Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Sneaking Some Leisure Time Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Sneaking Some Leisure Time “No matter how pleasing the song, no matter how beautiful the dance, when seen and heard enough, one can grow weary of them.” Muria sat upon the throne, listening to the sea sirens’ harmonious chanting below, as a group of mermaids, having shed their fish tails and transformed into humans, gently danced to the melody.

“Don’t you agree, Terence?” Muria turned his head to look at the Storm Giant Leader standing behind him.

“Your Majesty, if you have tired of the siren’s song, we could have the Cloud Giants and my kin play their best instruments for you. The music they produce will surely not disappoint you.”

“Is that so?” Muria, intrigued, stroked his chin and then ordered the Storm Giants standing attendant in the great hall: “Go outside and summon the Cloud Giants who are the most skilled in music to play for me. Also, send someone to the Five-Color Dragon Castle to invite the most musically talented Storm Giant to the White Jade Divine Palace.”

“Muria, do you not intend to return to the Five-Color Dragon Castle?” At Muria’s side, the White Dragon Clodia, who had already bestowed upon herself a mechanized mind, asked, “You’ve spent twenty days at the White Jade Divine Palace this month.”

“I’m not going back.” Muria waved his hand, “The giants have all requested that I reside within the White Jade Divine Palace, and besides, I’m rather fond of staying here as opposed to the Five-Color Dragon Castle. Don’t you like it here?”

Muria pointed to the grand hall he was currently in, one of the buildings of the White Jade Divine Palace, with floors paved in silver, golden ceilings, and jewels of all colors decorating it. Massive magic crystals, carved into exquisite works of art by the Cloud Giant craftsmen, served as ornaments within the hall.

The entire grand hall glittered with the dazzling light of magic, exuding an air of extreme luxury and desire. In fact, not just this hall, but all the buildings of the White Jade Divine Palace were of this opulent style, glittering gold and luxuriantly radiant.

“I do not like it.” White Dragon Clodia followed Muria’s lead, surveyed the grandeur of the hall, and expressed a sentiment that utterly surprised Muria.

“What are you saying?” Muria looked incredulously at little White Dragon Clodia. Was he seeing things, or had he misheard? A dragon actually said she disliked buildings adorned with gold and jewels everywhere.

“I do not like it,” White Dragon Clodia repeated what she had just said.

“Are you even a dragon? How can you not like this place? Every dragon in the Dragon Fortress wishes to be here.”

“What meaning does this have?” Clodia challenged Muria, pointing to a figurine of a green wolf carved from a Wind Element Crystal, “Magic crystals should be used as material for magic research and as a foundation for enhancing strength, not rendered useless as an ornament.”

“I have so many of these things that I could never use them all; carving a few as decorations, what’s the harm? Whether they’re stored in a warehouse or displayed here, it’s all the same,” Muria said somewhat helplessly, glancing at the lifelike green wolf figurine.

“Muria, you weren’t like this before,” Clodia said, looking at Muria with a hint of disappointment. Ever since Muria had defeated thirty Storm Giants, he had increased the time he spent indulging in the mermaid’s songs and dances.

Ever since the last time Muria had overwhelmed soul-intent level Storm Giant Terence with his crushing power, he had grown even more arrogant. Now, he took some time every day to indulge in the Siren’s song and the Mermaid’s dance.

“That was in the past,” Muria reclined lazily on his spacious throne, admiring the graceful dance of the Mermaids below, and replied listlessly, “Back then, my power wasn’t strong enough, so naturally I had to work hard at practicing magic. Now, no one on the entire Taiji Island can match my strength, so of course, I want to enjoy myself a bit. Otherwise, life would be too boring.”

“Muria, don’t you think that studying magic is more interesting than appreciating these useless songs and dances?”

“Magic, is there anything more tedious, more headache-inducing in this world than studying magic?” Muria looked at Clodia in horror, “You actually think studying magic is fun?”

“Of course, each and every magic model is so fascinating, so tempting, they represent the truth of the world.” Mentioning magic, Clodia showed a zealous expression.

“Indeed, Clodia, you are the most special among all dragons of Dragon Fortress, the unique Academic Overlord Dragon,” Muria stared intently at Clodia, “You don’t like gold and jewels, then what do you like? Or rather, on this island, what do you think is the most precious thing?”

“Of course it’s the Library inside Dragon Fortress!” Upon hearing Muria’s question, Clodia answered without a second thought.

“The library I set up with books borrowed from my mother?” Muria, hearing Clodia’s response, looked around the glittering grand hall, smiling wryly, “In your eyes, is knowledge truly the most valuable thing?”

“Clodia, what you say is true, the most precious thing on the entire Taiji Island is the Library,” Muria said, then lowered his head, looking down at Clodia, “But compared to those books, I still prefer to enjoy myself. And besides, Clodia, I’m not studying magic daily or training in martial arts, nor have I spent much time enjoying myself.”

“Muria, don’t you realize how far you are from those truly strong? How can you indulge in pleasure at a time like this?” Upon hearing Muria’s reply, Clodia could not hide her disappointment, transforming back into her True Dragon Form and flew out of the palace, heading toward Five-Color Dragon Castle. She would rather return to reading books than play with Muria and waste time.

“I obviously don’t have to do anything but wait to achieve legend. Now I still study hard and train daily, without any slack, yet you say this about me, really,” Muria muttered to himself as he watched Clodia fly away, “The world of the Academic Overlord, I don’t understand.”

