Spellcasting Gods

Furthermore, even if he could barely defeat it, Zhang Cheng did not intend to do so. Rather than risking his life to confront a powerful enemy head-on, he preferred to use his mind and wisdom to achieve his goals.

"After defeating the Rhoynar, the Valyrians acquired magical knowledge of water manipulation from them. However, due to their physical limitations, they were unable to manipulate any magic other than fire and blood. But the Dragon King was not resigned to this, and he gathered the most outstanding scholars and mages of the time to study it. Although they still could not control water like the Rhoynar, they inadvertently discovered the nature of energy. From then on, the Valyrians began to evade my surveillance and conduct their own secret research. By the time I discovered it, their progress had far exceeded expectations..."

Kronada recounted the history of the past while explaining the development of the Valyrian magical civilization.

As a dragon that witnessed firsthand how the Valyans developed, rose to power, and eventually swept across the world, its knowledge was far more credible than those legends and books, and it also unveiled many mysteries.

For example, before the apocalypse, why did the Targaryen prophetess suddenly learn of the impending disaster, and why did she so firmly persuade the entire family to migrate to Dragonstone, an outpost on the western continent?

It wasn't that she actually had any prophetic abilities, but rather that she was misled by the illusion created by the dragon. The two sides eventually reached a deal, and the red meteorite was the core of the deal.

No wonder the Targaryen family never intended to return to their homeland. It wasn't that they didn't want to come back and inherit the vast legacy of the Valyrian civilization; it was that they knew there was an incredibly powerful dragon beneath the island that harbored resentment towards the Valyrians for their betrayal.

"So, according to you, the magic that deflects external forces must have originated from the water mages of the Royna people?" Zhang Cheng gently touched the stone tablet, which was still not too hot even though it was soaked in lava.

Normally, even if this stone tablet hadn't completely melted, it should have been at a temperature exceeding several hundred degrees Celsius, but now it's only around sixty degrees Celsius at most.

Kronada nodded his massive head slightly: "Yes! At least I didn't impart similar knowledge to the Valyans. So, have you thought of a way to destroy it?"

Zhang Cheng stroked his chin and pretended to ponder for a few minutes before suddenly asking out of the blue, "Have you ever heard of the principle of thermal expansion and contraction?"

"Thermal expansion and contraction? What does that mean?" The dragon's physics knowledge was clearly lacking, and his face was full of confusion and bewilderment.

"It's very simple! Based on one hypothesis, everything in the world is made up of countless tiny particles that are indistinguishable to the naked eye. When the temperature rises, the vibration amplitude of these tiny particles increases, causing the object to increase in volume. When the temperature drops, the vibration amplitude of these tiny particles decreases, causing the object to decrease in volume." Zhang Cheng calmly explained the principle of thermal expansion and contraction.

"Hmph! The world is made up of particles that are indistinguishable to the naked eye? What madman or idiot came up with this hypothesis? You don't actually believe it, do you?" Kronada uttered a blatant and sarcastic laugh without any mercy.

"Hehe, maybe, but it's true that objects increase in volume when the temperature rises and decrease in volume when the temperature falls." Zhang Cheng didn't try to argue.

He didn't want to waste time giving a lesson to a dragon that was destined to be his enemy.

"Is there any necessary connection between this and destroying the stone tablet?" Kronada asked, raising her front paw and poking at the lava beside her.

“Of course! Imagine if I first completely froze this stone tablet, and then you heated it with scorching dragon flames, what would happen?” With that, Zhang Cheng casually pulled out a dagger used for cutting meat, and released a chilling aura from his right hand.

In the blink of an eye, the dagger was frozen solid from the inside out.

He then plunged the tip of the dagger into the lava, and then pulled it out to freeze it.

After several repetitions, the steel material finally could no longer withstand the repeated abuse and shattered into several pieces with a snap.

Holding up half a dagger, Zhang Cheng explained with a smile, "See? Rapid heating and sudden cooling are fatal to any solid material."

If steel, a good conductor of heat, is like this, then the situation is even more pronounced with dragon crystal, which is not a good conductor.

Do you know where all that endless yellow sand in the desert comes from?

It wasn't that there was sand from the beginning, but rather that the desert lacked plants to block the sunlight, and the large number of stones were exposed to the sun every day, causing the surface temperature to rise rapidly, the volume to expand, and the heat to slowly transfer into the interior.

Once night falls, the ambient temperature drops rapidly, and the outside of the stone begins to shrink, while the inside remains hot and expands outward.

With the contraction and expansion, the internal structure of the stone will soon be destroyed.

Perhaps it won't be noticeable in a day or two, but over months, years, or even decades, the stone will slowly crumble, becoming smaller and smaller, eventually becoming the gravel we see.

