Chapter 267 - Demon Cultivation Carrier Bug

"Sister Virginia, at the last meeting, didn’t you tell those Fae leaders that the Foul Giants from the Black Mirror Kingdom might attack us at any moment?" the young Red Copper Dragon with long pointed ears said, having secretly listened in on the military conference in Spring Bud Forest at some point."At the meeting, exaggerating the seriousness of the situation is a common strategy to implement our own strategic thinking. If I hadn’t said that, would those stubborn, conservative Fae be willing to abandon their homelands that they have managed for hundreds, even thousands of years? Would they change their current way of life?"

Gaven patiently explained, "War is never child’s play, especially a war involving the entire nation. The Black Mirror Kingdom needs to face more than just Spring Bud Forest; there is also the Court of Summer. If they launch a full-scale attack, the Summer Court would surely backstab them. Even if a conflict does break out, it’s likely to be a small-scale border skirmish. Planning for a large-scale invasion would take at least a year and a half to prepare. By that time, you might have already completed your growth during the dragon’s sleep."

Not giving Aivensa a chance to make an excuse, Gaven continued, "This winter, I’m going to have a great plan, and if you start your dragon’s sleep now, you might be able to make it in time. If you dawdle and then enter your dragon’s sleep, you might just miss it, so don’t blame me for not telling you in advance."

This was not some ruse to hoodwink the young Red Copper Dragon; it was a genuine plan. All the efforts he had made in Rocklands were in preparation for this—joining Yasan III’s allied Expeditionary Force to counter the invasion of the Tukan Army.

"What great plan?" However, this seemed to have the opposite effect, as Aivensa suddenly perked up.

"It’s enough for you to know that there is a great plan. As for what it is, you don’t need to worry about it. If you have completed your growth by then, you’ll definitely be able to participate. If not, telling you would be useless," Gaven certainly couldn’t say, because that would sound too much like a prophecy.

The Tukan Army probably hadn’t finished gathering and setting off on their western campaign yet.

"I don’t care, I don’t care, I want to know now, or I won’t sleep!" Aivensa began to throw a tantrum.

"Sleep or don’t sleep, it’s up to you. I’ve said what I had to say. The stronger you are when the time comes, the more benefit you can gain. If you secretly start increasing your Professional Level and end up with less benefit, don’t blame me," Gaven felt that he was having a counterproductive effect and decided it would be better to lay out the facts for the young dragon. Then let her choose on her own—after all, she wasn’t really a child by any true meaning.

"Come back, come back, come back, your story isn’t finished yet!" Aivensa kept beckoning to Gaven from behind him.

This time, Gaven was resolute, not looking back as he used a Fairy Step to zap straight out of the Dragon’s Nest.

There was another reason why Aivensa had to go into dragon’s sleep that Gaven hadn’t mentioned.

In their last clash against the Hobgoblin Wolf Cavalry, she had exposed herself; many had seen her flying through the sky, even though she hadn’t launched a direct attack.

Yet that was still enough to make her a prime target for Legendary Mages to track down.

To peacefully sleep in the Dragon Oak Dragon Nest was an excellent choice.

"Sly creature! Definitely using this as an excuse to dodge debts," Aivensa grumbled in dissatisfaction, but in truth, she was extremely tired and lacked her usual energetic vitality. In making her choice, there was no hesitation; she decided to heed Gaven’s advice and aim for reaching her teenage stage first.

She wasn’t foolish; if Roderick could see the changes and benefits Gaven brought her, how could she not? He definitely wouldn’t harm her. Following his advice was the right choice.

Humph!

I really want to see what this great plan of yours is.

The young Red Copper Dragon let out a big yawn, shuffling its body slightly to bury itself deeper and more comfortably into the shimmering gold coins and fell into a realm of limitless dreams with great anticipation.

Huh? Huh! Ha...

Aivensa felt like she had just fallen asleep and instantly woke up again.

But the view before her eyes had changed drastically.

Everything around her seemed a bit unreal, whether it was buildings or the people walking on the streets. They all appeared somewhat transparent, looking as if they were composed of spectral energy. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on ɴovel(ꜰ)ɪre.nᴇt

Without realizing it, Aivensa looked down at herself. She too was semi-transparent, but not in her young dragon form. Instead, she was in her transformed Half-Elf girl state.

She moved her body unconsciously back and forth.

The feedback did not feel great. Aivensa could clearly sense that her strength and speed were greatly diminished.

She wasn’t in the mood to worry about that now, driven by her overwhelming curiosity.

This wouldn’t be Lord Virginia and Gaven’s recently created Dragon Oak Dream Realm, would it?

Does going into her growth during dragon’s sleep not affect her ability to enter this new world?

The Dragon Oak Dream Realm has been around for a while, but Aivensa hadn’t had a chance to enter it yet.

In reality, her strength was incomparable to her strength in the dream realm.

Here, she was even less capable than an average member of the Fae Race.

Lately, Gaven had kept her so busy she had barely any time to stay in the Dragon Oak Dragon Nest, let alone enter the Dragon Oak Dream Realm, and she had completely forgotten about it.

While Aivensa was looking around, a super cute girl with dazzling butterfly wings appeared before her and said solemnly, "Welcome to the Dragon Oak Dream Realm. I am your guide... Aivensa, is that you? Lord Aivensa..."

"It’s me! It’s me! It’s me!" Aivensa replied excitedly, though a bit uncertainly, "You’re Nicole?"

"It’s me!" the Pikespirit girl also quickly nodded, "I thought you had entered the dream realm long ago. I can’t believe this is your first time."

"It’s all because of Gaven. He’s been working me to the bone recently. To think there was such a fun place and he didn’t tell me about it," Aivensa looked around curiously, "What’s there to do here?"

