Chapter 251: Mountain Paradise

Alongside the powerful beasts, several monster species also made their home in the [Dragon’s Den].

First were the [Sapphire Cows] and [Emerald Chickens] that were left behind once Nisha left the royal hunting grounds for the capital.

One time, the dragon siblings checked out the hunting lodge and noticed that the animals were left behind whereas the humans and their oldest sibling left, so they took them back to their den.

Despite the animals having low aura cultivation and not having any mana to make them beasts, they were quite accepted among the dwellers of the surrounding hills.

Used by humans as resources in the first place, the chickens offered the leftover eggs to the truly powerful beasts among the members of the [Dragon’s Den], which extended their protection to them in return.

Left unchecked, the [Emerald Chicken] population shot up and delicate eggs with green hues were spotted all over the grass covering the domain.

As a simple rule of thumb, the deeper the coloring of the egg, the more delicious it was.

On the other hand, the [Sapphire Cows] had less immediate benefits for the beasts and monsters living nearby, making them less popular than the chickens.

Nevertheless, they found their own place among the other residents and took up the role of gardeners and farmers, eating the excess grass and weeds and taking care of the remaining herbs, which resulted in fields of precious herbs growing like grass all over the place.

Given their usefulness, the carnivores abstained from eating them and looked for prey outside of the den’s boundaries.

Little Terra had next to no reaction while she moved from the outer boundary to the center of the area the dragon sibling’s ruled over, with [Emerald Chickens] and [Sapphire Cows] quickly scattering and clearing the way for her.

Even the most outstanding leaders among the two creatures only attained the second to third aura rank, making them the weakest residents, so it was common sense for them to stay out of the earth wyrm’s path.

Aside from the monsters settling in the outer fields, there also existed several more powerful beasts living among the group of hills in the inner circle.

In the middle of the inner circle, the greatest hill was reserved for the dragons, whereas the smaller slopes around it were often fought over by the remaining beasts.

Due to their friendly relations, the [Fairy Queen] and [Harpy Matriarch] each allowed a few members of their tribe to migrate over to the [Dragon’s Den].

Based on cultivation alone, the dragons began to close in on the two powerful beasts, although their experience and age advantage still gave them the upper hand in a fight.

Nonetheless, the potential for further advancement was far higher for the powerful dragon bloodline, as the two beasts would have to break through the shackles of their own bloodline first before they had even the smallest chance to raise their cultivation.

Building a relationship before the dragon siblings truly matured gave them a hope to advance in the future, easily offsetting the investment of a beast subordinate beneath their rule.

Hence, a leader from each race led a group of monsters under them to settle here and improve the combat power of the territory.

Little Terra, Little Breeze and Little Stream had no reason to turn down their goodwill and accepted them as underlings, since the three of them were insufficient to guard the borders of their land at all times and the added firepower guaranteed that no wandering thief ransacked their base.

Apart from the friendly forces, the dragons also attracted a bunch of underlings of their own.

Seen as the pinnacle of their bloodline, dragons faintly shared a connection with lizards and snakes, who sometimes carried a shred of their blood from distant ancestors.

The Wilderness around Leandar stretched far and wide, with many unknown beasts lurking in its depth.

Adventurer groups that ventured into its distant reaches in the search of cultivation resources had to be ready to encounter vastly different species of monsters and beasts, many of them never returning after accidentally trespassing into the territory of a beast king.

With the emergence of a dragon territory, several formidable snake and lizard beasts undertook a long journey and eventually joined the [Dragon’s Den].

Some of the new arrivals had an advantage in cultivation level when they arrived, but without fail they all submitted to one of the three rulers here.

From bloodline suppression alone, it was impossible for them to betray the dragons.

Hence, one of the hills was populated by a camp of snakes under the lead of a [Sunfire Venom Snake] - a beast which spat out a glowing ball of poison reminiscent of a red and orange fireball as means of attack.

Another cave dwelling on the opposite of the inner circle belonged to the lizard clan, under the lead of a [Winged Glass Lizard] - each of its scales was as sharp and beautiful as a piece of coloured gemstones and it dove out of the sky on its prey with vicious fervor.

