After satisfying his curiosity, Lu Qiuchen released his draconic aura to awaken her.
This little one was startled by the presence of an unfamiliar dragon and immediately woke up, dispelling the illusion as she rose from the yellow sand, lifting her small head to look at Lu Qiuchen in fear.
“Why is there a silver dragon here? Are you trying to take my baby?!”
Lu Qiuchen had initially been puzzled by the blue sapphire dragon’s resistance, but when the dragon stood up from the sand, she noticed a dragon egg buried beneath her.
So, this was a mother worried about her child. Seeing this, Lu Qiuchen shook her head gently and replied kindly, “I’m not sent by the Elders, so you don’t have to worry. Do you know who currently rules here as the Lesser Dragon King?”
The blue sapphire dragon’s wary expression didn’t fade. “That title belongs to me now, and you say you’re not here for me!”
Lu Qiuchen was quite surprised that this blue sapphire dragon before her was the Lesser Dragon King. It wasn’t due to any bias against gender or size—the Green Dragon King, Morcius, among the Five Great Dragon Kings, was a female; and the Red Dragon, though smallest in body size among the five pureblood dragon clans, had the strongest overall power.
Though the contenders for the title of Lesser Dragon King were all dragons of epic strength, the fact that this blue sapphire dragon held the title indicated her prowess was quite impressive among her peers. What surprised Lu Qiuchen was that she looked quite young, barely having reached adulthood.
Since this blue sapphire dragon was indeed the Dragon King here, it saved her some time. Without caring for the dragon’s attitude, Lu Qiuchen asked directly, “I didn’t come for you. I just want to ask if you’ve heard anything about the Sky Fragment or seen a similar crystal before.”
After speaking, Lu Qiuchen turned and signaled Zhang Cheng to take out the Sky Fragment.
Zhang Cheng jumped down from Lu Qiuchen’s back and opened the box, revealing the Sky Fragment for the “Dragon King” to examine.
Curious, the blue sapphire dragon stretched her head out, glanced at the fragment, then looked away, instead scrutinizing Zhang Cheng carefully.
She brought her nose close to Zhang Cheng and sniffed the human’s scent. Her eyes suddenly lit up.
“This human smells good. Definitely delicious!”
After this dangerous remark scared Zhang Cheng into quickly retreating, the dragon’s face showed a strangely human-like expression of doubt. Looking back at the tall Lu Qiuchen, she shook her head and hesitated before asking, “I haven’t seen this thing before, but I’ve heard Natasha mention something similar. It was supposedly with the Frost Crystal Dragon King…”
“Eh? You’ve already made a contract? Even though he looks tasty, you don’t have to sell your soul over this…”
Lu Qiuchen’s heart leapt with excitement at the clue and was about to ask more when she realized the dragon had somehow sensed her contract with Zhang Cheng. This was the first time she had encountered such a situation, leaving her wary.
If even a dragon could detect the bond between her and Zhang Cheng, she wouldn’t dare bring Zhang Cheng to meet other dragons anymore.
After all, she was still carrying the reputation of a “Savior” among the dragon race. If those more arrogant pureblood dragons found out a human was contracted as her mount, Zhang Cheng might be killed.
That couldn’t happen. Things were different now. She had recently developed some respect for Zhang Cheng, but even ignoring their past, she would do everything to protect him.
Because she needed to leverage Zhang Cheng’s connection with Lai to complete their contract and then return to Earth to thwart the Eternal Group’s conspiracy.
This was the joint goal of Lu Qiuchen and Zhang Cheng, but it was only the first step in Lu Qiuchen’s plan. Once this was accomplished, it would be time to settle scores with all those who had harmed her.
“How do you know about the contract between us?”
Although this touched a nerve and annoyed her, Lu Qiuchen understood the dragon was unintentional, and since the matter concerned her deeply, she put aside the Sky Fragment for the moment and asked the blue sapphire dragon.
The dragon paused, confused, and replied, “I can smell your scents intertwined, completely fused together—closer than between me and my baby. Can’t you smell it?”
Lu Qiuchen was puzzled as well. She leaned over and sniffed Zhang Cheng’s nose, but there was no scent at all!
This must be a unique talent of this blue sapphire dragon.
“Never mind that. Earlier you mentioned the Frost Crystal Dragon King—who is he? Where does he live now?”
The blue sapphire dragon seemed unsure if this was truly her talent. Lu Qiuchen changed the subject, dropping the line of questioning for now.
She would observe other Lesser Dragons when she met them later to confirm. There was no rush.
“The Frost Crystal Dragon King is the lord of this region, unlike me who’s only the nominal Lesser Dragon King… If you keep flying north from here, you’ll find him living atop a high mountain. But I’m not too sure about the accuracy of that information—if I’m wrong, don’t come back and cause trouble for me.”
The blue sapphire dragon blinked her eyes and explained to the human and dragon with some fear towards the Frost Crystal Dragon King.
After obtaining a lead on the Sky Fragment, Lu Qiuchen bid farewell to the blue sapphire dragon and took off with Zhang Cheng.
The blue sapphire dragon, after setting up illusions around the area, lay down again, burying her body in the sand to continue incubating her egg.
She exhaled softly and thought to herself: ‘That silver dragon earlier was wrapped in so much malice—definitely not easy to get along with. Luckily, I stopped myself from mentioning Natasha’s name. If she’s the kind of pureblood giant dragon who hates half-dragons, it would have been trouble if she met Natasha.’
‘Eh? Didn’t I just tell her Natasha’s name? … But it should be fine. Natasha left last night and by now should have returned to the half-dragon territory. That silver dragon also flew towards the Frost Crystal Dragon King.’
‘But Natasha really needs to change her temper. Chasing power too much isn’t a good thing. Pureblood dragons won’t necessarily be as friendly to us as we are to each other…’
Comforting herself with these thoughts, the blue sapphire dragon decided to remind Natasha the next time they met.
*****
Hundreds of kilometers away on the snowy mountain, half-dragon princess Natasha was visiting the regional Lesser Dragon lord, the Frost Crystal Lesser Dragon.
“Thank you very much for your continued care for my people.” Natasha bowed deeply to the Frost Crystal Dragon King before taking her leave.
As she turned, her eyes glanced over the carefully selected gifts stacked beside her.
Her mood was heavy and filled with a hint of sorrow.
All those precious crystals were wasted. She still couldn’t borrow the Sky Fragment. But after all, it was a rare item capable of boosting spiritual power.
All the nearby Lesser Dragons knew that the Frost Crystal Lesser Dragon was an ambitious dragon, always striving to surpass the other local lords.
It was understandable that he highly valued the enhancement of spiritual power and refused to lend out such treasures.
But the wishes of her father and all her people… the chances of another legendary-class warrior arising among the half-dragons within the next few decades were extremely slim.
Over the past few centuries, the clan had gone through a lean period, and their only remaining legendary warrior would likely pass away in the near future.
How could the half-dragons maintain their current standing in the Orc Kingdom afterward?