Hearing that this matter was connected to Odyn, Lu Qiuchen was momentarily puzzled.
This shouldn’t be right. If Odyn had any plans regarding the Celestial Shards at Yalong’s place, why didn’t he just tell me directly back then?
Lu Qiuchen sensed something was off and hurriedly asked Frost Crystal Yalong again, “You said it was Odyn? Are you sure the other party is Odyn, the Lord of the Dragon Clan?”
“Of course! That was spoken by the lord himself! Scared now, huh?” Frost Crystal Yalong retorted to Lu Qiuchen.
Although large chunks of the ice crystals covering Frost Crystal Yalong’s body had been shattered by Lu Qiuchen, and the once perfectly protected skin beneath had cracked, the Dragon Clan’s formidable regeneration caused the blood to congeal on the surface of his skin, making him look quite miserable. Yet at this moment, he still put on a proud and confident posture, as if already seeing the panic on the silver dragon’s face upon hearing his words.
“You’re going to compensate me for my palace and pay me five tons of…- tons of gold coins! That’ll do for now.” Frost Crystal Yalong was already planning how to extort the silver dragon, but even though dragons were wealthy, he didn’t dare ask for too much. In the end, he settled on a price he considered reasonable to avoid getting beaten up again.
It was a pity he’d just been beaten twice and couldn’t fight back. But who could blame him for misjudging the situation? This silver dragon was really ruthless!
In truth, Frost Crystal Yalong’s injuries only looked severe. Lu Qiuchen knew the extent of her own strikes—she hadn’t used any attack magic to directly hit him. The palace collapsed earlier only because he had been lazy when building it, neglecting to reinforce the ground with magic. Her earth magic continuously disturbed the soil underneath, causing it to cave in.
Helping this Yalong rebuild a house was nothing; with her current magical skills, it would take less than half an hour. But compensation in gold coins? Not a chance!
“He said it himself… When did Odyn meet with you? How long is his body?”
Lu Qiuchen thought for a moment. Although she did receive orders from Odyn, she still felt uneasy. What if these Yalongs had been secretly assigned some task? So she cautiously confirmed with Yalong.
Frost Crystal Yalong gestured according to Lu Qiuchen’s estimate, then hesitated before adding a few meters more, “Body length… about this long! The last time I saw him was a few hundred years ago…”
“Feels smaller than what I saw… Maybe Odyn’s body has grown a bit since then? But that’s unlikely.”
Doubt rose in Lu Qiuchen’s heart, and she asked again, “What kind of dragon is he? How do you know for sure he’s the Lord of the Dragon Clan?”
“Of course, he’s a silver dragon! Don’t doubt it! Because that lord doesn’t need any other proof to confirm his identity; his dragon aura naturally reveals his status to all dragons!” Frost Crystal Yalong gave Lu Qiuchen a doubtful look, as if saying, ‘How could you be a dragon and not know this?’
“You said Odyn is a silver dragon!” Lu Qiuchen was extremely surprised. She had just found the source of the problem! If she was not mistaken, this ‘Odyn’ was actually an impersonation by Gelf!
Since Yalongs had almost no contact with ordinary pureblooded dragons, let alone the Lord of the Dragon Clan, the possibility that the other party was mistaken or deceived was extremely high.
Yalongs usually keep their distance from dragons unless seeking refuge, and if unlucky, those seeking refuge from bad-tempered dragons might even die. Dragons approaching Yalongs proactively only meant two things: either the Yalong was useful or edible.
From what Lu Qiuchen knew, only Gelf among the silver dragons had strength beyond legend. He was likely the only one capable of simulating Odyn’s dragon aura, and he indeed had close ties with half-dragons. Of course, it was not impossible that some other bold dragon would impersonate Odyn, but that possibility was very slim.
So this was very likely the case, and if true, it would explain why Odyn had not warned her earlier.
After all, most dragons were unwilling to come to this region where Yalongs lived. Even if the Elders Council assigned a task, it was uncertain they would uncover this scheme. Gelf stirring trouble here under the guise of the Lord of the Dragon Clan was perfectly reasonable, and it wasn’t surprising that Odyn, the old house dragon, didn’t know about it.
Frost Crystal Yalong waited for the damn silver dragon to back down and admit defeat but instead caught the other’s caring gaze, which inexplicably made him feel insulted.
Seeing Lu Qiuchen advance toward him again, Frost Crystal Yalong put on a fierce front, but inside, he was trembling: “What do you mean by this? Are you going to rebel against the Lord of the Dragon Clan?”
“Heh, you think I’d be afraid of that? Hurry up and hand over the Celestial Shards!” Lu Qiuchen replied with a disdainful smile. Since he wasn’t the real Odyn, all she needed was to get the Celestial Shards. At worst, she could return to Dragon Island and report the situation to Gelf.
So Lu Qiuchen didn’t want to explain anything to Frost Crystal Yalong. If she said too little, he wouldn’t believe it. If she said too much, she’d expose Gelf’s hidden plan. If that plan was important and she angered Gelf, what then? It was better to remain silent and later blame everything on Odyn, since it was Odyn who supposedly told her about the whereabouts of the Celestial Shards.
