Chapter 739: Chapter 728: Destiny, Please Bless Me Once More! Chapter 739: Chapter 728: Destiny, Please Bless Me Once More! “Leo, how strong do you think he is?” Straddled between the horns of a red dragon soaring in the sky, Dragon Knight Bernard asks his dragon mount via mental link, sneaking a peek over his shoulder at the black-haired golden boy standing on the dragon’s back, gazing down below.

“What do you think? He swatted my face so hard it’s swollen, and that’s not even his Dragon Form. You know how strong he must be, don’t you?” A depressingly moody voice echoed in Bernard’s mind. “That slap really hurt, and you owe me ten fire elemental crystals for my medical expenses.”

“What made you growl at him so recklessly?” The dragon knight showed no sympathy for his red dragon; his mind was already spinning with calculations. “So this is an ancient dragon. If I could ride this dragon, my strength would rise again, and I could even skip the legendary barrier with his help.”

“Can you stop dreaming?” Sensing his companion’s thoughts, the red dragon Leo replied disdainfully, “If it weren’t for the fact that you stumbled upon me when I was a child, you’d be dreaming of standing on my head! Now he’s already at the ancient dragon stage; don’t even think about forming a Dragon Rider Contract with him.”

“Leo, do you think, if we combine our strength, can we beat him?”

“What, you still want to force yourself on him? Dream on! He slapped me into this mess even in his human form. When he transforms into a dragon, one claw of his can pin us to the ground and pound us. Besides, he’s a metal dragon good at magic.”

“What if you became a legendary Red Dragon?” The dragon knight asked a little unwillingly.

“I don’t know. Do you know how strong he really is? Maybe he’s an ancient golden dragon. If that’s the case, even if I become a legendary Red Dragon, I’d still be hammered down by him.”

“Ancient Golden Dragon!” Bernard’s eyes twinkled.

“Stop daydreaming and just feed me your resources honestly. If I could become an ancient dragon, I wouldn’t be weaker than a golden dragon. Why are you thinking so much?”

“Actually, there’s another way. We can try it out. If I can obtain an ancient dragon at this stage, my strength will advance to another level. Furthermore, I can try expanding my territory several times.”

Pitching on the back of the Red Dragon, the teen Muria who was observing below, glanced at the flamboyant dragon knight in front of him, and then continued to admire the interconnected paddy fields below. Seeing these neatly arranged paddy fields made him feel very pleased.

…

“Mr. Mu, this is my Thorn Castle. What do you think?” The dragon knight soon brought Muria to a city. In the center of the city, stood a castle. There was a mage tower, several floating gardens, and many oddities in Muria’s eyes.

“Not too bad!” Muria gave a pretty good review of the castle. At least, from a visual point of view, the castle is actually quite decent. As for the size, forget it!

It simply can’t be compared with his Wind King Castle. In the Wind King Castle, Muria could freely display his Titan form, and even so, his castle had more than one level. There were three levels underground, and a full nine levels above ground. The magnificence and splendor of the Wind King Castle is something this dragon knight, who is beaming with pride, can’t even imagine. In Muria’s eyes, this guy was just a country bumpkin.

“Oh.” Seeing Muria’s lack of enthusiasm, the dragon knight’s face fell a bit. He hadn’t seen any astonishment. When his own castle was just built, the citizens around were exclaiming with admiration. To construct this castle, filled with various spectacles, he had to delay the progress of his territory’s development.

“I’m laughing to death, you actually expect your castle to amaze an ancient golden dragon. Don’t you think about how long they have lived and how many grand buildings they have seen? To him, your small castle is probably like a peasant’s hut in your eyes.” The red dragon teased his dragon knight in their mental link. As an evil dragon, it’s his inherent wicked nature.

“So, in this ancient dragon’s eyes, I’m just a country bumpkin?”

“What else did you think? What do you suppose you are in the eyes of an ancient dragon?”

“I am one among the five dragon knights, and you are one of my mounts. In the eyes of the ancient dragon, if I am a country bumpkin, then you are a country bumpkin’s ride, even worse-off.”

“Hmm, there’s another fragrance of other dragons.” Muria stood still in mid-air above the castle. The Thorn Castle was built on top of two intersecting mountain ranges, hanging in the air below part of the castle, where Muria sensed a somewhat familiar but weak dragon scent.

Soon, under Muria’s gaze, a huge dragon, radiating blue glow and glittering like a gem, poked its head out from beneath the castle and looked up at Muria.

