as spectacular in size as a star, even seeming somewhat inconspicuous.
But when Garoth stared at it, even from a vast distance, he could still feel a primal warning and alertness.
It was too heavy.
So heavy that the surrounding starry sky looked different.
Quieter, more stagnant.
There were no asteroid belts around it, no debris or dust. Everything that approached it, regardless of size, had already been swallowed by its gravity, leaving not even a trace.
"This is the place."
The Lunar Dragon turned his head, moving his gaze away from the white dwarf, and said to Garoth, "Near it, there was once a planet, quite large, but it was torn apart by its gravity long ago. The fragments were absorbed bit by bit, becoming part of it."
He paused, his tone becoming even more serious.
"Its gravity is at least one hundred thousand times that of Bernardo. Extremely dangerous."
Having said that, the Lunar Dragon asked, "What do you plan to do next?"
"Experience it up close, of course."
Garoth's gaze didn't leave the white dwarf. He stared at the white sphere tinged with pale yellow and said, "The closer, the better. Ideally, on its surface."
The Lunar Dragon's expression turned serious.
"You might not be aware, but the space around this celestial body is very stable, its structure completely different from Bernardo's."
He raised his claw, pointing towards the white dwarf. "Too close, and my phasing will be affected. I won't be able to enter the phased state as freely as usual."
"Your spatial leap method might also fail here."
"My suggestion is to keep your distance."
Keep his distance? Then why did he come here?
Garoth moved his gaze from the white dwarf to the Lunar Dragon.
"I have proper limits." He said, "An environment with one hundred thousand times supergravity shouldn't be enough to trap me here."
"Still, your reminder isn't wrong."
The red iron dragon's body shook slightly.
Dragon Qi surged out like a tangible mist, churning around him.
By his side, a mass of red light coalesced into a solid form, growing more and more distinct, gradually outlining the silhouette of another red iron dragon.
The texture of the scales, the curve of the wings, the lines of the muscles, even the fine battle scars on the dragon scales were perfectly replicated.
A few seconds later, two identical red iron dragons hung suspended in the starry void.
Facing each other, like mirror images.
One Garoth hovered in place, his wings slightly folded, maintaining a relaxed posture.
The other Garoth spread his wings with a single beat and, without looking back, flew straight towards the white dwarf.
A Star-Self clone.
It was composed entirely of Dragon Qi, but its senses were linked to the main body. Everything the clone felt, the main body could also feel – whether hot or cold, pain or pressure – all transmitted without reservation.
Using it to scout was perfect.
Garoth's main body hovered in place, his eyes closed tightly.
Through the clone's eyes, he watched the approaching white dwarf, feeling the gravity shift from a faint tug into an irresistible pull.
The clone descended further.
The white dwarf grew larger in his vision, transforming from a sphere into a curved wall, and from the curved wall into a flat horizon.
Soon, the clone landed on the surface.
A formless force as heavy as a mountain pressed down on the clone. Every inch of its scales endured unimaginable pressure.
But the clone didn't collapse immediately.
At the same time, the Spell-Extinguishing Claws could still tear through space, but it required more time. This feeling was somewhat similar to the sensation of being illuminated by the elves' moon.
Not long after.
In space, Garoth opened his eyes.
The clone's strength wasn't as great as the main body's, but it was enough to crush the vast majority of legendary dragons. Even so, on the white dwarf's surface, it felt an absolutely terrifying pressure.
But this was precisely the effect Garoth wanted.
The harsher the environment, the more pronounced the tempering effect, the faster the body would adapt and evolve.
"I'm ready."
Garoth said, "It's dangerous, but not enough to make me steer clear."
He looked at the Lunar Dragon. "Want to go down and experience it together?"
The Lunar Dragon shook his head.
"I'm not a madman like you."
The Lunar Dragon's figure retreated, gradually blurring. "I'll circle around for a while, keep an eye on the surroundings. Doing this kind of training on a white dwarf... you're on your own for that."
Garoth grinned.
Then he turned around, faced the white planet, and began to approach.
After flying a certain distance, he folded his wings, pressing them tightly against his body, condensing the sharp contours of his Rift Form into the most compact state possible.
Garoth adjusted his angle, tilting himself towards the white dwarf.
Gravity captured him.
It was like an invisible hand grabbing his entire body, starting to pull him into the white abyss. Initially slow, like the first second of sinking into the deep sea, then it accelerated. His body began to fall uncontrollably.
Faster and faster, faster and faster.
The red iron dragon's eyes were bright as he let the supergravity drag him towards the white dwarf's surface.
The white sphere tinged with pale yellow rapidly expanded in his vision, transforming from a ball suspended in deep space into a sky-covering white wall.
The surface grew closer and closer.
Garoth saw its surface.
Smooth, flat, an almost perfectly spherical curve.
Completely different from Bernardo.
Bernardo's surface had mountains and plains, canyons and rivers, undulating mountain ranges and deep oceanic trenches – signs of life everywhere.
But the white dwarf's surface had no undulating mountains, no common topographical features seen on normal planets.
It looked like a white marble polished by a creator, silently suspended in deep space.
