A normal human Legendary has a lifespan of only two or three hundred years. For those with the means, using various holy or sinister life-extending methods, the limit is only five or six hundred years, and their strength will weaken as their body ages.
On the other hand, Dragonkin...
Once they become a Legendary...
The already long lifespan of Dragonkin will increase by at least a millennium, and thereafter they will remain at their Peak forever. Furthermore, a Legendary twilight dragon is actually at its most powerful moment in life, and no one dares to provoke them.
Nowadays, the various Empires treat the Metallic Dragon Race with great courtesy and do not dare to be too excessive in their extermination of Evil Dragons, largely because they are wary of the Twenty-Four Winged Golden Dragon in its twilight state.
In a twilight state, death could come at any moment, yet the body's functions are at their strongest Peak.
These terrifying buffs are almost fully stacked.
Even if a twilight Golden Dragon doesn't take action, merely flying over the airspace of certain countries is enough to make them tremble with fear, dreading that this Ancient Dragon might take them down with it.
"Legendary is the true meaning of a powerhouse."
"In the eyes of a Legendary lifeform, all battles below the Legendary rank are like chickens pecking at each other, mere child's play."
Garros set a goal for himself: "Become a Legendary within five hundred years."
This goal was not set high; one could even say it was quite low.
Just like the Gold Dragons Garros liked to use as a benchmark, for a Gold Dragon, becoming a Legendary lifeform by five hundred years old has a certain level of difficulty, but it is not extremely hard. Outstanding individual Gold Dragons can basically become a Legendary within five hundred years.
Garros did not like setting his goals too high or being unrealistic.
He preferred to set his goals low.
This way, when he achieved them ahead of schedule, it gave him a sense of accomplishment.
If he set a goal of becoming a Legendary within a hundred years and failed to achieve it, he wouldn't exactly be discouraged, but there would eventually be a slight sense of disappointment.
Garros took a deep breath, dazzling golden lightning erupting within his body as he entered the Frenzied State.
In this state, even lying still has a stimulating training effect on the body.
He crouched calmly in the wind and rain, silently savoring the sensation of the lightning stinging his muscles while continuing to listen to the conversation between Frostfang and Nick.
As a side note...
The Old Shaman of the Grey-mane Werewolf tribe passed away naturally two years ago.
After the werewolves held a funeral to bid him farewell, Frostfang inherited his legacy and stood in his place to continue serving Garros.
After Nick finished sharing the information he knew about the Permafrost Tundra, he took out waterproof paper and a pen to record each of the requirements Frostfang had raised, confirming them several times to ensure nothing was missed before carefully putting them away.
After agreeing on the time for the next transaction...
The caravan's Troll slaves began loading the goods onto the carts.
Nick stood in the tent watching this scene, while Frostfang prepared to leave with her tribesmen.
Just as they reached the entrance of the tent, Nick suddenly spoke: "Wait a moment."
The Werewolf Warlock paused her steps and turned to look at Nick.
"Is there anything else?"
She asked.
The smile on Nick's face remained unchanged as he whispered, "At the next transaction, I would like to meet that lord to express my loyalty and reverence. That lord has given me a new lease on life, and I am eternally grateful."
The 'lord' he spoke of was clearly referring to the leader behind the Molten Iron Clan.
Of course, Nick did not know the name Molten Iron Clan.
The transactions between the two parties only took place on the trade route. Nick's understanding of the Molten Iron Clan was only slightly better than that of other merchants; he knew that the monsters of the Scale-Earth Rift Road were loyal to the same lord, but he did not know that these monster clans had been integrated.
Upon hearing Nick's words...
Frostfang's gaze shifted abruptly, becoming cold and dangerous.
Over the past few years, many merchants had tried to probe Garros's identity, but they had all eventually vanished without a trace, and the one primarily responsible for handling this was the warlock Frostfang.
However, Nick was different from those merchants.
Frostfang suppressed her killing intent and said slowly, "I cannot decide this. I can only request instructions for you and will notify you via the Communication Stone once I have a result."
Nick nodded hastily, showing a fawning smile.
"Much obliged, much obliged."
He pulled out a Magic Gem and pressed it into Frostfang's claws, whispering, "This is a small token of my appreciation, please accept it."
Frostfang took the gem and then disappeared into the curtain of rain with her tribesmen.
After the caravan was briefly reorganized, it began to move again, fading into the distance along the Scale-Earth Rift Road.