“Sapphire Dragon!” Muria glanced at the dragon knight beside him, “The second one. You have more than one dragon.”

“This is all thanks to destiny’s favor.” Bernard humbly said with a smile, but Muria could see the pride in his eyes.

“Please enter the castle, I have informed my servants to prepare delicacies for you.” After calming his dragons, Bernard invited Muria into his castle.

Upon entering Thorn Castle, this Dragon Knight attentively held a banquet in Muria’s honor. He presented Muria with an assortment of what he considered his most treasured food items and fruits.

During the banquet, while Muria was tasting the dishes, the knight subtly inquired about Muria’s future plans. When Muria mentioned intending to stay around for a while, he immediately offered him lodging at Thorn Castle, and Muria consented.

In the following days, Muria resided at Thorn Castle and was treated like royalty, having every wish granted. His favored exotic fruits and meats were served to him daily as if they were common fare.

To facilitate Muria’s observation of his territory, Bernard even arranged a carriage pulled by a Flame Dragon Bird for his use while touring around the Thorn Territory. Bernard also ordered city officials to offer the highest level of hospitality to Muria. Sometimes, Bernard chauffeured the carriage for Muria and acted as his tour guide with such enthusiasm that Muria felt somewhat embarrassed.

According to his original plan, Muria intended to overpower Bernard and seize his land, but now, he felt awkward making his move given the exceptional hospitality.

As time passed, Muria settled into life at Thorn Castle. His stay was especially comfortable as he was waited upon by over 1600 servants. No other race could surpass humans when it came to indulgence.

Despite his temporary stay, Muria allocated time daily to handle affairs in Xena Pus. Space and distance did not hinder his remote control of Xena Pus.

However, every day after dealing with matters in Xena Pus, Muria would explore around the Thorn Territory. It turned out the information the Storm Giant provided was erroneous. This human had not established nine cities in this desolate raw peninsula, but thirty-two, and there were still eighteen cities in the planning and construction stages. The Dragon Knight’s ambitions were so astonishing that even Muria admired him.

“What a competent farmer!”

Although Bernard was capable, his vanity was a tad too much for Muria. While touring the cities of Thorn Territory from the Dragon Bird Carriage Bernard arranged for him,
Muria noticed that Bernard’s name and achievements could be heard no matter which city he visited. Taverns were filled with legendary stories about this dragon knight, known to both young and old alike. Almost everyone knew of him.

Muria wondered, how narcissistic must this person be to invest such expansive resources to self-promote, ensuring that everyone in his territory knows his name? Keep in mind that the level of development in his territory parallels that of medieval Western Earth, with the only things slightly better being sanitation and the protection of extraordinary powers.

The degree of civilization and system development here, whereby every regular human knows his name, indicated that Bernard had been heavily investing in publicizing himself. Muria had never noticed any ruler act in such a way in his travels across various continents before.

However, Bernard’s vanity did not interfere with Muria’s inspection tours of the barren lands, the farms, plantations, and cities Bernard had developed for him.

Gradually, Muria discovered that Bernard’s influence was not only confined to the land; it also extended to the sea, encompassing seaports and ocean areas within the Thorns Territory.

…

“It’s truly fitting for an ancient dragon, this appetite of his really is astonishing. The fruits and meat he consumes daily alone is worth tens of thousands of gold coins. It’s like a gold-eating pit,”
While Muria was inspecting the coastal area, Dragon Knight Bernard was at Thorn Castle looking at the bills presented by his butler. His complexion darkened the more he read.

The fruits that Muria ate everyday were from the Exotic Fruit Garden. Every plant grown there was highly valued. The cheapest fruit from those plants was worth over a hundred gold coins.

Such rare fruits were served to Muria on a platter daily, a level of luxury Bernard himself had never experienced. To please Muria, he unwillingly obliged.

In terms of meats, his personal guard knight squad hunted in the wilderness daily to satisfy Muria’s gluttony. In the few days since Muria’s stay, he had already lost three guard knights, his seeds for future nation building.

If such sacrifice brought something in return, Bernard could bear with it. However, he noticed that despite his efforts to please Muria, Muria’s attitude towards him remained unchanged since they first met. Thus, he had some reservations.

“Oh destiny, please bless me once more!” After contemplating for a long time, Bernard pulled out a crystal-clear, rainbow-colored fruit from his Space Ring, then made up his mind.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read