Chapter 235: Martial Dragon Advancement, Six Major Paths (Key Chapter)
"Galos, why are you asking so much about Elena? She is my princess; you are not allowed to steal her from me! If you like princesses, wait until the Federation is in civil war and go steal from other kingdoms."
Iron Dragon Gordon said cautiously.
Hearing such foolish words, Red Iron Dragon chuckled, "I'm not interested in the princess, but the interests she represents. Gorton, don't reveal our existence to Princess Elena yet."
Gorton relaxed considerably.
Galos thought for a moment and said, "Your current task is to play your role well, try to please Princess Elena, make her trust you more, and let her feel the steady reliability of Dragons."
"When the time is right, I will inform you what to do."
The Federation is now on the verge of chaos, and the tension between the kingdoms is tightening, but it hasn't reached the breaking point yet. In the current situation, directly approaching Princess Elena to discuss cooperation might not garner enough attention.
It's best to wait until the flames of war ignite, heroes rise, and civil war becomes a foregone conclusion.
Then, at the opportune moment, hand Princess Elena a 'knife,' giving her the spark that can ignite a prairie fire. At that time, even if it means paying a high price, she will most likely choose to seize the opportunity regardless of the cost.
Moreover, the Molten Iron Tribe is currently located in the Borderlands, a remote area not highly regarded by the kingdoms.
They are not yet qualified to get a share of the Federation's civil war.
"At the very least, I need to become the King of the Borderlands and return to the Serre Wilderness."
Galos thought to himself.
It has been over ten years since they were forced from the Serre Wilderness to the Borderlands by the Federation.
Although he doesn't have any true affection for the Wilderness or the obsession to develop there, from a purely self-interested perspective, given the Wilderness's more abundant resources, it would be best to return to the Wilderness rather than remain cooped up in the Borderlands.
The Red Iron Dragon's eyes narrowed slightly, a glimmer of ambition flickering in his pupils.
Isn't enduring and lurking with claws hidden precisely for the moment to reveal them at the most opportune time?
The Federation's civil war will be the best opportunity to achieve great ambitions.
At that time, Galos felt that not only himself, but many powerful, ambitious creatures that had been dormant might also choose to reveal their fangs, seizing profits and plundering Federation resources amidst the chaos.
For example, Galos's Red Dragon father.
A chaotic evil adult Red Dragon, as long as he is alive, once he learns of the Federation's civil war, with a Red Dragon's vengeful nature, he will certainly not miss this opportunity to strike back fiercely at the Federation.
And there are many other creatures like this who had previously feared the Federation and had to endure.
"Need to take down the other tribes quickly."
"When the war ignites, I need to be fully prepared."
Galos calculated in his mind.
"Mission accomplished!"
At the same time, Iron Dragon Gordon vowed confidently.
After giving Gorton a few more details to pay attention to, and after Ignas and his siblings chatted for a few minutes, Sorog's psychic energy was too depleted, and this 'group chat' meeting temporarily ended.
"Sorog, go to the Poison Tail Tribe as soon as possible and gauge their attitude."
"The Borderlands is just our beginning. For our future development, we must take this place down early; we cannot delay any longer."
Galos's serious, deep voice echoed in Sorog's mind through the Blood Kin Chain.
The situation of using himself as a relay to simultaneously communicate with several Blood Kin Chains, as before, consumed a lot of psychic energy. However, single-line communication does not consume much psychic energy, and Sorog can now bear it.
"Okay, I'll take care of this."
Sorog responded.
Galos nodded slightly, ending the blood kin conversation.
"They are both Iron Dragons, but the difference in temperament between Sorog and Gorton is like two different species."
He sighed, thinking, "Individual differences are huge. The inherited group impression might have some truth, but it must not be fully believed, otherwise, one will suffer sooner or later."
Galos was never perfect; he admitted that he would have oversights, make mistakes, and occasionally be careless.
For example, he was once fooled by a Silver Dragon's smile and almost got beaten.
However, Galos's strength lies in his ability to summarize and reflect on his own problems, unlike other Dragons, or rather, most intelligent creatures, who attribute problems to external factors and stubbornly refuse to admit their own flaws, thus stagnating.
"I've rested enough."
The Red Iron Dragon stretched his body, a sound like metal clashing emanating from him.
He turned his head to look at Deborah, seeing the Copper-Silver Dragon lying on the cliff face, sleeping, her long tail hanging in the air, gently swaying from side to side, showing no intention of getting up.
He glanced at the sun high in the sky.
Galos was about to begin a new round of training, but as soon as he took a step, he suddenly felt a surge of energy within him.
He stopped and carefully felt his body, discovering that his Dragon Qi had reached 39 percent.
This meant that his Martial Dragon level was now 3.9, a complete 3rd level, halfway to 4th level.
"At 3.9 Dragon Qi, I need to choose a branch path for the Martial Dragon."
Galos pondered.
Logically, when his Martial Dragon level first reached 3, he should have chosen a specific path, but because he had no concrete ideas, he temporarily put it aside.
Branch paths are also subsequent advancement routes.
For ordinary monks, there are many optional paths after level 3.
The Way of the Flowing Life, which can quickly heal oneself.
The Way of the Sun Soul, whose body energy is hot like the scorching sun.
The Way of the Dragon, which imitates the posture of a Dragon.
The Way of the Four Elements, which manipulates elements through 'Qi'.
The Way of the Open Hand, which develops combat techniques to the extreme.
