The sky gradually grew light, taking on a grayish-blue hue.
Garros and the White Dragon Tereshi flew one after the other toward the northern reaches of the Borderlands, gradually approaching the ice fields—the Permafrost Tundra.
Looking into the far distance...
With the powerful vision of Dragonkin, one could already faintly see the undulating outlines of glaciers, appearing like giant serpents.
Garros was currently heading to the White Dragon's lair with her.
The thought of her wealth, accumulated over many years, soon changing hands made the White Dragon very reluctant; she flew slowly, stalling for as long as she could.
Garros was in no hurry, looking down with lowered eyes, his gaze scanning the earth inch by inch to personally observe the conditions of the Borderlands.
If the White Dragon flew truly too slowly, he would unceremoniously lash her with his tail or swat her with his dragon wings to remind her to speed up.
As time passed, the air temperature dropped lower and lower; even before reaching the ice fields, it was already below ten degrees, and it was even colder at high altitudes, with fine frost among the clouds.
Upon entering this environment, the White Dragon's spirits became more invigorated.
"Tereshi, you've lived here for a long time."
"Besides us, how many other Dragonkin do you know reside here?"
Garros asked.
The White Dragon thought for a moment, shook her head, and said, "Unless it's to hunt and fill my stomach, I don't usually like to leave my lair. I don't know much about the surrounding situation."
After a pause, she added, "However, I have spotted the territory of Metallic Dragons from a distance."
Garros: "Silver Dragons?"
Silver Dragons prefer cold environments; for Metallic Dragons in the Borderlands or the ice fields, Silver Dragons were the most likely candidate.
Garros had never seen a Silver Dragon, but the descriptions in his Legacy regarding Silver Dragons were all praises for their beauty or handsomeness. Furthermore, in terms of raw power, Silver Dragons could be compared to Red Dragons—they were very powerful Dragonkin.
Despite both being ice-attributed...
The White Dragon fell far short of a Silver Dragon.
"If it's an adult Silver Dragon, its Life Level would be at least 15. I probably couldn't beat it, but with my speed and explosive power, escaping would certainly be no problem."
Garros weighed the matter in his mind.
"Yes, but it's not just Silver Dragons."
The White Dragon said, "A male Silver Dragon and a female Copper Dragon, along with their offspring, stay together in a valley filled with red maples."
Garros thought for a moment and said, "Do you know their approximate age group or Life Level?"
The White Dragon shook her head and said seriously, "There is a saying that kings do not meet kings; we have never faced each other directly."
Despite Garros's emotional management, he almost couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Once he calmed his emotions, he suddenly and keenly noticed a point worth considering.
"A Silver Dragon and a Copper Dragon."
"They might be Deborah's parents."
Garros still remembered the Copper Dragon who had sent him two waves of Alchemical Items.
Her Alchemical Items had a strong Dragon Clan style and were most likely made by a Dragon Clan Alchemist. Especially when she used her life-saving Spell Scale on the Insect King in a fit of rage, it had unleashed frost-type damage.
So, Garros had previously speculated that the Copper Dragon Deborah had a Silver Dragon elder.
Silver Dragons are most likely to be found in ice fields, but for the sake of a Copper Dragon mate, nesting in the Borderlands—a place not quite so cold but not hot either—was very reasonable.
"I must be careful not to run into Deborah's parents."
"Metallic Dragons have close relationships and value Bloodlines. There's no telling if they would bully the small as the big and attack me to vent their daughter's anger and seek revenge."
Garros's heart tightened.
He did not want to face a Silver Dragon that was at least in its adult stage right now.
"Tereshi, where is the territory of the Silver Dragon and the Copper Dragon?"
"In that direction, about five hundred kilometers away."
The White Dragon pointed toward a certain direction in the east, giving an approximate location.
"As the saying goes, 'kings do not meet kings.' I'll refrain from going to that place for now," the Young Dragon thought to himself.
After flying for another period of time...
Garros arrived very close to the ice fields, or rather, at the edge of the ice fields. He then stopped in the air above a high mountain covered in frost and full of frozen earth.
The air temperature here was already below zero, and the sunlight seemed to have no warmth at all.
