Chapter 42: The Ancient Dragon that Ripped the Skies

At the age of twenty-one, Muria observed that nearly all the young dragons had undergone their slumber, advancing to the juvenile phase. The power surge from this restlessness incited many dragons, eager to challenge the rules set by Muria.

Muria then led these defiant young dragons, one by one, to the punishment array he had further reinforced and modified, to remind them of the fear they experienced under his control when they were mere hatchlings.

Managing ninety-five hatchlings was vastly different from managing ninety-five young dragons, yet the increased complexity of this task was still within Muria's capabilities.

The castle housed hundreds of gold-tier cloud giants, not just for show, and hundreds of storm giants stood ready. These young dragons, merely at bronze and silver tiers, were far from ready to challenge him.

As Muria neared his twenty-first birthday and was about to enter his twenty-second year, six red dragons, having slumbered for nearly two years, awakened and stepped into their adolescent phase. Their strength reached the third tier of silver, and they grew to fifteen meters in length.

Upon awakening, they first replenished their severely depleted bodies from their prolonged sleep by consuming large amounts of food. Then, they gathered together.

"Let's challenge Muria together!" proposed Auston, the adolescent dragon, echoing his sentiment when he was a hatchling.

"I refuse!" Renata immediately rejected the idea without hesitation. During her juvenile phase, she had continuously studied magic, and of the six red dragons, she had mastered the most spells and had the strongest casting abilities. Now, she had the confidence to refuse her brother.

"I refuse too!" Cynthia followed suit, also expressing her reluctance to challenge Muria.

"Why?" Auston looked incredulously at his two sisters, believing that with their current strength, they could definitely defeat Muria together. Why were they unwilling?

"It's a meaningless challenge," Cynthia bluntly criticized her brother. "Do you not see how many giants obey Muria's commands? He could easily dispatch a single cloud giant to defeat us. What's the point of challenging Muria?"

"Auston, I also think challenging Muria is pointless. If we really manage to defeat him together and make him angry, we could end up in serious trouble. I don't want to challenge him," added Albert, another young dragon, joining the conversation.

"If you want to go, go by yourself. Don't drag us into seeking death with you!" Jessica, Auston's sister, said sharply.

Silence fell upon Auston. A lone dragon challenging Muria was a joke; he knew all too well that he would be effortlessly thrashed by Muria.

Thus, Auston's proposal to challenge Muria remained just that—a proposal, with no chance of becoming reality. Dragons were not fools; they were simply blinded by their own power. When faced with greater strength, even the most arrogant red dragons would think twice.

After the dragons in the castle ended their slumber, life returned to its usual rhythm—eating, sleeping, and in their free time, studying and practicing the spells they had learned.

The only difference was that as the young dragons grew stronger, their intelligence and magical talents further enhanced. Therefore, every first day of the month, Muria would take a group of dragons with him to discuss matters at the Jade Palace.

The young dragons taken to the Jade Palace not only saw Muria's wealth but also the imposing and grandiose Giant City built around the palace.

Following Muria, these young dragons also witnessed the power he wielded. Countless giants and sea creatures reacted to Muria with utmost reverence, an awe-inspiring sight that filled the young dragons with both desire and fear.

The more they knew, the more they revered Muria, shaping the mindset of those living in the Five-Color Dragon Castle.

...

"When will I enter my slumber?" Muria, nearing twenty-four, fretted while rubbing his hair in his room.

Although his strength continued to grow, there were no signs of breaking through to the gold tier. Thus, Muria longed for slumber to achieve a breakthrough in strength, but his hatchling phase unexpectedly stretched on.

"Must I really wait until I'm nearly thirty to enter my slumber?" Muria pondered irritably. He had even visited the Crystal Castle to inquire with the golden dragon mother, Atrelis, about his prolonged slumber phase.

"It's quite normal. I am an ancestral golden dragon, and my life essence is stronger than that of ordinary golden dragons; you are my son. Although your lineage seems weakened from your first slumber, you are still much stronger than ordinary golden dragons."

Hearing Muria's concerns, Atrelis casually explained, seeing the delay in his slumber as beneficial.

"By the way, prepare yourself during this time. Regarding the weakening of your lineage, I've already contacted... um, your grandfather. He should be arriving soon to help resolve this issue."

