Life is tough, so Honglong resorts to performing?

Chapter 121 Before Melting
If someone were to compile a list of private news stories related to various powerful entities over the centuries following the establishment of the Federation, a startling question would emerge:

Where do they fit in the federal social hierarchy?

What are they doing? What are they engaged in?
Four hundred and fifty years ago, news of the ancient dragons of the Federation fighting each other due to conflicts of interest would appear on the front page of print newspapers.

However, four hundred years ago, the only time human demigods quarreled was among the mages active on the Mage Kingdom forum.

Two hundred and fifty years ago, those saint-level beings would occasionally have some private scandals, which would provide juicy gossip for everyone...

However, in the last hundred years, legendary powerhouses who used to reside in the city and occasionally mingle with others seem to have become increasingly rare.

They only appear occasionally, seemingly only in official news reports, proving that they are still alive...

Among the high-level powerhouses who still maintain a distinct individual image and occasionally have some personal news, it seems that only the druids known as Green Terror and the adult dragons remain.

In the last fifty years, even the near-legendary fourth-tier masters seem to have become increasingly busy with their work. Most of them, who are of high status, will occasionally disappear for a period of time, and when asked, they say it's because the Federation needs them and there are some confidential matters.

However, if you check the financial website, judging from the distribution of incentive subsidies for high-level powerhouses, both the number of newly created legendary and higher-level powerhouses, as well as the number still alive, is constantly increasing...

Taking the more than 3,000 cities in the Southwest region as an example, a large city is defined as having ten or more legendary powerhouses, while a small city is defined as having three or more. Even if we take a middle ground and assume five powerhouses per city, there should be more than 15,000 legendary powerhouses in the Southwest region alone, a number that far exceeds any time in the past.

These powerful individuals, with their strength, intelligence, willpower, and wealth, exist in society. They can easily cause a great deal of trouble if they encounter even the slightest setback. This is the nature of the strong, but judging from the data and the amount of news coverage, this is not necessarily the case.

Further analysis of the data reveals that combat classes like Paladins, whose enrollment rates have been declining year by year, actually produce a similar or even slightly higher proportion of high-level powerhouses compared to popular classes…

Throughout the entire federal society, there seems to be a huge black hole waiting to be filled, one that requires a large number of powerful individuals and whose numbers are constantly increasing.

The existence of this black hole is being deliberately concealed by the federal high command, who are unwilling to let the public know about it.

Those who noticed the truth either chose to remain silent, or used their sensitivity and talent to become high-level experts, learning and experiencing the truth.

As for those who chose to speak out, well, their perception and intelligence attributes are quite good. Come to our research institute to study magic. Hmm, most of them quickly learned the hidden truth.

The main task of the Magic Crystal Network Observers is to search for and find those perceptive individuals who have discovered this black hole, and incidentally observe which models match the existence and expansion of this black hole shaped by individual consciousness.

"The timeline and overall trajectory from when the druids noticed the abyss's anomalies to when overt questions about the location of the war appeared on the magic crystal network are consistent with the conjectures of the Seventh Model. If we follow that person's calculations and theories, the Federation will have to spend a lot of money to support the entertainment industry next."

The observers compiled the vast amount of information and data on the Magic Crystal Network and compared it with the large model retrieved from the research institute, drawing relevant conclusions.

"Isn't this little red dragon a bit too lucky? Is he one of the unlucky ones used to test new lucky items?"

Another person expressed surprise at one of the main figures in this storm.

"Who knows about the southwest region? Anyway, he was a member of the group chat led by the group owner, and he also came into contact with one of the two powerful demigod relics that were placed in Cuiye City. Maybe."

"Then I can only wish him good luck. Hopefully, he'll succeed at least once. Well, at least he should survive, right?"

"Well, I hope so."

……

The chaos and arguments in the outside world did not affect Loren, who was still immersed in meditation. As usual, he was organizing the magic power in his body and transforming it into a part of his own power.

As Loren consumed the Dragon Thousand-Day Fruit and deepened his understanding of magic over the past few days, he found that his digestion of high-level magic crystals was gradually accelerating. Now, only a finger-sized amount of them remained in his body, and if all went well, he should be able to consume them all in the next two days.

