Chapter 163: Learning Through Application

"Lord Muria." Andro looked at the blue jade steel, almost half the size of his own chest, with a hint of greed in his eyes, before reluctantly moving his gaze away, looking at Muria with anticipation.

This was a genuine piece of blue jade steel, the stirring fighting spirit within him had already proved the authenticity of this high-grade transcendent metal. Moreover, the reaction of the fighting spirit indicated how much influence this metal had on him.

Such a quantity was enough for him to commission a master to forge a longsword and add a few pieces of armor leaves. His combat power would thus increase by a rank, and with it, the opportunity to elevate his own noble status.

"This is..."

"An exchange! As compensation for giving me this map," Muria said lightly.

"This is just an ordinary trade route map, not worth so much blue jade steel. It's too precious." Andro quickly shook his head in refusal, some things shouldn't be recklessly accepted. Sometimes, what seems like a bargain could cost one's life.

"To you, this map may not hold much value. But to me, it's quite useful, it's a big help," Muria raised his hand, pointing at the blue light emitting from the jade steel in Andro's arms.

"This piece of jade steel, valuable as it may be to you, for me, it's almost a nuisance to keep in my spatial ring. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Andro immediately smiled broadly, hastily stowing away the blue jade steel. Muria's intention was clear; such high-grade transcendent metals were trivial to him.

With the jade steel in hand, Count Andro beamed with joy, his elegant and noble demeanor nowhere to be found. He looked just like an ordinary person, much to the astonishment of Raymond Burton and his nephew standing at Muria's feet.

They had never imagined that their high and mighty noble would show such a face, a far cry from the cool and elegant lord they were accustomed to.

"Lord Muria, is there anything else I can do for you?" Even more shocking to the bystanders, their esteemed lord, with a face full of flattery, approached Muria.

"It's nothing to do with you now. I'm leaving," Muria waved his hand, then glanced at the nephews at his feet, "If you really want to do something, take these two back with you."

"Understood!" Andro glanced at the Raymond nephews, slightly startled. When did two humans—this uncle and nephew pair were too weak, so weak that any strong being would ignore them.

In the eyes of Count Andro, humans who hadn't even cultivated fighting spirit were no different from ants. "It's only natural, Lord Muria." Andro bowed slightly, his sky-blue fighting spirit lifting the nephews to his side. "They should be my subjects; it's my duty to take them back."

"Good." Muria nodded, then a flicker of light emanated from his fingertip, rapidly expanding to form an elliptical portal over two meters tall. A fourth-ring spell, Portal.

As Andro watched in astonishment, Muria stepped into the portal, his figure completely vanishing.

"A mage?" Seeing Muria's departure method, Andro's face showed fluctuating emotions. Had he attacked suddenly from such a close distance...

Andro shook his head, forcefully suppressing the malicious thoughts rising within him, then turned to the nephews held aloft by his side, their faces flushed with excitement from flying. His expression grew even darker; these two had seen his moment of obsequiousness, so, "From now on, you two are my servants. Report to my castle tomorrow."

...

"I can clearly sense Troy's location." Standing atop a mountain, Muria gazed at the vast wilderness, a scroll clutched in his hand—this was the map he exchanged for a piece of high-grade transcendent metal.

"Reuniting with Big Cat is just a matter of time. Mother, your attempt to stop me only cost me more time," Muria murmured. Because of the contract established with Troy, they could sense each other's locations.

"But the real trouble is those dragons." Muria frowned, "At least six dragons have been exiled to this Ionian continent. Finding them will take some effort."

The young man's brows relaxed, his hand waved, and one hundred and one scales flew out, hovering in front of him, shining in red, blue, green, black, and white brilliant lights. These were scales from the dragons he was raising, fused into transcendent items.

Their sole purpose was to track the original owners' traces, but...

The one hundred and one dragon scales flickered, seemingly sensing something. Then, ninety-five of the scales gradually dimmed, leaving only six scales shining brightly, no longer flickering. The light not only stabilized but also became more dazzling.

"Point out their locations for me!" Muria smiled, with these dragon scales, it seemed not so difficult to find them.

But, Muria's smile did not last long.

"Crack!" A harsh shattering sound echoed, and in the young man's stunned gaze, the six glowing dragon scales instantly showed countless cracks, then "Boom!" they shattered into a pile of fragments.

"..." Muria's smile gradually faded, followed by a long silence, the air growing heavy. Below him, several ferocious wolves lay prostrate on the ground, trembling.

"Heh." Suddenly, Muria laughed, his body flashing with golden lightning, "Very well, using the magic I taught you against me, I didn't teach you in vain!"

"Boom!" Lightning burst from Muria, striking the surrounding vegetation. In his fury, the entire hill, except for the spot under his feet, turned to scorched earth, the trees reduced to ashes.

"Whew!" After venting, the young man took a deep breath, no wonder he was so angry. Anyone in his situation would have been furious.

Muria had just used dragon scales to scout for the dragons exiled to this continent, but the scales suddenly exploded into fragments. This meant someone, or some dragon, was taking countermeasures. They didn't want Muria to find those dragons.

"Mother, is it you?" Muria squinted, the possibility of his dragon mother interfering existed, but it was slim. If she really wanted to interfere, he wouldn't have gotten these scales from Cassio in the first place.

So, there was another possibility, the biggest one. The six dragons Muria was detecting had sensed his probing and directly cast a counter-surveillance spell to disrupt his scouting.

There are surveillance spells, and naturally, there are counter-surveillance spells. And these, Muria had forced the dragons he was raising to learn, even focusing on developing their counter-surveillance awareness for a while.

"Is this what they call shooting oneself in the foot?" Muria chuckled, "Or should I say, you've learned through application, using the spells I taught you against me."

"But, do you really think that by using a counter-surveillance spell, you can hide from me?" Muria's lips curled into a cold smile, his gaze falling on the dozen ferocious wolves crouching at his feet, "There are plenty of ways to find dragons."

"Get up!" Muria kicked the largest wolf with dark blue fur, apparently the leader, "You're lucky to have met me now, so I've decided to give you an opportunity."

"Awoo!" The ferocious wolf wagged its tail, approaching Muria like a dog, then bowed its body.

"Your intelligence may not be as good as humans, but it's still quite impressive." Muria nodded, stepping on the wolf's forelimbs, climbing onto its back, then sitting down.

"Go!" Muria rode the ferocious wolf, gripping its neck fur, guiding its direction.

The giant wolf leaped out, crossing the scorched earth created by Muria's fury, entering the jungle below the hills. Muria guided the direction. Behind it, its original followers, after a moment of hesitation, all followed.

"First, I'll find a way to meet up with Troy, then go after those damn dragons..."

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