Because of the difference in heritage, both camps frequently flashed and the leaders in the past were frequently replaced by stronger competitors, yet the current chiefs sat on their position for the longest, making them the strongest of the pack.

The [Sunfire Venom Snake] soaked in the afternoon heat on a stone next to the snake lair and nodded a greeting from its sunny spot.

Normally, the ruler of a domain in the Wilderness might have gotten incensed by the lack of respect from such a simple greeting, but Little Terra knew that it was already a considerable effort from the cold blooded snake and let the lack of other actions simply pass.

All the lizards and snakes under their rule only had a small chance of evolving into a dragonkin in the future with a breakthrough in their cultivation and overcoming strong bloodline shackles, hence they were not part of the true core in the [Dragon’s Den] - the three dragon siblings mostly accepted them as followers because they came out of their own will and sought residence here in exchange for their labor.

Whether the snake protested itself or not had no benefit for Little Terra, who entered the center of the den.

Compared to the hollowed-out hills around them, the dwelling of the dragons diminished everything around the magnificent structure.

Instead of a set of caves dug into the hillside, the main project of the [Gray Dwarves] constantly grew and became more refined.

A stone gate big enough to accommodate the giant beasts, Little Terra entered the design of stone and art.

Carved onto the wings of the gate were four stylized dragon heads, each reminiscent of the four respective elements belonging to the dragon siblings.

Ever since they were completed, the gates towards the heart of the den had never been closed, as no invading force proved strong enough to force them into the defensive, a point of great pride for all the inhabitants.

The great gate symbolized their pride and strong combat force of all monsters and beasts belonging to the [Dragon’s Den].

Similar to the size of the stone gate, the hill itself also had undergone a great transformation.

When the four dragons had first set foot into the region in the past, they picked a group of hills as their base and especially this slope, as a natural spring of water guaranteed easy access for drinking.

The four nearest hills turned into the base for the harpies, fairies, lizards and snakes respectively, while smaller caves were opened by the [Gray Dwarves] for everyone else without a faction.

While these hills mostly looked the same, the heart of the den had all of the earth on the slope dug away, leaving a foundation of stone only.

From the ground up, the first floor inside belonged to Little Stream, who had the dwarves modify the mountain spring into an indoor pool.

Apart from the path upwards, nearly the entirety of the ground floor extended downwards and was submerged in water, giving the water dragon the perfect resting place.

Little Terra herself felt not averse to taking a dip in the water pool, whenever the sun shone bright and harsh to cool down.

Currently, the earth wyrm rumbled down the dry stone path towards the slope upward.

The second floor was her own, situated slightly beyond the water pool and shifted behind Little Stream’s dwelling, effectively going up only half a floor.

Countless metal chunks and rare stone shards formed hills inside the big chamber, all spoils of war that Little Terra dug out of the ground or the underground tunnels leading to the depths unknown.

Most of them had the dull gleam of sharpened metal after the earth dragon ground her scales against the unrefined ore, strengthening her armor at the same time as processing the metal from its unsmelted form.

The rest of the stones and gems torn from the earth radiated their own colours, giving the entire floor a surreal rainbow of all elemental halos floating in the air.

Due to her affinity with the earth element, she felt at ease around the bounties of the underground, often sleeping curled around big piles of metal sharps and sharp stone spikes, hugging them to sleep.

Sadly, Little Terra had no time to stop and sleep after raging through the underground tunnels, and climbed another half floor upwards.

Originally, this was the hill's original height when the dragons found it, but the dirt and gravel on top had been worn away and replaced with an elaborate stone building pieced together from large stone plates dug out from all over the [Dragon’s Den].

Little Terra shaped most of them with earth spells after they were dragged to the core slope and watched as the dwarves used a mix of ash, sand and other crushed stone powder to fix the parts in place.

Compared to the time when Little Flame was still living on the third floor, several major changes have happened since then.

Their leader had mostly preferred to pile on a few furs from powerful enemies that the dragon had personally vanquished and make a resting place out of them, while the majority of the room had been reserved for her shinies.

