Chapter 46: Transformation

Muria was enveloped in intense energy, his consciousness blurry, floating in a state between sleep and wakefulness. This sensation reminded him of his early days in Erathia, cocooned within an egg.

However, unlike the warmth and comfort of the eggshell, which felt like soaking in a perfectly tempered hot spring, Muria now felt as though he was immersed in boiling water. Although not painful, it was far from comfortable. This discomfort kept his consciousness from fully slipping into sleep, leaving him in this foggy state.

In this condition, Muria could feel his body undergoing rapid and intense changes. Under the stimulus of the Dragon King's Primeval Blood, his muscles, bones, and sinews were continuously growing and strengthening. He was becoming increasingly powerful.

The strengthening golden dragon bloodline also stimulated the Titan bloodline within Muria. The Titan bloodline, gradually awakening, began to consume all available elements, growing stronger.

Meanwhile, on the platform of the Five-Color Dragon Castle, the cocoon formed by Muria had only been quiet for a moment before it began to emit a sucking force. This force, initially weak, grew stronger over time.

In the air, blue, purple, and red elemental light points were gradually drawn by the cocoon's suction, converging above Muria's cocoon and then directly entering it, being consumed by Muria.

As the suction from the cocoon grew stronger, more tri-colored elemental light points gathered. Eventually, they materialized into a blue cyclone, purple lightning, and red flames.

Finally, a column of pure wind elemental force appeared, tearing at everything around it and emitting a formidable pulling force. Within this column of wind, dense purple lightning surged, and at the center of this tumultuous energy was the cocoon, engulfed in incandescent flames.

"It's quite a spectacle!" Atrelis observed the phenomenon created by the excessive convergence of pure wind, lightning, and fire elements and couldn't help but remark.

"Not bad!" was Demos's assessment. For him, such a spectacle was trivial; his breath alone could cause more disturbance.

"Right, old man, your Dragon King Primeval Blood is on par with divine beings. Now that little Muria has absorbed it, won't the dragon bloodline in him become too strong and suppress the Titan bloodline? That could be problematic, right?"

Demos looked at his daughter with a speechless expression, finding it hard to believe she would ask such a question. "I find that when it comes to my grandson, you're just like any human woman. Where is the wisdom of a legendary mage?"

"Do you know what you're talking about, old man?" Atrelis glared "ferociously" at her father, but her current form was too gentle to intimidate a Dragon King.

"I ask you, what kind of race are Titans?"

"The strongest near-god race in Erathia," Atrelis responded without hesitation.

"Do you know which gods they are close to?" Demos asked, but he didn't wait for a response from Atrelis and provided the answer himself.

"Titans are close to the ancient gods who roamed the endless void in the primordial times, not the current faith-based gods. The bloodline of such a race, how could it be suppressed by a mere drop of my Primeval Blood?"

"That makes sense," Atrelis conceded, somewhat embarrassed as she tilted her head. "Forget it, Dad. I'll leave little Muria to you. Since you've already offended Tiamat, you might as well stay here and hide for a while."

After speaking, Atrelis tore open a rift in space, stepped through, and disappeared from Demos's view.

"How did my daughter end up with a son as foolish as this? What deity would dare to provoke a Dragon King in the material realm? Deities can only send their legendary avatars to Erathia, but I can use my full power here; I fear no deity."

Demos muttered to himself, shaking his head in disbelief at his daughter's words.

As time passed, the creatures on Taiji Island, which had been stunned by Demos's reined-in dragon might, gradually woke up. The first thing they did upon awakening was to look apprehensively towards the direction of the Five-Color Dragon Castle.

On the castle's platform, where the storm giants had initially fainted from the dragon's majesty and then bled internally due to the pressure of the Primeval Blood, they slowly came to.

Upon awakening, they all turned their attention to the cocoon enveloped in elemental forces and the young golden-haired man sitting cross-legged beside it.

"Your Highness," the storm giants approached the young man with unease. Seeing Demos, they naturally associated him with the golden sun they had witnessed before fainting.

The storm giants bowed to Demos with an ancient but respectful gesture, yet they did not kneel. They had pledged their allegiance to Muria and would not express their humility and respect to any other being through kneeling.

"Hmm," Demos responded indifferently, sparing a thought for his grandson's face, otherwise, he would have chosen to ignore these storm giants. The strongest of giant races was a joke to him; only Titans could command his respect.

"May we ask what our lord requires?" ventured a storm giant, bravely.

"Ah," Demos glanced at the group of storm giants, pondering briefly. "If you truly wish to do something for my grandson, gather as many wind, lightning, and fire elemental crystals as you can. The more, the better. Just stack them under this egg."

Hearing Demos's words, the storm giants respectfully excused themselves and rushed into the interior of the castle, where the treasury stored a vast amount of elemental crystals collected by the tide giants from the oceans.

Soon after, numerous storm giants reemerged onto the platform of the Dragon Castle, each carrying a sack radiating dazzling light.

They then inverted the sacks, and the crisp sound of crystal collision filled the air as streams of multicolored elemental crystals flowed towards Muria's cocoon.

"Oh, not bad," Demos remarked, slightly raising an eyebrow as he watched the pile of three types of elemental crystals rapidly accumulating beneath the cocoon. "My grandson is young, but he owns quite a lot of property."

The large amount of elemental crystals buried a third of the cocoon, but quickly, the crystals closest to the cocoon began to dim visibly.

Soon, a layer of clear, colorless crystals formed beneath the cocoon—these were spent crystals, their elemental energies completely drained by the cocoon's sucking force.

"Remove these depleted crystals," Demos ordered with a frown, looking at the increasing number of spent crystals on the pile.

A storm giant set down his storage bag and ran back inside the castle. Before long, he returned with fifty cloud giant maidens to the castle's platform.

"Your Highness!" The fifty cloud giant maidens, prompted by the storm giant who had brought them, bowed respectfully to Demos. They had been summoned to clear away the spent crystals.

"Hmm," Demos nodded, then suddenly asked the storm giants, "Is this my grandson's castle?"

"Yes, this island and everything on it belongs to Lord Muria," they responded.

"Is that so! Then I shall reside here until my grandson awakens," Demos declared, standing up. He

 waved at the giants, "I'll just wander around; no need to follow me."

With that, the handsome golden-haired youth vanished from the sight of the many giants.

"Go, inform all the giants on Taiji Island, as well as the dragons in the castle, that they must be aware of His Highness's presence, and not to offend him."

A storm giant, watching Demos disappear, immediately turned serious, handed his storage bag to another giant, and led a few companions back into the castle.

Shortly after, one roc after another took flight from the island, heading in all directions, while a swarm of griffins left the castle carrying messages to the City of Giants.

The storm giants wanted to ensure that every creature on the island was aware of the arrival of Dragon King Demos, lest any unwary being encounter the wandering Demos and unwittingly provoke him—a scenario the storm giants dared not contemplate...

To my fellows, happy holidays! Here's an extra update for all the singles!