After he truly absorbed that power and turned it into his own foundation, his strength rose by a great deal. It wasn't enough for him to obliterate his former self with ease, but the gap was already obvious.
Even against that mutated giant octopus—if the two sides fought to the end—the final victor would be him.
But that presumed the other side couldn't flee during the battle.
Obviously, once it realized it couldn't win, it would never stay and fight. Life outweighed everything.
Therefore, if he wanted to be sure of killing it—to keep it from growing stronger and posing an even greater threat to humanity—he still needed to join forces with Firewing and Chris Frost.
That was inevitable, at least until he possessed the power to crush the mutated giant octopus outright.
Which meant his present strength was still too weak. He refused to be satisfied with the way he was now!
He wanted to be like Brandon White—to possess power that opened an enormous gap between himself and anyone else.
Of course, he understood that he was different from Brandon. It was impossible for him to stand above the sky the way Brandon did, invincible to all challengers. But he didn't need to surpass Brandon. He only wanted to occupy the middle rung of the chasm between Brandon and all others.
If there were a phrase for it, it would be: beneath one man, above all.
Other than Brandon White, he wanted power enough to defeat everything—to erase any danger with ease the moment it appeared.
That was what he sought.
Only with power of that level could he better protect Huaxia in this age.
Brandon White was favored by the planetary will, entrusted with the Authority of Nature.
He who would wear the crown must bear its weight.
From the moment Brandon awakened the Authority of Nature, he was destined to become the observer of Earth's civilization.
He would not lightly involve himself in struggles within that civilization. He had his own work to do—namely, to make Earth's civilization stronger.
Thus Skyler respected Brandon, admired Brandon. If he had gained the Authority of Nature, his focus would never have remained on the planet as a whole; his eyes would still have been fixed only on Huaxia.
But he couldn't swear he would remain a mere soldier forever.
Power that towered over everyone might one day affect his thinking, might drive him to do things his present self would never do, might bring his inner desires to the surface.
He could not shoulder the responsibility that came with the Authority of Nature.
Precisely for that reason, he loved the [Divine Dragon] ability he had awakened. The dragon was Huaxia's totem—it represented his will.
He didn't need to concern himself with Earth, with all living things, with the masses. He needed only to concern himself with Huaxia.
No matter how bad the world became, his mission was simply to guard Huaxia.
With Brandon White standing atop the clouds, no matter how strong Skyler grew, that existence could always keep the latent desires in his heart in check.
The [Divine Dragon] ability had limitless potential. Although the Flame Dragon Armor had caused his ability to shed its skin and become [Flame Dragon], that didn't mean his potential had diminished; if anything, it allowed that potential to be shown more fully.
His cultivation speed grew faster; his affinity for flame grew stronger.
Relying on the amplification of the Flame Dragon Armor, he had confidence in his future.
If that was the case, why shouldn't he push to develop his potential—become stronger—and surpass all those whose strength was roughly equal to his?
If other people's gifts were no worse than his, then he would work harder than they did.
If other people's effort was no less than his, then he would stake more of himself than they did.
Wearing weighted gear and constantly probing the limits of his body, Skyler Quinn's eyes shone with resolve. He would become Huaxia's "god," a god who belonged only to Huaxia—someone at whose mere appearance everyone would feel at ease.
Before long, he would greet all the crises of this era with a more terrifying bearing and far greater strength.
While Skyler trained, a man in military uniform, with a stern face, walked into the training room carrying a silver-white case.
His expression showed no emotion, but excitement and joy were plain in his eyes.
"Skyler, stop training for a second."
"Take a look at the good thing I brought you."
"Hm?"
Hearing Liu Suifeng's voice, Skyler paused, glancing at the case in his hand—sleek with a distinctly technological feel.
He knew the case well—it was one of the products of the Research Institute. He didn't understand the principles behind it; he only knew what it did: it preserved the spiritual energy within items.
In the era of spiritual energy, there were many heavenly materials and earthly treasures. Once picked from the tree, the spiritual energy within them would begin to dissipate. If they weren't properly stored, their medicinal efficacy would suffer. The Research Institute had created this device for that very problem.
At first they had stored such things in jade boxes, but once these cases were invented, everything was stored uniformly in them.
After all, in terms of cost-effectiveness, a single piece of top-grade jade was more expensive than a technological case. Ordinary jade couldn't stop the loss of medicinal effect; only jade of very high quality could, and the price was far too high.
"This is…"
Because the tech case prevented the leakage of medicinal aura, not even a hint of scent escaped. Skyler had no idea what was inside.
But for Liu Suifeng to be this excited, it couldn't be anything ordinary.
"This is flood dragon heart-blood!"
"Strictly speaking, that's just what we're calling it; but it really did match the records—scaled hide, vestigial horns on the head, five-clawed feet."
"Funny thing is, there was a thunderstorm at the time. This creature flew up from some river to the sky and kept coiling through wind and rain, and then it got struck by lightning. It didn't die, but it got blasted half to death."
"Luck wasn't on its side—Nathaniel Gray saw it. Once he confirmed it was wounded, he used his mist ability to grind it down and kill it, and he kept the flood dragon's body in perfect condition."
"Its heart was large, so there ended up being quite a bit of heart-blood. In all, we divided it into four portions—three for you, Chris Frost, and Firewing, and one he kept for himself. The scales and such go to William Mecham, and other than what's set aside for research, the remaining flesh and blood go into stockpile."
Liu Suifeng laughed aloud as he spoke.
How could he not be happy? Whatever that thing was, it definitely wasn't a snake. They had seen plenty of mutated snakes—none of them could fly.
And then there was the lightning strike.
One look and you'd think: tribulation crossing!
If Nathaniel Gray and the others hadn't found it, it might really have succeeded in transcending. Then it would surely have become a grave scourge for the human race.
As it was, every part of its body had been separated and put to perfect use—enough to raise the strength of many people.
"Flood dragon heart-blood…"
Skyler's gaze tightened. From Liu Suifeng's words, it wasn't hard to tell the flood dragon had been undergoing tribulation—and had succeeded. It was just that its condition at the time was too poor, and it happened to encounter a first-sequence powerhouse like Nathaniel Gray, which was why it was slain.
Strictly speaking, this wasn't flood dragon heart-blood at all—it was true dragon blood.
True dragon heart-blood.
Even he couldn't help feeling a surge of excitement at that thought.
"Oh—right. Besides the flood dragon heart-blood, there's one more thing inside."
(End of this chapter)