On a small island at sea, five years is a short period for a dragon. They might sleep through it and wake up as if no time has passed. However, Brandon has not yet adopted the deep slumber habits of a dragon. His routines are still much like those of humans: he rests at night, wakes during the day, works from sunrise to sunset.
One morning, Brandon awoke in his cave with the sun already high in the sky. He yawned, releasing a massive gust of wind that sent dust swirling through the air. As he stretched his colossal body and stood up, a tangible blue light rose from beneath him. His lair was filled with 99 divine power crystals, which he admired briefly before stepping out of the cave, feeling pleased.
The rising sun cast a brilliant red glow over the sea. To ordinary people, it would look like a simple red ball of light, but to Brandon, the sun appeared as a blazing fireball, with fierce flames surging and occasionally flaring dramatically. The sun’s surface was tumultuous, frequently erupting like a volcanic explosion. The rich fire element made Brandon envious; he wondered when he might train within the sun.
Shaking his head, Brandon dismissed these distracting thoughts. The sun’s surface temperature alone was nearly 5000 degrees Celsius, not to mention the core’s terrifying 20 million degrees. The sun was violent, akin to a massive hydrogen bomb with countless explosions every second. Brandon knew that if he ever reached the sun, his body would be torn apart. Even at the great heaven level, he wouldn’t survive there, let alone train. Perhaps only at the legendary level, when his body could withstand such extreme heat and energy fluctuations, would it be possible.
Despite the slow progress over the past five years, Brandon had not been idle. His internal Golden Bell Shield had reached the tenth layer, and the Golden Bell in his dantian had grown over five meters tall, spinning steadily. The solid energy surrounding the Golden Bell formed a massive vortex. The mysterious patterns on the Golden Bell became clearer, with countless symbols moving in and out like tadpoles. Although Brandon didn’t recognize them, he sensed their immense power but didn’t know how to use them.
The Golden Bell exuded an ancient aura as if it had existed forever. It appeared increasingly refined, its once dazzling golden light now subdued, making it look almost solid. Brandon believed the Golden Bell had more uses than just defense and smashing, but he hadn’t discovered them yet.
His dragon essence had advanced to the eighth level, and his body had grown to thirty meters long. With one more level, he would reach great heaven level strength. Currently, Brandon was a magnificent sight, his body radiating a purple-gold glow, with an energy membrane clinging to his scales, making them appear as if they naturally produced it. The basketball-sized scales were covered with intricate magical arrays.
As Brandon’s power grew, so did his brain capacity and mental strength, allowing him to absorb more memories and deeply engrain basic magical knowledge and common sense into his mind. He gradually integrated and comprehended this knowledge.
Brandon noticed that each time his body advanced, the magical arrays on his scales became more complex. When he was a sub-dragon, the arrays were simple defensive formations. As he matured into a young dragon, these arrays became much more intricate, evolving into three interconnected defensive formations.
Upon reaching its growth phase, besides having a more complex defensive array, it also integrated a magic immunity array. By adulthood, this array became so intricate that even Brandon couldn't make sense of it, as it had become a dense, interconnected web. All it knew was that its defenses had significantly improved.
The toughness of its scales relied not just on their hardness but also on the effects of these magical arrays.
As for the Golden Bell Shield, Brandon noticed a similar array, though the Golden Bell Shield operated within the body. On several occasions, Brandon observed that the inner Qi would release numerous runes that merged with the body. It seemed that the body's strength and defense were closely related to these runes. However, compared to the magical arrays, these runes were even more mysterious to Brandon. They appeared as mystical golden symbols. Whenever Brandon saw these runes with his naked eyes, he felt dizzy and confused.
Brandon, with his dragon heritage and soul memory, was quite familiar with magical arrays. At least, these arrays didn't go beyond his knowledge. Runes, on the other hand, were completely mysterious and unfamiliar to him.
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His massive body slowly ascended, unfurling wings that nearly spanned 100 meters, and he flew towards the sky. Within a few breaths, Brandon folded his wings and slowly descended towards a huge crevice below.
Soon, Brandon saw a massive cave, which had expanded significantly from before. The entire cave now had a diameter of 30 meters, appearing vast and imposing.
Brandon landed at the cave entrance and crawled inside. The cave had become much deeper. What was once the den of the Cyan Beast had now completely changed. It had been transformed into a mine by Brandon and several other giant beasts.