White mist from his breath was visible to the naked eye, and the cold air fell upon Garros from all sides, making him feel somewhat uncomfortable.
"It's right here."
"Don't you have any subordinates?"
Garros didn't see any gathering of creatures here.
"I had a few before. I ate some when I was hungry, and the rest ran away while I was in dragon-sleep."
The White Dragon said.
She was a very pure White Dragon and didn't know much about management. She treated her subordinates as emergency rations, and her overly cruel oppression and bullying had caused them all to flee.
Soon after, the White Dragon landed hesitantly and pretended to search for a while before leading Garros into her dragon nest here.
It was a very ordinary dragon nest with a primitive cave structure.
A thick layer of hard ice crystals covered the floor and walls. Garros felt it was a bit slippery as he walked, his steps appearing slightly sluggish, while the White Dragon moved as if on level ground, her movements as light as a large cat's, completely unaffected.
The aura of an adult dragon was intense.
Places where one lives for many years gradually undergo changes due to their influence.
These ice crystals were formed under the influence of the White Dragon's aura; they were not ordinary ice.
For powerful Dragonkin like Ancient Dragons, their dwelling places wouldn't just have their terrain and environment changed; even the elemental composition would be affected. For example, in the territory of an Ancient Red Dragon, there might even appear whirlpools connecting to the Fire Elemental Plane, allowing them to recruit fire elemental lifeforms to serve them.
Stepping unevenly, she led Garros to the deepest part of the lair.
The White Dragon showed a look of heartache, then shattered the wall in front of her that seemed to be the end, revealing the treasure room hidden behind it.
Unlike the heart-pained White Dragon...
Garros's eyes lit up, instantly dazzled by the glittering treasures.
Whoosh—he took a deep breath, gradually suppressing his instinctive greed for treasure, and praised, "Tereshi, I didn't expect you to be so wealthy and have so many savings. I've changed my view of you."
The White Dragon grinned, revealing an unnaturally stiff smile.
Before Garros, piles of ice diamonds, white crystals, and similar gems shone brilliantly. These were the gems the White Dragon loved to collect most, and they illuminated the dim cave.
Magic gems, gold coins, and silver coins were piled up like small mountains.
This was somewhat unexpected for Garros. He hadn't expected the White Dragon's wealth to be so staggering that even he couldn't compare.
However, it would all be his next.
Immediately after...
With a smile beaming on his face, Garros stepped forward and reached out with his claws to rummage through it.
Clatter—the Red-Iron Dragon's smile came to an abrupt halt.
The truth revealed after the surface layer of treasure slid off caused the air to suddenly freeze.
The 'treasures' piled underneath were merely some relatively translucent ordinary Ores. Several skeletons of permafrost rhinos were carefully arranged in a guarding posture, and at the very bottom, there were even polished skulls of tundra wolves as padding.
White Dragon Tereshi's mountain-like wealth was just an appearance.
She was broke but faking it, deceiving even herself.
"This is the accumulation of nearly two hundred years? Even a Young Dragon who just became independent wouldn't use animal bones to make up the numbers."
Garros said.
"Could you possibly be wealthier than me? This is already quite good!"
The White Dragon raised her head and spoke with great defiance.
She didn't believe Garros was richer than her—until a burst of sky-blue light almost blinded her eyes.
Facing the White Dragon's doubt, Garros didn't speak but responded with action.
He shook his neck, revealing the sky-anchor gem hidden inside the inner layer of his scales.
The light of the sky-anchor gem was so wonderful and brilliant that one look at it made the White Dragon feel as if her whole body was being bitten by countless ants. Her eyes were full of longing, and she wished she could shove her eyes into Garros's scales to get a better look.
The White Dragon's pupils dilated to their limit, almost losing focus as she leaned in obsessively.
Then, Garros suddenly closed his scales, and the brilliance of the gem vanished like a snuffed candle flame.
"Ah, let me see, please let me see it one more time."
The White Dragon had a face full of fawning smiles, wagging her tail as she pleaded.
"Do your work well for me, and I promise there will be a share of these gems for you in the future."
Garros was painting a rosy picture for the White Dragon.
At the same time, with a sweep of his huge and agile dragon wings, he unceremoniously swept away all of the White Dragon's treasures, leaving only those worthless things behind.