Chapter 191 – Bone Dragon, Submit to My Lord!

Mu Yuan continued exploring the Land of Buried Bones inch by inch, followed by three listless vampires.

He was well aware of the temperament of wild high-tier species and how difficult they were to subdue. Even if he highly valued vampires—which he didn’t—he would still need to leave them hanging for a while.

Of course, the ‘hanging’ method only applied to capable lords.

Top-tier whales and second-generation lords, even if they had the chance to obtain Outstanding-grade Remnant Souls, could only try to win over high-tier troops by constantly flaunting their resources and using the ‘sucking up’ method.

It wasn’t uncommon for high-tier troops to be given private mansions with accompanying servants.

Different troops had different requirements.

Some high-tier troops would even demand ‘appearance fees’ from their lords—no money, no service.

Vampires were among the more picky and demanding types, so Mu Yuan had to leave them hanging even more. His territory had no privileged masters, only 996 workers.

Come, vampires, join the Tianyuan working family.

Mu Yuan led his massive horde of troops, rampaging through the Land of Buried Bones, injecting rare liveliness into this long-dead land.

But after searching for a long time, he still couldn’t find any recruitment pillars.

Just as Mu Someone was about to revert to his old ways—digging eighteen layers deep—the wind suddenly picked up, followed by thick fog surging from all directions, shrouding the mountain peaks.

The already dim Land of Buried Bones grew even darker under the thick fog.

A pair of enormous eyes slowly emerged from the depths of the fog.

Like two giant searchlights, their eerie blue glow illuminated the surroundings, revealing a massive shadow within the gray mist.

Thick silver-white bones that a single person couldn’t wrap their arms around, tattered but enormous white Bone Wings spanning dozens of meters, and a body as large as a hill.

It looked down at the newcomers, casting a huge shadow.

“Was it you who awakened me from my slumber, human lord?”

A rumbling voice like thunder exploded in Mu Yuan’s ears.

Mu Someone grew alert—was there another BOSS?!

Deadbone remained unmoved, standing by Mu Yuan’s side like a peerless bodyguard.

Lord Mu cast his gaze upon it.

This was a Bone Dragon. At first glance, it seemed like a terrifying existence dominating the world, but in reality, its Aura was hollow, its voice was hollow, and even its body was hollow.

Mu Yuan reached out and poked it.

Sure enough, his finger went straight through the pillar-like bones.

The Bone Dragon couldn’t hold it together.

“Human, what are you doing!”

“Do you know who stands before you? The great Wing of the End·Envoy of the Death Dragon’s Remains·Bone Dragon·Sario! You are committing blasphemy!”

But the moment the Bone Dragon appeared, Mu Yuan saw its information.

「Bone Dragon·Sario (Available for Recruitment)」

「Grade: Outstanding Three-Star」

「Talents: Death Siphon, Dragon Might」

「Skills: Dragon Claw, Skeletal Thrust, Remains Armor, Dragon Breath, Death Gaze, Thick Mist Domain, …」

The Bone Dragon’s stats were quite impressive, far surpassing those of wild Outstanding three-star troops. It even possessed a domain-type skill. It was as if it wasn’t some wild recruit-able troop but a Hero from the Festival Grounds.

But of course, it wasn’t a Hero.It was merely a projection of a remnant soul, much like the half-opened coffin swirling with the vampire’s aura within the light pillar earlier. However, Bone Dragon Sario was more than just a projection—it possessed self-awareness and could even radiate power to influence its surroundings through this projected form alone.

「Hint: As ‘Bone Dragon · Sario’ has inherited a portion of its past life’s power, its Rank will rapidly increase after recruitment until the inherited power is fully exhausted.」

This was no ordinary dragon.

The three vampire viscounts, who had just been preening and boasting of their status as nobles of the night, now trembled like quails, instantly subdued by the terrifying draconic pressure.

A dragon!

A bone dragon was still a dragon!

“But bone dragons truly are the shame of the dragon race.”

Mu Yuan sighed.

No matter how extraordinary the bone dragon appeared or how impressive its stats seemed, one fact remained unchangeable—it was merely an Elite Three-Star tier unit. Even if it stood at the very pinnacle of this tier, it was… still just Elite Three.

Whereas proper dragons started at Epic tier.

Crack~!

An arrow struck the bone dragon’s heart, scoring a critical hit.

Bone Dragon Sario roared, “Do you not know that I am the noble and great Final…” It repeated its grand title once more, then bellowed:

“I once followed the great Undead General, ruling over the vast Death Ridge.”

“I have transformed sprawling plains into Lands of Death.”

“I have even…”

Yet it remained the shame of the dragon race.

However, Sario was clearly a rather special individual among bone dragons, having inherited a considerable amount of skills and power from its past life.

