Golden Dragon: Six Thousand Years of Empire

As long as it can be verified that an ordinary member of the Dragon People, who has undergone Dragonification for generations, can receive modification surgery and become a perfected Dragon Warrior without life-threatening consequences, the number of Noah's legion will increase rapidly in a very short time.

Becoming a Professional in the Radiant Gold Realm through cultivation requires not only a talent threshold but also years of hard persistence and guidance from a renowned teacher, and even then, success is not certain.

But as long as the body meets the standards, after surgery modification is completed, soaking in a nutrient tank for a year is sufficient for recovery, and the subsequent phase of rejection reactions is almost non-existent.

What must be understood is that even those without any Dragon Clan bloodline, and not even generations inhabiting Elisium, ordinary humans, after receiving limb reattachment surgery, if they stay in the Dragonization Domain for a period, will almost have no rejection reactions.

The limbs they reconnect can integrate well with their bodies; however, if they leave Elisium City right after surgery, there is a high probability of problems. Lack of flexibility in the reattached limbs is a minor issue; outright rot and stench are highly possible.

Noah is slowly amassing his Forbidden Army, meanwhile waiting for a plausible reason to wage war. After all, the Holy Dragon would never actively invade any civilized forces; at most, it would venture into the Barbaric lands to expand the civilized domain.

"Hmm, why is this kid having problems again? In critical condition? Considering the time, it's been nine years already, soon to be over, why bother?"

Noah looked towards the direction of the Alviss Continent. In his perception, a Life Fire closely connected to him flickered like a candle in the wind.

However, this was only a false façade. Once he lifted the seal, his Vitality would gush out like a river bursting its banks.

...

Whew～ whew～

The boy's chest heaved like a broken bellows. When inhaling, it seemed like his last breath in this world, using all his strength.

When exhaling, he wanted to expel every wisp of air from his chest, yet the outflowing breath was visibly blood-tinged, it was a mist of blood.

"Teacher!"

Exhausted physically and mentally, the boy, wanting to fall asleep, mustered his spirit. The taste of iron lingered in his mouth and nose, but he knew what this mental state signified; if he closed his eyes now, it's unlikely he could rise again in this form.

"I'm here."

Leaning against the wall, a pale, bloodless middle-aged man heard the boy's call, forced himself to stand up using a longsword as support. His silver armor was already battered, covered with gaping cracks, through the gaps, terrifying, deep wounds visible to the bone could be seen.

"I can..."

The boy had prepared to reveal the secret of his own background, because trapped in such a desperate situation, the boy could see no hope anymore, only through self-explosion, voluntarily breaking the agreement made with his father at the beginning.

In doing so, the entire town could be rescued, as well as those brave Paladins, they should not be buried here by the conspiracies of despicable people.

Although this would make him a failure, he wouldn't regret it because following this Paladin in front of him, he had embarked on a long and arduous journey.

He experienced much and saw a real corner of the world, the suffering of ordinary people, the ugliness of noble merchants, the exploiters in the name of gods, and those self-redeemers who, even in darkness, longed for Light.

During these nine years, Iliad saw a lot, and his understanding of the world changed completely because of this journey. The world wasn't as bright and splendid as he once thought.

The glory of the Holy Dragon Land was because of his father's presence. The Legendary Ancestor Dragon was like an eternal, unwavering Sun. Under its Radiance, all darkness and shadows could only shrink in corners, unable to be rampant.

However, compared to the vastness of the Material Realm, the areas this Sun illuminated were too narrow, there were too many places still under suffering.

They couldn't feel or even know of the Holy Dragon's existence. To Iliad, the environment they were in was so dark, it was like Hell.

Yet, even so, these pitiful people were struggling to live, but the Nobles who exploited and oppressed them were still dissatisfied. To achieve their ugly desires, they didn't hesitate to sacrifice them to the Evil Gods and Demons.

In the eyes of those Nobles whose every pore flowed with filthy desires and ugly sins, those ordinary civilians struggling to survive did not even count as human, not even as livestock, they were just consumables for amusement and exploitation.

Iliad couldn't understand this, for even as noble as he was, he never viewed human civilians as mere roadside stones and grasses.

He was willing to let his father seal and disguise himself as a mortal, to experience their life. Why did these Nobles, who inherently weren't much beyond their kin, dare trample their kind so?

It was a question Iliad had yet to answer, even his teacher here couldn't explain why those Nobles could be so cruel to their kin.

And so, they fell into the present predicament, in a town about to be sacrificed whole, they underestimated the viciousness and cruelty of the Nobles.

Though they sought help, compared to the challenge they faced, the aid arriving was like a cup of water thrown into a sea of fire, ultimately unable to escape being evaporated by flames.

"Iliya, you are the best child I have ever met, your growth makes me proud, I have a premonition, you will become the greatest Paladin in this world!"

Before Iliad could finish speaking, Rand, the Paladin who was nearly at the end of his rope, grabbed the boy's wrist, pulling out a scroll drenched in blood from his bosom, placing it in the boy's hand,

"So, remember everything I taught you, leave this place, become the Paladin I expect you to be, you can avenge me, but never let hatred blind you, it will lead you to fall!"

"Teacher, you..."

Under the blood-red sky, the boy showed a look of shock. In the last moment of his life, this Paladin who kept admonishing him, had a Teleportation Scroll capable of quickly escaping the Sacrificial Domain, yet he secretly entrusted it to him.

"Let me be selfish this once, it was a gift from a friend when I served in Holy Dragon City, I give it to my most proud student to date!"

Rand misinterpreted the shock in the boy's eyes, smiling self-deprecatingly.

Because his actions didn't align with a Paladin's code of conduct, he left the last chance of survival to his student, rather than the wailing commoners in the town.

"And you?"

Iliad felt an unprecedented tremor in his heart, though on this journey, he had witnessed the noble character of the Paladin more than once, but still, he was moved at this moment.

"A Paladin never abandons the civilians to escape."

The face of the tired-looking middle-aged man showed a smile.

"Then I..."

"You are not a Paladin yet, so, you don't need to bear such a burden."

Rand winked at Iliad with a playful face, yet this joking tone caused Iliad's nose to sting,

"Go, leave here, this is not the battlefield you should be on now, you don't need to carry any psychological burden for this."

"No, wait, please hear me out."

Obviously, Iliad now had no ability to resist a Paladin, even though he refused, Rand nevertheless activated the Teleportation Scroll.

However, as visible spatial ripples appeared, Elan Yard did not disappear, instead, as the spatial ripples were gradually dyed in golden light, eventually, a mighty, hulking figure gradually emerged...