Having said that, Muria lowered his head and resumed watching the performances of the sea Siren and the Mermaid. A while later, when a group of musical Cloud Giants and Storm Giants entered, he dismissed the Siren and Mermaids in favor of enjoying the Giants’ concert.

From that day on, Muria began to pursue even greater pleasures during his limited free time. He enjoyed wearing lavish clothes, so the Cloud Giants took the initiative to select hundreds of female Cloud Giants skilled in weaving to create new garments for him night and day.

In terms of food, Muria also became somewhat picky. He recalled the many delicacies from his past life, and whenever he remembered a dish, he would describe its taste and some cooking methods to the Cloud Giant chefs.

He instructed them to try to recreate similar dishes, and it didn’t matter if they couldn’t get it right, as it wasn’t the original world anymore, and many of the food ingredients were different. Under such circumstances, many Cloud Giants actively sought out more edible plants to cultivate…
Muria sought better comforts, and none of the giant leaders or chiefs of The Sea Clan around him found anything amiss. Given Muria’s current identity, wearing better clothes and eating more refined food counted for little.

“Hmm, the shapes of these eight islands are not regular enough,” Muria said in a low voice, standing in front of a proportionally reduced sand table that perfectly displayed the shapes and terrains of the islands. “Ask the Mountain Giants if they can change the shape of the eight islands surrounding Taiji, turning them into identical rectangles.”

“Your Majesty, isn’t this project a bit too vast?” Finally, a Storm Giant spoke up to dissuade him, as it seemed a bit unreasonable to have the Mountain Giants remodel the islands just because he didn’t find their shapes pleasing on the sand table.

“I am asking if the Mountain Giants can do it. If they can’t, then forget it. I am not insisting that they must complete it,” Muria explained to the persuading Storm Giant.

Muria turned to the Mountain Giants in the grand hall, “Can you transform the shapes of these eight islands into identical, regular rectangles?” He wanted to make Taiji Island and the surrounding eight islands resemble the Taiji Bagua diagram from his memories.

“Your Majesty, as long as you give us Mountain Giants enough time, we can remodel them,” a representative of the Mountain Giants said softly.

“Very well, this task is entrusted to you Mountain Giants. I won’t impose any time restrictions; just try to complete it as soon as possible,” Muria finally issued a somewhat absurd command upon hearing the Mountain Giant’s response. It couldn’t be helped; he was a bit obsessive-compulsive.

“These past few days, the food I thought of, did my Cloud Giant chef prepare it?” After issuing the command, Muria remembered something and asked the cloud giant leader beside him.

“I’ve heard they’ve made something similar, Your Majesty.”

“Then why not serve it to me for a taste?”

“Your Majesty, there are some aspects that do not meet your requirements.”

“Serve it anyway for me to taste first, and then I’ll see what doesn’t meet my requirements.”

“As you command, Your Majesty.” Quickly, a bowl of pure white, undecorated porcelain was brought up, containing wobbly, white chunks.

“Douhua, how I’ve missed you,” Muria remarked upon seeing the familiar food before him. He then cast a Shape-shifting Spell, transforming into a shorter human form.

To truly enjoy food, he had to transform into a human form. In Titan Form, he was too large, and everything would be eaten in two or three bites, which didn’t allow for any enjoyment of the food.

“Hmm, this…” Muria picked up a spoon, scooped up a white chunk of Douhua, and put it into his mouth. It melted upon entry, nearly indistinguishable from the Douhua of his past life in texture, but in taste, “It’s so sweet.”

“How much sugar did you add?” Muria smacked his lips; although he liked sweets, this bowl of Douhua in front of him was too sweet, cloyingly so.

“Your Majesty, we did not add any sugar,” replied the Cloud Giant chef who had brought the Douhua, kneeling on the ground, somewhat uneasy.

“No sugar, yet it is so sweet?”

“Your Majesty, we tried all the plants on the island and found only one called Sugar Beans, which can be used to make this white and tender food you speak of.”

“Sugar Beans, those are the plants you use for making sugar, aren’t they!” Muria slapped his forehead, realizing that this world was entirely different from his former life; there were no soybeans, no sugarcane, but there were Sugar Beans with attributes of both combined.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Douhua is best with just a hint of sweetness. The one you made is too sweet. Find a way to reduce its sweetness.”

…

Every day, Muria persisted in practicing the martial techniques, memory construction magic, and array formation study knowledge from the Titan Inheritance without interruption.

As for teaching the Five Colored Dragons, Muria delegated the task to Clodia. The Five Colored Dragons had by now been completely twisted in their natures by their maternal grandfather, Dimos, each possessing a strong ability to learn autonomously. This was the surprise given to Muria by the Dragon King.

When Muria felt a bit weary from his cultivation, he had the Siren sing high songs, had the Mermaids shed their Fish Tails to dance for him, and had the Giants skilled in music play for his entertainment. During his leisure time, Muria also had the Cloud Giants research culinary delicacies and had Cloud Giant women create various beautifully designed robes for him…

As time flowed day by day, Muria’s strength grew slowly. His bloodline’s influence over the giants was steadily increasing. Following Terence, the Storm Giant Leader, more giants began to break free from the shackles of their bloodlines, not just one or two.

Like bamboo shoots after a rain, the giants started advancing en masse, no longer staying at their original levels. Even among the Storm Giants, Terence was no longer the sole Soul-intent level giant as several others also advanced to the Soul-intent level.

Under the influence of Muria’s bloodline, the overall martial power of Taiji Island increased several folds.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read