—This inheritance differed from Isloria’s case. Isloria had been reborn as a heroic spirit through the power of rules after her fall—she remained herself, essentially resurrected.

Though Bone Dragon Sario had inherited its past life’s power and title, it was actually a new individual.

The memory fragments from its past life were like an immersive movie to it.

Scholars from the Taixuan Alliance had conducted research on this, with countless related papers published. The erudite Lord Mu happened to have read some of them.

Yet he remained quite curious about individuals like Sario.

Bone Dragon Sario stood high above, looking down upon the Lord before it.

It continued speaking, its voice rumbling like thunder, “Human, your ability to reach this place is commendable, but the great and noble Death Dragon Sario would never follow a mere mortal. Unless… you possess half the natural talent of the great Undead General.”

「Hint: Bone Dragon · Sario has issued you a trial invitation. Passing the trial will allow recruitment of this special individual. Will you accept?」

This bone dragon was indeed special.

In such recruitment grounds, normally a Lord could directly recruit high-tier units simply by defeating the Guardian BOSS.

Whether the unit would truly submit was another matter, but recruitment… high-tier units had no right to refuse recruitment.

Bone Dragon Sario, however, seemed capable of doing so.

Or perhaps it had hidden its recruitment point. Before it spoke, even though Mu Yuan could see its information and the ‘Available for Recruitment’ tag, no recruitment prompt had appeared.

So now, should he undertake the trial to earn the bone dragon’s recognition?

No.

It was just a bone dragon—why bother with the effort?

He was the Lord!

Without any signal, the perfectly synchronized Undead General stepped forward.

“Bone dragon, submit to my master.”

Undead’s voice wasn’t loud, spoken in a completely matter-of-fact tone.Three vampires, trembling like quails, had huge question marks popping up above their heads. This was a Bone Dragon! While vampires were noble and proud by nature, the arrogance of Bone Dragons surpassed even theirs.

To expect a Bone Dragon to submit with just a single sentence? Utter fantasy.

Bone Dragon Sario was also stunned, then flew into a rage. He was a Bone Dragon with a glorious past and extraordinary origins!

But before he could even speak, the ghostly blue soulfire in his pupils flickered violently.

The tiny human figure in his vision seemed to grow infinitely taller with each step forward.

Like a towering mountain!

Like the Sky Abyss!

Death energy surrounded him; countless undead thronged around him; piles of white bones supported his solitary, lofty figure; he kept watch by the banks of the Nether River;

All of this culminated at the peak of the towering Death Holy Mountain, forging an eternal Throne.

Upon the Throne, ‘he’ sat as if upon the clouds.

Casting a downward gaze toward him.

Boom~!

Bone Proud Dragon knelt.

He was a Dragon with knowledge and experience, and precisely because of this, the skeletal figure upon the Throne appeared incomparably majestic in his eyes, far surpassing the Undead General he had…Pah, his former self had once followed.

“Sario has wandered half a lifetime, regretting only that he never encountered a wise lord. Today, at first sight, little Ao knows he has met the most worthy master to follow. Please allow little Ao to offer his most sincere loyalty.”

In this moment, he was quite clever, directing his words toward Mu Yuan.

He clearly understood that the dashing, handsome, and majestic man before him was the great Lord.

The skeletal boss could already outclass the general his former self followed by ten streets, let alone the boss of the skeletal boss.

If this wasn’t a wise lord, then what was!

「Prompt: Bone Dragon Sario offers you his loyalty. Will you accept and recruit? This recruitment requires 3000g of Soul Sand.」

Mu Yuan didn’t accept immediately, instead asking, “Don’t you need half of the Undead General’s natural talent?”

“Undead General?”

Bone Dragon Sario’s pupils showed a human-like confusion, “Who’s that? This Dragon isn’t familiar with him at all.”

He had no connection whatsoever with his former self.

Don’t let the wise lord misunderstand, okay!

Mu Yuan chuckled wryly and, no longer keeping him waiting, chose to recruit!

「Ding~!」

A prompt sounded in his ear.

At the same time, the earth rumbled and shook, rocks tumbling down continuously. When the mountain before them completely collapsed, it revealed what was buried within—an enormous dragon corpse.

From this dragon skeleton, a brilliant pillar of light shot into the sky, dispersing the thick fog and dark clouds.

Inside the massive, eye-catching pillar of light was the imposing figure of the Bone Dragon from earlier.

As Mu Yuan recruited, Soul Sand burned away rapidly, and an invisible, mighty force connected.

The pillar of light and the Bone Dragon’s projection continuously shrank, finally presenting before him…

A small Bone Dragon, about two and a half meters in length, shorter than Mu Someone.

“Huh?”

Mu Yuan fell silent.