Ten minutes later, Iron Dragon Sorog descended from the sky, his massive wings shielding the wind and rain as he landed before the werewolves who had not yet returned to the territory.
He had been watching this place the entire time, just in case.
"Noble Iron King, please accept this gem."
Frostfang offered the gem she had just received, and the Iron Dragon took it without ceremony.
"Will the Dragon Lord agree to the next meeting?"
Frostfang asked.
The Iron Dragon looked toward the trade route, his gaze somewhat brooding in the curtain of rain, and said, "Not necessarily. But if he does not meet him, we will terminate our trade with this caravan and find a new, manageable, and controllable caravan."
Frostfang knew how to handle the termination.
She nodded heavily.
The drizzle continued, showing no sign of stopping.
Iron Dragon Sorog returned to the Coniferous Valley, folded his wings to shake off the rainwater, and said to Garros, "Do you intend to meet that human?"
Garros nodded casually, saving Nick from a fatal fate.
"Let him meet me," Garros's tail tip swept across the ground, leaving a furrow. "A ten-year test has proven that he is a smart man who knows how to maintain a balance between profit and loyalty."
"Besides, times are different now. He can be allowed to know just how grand and magnificent the object of his fealty truly is."
Garros boasted exaggeratedly.
The Iron Dragon wanted to remind Garros not to be too arrogant, but as his gaze swept over Garros's imposing physique, his eyelids twitched, and he said no more.
What Garros said was the truth.
This had nothing to do with arrogance or conceit.
Searching through his dragon heritage, the Iron Dragon had not found a second Dragonkin who could be as strong as Garros at the same age.
At this point, after some thought, the Iron Dragon suggested, "I want to establish some taverns around the trade route and select intelligent individuals from among our kin to run them."
Garros's eyes moved slightly.
"You want to use these taverns to gather information?"
The Iron Dragon nodded his head and said, "We are located in the wilderness, where information is isolated and backward. We cannot wait until we need it or until a problem is discovered to start asking around. We need better eyes and ears."
After a pause, the Iron Dragon added, "Furthermore, I hope to come from behind the scenes to the forefront."
He said seriously to Garros, "You and Samantha will remain behind the scenes, while I will stand at the forefront. As a dragon, I will attract more wilderness clans to seek refuge and swear fealty, allowing the Molten Iron Clan to develop even more rapidly."
Hearing this, Garros shook his head.
"Now is not the right time."
He said.
Whether it was establishing taverns or the Iron Dragon stepping to the forefront...
These were all a bit too flashy, equivalent to pushing the Molten Iron Clan into the open.
The Iron Dragon was perfectly qualified in terms of managing the territory and kin, but he could sometimes be too impatient and had not learned to hide his ambitions. He also had some personality flaws belonging to Dragonkin; the one who truly decided the future and the direction was still Garros.
"Why?"
The Iron Dragon asked, somewhat puzzled.
Garros did not answer directly but asked instead, "Sorog, who do you think the Scale-Earth Rift Road belongs to?"
"To us, of course. It belongs to the Molten Iron Clan."
The Iron Dragon answered naturally.
"No, it belongs to the Lothern Federation. You must understand this."
Garros looked toward the south and said slowly, "The Thousand Snake Scars trade route that covers the Serel Wilderness, both its main trunk and branch lines, was entirely opened and created by the Lothern Federation, and it is watched over by a formidable garrison."
"It is fine for us to conduct normal trade with caravans on the road; it is even fine if we are publicly recognized as the hegemon of this branch line."
"But the prerequisite is that we cannot stand in the open, we cannot be at the forefront, and we cannot high-profilely claim to be the Dominator of the Scale-Earth Rift Road."
Garros's gaze was calm as he continued, "Why do you think the Lothern Federation's trade route garrison can tolerate monster clans operating on the trade route?"
"Precisely because we are like lichen clinging to the rock crevices—not obvious enough to need clearing, yet possessing practical value."
"But if the lichen suddenly wants to become a towering tree..."
Garros did not continue, but the meaning was already very clear.
The Iron Dragon fell silent.
But in his heart, he was still somewhat unwilling.
"When will we be able to stand on the stage of the wilderness, on the stage of the world, without the need for disguise?" he asked.
Opposite him, the Red-Iron Dragon grinned and said, "Be patient, my brother."
"Do not forget our identity. Time is always on our side."