"My grandfather!" Muria reminisced about the words of the golden dragon mother. He rubbed his face, recalling his grandfather Demos Elonsas, whom he had learned about from reading his autobiography. According to the book, his grandfather was an awe-inspiring ancient golden dragon who had never been defeated from birth, having vanquished many formidable creatures across Erathia throughout his life.

...

As time swiftly passed, Muria, now twenty-five, began to feel increasingly drowsy, with his daily sleep and appetite substantially increasing.

These signs alerted Muria that his slumber was imminent. To prevent any issues due to his slumber, Muria began issuing multiple orders.

At the Jade Palace, Muria summoned the leaders of the cloud giants, the mist giants, representatives of various giant tribes, and many sea creature leaders. He instructed them to maintain normal operations during his slumber and to refrain from any large-scale actions without authorization.

At the Five-Color Dragon Castle, he divided his personal guard of three hundred and twenty-six storm giants into two groups. Half were dispatched to Giant City with law enforcement authority to suppress any disturbances.

The other half remained at the Dragon Castle to oversee the numerous young dragons, ensuring none left the premises.

Additionally, to prevent the young dragons in the castle from causing trouble in his absence, Muria appointed some of the best spell-learning dragons as managers.

For each of the other four types of evil dragons, Muria appointed two to three dragons as temporary managers. For the white dragons, he entrusted Claudia, a scholarly dragon, with the authority over all white dragons, hoping she would lead these relatively weak dragons in studying magic effectively.

As Muria finalized all arrangements and prepared for his upcoming slumber, he sat in his room, feeling increasingly sleepy. Suddenly, he felt his blood boil and become restless.

"What exactly is this?" Muria looked at the ceiling, realizing that this was not a sign of impending slumber but rather something approaching that triggered a resonance within his bloodline.

"Shh!" Muria looked down at his hand, which was initially clean and slightly chubby. Now, as his blood began to boil, golden scales started to grow on his hand.

"What kind of joke is this?" Muria's expression changed slightly. He extended his psychic powers to observe the changes in his body from a third-person perspective, noticing golden scales beginning to form sporadically all over his body.

"Dragon transformation." Muria frowned, clearly understanding the current changes. He also

 guessed the identity of the being approaching him.

His grandfather, the ancient golden dragon, Demos Elonsas.

"Your Highness! Outside, the sky..." At that moment, Muria's personal maid, the well-built Mia, entered in a panic, frantically gesturing to him.

"What's the rush? Speak slowly," Muria said, furrowing his brows at the panicked blonde girl. He had never seen Mia so out of sorts before, knowing her to be quite bold. What could have frightened her so?

"I don't know how to describe it; it's better if you see it for yourself on the castle platform," Mia said, regaining some composure. She then stared in astonishment at the golden scales continuously growing on Muria.

"Your Highness, what's happening to you?"

"It's nothing serious," Muria replied calmly, though internally he was quite anxious. However, he maintained a composed exterior, as befitting a ruler.

Muria appreciated his current half-dragon, half-human appearance, but it now seemed his golden dragon bloodline was fully activated, potentially transforming him into a humanoid monster clad in golden scales.

"Let's go and see what has frightened my maid so much," Muria suppressed his inner turmoil, maintaining an exceptionally calm demeanor as he led the way out of his room.

After leaving the room, Muria realized that he was not the only one sensing something; every sentient being in the castle felt the presence of a majestic entity about to descend.

Inside the castle, several young dragons and some juvenile cloud giants lay prostrate on the ground, trembling, while even many adult cloud giants knelt, shivering slightly.

Muria walked through the castle's corridors with a furrowed brow, noticing that most of the giants and dragons within the Dragon Castle had lost their ability to move, completely overwhelmed by awe. Only some storm giants, seeing Muria, forcibly suppressed their rising panic and fear, following him.

"What exactly is happening?" With a mix of unease and curiosity, Muria ascended to the platform of the Five-Color Dragon Castle and looked up at the sky above Taiji Island.

Silence ensued as the scene before him left Muria speechless, understanding why his maid had been so terrified.

Above Taiji Island, the sky, previously dotted with fluffy white clouds against a blue backdrop, appeared torn like a piece of cloth by a being radiating endless golden light, resembling the sun.

Numerous dark fissures spread across the sky in front of Muria, forming a vast black net that enveloped the entire Taiji Island, no, the entire Titan Archipelago.

"The sky is torn..." Muria murmured after a long while, his attention diverted from his own increasingly apparent dragon transformation by the shock of the spectacle before him, as if the heavens were collapsing, signaling an impending apocalypse.