Chapter 416 Dragon Forging Transformation Base

The red iron dragon's tail curled up.

The Earth Ripper, which had been lying quietly among the rubble, was pulled out, causing a clattering sound as the rubble rolled down.

He lifted the enormous battle axe to his eyes, his claws rubbing against the chipped axe surface, then grinned, revealing a playful smile.

"Seeking a breakthrough right in front of me, huh? Do you think breaking through to the legendary level comes with invincibility frames?"

Regardless of whether Mountain King Groom can actually take that step when he is on the verge of death.

Such a fundamental leap in the level of life is often not a miracle that can be achieved in an instant; it cannot be accomplished overnight. It requires a relatively quiet environment free from strong external interference.

Forcing a breakthrough in front of a powerful enemy? The success rate is extremely low.

Moreover, during the breakthrough process, due to the violent fluctuations in one's own energy and the extreme instability of one's aura, one cannot accurately control one's power, and one's strength will be even worse than in the normal state, which is almost equivalent to courting death.

Those stories are full of tales about protagonists breaking through enemy lines and turning defeat into victory.

However, harsh reality often delivers the most merciless blow to fantasies.

Galos attempted to mobilize the dragon energy within his body and infuse it into the Earth Ripper.

However, the battle axe did not react at all; the patterns on its surface that should have lit up were now completely still.

It looks like just a huge, ancient-style battle axe, completely lacking the power that the Mountain King used.

Even more so, a faint, continuous recoil could be felt emanating from the axe handle.

It was as if it was resisting his power.

Or rather, it is resisting his identity as a dragon.

This legendary weapon, when it was first forged, seems to have taken into account the possibility of falling into the hands of non-giant races, especially their nemesis, the dragons.

"A piece of equipment with racial restrictions, what a pity... otherwise, I could have used it to adapt and train."

Red Iron Dragon shook its head with a hint of regret, weighing the battle axe in its claws.

However, after a moment's thought, he felt relieved.

Its value remains.

Even if you can't use it yourself, you can use it as an extremely valuable bargaining chip to exchange with the Metal Dragon Realm or the Kingdom of Lorthen.

They will most likely not refuse.

Top-tier alchemists have the ability to reshape it into a brand-new legendary item, or simply remove the restrictions on it.

Hong Tielong is no longer conflicted.

With a sudden flap of his wings, he kicked up a cloud of dust, gripped the massive battle axe tightly in his claws, and soared into the air, flying swiftly towards the area where the dragons and giants were still locked in fierce combat.

At this time, although the giants were firmly suppressed by the dragons, they had not yet shown a one-sided defeat due to their numerical advantage and familiarity with their home ground. The battle was still raging.

The situation only changed fundamentally when the sky suddenly darkened.

The mighty Iron King coiled up, its outstretched dragon wings seemingly blotting out the sun, casting a massive shadow that completely covered the vast battle area below.

The giants in the midst of the fierce battle instinctively looked up.

They saw the King of Molten Iron, and the weapon that belonged to their leader, which he casually held in his claws.

However.

Looking around, they still couldn't find that familiar, mountain-like figure, their king, Groom.

After a brief, deathly silence, the giants, realizing what had happened, let out a roar filled with sorrow and despair, while their retinues began to scatter and flee.

"For Lord Groom! Revenge!"

"Kill! Slaughter all these damned dragons! Let's all perish together!"

"An eye for an eye! A tooth for a tooth!"

“.”

Instead of collapsing in morale, the giants who lost their leader experienced a sudden surge in spirit, or rather, they went completely mad.

Their eyes burned with a desperate flame of mutual destruction, ready for a final, desperate struggle.

They had no intention of surrendering, completely abandoning defense and evasion, and began to fight a desperate, almost suicidal, counterattack, exchanging wounds for wounds and risking their lives.

Faced with this level of determination and this kind of will, a desperate counterattack was launched.

Even a powerful dragon clan will inevitably suffer casualties.

In Galus's view, this was completely unnecessary and entirely avoidable.

then.

Red Iron Dragon has made its move.

He swooped down, his gaze instantly locking onto a mountain giant of level 18.

This giant's strength is second only to the Mountain King, and his aura is incredibly powerful. He had just wielded a runic hammer to temporarily force the Four Symbols Golden Dragons back.

It was at this moment that a crimson figure appeared in the giant's eyes.

The King of Molten Iron appeared within tens of meters of the Mountain Giant.

This distance is almost within arm's reach for creatures of dragon and giant size; their breaths can be heard.

Moreover, it was only at this moment that the deafening sonic boom generated by the ultra-high-speed movement finally erupted like a belated thunderclap.

At the critical moment!

The mountain giant roared and raised its runic stone hammer, bringing with it the force of a mountain collapsing and shattering rocks, and smashed it down toward Garos's head. The runes on the surface of the hammer suddenly lit up, condensing into a thick, mountain-like earth elemental radiance.

Red Iron Dragon neither dodged nor evaded; its front claws shot out with lightning speed, arriving first despite being behind, and precisely caught the falling hammer!

Clang!