Silent. Cruel.
Then, the dragon crashed into it.
There was no sound.
There was no air medium to transmit sound here, but at that instant, Garoth's body felt the full force of the impact.
His vision violently shook. The rebound force was like countless giant hammers simultaneously smashing into his body, spreading from the point of contact throughout his entire frame, shaking his internal organs.
With the tremor of the surface, a collapsed crater appeared.
But that was it.
A supergravity impact, pulled by one hundred thousand times the normal gravity, would have been enough to make mountains collapse and the earth shatter on Bernardo.
But here, it only created a crater.
The rim of the crater bulged slightly. The dense matter was forcibly compressed and deformed. Fine cracks spread from the crater's edge outward but stopped after extending only a short distance.
Garoth lay at the bottom of the crater, his chest rising and falling slightly.
His vision was a bit blurry, and dull aches pulsed from various parts of his body.
He shook his head, snapped back to his senses, and carefully inspected himself.
His dragon scales were covered in fine cracks. The scales on his shoulder blades were almost completely shattered, with many fragments embedded in his flesh. Inside, a few ribs were also broken.
Garoth blinked.
He lay on his back at the bottom of the crater he had made, staring up at the pitch-black deep space above.
The figure of the Lunar Dragon Lionel was nowhere to be seen. Only the countless stars hung quietly on the celestial canopy – cold, indifferent, like countless icy eyes staring at the red dragon on this white planet.
Then, the red iron dragon laughed.
A satisfied laugh, fangs and all.
"How long has it been?"
He asked himself.
On Bernardo, he had crashed into the earth countless times.
Back then, he was young, his body not strong enough. Each impact was a gamble.
But after he passed his youth stage, he had never again considered the possibility of being injured by the rebound. The one that got destroyed was always the thing he crashed into.
It had been a very, very long time since he had felt this level of impact.
The feelings of his youth were all back now.
Pain. Struggle. The difficulty of gritting one's teeth to climb back up from the bottom of a crater.
"This is... real training."
The red iron dragon murmured.
This over six-hundred-year-old ancient dragon now felt his blood burning with the fervor of a Young Dragon.
His heart pounded in his chest cavity, his blood surged through his veins, every cell in his body awakened under this extreme pressure.
Immediately after, the great dragon slowly stood up from the bottom of the crater.
His movements were slow, as if carrying a colossal mountain. His battle-damaged body looked particularly striking against the backdrop of the white earth.
Whoosh...
The red iron dragon took a step, walking out of the crater.
He looked around, surveying his environment.
Flat. Desolate. Harsh.
No enemies or opponents, no existence he needed to defeat. Only this silent white planet beneath his feet and the boundless black deep space above. Only himself.
One hundred thousand times supergravity was like an invisible giant hand grabbing Garoth, pressing his body towards the ground.
But he didn't submit. Instead, he puffed out his chest, raised his head inch by inch.
Then, the great dragon began to run.
On this flat, smooth, completely featureless land, the red iron dragon stretched out his limbs and, facing the boundless deep space above, ran in silence.
Not fast.
You could even say it was slow.
But with every step he took or put down, Garoth could clearly feel his own heartbeat.
His muscles, pulled taut like steel cables, bulged beneath his scales. His hot blood, flowing like a great river, surged through his blood vessels. His heart was like a blacksmith's anvil, beat after beat, heavy and powerful.
Here, with just simple movements, his body received unprecedented tempering.
Running. Rolling. Flying...
He trained his body in the simplest ways, just like when he was young, and he savored every moment of it.
And so, he continued.
After an unknown amount of time.
The red iron dragon's chest heaved violently. He stood on the surface, a look of satisfaction in his eyes.
"The training efficiency here is way higher than before."
He muttered to himself.
"Most importantly, my body is fighting against this supergravity every second. Under this kind of stimulation, it will develop unprecedented adaptability, allowing me to evolve faster."
The only problem was the real danger here.
He couldn't afford to be too severely damaged, or he might genuinely get trapped here for a long time. If he couldn't maintain enough strength, this one hundred thousand times supergravity would become an inescapable cage.
"I won't stay for too long this time."
"Once I have full preparations, I'll come here regularly."
Garoth thought for a moment and decided to test if the Super Flash Overlord State could break free from the gravity's hold purely through physical strength.
So, his form began to change.
His body straightened up, his spine straightened, his head lifted. His gaze changed as well, taking on an aura of unquestionable dominance.
He mutated into the Super Flash Overlord State, and his mindset changed subtly along with it.
"This white dwarf belongs to me from now on."
"Not just here. I was born to rule over everything. Sooner or later, this universe, this starry sky, will all lie prostrate beneath my wings."
His gaze swept across the deep space, measuring his dominion.
Then, the great dragon crouched down.
His claws dug deep into the white dwarf's dense surface, using it as an anchor point, compressing his entire body to its lowest.
In the Super Flash Overlord State, the red iron dragon's muscles bulged like mountain ranges. Every tendon in his legs was like a steel cable pulled to its limit.
Then, the dragon jumped.
All his power exploded at once.
