The Corruption Dragon God: Lust System Chapter 474 - Get ready to hide

"Ugh... damn it, this will be deducted from your pay!" the old man shouted, directed his fury at Lucas.

The young man simply averted his gaze. Although his father had compelled him to take this job, his inheritance remained intact. He didn't give a damn about the old man's pathetic wages.

Ignoring the old man's wrathful stare, he returned to his dragon. The beast was currently eyeing Qingyi with a mixture of distrust and disdain.

"Like mount, like rider," Qingyi muttered, shaking his head before turning his attention back to the elder.

"I am a traveler and wish to purchase a ticket to the capital, DragonPeak," Qingyi stated. He watched as the old man’s expression underwent an instant transformation.

The irritability vanished, replaced by a wide, beaming grin.

"Oh... perfect, dear customer! Follow me, come! We have a carriage about to leave! Hehehe."

The old man gripped Qingyi’s arm, ushering him into a modest office. Inside, Qingyi settled the payment, signed the necessary paperwork, and waited.

He was capable of traveling solitary.

Given his speed and his mastery over space and darkness, he likely would have reached the capital without a scratch. Bypassing their defensive and detection formations wouldn't have been a significant challenge either.

Nevertheless, he chose the conventional path, wanting to spend time learning the secrets of this land.

After all, even Aeryn had never set foot here.

Everything the elven beauty knew of these people was derived from ancient texts—records that invariably painted them as betrayers of the elven race and were clearly steeped in political propaganda.

Sapphire held a similar perspective; her people harbored a deep-seated hatred for the Grand Duchy of Vaeldrinn.

'I just hope they're not all assholes like this guy...' Qingyi thought with a wry smile, feeling Lucas’s intense glare burning into his back.

What had he done to earn the enmity of such a pathetic creature?

Qingyi continued to pay him no mind until his fellow travelers finally appeared.

The group consisted of men whose attire and gear marked them as miners. Their faces were etched with exhaustion, and they briefly met Lucas’s eyes before quickly looking down at the ground.

If not for the incredibly cheap fare, nobody would ever choose this old man’s escort service—not while Lucas was around.

They had previously witnessed one of their comrades being slaughtered and eaten by that cursed beast.

"All right, get in the carriage! Let's start the journey as soon as possible, I want you to get there before the rise of the RedDeath!" the old man commanded, slapping the driver on the back.

To be honest, calling the vehicle a carriage was generous. It was little more than a basic freight wagon draped with ragged cloth for a roof.

Without sparing a glance for Qingyi or the miners huddled in the wagon, Lucas ascended into the sky, flying off atop his beast.

"What is the RedDeath?" Qingyi inquired, taking a seat among the miners. They seemed to relax the moment Lucas vanished from sight.

"Oh... you're a foreigner, right?" one miner asked, noting Qingyi’s distinct features and exotic attire.

He wore black robes embellished with intricate golden flying serpents.

It was obvious Qingyi was a nobleman of great wealth. The miner wondered what such a person was doing among the lowest of the low.

"Yes, I come from a distant land," Qingyi answered, prompting nods of understanding from the group.

"RedDeath is the Patriarch's dragon. He recently grew to over eighty meters tall, and the Patriarch intends to feed Karlan's heart to him. They say that by doing this, he might even reach the power of Khaedryss!"

The miner’s eyes sparkled as he spoke, imagining the legendary beast.

For tens of thousands of years—countless mortal lifetimes—they had been under the rule of the draconic elves.

Consequently, the humans of this realm viewed those beings as their rightful masters and, more importantly, as the gods of the firmament.

"Hm..." Qingyi rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Aeryn had mentioned a dragon named Karlan, one of the two ancestors who helped establish the draconic elves.

Karlan, the female, had perished long ago, while the fate of the male ancestor remained a mystery.

Rumors suggested he had died millennia ago, while others claimed he had gone into seclusion following the loss of his mate.

But such details meant little to the commoners. Khaedryss had not been seen in public for many decades.

To the average citizen, the emergence of another beast of her caliber was a divine blessing for the Grand Duchy of Vaeldrinn.

Shaking off these thoughts, Qingyi focused on the trek ahead.

According to the miners, reaching the capital would take a few weeks, while the RedDeath’s ascension was scheduled for a month or two from now.

'Hmm... would it be too greedy to try to take that from them too?' Qingyi mused.

The RedDeath required a lengthy, intricate ritual to consume Karlan's heart, but Khaedryss faced no such restrictions.

She could simply devour it and claim its power instantly.

She was already potent enough to slay an Immortal Emperor, and Qingyi was certain: with just a bit more Cultivation and a few high-quality corpses, Khaedryss would return to the zenith of her power.

Hours slipped by unnoticed as Qingyi remained lost in thought.

The group eventually entered a peculiar forest.

The trees were vast and identical, towering over fifty meters. Their branches only sprouted at the very top.

The trunks were perfectly smooth and white, growing so close together that Qingyi’s vision was limited to a few dozen meters unless he activated his draconic eyes.

Qingyi prepared to ask the miners about the woods, but he suddenly went still.

His instincts flared with a sharp warning, and his hand instinctively moved to the grip of the Heaven-Defying Thunder Sword.

Looking up, he noticed Lucas's dragon had also grown restless.

They were being hunted.

Heavy thuds resonated in the distance. Dozens... no, hundreds of them.

Whatever was closing in was massive. And based on the thick murderous intent Qingyi detected, the creatures were starving.

"Oh, what are you doing, young man?" one of the miners asked.

Being a mere mortal, he lacked the sensory perception of Qingyi or Lucas and was startled when the handsome youth abruptly stood up.

"Get ready to hide," Qingyi growled, the Heaven-Defying Thunder Sword singing as it slid from its scabbard.