"Oh, a young dragon junior."

Suddenly, a somewhat familiar dragon language echoed in Loren's mind, and a memory from the magic crystal was unlocked along with it.

"The highest level of cognitive impairment... I thought I hadn't forgotten anything."

The little red dragon's eyes narrowed, and it instantly became serious. This hellish world of Ellen was indeed full of traps!

"Congratulations, young junior, on completing the initial design of the magic crystal heart so quickly. Next, I will teach you how to control and utilize that pseudo-active energy. You can use it as a sparring partner, or as a decoy. The cheapest use is to use it for self-destruction..."

"Oh right, with a special spell design, they can contact you in the wilderness. Yeah, they have quite a few wild methods..."

The voice, which sounded like a brass dragon, kept rambling on and on, making Loren's head spin. Couldn't you just get to the point?

"Oh, here's the important part: because these guys come from extremely unusual backgrounds, you might not be able to defeat them in one go."

"So first, I have to teach you how to successfully seal this bunch of stuff away when you can't beat it, to prevent it from causing cognitive pollution to you."

"If you have practiced basic dragon language magic, then you can choose option one, the self-made method. But given the diligence of our dragon race, let's talk about option two first..."

Loren's blood pressure spiked upon hearing this.

I've practiced it, I've practiced it, you bastard! Why did you use recording instead of an intelligent model? Why did you mention Option 1 before talking about Option 2?
"Oh, you must be wondering why I included dragon language magic in Plan One when I had a more suitable Plan Two for everyone. Oh, that's because..."

That damn brass dragon kept rambling on and on, and after taking several deep breaths, Loren finally managed to patiently listen to what the guy had to say.

Subsequently, deep within the memories of the Dragon's Legacy, he unearthed the sealing-type dragon magic that the other party had mentioned.

Option two would require hiring a mage specializing in specific types of magic or a priest who knows similar divine spells, and would also cost a fortune in materials; no one would be willing to use that.

Loren examined the dragon language-based sealing spells belonging to the dragon race.

"Interesting. Judging from the timeline and records, it might be one of the sources and references for the military-grade four-element creation spell paper I exchanged for. It's just that because it's so ancient, it has now mutated to an absurd degree..."

The difference between this and the four-element creation spell is that it requires the removal of one of the four elements that form the base.

The original fifth element, acting as a disturbance, will participate in this flawed elemental fusion. The entire reaction chain cannot proceed normally, yet it continues to advance. These four participating elements will demand the flawed parts from each other, becoming increasingly intertwined, ultimately sealing the hidden entity within. This will continue until the sealer uses the missing base element to break it open.

As an ancient type of sealing magic, its advantage lies in its extremely strong internal sealing ability and the profound entanglement of the four elements. Forcibly breaking through it will likely damage the sealed object. However, its disadvantages are...

External forces are generally easy to remove; simply bring a basic elemental magic item close. And since the inventor of sealing spells is a dragon, well, you can deduce what kind of magic they used based on their attributes and preferences.

The red dragon, which excels in fire, is most likely missing the water element as its base element; the white dragon, which excels in frost, is missing the fire element; and the blue dragon, which excels in lightning, is missing the earth element…

As a sealing spell, this spell is too weak to resist external interference.

In fact, the entire category of spells related to sealing faces this problem.

Since the rise of protective spells like Dispel Magic, spells related to sealing have also been incorporated into categories such as Conjuration, Evocation, and Transmutation, no longer existing as separate schools.

"But it's very useful for trapping things that are already inside my body. Whether to release them or not is entirely up to me. Oh no, I should use water element to release them. Should I prepare a small magical item that can continuously provide water element..."

Loren pondered that although the pile of secondhand goods he had could still be used a few more times, what if he lost too many times?

Although the little red dragon was very confident in itself, since the brass dragon said that the thing was very strong, it still had to listen to it.

After all, it was the remnant of some unknown thing. It's quite remarkable that it could still do so many sit-ups after being dead for so many years.

