Because Lu Qiuchen had visited here just a few days ago, she did not lose her way or overshoot the destination this time.
Lu Qiuchen slowly lowered her flight altitude. The massive shadow of the dragon sped across the ground, swiftly passing over the vast hilly area ahead, drawing the dwarves’ gaze upward before she quickly left them far behind.
The rider and dragon arrived above a fortress built against the mountainside. This was the entrance to the Golden Dwarves’ underground city.
The last time Lu Qiuchen came, she had other matters to attend to and didn’t carefully observe this fortress that had withstood countless storms over millennia and once resisted invasions by the demon armies.
Rather than being built against the mountain, this fortress was more like a mountain-sized stronghold. The Golden Dwarves had hollowed out the entire mountain interior, reinforcing every internal wall, and enchanting it for extra sturdiness, transforming the whole mountain into the fortress’s aboveground section.
Indeed, this fortress was not only the most important entrance to the Golden Dwarves’ underground city but also incredibly massive and solid. Though during the demon wars the aboveground portion of the fortress was captured by the demon armies several times, the Golden Dwarves continued their stubborn resistance using the underground tunnels.
Because of their short stature, the dwarves’ underground passages were mostly narrow and cramped, preventing the demon armies from fully leveraging their numerical superiority. Led by the Dwarven High King, the Golden Dwarves fought with unyielding spirit and determination to defend their homeland, successfully repelling the continuous demon onslaught. They were the only race whose central city was never overrun on a large scale by the demons.
This achievement became a source of great pride for the Golden Dwarves. In quarrels, they often mocked the long-eared races they disliked by bringing up this matter, enjoying the sight of their flustered reactions while feeling smug themselves.
Lu Qiuchen flapped her wings and descended in front of the fortress. Hearing a startled cry beside her, she released wind magic to gently lower Zhang Cheng, who was about to touch down on the ground.
The nearby Golden Dwarves immediately scattered upon seeing this scene, and the fortress guards tightened their grip on their weapons, approaching Lu Qiuchen’s landing spot with caution.
One lead dwarf warrior, upon recognizing Lu Qiuchen’s face, raised his left arm to signal the soldiers behind him and lowered his war hammer. “Don’t be alarmed! This dragon lady is our guest.”
The dwarves’ initial tension was due to the long-standing poor relations between dragons and Golden Dwarves, which stemmed from the dwarves’ grudging nature and dragons’ arrogance.
Well… actually, it could be said that the dwarves’ relations with all races on the Northern Continent were at best average. They treated outsiders with hospitality, but that did not mean they trusted them.
When dwarves truly considered someone a friend, it usually took nearly a century, which for short-lived humans could mean a lifetime.
Back to the point: not counting the ancient era when the Eternal World was ruled by dragons, in the past ten thousand years, pureblood dragons had mostly secluded themselves. Yet as invisible overlords, dragons still acted with arrogance and tyranny.
When Odyn founded the Elders’ Council, two green dragons had covertly defied the Council’s order to seal off an island and instead raided the richest dwarven kingdom for gold, silver, and jewels — only to be driven off by the war-spirited Golden Dwarves!
These two green dragons were furious. They returned to Dragon Island to gather allies but were caught red-handed by the newly formed Elders’ Council. Their punishment was publicized on Dragon Island as a warning, effectively serving as an example to others.
As a result, the two green dragons were strictly controlled and sentenced to a thousand years of house arrest. The Elders’ Council found this incident too embarrassing and conflicting with Odyn’s policy of recovery and rest, so dragons made no further response.
The Golden Dwarves were well aware of dragons’ pride and sensitivity to face. To avoid provoking dragon retaliation, they never publicized the event but quietly recorded it in their annals for amusement and to warn future generations of the dragons’ greed.
This curious story was told to Lu Qiuchen shortly after she arrived in this world by the blue dragon Fia, and she confirmed its truth after her two visits to the dwarven kingdom — the dwarves’ initial wariness toward her was noticeably different from their reaction to other races.
Still, with the power of refined gold and mythril, she quickly opened a path among the Golden Dwarves.
The guard captain, who had met Lu Qiuchen a few days earlier, knew she had come to retrieve equipment commissioned from the craftsmen. He led the two into the workshop district.
Along the way, Zhang Cheng noticed the dwarf guards frequently stealing glances at him, making him wonder if his attire was somehow inappropriate.
But after Lu Qiuchen’s reminder, he had already packed away the weapons and armor forged by the Grey Dwarves to avoid offending the Golden Dwarves. It was unlikely his outfit was drawing such attention.
Zhang Cheng guessed right — the guards’ curiosity wasn’t about his clothes but about his identity after seeing him riding an adult dragon.