"There’s a lot to do here. We have all sorts of singing and dancing contests, poetry competitions, storytelling contests, creation shows, fashion shows, hehe, I even started my very own fashion exhibition house. Want to check it out?" Nicole rattled off the attractions of the Dragon Oak Dream Realm like pearls spilling from a string.

"Sure, let’s go have a look at what the fashion show is like here," Aivensa said eagerly. Everything Nicole mentioned was of interest to her.

Nicole didn’t move her feet but kept glancing behind Aivensa, a hint of irrepressible disappointment on her lovely face, "Where’s Mr. Gaven? Didn’t he come with you?"

"No." Aivensa still couldn’t understand the girl’s thoughts and asked, "Why, did you have an appointment with him?"

Nicole shook her head and said, "No, Mr. Gaven hasn’t been to see my fashion show yet, and I have good news to share with him."

"Then don’t wait, he probably won’t be able to come anytime soon, he’s been squatting in the hatching zone at the Dragon’s Nest, with a batch of gnoll pups being infused with life force from the Dragon Oak Mother Tree, all set to hatch together. He says these gnolls might take on the air of the Fairy Wilderness and possibly turn into a new species. What was it, fairy gnolls? Sounds pretty strange, doesn’t it? If they turn fairy-like, what kinds of odd shapes would they take? Hahaha..." By the end, Aivensa was a bit tickled by his own thoughts.

"When Mr. Gaven is done with his important tasks, he’ll surely remember our agreement," the Pikespirit girl reasoned on behalf of Gaven, her mood much improved.

"Forget about him, we’ll have our own fun." Aivensa suddenly recalled something and chuckled mischievously, "About me going to the Dragon Oak Dream Realm, don’t tell Gaven when you see him."

She planned to give Gaven quite a scare.

"Okay." Nicole, unaware of the story behind it, followed along and said, "Come with me, I’ll take you to see my fashion exhibition room."

"Let’s go! Go! Go!"

Once in the Dragon Oak Dream Realm, Aivensa was like a rat that had found a granary, unwilling to leave, indulging in her love for poetry, stories, fashion, and dances among other things.

This was precisely the real reason Gaven was hesitant to let her enter the Dragon Oak Dream Realm.

He feared she would become like Nicole, a girl addicted to the net, spending most of her time deeply immersed in the dream realm, unable to extricate herself.

Nicole was different, her abilities could truly be maximized here.

If Aivensa had turned out like this before, it would have been difficult to deploy her for any task.

Now that she was in the Dragon Sleep period, it didn’t matter much. She could stay here 24 hours a day, and no one would bother her.

With Aivensa’s arrival, the hustle and bustle of the Dragon Oak Dream Realm reached a new level.

The Red Copper Dragon was a natural master in humor and jokes; even among the Fae Race, few could match up.

But Aivensa soon realized that the most popular stories were the fantasy tales that Gaven himself had told her, especially Journey to the West. Whenever she started to narrate, it was sure to be packed, with all kinds of Fae surrounding her, both from the skies and the ground.

While feeling a great sense of accomplishment, she also began to grow anxious.

She hadn’t finished the story herself; if she told a bit, she’d lose a bit, and it could only be treasured, sparingly released from time to time. This infuriated the intrigued Fae, leaving them itching with irritation but helpless to do anything about it. They could only curse "Drag of updates hound" and walk away in contempt, but as soon as she resumed, they would definitely be the first to show up. This cycle repeated over and over.

Aivensa scratched her head in frustration, thinking about how to get more stories from Gaven.

Unfortunately, for the recent period, Gaven’s focus indeed wasn’t there, but as Aivensa had said, it was a constant vigil in the hatching zone, day and night.

He wasn’t just waiting for the collective hatching of the gnoll pups as a side interest; his main focus was pondering over the taming of Carrier Bug larvae.

Lord Virginia, because of Gaven’s unique identity as the Fate Reshaper, granted his request to hand over the Carrier Bug larvae to him, clearly curious to see if he could make a miracle happen again.

But miracles wouldn’t be called such if they were easy to conjure.

For these Carrier Bug larvae, Gaven had no effective method at hand.

He was not an expert in Demon Cultivation, nor did he have talents in this field within his grasp.

The best he could do was to lock up the fifteen Carrier Bug larvae he had collected back-to-back.

They were confined in the same cave for over a month, well-fed every day, but without any signs of change.

It was only with the help of Lord Virginia, who had consulted the ancient documents of Spring Bud Fortress, that they learned when Carrier Bug larvae cluster together, they continuously stimulate each other, producing a hormone that suppresses growth, keeping themselves in a larval state—their natural mechanism for cohabitation with the Carrier Bugs.

Only when isolated, without the hormone to suppress growth anymore, would they start to grow.

Locking up these fifteen Carrier Bug larvae separately did indeed lead to new changes.

They not only began to grow but did so at a startling rate, especially with an ample supply of meat.

Carrier Bugs weren’t purely carnivorous insects but omnivores.

Of course, meat was their main diet, only turning to plants when absolutely starved with no other choices.

This was discovered thanks to the Dragon Oak Mother Tree.

Some of the caves used to confine the Carrier Bug larvae were built around the roots of the Dragon Oak Mother Tree.

These Carrier Bug larvae had begun to gnaw on these roots and seemed to relish the feast.

Especially in comparison, it became evident that these larvae that had nibbled on the roots of the Dragon Oak Mother Tree differed markedly from those that hadn’t.

Gaven took great interest when he heard the report.

Because in the Milestone of Destiny for the Carrier Bug Terminator, it was specifically mentioned that he had prematurely ended the Carrier Bugs to prevent them from gnawing on the Dragon Oak Mother Tree, thereby stopping their evolution into Dragonized Carrier Bugs.

Combining these two pieces of information opened a new door for Gaven.