The night along the Raging Torrent River was as deep as thick ink. The Red-Iron Dragon stretched its massive wings and four hideous Dragon arms.
The surrounding river surface boiled and churned, the earth covered in deep pits and cracks. The surviving warlocks and shamans stood frozen in place, their eyes filled with terror.
"This pair of Dragon Qi arms provides an immediate boost to my current capabilities."
"Most importantly, with the Astral Self Incarnation as a foundation, I can better cultivate other paths in the future."
Garros felt the feedback of power from his newly formed Dragon Qi arms, a glint of contemplation flashing in his black dragon pupils.
He moved his four arms slightly, sparks flying as his scales rubbed against each other, sketching out a future combat form in his mind—a massive, hulking body with five heads and ten arms. Through the mysteries of the Four Symbols, each dragon head would contain different elemental powers, much like the Incarnation of the legendary Immortal Dragon Queen.
If supplemented with the exquisite techniques of the brawling path, this super-powered Dragon body would surely unleash world-destroying combat power.
Roar!
A deafening roar interrupted Garros's thoughts.
The orc Ugosh was drenched in blood, his eagle wings flapping wildly behind him as he charged in once more. The totem patterns on his skin squirmed like living things, and the madness in his eyes was almost palpable.
"Courting death."
Garros flapped his wings, his fierce, towering body rising into the air as he charged toward the orc leader.
His four Dragon arms erupted simultaneously, a dense blur of afterimages tearing through the air, instantly sealing off every possible escape route for Ugosh from different directions.
For a Barbarian like the orc leader, his naked eyes could only see Garros's physical arms.
However, his instinctual perception was sharp. Although he couldn't see them with his eyes, he could sense the existence of the Dragon Qi arms through the whistling and fluctuations of the airflow.
The Soul of the Savage Bear roared at the sky behind him.
A pair of thick bear arms reached out, actually clashing head-on with the Red-Iron Dragon.
Boom, boom, boom!
With a series of dense, rapid, dull collision sounds, invisible shockwaves erupted from the center of the two, radiating outward like a gale, causing the river surface to ripple.
The Soul of the Savage Bear wrapping the orc's body—its chest, arms, and head quickly developed collapsing defects and were forcibly shattered.
However, Barbarians of the Totem Warrior path were more durable than Ancestral Guardians. When his Soul of the Savage Bear couldn't hold on, the aura around him suddenly changed, shifting into a beast soul dominated by a giant wolf, becoming agile.
When the giant wolf soul wasn't enough, he switched to the high-speed giant eagle soul. After that, although slightly dim, the repaired Soul of the Savage Bear came back to the front.
Ugosh had fused three major beast souls simultaneously. Fighting him was like fighting three Wild Monster Lords at once, and these three Wild Monster Lords were one with each other, coordinating and taking turns, showing immense resilience.
Orcs were better suited for the Barbarian profession than humans.
Ugosh was now like a madman, emitting roars and howls. Even though he was completely suppressed by the Red-Iron Dragon and drenched in blood, he showed no sign of fear, refusing to retreat, fighting to the death like an unkillable cockroach.
"Truly unusually durable. In that case, I will destroy his beast souls in one blow."
The Red-Iron Dragon's mind raced. He didn't want to drag this out with the orc leader any longer. Such a powerful guy who easily lost his sanity was hard to control or tame; there was no need to subjugate him, and killing him directly was the best choice.
Hum!
Rank 4 Dragon Qi spinning!
Four-arm Fusion!
Enhanced Claw Strike!
In an instant, the black-Red Dragon Qi giant arms pressed against Garros's arms, fusing inch by inch. Garros's Dragon arms instantly swelled, becoming thick and long like engorged erectile tissue. His muscles bulged high under the triple stimulation of Dragon Qi, lightning from the Frenzied State, and the Blood Burst Technique, and his sturdy dragon scales were even cracking with a clicking sound.
Die!
The Red-Iron Dragon let out a low roar, unleashing his accumulated power onto the berserk orc.
His attack range narrowed, but the intensity soared.
The arms of the Soul of the Savage Bear were like fragile glass, instantly shattering. The Red-Iron Dragon's giant claws met no resistance, slamming fiercely onto the Soul of the Savage Bear.
Boom!
Dust and light scattered across the sky. Ugosh's Soul of the Savage Bear was forcibly exploded and completely pulverized.
Then came the giant wolf soul and the giant eagle soul. Under Garros's lethal attack, which condensed three layers of power, they shattered at a touch and ceased to exist.
With the totem beast souls, the core of his power, destroyed, the Barbarian was struck as if by lightning, his aura plummeting.
