Lu Qiuchen flew back to Dragon Island, with Zhang Cheng following close behind.
Originally, Lu Qiuchen planned to leave Zhang Cheng in the Elf Kingdom and return on his own, but Zhang Cheng expressed concern about Lu Qiuchen’s condition. Considering that the Dragon Lords of the Yalong Clan hadn’t recognized the relationship between the two before, Lu Qiuchen agreed.
Although Odin knew the truth about his origins, there was no way he would casually bring Zhang Cheng to the Elders’ Council. Leaving him unattended on Dragon Island was risky as well. With Zhang Cheng’s strength, even an older young dragon could become a meal for him. Finding a place to leave Zhang Cheng became a problem.
“I need to find a trustworthy dragon whose dwelling is in a remote area, so he won’t be discovered by others.”
After some thought, the only “peer” dragons Lu Qiuchen could really call friends on Dragon Island were the Silver Dragon sisters, Andona and Fiya.
Andona was mature and steady. Although the Silver Dragon’s lair was cold, it could be protected with wards—this was not a big issue.
But Andona was inseparable from her younger sister Andola, and the thought of Andola gave Lu Qiuchen a headache, so he crossed that option off.
As for Fiya, she was still a young dragon and didn’t have her own lair yet, so she was also excluded.
That left only the Silver Dragon King Impat and the ordinary Silver Dragon Ofi as options.
As for Gaelf, Lu Qiuchen felt that his attitude toward him was like that of a father to a daughter. He really worried that Gaelf might figure out the contract relationship between him and Zhang Cheng.
After all, the mysterious and unfathomable Star-level dragons having abilities similar to the Sapphire Dragon was perfectly normal.
“My social circle is really small!” Lu Qiuchen sighed quietly.
He decided on Impat. The last time Impat ate an extra portion of Mithril, so asking him for a small favor now should be fine.
With his target set, Lu Qiuchen swallowed the slight fear brought on by his draining mana and flew straight toward the Dragon Vein Peak at the center of Dragon Island.
The handover of “the goods” went smoothly. Seeing Impat gently accept Zhang Cheng without asking about their relationship, Lu Qiuchen breathed a sigh of relief and sent a telepathic message telling Zhang Cheng not to worry.
He then flapped his wings and stepped out of Impat’s lair, preparing to head to the Elders’ Council.
But Lu Qiuchen’s happiness was premature.
Impat followed him out of the lair and his first words almost broke her composure.
“Cecilia, I know you’re excited, but you still need to restrain your desires. You’ve absorbed too much mana in a short time, and now it’s starting to dissipate from your body surface. You must control it from now on. I won’t say much else, but remember: since you’ve chosen the same path as Gaelf, you need to learn from his lesson. Short-lived breeds simply can’t endure our extraction…”
Impat spoke with the concern of an elder.
“That’s not what you think. There’s another reason for my mana dissipating!” Lu Qiuchen hurriedly stopped his strange assumptions.
Extraction? Of whom? Zhang Cheng? That’s absolutely impossible! And how can dragons be compared to succubi like that!”
Lu Qiuchen shook his head desperately, pushing those messy thoughts away. She opened her golden eyes wide, glaring fiercely at Impat before angrily taking off toward the Elders’ Council.
“Our contract relationship can’t be hidden from these big shots; Impat saw right through it in one glance! Good thing I didn’t go to Gaelf,” Lu Qiuchen silently congratulated herself on the wise decision.
Seeing the Silver Dragon flying away quickly, Impat sighed and shook his head without saying more. In fact, Cecilia didn’t need to be so shy. He had seen much stranger things in his centuries of experience.
Throughout the long history of dragons, there have always been pureblood dragons who lost interest in their own kind and wanted to try something new. Cross-species feelings were child’s play to them. As a dragon who had lived thousands of years, Impat was no stranger to such matters.
What he just said was only his responsibility as a clan leader to give routine education when discovering such situations.
There had been many cases before where dragons’ excessive indulgence led to the death of their short-lived partners.
Therefore, when encountering contracts or unions between dragons and short-lived breeds, the Dragon Kings of the clan would issue warnings. Over time, this has become a custom unique to pureblood dragons.
But as the Silver Dragon King, whose numbers were extremely rare, Impat had only listened to this before, never spoken it himself. Today, he finally made up for that regret.
He sighed again and turned back to the lair, ready to check on the human boy who had quietly completed a contract.
Silver Dragons were extremely rare, and even internal breeding was insufficient. Among dragons, when Silver Dragons bonded with other pureblood dragons, they first tested whether the Silver Dragon bloodline could be activated. So such cross-species contracts should actually be forbidden.
But the Dragon hierarchy knew Cecilia’s true situation, so they didn’t restrict her in this regard.
Otherwise, Impat wouldn’t have been so easygoing.
Seeing Lu Qiuchen leave, Impat returned to his lair. His enormous silhouette blocked the light coming from the cave entrance, causing Zhang Cheng inside to feel a sudden increase in pressure.
“Honorable Mr. Impat, greetings!” Zhang Cheng greeted the great dragon sincerely. He already knew this was Lu Qiuchen’s first teacher in this world, who had taught her many things. Now he finally met the “real” person.
More importantly, Impat’s level was 139, so Zhang Cheng had to be doubly cautious in front of him.
Impat took on the form of a tall white-haired man and nodded slightly to Zhang Cheng. A flicker of mana appeared before him, and two exquisite seats formed from condensed ice elements materialized inside this vast lair.
Impat sat down first, smiling at the tense Zhang Cheng: “For humans, this form should be easier for communication. Sit down, let’s have a talk.”
Hearing the big shot speak, Zhang Cheng didn’t dare disobey and sat down quickly, nervously wondering what he wanted to talk about.
He only came here because Lu Qiuchen said she couldn’t take him to the Elders’ Council and left him here temporarily. But what kind of atmosphere was this—like meeting the parents!
“Don’t be nervous. I have no negative opinions about your relationship. On the contrary, because Cecilia is too closed off, I’m very willing to see her expand her social circle. At this rate, how can she shoulder the responsibility of revitalizing the dragon race?” Impat smiled slightly and showed his goodwill.
Hearing this from the big shot, Zhang Cheng relaxed a bit, but his mind was still full of questions. What was the purpose of this man’s words now?
“But I must warn you, no matter how you contracted with Cecilia, don’t think you can profane her through the contract. Although the Dragon Knight’s contract binds us strongly, we will also be watching you closely. If you ever cause Cecilia harm, be prepared to face our clan’s punishment!”
Zhang Cheng took this warning—though said as advice—as a serious threat and nodded solemnly.
He was confident in himself, but that didn’t mean others would see it the same way. To win the trust of the dragon clan, it would come down to his actual actions. He understood this well.
Seeing Zhang Cheng nod, Impat stood up and said, “Since you agree, prepare to undergo the trial.”
“Trial?” Zhang Cheng was shocked. He had never heard of needing a trial to become a Dragon Knight! Isn’t reaching the required level enough?
Even in the history of the Eternal World, there was no record of such a thing!
Impat smiled slightly: “The trial wasn’t mandatory before, but you’ve contracted with someone recognized by our clan as the Savior.”