Raise Joan of Arc to be an empress, then discard her.

The next moment, he saw the cold-faced man from before appear in front of him, his eyes filled with hatred and coldness. His hand had transformed into a cold dragon claw, reaching for Aaron's throat.

"Do not move."

The air in the room seemed to freeze. A white feather drifted down from Herbert's head, and Herbert's enormous, ferocious dragon claw actually stopped in front of Aaron.

Claire stood behind Herbert, one of her wings already spread. Her expression remained calm, but it was foreseeable that if Herbert dared to take another step, a great battle would break out: angel versus dragon.

As for Marcus, he was huddled against the wall, trembling and motionless.

“Damn angel.” Herbert bared his fangs.

"Why take action? The fact that you can live in the Kingdom of Dok means you have the kingdom's official permission and are considered safe by them. Why would you break that permission to take action? I don't recall the Church of Judgment and the Dragon Clan having such a grudge."

"The Church of Judgment and the Dragon Clan have no feud, but they have never cooperated either. Who told you to always claim to be neutral and mediators?"

“I don’t want to judge this, but it should have nothing to do with him. He’s just a newcomer to the Church of Judgment.”

"It has nothing to do with the Church of Judgment, because this kid exudes an aura that I find extremely distasteful."

Herbert sniffed and leaned closer to Aaron: "And it's an aura emanating from the depths of his soul, almost like... the blood of my kind stained with..."

Aaron was startled. Stained with the blood of his own kind, he recalled the legends of dragon slayers. Every dragon slayer was renowned throughout history and praised by humankind, but at the same time, they were deeply hated by the dragons. It was said that they would be cursed by the dragons, and the final fate of dragon slayers was often to be killed by the dragons. It seemed that in the eyes of the dragons, honor and revenge for the dragon slayers were also extremely important matters.

Aaron didn't know if the curse was real, but he had indeed hunted a large number of dragons in his previous life. Could it be that even after reincarnation, the curse would still not disappear?

"Don't you have anything to explain?" Herbert's dragon eyes shone with black light. He used Dragon's Might on Aaron, but Aaron himself possessed Dragon's Might and was immune to it, so he was not afraid.

“He’s a newcomer to the Church of Judgment who joined just three months ago. Before that, he wasn’t even a superhuman. It’s impossible for him to have the blood of your kind on him,” Claire said.

Herbert carefully sensed Aaron's aura, frowning. The aura emanating from him was unmistakable, but reason told him that Claire was right. How could an ordinary person be tainted with dragon blood? Dragons were not so easy to kill.

In the end, reason prevailed over emotion, and Herbert retracted his dragon claws: "I hate this guy, I don't want to see him again."

“Uncle Herbert, he is not only the judge of the Church of Judgment, but he has also received promises from the Church of Nature. If you refuse to help him, the Church of Nature will…” Marcus said with difficulty.

“My first hatred is for humans tainted with dragon blood, and my second hatred is for the Church of Nature.” Herbert turned around, and Marcus was so frightened that he couldn’t say a word.

*

I'm so sorry!

After leaving the apartment building, Marcus immediately apologized profusely to them.

“There’s nothing I can do, he doesn’t seem to be in a good mood,” Aaron comforted him.

“I don’t think it’s as simple as just being in a bad mood,” Marcus sighed. “He rarely shows such strong emotional fluctuations towards humans. He’s less about hating them and more about being uninterested in them. Even when he’s dealing with humans he doesn’t like, he doesn’t act like this.”

"That's strange... Why is that? Why does he hate Mr. Aaron so much..."

Aaron smiled wryly. He knew in his heart that this was his problem, but he couldn't say it out loud.

"However, besides Mr. Herbert, there are other dragons in Lodoran... perhaps going to find them would be a good idea..."

“No.” Aaron shook his head. “Herbert happens to be a black dragon, and only he can give me the best approach method. Finding other dragons won’t achieve the effect I want.”

The real reason was that Aaron knew that since Herbert could smell the scent of a dragon slayer on him, other dragons might be able to smell it too. If he was disliked by a second dragon, others might also suspect him, which would be a huge loss.

