A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

Chapter 530 Return like the blazing sun - II

Many treasures from the Western territory had been sold at higher prices through Ansel's hands. Additionally, there had been considerable movement of resources and talent. Ansel had been dealing with the empire's nobility since he was ten years old, and his network of partners was extensive.

"Just a matter of mutual benefit." The young Hydral said this, but he did not refuse and accepted the gift.

The astute Duke of Azuregold was as sharp as ever. This gift was clearly not meant directly for Ansel but for his two "beloved" pact heads.

Such a gift was evidently more likely to be accepted by Ansel.

Now, with the overt respect, humility, and benefits in place, it was time to get to the heart of the matter.

"You and the Duke are both businessmen who value time."

Ansel, leaning back on the sofa, raised his chin slightly and considerately helped Ulysses open the conversation: "What business brings you here this time?"

Ulysses smiled gently, "Then I shall not waste words on trivial matters... Lord Ansel, there is something I would like you to see."

A faint light flashed from the ring on her ring finger, and a... broken tooth appeared in her palm?

"Such a small dragon tooth," Ansel raised an eyebrow slightly, "A newly hatched dragonling?"

"Yes, this is the tooth of a young Molten Dragon... and it was not obtained through poaching."

"..." Ansel's eyes narrowed slightly.

As apex predators, dragons have virtually no natural enemies, but that does not mean they can ignore their most basic biological instincts—namely, protecting their young.

Most dragons reside in the Celestial Path mountains, though some are scattered across the continent. Regardless, the safety of dragonlings is highly assured.

If this dragon tooth was not obtained through poaching, it means... the dragonling appeared on a battlefield of proven conflict.

And this can only mean one thing—

"A dragon calamity."

Ansel tapped his forefinger lightly, gazing at the dragon tooth in Ulysses' palm: "In just three years... is another dragon calamity about to unfold?"

The four supreme deities all suffer from the torment of abyssal corruption. The Flamefeast Royal seeks the possibility of ascending to the seventh stage by burning and devouring Hydral's abyssal essence, while Hydral maintains sanity through the flames of Flamefeast. The two are a unique form of mutual symbiosis.

So... how does the king of all dragons maintain sanity under abyssal corruption?

The answer is simple—slaughter.

As the apex of beasts, what other method could there be to vent the endless torment that surrounds it, besides hunting and killing?

When the Dragon King's corruption reaches a threshold, it transmits this madness to all dragonkind, causing the dragons to descend from the Celestial Path mountains and wreak havoc upon the world. Even dragonlings are driven to madness, resulting in the catastrophic event known as the Dragon Calamity.

The Dragon King itself, however, often roams the Zero Realm Enigma, wantonly unleashing its power and bringing endless destruction.

Of course, the Dragon King chooses this method to alleviate its own corruption, not solely because of the presence of the Empress and Hydral. Although the two divine species of the empire prevent the Dragon King from initiating a mass slaughter, it also understands that if it exterminates the most promising humans, who will it then unleash its brutality upon?

Who will become the best prey for the dragons?

However, now, with the Empress likely dead and Flamelle fallen from the sixth stage into slumber...

The monster perched atop the peak of Mountain Elysian has already cast its hungry gaze upon the man's world.

"Yes... don't you find it absurd?"

Ulysses sighed, "The threat of the Dragon King is imminent, yet the so-called grand dukes who claim to inherit the empire's glory are only concerned with vying for power and engaging in mutual slaughter."

"Because they also know that the Dragon King will not completely destroy the empire, at most it will treat the empire as a hunting ground."

Ansel smirked, "Hunting is always done by the dragons; the Dragon King itself does not participate. So even if an endless Dragon Calamity is unleashed, they still have the means to protect themselves."

"In fact, in such chaotic times, their power and strength are even more pronounced."

Do the extraordinary beings care? No, they do not. The Dragon King is not human; it does not care about worldly power. It only needs prey to delay the abyssal corruption. In this regard, it is not the enemy of the extraordinary beings.

In fact, it is far more stable than the Emperor of the Flamefeast Royal—once its desire for slaughter is satisfied, the dragons will return to the Celestial Path mountains. The Dragon King disdains to wield its power in this relatively small main plane; it prefers to roam freely in the boundless Zero Realm Enigma, which aligns more with its beastly nature.

Since it is just that, what is there to worry about? It is merely a Dragon Calamity that occurs once every few decades... As Ansel said, without formidable enemies, how can the extraordinary beings demonstrate their power?

Therefore, the grand dukes do not really concern themselves with the potential disaster the Dragon King might bring—if you insist that the Dragon King could kill them all at any moment, which divine species wouldn't do the same? If the Dragon King could suddenly go mad, could not the Empress or Hydral do the same?

Having survived like this for over a thousand years, there is nothing to worry about, or rather, worrying is futile.

The Western territory, being closest to the Celestial Path mountains, is the most severely affected by the Dragon Calamity, yet it also reaps the greatest profits.

Though it is a disaster, when a treasure-laden dragon charges at you in its madness, is it not also an opportunity?

For this reason, and because it is the region where the temporary entrance to the Zero Realm Enigma opens most frequently, the Western territory has become a paradise for adventurers, with four grand dukes governing its territories.

Every inch of the Western is a land of potential opportunities.

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