Reiko could not believe it, she had succeeded, her beloved forest anaconda, Mori no Kiyohime, had transformed into a true dragon, but not just a simple eastern green dragon, she had gone beyond and had become a forest eastern dragon, which was also a variant!
Reiko did not want to admit it, but she did not have much faith in Feicui Long's words, so it took her a lot of effort to believe him, she had not expected to be so surprised and to obtain something she had always wanted to do but could not.
In that state, full of happiness, Reiko opened her arms wide, to which the dragon who was looking at her in the air reacted, she was about to move but realized she was still too big, so she had to use size reduction again, soon she reduced her size even more to about 7 meters, with that she finally moved to where Reiko was, placing her head in Reiko's embrace, although her memories as an anaconda were blurry due to the increase in intellect from evolving into a dragon, she could still remember the moments she had spent with her master.
It was a rather beautiful scene to witness, after all, the two of them had been together for a long time, keeping each other company, forming a deep bond between master and contracted creature, this was because, although the tradition of her homeland was to give a "contracted creature" to newborns, it was not exactly a direct gift, but rather the opportunity to enter a safe area with many young creatures of different species, which had complete freedom to choose their masters based on their affinity.
Reiko still remembered when she was left in that area, a little girl alone, and was told she had to find the creature with which she had a connection, while all the ones she saw ran away from her, this little snake not only did not run away but approached her of its own free will, at that time it was a very cute and beautiful snake and she was happy to have been chosen, that is why when her snake could not advance despite all the resources invested in her, it hurt so much that her beloved Kiyohime could no longer accompany her in battles, because Reiko was already in the astral sovereign realm and her beasts were in that realm, her Kiyohime, a mere earthly palace realm, would be annihilated just by the combat waves...
Now seeing her like this, a magnificent dragon, a lady of beasts, the strongest race of all, made her feel happy and Kiyohime felt the same, before she could not think very well, complex terms were difficult for her, even so, she struggled to improve, but with her limited reasoning, which was barely superior to common animals, it was impossible to understand, now that her brain had expanded, she understood everything, all the effort her master had put into her, her master might not be her biological mother, but to her, she was, she was her mother, her best friend.
...
While this beautiful reunion was taking place, the group of temple members approached Feicui Long. The woman in the center, who stood out among the others, spoke to him and said: "Young man, I wanted to ask you if you could..."
She was interrupted by Feicui Long, who raised his hand, signaling her to stop, after which he said: "I know what you want to say, High Priestess of the temple, but the rules of the Emerald Dragon God are clear, you cannot obtain it through an easy path, you must be able to acquire it by yourselves."
The High Priestess barely looked at him and said: "Young lord, I know the rules of the Emerald Dragon God, but the situation of the temple, of this and the others, is not exactly the best. We may have many believers, but we have largely lost the connection with the temples outside this system, losing access to most of the techniques and secrets, among other things, of the Emerald Dragon God. If you could just give us the Dragon's Rebirth Chant, it would help us a lot. You, as a believer, I know you can understand me..."
Feicui Long then understood why their temple looked so lonely. The main god worshiped in the Habsburg Empire might be the God of the Victorious Flame, but the temple of the Supreme Goddess of Life was overflowing with believers. He had not seen the one of the Supreme Goddess of Mystical Energies, but it was certain to be the same. So why was his like this? The fact that they had lost the ability to use most of the secrets, techniques, chants, and other things made them far less attractive in areas that already had strong competition.
But even so, Feicui Long did not want to break his rules. Throughout his life, he had maintained his temple with the best of the best, the strongest and most capable, and he had only achieved that by promoting great independence among his worshipers and giving them only slight assistance. So he said: "Alright, although I am not a believer of the Emerald Dragon God, I am not so cruel as to watch your temple suffer."
