The Azure Dragon Secret Realm and Dragon Pearls were enhancements to dragon-type power.
But beyond that, tempering one's spirit and will was just as indispensable.
Only when both the spirit and the body had been polished to perfection could the strongest Evolution Energy possibly erupt forth.
As long as they achieved that, then regardless of whether they ultimately evolved into the Ultimate Dragon—
Both Jiang Xing and the little dragon would have pushed themselves to their absolute limits and left behind no regrets.
Therefore, before preparing for evolution, Jiang Xing called the little dragon into the study for some psychological guidance.
In other words, he was secretly giving it special tutoring.
The reason it had to be done in secret was simple: this counseling session involved some rather outrageous takes. It would be best if certain divine dragons never heard about them.
Even if Dragon Uncle was broad-minded enough not to care about something so trivial, appearances still mattered.
"Dragon Hatchling, do you think Dragon Uncle is powerful?"
"Muu!" (Very powerful!!)
The Rainbow Dragon Hatchling answered without a second thought.
The Azure Dragon was mighty and benevolent, perfectly embodying every fantasy it had ever held about true dragons.
Especially when he revealed his true form.
The sky itself seemed too small to contain his majestic body.
One breath of mist became torrential rain that blanketed the world.
One glance became lightning capable of tearing apart heaven and earth.
That godlike image was precisely the kind of true dragon the little dragon admired and longed to become.
Not to mention that the Azure Dragon nurtured all living things.
Just like the Dragon King Jiang Xing had once described, every kind of Pet Beast living within the Secret Realm worshipped and revered him.
He had already become the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling's idol.
It yearned to become an existence like the Azure Dragon.
"That's right. The Azure Dragon commands clouds and rain, nourishing all living things with power capable of reshaping heaven and earth."
"Even among countless gods, he stands at the very pinnacle!"
Jiang Xing began by laying down a generous layer of insurance.
The Rainbow Dragon Hatchling listened with shining eyes, nodding repeatedly.
"But..."
Suddenly, Jiang Xing changed the subject.
He pulled out a book and opened it to reveal an illustration inside.
It was an ancient painting depicting a strange dragon.
Besides scales and horns, it possessed a pair of wings upon its back. It seemed capable of blotting out the sky itself as it soared above endless waves.
"Long before Pet Beasts appeared, dragons already existed within humanity's myths and legends."
"They took many forms and belonged to many kinds."
"But among them, the oldest, greatest, and most powerful was a winged dragon."
"Its name was—"
"Yinglong."
"According to legend, it was the god who created the world and all things."
"It was the origin of everything."
"The ancestor of all dragons."
Myths and legends were not contained within a single book.
Rather, they were an amalgamation of countless ancient texts and folk tales woven together over generations.
As a result, countless versions existed, many of which directly contradicted one another.
The identity of the creator god alone had spawned countless different interpretations, with no universally accepted answer.
And if one included myths from foreign lands, things became even more complicated.
Jiang Xing was bringing up mythology because he wanted to create the image of a dragon even stronger than the Azure Dragon, using it as a tool to shape the little dragon's mentality.
Naturally, he had no reservations whatsoever.
Even if the myths didn't contain such a figure, he could simply make one up.
Besides, Yinglong was already regarded in mythology as a primordial dragon ancestor, so it wasn't entirely fabricated.
At that moment, Jiang Xing began hyping Yinglong up to absurd levels.
World creation.
The creation of all life.
Destruction itself.
Past, present, and future.
Born from the primordial egg at the beginning of chaos.
Creating the multiverse with a thousand hands—
Wait, wrong mythology.
In any case, the stronger it sounded, the harder he sold it.
The Rainbow Dragon Hatchling listened with its mouth hanging open in shock.
And yet, its heart was filled with yearning.
It never doubted the truth of the story.
It trusted Jiang Xing. It trusted every word he said.
And so, it felt a heartfelt sense of shock.
So besides Dragon Uncle, there was actually a dragon in mythology that was this powerful, this exaggerated?!
