In the third year of Karon's slumber, the Red Dragon, turned to ashen rock, finally showed a reaction.
Under the continuous scorching refinement of the Magic Flames, a more powerful ancestral bloodline emerged from the mediocre Evil Dragon Blood, the Magic Flames were devoured by the awakened strand of crimson blood.
The dull Evil Dragon Blood coursing through the Red Dragon's body was rapidly devoured like faded paint by the newly birthed bloodline.
The Red Dragon's heartbeat paused for several breaths, then the newborn blood erupted from the depths of its veins, rushing through the dragon's body after being pumped by its heart.
The long-accumulated dense magic power outside the body was also stirred, forming a small-scale magical storm in the cave. The breath of the Red Dragon began from nothing, slowly growing stronger, it was accumulating strength and slowly awakening.
The increasingly powerful ancestral bloodline was nourishing the Giant Dragon's body, transforming its form.
The dragon's current body had become thin like a skeleton covered in scale armor, its body length had grown by half a meter, yet it appeared more massive than before it fell asleep.
Its neck, in comparison to other Red Dragons, had shortened a bit, but appeared more robust.
A layer of bone protection grew on its broad lower jaw, on the skin covering this layer, the originally slender spines became short and thick.
On the head, delineated like a rock carving, grew long and thick dragon horns, the patterns that once spiraled like fire lines around them now transformed into a design interwoven with dark red, earth yellow, and golden hues.
The seemingly unbreakable, metal-hard dragon horns split into three branches, each pair of dragon horns forming six branches that rose backward and upward from the head resting flat on the ground, showcasing unparalleled strength and sharpness.
The base of the dragon horns was actually hollow, indicating that the Giant Dragon could now channel magic through them to cast spells.
The scales on the Dragon's body shed quietly, new scales grew wider and thicker, with a deep red adorned with a golden luster. Even as a pretended half-blooded Golden Dragon, many dragons would likely believe it.
Changes were happening to Karon in the cave, and changes were happening outside as well.
Sensing the awakening of the Juvenile Dragon leader, the Blue Dragon emerged from the cave.
He called on the sneaky White Dragon Gomot and his brother Camid, who had the demeanor of an actor, and the three dragons ventured into the forest with large stone jars used to store honey.
The anxious Blue Dragon flapped its wings hurriedly, beginning to worry if that damned black bear had ruined all the nearby beehives.
Antajena suddenly remembered the task Karon had given her to manage the orchard, so she took the eager Black Dragon Rosani away as labor, Black Dragons were good at digging, and surely clearing weeds would be competent too.
Kleyna suddenly found herself seemingly isolated by the Dragon Group, but possessing a brain more developed than humans did not mean having more wisdom than humans, a proud Red Dragon didn't have the concept of reflection.
So she could only pace back and forth every day at Karon's Dragon Nest, even though she had been headlocked before, she knew clearly that as soon as Karon woke up, the Dragon Group would welcome her back.
The air in the cave changed from hot to extremely hot, with the steam from magma and the smell of sulfur filling the entire cave.
Karon's awakening power caused subtle cracks to appear on the once smooth cave walls, from which a faint scent of the fire elemental plane attached to the Icaria World could be smelled.
The flat ground bulged with raised patterns, within the protruding soil were some dull metallic ores.
As the Red Dragon lay on the uneven ground, a wave similar to Dragon Power began to rise on its body, but unlike Dragon Power, this force was invisible yet tangible.
This power spread rapidly as soon as it was born, unimaginable high temperatures enveloped the area in a domain-like manner, spreading in all directions, inescapable.
The ground littered with dried insect and animal corpses instantly turned to ashes, even the metallic ores beneath the dragon's feet melted into black-red molten iron from the intense heat.
Even within the cave, the magical power reacted violently as if scorched by fierce flames, this power burned all, setting everything ablaze, fortunately without Karon's intentional stimulation, this domain only maintained the bare minimum of power.
This was the power brought by the newborn blood to the Giant Dragon, similar to an aura, yet more powerful, this was the Domain—All Things Turn to Ash, a talent ability awakened during the transition from a Juvenile Dragon to a Young Dragon.
After three years, the slumbering Karon finally opened his eyes, emanating Dragon Power to announce his awakening, feeling the exceptionally formidable power within his body, and the magic awakened by his growth into a Young Dragon.
He felt he could defeat several of his pre-slumber selves, perhaps after another rapid growth following slumber, he could compete with the Young Dragon Akzhi.
Before he could feel proud, Karon noticed that the cave walls were starting to melt into stone water due to his own power, which startled him into hastily retracting his Dragon Power.
With the proficient control gained from Dragon Power, the strength of the Ashen Domain was also easily restrained.