To be near a mature dragon meant he was either a dragon rider or another dragon. “Report this up; keep a close eye on this male!” the guard captain thought.
Due to the frequent glances, Zhang Cheng felt uneasy all the way. When he complained to Lu Qiuchen via telepathy, she only told him to endure it.
After a long walk, the guard captain personally brought them to the workshop district and only left after meeting the reception staff who had been informed of their arrival. Zhang Cheng finally ended his restless journey.
One of the two dwarves who came to receive them looked familiar to Lu Qiuchen. She remembered this fairly young female dwarf was a master-level blacksmith, although when she had appeared previously, she called herself an apprentice before the presence of a grandmaster.
“Lady Cecilia, welcome once again to the Dwarven Kingdom…” The female dwarf spoke politely.
Lu Qiuchen noticed the more formal tone compared to a few days ago but didn’t dwell on it, instead thinking about how to send Zhang Cheng off to retrieve the equipment.
“My name is Ivanti Copperbeard. Previously, you…”
Ivanti Copperbeard? Lu Qiuchen searched her memory; Copperbeard was a surname belonging to the clan of the Dwarven High King.
Now there was a perfect angle to engage!
“Zhang Cheng, you talk to this dwarf about the Sky Shard,” Lu Qiuchen interrupted Ivanti to avoid revealing that she had been here before and turned to Zhang Cheng.
“This dwarf is a royal family member. I have other matters to attend to. Here are two refined gold ingots. Use them to negotiate with other royal members. Dwarves value minerals and gems highly. These refined gold ingots are among the best in the world. This will definitely move them, as the Sky Shard is practically useless to them.”
At first, Zhang Cheng didn’t understand. After hearing Lu Qiuchen’s telepathic explanation, he suddenly realized. He accepted the refined gold ingots Lu Qiuchen secretly handed him, nodded in agreement, and invited Ivanti aside to discuss matters, making her eyes shine as she repeatedly nodded.
Lu Qiuchen separated from Zhang Cheng and gestured to another dwarf who had come to receive her to lead her back to the previous workshop district. The remaining dwarf craftsman seemed to hold a lower rank, and only after consulting with the glowing-eyed Ivanti and receiving approval did he lead Lu Qiuchen back to the workshop area.
Following this dwarf’s lead, she arrived at a rather old smithy and waited briefly before the grandmaster appeared, beaming with pride. He walked briskly over, carrying a massive two-handed greatsword, followed by a dwarf apprentice carefully holding the full set of armor.
“This is the proudest masterpiece of my life! Thank you for letting me fulfill this dream. I must thank you!”
The dwarf grandmaster stopped before Lu Qiuchen, lifting the greatsword taller than himself and gently caressing its blade. He began explaining:
“I didn’t completely follow your blueprints, but they provided me with many new ideas, making this my proudest work.”
“Look at her appearance — she’s so beautiful. Though her blade is short, her overall length lets her hold her own against spears. She has two guards; I made some modifications to one, turning it into a blade…”
The grandmaster spoke enthusiastically, explaining his favorite design points.
Lu Qiuchen felt a mix of amusement and disbelief. She had based the blueprint on a German two-handed greatsword from Earth, considering that in future battles she might not always be beside Zhang Cheng. In such cases, Zhang Cheng would switch from cavalry to infantry, and this sword could serve some purpose.
Also, combat styles in the Eternal World differed slightly from Earth, with practitioners emphasizing skill use over straightforward clashes. She had deliberately removed the blade guard, making the second guard purely defensive so Zhang Cheng wouldn’t have to worry about using the blade guard offensively and could familiarize himself with the weapon more easily.
Unexpectedly, this grandmaster had sharp insight, quickly identifying the structural flaw she’d introduced and restoring the original design, aligning his thinking closely with Earth’s smiths.
Lu Qiuchen wasn’t particularly interested but had no choice but to listen to his self-praise.
Finally, after expressing his honest feelings, the grandmaster shifted topics: “I have named her Champion’s Greatsword. The name has great meaning. I think she’s excellent — what do you think? Also, I want to use your blueprint to build other greatswords with similar designs. Would you accept that?”
Although the commission belonged to someone else, it was perfectly normal for the craftsman to name their own work, especially when the grandmaster was one of the top smiths in the world, who naturally held naming rights without needing the client’s consent.
But Lu Qiuchen was a dragon, and dragons were known for being powerful and unreasonable.
Plus, she knew the silver dragon here had a bad reputation on the Southern Continent. She genuinely feared offending him and causing trouble, which would make Zhang Cheng a clan outcast.