Unlike the cumbersome fleshy wings of Western dragons, his posture was more elegant and deadly;
His four dragon claws were pressed close to his belly, with subtle lightning wrapped around their tips;
Most strikingly, a long, shimmering pattern flowed along his side, extending from his neck to his tail.
The cold wind of ZulDrak howled, carrying ice crystals, but automatically avoided his body as it approached.
Those ice crystals silently vaporized just an inch from his scales, turning into wisps of white mist that encircled him, adding to his mystique.
He had not left the high altitude, but he had already taken in the entire continent below.
In his divine sense, seven ancient auras lay dormant in different locations within ZulDrak; each one did not belong to mortals.
Nathan slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a faint stream of dragon breath.
"Seven."
Rhino, Snow Leopard, Mammoth, Snake, Polar Bear, and two Wind Serpents.
He had already sensed their presence—seven loa spirits of the Drakkari Ice Trolls.
He could have killed them all in one go, using thunderous means to intimidate all of ZulDrak.
But doing so would only make the Ice Trolls submit in fear, not in true faith.
The rapid expansion of the church was tantamount to pulling up seedlings to help them grow.
A large number of opportunists mixing into the church would cause chaos, instead burying future troubles.
Eliminating external enemies was far easier than purging from within.
What he wanted was a stable foundation of faith, not a group of opportunists who could turn on him at any time.
Therefore, Nathan's best approach now was to—
Strike one faction, support another.
Those willing to bow their heads and cooperate could continue to enjoy offerings under his name; those who were stubborn would be used to establish his authority with their lives.
The plan was set, but how to execute it?
He couldn't just barge in, beat someone up, and then say he was there to negotiate.
Honestly, these loa, who were killed by mortals in leveling quests, had a really low sense of presence.
Nathan couldn't even remember their names or personalities.
Their followers might know something, but the perspective was too low, and the information too fragmented, basically as good as nothing.
In such a situation, the safest method was to contact, probe, then divide, and integrate.
But Nathan immediately rejected this cumbersome process.
Overtime was out of the question.
With his personality, he really didn't have the patience for such trivial matters, nor the interest in slowly dealing with every loa.
"If they're willing to jump out themselves, it'll be much simpler."
Nathan pondered, his gaze falling on Italk in southwestern ZulDrak.
"For example... mortal wars."
If he pushed Skala and his people to gradually squeeze the living space of those Ice Trolls who still believed in the loa.
Those loa would have no choice but to come out.
This was a plan that killed two... no, three birds with one stone.
The first benefit was naturally forcing those loa to step onto the stage.
The second benefit was that Obsidian coincidentally still had a [War] divine duty and domain that needed practice.
He could not only use this to practice the knowledge within the [War] domain but also harvest divine power through the war itself.
The third benefit: war, like a touchstone, would clearly reflect the true faces of these loa towards mortals:
Would they personally intervene and fight?
Or would they stand by coldly, watching their followers perish?
Would they desperately protect their stubborn old subordinates?
Or would they assess the situation and try to secure a place under the "new god's" order?
—This was the most direct and efficient opportunity to filter "support" versus "strike"!
"In other words..." Nathan slowly grinned, revealing a row of clean, sharp dragon teeth.
"I just need to set up the layout."
"War will force them out of their nests."
By then, he would only need to reside high above the nine heavens and make his judgment: to see who would be sensible and submit, and who would be stubborn and bring about their own destruction.
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/TripleCrown
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"