The white dwarf's surface cracked into a circular crater under his feet. The dense matter was forced to curl outwards by this terrifying power.
His body shot up like an arrow, tearing through the supergravity's hold, charging straight up towards the deep space above.
A thousand meters.
Two thousand meters.
Three thousand meters.
...The white dwarf shrank beneath him. His speed grew faster and faster.
Then, at the apex, it began to decelerate.
Supergravity grabbed hold of every inch of his body again, like an invisible hand grabbing his tail from behind, gradually gnawing away his upward speed.
His ascent grew slower and slower, until he finally stalled mid-air.
Then, the red iron dragon crashed back to the ground.
Another dull impact. Another new crater.
Garoth climbed up from the bottom of the crater, shaking off the debris from his body.
"Even the Overlord State's body can't directly charge out. No wonder the inherited memories mentioned that the gods use celestial bodies in the Material Plane to seal away evil gods and monsters they can't completely kill."
The red iron dragon shook his head, lost in thought.
Those terrifying beings that the gods defeated but couldn't completely destroy were often sealed within certain extreme celestial bodies, using the constraints of the Material Plane's rules and the terrifying environment of cosmic bodies to suppress and imprison them.
This white dwarf was probably still a long way from being enough to seal an evil god.
But above white dwarfs were even more dangerous neutron stars, and black holes from which even light couldn't escape.
Those were the true cosmic abysses.
Then, Garoth adjusted his condition and simultaneously activated the Starlight State and a single Radiance.
His body size expanded inch by inch, his surface coated with a golden membrane.
The golden dragon stood on the white earth of the white dwarf, like a sun rising on the surface of this dead star. Then, he leaped again.
The white dwarf shrank rapidly once more.
Finally, it changed from a sky-covering white wall back into a white sphere suspended in deep space.
Garoth made a single, decisive push and broke free of its capture range. The gravity behind him rapidly weakened, and the feeling of being grabbed finally dissipated.
At the same time.
The surrounding space phased and then solidified, and the figure of the Lunar Dragon Lionel materialized, appearing before Garoth.
He looked at the red iron dragon with shock and disbelief, his silver eyes filled with incredulity.
"You... just made a big leap on the flat ground and got out like that?"
Garoth nodded slowly.
His body gradually transformed into his Vanquishing form, absorbing the ambient stellar energy to replenish the energy he had just expended. The energy consumed under the supergravity environment was recovering bit by bit, and the cracks in his scales were slowly healing.
"This planet is quite good."
Garoth said simultaneously, "It's exactly the kind of place I need. I suggest you go down and experience it too."
The Lunar Dragon fell silent.
His gaze moved back and forth between the white dwarf and Garoth, but in the end, he said nothing, rendered speechless.
His physical body wasn't weak, but it was nowhere near the level of the monster before him.
If he descended rashly, the most likely outcome was being pinned down, unable to move. If his phasing was also affected by the distortion, he would inevitably be trapped and die on the white dwarf.
"Lionel... do you know the location of a neutron star, or a black hole?"
Garoth changed the subject, suddenly asking.
The Lunar Dragon said, "I've seen them from afar. What, you want to get close to that kind of cosmic celestial body too?"
Garoth thought for a moment, then shook his head slightly.
"No. Not yet."
He said, his gaze fixed on deep space. "But maybe someday in the future, I'll want to go take a look."
With his current strength, recklessly approaching those celestial bodies carried more risk than reward. There was no point exploring them now.
This cosmic exploration trip would end here for now.
The white dwarf was already sufficient for his training.
Garoth left his Star-Self clone nearby in the starry void as an anchor point. He could quickly teleport here later without having to re-cross the vast distances.
Across from him, Lionel nodded.
"I usually reside on Bernardo's moon. If you have any questions or pursuits regarding the cosmos and the starry sky, you can come find me on the moon."
Having said that, as if thinking of something, he shook his head again.
"No, never mind."
The Lunar Dragon changed his mind. "I'm preparing to find a new place to reside."
Garoth asked, "Oh? From what you said before, you've lived on Bernardo's moon for a very long time. Why the change of scenery?"
The Lunar Dragon's expression became serious.
He looked up, his gaze sweeping across the boundless starry sky, and then said, "The stars tell me that a calamity, starting from the far side of the starry river, is approaching Bernardo. Its moon might also be affected, so I'm preparing to move."
The red iron dragon's expression gradually stiffened and darkened.
Lunar Dragons possess the special talent of listening to the voices of the stars, allowing them to seek good fortune and avoid disaster.
This talent is essentially a keen perception of various energies and information in the universe. It's not some prophecy or divination. Most of the time, it can only sense dangers within the cosmos.
For Lionel to be this serious, he must have sensed an immense danger.
"What calamity?"
Garoth pressed further.
The Lunar Dragon stared directly into the red iron dragon's eyes, his voice low and grave:
"Remember the meteor shower that once swept across the Arotala Continent? That was the precursor. It kept me from sleeping peacefully. And now, the warnings from the stars have reached a level that makes my heart pound in terror."
"I suggest you first make preparations to escape this planet."