Volume 14: Establishing the Mage Tower

Chapter 215: The Divine Dragon

Facing his master’s question, the Bronze Dragon King Nozdorm did not hesitate and immediately replied, “I will follow your wishes, my master!” Seeing that Nozdorm showed no sign of resentment, Donald felt relieved. This position could only be entrusted to someone utterly loyal to him, and among his subordinates, Nozdorm was the most suitable candidate.

Donald thought that although Dalaran had the hundred-acre waters of Moonlight Lake, they were still too shallow for dragons, limiting their ability to fully utilize their powers. Moreover, the fish population there was already scarce; if the Bronze Dragons were allowed to feed freely, they would likely become extinct in just a few days.

But things were different in Starfall Bay. With its abundant and vast marine resources, it wouldn’t matter if a few more dragons lived there.

The only concern was that dragons, by nature proud and longing for freedom, disliked being confined to one place. However, Nozdorm seemed to have a more sedentary disposition, and the status of a terrestrial deity was a significant temptation for such a powerful dragon. Most importantly, he was inherently devoted to his master’s will, which was why he agreed so readily.

Once the fate of the deity position was decided, Donald immediately ordered Nozdorm to merge with the totem deity’s essence to avoid delays and any further changes.

The massive body of the Bronze Dragon lay before the totem pillar, emitting a spiritual force filled with dragon power as it began to communicate with the totem deity and the ocean realm it represented.

Perhaps because dragons were naturally favored by nature—especially a powerful Golden Dragon like Nozdorm with pure bloodlines—within just one meal’s time, countless light points began to gather on the totem pillar. It seemed the sea region recognized him so quickly! If it were an ordinary person, they might not know how many attempts it would take to get even a slight response from the totem!

Over the next ten minutes, light began to emanate from the base of the totem pillar, spreading upward slowly. The totem itself also changed, gradually shifting from its original fish shape to a vague form of a dragon.

Once the entire totem pillar was covered in light, Nozdorm would become a true terrestrial deity, the ruler of the vast sea area stretching for thousands of miles around Starfall Bay.

But at this critical moment, a powerful presence suddenly rushed in from hundreds of miles away in the northern part of the bay. Judging by the intensity of this presence, it must be a sea beast at least at the Golden rank, and there was also a faintly sacred aura about it. Donald immediately guessed the identity of the newcomer. Although the various sea lords in the ocean seemed to coexist peacefully, conflicts did occur—indeed, it was a world of survival of the fittest. Once one became injured or weakened, they had to be wary of ambushes from their neighbors or even subordinates. The outcome of failure was to become prey for the victor. This presence was likely that of a nearby sea lord who had sensed the changes here and wanted to take advantage. The opponent moved extremely fast through the sea and soon reached an area 100 miles away from the Fish Crowd Islands, right at the edge of the Falling Star Bay region. There, the presence suddenly stopped, as if hesitating for a while, before unleashing a fierce pressure that surged skyward and rushed toward the islands. Nozdorm was fully integrating his totemic divinity, feeling his soul expand infinitely, as if he had become the entire sea area within a thousand miles—every speck of dust, every water plant, and every small creature could be sensed clearly. At this mystical moment, he sensed a creature boldly intruding into his domain, challenging him. The Bronze Dragon roared in anger, its melodious roar echoing in the air. For a moment, it seemed as if only this sound existed in the world. All creatures within a thousand miles immediately bowed their heads in the direction of the sound, just like commoners paying homage to their king. It was astonishing to see the same sense of submission among these different sea creatures. Dragons were inherently far stronger than other creatures, and since this was just coastal waters, even the most powerful sea lords within thousands of miles were at most at the Golden rank—completely no match for Nozdorm, the Golden Dragon! So when that presence realized that the other party had not yet successfully integrated and become a sea lord but already possessed greater power than itself, it turned back immediately to avoid offending this new and powerful ruler of Falling Star Bay, lest it suffer the consequences.

“That trouble is finally gone!” As that presence left, Donald also breathed a sigh of relief. Nozdorm had seemed formidable just now, but in reality, it was in a state of immobility due to fusion. Once its opponent decided to attack, it still required its master to step in and stop them. Although the owner of that presence was also not above the Gold rank, they were far stronger than that Bottom-Dwelling Demon Fish—at least at the mid-to-high Gold level. It would be difficult for him to deal with them, let alone kill them.

After all, he was now merely a Silver-ranked mage, and with the strength of a Demon Hunter, his capabilities were at most comparable to those of a beginner Gold-ranked warrior.

