The scorching sun hung high in the sky, its venomous rays pouring down like molten gold, baking the entire wilderness until it was searing hot.
The surface temperature rose continuously, causing the air to ripple with distortion. In the distance, the mountains flickered within the heat waves, their outlines as blurred as a mirage.
In weather like this, many creatures could not withstand the heat and rarely ventured out.
The Dragonkin living inside the circular sinkhole were an exception.
As fire-elemental Dragons, such hot days actually made them feel more energetic and active than usual.
It had been over a month since Garros last negotiated with the Iron Dragon Mother.
The young Dragons were in their prime growing phase, and Garros was very diligent in training to strengthen himself.
Over this month, his body had grown slightly larger. His dragon scales were like cast steel, and the muscle fibers hidden beneath seemed to twist like steel wires whenever he exerted force, ready to unleash formidable power at any moment.
"Break time is over, go dig for Ore for me!"
Near the cliff wall, Garros curled his tail and tossed two stones, striking the Iron Dragon Brother and the Red Dragon Sister on their heads, respectively.
The two hatchlings raised their heads in dissatisfaction, protesting righteously: "We only rested for one hour! Garros, this is abuse! According to the same mining schedule, Mother's Kobold kin get to rest for two hours!"
The Iron Dragon Mother had kin.
Among them was a Kobold clan that specialized in mining for the Iron Dragon Mother.
Hearing this, Garros's tail struck the ground, sparking a flame, as he paced over to the two hatchlings.
"Do you know why you can never beat me, are always pinned down by me, and can only be trampled and repeatedly humiliated by me?"
He asked, lowering his gaze.
The two hatchlings looked at each other, confused.
"Because you lack ambition!"
Garros leaned in close to the two hatchlings, his shadow looming over them, and said in a deep voice: "As noble True Dragons with dragon blood flowing through your veins, you actually compare yourselves to Kobolds!"
The young Dragon shook his head, showing a look of pity and disappointment.
"Trash that can't even outperform Kobolds; you truly disgrace your True Dragon blood."
He said in a tone of extreme disdain.
"Bullshit! Kobolds have no right to compare with me!"
The Red Dragon Sister was furious.
"Bullshit! I am a hundred times stronger than a Kobold!"
The Iron Dragon Brother was also furious.
Garros's expression softened slightly, and he grinned: "Empty words prove nothing. Prove it to me. Let me see your resolve, let me see the strength and toughness you possess as Dragonkin."
"Hmph, don't underestimate us!"
The two hatchlings snorted coldly, then immediately headed down into the previously opened mine tunnel, full of motivation. They exerted all their strength, determined to make Garros understand that they were not comparable to Kobolds, and vowed internally to make Garros look up to them.
The goading technique — a treasure against Dragonkin.
Dragonkin, with their arrogant and conceited nature, cannot stand being provoked.
He withdrew his gaze from the two hatchlings who had gone down into the mine.
"If only the Iron Dragon Mother were as easy to fool as them."
Garros sighed.
As Dragonkin grow in age and experience, they can more or less control their instincts. Adult Dragons like the Iron Dragon Mother have much higher intelligence than hatchlings.
As for the two hatchlings, they are currently like fools and very easy to deceive.
If Dragons like these grow for another year and become young Dragons, and if they follow the normal development of being expelled by the Dragon Mother to live alone, it is hard to imagine how they could survive in this perilous world with their weak and playful personalities.
Meanwhile.
A gust of wind suddenly swept past.
Garros looked up at the sky. In his field of vision appeared the Iron Dragon Mother, soaring with wings spread across the sky. Her body was massive and colossal, rolling with dragon might, and her nearly forty-meter wingspan cast a thick shadow on the ground.
Dust flew wildly on the ground, and some gravel vibrated continuously.
A dark, blurry shadow was dropped by the Iron Dragon Mother, crashing to the ground with a deafening sound like an earthquake. A deep pit was smashed at the landing spot, with dense cracks spreading outward, and a circle of dust expanded rapidly.
Waving his wings to disperse the dust, Garros looked closely.
Weighing dozens of tons, with layers of muscles all over its body, a pair of huge horns on its head, and covered in hard armor, a Great Horned Bull was reflected in Garros's vision.
This was a Vicious Beast with a Rank of over 10.
It was also the high-quality blood-food that Garros needed.
The Iron Dragon Mother kept her end of the bargain with Garros, regularly providing him with high-quality blood-food.
This was specifically for him.
As for the two hatchlings, they were oppressed by Garros to mine, but they weren't working day and night; they weren't true slaves. They had food provided by the Iron Dragon Mother when they returned to the dragon nest.
The Iron Dragon Mother had a cold personality but valued rules. She was always qualified in what she was supposed to do, never mistreating any hatchling, but also not showing any special favor.
After dropping the prey, the Iron Dragon Mother did not linger and went straight back to her nest.
"Time to eat."
Garros withdrew his gaze, took a deep breath, and began to tear into the Great Horned Bull's body.
The hard armor covering its body could not be bitten through in one go, even with the teeth Garros had trained by gnawing on metal Ore; he still needed to tear at it with effort.
The beef was very fresh, no less than chasing it while it was still alive; it was tough and chewy.
With every bite he swallowed, Garros felt his body warm up, receiving an abundant supply of nutritional energy.
When he had finished a small portion of the Great Horned Bull's flesh, a tingling, itchy sensation suddenly emerged from inside and outside Garros's body, flowing and surging repeatedly like a tide.
"This is the feeling."
Garros's eyes lit up with joy.
He had eaten a lot of beef in one go. Even with the iron stomach of a Dragon, which was like a furnace, Garros had felt a bit full earlier. But as the tingling sensation emerged from within and without, his satiety faded, and he even developed a strong craving for food again.
The young Dragon took a deep breath, opened his dragon maw wide, and revealed a mouthful of dragon teeth.
Chomp!
Tearing off a large mouthful of beef, Garros chewed it a few times and swallowed it. The beef in his stomach turned into a warm breath almost instantly, flowing with the waves of tingling sensation to Garros's limbs and bones, mainly concentrating on the areas Garros had been training recently.
The scales that were in direct contact with the ground, the dragon horns that struck the mountain side repeatedly, and the dragon tail that whipped against rocks.
This also included the muscles that bore the recoil, the internal organs, etc.
However.
There were no visible changes on Garros's body, only the tingling, electric sensation remained constant.
"Evolution is not completed in an instant, but rather, after I have accumulated enough adaptation and have sufficient energy replenishment, I make rapid progress over the next period of time, obtaining corresponding evolution based on my recent accumulated adaptation."
Garros thought silently.
Over the past few years, he had been constantly thinking and exploring the essence of his talent, and he had his own guesses and ideas.
Any creature actually possesses the power of Adaptive Evolution, but under normal circumstances, it often takes millions of years and requires a long period of evolution.
But Garros could shorten this time infinitely.
The key was that his evolutionary talent itself was also growing.
"Perhaps one day in the future, I will be able to complete Adaptive Evolution in an instant, or even evolve directly in the direction I want."
He thought to himself.
Immediately after, Garros made a final push and actually finished all the meat of the Great Horned Bull, which weighed many times more than himself.
The tingling sensation on his body became exceptionally intense and rich.
He struck while the iron was hot. Under the bright and piercing sunlight, he continued to start slamming into the mountain and the ground again and again, in pain yet happy.