Then he bolted out of his nest, avoiding becoming the first fool in Dragon Race history to be crushed to death by the collapse of his own cave, only to be ridiculed as a disgrace by other dragons for countless generations.
Kleyna, sensing the commotion, was peering into the cave from the entrance, only to be knocked flying by the suddenly emerging Red Dragon, unexpectedly tasting the long-lost flavor of a Red Dragon bulldozer.
Having grown to nearly five meters after recent development post-slumber, Kleyna under the force of the male Red Dragon was like a youth encountering a burly man, flailing her limbs and flipping several somersaults before crashing to the ground with a thud.
Kleyna shook her head, and at that moment she seemed to see stars all over the sky.
·····
Roar, the Red Dragon's order was executed perfectly, the juvenile dragon formation attacking in a triangle swiftly spread out circularly using Karon as the pivot, encircling the herd of bison who began to flee frantically upon sensing danger.
The rapidly descending dragon group snapped their wide wings open again about ten meters above the ground, their slightly slowed torsos crashing straight into the rushing bison.
Pairs of sharp claws penetrated the prey's flesh, and the bison's dying wails along with the dragon group's enthusiastic roars of slaughter became the main melody of the grassland beneath.
Karon did not know what had happened to the juvenile dragons during his slumber, but upon awakening, the first thing he did out of habit was to summon the dragon group, make them hunt for him, lead them, influence them, and make them get used to him again.
He also wanted to take this opportunity to see if any juvenile dragon was swelling with power and would challenge him during his weak phase.
So far, the most thickheaded one most likely to challenge him, Kleyna, seemed greatly shocked now after almost getting knocked silly by him, while the other juvenile dragons exhibited submissiveness and welcome.
Karon originally intended to try the "Dragon King returns after three years away" trope to give these juvenile dragons a little shock, but unfortunately, reality did not meet the dragon's wishes.
The Red Dragon regretfully shook his head while eating heartily, the long-awaited food flowing down his throat and intestines into his shrunken, empty stomach, then crushed by the mighty stomach of the giant dragon, swiftly broken down by the all-corrosive stomach acid.
The rapidly digested food was transformed into the energy needed for life to supply the giant dragon, and the dragon's emaciated body gradually filled out.
The food piled beside Karon by the juvenile dragons was diminishing, and the Red Dragon's strong muscles became robust again, the streamlined and knotted muscles making the frail Black Dragon Rosani deeply envious.
As the Red Dragon's body expanded, a dignity and power far surpassing the past emerged upon him, as if the giant dragon before them represented strength, the embodiment of violence.
No artist in the world could carve out the coexistence of majesty and ferocity on the Red Dragon's head, the thick and forked dragon horns had a unique ferocity and beauty.
His mouthful of long fangs and broad jaw made it unimaginable how tremendous the biting force of the dragon before them could be, easily crushing even the toughest thigh bones of bison.
The scales covering his entirely strong, mighty body shimmered with a dazzling luster that even dragons marveled at, surpassing the beauty renowned amongst Golden Dragons and Silver Dragons; it was akin to glowing treasures.
All of this fascinated Green Dragon Antajena, who, dazedly, approached to touch Karon's scales.
In the blink of an eye, Kleyna, who was in a state of shock, snapped to clarity, a look of warning and threat emerging in her eyes, blocking the engrossed Karon with a low, warning growl emanating from her throat.
Camid quietly nudged his brother Gomot with a claw, whispering: "That pretty little female dragon seems to have taken a liking to Karon, you're out of luck, Gomot."
Though dragons only reach sexual maturity during adolescence, juvenile dragons are not clueless children and have already begun to gain awareness and knowledge in this area.
Gomot glanced at that little female dragon, akin to a green jade, with her small nose horn and elegant lines, and said dejectedly: "Forget it, Antajena is definitely going to lay a clutch of eggs with Karon, maybe two clutches, and I'll be waiting for ages until Karon doesn't want to lay eggs with Antajena anymore, then there's Blue Dragon Doss, I've got a long queue."
"Actually, I have no interest in Antajena, I rather fancy Kleyna, she's destined to be a mighty female dragon." Doss came over upon hearing the conversation, his tastes leaning more toward strength rather than appearance, although Kleyna's appearance also marks her as a small beauty among dragon aesthetics.
At the mention of this topic, Black Dragon Rosani, being a male giant dragon, expressed his opinion, squeezing in with a smile: "Hehe, actually I find those agile and beautiful little mares amongst the wild horses to be quite nice too."
A few juvenile dragons chuckled, everyone knew dragons possess the world's broadest domain of aesthetics, but at times, it is one of those nauseating and offensive dragon aesthetics.