Evolving by devouring from a young dragon

Moreover, Grimm wasn't even attending the highest-level banquet this time; the top tribes would have gained even more.

The profits from the trade route were enough for the tribe to support itself. Although the equipment parts from Deeppulse were expensive, their quality was indeed good.

More importantly, this cooperative relationship itself is a perfect cover.

No one would suspect that a tribe that is having normal dealings with the three major merchant guilds of the Eberon Empire has a dragon hidden beneath its skin.

After the trade routes were restored, the sunken basin entered a rare period of calm.

The magic crystals and associated minerals produced by the mine were loaded onto wagons in an orderly manner every day and escorted by the caravan of the Golden Finger family, and transported to the heart of Eberon along the three eastern trade routes.

The purchase price of ore in the Iron Anvil Department is stable, and the mining transport token of the Deep Vein Merchant Guild has been given the green light all the way in the Dwarf Mining Town. Even the tax collectors at the Silver Vein Outpost will take the initiative to lower the tax rate by one level when they see the goods list of the Sunken Tribe.

This is the face that the three major chambers of commerce have.

Grimm is getting old, and he's realized it, so he's consciously or unconsciously grooming his son to succeed him.

For him, serving the dragon was a lifelong honor.

He assigned all these miscellaneous tasks to his son, instructing him to make a trip to the Silver Vein outpost every month to check accounts, sign for payments, and then bring back a list of newly arrived supplies to Auduin for review.

Meteorite iron, alloy plates, and rune tools—each batch was mixed in with the normal tribal procurement list, and there was nothing unusual about the names or quantities of the items.

Auduin simply nodded in response.

He understood that goblins had very short lifespans, and that one day he might just fall asleep and never see them again.

For him, as long as someone does things for him, that's enough, no matter who it is.

Deep within the dragon's lair, a stable layer of dark gold had appeared on the edges of his scales, and the patterns on his horns were more than twice as dense as they had been six months ago.

This went on for almost half a year.

Until that late night, Grimm was awakened by the sound of chains from underground.

Bru crouched on the stone block, his core flashing rapidly, as the fire spirit flew down from the dragon's horns and landed on his head.

Bru remained silent for a long time, then stood up and walked out of the territory.

Auduin remained on the platform with his eyes closed, offering no resistance.

Blue has not slept for seven consecutive nights.

This is not normal for a stone giant.

Although Bru usually stands guard, his core will switch to a slow pulsation, and his consciousness will sink into a semi-dormant state, allowing him to rest while standing.

But for those seven days, his core kept pulsating at a high frequency, and the yellowish-brown lines on his chest flickered repeatedly, making it impossible for him to fall asleep.

He can still work as usual during the day.

He stood ramrod straight at the guard post outside the mine. When the kobolds carrying ore passed by his feet and called out "Lord Blue," he would bow his head and respond.

But once night falls, that feeling becomes uncontrollable.

At first, it was just a blurry image.

Broken stone city pillars, toppled rune gates, and a plaza buried in dust.

He thought he was dreaming.

However, he didn't know that the stone giant never actually dreamed.

Their consciousness is either fully awake or dormant; there is no intermediate state.

The image then began to clear.

The winding underground passage was covered with runes he didn't recognize, but the strokes of those runes were exactly the same as the rock patterns on his chest.

At the end of the rocky path stood a stone door, through which a dark golden light shone. The pulsating rhythm of that light was perfectly synchronized with the beating of his core.

Immediately afterwards, a strong sense of pull surged up.

At first, it didn't notice anything, until one day, an orc passed by and casually remarked, "Lord Blue, you're steaming from your chest."

He then realized what was happening.

Late on the eighth night, Bru squatted at the foot of the platform for a full two hours.

The moonlight shone from behind him, casting a large, square shadow in front of him.

He closed his eyes, immersing all his senses in the earth beneath his feet.

The stone giant's earth senses are not magic, but instinct.

Their core resonates with the mineral veins in the rock strata, allowing them to "touch" geological structures at extremely distant locations by following the texture of the rock.

He followed the source of the pulling sensation in his chest downwards, passing through the surface soil and weathered rock, through the caves carved out by underground rivers, through a dense basalt shell, and then touched a structure he had never perceived before.

A well-organized passageway, symmetrical colonnades—a stone city buried beneath a massive layer of sediment.

He opened his eyes, his core throbbed, and the rock patterns emitted a dark red glow.

On the high platform, Auduin slowly raised his chin.

Every sensory probe that Bru made on the earth produced extremely subtle vibrations in the rock strata.

These vibrations are silent to others, but to Auduin's sound wave perception, each one is perfectly clear.

"Master." Blue stood up and looked up at the high platform.

His voice was lower and deeper than usual. "They are calling to me. In the distance, deep underground, there is a stone city."

Auduin did not answer immediately.

His dark golden vertical pupils were half-open, and his dragon tail slowly swept across the edge of the platform.

He had already noticed Bru's unusual behavior.

He had already started paying close attention to Bru when Bru talked about his dream.

Furthermore, he also went to find the bronze dragon and subtly inquired about it.

However, the bronze dragon knew nothing. Upon seeing him, its eyes were filled with greed, eyeing his magic crystals, and it knew nothing when asked.

After Alduin's intentional or unintentional probing confirmed that the copper dragon was not faking it, he finally understood.

Clearly, to him, Blue was just an ordinary stone giant who had been given to him after he lost a riddle contest.

Although Blue's explanation was vague, Alduin understood that this was his good fortune.

After a moment of silence, he calmly said, "Then let's go take a look."

Blue lowered his head, the light in his eyes flickering.

Oduin paused, seemingly considering something.

A moment later, he gently hooked the tip of his tail, which was hanging at the base of his dragon horns, and a ball of grayish-red light floated out from the gaps in his scales.

The fire spirit spread its wings in mid-air, its amber eyes darting around, before silently gliding down from the platform and landing on Blue's shoulder.

Its claws were embedded in the cracks of the stone on its shoulder armor, and its tail feathers drooped down, swaying back and forth, which was quite adorable.

"Let it follow."

Alduin closed his eyes again. "Don't make a sound. Go on your own. Once you find the entrance, don't go in yet. Let the fire spirit scout ahead."

Having the fire spirit follow it is the best option.

Although they are not strong in combat, they won't die, making them perfect for scouting.

If Blue can return safely this time, his combat strength will be greatly enhanced, and the safety of the territory will be more guaranteed.

Blue nodded and turned to leave.