Seeing this, Kronada's eyes lit up, and he urged impatiently, "Then what are you waiting for? Freeze this damned stone tablet now! I want to smash it to pieces immediately!"

"Don't rush, I still have a small technical problem to solve. You see, rapidly freezing such a huge stone tablet is far beyond my capabilities. I need a continuous energy source to replenish it, otherwise I will run out of power before I can even cover the entire surface."

At this moment, Zhang Cheng revealed his true colors.

Without a doubt, he had only one goal: the red meteorite that emitted intense radiation.

Once he gets his hands on the meteorite, he will immediately flee. As for releasing the dragon, that was never even on his radar.

Only an idiot would want to unleash a terrifying monster capable of shattering the balance of the world...

Chapter 0171 Betrayal

"You want it?" Kronada gently fiddled with the red crystalline meteorite, his eyes filled with vigilance and scrutiny.

Clearly, for it, this meteorite meant not only power, but also the ability to survive over a long period of time.

As a magical creature of such enormous size, it needs to absorb a huge amount of energy every day to maintain its basic needs.

Perhaps nothing will be apparent in the few decades immediately following the comet's passage, but once the energy in the atmosphere begins to thin, certain special organs will begin to rapidly fail and age, ultimately leading to death.

In a sense, the radiation energy emitted by a meteorite at all times is equivalent to a life support system, so even a fool wouldn't easily hand it over to someone else.

Zhang Cheng was perfectly aware that he had crossed the other party's bottom line, so he deliberately shrugged nonchalantly and said, "Please don't misunderstand, I don't want to get it, I just want to borrow it. Do you think I have the ability to pose a threat to you in this place full of lava? Besides, it is you who longs to break the seal and regain your freedom, not me, so the choice is in your hands."

Kronada squinted, seemingly considering the danger of the situation, and after a full minute, his desire for freedom finally overcame everything.

It carefully held the crystal-clear meteorite in its claws and placed it in front of Zhang Cheng, then lowered its voice and threatened, "Human, don't try anything funny, or I guarantee you'll taste something worse than death."

"Thank you for your trust. Please rest assured, I haven't lived enough yet, I won't actively seek death." Zhang Cheng bowed and picked up the meteorite, which was about the size of an adult's head.

The moment he got his hands on it, he immediately realized why something so small could unleash such destructive power in an instant.

The reason is simple: the energy contained in this small crystal is equivalent to ten thousand times the total energy scattered by the red comet each time it passes through the world of A Song of Ice and Fire.

Moreover, it is so highly compressed that simply holding it in one's hand provides countless benefits to the holder.

For example, gradually transforming oneself to have a better magical physique, or continuously replenishing energy consumption, etc.

In short, just as the Valyrian Dragon Aspect had foreseen, whoever could merge this meteorite with himself would become a god walking the earth, and at least in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, nothing could rival him.

As for the White Walkers, who are considered the "number one enemy" in the story, even the First Men and the Children of the Forest could defeat them. The Valyrian civilization at its peak would have been just as easy. They are not worthy of standing in front of the "gods".

"Human! What are you waiting for? Let's get started!" Kronada urged immediately when he noticed that Zhang Cheng hadn't moved for a while.

For some reason, after the meteorite left its control, it always felt a strange unease, as if something bad was about to happen.

“No problem! Please take two steps back, I need a few minutes to prepare.” As he spoke, Zhang Cheng silently took out a rune stone from his pocket and activated it. Then he raised his other hand and placed it on the huge dragon crystal stone tablet, and began to release white freezing air.

In the blink of an eye, the hard ice layer spread rapidly in all directions from the contact surface...

In about five or six minutes, he had completely frozen the entire stone tablet. As time went by, the ice layer became thicker and thicker, and the cold air it emitted caused a small part of the scalding magma below to solidify and harden.

After ten minutes, the surface of the stone tablet began to shrink slowly due to the cold, but the inside still maintained a high temperature and expanded outward.

suddenly!

A sharp clicking sound came from the upper right corner.

A very obvious crack appeared!

However, the white, spiderweb-like patterns also began to glow, gradually repairing the cracks.

"Fantastic! Fantastic! Keep going! Don't stop!" The dragon, seeing hope broken through the seal, stood up and roared excitedly.

It tried countless methods, but all of them failed in the end; to be precise, it couldn't even leave a small scratch on the surface of the stone tablet.

However, a prolonged freeze has caused severe cracks on the surface of the stone tablet, and it is believed that if this continues, it is only a matter of time before it is destroyed.

For the first time in a thousand years, it felt so close to returning to the sky and soaring freely once more...

