My mom is waiting for treatment, and you're summoning me to be a hero?

Hongdu flew away, dragging his broken body.

The golden dragon's figure grew smaller and smaller until it finally turned into a point of light and disappeared into the depths of the dragon realm.

In the ruins of Young Dragon City.

The surviving dragons raised their heads to watch their city lord depart, then lowered their heads to look at the black-robed figure standing in the center of the square.

No one spoke, no one moved.

Lin Mo stood there, looking in the direction where Hong Du had disappeared.

Then he raised his hand.

"evolution……"

The black sword hummed, and a dark light swirled wildly across its blade.

"Soul Corrosion!"

As soon as he finished speaking, dozens of huge soul energy spheres slowly appeared in the sky above Young Dragon City.

Each one is the size of a house, with countless distorted faces struggling and wailing on its surface.

They floated above the city, blocking out the sunlight.

The entire Young Dragon City was enveloped in an eerie, ghostly green light.

The dragons' expressions changed.

"Are you going to break your oath?!"

"Damn humans! Humans can't be trusted at all!"

"We've already surrendered! You bastards!"

……

Voices came from all directions—anger, fear, and despair.

Lin Mo ignored him.

He simply raised his hand and gently pressed it down.

The orbs of soul energy began to fall, not towards the crowd, but towards the edge of the city.

boom!

The first energy ball hit outside the East Gate, and the eerie green energy exploded.

It spread outwards like liquid, spreading a thick layer of soul-corrupted land on the ground.

The stone slabs sizzled as they corroded, and their surfaces began to peel and melt.

boom!

The second one crashed outside the south gate.

boom!

The third, the fourth, the fifth...

One after another, dozens of soul energy balls slammed into the area around Young Dragon City, forming an impenetrable circle around the entire city.

Those places of corrupted souls formed a continuous expanse, surrounding the entire Young Dragon City.

Any creature that steps into that area will be torn to pieces by those twisted souls.

The ground was sealed off.

The dragons stared at the still-spreading corruption, their faces turning deathly pale.

Some people looked up at the sky... and then their last hope was shattered.

In the sky, countless ghosts poured out of the black sword, densely packed and blotting out the sun.

They hovered and intertwined above Young Dragon City, forming a huge net that enveloped the entire city.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the ghostly figures.

The dappled light and shadow cast on the ground looked like countless eyes blinking.

The sky was also sealed off.

Young Dragon City has become a prison.

After doing all this, Lin Mo sheathed his sword and turned to walk towards the city lord's mansion.

Blood flew up from his shoulder, his little face was full of excitement, and he rubbed his little hands together.

"Hehe, let's go see what kind of stock the dragons have."

In the square, the dragons stood still.

They watched the back of the man in black robes.

Looking at those places where corruption is still spreading.

Looking at the vast net woven by ghosts in the sky.

My mind went completely blank.

This guy has imprisoned the entire city.

What exactly is he trying to do?

Of course, people of other races besides dragons were also imprisoned there.

A dwarf merchant pulled a palm-sized crystal from his pocket.

Those were alchemical artifacts used for remote communication.

His hand rested on the crystal, and it glowed. A voice came from the other end: "What just happened over there? How are you all doing?"

The dwarf merchant's voice trembled.

"Young Dragon City... has fallen. That demon king, he... he sealed off the entire city, we can't get out..."

"What? The Demon King? Which Demon King?"

"That guy from the Holy Ancient Empire! His name is Lin Mo! He killed our guards, defeated the city lord, and now he's imprisoning us all here."

There was silence on the other end of the crystal's line.

Then came a flurry of sounds.

The dwarf merchant continued, spreading the word about everything Lin Mo had done.

How did they kill the silver dragon? How did they summon the ghost army? How did they release the souls of three demigods? How did they use the Soul Corrosion Realm to seal off the entire city?

He spoke very quickly, as if afraid that if he spoke too slowly he would be too late.

Lin Mo did not turn around.

No one stopped it.

He heard those sounds, but he didn't care.

……

The city lord's mansion is easy to find.

The largest and most magnificent building in the entire city.

The entire structure is built of some kind of dark golden stone, and the gate is made of pure copper, with a pattern of a soaring dragon carved on it.

Two lifelike stone statues, also in the shape of dragons, stand in front of the gate.

