Golden Dragon: Six Thousand Years of Empire

For Noah, founding an empire was not an impossible task. Of course, at present, it was still somewhat distant for him, but he was subconsciously preparing for it.

"The road ahead is long and arduous!"

Noah sighed deeply and went to check on his eldest son, as their ten-year agreement was nearing its end. According to the agreement, Noah would lift the seal from him and return his identity, status, and power.

This time, Noah did not stay in his palace. Instead, he chose to anchor himself to his son's position and then descend.

Without any forewarning, the Golden Dragon that had coiled in the mountains for decades without moving suddenly shattered the space before it, locked onto the spatial coordinates of its eldest son through their bloodline connection, and began to traverse the vast endless ocean.

Noah's palace, built by himself, effectively constrained the disturbances caused by the shattered space, keeping everything contained within the palace, unbeknownst to the outside world.

But on the far side of the Alviss Continent, the arrival of the Legendary Ancestral Golden Dragon caused an unprecedented scale of elemental turbulence.

At the moment when Noah's Dragon Claw extended through the space rift, almost all the legends on this continent sensed Noah's presence.

To the transcendent beings of Legendary Rank, Noah's descent was like an additional sun appearing in the sky above; it was hard to ignore.

Even for those transcendent beings who were close enough, it required no legends, as even beneath the Legendary Rank, they could sense the majesty emanating from this entity, known as the Holy Dragon, from the Other Shore Continent.

The land where Noah descended was a war-torn land, where order was absent. Chaos was everywhere: thieves, robbers, bandits, and unidentified armed groups battled and plundered resources on this territory.

Everywhere were refugees fleeing for survival due to the chaos, and even the wilderness was now safer than the populated towns.

This was the land of the former Goltai Duchy, but with the fall of Duke Goltai, the nation declared its demise.

Without the intimidation and protection of a legend, a large number of external forces poured in, viewing it as a weak land to plunder. Not only from outside, but internally, many surviving noble forces also transformed into warlords or mobilized family arms, masquerading as marauders to plunder the populace.

The chaos on this land had persisted for nearly a year. However, all disputes on this land, accompanied by murders, looting, and even wars, ceased today due to the arrival of a Golden Sun.

Everyone felt uneasy because of the arrival of the Holy Dragon, even those refugees without any power could feel the vastness and grandeur of the sun overhead and the power within that could cleanse the entire land.

However, Noah did not concern himself with any disputes or suffering on this land because the conflicts here were unrelated to him. His descent was solely due to the presence of his eldest son.

Perhaps tracing the chaos on this land back to its source might lead to him, but Noah had no intention of taking responsibility for it. As a Holy Dragon with his own territory, he was responsible only for his subjects who submitted, were loyal, and followed him. Beyond this, Noah did not intend to waste any extra power.

His power was not yet strong enough to solve all suffering. So, under limited power, Noah chose to prioritize caring for the subjects loyal to him.

"Holy Dragon!"

In the midst of ruined houses, in what was essentially a town of ruins, several Paladins clad in Silver Armor looked up in shock at the Golden Dragon circling above, their eyes filled with disbelief, followed by confusion and bewilderment.

As Paladins, they certainly knew of and understood the existence of the Holy Dragon. Even without having seen it, at first glance at the Golden Dragon above, they knew Noah's identity, as if some unknown presence had informed them.

However, even knowing the identity of this enormous and majestic Golden Dragon, akin to the Divine, the ensuing emotions were confusion and puzzlement. Why did the Holy Dragon appear here?

Though a year ago, warriors under the Holy Dragon had quelled the Abyssal disaster ravaging this town, no one had beseeched the power under this being during this time; why had this being suddenly descended?

"Father!"

A young man, naked to the waist and building a wall, looked up at the Golden Dragon overhead and couldn't help but hesitate. Then, filled with shame and unease, he lowered his head.

It turned out that in a daze, ten years had already passed. Over the decade, he had accomplished nothing, even though he had found an excellent teacher, he had not gained the recognition of the Holy Light to become a true Paladin.

"What are you doing?"

Noah lowered his head, looking at his offspring with muddy hands, and asked gently.

"I am building a house."

"For whom are you building?"

"A group of orphans who lost their parents, as winter is approaching, and they need shelter from the cold."

Iliad explained.

"Not bad."

The expression in Noah's eyes grew increasingly gentle.

"Not bad?"

Iliad looked up, a bit confused, at the father above him, who seemed more majestic than the distant sun,

"I just built a wall."

"But you did a good job, didn't you?"

Noah laughed.

"Because that's all I can do."

Iliad laughed self-deprecatingly. Over ten years, he had deeply realized the hardships of being reduced to an ordinary person, even under the protection of a Paladin teacher. Without such, his situation would have been even more dire.

"As an ordinary person, you've done very well. You've done everything within your power, and you haven't wavered in your original beliefs; you still stand firm on your path."

This was why Noah praised Iliad. Although ten years was not long, for a Holy Dragon's Son who was not yet fifty, ten years accounted for more than a fifth of his life experiences.

Moreover, in these ten years, he had experienced more than in all his previous life, and the impact was even more profound.

Yet despite this, his offspring did not waver in his beliefs nor exhibited any evasive behavior. This was what made Noah truly gratified.

Facing difficult challenges, it was all too easy to fall into despair because, after all, he was the Holy Dragon's Son, and he could not succumb to a fate of death.

He only needed to wait until the ten-year deadline, and he would regain his previous status, and he could return to Heaven to accept everything arranged by his mother.

"As your father, I am pleased with the choices you've made."

Noah extended his Dragon Claw towards the seemingly insignificant human below, gently touching the top of his head,

"According to our original agreement, I return everything to you."

With the final word of the Holy Dragon, the young man, who had already borne some traces of time, burst into golden light from his body. His matured face began to rapidly revert to its youthful state, with all traces of time swept away.

However, regaining youth was the most ordinary change for this Holy Dragon's Son at this moment. Iliad's body, rapidly enlarging, radiated a brilliant golden light, surrounded by the majestic Holy Power's six wings extending from his back.

With the emergence of the six wings, four Dragon Horns that added dignity and nobility, and Golden Dragon Scales with Sun Patterns reappeared on his body.

"I want to know, now that you have regained your power, what do you wish to do most?"

Noah asked, looking curiously at his eldest son, who was busy reacquainting with his body.

"I want to quench the chaos on this land, rebuild order, and free its people from the misery of war, just like the lands under your protection."

Iliad raised his head without hesitation and answered.