Unlike Asterion, Kulve Taroth had never felt the pressure of survival from the moment of her birth.
She didn't know the pain of starving or the desperation of fighting other dragons to the death just for a meal.
She was like a true high-born lady of a wealthy house; the cruelty of the outside world had nothing to do with her.
Within the Everstream, Kulve Taroth was an invincible existence. She had no natural predators and no need to exert herself for prey. Ore was everywhere in the Everstream—practically littering the ground. All she had to do was eat, drink, and sleep to become powerful.
Even her living space was custom-made. She could easily transform any uncomfortable corner of the underground world into an environment she liked. Her only daily concerns were repairing the gold plating she wore or thinking of ways to make her golden armor look even more beautiful.
Such was Kulve Taroth's simple, unpretentious, and harmonious life.
Some dragons are born in Rome, while others are born as beasts of burden.
Consequently, she had no real thirst for a power increase, feeling that her current state was perfectly fine.
If Kulve Taroth had any remaining wishes, it was for Asterion to help her design more beautiful clothes... and, well, if they could have a beautiful child together, that would be even better.
Of course, Asterion was oblivious to Kulve Taroth's inner thoughts. After a round of polite refusal and confirming that she truly didn't want to eat the Xeno'jiiva, he went back to burying his head in his feast.
Once an Elder Dragon dies, the life energy stored within its body dissipates rapidly, returning to nature. He had to move fast.
He cleared out the Xeno'jiiva's internal organs first, then devoured its sharp horns. With that, the two most precious parts of the Xeno'jiiva had entered Asterion's stomach. Next was the head.
However, something confused Asterion. Even though the Xeno'jiiva was so brimming with energy that it would uncontrollably rupture its own skin to leak out, he couldn't find a Gem anywhere inside its body or skull.
It was truly bizarre. The only thing remotely close to a Gem was a mass of liquid-like life energy inside the skull. Asterion realized belatedly that this was likely the precursor to a Xeno'jiiva Gem.
Given another ten or twenty years, this liquid energy would have condensed into a proper Gem unique to the Xeno'jiiva.
This discovery left Asterion quite disappointed. After all, a Gem only triggers a qualitative transformation in a dragon once it has actually formed; before that, it is merely highly concentrated life energy. Well, whatever, he thought. High-quality life energy is still a good thing.
Organs, flesh, bones, the Dragon Blood spilling onto the ground, and even the rocks stained by that blood—under Kulve Taroth's dumbfounded gaze, Asterion ate from day until night, and from night until day. He left no trace that the Xeno'jiiva had ever existed.
Seriously, those bones were incredibly hard.
The shattered Confluence of Fates was covered in streak-like marks where sharp teeth had gnawed into the rock. This was actually the Xeno'jiiva's fault; its "blood pressure" was so high that it sprayed blood everywhere. Mental note: point of criticism, Asterion thought. In your next life, pay more attention and remember to protect the environment.
"Roar, roar-roar?" (Is that really necessary? How long have you been starving? We ate plenty of things down below, didn't we?)
Kulve Taroth couldn't help but comment. She was genuinely a bit frightened by Asterion's manic eating habits. Eating blood-stained rocks off the ground was bordering on a dragon-themed horror story.
"Roar roar roar, roar." (You don't understand. This dragon is very important to me. By eating all of this, I can become stronger.)
"Roar roar, roar?" (Then get stronger. Are you going to stay here?)
As she spoke, Kulve Taroth felt the current flow of the bio-energy. The birth of the Xeno'jiiva had nearly destroyed everything here, causing the mountain-high energy crystals at the ceiling of the Confluence of Fates to collapse completely.
They had either been blown into fragments and powder or melted by the pale blue energy released by the Xeno'jiiva and Kulve Taroth's heat beams. In short, this area had been thoroughly scrubbed clean. Yet, even so, Kulve Taroth could feel the bio-energy still converging toward this spot from all directions.
Perhaps in a few decades or a century, another towering mountain composed entirely of energy crystals would rise here. Who knows what the future holds?
