Jack knew that Firetree Pythons were extremely ill-tempered, and a violent battle was bound to break out once it sensed that someone had broken into its nest.


    It would take at least three junior guards and twenty soldiers to kill an adult Firetree Python, and Jack was pretty certain that Wilbur and Steward Horne would not be powerful enough to defeat one. They would be dead for sure.


    All they had to do now was wait for that to happen. Jack had been told that he had to bring Steward Horne''s corpse back, but now felt like that was not necessary anymore.


    Once it was confirmed that the Firetree Python had woken up, Jack would be able to head back with everyone else. This was Divan''s task, not Jack''s. It was just that Jack had to listen to Divan as he was under him.


    The thought of Divan reminded Jack of the past. The two of them had entered the Reyne family together, but Divan had made it as a Middle Guard in just two thousand years while Jack remained a Junior Guard.


    Jack was certain that Divan had not been working hard at his cultivation at all and felt like he would defeat Divan for sure if they were to battle each other.


    At the thought, Jack could not help but swear under his breath. "F*cking Divan ordering me around all the time... I''ll beat him into a pulp one day!"


    At the same time, Wilbur and Steward Horne were hiding somewhere dark in the hole of the tree. They were surprised to see the soldiers outside blocking up the hole with snow when Steward Horne spat out a mouthful of blood all of a sudden. He swayed on his feet, before falling down.


    "Senior!"


    Wilbur scrambled to help Steward Horne up, but he said, "Just leave me be. I''ve been gravely injured. You should run for your life if you make it out of here."


    "No, Steward Horne. You''re going to be fine!"


    Just then, a putrid smell filled the air. Wilbur whipped around and saw a red python with a body that was roughly a meter wide. It straightened its body in the darkness, staring down at the two men.


    The red python emitted an eerie red glow. Its eyes were pale blue, eyeing them hungrily. Wilbur stared at the python before beginning to release dragon aura out of his body. The python opened its mouth the next second, biting down viciously.


    Wilbur flew to his feet, forming a white dragon with the dragon aura around him. He reached out, and the white dragon grabbed the python''s body with its talons before letting out a roar.


    A huge energy wave rippled out as the white dragon cried out, causing the entire tree to rumble. The aura of the white dragon had scared the python, and it withdrew its head at once before crawling back to its previous spot.


    The white dragon disappeared, and Wilbur copsed to the ground. Releasing all that dragon aura had drained him of too much energy, and Wilbur was now extremely weak.


    Steward Horne chuckled at the sight, his chest heaving from the effort. "You... You''re a dragon n cultivator, too. No wonder you''re so arrogant! I guess there''s hope for us after all."


    At the same time, Jack and the others were shocked by the dragon''s howl they had just heard. They stared at each other, looking terrified.


    "Was that... a dragon?"


    "I think that was a dragon''s howl?"


    "Did that Firetree Python just transform?"