Galos extended his thick Dragon claw and grabbed Alberto's charred, limp golden Dragon tail.
His wings flapped, stirring up a howling gale.
Dragging the Young Golden Dragon, who was sleeping like a dead pig, he casually tossed him into a relatively soft sand dune within the Dragon Valley.
Thud!
With a muffled sound, dust flew everywhere.
This rough treatment did not wake the sleeper in the slightest.
Instead, a massive snore, like continuous muffled thunder, echoed throughout the entire Dragon Valley.
It rose and fell, undulating and reverberating endlessly through the empty valley.
Galos's formidable body gently landed in the center of the valley.
He stretched his massive body, covered in cold, black-Red Dragon scales, emitting a slight friction of bones, then turned his gaze to the elegantly standing Copper-Silver Dragon Deborah.
"There's something off about Alberto's condition," he said.
Deborah let out a soft chuckle.
The tip of her long, flexible Dragon tail coiled around a boulder, then she swung it violently.
With pinpoint accuracy, it struck the side of Alberto's golden head.
Bang, crash.
The boulder instantly shattered into countless tiny fragments, like an exploding dust firework.
However, the Golden Dragon in the sand dune barely reacted, only a flicker of the magical scales on his neck before they dimmed again.
"Tsk, tsk, he's really tough," Deborah tilted her head with interest, then casually waved her Dragon claw in the air.
Cold air condensed, forming hard ice crystals out of thin air.
These ice crystals, like a dense rain of bullets, continuously struck various unguarded parts of Alberto's body, making dull thudding sounds.
While playing this target practice game, Deborah wore a thoughtful expression.
"Strange," she said, "Could this guy have made some odd, or even perversely harsh, vow?"
Galos nodded his massive head and said, "Very likely."
"The Holy Dragon path's abilities are indeed all-encompassing and comprehensive, but they also have a huge, undeniable problem."
His gaze fell on Alberto.
"Vows can grant Holy Dragons a tenacity and a fierce power far beyond common sense, but they also lead to an inevitable side effect."
"Holy Dragons sometimes, due to impulsiveness or an excessive pursuit of perfection, inadvertently make vows that are too strict, or too strange to comprehend."
"Look at him."
"Nine times out of ten, that's the situation."
Although Galos was not clear what specific vow this Young Golden Dragon had made, judging by his strange reaction, its impact on him must be significant.
Furthermore.
This intense battle with Alberto, while giving Galos a long-lost thrill and the pleasure of stretching his limbs, was still far from satisfying him completely.
He had indeed activated the Excited State of power release.
However, with Galos's continuous growth in strength and his repeated activation and adaptation to the Excited State, the cost and burden of this power had already undergone tremendous changes for him.
Initially, using the Excited State was like an suffocating anaerobic sprint.
Intense and short-lived, unsustainable.
Now, it was more like a 'aerobic' exercise of higher intensity but still sustainable.
He was already able to maintain this state stably for a relatively long period, not just a brief burst.
After a brief conversation with the Copper-Silver Dragon.
The still-unsatisfied Red Iron Dragon turned and flapped his wings, flying towards the super-heavy training ground specially built for him.
Whoosh!
Galos's chest swelled and expanded, deeply inhaling a vast amount of air from outside.
Immediately after.
A sound like a drum, like thunder, like an engine came from his chest, and an inspiring lightning simultaneously flashed and soared around his body, creating a huge load on his heart.
The Young Dragons on the other side felt a palpitation just hearing those rumbling sounds, unconsciously receiving some mental shock; it was hard to imagine that those sounds were merely the Red Iron Dragon's heartbeat.
After exhaling another breath of searing heat.
Accompanied by the thudding heartbeats, the Red Iron Dragon's body rolled on the ground, performing one seemingly incredible yet aesthetically pleasing movement after another, a perfect blend of strength and skill.
Through this method, he was exercising his heart.
Even for Dragons, who are naturally endowed with powerful physiques, the heart remains the core hub for sustaining life and power.
Its importance is self-evident.
Galos firmly believed that once this heart could break through its limits and complete its final evolutionary transformation, the improvements and changes would definitely not be limited to this organ itself.
It would inevitably ignite a chain reaction, bringing about many wonderful changes in the entire body's life essence.
Moreover, based on his understanding of himself and his talents, he had a strong intuition.
By the time his next adolescent slumber ended, he would most likely naturally complete the evolution of his Dragon Heart.
At that time, his life essence would undergo a huge improvement.
As the last ray of sunlight on the horizon disappeared below the skyline, and night deepened, quietly enveloping the Dragon Valley.
Galos, having finished his training, slowly immersed his colossal body, radiating astonishing heat, into the cool lake water.
Hiss—hiss, hiss, hiss—
Like a red-hot branding iron plunged into cold water.
Innumerable plumes of scalding white steam violently rose and churned from his body surface; the entire lake instantly became shrouded in mist due to his quenching-like action.
He closed his eyes slightly, feeling the cold lake water envelop his entire body, and his enormous form slowly sank to the bottom of the lake.
As the water pressure increased and the temperature dropped, his mind gradually became calm and focused.
His thick, powerful Dragon claws, covered in heavy scales, gently touched his chest.
Through the tough, heavy scales and muscles as strong as a coiled Dragon, even without using the Excited State or the Blood Explosion Art, Galos could still clearly perceive the surging Dragon Heart beating beneath his chest.
"I am thirty-seven years old this year, and I have already passed almost half of my adolescence."
"In no more than two years, I will enter my adolescent slumber, and based on my past slumber durations, which always far exceeded those of my peers, by the time I awaken next, I should have officially entered my youth."
Galos silently pondered: "This timing is actually not ideal; it will inevitably affect my plans to acquire resources during the Federal Civil War."
"But on second thought, perhaps it's not so bad."
"The internal division and war of the Federation, this behemoth, will certainly not fully erupt and settle in a short time."
"Those Duchies and Kingdoms entrenched in various regions each have their own interests and long-term considerations; they are mutually wary and restrictive, and will not easily or rashly initiate a full-scale war."
"Up to this moment, only the Abel Duchy and the Haltay Duchy have truly torn off their masks and officially declared war."
"Taking advantage of this precious time before slumber, I will first return to the Serre Wilderness, establish stable outposts and bases on the edge of the Wilderness, gain a foothold, and plant a wedge."
"When I enter the more powerful youth stage, with a leap in strength, I will be able to participate in this feast with more abundant power and a more composed attitude."
At the bottom of the lake.
Galos silently re-evaluated the path to the future in his mind, then folded his wings to his sides and swayed his tail, swimming upwards.
Finally, he burst out of the lake with a splash, flapping his wings towards Burning Steel Fortress.
Subsequently, like fine sand continuously flowing in an hourglass, time quietly slipped away day by day.
Iron Dragon Sorog, aided by the Young Dragons who were gradually shedding their immaturity, methodically carried out his duties, managing the ever-growing vassal army.
He was busily assembling the most elite warriors who had been selected, meticulously inventorying the mountains of logistical supplies and military equipment, and preparing vast food reserves sufficient to support a distant expedition.
The Molten Iron Tribe, located in the Borderlands, now resembled a massive, precisely operating war machine, filled with a sense of power poised for action.
They were making thorough preparations for the upcoming advance to return to the Serre Wilderness.