Realizing that the other party's attention was completely drawn to the cracks on the surface of the stone tablet, Zhang Cheng slightly curled the corners of his mouth, quickly withdrew, and shouted loudly, "Now! Burn it with dragon flame!"

"Roar!!!!!!"

With a deafening roar, Kronada opened its massive maw, full of sharp teeth, and spewed out scorching dragon fire straight ahead.

As an ancient dragon that has lived for countless years, the flames it breathes are no longer red, but a dazzling white-gold. Even the air is distorted by the terrifying heat, making it impossible to see clearly ahead.

Zhang Cheng, who had been waiting for this moment, crushed the glowing rune in his hand without hesitation, then bowed slightly to the dragon that was still focused on breathing: "I apologize, Your Majesty Mother of Dragons, but I have decided to change my mind and will not cooperate with you. Anyway, I have already told you how to break the seal, haven't I?"

The words had barely left his mouth!

His body slowly became transparent, as if he might disappear at any moment.

"No!!!! How dare you lie to me?!"

Realizing something was wrong, Kronada immediately stopped breathing fire, turned around, roared, and slammed down with its powerful wings.

Eric, who had been hiding in the corner, appeared behind Zhang Cheng at some point. He suddenly raised his sword and stabbed down hard, while grinning maliciously and saying, "I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean to betray you. I just hoped to get a chance, a chance to change my fate."

At this critical moment, Zhang Cheng calmly raised his right hand and released the Ice Spike Technique that he had been secretly preparing for half a day.

Caught off guard, Eric's entire body was instantly torn apart by countless shards of ice, leaving him a bloody mess, with his internal organs and bare bones exposed in several places.

"Aaaaaaaahh ...

The intense pain made him scream in agony, desperately trying to push his protruding intestines back in.

Unfortunately, it was all in vain. With injuries of this severity, unless there is a complete modern medical system or a powerful magical potion, the patient would die from excessive blood loss within minutes.

"There's no need to apologize. I understand your thoughts. Besides, I never truly gave you even the slightest bit of trust from the beginning, so how can it be called betrayal?"

After uttering these sarcastic words, Zhang Cheng's blurry figure vanished into thin air with a snap.

The next second, the dragon's powerful wings sliced ​​through the air and slammed into the ground with a deafening roar...

Chapter 0172 The Beginning of the Rampage

"No! No! No! No! Liars! You damned humans are all despicable liars! I will kill you all! Kill you all!"

Seeing the meteorite, which he treasured, being stolen, Kronada immediately went into a frenzy, swinging its wings, tail, and claws to smash everything in its path to pieces.

Apart from the dragon crystal slab at the center, which remained standing, everything else, whether hard rock or molten lava, was utterly destroyed.

Even more terrifying, as its emotions began to spiral out of control, the dormant volcanoes beneath the entire island suddenly erupted without warning.

After a deafening roar, scorching magma erupted from the ground, spraying out large amounts of volcanic ash in all directions. In just a few minutes, the sky above the sea was shrouded in a terrifying haze, and countless dust particles fell rapidly from the sky, accumulating to a depth of more than half a meter in less than a few minutes.

In about a few hours, the island will be completely covered by volcanic ash.

Upon discovering this, the soldiers and sailors who had remained in the camp immediately rowed back to the ship in their small boats without saying a word, and then set sail to avoid this devilish sea.

As if receiving a command, Kuro Kerbal, soaring above the blue sky, grabbed a huge wooden crate placed behind the ruins of the tower and flew directly towards King's Landing, completely ignoring the panicked crew.

Not long after the ships and dragons left, several other islands in the vicinity also emitted huge noises. Then, blinding red flames illuminated the sky. The violent tectonic activity even triggered a terrible tsunami. Giant waves over fifty meters high rushed straight towards the northern peninsula. It was estimated that the villages and towns near the coast would be reduced to ashes by the impact of the tsunami, tens of thousands of people would die, and many more would perish in the ensuing plague and famine.

However, as one of the culprits behind all this, Zhang Cheng had already left the scene far behind, or rather, he had been teleported back to the basement of his mansion in King's Landing.

Clearly, in order to ensure his safety in case of danger, he had placed a teleportation rune here long ago.

If he senses something is wrong, he can activate the other half of the rune, and after a 60-second preparation time, he can safely teleport to the location of the other half of the rune.

Of course, given the enormous cost of teleporting over extremely long distances, all teleportation runes sold in Dalaran are one-time use only.

In fact, due to the exorbitant price, Zhang Cheng only sold four sets initially as a precaution, but he didn't expect them to come in handy so quickly.

Of course, compared to the red crystalline meteorite radiating intense energy, consuming a mere set of precious teleportation runes is insignificant.