Evolving by devouring from a young dragon

Of course, Alduin was unaware of this, and even if he had, he wouldn't have cared.

He has something more important to do right now—find a territory that truly belongs to him.

Back in the Crimson Mountains, Alduin only released a slight wisp of his dragon might, which made the already timid kobolds even more awe-inspiring, and they mined the magic crystals much faster.

As for Xiong San, once he finds a suitable territory, he will need to rely on a large amount of magic crystal ore to trade and build his nest.

Therefore, Xiong San is still of great use now.

Moreover, this giant bear is indeed quite skilled at mining. Unlike those kobold miners who only know how to dig with brute force, he can be considered a rare high-level miner.

Most importantly, with this giant bear around, their mine is much safer, and there are far fewer invading monsters.

After flying deep into the Crimson Mountains and unleashing his dragon's might to suppress the other magical beasts, Alduin finally departed, satisfied.

A year has passed in the blink of an eye.

For a dragon, such a period of time is but a fleeting moment.

During this time, Auduin searched for many places before finally choosing a swamp.

After carefully confirming that there were no seventh-tier magical beasts or legendary beings in the area, he then designated this place as his territory.

However, we need to deal with the trouble here first.

Auduin narrowed his vertical pupils slightly, casting his gaze into the depths of the swamp.

The land is inhabited by the Shadowscale Lizard Clan, a group of fierce lizardmen.

Their leader was a sixth-tier lizardman.

The Shadowscale Lizard clan also possesses a very faint trace of Shadow Dragon blood, making them, in a sense, half a distant relative of Alduin.

This is why Alduin subdued the lizardmen with almost no effort.

The head of the sixth-tier lizardman was pressed tightly into the mud, his sharp claws embedded in the ground, his eyes filled with only fear and awe, and even his breathing was barely audible.

The rest of the tribesmen lay prostrate in the mud, their bone spears askew, their scales trembling slightly from excessive trembling, as if they had been stripped of even the strength to stand up.

Seeing the lizardmen kneeling and trembling before him, a faint hint of disdain flashed in his eyes.

These Shadowscale Lizards, with their diluted Shadow Dragon bloodline, were so powerful that he didn't even need to unleash his Dragon Might to make them submit to him, leaving them without the slightest courage to resist.

But that's just right, it saves him from wasting unnecessary time.

After completely subduing the lizardmen and giving them brief instructions on patrol and guard duties, Alduin began to build his own dragon nest.

As a hybrid offspring of the Shadow Dragon and the Black Dragon, he naturally has extremely high requirements for the location of the dragon's nest.

First, you need water.

Saltwater is the worst, freshwater is next, and acidic water is the best choice.

However, Alduin can use his acidic breath to modify water sources. Although it requires a lot of magic power, magic power is the last thing Alduin has to worry about, given his stable supply of magic crystals.

With the dampness problem solved, the next issue is darkness.

For Alduin, who has the blood of the Shadow Dragon, bright light only makes him uncomfortable, while a dark, shadowy environment is where he thrives.

After some investigation, he finally chose a hidden underground cave as his hideout.

This cave is hidden beneath the roots of a giant tree deep within the swamp. Its entrance is concealed by thick layers of decaying leaves and miasma, so ordinary magical beasts dare not even approach it.

The cave is perpetually dark and damp, a place favored by both the Shadow Dragon and the Black Dragon.

A perfect place to live.

Alduin's deep golden dragon eyes revealed a satisfied expression.

All we need to do is have those lizardmen come and clean it up, and this place can be used as a sleeping spot and a place to store treasures.

Although Alduin has now devoured many spatial alchemical items, his stomach is large enough to hold more than enough treasures.

However, while it's not a problem to keep useless gold coins and gems in your stomach, they still take up some space.

These gems and gold coins are perfect for decorating a dragon's nest, and they also make the dragon happy.

Afterwards, Auduin immediately ordered the lizardmen to thoroughly clean the cave.

Deep within the cave lies a massive underground river that runs through the entire swamp.

This is a precious freshwater resource, and Auduin did not rashly use acid to infect it.

However, there happened to be a huge lake in the middle of the swamp, and Auduin immediately decided to turn it into a pool of strong acid.

Firstly, it can be used for territorial defense; anyone who dares to trespass will be corroded until their bones are gone.

Secondly, it also allows him to temper his body and cast shadow and acid magic, making it the perfect tool.

Of course, all of this will require a huge amount of time and effort, and it is still just a concept at the moment.

However, he wasn't in a hurry.

One must eat one bite at a time, walk one step at a time, and build one's territory cannot be rushed.

The few lizardmen, Shadowscale Lizards alone, were exhausted by patrolling, guarding, carrying, building, and so on. They were far from enough to support his planning for the entire swamp territory.

As Auduin thought this, his vertical pupils flickered slightly.

Perhaps... we could enslave a group of kobolds?

These creatures reproduce quickly, are numerous, timid, and greedy, making them perfect for the most strenuous work—mining ores, transporting treasures, clearing dragon nests, and reinforcing fortifications.

Most importantly, they are not picky about their living environment. Even if Auduin transforms it into a strong acid swamp, they can still live well without any care.

Having made up his mind, Auduin's eyes flashed, and he silently kept the matter in mind.

Three months later, Alduin nodded in satisfaction as he watched the kobolds digging in front of him.

During those three months, he took a trip to the neighboring forest. There were quite a few kobold tribes there, and he randomly picked a group of strong and clever ones, subdued the tribe, and brought them all back to the swamp.

Now, the lizardmen patrol and guard the area, while the kobolds toil away, and the entire territory finally appears orderly.

Not only that, he also completely transformed the lake in the center of the swamp into a huge acid pool.

At this moment, these kobolds are frantically digging underground channels according to his orders, diverting the corrosive acid from the core lake to the edge of the entire territory, turning it into a natural defensive barrier against the corrosive acid.

Alduin's eyes flashed as he looked at the well-ordered territory.

Once the territory is more firmly established, we can no longer rely solely on these kobolds and lizardmen doing odd jobs.

It's time to build a group of elite soldiers who truly belong to him and obey only his orders.

What he wanted were elite troops who could stand up to human mechs in a direct confrontation, were absolutely loyal, and had top-notch combat capabilities. Each of them could stand alone and obey him from the depths of their souls.

For example, the alchemical golem.

They possess a large quantity of magic crystals and can obtain some common materials from the Empire, but they will not sell rare materials to magical beasts.

Alduin immediately made up his mind to go to the labyrinth whose location was recorded in the red dragon's treasure.

The copper dragon loves living in the labyrinth and enjoys spreading news of the labyrinth to amuse others.

The copper dragons capable of building nests are at least sixth-tier youth dragons.

Sixth-tier youth dragons are experts at handling stones, and their treasures may contain some valuable items, including the blueprints and materials for alchemical golems.