Bone Dragon Sario also fell silent, feeling that his current strength was even less than before, and why was his body so ‘petite’? Damn it, he’d lost face in front of the boss and the wise lord!

Noticing his embarrassment, Mu Yuan comforted him, “It’s fine, being small and cute is nice too.”

「Bone Dragon · Sario」

「Rank: Zero Rank Level 1」

Level 1, just born—it’s normal to be small. Even epic beings like Dragons and Titan Giants aren’t very big at birth.

And Sario was no ordinary Bone Dragon.

Soon,

“Ding~!” “Ding~!” “Ding~!”Secondary prompts began to appear one after another.

The Bone Dragon was leveling up.

Its leveling speed was even faster than that of a newly born epic lifeform—this was a remnant gift from its previous existence.

In the blink of an eye, Sario had reached Rank 0 Level 5, and his small body visibly grew a size larger.

This was wonderful.

If the Bone Dragon could level up a bit more and try to catch up with the first-tier forces, it would soon be able to join battles and even rank among the generals.

Unlike certain vampires, who had no clear timeline for catching up to the main force’s level. Fortunately, Mu Yuan didn’t rely on them anyway, directly placing them in the candidate main force sequence for gradual cultivation.

It was only at this moment that the prompt for completely clearing the recruitment ground finally rang in his ears.

Mu Yuan asked the Bone Dragon and the three vampires again, confirming that there were no Treasures left in the Land of Buried Bones, and then headed back.

…

Around the same time.

Xuandu, Third Conference Hall.

“The venue for this year’s Dragon Court Competition preliminaries has been fully prepared. Those who achieve the highest scores in the competition will represent our Taixuan in battles against other major nations.”

“According to the rules of previous years, only newly risen Lords who have passed the Crimson Giant Tower are eligible to compete in the preliminaries.”

The burly man wearing golden lion-patterned armor said this, then changed his tone, “Of course, beyond this, all of you also have the right to recommend. Any Lord recommended by you, if approved, can also participate in the preliminary competition. Regardless, only those who stand out in the preliminaries can represent our nation in the competition.”

Various influential figures began recommending promising juniors they favored.

Han Yue yawned, “I’ll continue recommending Tianyuan.”

The crowd: “???”

Why Tianyuan again!

Although everyone present had the right to recommend, there still needed to be basic logic to it. Recommended Lords should at least be capable of clearing the 5th or 6th floor of the Crimson Giant Tower.

Was it appropriate to recommend Tianyuan? The review wouldn’t approve it anyway.

“You just don’t understand.”

Tianyuan had long since cleared the first three floors. Now, Tianyuan’s main force had begun forming the embryonic form of military soul, and after a period of accumulation and development, their strength must have significantly improved. Clearing the fourth and fifth floors would absolutely not be difficult.

Tianyuan at least met the qualified standard for recommended candidates.

Of course, if she wanted to recommend Tianyuan, she needed to provide some proof of achievements; otherwise, the recommendation would indeed be in vain.

Just as Han Yue was about to say something, the Lord of Tenglong Territory nearby spoke up: “In that case, I recommend my younger brother. It wouldn’t be bad to let the young ones gain some experience.”

Such opportunities were indeed rare.

Moreover, the latest batch of newcomers—Wang Ba, Wave Caller, Great Sun, Frost Sky, and others—were quite promising with bright futures. Having developed for several months now, they possessed considerable strength. Throwing them into the preliminary competition arena to give them some experience, tempering, and pressure seemed feasible.

The Lords discussed it and found it increasingly viable.

After all, the preliminaries were going to be held anyway. Why not take the opportunity to temper more newcomers? It wouldn’t require additional resources. Plus, through this batch of quite talented newcomers, they could stimulate this year’s somewhat underwhelming newly risen Lords.

Acceptable.

Acceptable.

So this girl Han Yue wasn’t just about killing and fighting—she could occasionally offer constructive suggestions too.

The Cold Moon City Lord watched as the topic gradually shifted, a huge question mark forming in her mind.Is it possible that she nominated Tianyuan because he truly possesses the capability to compete—even if his chances are slim, he wouldn’t be completely crushed?

And the rest of you? What are you even doing?

Hmm, but this might actually work out well—there’ll be plenty of entertainment to enjoy.

She wouldn’t have to reveal Tianyuan’s full strength too early either. Once the competition begins, she could let him utterly shock everyone.

Whether Tianyuan ends up standing out or not, at the very least, she’s determined to put on this show!

Heh heh heh heh—

A faint smile curled at the corners of Han Yue’s lips as she cast her vote in favor.

A competition unlike any in previous years was about to unfold.

Chapter 2, 4K words. Typing too slowly delayed things by just a tiny bit—damn it~!

(End of Chapter)