But unless something like the Bottom-Dwelling Demon Fish, which specialized in illusion magic and was severely restricted by his own Hunters’ Eyes with Truth-Seeing effects, happened again, those who had initially mastered the use of basic laws had already surpassed human limits in terms of physical form. To defeat and kill a powerful Gold-ranked sacred beast, it would only be possible if he revealed the Book of Truth and unleashed its divine power.

Just a few minutes after this brief interlude, the light on the stone pillar reached its peak, and the patterns on the totem finally transformed into a simple image of a dragon ready to take flight. At this point, Nozdorm had fully merged with the totem’s divine essence, becoming the true ruler of the Falling Star Bay.

“Congratulations, Nozdorm! Now, let’s see how strong you are!”

“Thank you, my master, for enabling this. I feel incredibly powerful! If it were those stinky fish from earlier, even if several came at once, I could easily handle them!” The Bronze Dragon said excitedly, wagging its tail. By now, its size had grown significantly compared to before, as its body had expanded after initially mastering divine power and gaining divine bloodline.

As Nozdorm’s strength grew, so too would its size… Among dragons, a dragon’s strength is determined by its size. From adult dragons to old dragons, ancient dragons, and primordial dragons, their sizes increase progressively, with greater strength corresponding to larger sizes.

Nozdorm could no longer be simply called a dragon; he should be called a Sacred Dragon, as he possessed the bloodline of a divine dragon.

Except for a very few forces that are inherently incompatible, divine bloodlines can generally merge with the bloodlines of any creature. For example, Donald originally had the half-elf bloodline granted by the Book of Truth. After merging with divine elements, it became a divine elf bloodline.

However, the difficulty of integrating divinity with various bloodlines varies. If the attributes are similar, it is naturally easier; if they are incompatible, it becomes many times more difficult, and failure is even possible. Dragons, elves, and humans are the three bloodlines in the main world that can most easily integrate with divinity. Although Donald doesn’t fully understand why, he has his own suspicions.

Among these three biological bloodlines, human bloodline is particularly mysterious. Though not powerful and seemingly lacking in any innate advantages, it can merge with most strong or weak bloodlines, adopting their strengths while discarding their weaknesses, without being completely replaced itself.

Furthermore, advanced creatures like dragons can usually transform into human form through the inheritance of bloodline-based transformation magic once they reach adulthood, as if it were an instinct. Even the gods find it hard to explain this phenomenon. Moreover, humans often possess greater potential to become gods compared to other creatures, which is one of the greatest mysteries across all realms. Perhaps only beings at the level of the Creator could know the reason.

This reminded Donald of the myths from his past life. When the ancient goddess Nüwa created humans, she used the blood of the primordial gods and demons from the heavens, shaping humans in the form of Pangu, which best matched the universe and earth. Thus, humans are inherently born with the blood of ancient gods and demons. Some people can awaken certain abilities of these divine bloodlines through cultivation—those at a higher level are called immortals, while those at a lower level are called cultivators.

Similar legends existed in both Eastern and Western cultures in his past life. Perhaps humans in this world also have a similar origin. It’s just that the time is too ancient, even the current gods do not know it.

The elf and divine bloodlines within Donald are acquired later in life, but since they are granted by the powerful laws held in the Book of Truth, they are essentially as innate as natural bloodlines.

Overall, divinity is stronger in nature, but once the full potential of the high elf bloodline is unleashed, it is on par with that of ordinary demi-gods. Currently, Donald’s divine bloodline is still weak, so the high elf bloodline holds the upper hand, followed by the divine bloodline, with the original human bloodline in a foundational position, seemingly irreplaceable.

The three bloodlines blend together like brothers, influencing each other while remaining independent, without the conflicts in bloodlines that Donald had initially imagined.

After obtaining divine bloodline, Nozdorm also gained several spell-like abilities on top of his original Bronze Dragon powers, just like Donald before. These were mostly supportive forces that did not significantly enhance his strength. However, after attaining the status of a Earth God, things changed completely. First, Nozdorm was now a god, and he essentially possessed all the abilities that a god naturally acquires. For example, he could now cast any general divine spell up to level three, as well as those that did not conflict with his own faction. Bronze Dragons were originally creatures of order and goodness, but after receiving the gifts of the Will of Nature, they became neutral and good—a typical faction for Earth Gods and also the usual manifestation of the Will of the World. As the Will of the World, it is, relative to unconscious, thoughtless program code, naturally adopts a neutral attitude toward all beings under its governance, unless they pose a threat to the world or are favored by it; in such cases, its attitude changes—eradicating the harmful and supporting the strong. Similarly, becoming an Earth God who governs a realm makes one akin to a small-scale Will of the World, with factions that were originally chaotic or orderly tending toward neutrality. As for whether the being who becomes an Earth God is good or evil, there is little change.