CHAPTER 607: CHAPTER 351: BOUNTIFUL HARVEST, TIME OF ABUNDANCE (PART 2)

This made the process of Noah’s military expansion exceptionally smooth. Of course, given that Noah had never lowered his ever-stricter selection standards over the years, and with the elite armament of the legion, the speed of the battle group’s expansion was not fast. To this day, each battle group’s quota of three thousand has been only half completed.

In contrast, the growth rate of the Forbidden Army’s members was quite impressive. The first batch of the Forbidden Army personnel came from those whose ancestors had lived for generations in Elisium City, and who themselves had issues requiring transformation, making them of pure lineage.

However, as the transformation technology for the Forbidden Army became mature and the armament began to be standardized, the standards for selecting personnel became even more stringent. What was once a casual selection now turned into an application system.

Only dragon-men with war accomplishments from their ancestors or themselves were qualified to apply. After rigorous selection, they could join the reserves of the Forbidden Army and undergo multiple layers of biological transformation.

Noah gave the Forbidden Army a quota of a thousand. Currently, they are nearing three hundred members. While this sounds incomplete compared to ordinary battle groups, it’s mainly due to the uniqueness of the Forbidden Army.

Each member of the Forbidden Army is an absolute elite selected through countless battles, with a dragon blood concentration comparable to that of half-dragons.

Noah’s initial construction of the Dragon Domain played a decisive role in this. Without the heavily invested half-plane at the start, both the Forbidden Army and battle groups would not be progressing now, even at a turtle’s pace, and their numbers would be less than a tenth of what they are now.

Even so, Noah was still dissatisfied with the expansion speed of his legion because, as many dragon residents speculated, the expansion was not for his safety during the Deep Sleep Period but to maintain territorial order and ensure that the order he established was not challenged.

Noah had no concerns about his safety during the Deep Sleep Period. When he advanced to become a young dragon, his body could autonomously awaken and actively go hunting.

This feature would certainly strengthen as he advanced to a mature dragon. Therefore, anyone who came to provoke him at that time, Noah could not predict their outcome, but it would not be better than the few Elemental Monarchs he swallowed whole.

Time flows silently, taking away the years without a trace. When Noah’s drowsiness during the Deep Sleep Period accumulated to the point that even a dragon ancestor capable of battling demigods couldn’t keep his eyes open, he had reached the venerable age of 240.

In the years when ordinary dragons had already entered the mature dragon stage, Noah was ready to advance to a mature dragon, though the significance was the same: it marked the beginning of the most prosperous period in Noah’s life.

"Longer than I expected. I wonder how long it will take after entering maturity before I become a mature dragon."

Even though he was so drowsy that his eyes were almost closed, before truly falling asleep, Noah could still ponder such an absurd question.

Because, when he opened his eyes again, he would be standing at the pinnacle of the Material Realm, and the twelve age stages of ordinary dragons would likely lose their meaning for him.

He wouldn’t be troubled by the aging and blood energy decline that ordinary dragons need to worry about. Once crossing the mature stage, ordinary dragons’ bodies will gradually age, and physical strength will start to decline.

Due to this, the Colorful Dragon Clan generally begins to learn and master magic power after entering old age to mitigate the decline in combat power brought on by the deterioration of blood energy.

Most dragon species have to face this major obstacle. Only by breaking the thousand-year limit can they advance to become Ancient Dragons. Without completing this life transformation, it would be wise to prepare a dragon tomb.

Failing to break the Ancient Dragon’s limit will certainly lead to a lifespan of less than a thousand years, as most dragon species’ bloodline powers cannot surpass this limit.

Of course, strong dragon species like the Golden Dragon, Silver Dragon, and Red Dragon do not need to be troubled by this issue because they become legends before advancing to become Ancient Dragons. This is also a life transformation, enough to temporarily escape the threat of aging.

However, this issue still exists. Ancient Dragons will still age and die, only their lifespan will be greatly extended compared to ordinary dragons after breaking this limit.

But for ancestor dragons, there is no such issue. Perhaps the creators of the first ancestor dragons forgot to impose a life limit, or the power that created them and gave birth to ancestor dragons inherently included immortality.

Therefore, no ancestor dragon has ever aged or died from life exhaustion. Unless cursed at the divine level, ancestor dragons will only grow stronger with the passage of time.

"Lu Tixiya, after I enter the Deep Sleep Period, if there are military affairs you find difficult to determine, consult my offspring!"

"Yes, Your Highness Noah!"

Upon hearing the response from the Dragon Fairy, Noah completely succumbed to the drowsiness, allowing his consciousness to fall continuously into the boundless darkness.

It seemed like just a moment, or perhaps an eternity, when Noah’s consciousness awoke again, and the swirling nebulas, seemingly unchanged, appeared before his eyes.

Amid the stars, the splendid Golden Tree that grew alongside him also came into view. Compared to its former seedling state, the Golden Tree was now a majestic Divine Wood, with its sprawling network of roots reflecting one grand and magnificent landscape after another.

This Golden Tree seemed like the embodiment of fate; any creature connected to Noah would be reflected within it.

All beings whose destiny lines were disturbed by Noah’s presence appear within, and their every action provides different nutrients to the Golden Tree, producing distinct fruits.

During his long youth, Noah rarely consumed the fruits because single fruits were no longer useful for significantly boosting his power. Therefore, Noah had to accumulate them endlessly, until today, until now.

Among the nebulae, within the crown of the Golden Divine Wood, red clouds spread, purple mist floated, blue light shimmered, and gold rustled. Yet among them, a vortex of dark gas like a black hole, sufficient to overshadow all the fruits, left Noah unconsoled by the bountiful harvest and made him first collapse.

"Why are there still so many?"

Usually, what Noah consumed the most were the Dark Fruits. But as his dominion expanded, not only did other fruits’ production rates increase, but the growth of the Dark Fruits also accelerated, remaining the most produced.

Despite using many methods to suppress it, the effect was quite limited. Nevertheless, Noah never gave up trying, as he did not want to risk the explosive growth in Dark Fruit production following indulgence and his consequent fate.

Though the taste of the Dark Fruits was indescribable, Noah had to admit that it was one of the main reasons he remained willing to focus on the mundane and care for the common people.

Even after awakening, standing at the pinnacle of the secular world, because of the existence of the Dark Fruits, he would certainly pay attention to the impact on his order and his subjects.

Receiving the disgrace of the state considers one the master of the society; receiving the omen of the state considers one the king of the world.

This sentence is a perfect interpretation of the Dark Fruit. Thus, no matter how much Noah disliked these fruits, every transformation, the first he consumed would inevitably be the Dark Fruit.

"Is this trying to force me to become a Holy God?"

Noah extended his Dragon Claw, lightly touching the edge of the black vortex, which immediately collapsed, transforming into endless dark gas that enveloped Noah’s consciousness in the nebula. The originally dignified and majestic Golden Dragon instantly morphed into a Black Dragon, roaring in pain.