Morgan had always remained cautious, wary of being counterattacked by it. With the suppressive power of the dragon flute in his hand, he could, with just a thought, forcibly send the giant dragon into the contract space to slumber. For now, this wild and unruly gold dragon was helpless against Morgan. Even when sleeping beside Morgan, this kid was still extremely vigilant, maintaining a high level of alertness.

If he couldn’t succeed in one strike, it was very likely that Morgan would rather give up the dragon flute and his identity as a dragon rider, and forcibly seal it into the dragon flute forever—a fate almost no different from death. This kind of mutually destructive outcome was exactly what Gold Coin did not want to see.

Since the establishment of the ancient alliance, there had been no shortage of dragon riders killed by their own dragons. Some riders, after signing a contract with a gold dragon, were so frightened that they threw away their dragon flutes and let the dragons go free, becoming dragon riders without dragons.

The power and danger of gold dragons were both awe-inspiring and terrifying, but not everyone could choose them. Soul resonance was the key to a successful contract.

So-called contract symbiosis was fundamentally nonexistent. The dragon race was not so kind as to let their people share their long lives with the short-lived humans. It was merely a combat cooperation contract—if either party died, the contract was terminated. There would never be a case where both died together.

The rare, all-out war between the Texi Empire and the Silan Empire over the past century, including the Hailar campaign that had already claimed nearly 1.6 million lives from both sides, had produced countless fleeting heroes.

Yet the cause of the war was utterly laughable, hardly worth mentioning.

It all started with a dispute over half a Gold Coin between an attendant in the Texi Empire’s envoy to the Silan Empire and a palace eunuch of the Silan Empire. With a group of low-ranking individuals fanning the flames and forming factions, the conflict escalated, eventually dragging in higher-ranking figures, until it became a matter of national dignity and interest.

With just a spark, the two countries, who had been feigning friendship and talking about peaceful development, simultaneously tore off their masks of hypocrisy and erupted into a bloody national war. In the end, both sides staked their national strength in a decisive battle around the central Hailar mountain range. The five-year war was jokingly called the “Half-Gold Coin War” by historians. Even today, it remains unresolved, having drained both nations’ resources, leaving their kings helpless—knowing their strength was depleted, yet unable to back down.

Sss...

In the distance, a blazing white meteor streaked across the sky, trailing a long tail of flame and a thunderous sonic boom. Like a living thing, it soared above the icy peaks. The snow-capped summit seemed to be doused with a huge bucket of boiling water; the thick, ancient ice instantly melted into scalding water that scattered in all directions. Several waterfalls appeared out of nowhere atop the mountain, and for a moment, great billows of white mist shrouded the entire peak. Waves of heat rolled out, as if the mountain had donned a white cap.

“Arthur! Are you trying to roast me?” Smelling the pungent scent of sulfur in the air, the man in black armor spun around. He saw the white mist covering the peak suddenly scatter, and a massive crimson fireball, carrying an overwhelming heat wave, came hurtling toward him, as if it would turn him into roast chicken in an instant.

“Morgan! Looks like I still can’t compare to big brother Goddard. He’s the best at giving people a fright!” Amid hearty laughter, the enormous fireball burst into a shower of sparks, revealing a dragon and a man, who landed steadily in front of the man in black armor.

As soon as they landed, the ground beneath the giant dragon’s claws erupted in hissing white smoke. In an instant, the red-and-white flames clinging to the dragon’s claws seemed about to melt the rocks, dried by the melted snow, into molten lava.

“Haha, Arthur, you and Michael make a fire dragon rider pair—so flashy and conspicuous. How could you compare to big brother Goddard’s shadow dragon’s innate stealth skill?” Morgan lifted off his helmet with both hands, revealing an expression that was both exasperated and amused. Black eyes, short black hair, and the black-and-gold intertwined gold dragon beside him, feigning a nap, made a perfect match.

Arthur, clad in fiery red heavy armor matching his own dragon, stood a full head taller than Morgan. In the training camp, Arthur was one of Morgan’s few close friends. He was born into an ordinary rural family and had a younger sister. Compared to Morgan, Arthur’s upbringing was much happier.

“Hmph!” The gold dragon Gold Coin disdainfully swept its tail. A huge boulder, revealed after the snow melted, was smashed to pieces like tofu. In its eyes, the little fire dragon before it, nearly a hundred years younger, could be sliced to bits with a single claw. What could fire breath do to it? It had devoured liquid magic iridium and, being a gold dragon, could naturally control gold elements. Even without any magical power, to completely melt it would be nonsense—unless the opponent’s flames evolved to the level of the legendary Extreme Skyfire or higher, there was nothing they could do to it.

Section 3: The Self-Deceiving Battle Technique