The Way of the Shadow, which pursues stealth and evasion techniques.
The Way of the Long Death, which studies death and has the deadliest combat style.
The Way of the Drunken Fist, whose combat skills are strange and unpredictable, erratic.
The Way of the Astral Self, which condenses an invisible Qi avatar and fights with a Qi substitute.
As for the Martial Dragon.
This profession, derived from the monk, does not have the subsequent paths of the Way of the Dragon, the Way of the Flowing Life, or the Way of the Drunken Fist.
Elemental Dragon, Sun Soul Dragon, Open Hand Dragon, Shadow Dragon, Long Death Dragon, Astral Self Dragon. Galos needed to choose among these six paths for specialized development.
"I want them all, but unfortunately, biting off more than you can chew will only lead to indigestion."
Simultaneously cultivating multiple paths would only cause the Martial Dragon level to stagnate and be extremely difficult to improve.
Choosing one path first, and then, when the level is sufficiently high and difficult to advance further, considering cultivating other paths simultaneously, is the correct approach.
Dragons, with their long lifespans.
Those Ancient Dragons, Elder Dragons, and Great Wyrms generally hold multiple professions, and each profession also cultivates different paths, so they can almost always crush those short-lived creatures when fighting at the same life level.
Getting back to the main topic, the six paths of the Martial Dragon each have their own unique characteristics.
Although it's not a choice that means you're stuck on one path until death, at least for a long time, he would need to focus on this path. Galos needed to carefully make the most suitable choice by considering his current situation and future plans.
"Currently, there are two main directions before me."
"One is to continue strengthening my combat skills, increasing my stats, and pushing them to the limit in this area."
"The second is to enrich and expand my means, choosing paths with specific mechanics."
Galos pondered in his mind.
After deep thought, he believed that choosing paths with mechanics would be better.
His current stats were already high enough, and they were constantly increasing with his training, but with his current evolution talent, it was somewhat difficult to evolve special 'mechanics'.
Combining professional mechanics with his own stats might produce some wondrous changes.
Thinking of this, his mind suddenly became clear.
"With mechanism expansion as the primary choice, then it's a choice between the Elemental Dragon, Long Death Dragon, and Astral Self Dragon paths."
The Elemental Dragon's mechanism is the most straightforward—using Qi to control elements, thereby creating effects similar to elemental spells. The Elemental Martial Dragon is also the path with the most spectacular and numerous skills.
Winter's Breath, Chaotic Thunder Claw, Mountain's Protection, Wind-Stepping Stride, Clear Stream Whip, Wind Spirit Charge, Flying Flame Strike.
The regrettable thing is.
Even when controlling elements, the Martial Dragon's skills are mostly about using elements to strengthen its own attacks or defenses, essentially a continuation of close-combat methods.
However, being able to control the four major elements means that against any elemental enemy, there will be a certain degree of counter-targeting, which can make Galos's skills quite comprehensive.
Unlike the Elemental Dragon, the Long Death Dragon and Astral Self Dragon have very few skills, but they are extremely powerful.
"Long Death Martial Dragon—can be summarized as, death like the wind, always by my side."
"The skills mastered are all related to death."
"Rebirth Curse, when killing a target, extracts its life energy to temporarily increase maximum HP, adding another layer of defense."
"Grasp Life and Death, able to control life and death for an instant. When HP reaches zero, if there is still Dragon Qi remaining, it can be converted into life for another burst of power."
"Long Death Touch, attacks carry death energy. Against creatures with life strength below a certain level, the attack is an instant kill."
The Long Death Dragon's skill effects are very strong.
The problem is, to become stronger on this path, merely training and brutal combat are not enough; it requires approaching death infinitely and comprehending the true meaning of death to maximize the skill effects.
Undoubtedly, this is a very dangerous path.
Galos coveted the Long Death Dragon's skills, but he was also very certain that he would not rashly engage in death matches. Infinitely approaching death could easily lead to actual death.
"The Astral Self Dragon path is quite interesting, like a stand attack."
"The Astral Self Dragon can initially condense an invisible Astral Self Arm, which is a Dragon Qi substitute arm, capable of delivering additional attacks, launching sudden violent assaults, and also overlapping the Dragon Qi arm with the main arm to instantly enhance burst damage."
"At level 6, it gains the Astral Self Visage. In this state, it gains true sight, attacks become more precise, and all perceptions are enhanced comprehensively."
"There's also the Astral Self Body, which can attach to itself like an invisible armor, deflecting or even reflecting various types of damage such as acid, cold, fire, force, lightning, thunder, etc."
"After reaching level 17, the Dragon Qi can condense a complete substitute that can separate from the body or be superimposed on the main body for combat."
Elemental Dragon, Long Death Dragon, Astral Self Dragon.
These three paths each have unique mechanisms. After a moment of thought, Galos did not decide on the final result.
"Actually, there's no need to overthink it. Time is on my side. I will eventually master all these different path skills. Now, I just need to choose one as my primary focus."
The Red Iron Dragon thought to himself, "There's still some time until I break through to level 4. During this period, I'll make the final choice between the Elemental Dragon and Astral Self Dragon."
Galos, being cautious and valuing his life, first ruled out the Long Death Dragon path.
If he were to choose that path, he would not just be a Martial Dragon, but a Deathmatch Dragon.
After collecting his thoughts, the Red Iron Dragon used an alchemical tool to activate the super-gravity field and began a new round of training under the sunlight.