Evolving by devouring from a young dragon

"Go back and tell the boss," Blue said, turning and walking toward the swamp. "The undead in the south have been cleared away, but the fog is still there, and it might come back in a few days. Tell the kobolds to dig the trenches a little deeper."

Grimm nodded quickly.

"Yes, I understand!"

Rift Fang stood up from beside the ghoul's corpse, sheathed his dagger, glanced at the broken bones and rotting flesh scattered on the ground, then at Blue's departing figure, and remained silent for a moment.

Then he mounted the winged beast and followed with his four subordinates.

Grimm stood at the mine entrance, watching their figures disappear into the swamp mist, and remained there for a long time.

Then he grinned, revealing a set of yellowed teeth, and turned to the goblins behind him, yelling, "Did you all hear that? Get to work! Double the depth of the trench! Don't let those skeletons crawl out again!"

When the news reached Dragon's Nest, Alduin was resting on a pile of treasure.

After listening to the report from the goblin sent by Grim, he didn't say anything, but just nodded slightly. The fire spirit chick poked its head out from between his dragon horns and chirped.

"Those low-level undead should have arisen naturally," Alduin said in a low voice, pressing the fledgling back down. "That guy wouldn't be stupid enough to use such a boring trick."

The fire spirit chick tilted its head and shrank back.

A few days later, Alduin immediately began to deploy defenses in his territory, giving the undead no chance to take advantage.

He first flew to the border area between the southern mines and the Bone Hills, spewing out balls of embers from his mouth, branding the ground with fiery warning runes. The runes were hidden beneath the soil, and once they were contaminated with the aura of the dead, they would instantly ignite into flames, simultaneously sending an alarm to the dragon's nest.

He then ordered Grimm to lead the goblins to fill the deep trenches dug around the mine with dried moss and kindling, and then ignite them with fire runes to build a lasting wall of fire to prevent the undead from getting close.

In response to the leakage of necromantic energy from the underground fissures, Alduin infused several crystals with his own magic, allowing goblins to bury them around the fissures and form a simple magical barrier to suppress the outflow of necromantic energy.

He also ordered the kobolds to patrol outside the defensive line and report immediately if they found anything unusual. Bru was stationed inside the fire wall, and the fire runes on his stone body were constantly running, ready to suppress any low-level undead that slipped through the net.

One must show no mercy to the undead.

After doing all this, Auduin pondered to himself.

He didn't believe a lich would be foolish enough to use sheer numbers against a dragon, which is why he suspected those low-level undead were naturally generated.

However, the speed was indeed too fast, and the necromantic energy here was becoming increasingly concentrated, so Alduin decided to investigate the reason.

The source of the magical fluctuations was the lair of the Salamander King.

He spread his wings and flew away.

As Alduin flew over the empty lava king's old lair and skimmed over the dried-up lava riverbed that still bore traces of heat, his dragon eyes narrowed slightly.

This is one of the oldest lands in the entire territory.

In ancient times, this place was a battlefield where countless monsters fought, with piles of corpses. Later, it was chosen as the lair by the Salamander King and has been scorched by intense heat for many years.

Logically, such land should be teeming with yang energy and free from death energy, but now...

Alduin folded its wings and slowly landed on a high ground covered with black scorch marks.

He looked down at the ground beneath his feet, and with a gentle scratch of his dragon claw, the surface black soil was removed, revealing a layer of grayish-white bone powder and hardened lumps of death energy underneath.

"I see..." Alduin murmured to himself in a low voice.

"This is the boundary between the material plane and the negative energy plane. Now the dimensional rift is getting bigger and bigger, no wonder there are so many undead."

The negative energy plane is eternally empty, devoid of light and heat, cold and lifeless, and is the source of all negative energy magic.

Within this plane, there are also different regions, such as the Shadow Realm, the Gray Wasteland, the Land of the Dead, and so on.

Alduin can conceal his form and travel through the Shadow Realm at will; his Shadow Magic is also a branch of negative energy magic.

The necromantic magic that the undead rely on for survival is also a type of negative energy magic, a branch that leans towards decay and death.

Given the abundance of necromantic power here, it's undoubtedly a leak from the dimensional rift in the Land of the Dead.

Previously, the Salamander King's extreme fire magic, combined with the presence of the lava river, suppressed the magic leakage from the fissures here. However, after its death, this suppression was lost.

This is why the dimensional rifts continue to expand, causing necromantic magic to surge out and accelerating the birth of undead creatures.

Alduin's dragon eyes turned slightly cold as he unleashed his dragon might, probing outwards along the magical pathways of the dimensional rift.

Necromantic power surged like a tide, spreading outwards along the cracks, some flowing towards his bone mounds, while the rest seeped directly into the depths of the Hengduan Mountains.

The Hengduan Mountains surround the subsided basin, so it's normal for them to be affected.

Auduin thought this, but the wariness in his eyes deepened.

Because that's where the lich was previously detected...

Auduin instantly understood.

The lich behind the scenes is definitely related to this dimensional rift, and his ambitions have long been obvious.

He not only wanted to use necromancy to invade the dragon's territory, but also extended his reach to the other side of the Hengduan Mountains, hoping to use the power of the land of the dead to invade both places at the same time and turn them into a paradise for the undead.

"wishful thinking."

Alduin let out a deep dragon roar, and flames suddenly rose around his body.

He slightly opened his dragon mouth, spewing out blazing embers that enveloped the dimensional rift. The intense heat scorched the necromantic magic in the air, purifying the dissipating death energy.

Immediately afterwards, he slashed through the air with his dragon claws, intertwining his fire magic with shadow magic, imprinting layers of double runes on the fissured ground.

Fire runes purify necromantic magic, while shadow runes can prevent the rift from expanding.

After doing all this, Auduin slowly withdrew his dragon might, looked towards the Hengduan Mountains, and a fierce glint flashed in his dragon eyes.

He temporarily took over the mess left behind by the Salamander King.

But this doesn't mean he'll play defensively.

The lich lurking in the shadows, and the precarious dimensional rift, both foreshadow that this undead chaos is far from over.

He flapped his wings and took to the sky, flying towards the dragon's nest, having already made up his mind.

He must quickly improve the territory's combat strength and keep a close eye on this dimensional rift. If the lich dares to show himself, he will make this cowardly undead creature taste the flames of a dragon.

Six months have passed in the blink of an eye.

During this time, Alduin continuously had goblins transport magic crystals to the sealed land to provide magic power for the runes he had carved, thus stabilizing the cracks.

The undead creatures of the Bone Hills were wiped out by the combined efforts of Bru and the orcs, and the rate at which the concentration of necromantic magic increased gradually slowed down.

He himself continued to digest the magical beasts and magic crystals, and his strength steadily increased, reaching the peak of the sixth rank.

However, this is far from enough to break through to the Epic level.

Even though he kept devouring magic crystals and other magical beasts, what he gained was only physical strength; his soul capacity was still insufficient.

To advance further, he would need to sleep constantly, but the lich wouldn't give him that opportunity.

For example, right now.