But even so, Ugosh did not regain his senses.
"Kill!"
A hoarse roar squeezed out of his throat. He opened his mouth wide and, like a beast, bit directly at Garros's arm. His protruding fangs collided with the dragon scales, sending out hot red sparks.
The Red-Iron Dragon's arm shook, shaking off the orc, then grabbed him and crushed him to death in an instant.
At this moment, the night wind howled, and the Raging Torrent River rolled with waves.
The lightning, Dragon Qi, and blood veins on Garros's body dissipated one by one, and his body gradually returned to its normal state, though his chest heaved continuously, and he emitted heavy, hot gasps.
Two tribe leaders, a group of elites, a double anti-air Formation laid out in advance, warlocks and shamans.
This battle array would have been a dead end for any other Young Dragon, with no possibility of survival.
Even for Garros, such an intense battle was quite draining. The process of fighting against many alone was dangerous. Now that the battle had stopped, he immediately felt pain and exhaustion all over his body.
Garros did not fear battles that placed him in danger like this, but he would not deliberately seek them out.
Therefore, although he possessed powerful strength, he chose to avoid the two leaders during the Early Stage of the war, instead launching surprise attacks to kill other high-level leaders, gradually wearing down their overall strength.
Now, reviewing and thinking back, if those high-level leaders hadn't been killed by him in advance and had also participated in this encirclement, Garros estimated he would have had to use the gladiator array disk. Of course, if not for his excellent performance in raiding important strongholds, he would not have attracted such attention from the two tribes, and the war would have developed in another direction, without necessarily having the opportunity to encircle Garros.
But in any case, his cautious style once again allowed Garros to stand until the end at a relatively small cost.
"The Fury and Rage of the Barbarians are quite good skills."
Garros thought, his gaze sweeping over the Barbarian's corpse.
He had some thoughts on the core skills of Barbarians.
In the Dragon Clan Legacy, there was a special profession developed based on the Barbarian path—the Wild Dragon.
There were quite a few Dragons who chose the Wild Path, with Red Dragons, who were naturally irritable and prone to anger, being the majority. Because after becoming a Wild Dragon, anger would no longer be just a negative emotion, but would transform into a source of energy, granting the Wild Dragon a continuous supply of power.
When choosing his main profession, Garros had considered the Wild Dragon.
However, after careful consideration, he ultimately chose to major in Martial Dragon.
Rage and Fury, these two core skills both came at the cost of sacrificing one's sanity. Sentient beings entering this state completely lost track of the world, fully immersed in the desire to fight, with the result being either you die or I die, leaving no room for negotiation.
However, despite the major flaws, the power of these two skills was visible to the naked eye, making Garros somewhat covetous.
The Wild Dragon went well with the Eternal Death Dragon. Even if he didn't dare to use it recklessly in daily life, it could serve as an ace in the hole, perhaps allowing him to turn the tables when encountering a life-or-death crisis someday.
The problem was, the job change for Wild Dragon was not simple; like the Martial Dragon, it had basic requirements.
Just as the Martial Dragon required a life-or-death battle to awaken Dragon Qi, the Wild Dragon required experiencing an unforgettable, overwhelming rage to awaken the power of Fury, obtaining the medium to transform anger into energy.
Garros often struggled with his own emotions.
Overwhelming rage, Fury—these emotions were hard to manifest in him. Even when he was forced into a dangerous predicament by the Dragon Hunting Group, his mind remained completely calm and rational, using reason to control power, not letting anger affect him.
The job requirements for the Wild Dragon were harder for Garros than a life-or-death battle.
"Let nature take its course. Dragon life is long; there will always be opportunities."
"Stories of youthful success do not belong to Dragons."
The Red-Iron Dragon thought to himself.
Those Ancient Dragons—unless they were as lazy as Gorton—whoever could live to the Ancient Dragon level, one didn't know how many paths they had simultaneously cultivated.
Even if the Rank of their secondary cultivation might not be very high, their various skills and means were deep and bottomless; even an Ancient White Dragon could not be underestimated.
A long lifespan was the unique advantage of the Dragon Clan.
There was no need to accomplish everything while young.
Withdrawing his thoughts, the Red-Iron Dragon turned to look at the warlocks and shamans on both sides of the riverbank.
"Those who stand die; those who kneel live."
He said calmly, his voice as cold as cold iron.
Hearing this, a small half of the warlocks and shamans on both sides of the riverbank trembled and knelt, while most of the stubborn ones quickly turned to ashes in the Dragon Breath.
The Battle of Raging Torrent River thus came to an end, and the prelude to the Molten Iron Tribe dominating The Borderlands was unveiled.