Ever since Little Flame transformed and began living with the old elf, the floor had been preserved mostly and repurposed as a meeting room for the three other dragon siblings, whereas the [Gray Dwarves] concentrated their most talented stone workers and metal artisans to take care of the most important place inside the whole den.

Rather than a cave inside a hillside slope, the busy dwarves had first removed all the earth and gravel and then requested the earth wyrm to shape the large stockpile of massive stones of sufficient size into big slates suitable for building a magnificent edifice.

Under the cooperation of Little Terra and the busy builders, the third floor was split into two parts and rebuilt from the ground up.

Little Flame’s bed was raised on a big stone platform with an indent in the middle, whereas the furs changed from third rank and lower level to fifth and sixth rank ones, their inherent high quality granting them a luxurious sheen.

To the left and right of the bed, platforms overlapped from the roof down towards the ground, each layer filled with different kinds of treasure.

The dragon siblings originally expected that the sudden appearance of items and shiny treasures would stop after their eldest sibling left and no longer dwelled here, but to their surprise, various golden coins, human weapons and other kinds of items that were unfamiliar to the beasts continued to manifest inside the room, filling the treasure trove on each wall.

Socketed in the stone platform were two unusual items that appeared in such a fashion, big luminescent stones that were called [Night Pearls] according to the [Fairy Queen].

Under their gentle glow, the room resembled a hidden cache of wealth more than a resting place, but Little Flame always had a soft spot for shinies.

Other than the closed bedroom, the front of the third level got separated into an open design with big openings in the stone walls that gave a good view of the surrounding area.

Dipping her tail into a pool of water right next to the wall, Little Stream already waited for her siblings as Little Terra climbed to the third level and rested against the opposite wall, huffing a greeting towards her sister.

The open concept of the room served as a meeting place, since it let the three dragon siblings feel close to their absent eldest sibling and it was convenient for each of them to gather here.

Several powerful treasures and potent herbs were piled in the middle of the room, tribute offered by the different beasts and monsters residing in the [Dragon’s Den].

Whenever neighbouring spheres of influence tried to invade or the residents found a natural resource emerging nearby, part of the spoils of war were submitted to their leaders as a sign of respect.

Hence, the earth dragon hardly cared before as the [Sunfire Venom Snake] did not greet her properly, as the snake leader was among the top contributors when it came to tribute.

Without a steady supply of cultivation resources, it would have been impossible for the dragons to quickly grow and further their cultivation level.

If any suitable wind, earth or water treasures were found, any of the dragon siblings was free to take it for their own training, so they often met up on the third floor and cultivated there.

Above the open hall, the last and fourth level of the stone edifice stood high above the domain governed by the [Dragon’s Den].

Likened to a bowl carved from stone, the nest of Little Breeze differed from the remaining levels in form.

Filled with a layer of soil, several fragrant grasses and herbs made up the floor layer of the bowl and gave it a soft feeling at the same time.

The flying dragon either roamed the Wilderness around their area and identified potential resources they could fight for or played with the two harpies it took as his mates, competing in various difficult flying maneuvers as a form of game.

Little Breeze was the only male dragon in the clutch he was born from, and the weakest in terms of cultivation, mostly because he often played around and did not take cultivating seriously enough.

After having to wait for a while, the air drake noticed that it was time for the meeting and hurried back from afar, quickly ordering his two harpy followers to wait in his nest while he climbed down the stone protrusions from the fourth floor to the meeting hall - there were no stairs leading up to his nest.

The air drake had to carry up an uprooted tree in several tries because of that and only managed to plant it after ruining several similar plants.

After being nurtured by the combined dragon energy soaking the entire edifice, it changed significantly and turned into a [Dragon Fruit Tree], which was the first natural resource entirely native to the [Dragon’s Den].

Only the monsters and beasts that significantly contributed to their sphere of influence were rewarded with the fruits of the tree, which often allowed monsters to grasp mana and turn into beasts, while beasts had an easier time grasping the powers inherent to their bloodline.

Under the mildly annoyed gaze of one sister and a stern scolding glare from the other one, Little Breeze slunk into the meeting hall quietly and took his seat.

It was time for the rulers to determine the future course of the [Dragon’s Den].