The revelation shattered the worldview of the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling, which had only moments ago regarded the Azure Dragon as the strongest dragon.
Its worldview broke into pieces and scattered across the ground.
But its worldview had already been shattered more than once before.
It was easy enough to piece it back together again and arrive at a new conclusion—
Dragon Uncle isn't the strongest.
Yinglong is the strongest.
I want to become Yinglong!
At that moment, however, Jiang Xing interrupted its train of thought and closed the book.
"Everything I just told you is merely mythology imagined by humans."
"The Yinglong from those stories may not even exist."
Jiang Xing added another layer of insurance, just in case Dragon Uncle decided to ambush him later.
Only then did he finally reveal the truly outrageous take.
"But the reason I told you that story was to show you one thing—"
"There's always someone stronger."
"And beyond every horizon lies another horizon."
"And beyond every dragon lies another dragon."
"Whether it's the Azure Dragon, Yinglong, or even Zhulong, none of them are the strongest dragon."
"No one knows whether there are still true dragons out there that are even more powerful than they are."
"If you want to become stronger—if you want to become a true dragon, the ultimate dragon—then you shouldn't treat them as idols or role models..."
"You should treat them as goals that must be surpassed."
"If you surpass the Azure Dragon, surpass Yinglong, surpass every dragon that exists—"
"Then you will be the strongest dragon."
"The dragon above all dragons."
It was an utterly ridiculous claim.
Especially considering the target of Jiang Xing's speech was merely a second-stage Rainbow Dragon Hatchling whose Power Level was only Mid Commander Level.
That only made it sound even more absurd.
A frog at the bottom of a well dreaming of surpassing mythical dragons?
Dreaming of surpassing all dragons?
To anyone else—whether human or Pet Beast—it would have been laughable rather than inspiring.
But...
The Rainbow Dragon Hatchling was different.
Call it arrogance.
Call it obsession.
That was simply the kind of creature it was.
Despite being nothing more than a Golden-Patterned Koi from a pond, it had always gazed toward the sky, yearning for power that did not belong to a fish.
Despite being the weakest of Golden-Patterned Koi, it had readily believed a young man's stories and dreamed of becoming a true dragon.
Perhaps it really was a frog at the bottom of a well, with only a tiny patch of sky above its head.
But its heart was vast enough to hold the entire sky.
A mythical dragon?
In the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling's eyes, that was merely a larger pond.
A greater goal.
Since Jiang Xing had said that surpassing those divine dragons would make it the strongest dragon—
Then it would charge toward that goal without hesitation.
Even if it left itself exhausted.
Even if it ended up battered and bleeding.
"Muuuu!!"
The Rainbow Dragon Hatchling let out an impassioned cry.
Its voice now carried a new longing—
The strongest dragon!
That was its goal!
Even though Jiang Xing's story was steeped in mythology, and the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling didn't truly understand what Yinglong was, nor what a creator god meant...
It had seen the Azure Dragon with its own eyes.
It knew exactly what kind of overwhelming power the Azure Dragon possessed.
That was a clear and tangible goal standing right before it.
The strongest dragon begins by surpassing Dragon Uncle!
"Very good."
Through the Beast Taming Contract, Jiang Xing could sense the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling's emotions.
Its feelings had shifted from admiration and worship to ambition and aspiration.
And that left him extremely satisfied.
In a world where willpower held real power, the height of one's heart determined the height of one's future.
If your goal wasn't lofty enough, then no matter how hard you worked, it would be difficult to become the strongest.
But if your goal was grand enough—and you could genuinely persist in pursuing it—
Then even if you never reached the finish line, you would still travel farther than ordinary people ever could.
"You've already made your grand vow."
"It's time to begin the evolution ritual and take your first step toward that goal."
"Muu?" (The Dragon Gate?)
"No."
Jiang Xing rolled up the book and swung it forcefully, pointing toward the heavens.
"I call it..."
"The Stairway to Heaven!"
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