Pushing open the door, the scene inside made Yin Xue's eyes light up instantly.

gold.

The ground was covered in gold.

Not gold coins, but real, solid blocks of gold, piled on the ground, on the table, and on the shelves.

There are gold bricks, gold bars, gold nuggets, and gold ingots.

They gleamed dazzlingly under the light of the magic lamp.

The entire hall was dyed gold.

Dragons love gold; this is common knowledge throughout the continent.

But seeing it with your own eyes is completely different from hearing about it.

There is more gold here than in the treasury of the Holy Ancient Empire's palace.

In addition, there are gemstones.

Red, blue, green...

Gemstones of various colors are perfectly cut using top-notch craftsmanship.

They were carelessly piled up in the gaps between the gold, like stones that had been casually discarded.

There are also various magical artifacts.

Armor, weapons, amulets, scrolls.

Each item radiated a considerable energy fluctuation, yet they were simply tossed haphazardly into the pile of gold.

Lin Mo glanced at it, then looked away.

He wasn't interested in those things.

Yin Xue was so excited that it flew up from his shoulder, gesturing with its little paws in mid-air.

Lin Mo said calmly, "Take Mianmian around and collect any valuables."

"And what about you?"

Yin Xue asked.

Lin Mo turned around and walked towards the depths of the hall.

"I'll go check the rooftop."

……

The rooftop of the city lord's mansion is a spacious platform.

Standing here, you can overlook the entire Young Dragon City.

The streets, the buildings, and the dazed dragons were all laid out before him.

The view stretched all the way to the distant horizon.

That place is deep within the Dragon Realm, in the direction of Dragon City.

Lin Mo took a deep breath and felt that breathing was particularly smooth.

At this moment, Zhou Yue's voice came from the black sword, tinged with a hint of confusion.

"Why are you doing this? Why not just directly qualify for the secret realm?"

Lin Mo shook his head.

"As you said yourself, the secret realm hasn't opened yet, so if we want the Twilight Stones, we'll have to use some unconventional methods."

Zhou Yue fell silent.

He roughly knew what Lin Mo meant by "unconventional methods".

It was robbery.

Snatch it from the dragons.

To steal that Twilight Stone that only appears in the Dragon Clan's Secret Realm.

Zhou Yue did not speak again.

After a long silence, Lin Mo spoke first.

"Senior, you spent a long time in the Dragon Clan back then. Tell me about the Dragon Clan."

Zhou Yue was clearly taken aback: "The Dragon Clan? Why are you asking about that?"

"Know yourself and know your enemy, and while you're at it, see if there's any chance to get some resources."

Zhou Yue's lips twitched: "You dare to covet the Dragon Clan? Their clan has never joined the Demon King's army; they've always been on their own, so they basically have no chance."

Lin Mo didn't speak, and Zhou Yue sighed when he saw this.

"The dragon race is not actually a monolithic entity."

Lin Mo's brows twitched slightly.

"Internal struggles have always existed within them."

Zhou Yue continued.

"Dragons of different colors all want to become the Dragon Emperor. The gold dragon has noble blood, the silver dragon is exceptionally intelligent, the red dragon is the strongest in battle, and the black dragon has the deepest foundation. None of them are willing to submit to the others."

"What color is the current Dragon Emperor?"

"It's said that it hasn't appeared for hundreds of years..."

Zhou Yue's tone carried a subtle undertone.

Lin Mo nodded. "Keep this information in mind; it might come in handy."

……

Just then, footsteps sounded behind them.

"Lin Mo! Lin Mo! Look what I found!"

Yin Xue flew out from the stairwell, carrying a scroll that was even bigger than herself.

The entire person was completely covered by the scroll, with only two small hands and a pair of wings flapping frantically visible.

Mianmian followed behind, holding several fist-sized essences in her eight little paws.

His mouth was stuffed full, his cheeks bulged out like two balls, and he was swaying as he walked.

Yin Xue stumbled and flew to Lin Mo, threw the scroll on the ground, and gasped for breath.

"This is so heavy... I'm exhausted..."

The scroll was huge, bigger than her whole body.

She held the scroll, swaying precariously in mid-air.

"This is……"

Lin Mo frowned.

Yin Xue chuckled.

"A Compendium of Demon Kings Through the Ages!"