Lu Qiuchen was also curious about Gelf’s plan. She wondered what he intended to do under Odyn’s name, but she feared uncovering something troublesome and decided to skip over it.
However, Frost Crystal Yalong mistakenly thought Lu Qiuchen didn’t understand the seriousness of the situation. He roared angrily, unwillingly revealing information: “You can’t take it! Lord Odyn previously instructed us to restrict the development speed of the half-dragons…”
*****
“A few hundred years ago, we lent the Celestial Shards to the half-dragons to help them rise quickly and gain status in the Orc Kingdom. It was supposed to be a win-win, but eventually, the half-dragons became too strong and expanded rapidly, posing a great threat to the Yalongs. This caused much discord between us.”
“This information somehow reached Lord Odyn, and he ordered us to reclaim the shards and forbid lending the shards to the half-dragons again. He also specifically stated that the shards must be kept by us in the future! As for the deeper intentions of the lord, I’m not aware.”
“You bastard, how can you not believe me! Why would I tell you such an easily disproved lie?”
The voice of the Frost Crystal Dragon King echoed from within Zhang Cheng’s heart. Zhang Cheng glanced at Natasha beside him and deeply frowned.
During Lu Qiuchen’s recent coercion, Natasha had told him about the half-dragon tribe’s current situation and the hidden dangers within the clan, requesting Zhang Cheng to lend the Celestial Shards to her. She promised to pay whatever necessary price.
On the surface, Zhang Cheng appeared sympathetic to their plight, but inwardly, he was indifferent. Neither he nor Lu Qiuchen was the type of saint to give away the Celestial Shards they had worked so hard to acquire. Moreover, the shards were extremely important to both of them.
As for the price proposed… Sugarcoated threats get thrown back at them? Ahem, that wasn’t necessary. He wasn’t planning to court death; being a Dragon Knight was already a blessing enough.
But after hearing Frost Crystal Yalong’s story, Zhang Cheng saw this as an opportunity to restore Lu Qiuchen’s human perspective, and his attitude shifted slightly.
He considered persuading Lu Qiuchen to help the half-dragons find other methods and encourage prolonged contact with them, hoping she might come to identify with her half-dragon identity and thus weaken the influence of dragon clan ideology in her heart.
But he wasn’t sure if Lu Qiuchen would agree to this plan, and it required too much time. Time was what they lacked most, so Zhang Cheng quickly discarded the idea.
Seeing Zhang Cheng fall into thought again made Natasha angry. This human was really impervious to persuasion!
She wasn’t blind; she had long seen through his evasiveness. Feeling frustrated and disappointed, she began to give up, but suddenly had an idea—to tempt this human and test his resolve.
If he refused her, the half-dragons would have to find another way. The Celestial Shards would be out of reach; after all, he was probably a subordinate of the Silver Dragon Lord, so rejecting her was normal.
But if he agreed… that would be wonderful! Obtaining the Celestial Shards could solve the clan’s crisis. For the sake of her people’s future, she was willing to make these sacrifices!
After Lu Qiuchen stretched her limbs again, she left the ruins where Frost Crystal Yalong had been briefly trapped, her right hand holding the Celestial Shard as she stepped out of the collapsed palace and saw the two deep in thought.
“What are you two doing?” Lu Qiuchen already knew Natasha had returned and roughly guessed her intention. But seeing this scene, she couldn’t help but ask Zhang Cheng via sound transmission.
“Nothing! I firmly resisted the seductive advances of this half-dragon beauty and resolutely rejected her. She couldn’t take the blow and went into a shell.” Zhang Cheng’s words sounded like nonsense, but he spoke with conviction.
Lu Qiuchen rolled her eyes and urged Zhang Cheng to take out the shard and combine the two crystal pieces together.
After careful inspection and confirmation, Zhang Cheng cautiously put away the shards. With that, the second Celestial Shard was officially in their hands.
With the matter settled, Lu Qiuchen patiently listened to Natasha’s excited self-introduction, while also receiving Zhang Cheng’s explanations about her.
Suddenly, Lu Qiuchen paused and interrupted Natasha’s endless chatter, waving her hand to teleport her back to the foot of the mountain.
After hesitating for a moment, she gave Zhang Cheng a few reminders and also sent him down the mountain to follow Natasha and lay low for a while.
Having done all this, Lu Qiuchen’s expression turned unprecedentedly serious as she turned to face Frost Crystal Yalong, who had just broken free from his confinement.
After three rounds of struggle, Frost Crystal Yalong was no longer much of a threat. One dragon alone was insignificant. But Lu Qiuchen had already sensed several powerful auras rapidly approaching this place.
Within seconds, small black dots appeared in the western sky, followed by another.
Within barely a minute, six lords of the Yalong gathering ground had assembled here.
“Silver Dragon! Don’t interfere. Hand over the shards now!”
A dark black magic dragon, larger than a fully grown black dragon and just as irritable, roared angrily at Lu Qiuchen.