A dull, resounding crash echoed. The giant elder felt an irresistible, immense force travel along the hammer handle, numbing his arms and nearly causing him to lose all feeling. The stone hammer could no longer move downwards and was frozen in mid-air.

At the same time, Garus's dragon claws suddenly exerted force and clenched.

Snap—Bang!

The heavy warhammer, forged from refined mountain rock and engraved with countless mysterious runes, was crushed to pieces as easily as fragile pottery! Fragments of stone and runes fell from the gaps in the dragon's claws.

The next second, without giving the other party any time to react,

Galus's left claw, like a streak of crimson lightning, pierced through the giant's chest.

The dragon claw pierced through his chest and emerged from his back!

With a sudden jerk of his arm, the surging dragon energy exploded from the inside out, instantly turning the powerful mountain giant into a shower of flying debris.

Once the target is locked, it dives at supersonic speed to approach.

Then, he crushed weapons with his bare hands and instantly killed a level 18 mountain giant.

The whole process was smooth and quick, taking only a few seconds.

This devastating scene was like a bucket of ice water poured over their heads, instantly extinguishing the mad flames of grief and anger that had ignited in the hearts of most of the giants, causing their movements to become sluggish and stiff.

However, Red Iron Dragon did not stop his killing spree.

He locked onto another giant leader and charged forward with lightning speed.

Time seemed to slow down and become cruel at this moment.

The Red Iron Dragon was unstoppable and invincible, like an autumn wind sweeping through withered leaves. Wherever it passed, giant leaders and powerful warriors who had been fighting bravely before were killed on the spot without even being able to put up a decent resistance. There was no enemy who could withstand a single blow.

Furthermore, without his order, the dragons showed no sign of stopping.

Led by Garus, the dragons swept across the land and soon ended the battle, annihilating all the giants without leaving a single one alive.

As for the scattered and fleeing relatives, the dragons did not immediately pursue them, but allowed them to escape in different directions for the time being.

Red Iron Dragon flapped its wings and rose into the sky again, its sharp gaze slowly sweeping across the undulating mountains below.

At the same time, the victorious dragons flapped their wings and, with the air of victors and reverence for their king, gathered from all directions of the battlefield, crowding around the majestic body of the Iron King, like stars surrounding the moon.

"Samantha".

Garus looked at the red dragon beside him and ordered in a deep voice, "You are responsible for taking over the giants' former core lair, as well as key locations such as their workshops and storage warehouses."

He paused, then continued, "I suspect that the reason why Mountain King Groom has remained here for decades is because there may be some unknown secrets hidden beneath this territory. After the arrival of his retinue, you should personally lead our team of alchemists to conduct a thorough and careful investigation of this area."

Legendary breakthroughs are neither accidental nor can they be achieved overnight.

The fact that the Mountain King was able to show signs of breaking through to the legendary level at the last moment was not only due to the oppressive feeling of death, but also related to his long-term accumulation. This is further reflected in his decades of unwavering defense of this territory and his various attempts to delay the battle before it began.

Galos had reason to believe that something good might be buried beneath this land.

"Okay, I understand. Leave it to me."

Samantha's enormous dragon head bobbed up and down as she accepted the task, then added, "The mineral resources in the northeast region are the richest in the entire Ser Wilderness. I should stay here and develop the alchemy industry here."

Galos: "Okay, do it your way."

He paused slightly, then added one more thing: "There is a deep abyss rift in this territory, which has been suppressed by the Mountain King, but its exact location is unknown. You must pay close attention during your exploration."

This is a potential hidden danger.

However, it's not too much of a problem for the powerful Ironforge tribe; the key is to detect and control them in advance.

Immediately, the red iron dragon turned its gaze to the blue dragon Zolaya.

He said, "The legion led by Gluttony will take some time to arrive. Until then, you will lead a portion of the blue dragons to temporarily maintain order and defense in this area."

Zolaya lowered her long neck and whispered, "I will obey your will, my king."

"I will do my best not to disappoint you."

Finally, the Red Iron Dragon's gaze fell upon the Iron Dragon, Sorog.

"The Serian wilderness is vast, and we need a sufficient number of our own people to effectively control each area."

"Those giants' retinues that fled earlier, once our legion arrives, we will either eliminate those that need to be eliminated or incorporate those that need to be incorporated. You will have full authority to make that decision. After that, you can return to the northwest region."

Sorog nodded slowly and replied in a deep voice, "Yes, I will handle it properly."

The construction, integration, and development following conquest are no less important than the war itself.

As the King of Iron issued clear and specific orders, a new order began to sprout and grow in these mountains, even though the smoke of battle had not yet completely dissipated.

Thus, the final piece of the puzzle in the northeastern region of the Sel Wilderness was incorporated into the grand territory of the Iron King.

Several days later, the Gluttonous Demon Karu arrived as scheduled with a large army of his followers and began skillfully clearing the battlefield.

The retinue carefully examined each giant's corpse to ensure that no one was feigning death, while also collecting all valuable materials.

Fragments of the mountain giant's body, the molten heart of the fire giant, elemental crystals of the stone giant...

