Chapter 431: Potential Huge Crisis

Chapter 431: The Latent Colossal Crisis

The vast majority of dragons grow through stages divided as follows: infant dragon period, juvenile dragon period, growth period, maturity period, completion period, peak period, and senescence period.

Most dragons can only reach the maturity period.

Once the maturity period ends, they jump directly into the senescence period, where their strength begins to wane.

Only an extremely small fraction of dragons can grow into the completion period.

Within the completion period lies a particularly significant phase—the peak period.

Even the weakest dragons in the completion period are at least eighth-tier.

Peak-period dragons possess terrifying power; it is the most formidable stage in a dragon's entire life.

To describe the might of a peak-period dragon in one sentence:

Gods retreat.

Even deities do not wish to provoke a peak-period dragon.

If such a dragon fights with all its might, even gods must pay an excruciating price—

Perhaps even perish.

Alas, although peak-period dragons are immensely powerful,

Their duration is far too brief.

If a dragon lives for ten thousand years, its peak period may last less than a mere hundred years.

For humans, a hundred years may seem long.

But for dragons, it is far too short.

It is like a human centenarian having only one year of peak condition.

Let alone gods, whose lifespans surpass even those of dragons.

They have ample time to wait for a peak-period dragon's strength to gradually fade.

There is no need to challenge a dragon during its prime.

This is the true reason why gods retreat—

Not because they truly fear peak-period dragons, but simply because there is no need.

After the peak period comes the senescence period.

Senescence lasts about one-fifth of a dragon’s lifespan.

During this time, most dragons see their powers steadily decline until death claims them.

An exceedingly rare few dragons can transcend senescence, becoming legendary Ancient Dragons or Primordial Dragons.

Should one become an Ancient Dragon or Primordial Dragon, lifespan ceases to be a constraint on their strength.

The power of Ancient and Primordial Dragons only accumulates and grows stronger over time.

Some newly transcended Ancient Dragons, fresh from senescence, may not yet rival the strength of dragons in their completion period.

Indeed, even mature-period dragons might surpass newborn Ancient Dragons.

Yet the true advantage of Ancient Dragons lies in their seemingly endless lifespans.

They can endlessly accumulate power.

On one hand, they let time pass, watching younger dragons age and weaken.

On the other, they draw strength from time itself, slowly regaining their former peak—and eventually surpassing it, reaching new heights.

Ancient Dragons grow far more slowly than vigorous young dragons.

Without rapid-growth periods like growth or maturity, they may linger for millennia, barely recovering to mature-level strength.

But if they endure long enough—to ten thousand, or even a million years—they become truly fearsome.

A million-year-old Primordial Dragon borders on divinity.

And should there exist a Primordial Dragon of ten million, or even hundreds of millions of years...

Such a being could rightly be called a World-Creating Dragon God.

To date, the Skyreach Continent has never heard tell of any Ancient or Primordial Dragons appearing.

There exists another type of dragon entirely unlike the long-enduring Primordial Dragons.

Their strength does not depend upon how long they've lived.

Rather, it depends upon a single "moment."

These are Time Dragons.

Time Dragons wander through time itself.

In an instant, they can leap from infancy to peak.

Then remain forever fixed in that peak state, unchanging.

Or perhaps spend their entire lives trapped in infancy or juvenility—

Frozen eternally within a fleeting moment of development, never progressing further.

Time Dragons are even more elusive and insubstantial than Primordial Dragons.

After deciding to resurrect Saint Xi, Li Wei had thoroughly studied the dragon race. He now possessed a general understanding of dragons.

He had also heard of several renowned dragon clans among them.

He gently patted Saint Xi's head and said with a smile, "If you don't want to go in, then we won't. Let's go."

Li Wei walked out of the cave.

Saint Xi didn’t flap her wings either—she simply floated silently in midair behind him.

Her four tiny legs dangled beneath her, making her look like a puppy floating in the sky.

Both Goddess Tears and Poison Dragon Saliva had been consumed in the resurrection ritual.

Having obtained the Sacred Dragon Body, Li Wei no longer needed Goddess Tears to neutralize poison.

His only regret was that he could no longer help others detoxify.

The Sacred Dragon Body merely granted him personal immunity to negative states.

It offered no aid to others.

As they left the cave and traveled some distance away, a thunderous collapse echoed from behind.

Li Wei turned his head to look, and Saint Xi followed suit.

The necromantic formation inside the cave had drained every last bit of magical energy left by Torresta, causing the cavern to lose structural integrity.

The cave collapsed outright.

Li Wei and Saint Xi had exited just in time—if they'd delayed any longer, they would have been buried underneath.

It wouldn't pose much danger to the two of them.

But there would surely be some dust and grime.

Li Wei glanced at Saint Shea, then turned and continued walking toward the exit.

Saint Shea followed without hesitation, showing no reluctance to leave.

Li Wei asked, "Saint Shea, do you remember anything from before?"

He wanted to verify the truth of what Torresta had told him through her.

Everything Torresta had said was based on his own account.

Li Wei didn’t doubt him, but he wished to understand what happened a thousand years ago from more perspectives.

Saint Shea shook her head, her voice soft and childlike: "I don’t remember. When I was born, my consciousness was still hazy. Father transformed me into a bone dragon right away."

"After becoming a bone dragon, my life force and soul fell into deep dormancy. I had no awareness of the outside world."

When Li Wei had resurrected the little bone dragon, what he sensed—life force emanating from its undead body—wasn’t an illusion.

That was because Torresta had sealed Saint Shea’s life force within the small bone dragon.

When Saint Shea's consciousness awakened, a sliver of that life force leaked out slightly, which Li Wei perceived.

Because Saint Shea had only just begun to awaken while still in the form of an undead bone dragon,

the life force belonging to her as a sacred dragon, and that of her mother, Philis, remained unreleased.

It wasn’t until now, with Saint Shea fully resurrected and returned to her true form as a sacred dragon,

that she inherited the life force Torresta had preserved for her long ago—

and the final remnants of her mother Philis’s life force.

Saint Shea wasn’t lying; she truly did not recall anything from before.

However, upon receiving her mother’s life force, she also gained fragments of Philis’s memories.

She now knew that her enemy was none other than the immensely powerful Dragon King of Darkness.

Saint Shea didn’t want to worry Li Wei, so she kept it to herself.

A thousand years ago, the Dragon King of Darkness had already reached full maturity.

If he hadn’t died, he likely remained at that peak even now.

His power was terrifying beyond measure.

There was even a chance he had advanced further, entering his prime.

All Saint Shea could hope for was that, after several millennia passed and she grew stronger,

the Dragon King might finally enter decline.

Then, she would strike while he was weak—and take his life.

To avenge her mother.

Youth itself was capital.

Hearing Saint Shea say she had no memory of events prior to her birth,

Li Wei didn’t press further.

Their souls were linked; Li Wei could sense what troubled her.

He simply chose not to speak of it.

Saint Shea thought she had managed to hide it.

(End of Chapter)