As Brandon crawled forward, rhythmic and powerful sounds echoed from the depths of the mine, causing the entire cave to tremble.
Brandon wasn't surprised in the least. As he went deeper, the sound grew louder, like rolling thunder in the distance, making his body vibrate slightly.
Fortunately, the rocks here were sturdy, preventing any collapses. Even if a collapse occurred, it wouldn't cause any fatalities. On the contrary, Brandon would be pleased as it would mean less work and more divine power crystals in his lair.
Rounding a corner, Brandon saw a 15-meter-tall giant ape. It was brimming with intense energy, its muscles bulging, and purple-black veins crisscrossing its body. It swung its massive claws, striking the rock wall with great force, causing the wall to shatter continuously. In no time, a pile of rubble formed at its feet.
This was Kong. Over the past five years, it had finally reached the Lesser Heaven level, growing to a height of 15 meters. It looked extremely ferocious and intimidating, with fiery red eyes that sent chills down anyone's spine. Since Kong ascended to the Lesser Heaven level, Brandon had assigned it to mine here.
Such a powerful subordinate would be wasted if not utilized. Brandon glanced around and immediately showed a delighted expression. Kong's efficiency was impressive. In just five days, another divine power crystal had appeared in the mine. Including this one, Brandon had accumulated 100 crystals over the past five years.
Kong stopped upon hearing the noise, turned around, and saw its master. It quickly stopped, scratched its head with its thick arms, and approached with a fawning expression on its ferocious face.
Brandon's tail lashed out, knocKong's massive body to the ground with a loud crash. Kong got up with a grunt and stood obediently to the side, looking pitiful, which instantly made Brandon relent.
Since Brandon assigned it to mining, Kong had been uncomfortable. In this dark and confined space, it longed for the freedom outside. Moreover, it had no interest in the glowing objects. It couldn't understand why its master valued these things so much—they couldn't be eaten or played with, yet its master treated them like treasures
"Alright, stop putting on that pitiful face. Take two days off and come back the day after tomorrow morning. Don't be late," Brandon said, shaking his head.
Kong was thrilled to hear this, pounding his chest enthusiastically, indicating he would definitely return on time. After that, he bounced out of the cave, clearly in high spirits. Although his master appeared stern, he was actually kind-hearted. Through long observation, Kong had learned that if he pleaded earnestly, his master would always give in. This tactic had never failed him.
As soon as Kong exited the cave, he flew off. Upon reaching the Lesser Heaven level, he gained the ability to fly. Though he couldn't speak, he had learned to communicate telepathically. However, Brandon's mental strength was so overwhelming that initiating a conversation was nearly impossible. But now, Kong could communicate with the giant Jiao and humans.
Communication was a wonderful thing. The frustration of being unable to converse was like talking to a brick wall. Previously, living with the giant Jiao had caused many conflicts due to the lack of communication.
Kong couldn't understand the snakes, and they couldn't understand him. In the snake valley, he was surrounded by snakes without a single one of his own kind, which made him feel very lonely. Being naturally energetic, Kong found it difficult to rely on intuition for communication with the giant Jiao, which was very frustrating.
But now, he could freely express himself without worrying about species. He could communicate with any beast or human, except for his master. This newfound ability to chat endlessly was thoroughly enjoyable for him. For a while, slaves and the giant Jiao would run away when they saw Kong coming, as listening to his incessant chatter was the most torturous thing in the world.
After Kong left, Brandon started mining. Since Kong reached the Lesser Heaven level, Brandon seldom came here, as it had become Kong's domain.
Kong worked five days a week and rested for two. He only had a feast on his days off. After reaching the Lesser Heaven level, his need for food decreased, so even if he didn't eat for a month, it wasn't a problem.
Brandon, on the other hand, only worked when Kong was resting, which was two days a week.
Kong was simple and honest, doing his work without complaint. His only request was to rest two days a week and receive some form of payment. However, he couldn't think of anything he needed, so the matter of payment was left unresolved. As for the two days off, Brandon, being kind-hearted, agreed to it. It's unclear if Kong picked this idea up from humans, but he somehow knew about the concept of a weekly rest.
It seems that after communicating with humans, Kong was becoming more cunning.