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

The goods were delivered within minutes of the transaction being completed.

The Twilight Stone was placed in a palm-sized jade box.

It was entirely black, with dark gold patterns flowing across its surface, and faint light flickering inside, as if it were a living thing breathing.

It was a size larger than the one Lin Mo had previously obtained.

The dragon's beard roots were bundled together.

Its roots are slender and pale golden, exuding a rich life force.

Each one was as thick as a finger, and there were a total of twenty bundles.

Lin Mo checked the items, and after Yin Xue and Zhou Yue confirmed that everything was correct, he put the items into his spatial ring and nodded in satisfaction.

Zhou Yue's voice came from the black sword, tinged with a hint of daze.

"I spent a whole year gaining the dragons' trust, and another six months fighting in the secret realm to obtain a Twilight Stone, and you... just got it like that?"

Yin Xue sat on Lin Mo's shoulder, swinging his legs and chuckling.

"So you heroes are inefficient, aren't you? You're so rigid, always following the rules. You should learn from us Demon Kings—just take what you need to take, threaten what you need to threaten. Why all the fuss?"

Zhou Yue remained silent for a moment, and surprisingly did not refute.

Lin Mo looked down at the golden dragon outside the city.

At this moment, there was a hint of impatience in Hong Lü's eyes.

Lin Mo knew what he was waiting for, so he cupped his hands in greeting.

"In that case, I won't bother you any longer."

Hong Lü nodded slightly without saying a word.

Outside the city, a red figure sped over; it was Xiao Hong.

He drew a red arc in the air and landed steadily on the roof of the city lord's mansion.

Lin Mo didn't waste any words and immediately mounted his horse.

"Walk."

Little Red let out a long neigh, its four hooves glowing brightly with blood, transforming into a streak of red light as it sped away towards the outside of the city.

In the blink of an eye, it disappeared into the distant horizon.

Hong Lü finally moved only after the red light completely disappeared.

"Quickly! Get into town!"

He let out a low growl and charged into the city first.

The dragons behind them seemed to awaken from a dream and followed, their enormous wings kicking up clouds of dust.

At the city gate, civilians of various ethnicities who had been trapped for several days had already gathered.

Dwarves, elves, human merchants, orc mercenaries...

They looked at the giant dragons descending from the sky with complex expressions.

Some people breathed a sigh of relief, some shed tears silently, and some bowed deeply to Hong Lü.

Hong Lü ignored these remarks.

He strode across the street, each step causing the ground to tremble slightly, and headed straight for the city lord's mansion.

"Elder!"

A young silver dragon caught up, his eyes red-rimmed.

"You...you've been wronged!"

Hong Lü paused in his steps.

He turned his head, looked at the young, reverent face, and his lips moved slightly: "It's all for you."

The silver dragon was even more moved.

"The elders, for the sake of Young Dragon City... for our sake... are willing to bear the infamy..."

"We will forever remember Elder Honglu's sacrifice!"

"It's all my fault, it's all my fault for being incompetent!"

……

The voices came from all directions, filled with emotion, admiration, and a sense of tragic grandeur.

Hong Lü's pace quickened, and his expression grew increasingly subtle.

It's a very complicated thing; there's awkwardness and guilt involved.

There was also a hint of barely suppressed...smugness?

He practically fled into the city lord's mansion.

The door slammed shut behind them, shutting out the earth-shattering sounds from outside.

Hong Lü leaned against the door, let out a long breath, and then looked up.

Inside the main hall of the city lord's mansion, a figure stood quietly.

It was a burly man dressed in black.

No, it was a soul.

It was translucent, grayish-white, and had no energy fluctuations around it.

Yet it exuded a sense of oppression that made even a level 90+ dragon like Hong Lü instinctively feel a chill.

Demigod soul!

Hong Lü's lips couldn't help but curl into a smile.

He strode over, stopped in front of the spirit, and looked it up and down.

Those golden, vertical pupils were filled with undisguised greed and ecstasy.

"well……"

Footsteps sounded behind me.

Hong Du came out from the side hall, his face still bearing the marks of his injuries, but he seemed to be in much better spirits.

Seeing Hong Lü's expression, he hesitated for a moment before saying, "Elder, this matter will likely have a significant impact. The incident in Young Dragon City cannot be kept secret; the other clans will find out sooner or later. Should we go back and report it?"

"Report?"

Hong Lü suddenly turned around.

The old dragon face was now etched with ambition.

"To whom should we report? The Silver Dragon Clan? The Red Dragons? The Black Dragons?"

He walked step by step toward Hong Du, raising his voice with each word he spoke.

"My Golden Dragon clan boasts the noblest bloodline and the oldest lineage. Why should we listen to other dragon clans?"

Hong Du was stunned.

"It's been three hundred years."

Hong Lü's voice lowered, filled with a gnashing hatred.

"The Dragon Emperor's throne has been vacant for three hundred years. We've been fighting for it for three hundred years, and no one can prevail over the other. Why? Isn't it because the demigod ancestors can't make a move?"

He turned and pointed to the silent soul in the center of the hall.

"But now, I have it!"

Hong Du's pupils contracted, his lips parted slightly, but he couldn't speak.

Hong Lü looked at him and said, word by word.

"How can a true man remain subservient to others for long?"

His voice echoed in the empty hall, making the candlelight tremble.

"From now on, the dragon race will be ruled by my Golden Dragon Clan."

He looked at Hong Du with piercing eyes.

"Get ready."

Hong Du swallowed hard. "Prepare...prepare what?"

Hong Lü's lips curled up, revealing a confident smile.

"Ascension to the throne, Dragon Emperor."

Outside the city lord's mansion, the dragons, still moved, were unaware of what had happened inside.

All they could see was the tightly closed door and the increasingly bright golden light shining through the cracks in it.

……

Hundreds of miles outside Youlong City.

A beam of red light descended from the sky and landed on the wilderness.

Lin Mo dismounted and looked ahead.

There, ten golden figures stood silently.

They transformed into human form.

Each of them was dressed in golden armor, with a long sword at their waist, and their posture was as upright as a pine tree.

Golden scales peeked through the gaps in the armor.

His vertical pupils gleamed with a dark golden light in the shadow of his helmet.

ten.

Each one is at level 89.

When they saw Lin Mo, they all knelt down on one knee, placing their right hands on their chests.

"His Majesty."

The voices were uniform and unison, without any extraneous emotions.

Lin Mo nodded.

Zhou Yue's voice came from the black sword: "Ten level 89 Golden Dragon Warriors... how can this be...?"

He couldn't continue.

Yin Xue was also stunned.

Those blood-red eyes blinked, then blinked again.

For the first time, a look of "I didn't expect this either" appeared on her little face.

"What's going on? Has that old dragon gone mad? Giving you the Twilight Stone wasn't enough, he also sacrificed ten of his clansmen?"

She couldn't help but ask.

Lin Mo smiled.

"It's just a transaction."

He did not explain further.

Yin Xue chuckled: "I know a few monster lairs deep in the wasteland; I guarantee you'll level up at least 3 times!"

Lin Mo nodded: "Okay, let the banshee send the Dragon Whirl Root back first. Liu Yishou is still waiting."

He then summoned a banshee and handed her the spatial ring.

After finishing all this, Lin Mo took a deep breath: "Now I should level up quickly, Mom. Wait for me, I'll be back soon."

Then Little Red let out a long neigh and its four hooves pounded out blood.

Ten golden figures rose simultaneously, transforming into streaks of light to follow.

As the sun sank below the horizon, only a dark red remained on the sky.

Eleven beams of light sped off toward the depths of the wasteland.