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With everything settled, Cassius dragged his dragon body into the cave alone. The warm cavern, large enough to hollow out the mountain, would undoubtedly become his most perfect resting place.

"Finally."

In the cave illuminated by the undying bright flames, amidst the shimmering gold coins and treasures, the red dragon slowly lay on the ground, gradually curling up its massive body, with its broad wings loosely folding at its sides.

Hot white steam spread everywhere, and the air was filled with a pungent sulfuric scent.

On the surface of his body, ripples resembling flowing magma floated, radiating unimaginable heat.

The red dragon used to need to slumber in a lava environment to absorb abundant fire elemental energy. But now, possessing the bloodline of an ancestral dragon, the red dragon itself had become an inexhaustible energy source. The usage of fire by the dragon was literally growing hotter with age, with even the basal blood vessels unable to contain the overflowing heat.

All he needed to do was release the power hidden within his bloodline seed—those light waves were merely the energy spilling out from his body.

"Clink, clank."

The sound of small fragments echoed.

The red dragon's long, thick tail gently swept across the ground, pushing aside the scattered gold coins, clearing out a large empty space, giving him even more room to settle down.

"I hope that when I wake up, there will be a bit of surprise."

A glimmer of anticipation flashed in Cassius' golden eyes.

He slowly closed his eyes, his breathing becoming more drawn out, and the ripples on his body pulsated with each breath.

The abundant fire elemental energy gradually gathered on the surface of his scales, forming a thick, nearly solid light film that tightly enveloped the dragon's body.

Thus, a rare scene appeared in the cave—a giant "cocoon," nearly thirty meters in diameter, emerged. Unlike an ordinary cocoon, however, its surface flowed with magma-like ripples, and what it enclosed was not a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly, but a red dragon about to undergo metamorphosis.

Considering the species, it might be more appropriate to call it a "dragon egg."

This was Cassius's subconscious self-defense mechanism. He wove a spell similar to the "Sheltering Egg" using the surplus energy that overflowed, and any creature that touched this light film would be incinerated by the extreme heat, protecting the vulnerable red dragon from external harm.

Scorching magma surged from the ground.

Thus, Cassius fell into a deep slumber, with no idea of when he would awaken.

At the entrance of the cave, inside the Iron Dragonwing Palace.

"Hurry up!"

"You lazy fools."

Langpu's impatient shout echoed.

The tall ogre mage of dragon blood was leading dozens of kingdom spellcasters, busily setting up a spell formation.

All sorts of explosive, poison mist, acid rain, and even earth spike spells were crammed into the formation, turning the only passage into the cave into a death trap full of hazards—a graveyard that all adventurers would avoid.

Suddenly, Langpu grabbed a mage who was casting a spell and cursed harshly:

"Idiot! Who told you to put ice spikes here?!"

"If someone does invade, the first thing they'll trigger is the firewall on the ground. Your damn ice spikes will evaporate into a puddle before they even touch anyone!"

The mage trembled all over, responding with a sobbing voice, "Master Langpu, I... I was wrong."

Only then did the ogre let him go, turning to look at the constant protection formation on the other side—glimmering runes that appeared at the junctions of pillars and other surfaces, preventing creatures from willingly entering the pillar area through non-magical means, forcing them into the trap-laden paths.

However, with his experienced eyes, Langpu immediately spotted something wrong. He asked:

"Who set up this protection formation?"

A black-robed mage stepped forward from the crowd, his face wearing a flattering smile. He believed his formation was perfectly set up, perhaps even deserving Langpu's praise.

But as soon as he stepped forward, he was greeted with a harsh scolding.

"Look at it again, properly!"

"Idiot! The direction of your magic flow is reversed! This is preventing people from leaving, not from entering!"

"Yes, Master Langpu."

The foul-smelling spit of the ogre splattered on his face, yet the black-robed mage could only smile helplessly, cold sweat streaming down his forehead—after all, Langpu's position in the kingdom was unquestionable, and his experimental funding depended on this crude ogre.

Langpu raised his staff, pointing at a dim inscription on the wall, and roared:

"Who was in charge of this damn guard inscription?!"

The hall immediately fell silent; no one dared respond to the furious Langpu.

"The materials for the guard inscription are incense and diamond dust worth at least two hundred gold coins. Which idiot replaced the diamond dust with bone powder?!"

"Even goblins, whose brains are smaller than fruit pits, wouldn't think of such a pathetic embezzlement scheme. Do you really think I wouldn't notice?!"

Before Langpu's voice had even faded, a gust of hot wind swept through the hall.

"Whoosh—"

The scorching heat even made Langpu, with red dragon blood, feel uncomfortable. The human mages with their tender skin jumped up as if scalded, hurriedly casting various protective spells.

However, the temperature in the hall continued to rise, reaching nearly forty degrees within a few breaths—a temperature impossible to achieve naturally in Anzeta.

Langpu frowned slightly, his expression grave as he said:

"It's the master, he has entered his slumber."

"He has been deliberately suppressing his immense internal energy, and now he can no longer control it, so it has to be released."

Thinking of this, Langpu said to the gathered spellcasters:

"Everyone, leave now. This place is no longer suitable for you to stay."

With a casual wave of his staff, a spatial rift leading to the mage tower appeared before them.

The spellcasters, as if receiving an amnesty, hurriedly rushed into the portal to escape this hellish place.

Among the crowd, a grey-robed figure let out a sigh of relief and quietly followed—he was the mage who had cut corners, grateful for narrowly escaping punishment.

Yet the mage didn't realize that even his sigh was caught by Langpu's sharp senses. A sinister grin formed on the ogre's face, determined to settle the score with him later—but now was not the right time.

Once all the mages had left, Langpu flew out of the palace alone, the red dragon blood within him allowing him to endure the heat.

He gazed at the sealed cave entrance, feeling the increasingly scorching air against his skin. He seemed to imagine the magnificent scene within the red dragon's resting cave, the overwhelming power about to emerge.

"May you grow stronger."

"Until... surpassing the gods."

The ogre murmured, his ugly face filled with the fervor of a true believer, alongside an indescribable sincerity.