“That’s true… I also heard that Lord Aaron’s blessing was a black dragon, so I was the first to find Uncle Herbert. Besides him, there is no other black dragon in the Kingdom of Dok…” Marcus lowered his head in disappointment.

“This isn’t your fault, you’ve done your best, but can you tell me why he hates the Church of Nature so much?” Claire asked.

"Well... there are indeed historical reasons for this... I think you'll understand once I explain."

"Doesn't the Natural Bible say that the goddess of nature conquered all living things on earth, in the sky, and in the sea?"

This is a well-known history among the Dok people, and Marcus doesn't need to explain it further.

"But there is one race that the Goddess of Nature has not conquered, or rather, she has not completely conquered..."

“Dragons,” Aaron blurted out.

"That's right. After the sky, the land, and the sea were all conquered, the Goddess of Nature attempted to conquer the dragons. Thus began a protracted war between the Goddess of Nature and the dragons. It is said that they fought for hundreds of years until one day, a traitor appeared among the dragons. They broke away from the dragons and submitted to the Goddess of Nature. This is why Lord Aaron was able to receive the blessing of the dragons."

"But from beginning to end, there was a group of dragons who did not obey the Goddess of Nature. This group of dragons was called the rebels."

"And Herbert is a member of the rebel dragon clan, a die-hard who has refused to submit to the goddess of nature for thousands of years."

Dragons have a different concept of time than humans. For short-lived humans, thirty years is a long time, but for long-lived dragons, thirty years is only equivalent to three years. Therefore, Herbert is still waiting for the Goddess of Nature; they probably also feel that thirty years is nothing to the goddess.

It's the same problem again. Neve and her group also came to Lordoron thirty years ago. It is said that since thirty years ago, the dragons have not seen the envoys they sent return, so they send new envoys to Lordoron every year. If this situation continues, the entire dragon race may move to Lordoron.

“Since Lord Aaron knows so much, I might as well tell you a little more. It just so happens that your blessing is a black dragon, so this history should be helpful to you as well.” Marcus squatted down and said apologetically to Aaron, seemingly as compensation for not helping Aaron achieve his goal.

"Okay, I'd love to hear the story."

"Although the dragon race and the Goddess of Nature are in a state of truce, the dragon race actually hates the Goddess of Nature very much. So much so that even the proud dragon race has chosen to cooperate with other humans in order to fight against the Goddess of Nature."

"Caslland".

“That’s right, Lord Aaron. I heard you’re a history major. Your knowledge is indeed excellent,” Marcus said admiringly. “Caslland is known as the Dragon Kingdom, not only because the continent where Caslland is located is close to the dragons’ habitat, but also because the dragons and Caslland have signed a pact. The dragons help Caslland fight, and Caslland helps the dragons fight against the Kingdom of Doc.”

The history of the war between Castleland and the Kingdom of Dok is common knowledge known to every citizen of the Kingdom of Dok who has received a general education.

Castleland was once the dominant maritime power, known as the invincible seafarer. The Kingdom of Doc and Castleland fought a great war many years ago. It was through this war that the Kingdom of Doc established its position and became the new dominant maritime power. This is regarded by modern historians as the turning point for the Kingdom of Doc to become the world's number one power.

However, looking back at this history now, this war was probably a continuation of the war between the dragons and the goddess of nature, but in the end, the goddess of nature still won.

Aaron wasn't surprised by this. In this world, the goddess of nature is also a being similar to the goddess of war and the goddess of wisdom. Her conquest of the sky, the earth, and the sea shows just how powerful the goddess is.

Marcus said, "What's worse, decades later, another war broke out, the Lusset War."

"In that war, the anti-Lucet alliance, although called a seven-nation coalition, actually included dragons. All the dragons perished in that war, which was already a heavy blow to the dragon race."

"After that war, a person known as the Dragon Witch appeared. She used evil necromancy to resurrect all the dragons who died in that war and made them her own. That person is the current Queen Lucette."

"That's why we're seeing this strange situation in the world now: the Kingdom of Doc, Castleland, and the Lusset Empire all have their own dragons, but both the Kingdom of Doc and the Lusset Empire are hated by the dragons."

"When Uncle Herbert lived in Lodoren, he was always learning about humankind, and at the same time he hated the Lusset Empire and even the goddess of nature."