These are all extremely good alchemy and enchanting materials.

If you put them into the symbiotic pool of the earth veins, they can be used to create top-quality materials.

In particular, the fragments of the Mountain King Grum's body are just as rare as the materials from a dragon.

Samantha showed great interest in this, and she collected all the fragments of the Mountain King's body to use for alchemical creation. She then devoted herself to a full-scale exploration of the mountains, trying to find out the possible hidden secrets and the exact location of the abyssal rift.

At this moment, the imposing figure of Hong Tielong is no longer among the mountains he conquered.

In the northwestern wilderness, what was once a necropolis has now been transformed into a dragonforging base.

From the outside, it is just an inconspicuous hill, but its interior and underground have been completely hollowed out, forming a huge complex structure.

Galos folded its wings and slowly landed on a flat piece of ground.

Two giant dragons had been waiting here for a long time.

One was Serafina, a black dragon with deep, dark scales; the other was Ludwig, a bright green dragon with a vibrant emerald green body.

Now, they have all successfully entered the juvenile dragon stage, and in terms of both size and actual life level, they have surpassed ordinary adult dragons, clearly superior to their peers.

"Dragon Lord."

Serafina's voice was deep and slightly hoarse, full of respect.

"Lord Garus, you have arrived."

Ludwig's voice was relatively more lively, but equally full of respect.

Red Iron Dragon nodded slightly to both of them in response.

He then used shapeshifting to slightly shrink his enormous body to fit into some of the passageways inside the base.

He said succinctly, "Lead the way."

Immediately, led by the two young dragons, he stepped into the depths of the Dragon Forging and Transformation Base.

After decades of continuous investment and transformation, this place is now completely different from what it looked like when it was first occupied.

The rough, uneven rock walls on both sides of the passageway leading inside have been repaired and smoothed, and covered with a layer of hard metal. At intervals, there are undead guards or hidden magical traps, making it heavily guarded.

The deeper you go, the more open the interior space becomes.

Finally, a magnificent cave, as if it had completely hollowed out the entire mountainside, appeared before Garus's eyes.

This is the most important area of ​​the entire Dragon Casting Renovation Base.

The first thing that comes into view is an enormous pool.

The pool was not filled with molten lava, but with a viscous, thick liquid that constantly shimmered with a dark red and metallic luster. It was Dragonforged Essence, processed through a complex alchemical process and mixed with dragon blood and various catalytic agents.

The pool is surrounded by countless thick energy pipes, which continuously supply geothermal energy from deep underground and elemental energy from all directions to maintain the activity and constant high temperature of the original liquid.

"This is the Dragon Blood Forge."

The green dragon Ludwig, who was standing beside him, explained in a low voice: "The modification process has been simplified a lot now. You only need to soak it in it for the first time to quickly complete the most basic first-stage dragon scale modification."

"Further, more in-depth modifications will require going through other different rituals."

Through years of practice and optimization, the Longzhu transformation ceremony has gradually matured and become more systematic, no longer as cumbersome and dangerous as it was in the initial exploration stage.

At this moment, dozens of elite warriors, handpicked from races such as ogres, gnolls, or centaurs, stepped onto a designated stone platform at the edge of the furnace, their hearts filled with a complex mix of awe and longing.

Once they were in position, massive, structurally complex bony arms slowly descended from the dome.

The giant bony hand held them firmly in place, then slowly immersed them into the ever-boiling, churning Dragon Forging Liquid.

"Ugh—!"

"roar!!!"

Painful screams and muffled roars immediately echoed through the cave.

Their bodies convulsed and struggled violently in the viscous liquid, the muscles under their skin twitched irregularly, and rough, dragon-like scales pierced through the epidermis and grew out with blood streaks.

The characteristics of dragons appeared and solidified in them at a speed visible to the naked eye.

They are being transformed into Dragonforged Warriors.

Just then, something unexpected happened.

A gnoll warrior undergoing modification let out a shrill, piercing scream.

His body began to swell uncontrollably and violently, the scales on his skin began to grow irregularly and wildly, his eyes became bloodshot, and his skin cracked. It looked like he was about to lose control and the transformation would fail.

At this critical moment.

On a high observation and control platform above the furnace, a corpse demon mage responsible for monitoring the modification process quickly raised his withered, bony hand and placed it on a rune in front of him.

call out!

A gray energy ray shot out and precisely wrapped around the gnoll who was on the verge of collapse. The gray energy penetrated his body and effectively suppressed the rampaging dragon blood energy within him, gradually calming him down.

The gnolls' condition stabilized, allowing the modification process to continue.

Soon after, the dragonforged warriors born from this base will be assigned to various strongholds, outposts, or resource points scattered throughout the Sel Wilderness of the Ironforge.

They were all carefully selected elite members, loyal to the tribe, and whose strength far surpassed that of ordinary members.

After successfully undergoing transformation, they generally become minor leaders who command other members of the household, or they are already leaders themselves. After transformation, they go a step further and become key fulcrums for the Iron King to firmly control his vast territory.

(End of this chapter)