Feicui Long reached into the spatial pouch he had been given by the UIDNCGM and took out ten large scrolls and an artifact pen, which he had filled with beast blood. He wrote several things, and when he finally finished, he first looked at the priestess who had guided them here and gave her one, saying: "This is for you, as a token of gratitude. No one else will be able to read it, only you. However, you will have to decipher it yourself. Whether you succeed or not depends entirely on you. With what you obtain from this, perhaps you can change your destiny, or perhaps not. As I said, it depends entirely on you."
Feicui Long handed another to the High Priestess, "This scroll contains incomplete versions of several chants and a special technique. Take it as a gift for the temple."
Then Feicui Long moved near the statue, placing the scrolls at certain distances, some very close, others on the statue's platform, until only four remained. Three of those he placed beneath the statue where he had sat before, and the last one he placed in the statue's mouth.
He then looked at the High Priestess and said, "In these seven scrolls, you will find the second and third parts of those incomplete chants, as well as various techniques, inscriptions and formations, alchemical preparation recipes, artifact blueprints, and the technique to create them, among other things. You will only be able to take them if you are capable of withstanding the power emanating from the statue. You may attempt as many times as you wish, and if you manage to retrieve the scrolls, especially those beneath the statue, you will be able to cultivate in those places, including the area under the statue. This will increase your cultivation speed and can even strengthen your bodies, constitutions, and bloodlines, among other benefits. However, never attempt to do so from the back or head, unless you wish to die from the power emanating from the statue."
He then added, "I almost forgot. The one in the mouth can only be taken by the draconic paladin who left a while ago. When she returns, tell her this gift was left for her and that I want to see her. She will know where to find me."
Feicui Long was so sure of all this because he had used his restored connection with his will to modify the influence it exerted on this particular statue. He wanted them to prove themselves in order to obtain it.
The priestess who had received a scroll, and who was now being looked at with some envy, respectfully asked, "But young lord, how will we know if she will return? She is a wandering paladin and only dedicates herself to hunting the temple's enemies."
Feicui Long looked at her and replied, "That is not something you need to worry about. Time and destiny work in mysterious ways. I am sure she will return."
Feicui Long looked at the priestess and the High Priestess and asked, "By the way, what are your names?"
The priestess lowered her head and answered, "I am Meryl Jackson, young lord."
The High Priestess spoke next, "I am Iridia Snowring, young lord."
Surprisingly, a third voice was heard. A young paladin who had just entered spoke without understanding what was happening, "I am Emma Stein, pleased to meet you, young lord."
Everyone looked at her in surprise and confusion. One of the few people who knew her, since she was new, grabbed her hand and prepared to apologize on her behalf. But Feicui Long simply laughed and said, "It's nothing, it's nothing. So, Emma Stein? A beautiful name. Perhaps time has brought us together here to meet."
Then Feicui Long realized something and asked the High Priestess, "Hey, why are all the members of this temple women? I know the temple of the Emerald Dragon God has always had a predominantly female presence, but not having a single man? It's not like the temple of the Goddess of Life, which only accepts female members."
The High Priestess told him something that made him smile bitterly, "Well, actually, it's not just this temple. The male members of the temple of the Emerald Dragon God of Space and Time have been decreasing ever since we lost connection with the other temples. Currently, almost all temples have exclusively female members, if not entirely. Perhaps there are a few unknown ones out there, or maybe in the three Supreme-rank forces, but in the other temples, I have never met a man who wanted to join."
Feicui Long felt a bit sad that his temple was practically turning into an all-female order without him intending it. But he had one last question for the High Priestess, "By any chance, do you know where the main temple of the Emerald Dragon God is?"
The High Priestess responded politely, "It is at the peak of the Three Forces. The three Supreme-rank forces divided it among themselves, and it serves as the main way to determine where each of their borders begin. The problem is that entering there is very difficult. Too many pilgrims and believers travel to the temple, and it is also heavily guarded. So if you want to go there, you must be careful and very well prepared, young lord."
Feicui Long simply sighed inwardly and said, "Thank you very much, High Priestess. That would be all. Thank you again for letting us use your temple. We must leave now. Perhaps we will meet again in the future if time and destiny so desire."