The Xeno'jiiva's cocoon had forced the bio-energy of the New World into a pattern of inertia. No matter how many branches there were, they would eventually converge at one point. This established trend was now independent of the Xeno'jiiva itself; even with the dragon gone, the flow of the bio-energy would not change.
Make no mistake: it wasn't the Xeno'jiiva that created the New World. Rather, it was the deaths of many super-sized Elder Dragons like Dalamadur that provided the physical foundation for the New World's birth, after which a Safi'jiiva asexualy reproduced a cocoon here.
Incidentally, the Everstream wasn't sucked out by the Xeno'jiiva either. It was excavated by Shara Ishvalda and Kulve Taroth. The Xeno'jiiva's cocoon had merely shaped the energy flow of the Everstream over countless years of development.
The phenomenon known as the Elder Crossing had begun countless ages ago. Numerous Elder Dragons tacitly chose to die in this region, forming such a vast and vibrant New World. The Xeno'jiiva's "call" had merely accelerated the frequency of the Elder Crossing.
"Roar?" (Do you dare to stay?)
Hearing Kulve Taroth's question, Asterion felt a bit conflicted.
It came back to the same concern: he wasn't sure if a Safi'jiiva could sense what was happening. If he stayed at the Confluence of Fates to gorging himself on energy, would a Safi'jiiva arrive on the scene and kill him in some horrific manner?
Asterion didn't feel like gambling.
By devouring the Xeno'jiiva, he had undoubtedly secured his ticket to becoming a Forbidden Monster. In this situation, the best move was obviously to go into hiding and develop. Any unnecessary risk was foolish.
So... time to get out of here.
"Roar roar roar?" (Do you know anywhere with abundant bio-energy? The more hidden, the better—somewhere very difficult to find.)
Asterion frowned slightly, pulling Kulve Taroth closer.
"Roar roar, roar roar roar." (Abundant bio-energy? And hidden? Let me think... Hmm, we could go to my old nest.)
"Roar roar?" (Your old nest?)
Following Kulve Taroth, they dove back underground. Asterion and Kulve Taroth shared a similar philosophy: no matter how many twists and turns the path ahead had, they preferred to move in a straight line. The only difference was that one used his mouth to gnaw through, while the other used heat beams to clear the way. Kulve Taroth's efficiency was far higher than Asterion's.
Eventually, the two dragons arrived at a deserted Golden City. The reason it looked deserted was that the gold here was dull. Even though the surrounding rock walls were covered in a layer of gold, they were also coated in a shell of hardened ash, a world of difference from the Golden City he had stayed in before.
Kulve Taroth, who loved shiny and glittering gold, would normally clean her nest herself. Only a Golden City abandoned by its owner would look this dim.
However, even so, there were plenty of life forms living here. If anything, because the master had left, more creatures viewed this as a safe haven.
Well, that safety ended today. The aura radiating from Kulve Taroth and Asterion sent the small creatures scrambling to flee the Golden City. Without a moment's rest, Kulve Taroth began breathing out heat beams to scrub the walls of her old home. It didn't take long for the place to regain its glittering appearance.
"Roar roar, roar roar roar roar." (This is much more comfortable. This was the nest I lived in before I reached maturity. It's close to the Everstream, so it should meet your requirements... though it might be a bit small.)
Kulve Taroth said a bit sheepishly.
"Roar, roar roar roar, roar roar roar roar." (It's fine, it's already perfect. Can you help me dig a hole here? I need to sleep for a while... When I wake up, I'll design new clothes for you.)
"Roar? Roar roar!" (Really? That's wonderful!)
Kulve Taroth was happy, and so was Asterion. Given her obsession with new clothes, this was essentially hiring a powerful guardian for the price of zero meat.
After instructing Kulve Taroth to dig a hole large enough for him to curl up in, Asterion lay down and closed his eyes. A new evolution was about to begin.
