Mage Adam

The loud dragon's roar echoed through the whole place, causing the blizzard to dissipate. To the shock of everyone, Adam soared into the sky, his dragon wings spreading wide, darkening the sky. The blizzard was brief, just a result of Adam's recent advancement and his inability to perfectly control his body, leading to an overflow of energy. Once he realized that his essence was unharmed and his body was normal, the phenomena quickly vanished.

But this was enough to instill fear in the merchants and adventurers of the City of Freedom. They had often wondered how someone managed to build a city on the icy plains and fend off numerous overt and covert challenges. Today, they believed they had their answer: behind the City of Freedom stood an adult dragon.

Most people had never seen an adult dragon, but they could recognize the overwhelming dragon's power that filled the sky and earth. It was a power they could not resist, not even able to muster the will to oppose.

Adam had no interest in showing off his strength. After repairing his lab, he concealed his presence.

Some in the City of Freedom, with ulterior motives, left filled with unease. If the city had been backed by a powerful being of another race, they might have accepted it. But it was a dragon, a species known for their laziness. Now they wonder, what this dragon, who suddenly built a city and revealed the secret art of bloodline advancement, really wanted.

...

Adam's desire was simple.

"I need a war," Adam said to the devil and Lina.

The devil didn't react much, knowing his master's style better than anyone. From the moment Adam decided to build the city and spread the secret techniques, he knew a big announcement was coming.

Lina, startled, took a moment before tentatively asking, "Master, do you want to rule the world? But... but I think with the current strength of the City of Freedom, it's impossible."

"Ha, rule the world? Master would never do something so boring. What he needs is..." the devil said excitedly, somewhat bored of the city lord game he had been playing for so long.

"I need a war that engulfs the whole world. Elves, Spirit Clan, Dragon-men... and Dragons. No one can remain neutral."

Lina couldn't help but ask, "Why?"

Adam didn't want to answer. The usually laughing devil's face turned cold as he said, "As a slave, you should learn to obey, not question your master, even if you can't understand his orders."

Adam pointed towards the sky, and a basic map of the dragon Plane, etched in ice crystal, appeared out of thin air. This map was pieced together from incomplete ones provided by forest elves and numerous adventurers and merchants. It might not be entirely accurate, but it was sufficient for his needs.

Starting a war on a plane with a unified government is complex, as they have the power and authority to contain it. However, in this place, it's a feasible task. The city-state system is inherently chaotic, where even a minor incident can trigger a war. As the conflict escalates, people blinded by rage lose sight of order, only regaining their senses when both sides have inflicted deep, irreparable wounds on each other.

Adam's plan was to provide such a spark.

The Bloodline Advancement Art and the Blood Exchange Surgery were perfect catalysts for this.

Adam instructed the devil, "Are those races still under your control?"

"Of course."

"Then fully disclose the Bloodline Advancement Art. Pick a few unrelated city-states and some originally weak races. Give them the Blood Exchange Surgery. Make sure everyone realizes the importance of these two things. As for instigating, assassinating, allying, dividing, spreading rumors, and so on, I don't need to teach you that, right?"

The devil, burning with excitement, assured, "I promise to complete the task!"

Adam nodded at him and then turned to Lina, "Accelerate the blood exchange for the forest elf slaves. Your task and that of your slaves is to stir the waters."

Given the forest elves' talents, they were the best candidates for stealth and assassination. Adam handed over a large number of elemental bombs to Lina, ordering her to lead her slaves into the known dragon territories and awaken all the giant dragons from their slumber.

The awakened dragons didn't need to do much. As long as they were willing to leave their lairs, they would become walking disasters, capable of igniting the fury of all races.

...

The plan was crude, but Adam's goal was merely to create chaos, so a meticulous strategy wasn't necessary.

Within just three months, every race in the dragon Plane found their world transformed. Local conflicts escalated rapidly, with fires of rebellion igniting everywhere. Alliances, betrayals, wars, and compromises occurred every moment. Ordinary races had no choice but to participate in the war.

The Bloodline Advancement Art had spread to everyone, treated as a treasure. Everyone used every possible moment to practice it, while the Blood Exchange Surgery became the greatest source of slaughter.

Tribes were tribes, and races were races. When they realized that consuming the blood of their own kind could make them stronger, even their own kin became untrustworthy.

The war escalated when the first sleeping giant dragon was awakened by an elemental missile. Enraged, it burst out of its lair, destroying several city-states, igniting a wildfire of conflict.

In such chaotic times, the City of Freedom became an oasis of peace, untouched by war. Numerous refugees flooded in, only to be captured, transformed by Adam and the devil, and then driven out into the icy plains to further intensify the conflict.

During this period, apart from adapting to his post-advancement strength, Adam meticulously sorted the intelligence and resources collected. The locations suitable for setting up Plane Sacrifice Runes no longer mattered. Adam could sense that as more individuals practiced the Bloodline Advancement Art and drew upon the origin of the world, the origin's resistance to erosion weakened. This wasn't a sign of the essence strengthening or recovering but rather an indication that it was almost completely defenseless.

As more races gained power from this, the scale of the war expanded.

Following this trend, the collision and fusion of the Dragon Plane with Cthulhu seemed around the corner.

After a month, Adam had fully been used to and mastered the power of his adult dragon form.

Lina returned to the City of Freedom. She brought news that Adam had anticipated.

"Master, the Dragon Slayer Guild has surfaced and joined the war. Most of their envoys have been stationed in various city-states, and a part of them is heading towards the City of Freedom. They want to kill you and take over the City of Freedom."