…
Feicui Long left, accompanied by Reiko. As he was reaching the stairs, a new vision suddenly appeared before him. He saw himself looking at a youthful-looking woman. The woman said to him, "Master, what will happen after this war? After the invaders are destroyed, will everything return to how it was before?"
He looked at her and said, "Of course, Mariane. You don't need to worry. Just focus on the battle and leave the rest to your master."
Mariane then calmed down, showing the great trust she had in her master. But Feicui Long whispered to himself after she left, "I'm sorry, Mariane. I've never lied to you, but sometimes the truth is too cruel. Maybe in another life, everything can return to normal. This war is already decided, as is my life."
Feicui Long soon came out of the vision, feeling sad. This was one of his memories. It seemed that his will was still imbued with his thoughts and recollections. This vision was yet another sign of the recovered link between him and his will. However, this memory made him worry about something else, a foreboding of something that should not happen, especially not now. Hopefully, his premonition was wrong this time.
Reiko, who saw how Feicui Long suddenly froze and looked sad in the middle of their conversation, became concerned and asked, "Hey, are you okay, Feicui Long?"
Feicui Long looked at her, nodded, and said, "It's nothing. We can continue."
Reiko didn't want to accept that, but she had no other choice.
…
On the way back, Reiko, who had been holding back her curiosity all this time, finally let it go and began asking several questions. The first one was, "What were those strange words you said in the temple?"
Feicui Long did not answer her question directly but instead said, "While the Absolute Language is the language decided in the treaty and recorded in the law of the Absolute Heaven, and therefore all living beings are born with the knowledge of how to use it, that does not mean there are no other languages. Many languages as ancient as the Absolute Language still exist. Others are born because the energy and laws of a world, system, or universe, among other things, are sealed, causing the Absolute Language, despite being known, to remain dormant in them, creating new languages. Moreover, cultivators or universes may decide to create another language in addition to using the Absolute Language."
Reiko then asked again, "Then what language is that?"
Feicui Long calmly replied, "There are things better left unknown, especially when one does not have the strength to know them. I do not want to put you in danger, so for now, I will not tell you."
A little disappointed, Reiko simply changed the question, "I have a doubt. You said that my Kiyohime's species is a Green Forest Dragon and that its variant was a Jade Forest Green Dragon, but there is also the Jade Forest Green Dragon as a subspecies of the Jade Forest Dragon. What differences are there between them that it is not even considered a different species from the Forest Dragon?"
Feicui Long made a confused expression. Wasn't Reiko a tamer? Why was she asking such a basic question? Feicui Long, with a concerned look, asked in return, "Reiko, don't take this the wrong way, but you're a tamer. How do you not know something so basic? Earlier, I was surprised that you hadn't learned an appraisal skill, something essential for a tamer, summoner, necromancer, or golem or puppet creator, the four paths of the guilds union you are a member of. But not knowing basic concepts like these makes me worry about your future. Who taught you so poorly?"
Reiko, a little embarrassed, said, "My father didn't teach me this. As for the appraisal skill, I just didn't consider it very useful, and learning a skill is very difficult, so I hadn't learned it yet. But I will learn it if you accompany me to the classes…"
This time, Amanitore looked at her and felt pity for the lord. He was being thrown under the carriage without even doing anything wrong, as he had taught Reiko everything correctly and patiently. It was just that Reiko was very impatient and had a hard time paying attention.
Feicui Long just sighed and said, "Fine, I will accompany you. Now, regarding your question, it is a somewhat complex topic, but to understand it, we first need to understand the differences between mutation and variant, and what a species and a subspecies are. Let's start with the latter. A species is a group of individuals or a population of individuals that share a genotype, physical traits, capabilities, and abilities, while a subspecies is a smaller group of those individuals that share many of the already mentioned characteristics but may vary in some aspects compared to other subspecies. For example, your fox, the original and common species from which all others descend, is good at attacking individually, but this subspecies changes its specialization and other traits. The same can be seen with the Forest Dragon, which can be either Eastern or Western, but also green, brown, emerald, jade, etc."