Kulve Taroth's old nest was indeed a prime location. Even just lying on the ground, Asterion could feel the bio-energy entering his body. Although they were only adjacent to the Everstream, it felt no different from being inside it.
Compared to his Second Great Evolution, the physical commotion of this evolution appeared minimal. He didn't sprout a pair of massive wings, nor did he need to create new organs and test them repeatedly outside his body for safety at the risk of exploding.
But the lack of external change was deceptive. Inside Asterion's body, a world-shaking transformation was currently taking place. In terms of sheer magnitude, it was worthy of being called the Third Great Evolution of Asterion's life.
The Xeno'jiiva's internal heating organ!!
Asterion could not wait to install this "perpetual motion machine" in himself. Even if this organ was still immature and would require a long period of bio-energy "feeding" to become a true perpetual motion engine—who cared? Even a baby perpetual motion engine was still a perpetual motion engine!!
The only problem was where to put it.
A Xeno'jiiva has this organ in its chest to facilitate heat dissipation and energy absorption. However, Asterion's chest already housed organs for heat dissipation and rapid air intake—the Flame Organ, which was originally a set of air sacs but had changed so much it was unrecognizable. It was essentially a brand-new, unique organ now.
Asterion could have placed the Flame Organ and the internal heating organ side-by-side or one in front of the other, but safety concerns gave him pause.
The Flame Organ had the potential to misfire and explode.
If he put these two vital organs together, an explosion in the Flame Organ might have only cost him half his torso (which he could survive), but if it triggered an explosion in the internal heating organ...
Ahem, don't forget that the internal heating organ was meant to evolve into a machine of infinite energy. If infinite energy exploded, Asterion felt like he'd be pioneering a new hobby called "nuclear fission."
Since that was a bit too "flashy," he decided against it.
"Sorry, my Dragon Gem. The body structure we worked so hard to optimize is about to go out the window."
Silently apologizing to the hardworking Dragon Gem in his heart, Asterion began rearranging his internal organs.
First, he lowered his entire respiratory system, including the lungs and multiple air sacs. Then, he moved the Flame Organ, along with the Flame Jade, to a position near the front-middle of his spine.
Such a massive overhaul naturally led to changes in the heat dissipation vents. Consequently, the distance from the intake on Asterion's chest to the Flame Organ became longer, meaning his efficiency in compressing air per unit of time would decrease. However, the Flame Organ was now closer to the wing-bone thrusters, which would increase the power of his propulsion.
Overall, it was a slight nerf, but Asterion had already planned for this. If quantity wasn't enough, he would break through with quality.
The fire element energy he had obtained from Teostra was quite good and very pure. But now... I don't need you anymore.
Just like the air sac armor before it, Teostra's fire energy was completely phased out of Asterion's body, replaced by the pale blue energy taken from the Xeno'jiiva.
This was a special energy distinct from the five basic elements. While its specific properties still needed study, its purity and power were beyond doubt. He didn't even need to compare them before deciding to switch.
In the cavity left by the relocated Flame Organ, Asterion evolved the Xeno'jiiva-style internal heating organ. It was a bit of a shame; if he had eaten a Safi'jiiva, he could have evolved the complete perpetual motion machine directly.
Cough, cough! Getting greedy now.
From the moment this organ was born, Asterion felt an indescribable hunger. This hunger was fundamentally different from anything he had felt before. It wasn't a hunger coming from the stomach, but a thirst for energy.
He felt like a Blood Elf who had lost the Sunwell—a total "mana addiction" breakout.
The hunger urged Asterion, birthing a desperate, primal impulse to devour more life energy. Simultaneously, it created a sense of emptiness, as if he were currently incomplete and longing for wholeness.
Asterion was forced to take a deep breath. What he inhaled wasn't just air, but the ambient bio-energy that permeated the unique environment of the Everstream.
But it wasn't enough.
Nowhere near enough.
Like a man struggling in the desert without supplies, a single drop of water on the lips doesn't quench thirst—it only makes the craving more unbearable.
This was the instinct of the Xeno'jiiva: the hunger for more energy.
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