Although Marcus didn't say it explicitly, this information made Aaron realize that he was now disliked by Herbert and it was almost impossible for him to obtain the method of advancement from him. Marcus told him this with a guilty look, which was also telling him this.

“If all else fails, we’ll go find other dragons,” Claire said.

Aaron shook his head: "I want to try."

"But do you have any other options?"

"I made some friends during the last mission, maybe I can ask them for help."

*

Blackstone Street is also in Lodoron, saving Aaron a wasted trip.

After leaving the apartment, Aaron broke up with Claire. Claire was busy with other matters and had come to Lodoren to handle some business. However, before leaving, she reminded Aaron to return to the mansion that night and report back to her before letting him go.

Aaron knew the place like the back of his hand, even though he had been there three months ago. Before going, he made a point of packing some food from the beef restaurant.

"Aren't we friends? You're welcome to come! Why bring a gift? You're being too polite, Aaron!"

"Yeah! Yeah! They really don't treat us like friends! This beef is delicious."

Aaron found them near the garbage dump where Neve had taken him, where they were feasting on beef while "criticizing" Aaron.

While chatting with them, Aaron learned that their house was almost finished, and they proudly stated that this house far surpassed their previous works.

"Speaking of which, isn't Aaron's hometown in Birmingham? Why did you come to Lodoren? Do you miss Neve?" Neve asked.

"Yes, I missed you." Aaron patted Neve's head as she ate. "But there's something else I need to tell you."

"Leave it to Neve, whatever it may be." Neve patted her chest, and Reinhardt and Igorius beside her nodded vigorously.

"When I reach the point of advancement, I will need the help of the dragons."

"Oh, so that's what it is. Then we definitely need Neve's help," Neve said confidently.

"What are the methods for dragons to advance?" Aaron asked curiously.

"It's very simple. Just eat, drink, sleep, and breathe fresh air like Neve does. Neve has already advanced half a level."

Aaron was taken aback: "That simple?"

"Yes, all that's left is to let time take its course."

"What do you mean? I don't think I quite understand." Aaron was flustered. He actually thought he understood, but he hoped he hadn't.

"Actually, we dragons don't have the concept of advancement, only growth. The more a dragon grows, the stronger it becomes, just like you humans. However, while you humans reach your peak at twenty or thirty, we dragons are different; we dragons get stronger with age."

"Wait... Neve, how old are you now?"

"That's really rude of you to ask a girl that kind of question."

"This question is important to me, answer me."

"According to human age concepts, it would be around 120 years old, but to us dragons, it would be about fourteen years old."

"Then...how many years did it take you to advance half a rank?"

"It's been about thirty years since I came to Lodoren."

Chapter 220 Black Death

Aaron: "…………"

"By the way, it took me sixty years to advance to the next rank," Reinhardt said.

“I am a hundred years,” said Igorius.

"Do I have to wait too?"

“Yes, you will have to wait too,” Neve said. “But don’t worry, dragons grow very quickly the first time. They will naturally advance in ten or eight years. Their growth level will be roughly from a newborn baby to a baby that can crawl on the ground.”

"Isn't there any other way? Is the only option to wait it out?" Aaron realized he had boarded a pirate ship.

"For humans, there is indeed a way, but that method is not easy to achieve."

"What method?" Aaron asked quickly.

"When we dragons grow, our bodies undergo changes, such as growing new dragon scales, gaining the ability to breathe fire, and growing wings. Dragons just need to wait, while humans can use methods like pulling up seedlings to help them grow."

"Explain it more clearly."

"Is the first advancement of a dragon the growth of dragon scales? If so, then having dragon scales is enough, even if they don't grow on their own."

"You can do that?" Aaron exclaimed in surprise.

“Lord Aaron, although Lady Neve makes it sound simple, it might actually be a bit more complicated,” Igorius stepped forward to explain. “This upgrade method actually originates from our dragon race’s sacrificial ritual. As you know, our dragon race has a very long growth cycle. Therefore, when an old dragon dies in battle, we keep its body parts and attach them to a new dragon. This can also help the young dragon complete its advancement. When it grows dragon scales on its own, it is returned to the new dragon.”