Reiko opened her eyes slightly, remembering that day, though she ended up blushing from remembering too much and simply shook her head to keep paying attention.
Feicui Long raised a hand with one finger lifted and said, "With mutations and variants, we have a different case. Starting with variants, they retain the same species and subspecies as a base, only varying in something that grants them traits or abilities from higher-level species in some cases, while in others, it simply gives them extra traits, capabilities, or abilities. This clarification is important because, by retaining the same species, they keep all the abilities, traits, characteristics, and so on of that species, plus the added ones. Meanwhile, a subspecies or a higher-level species, or a species of greater rarity, however you prefer to call it, does not possess all those extra things."
Feicui Long continued, "There are also other differences. If you look carefully, you will see that I said traits or abilities. This means that while variants can grant abilities, capabilities, and other things to an individual, things that are normally exclusive to a species of greater rarity, they do not provide all the abilities that an individual of that other species would have. So it is only a partial enhancement. Moreover, not all variations are positive. While those abilities may be useful for that higher-rarity species, that species might specialize in something completely different and opposite. Therefore, it could actually reduce an individual's capabilities instead of enhancing them. Finally, variations can be obtained in different ways, being born with them, which is the most common, breaking through a realm, consuming treasures, medicines, inscriptions, bloodlines, and other things, or being in specific locations or events, such as celestial phenomena that temporarily alter or modify laws or energies. They can also come from blessings or gifts, among many other means."
Reiko then connected part of what Feicui Long had said with what he had told her that day in her room, especially the part about her Kiyohime being blessed by the Emerald Dragon God.
Feicui Long resumed the explanation, saying, "On the other hand, mutations change a specific part and can occur at any stage of a creature or living being, whether at birth, during a cultivation breakthrough, in adulthood, or by consuming a treasure, medicine, inscription, etc., with the same probability in all cases. These modify specific parts or small areas of a living being, granting new capabilities or abilities. But just like variations, not all are positive. The difference between the two is that variations are more general and larger."
Feicui Long then cleared his throat and concluded the explanation, "Finally, if an individual has more than one variation or mutation, depending on the amount, it can give rise to a new species due to the significant differences. Since I didn't mention it before, sometimes the abilities, traits, or capabilities from a variation or mutation can replace those of the original species. With all this said and explained, you can now see why Kiyohime, despite having a species name similar to another different species, is not the same, as she only possesses the abilities of a Jade Forest Dragon partially."
Reiko, now understanding everything, looked at him doubtfully and said, "Alright, I understand all that, but what do you mean by saying the name is very similar? Wouldn't both the species and the variant be called the same? That is, Green Jade Forest Dragon."
Feicui Long replied, "It may seem that way, but they are actually not the same. Of course, calling it that is correct, but if you were to use an evaluation ability, a scroll, or an artifact, you would realize that its name would appear as 'species name' followed by a separator with the variant, while a true species would not have that separator. This indicates the real name of a species."
Reiko finally satisfied her curiosity and walked away, holding onto Feicui Long's arm, much happier than before.
…
It wouldn't take long for the news that a beast had been reborn as a true dragon in the Emerald Dragon God of Space and Time Temple to spread, drawing entire crowds eager to visit the temple for the first time.
But perhaps the most surprised were those from the Union of Summoners, Tamers, Necromancers, and Golem and Puppet Creators, who soon heard about the person who had managed to evolve their beast into a dragon. This sparked opposite reactions, some erupted with joy, while others remained silent and concerned, especially the first three groups, who gathered with darkened expressions. The difference between a true dragon and a common beast of the same level in the Spiritual Palace was abysmal.
After all, the fact that dragons are considered the most powerful race of all was not mere coincidence or propaganda, it was an undeniable truth accepted by all races. Even races of the same level were forced to acknowledge this fact, no matter how high their pride was. A dragon alone could defeat many beasts of the same level, which, although they didn't want to admit it, made the three groups fear that Reiko might seek revenge, as they would inevitably have to face her if they wanted to keep their place at the top.