Those who are not simple are unlikely to be weak.

Of course, the other party is dead while I am alive, I am still progressing while that thing has already ended, so it's only a matter of time before I deal with it.

Strategically despise the enemy, tactically take them seriously; the knowledge from his past life still reminds Loren how to face crises.

"Fire, wind, earth, thunder, the four elements seal, first practice, begin."

Loren held his breath and, using the instinctive reactions of the dragon race, began to manipulate the changes of the elements, just as he remembered.

……

While Loren meditated and practiced spells in preparation for the pseudo-active substance within the high-level magic crystal, the public opinion surrounding the matter did not calm down despite the intervention of the Cuiye City Cultural and Tourism Department. On the contrary, with the instigation of some individuals, things became increasingly uncontrollable.

The conflict between long-lived and short-lived species has been widely discussed, and a flood of true and false stories and accounts has emerged.

One person recounted the violation they had suffered, another spoke of the dark secrets they had encountered in the past; in an instant, elves and dragons were all portrayed as evil, depraved, and utterly wicked beings.

In the lower city, under the sign of Blackstone Barbecue, the ogre Kacha Blackstone, who had just finished his work and was about to relax by reading some entertainment gossip, fell into deep thought as he looked at the overwhelming discussion messages on his magic crystal terminal.

If we're being honest, compared to dragons and elves, who are relatively rare, it seems that the discrimination and treatment you humans, as ordinary races, show towards us, these filthy and foolish lower races, is the majority in this world.

Kacha Blackstone recalled the scene when he came to live alone in the lower part of Greenleaf City, was rejected and kicked out of the hotel, had his money stolen, and was beaten up when he went to the patrolman, and almost died on the street.

He worked hard but didn't get paid. He worked in a goblin's black factory where the food was very stingy. It was the old druid Aaron who rescued him when he destroyed the black workshop in the lower city.

If the old druid hadn't found him interesting and lent him money to get the business started and grow it to where it is today, he might have ended up dead in the sewers one day.
“How much better are you guys than those immortal beings you’re talking about fighting? You’re even worse than them, since they’re fewer in number.”

Kacha Blackstone sighed, putting aside these thoughts and turning his attention back to adjusting his seasoning ratios.

Mr. Aaron had done him a great favor, but he couldn't get involved in the current turmoil in Green Leaf City. He could only do his best to help Mr. Aaron run the canned food workshop well.

"Phew, failed again."

Even with his experience in shaping energy balls, Loren's practice of the four elemental sealing spells was still not going smoothly.

It's not that the little red dragon has a problem with its talent, but rather that the way this ancient spell is cast is truly a pain.

The things left by the old folks were too simple, and because they were passed down from generation to generation and not many dragons would learn from them, they had no extra memory or experience, and could only figure things out on their own.

"Phew, regaining balance amidst the imbalance..."

Loren recalled the so-called key points that the rambling brass dragon had mentioned and began yet another attempt.

Finally, after several failures, Loren managed to replicate the spell and successfully sealed a rock.

"Next, after you've practiced and mastered it outside the body, you can enter the mental world and greet that pseudo-active thing."

The little red dragon's eyes burned with fighting spirit. Unlike the various guys before, this was perhaps the first time he had challenged a powerful, unknown being whose basic strength far surpassed his own.

Looking back on all the battles he has faced in the past twenty years, starting from the rats in the sewers, almost every one of them was weaker than him in terms of basic attributes. He has never fought against any truly strong opponent in his life.

This is undoubtedly an advantage for a mage, but the red dragon's fighting spirit yearns for a meeting with a powerful foe.

Moreover, even setting aside his little quirk of challenging even equally matched or stronger enemies, based on his knowledge and understanding, the current state of world peace might be quite illusory, and it could explode any day now.

He had to elevate himself to a sufficient level before a potential collapse occurred.

In Ellen's world, power might not provide him with enough security, but at least it would allow him to die knowing why.

"Let's continue! Fire, wind, earth, lightning—the four elemental seals, activate!"

Based on his previous insights, Loren embarked on another journey of spell practice, again and again.

(End of this chapter)